Michele Bachmann visits a Chicago-area synagogue

[doggie]

You know this will turn out well. You have to be desperate to enter enemy territory for votes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/0 ... f=politics

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) swung by a Chicago-area synagogue for a worship service on the eve of Yom Kippur last week, upsetting congregants and provoking one man to mount a campaign for her Democratic challenger before the end of the night.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Rabbi Michael Siegel of Anshe Emet Synagogue observed protocol by offering a customary greeting to Bachmann during the services. While elected officials are traditionally acknowledged during such events at the temple, the presence of the conservative Minnesota firebrand prompted particular displeasure.

[GeoBQn]

She must not have gotten the memo that "conservative" has an entirely different meaning when applied to Jewish synagogues. In this case, a conservative egalitarian synagogue. And it is HIGHLY inappropriate of her to visit on the holiest day of the year.

[sparkles]

Too bad she didn't hang out for a little break-the-fast nosh. I'm sure a few terror cakes would have been a perfect snack.

Who advises this moron? A synagogue? Really?

[GeoBQn]

It was Tuesday night, so Yom Kippur had just started. No nosh.

[shesinsane]

Based on the headline, I thought the story would be about Bachmann reassuring the congregation that there won't really be a bacon shortage. :D

[SPHASH]

I'm from Minnesota and all I can say is Shelly is an embarrassment to our state. She actually thought an ex-nun was going to rape her in a public restroom.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... igion.html

[SomewhatFundy]

I'm from Minnesota and all I can say is Shelly is an embarrassment to our state. She actually thought an ex-nun was going to rape her in a public restroom.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... igion.html

If this weren't a new keyboard, I would smack my head on it.

She really just.....bah.....I don't even like looking at her. She makes me angry. Maybe not as angry as Ms. Coulter does, but she's getting there.

[SayNoToMullets]

She must not have gotten the memo that "conservative" has an entirely different meaning when applied to Jewish synagogues. In this case, a conservative egalitarian synagogue. And it is HIGHLY inappropriate of her to visit on the holiest day of the year.

Exactly. Really tacky of her to take a High Holiday service and make it about her.

[emmiedahl]

Does she know that you usually RSVP for holiday services and get tickets in advance? Yom Kippur is not the time to crash a synagogue! This is not Christmas, but a very sober and religious holy day. Why couldn't she have waited and attended a normal service?

[Gil]

I'm disappointed that there's no elaboration on the man who mounted a campaign for her opponent while she was there, apparently? That sounds hilarious.

I'm from Minnesota and all I can say is Shelly is an embarrassment to our state. She actually thought an ex-nun was going to rape her in a public restroom.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... igion.html

oh...oh wow. :?

What a psycho. I don't have any other words for that.

[FaustianSlip]

Wow, talk about inappropriate. I'll be honest- I have a very hard time believing that the rabbi didn't know she was coming. If my shul invited someone that divisive, on the holiest day of the year, no less, I'd be terminating my membership and switching synagogues immediately. Allowing her to try and use High Holy Day services as a cheap campaign prop to show how much she loves Israel or Jews or whatever is just way beyond the pale. Gross.

[emmiedahl]

Wow, talk about inappropriate. I'll be honest- I have a very hard time believing that the rabbi didn't know she was coming. If my shul invited someone that divisive, on the holiest day of the year, no less, I'd be terminating my membership and switching synagogues immediately. Allowing her to try and use High Holy Day services as a cheap campaign prop to show how much she loves Israel or Jews or whatever is just way beyond the pale. Gross.

But what rabbi would invite her?

[Little_Eyes]

But what rabbi would invite her?

This is what I'd like to know. I can't imagine anyone wanting her there... Also, how tacky to go when she did. Would the idiot have any idea what was going on or the significance of it? Would she even google it? The idiocy burns...

[Arete]

I don't understand how she could just "crash" a Yom Kippur service either, and I detest the woman. Maybe an important member of the synagogue insisted? :? Granted a conservative-egalitarian Jew for Bachman would be a fairly rare bird, but I think the chance she just strolled in would be even less likely. Maybe it's less so in the Chicago area, but in the NY area a lot of synagogues have really upped their security measures on the high holidays since 9/11.

[pomology]

Wow, talk about inappropriate. I'll be honest- I have a very hard time believing that the rabbi didn't know she was coming. If my shul invited someone that divisive, on the holiest day of the year, no less, I'd be terminating my membership and switching synagogues immediately. Allowing her to try and use High Holy Day services as a cheap campaign prop to show how much she loves Israel or Jews or whatever is just way beyond the pale. Gross.

I seriously doubt that the rabbi invited her. I've been to Anshe Emet--my cousins are members and attend there. I really cannot see it as a place that would invite Michelle Bachmann. Not to Kol Nidre. Plus, apparently the service had something praising Israel for their support of LGBT-rights, which confirms my beliefs that this is not the type of place that would invite a hateful bigot.

Funnily enough, Anshe Emet is right by where the Chicago Pride Parade ends. In June, the streets nearby are covered in rainbow flags.

Hm. I think I'll have to ask my cousins about it. They attend an independent minyan there, not the main service, but I'm sure they still must have heard about it.

I don't understand how she could crash Yom Kippur services, either, but the idea that she was invited is just as absurd.

[SpeakNow]

It really depends on whether or not the synagogue is in a highly Jewish area. At my parents shul, you have to have tickets, but at my tiny Tennessee shul anyone is welcome.

[FaustianSlip]

It's all very weird. My assumption was that someone invited her (or knew she was there and let her in, at least) because the rabbi gave her a shout-out from the bimah (which was probably also a terrible idea, considering it wasn't a regular service). Both synagogues I went to during High Holy Days checked tickets and had fairly intensive security at the door (including a metal detector and fairly lengthy questioning at one); it would have been almost impossible for someone to just show up and get in. Granted, US synagogues I've been to aren't usually as intense, but still.... Also, as someone who shelled out hundreds of dollars for my HHD seats (which I didn't mind doing, just to be clear- I don't have membership anywhere, and this is a good way to support the synagogues I attended), I sure hope no one else who decided at the last minute to attend Kol Nidre (and is, you know, actually Jewish and not there for a PR stunt) wasn't turned away at the door for lack of a ticket, or that would be even more infuriating.

[SisiL78]

It's all very weird. My assumption was that someone invited her (or knew she was there and let her in, at least) because the rabbi gave her a shout-out from the bimah (which was probably also a terrible idea, considering it wasn't a regular service). Both synagogues I went to during High Holy Days checked tickets and had fairly intensive security at the door (including a metal detector and fairly lengthy questioning at one); it would have been almost impossible for someone to just show up and get in. Granted, US synagogues I've been to aren't usually as intense, but still.... Also, as someone who shelled out hundreds of dollars for my HHD seats (which I didn't mind doing, just to be clear- I don't have membership anywhere, and this is a good way to support the synagogues I attended), I sure hope no one else who decided at the last minute to attend Kol Nidre (and is, you know, actually Jewish and not there for a PR stunt) wasn't turned away at the door for lack of a ticket, or that would be even more infuriating.

She is a well known public figure, and probably had her own security person... I don't think security is an issue. I live in a highly populated withe Jews area and my shul doesn't require tickets... even those that do generally still allow anyone in. When we do go to ticketed services I think I've only been asked for my ticket once and even then I had forgotten it and they were like "whatever". I've been told that its a fundraiser plus it gives the shul an idea of who will be coming. They also like the rule to kick out any weirdos who show up to make a scene. I can imagine that there would be J4Js and other missionaries trying to get into services and pass out their literature.

Could this shul be one where some of MIchelle's in-laws attend? She couldn't have been too ignorant of Yom Kippur. It appears on calendars. And in addition to be a flaming homosexual her husband is also Jewish.... or at least he was and is now "saved".

The shul in question has a policy of giving a shout out to any elected official that comes to services. I am sure that after she got there she made a big deal about her presence and insisted on the shout out. I can see how the rabbi would have been between a rock and a hard place. Also, aren't religious institutions supposed to be neutral on politics to remain tax exempt? If they gave a shout out to Rahm Emanuel or Joe Biden then Michelle could cry discrimination if they didn't do the same for her. She could make life for the shul very difficult.

I would say that even ultra conservative (politically) Jews are not pro-Michelle. Even my hard core Republican Uncle can't stomach her. A lot of the Orthodox Jews also have an issue with her being married to a Jew masquerading as a fundamentalist Christian. They hate that. She knew what she was doing. I'm sure that she was hoping for a confrontation or some sort of episode. She might have been hoping that the liberal congregation wouldn't acknowledge her and that she'd be able to get on television and cry discrimination. By giving her that shout out the Rabbi denied her of that advantage. She's a manipulative and conniving woman who totally knew what she was doing. She loves to ignite controversy and then try to spin it to her advantage.