Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels heads the Beth Shir Shalom synagogue in Santa Monica—the little city where Trump aide and white-supremacist goon Stephen Miller grew up. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is upon us, and to mark it, Comess-Daniels gave a very specific sermon. The sermon was broadcast as part of the festivities, live on Facebook—and as the Guardian reports, Comess-Daniels pulled no punches.
“Honestly, Mr Miller, you’ve set back the Jewish contribution to making the world spiritually whole through your arbitrary division of these desperate people,” the rabbi said. “The actions that you now encourage President Trump to take make it obvious to me that you didn’t get my, or our, Jewish message.
“This is the season of apology, and to get to an apology, shame over past actions is necessary. Some shout at others when they are self-righteous enough: you should be ashamed of yourself! That’s not something I would ever shout or demand.” But Comess-Daniels went on to say it was up to Miller to acknowledge his wrongdoing.
Rabbi Comess-Daniels is referring to the many overtly racist and inhumane policies that Miller has pushed forward by acting as the racist devil on Donald Trump’s shoulders. Miller is as alone as you might imagine, with members of his family openly acknowledging the grotesqueness of his hypocrisy. Rabbi Comess-Daniels has no regrets for making his feelings public.
Comess-Daniels made no apology for offering so overtly political a sermon. “In a free society, some are guilty, all are responsible,” he said. “Because we want this society to remain free, we will continue to act.”
Rosh Hashanah is a time of introspection in the Jewish faith. It is a time when one is supposed to look at one’s life and begin the process of asking for forgiveness for one’s mistakes and sins. I suspect that people like Miller don’t do much introspection, as the cacophony of screaming voices in their consciences is too difficult to manage.