by Amihai Zippor, lubavitch.com
Joel Pollak, the Republican nominee for Chicago’s 9th district, is thinking big. As a conservative candidate who once fought for a leftist agenda, he believes the country is headed in the wrong direction on core issues.
Among his concerns: fighting terrorism, ending corruption, reforming education, creating new jobs, and most of all, treating Israel as a friend and not a pariah state.
Rolling back government involvement is also a major fight for the 32- year-old human rights lawyer as he expressed at a recent Friday afternoon speaking engagement. An observant Jew, Pollak realized the event had been running late and was carefully watching the sun set. When his turn came, he declined the microphone but not the chance to speak to the large audience.
“The Jewish Sabbath is beginning and I don’t use electricity but I’m going to try and reach you with my voice,” he said explaining the Sabbath was important to him not only for religious reasons but because of the idea that there is a positive limit to things, a message he hopes to bring to Washington if elected.
“There must be a limit and I believe that’s what government should observe. And I try to live that in my own life,” he said.
Pollak’s parents moved to Chicago from South Africa in 1977 and gained US citizenship in 1987. Eventually his family joined the Chabad community at the Wilmette Chai Center under Rabbi Dovid and Rivke Flinkenstein.
Following his undergraduate studies at Harvard he won a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship to study in South Africa for a year. With the scholarship completed he extended his stay there working as a freelance journalist and volunteer in Khayelitsha, one of South Africa’s poorest and most dangerous townships.
By the time the young activist enrolled in Harvard Law School in 2006, several personal experiences caused him to view many political and social questions through fresh eyes resulting in his formal transition from left to right. According to Pollak, his ideals and goals remained fluid but the means to achieving them shifted.
At the end of 2008 he began wearing his kippa in public. Pollak, who believed that doing so might alienate others, admits he was surprised by the positive response, and credits Chabad with his deepened observance over the years.
“In law school I became fully shomer Shabbat—a risky thing to do in your first year. There’s a lot of competition and in a sense you’re missing a day of studying but I loved it. It felt like it really just made my life manageable,” he said. Managing to keep a very punishing schedule during the week, Pollak feels his Shabbat observance “preserves” his life rewarding him in many ways spiritually and physically.
Speaking with lubavitch.com before Passover, the candidate took a moment to reflect on how the holiday’s theme of national redemption resonates with the struggle of making a better America. “Jews relive the Exodus from Egypt every year, treating it as if we were there and America shares something in common with that,” he said.
“We in America try to live our national life as if the founding fathers and framers of the constitution are very much a part of our political existence and I think that’s important to remember when the divisions in our country are very deep and we are looking for a solid foundation for the future.”
The 2007 Illinois reenactment of the Lincoln Douglas debates, he says, were a good example of reconnecting with the past. It reminded him of the retelling of the story of the Exodus on Passover.
“It is beneficial to America, as the idea of history is not behind you but a part of you. This is very powerful in the United States as well as Jewish tradition. Like in Judaism, it allows Americans to generate linkage to the origins of the country and the origins of the freedoms it enjoys.”
Pollack confronting Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA):
Interesting that in the original lubavitch.com article, credit was given to the Zarchis, whereas here they were conveniently removed:
lubavitch.com
At the end of 2008 he began wearing his kippa in public. Pollak, who believed that doing so might alienate others, admits he was surprised by the positive response, and credits Chabad, especially Rabbi Hirschy and Elkie Zarchi at Harvard, for his deepened observance over the years.
The Zarchis Rock!!!
Who want’s to enslave us? Is it not those who want to expand the role of government into every part of our lives….namely the Demo-socialists running the country now. As for your Israel comment; you sound like the Jews in America who were silent during the Holocaust. What did Europe have to do with them? Of course the well being of Jews in Israel and around the world is an all powerful cause.
Human rights attorney and a republican? Now that is a new one. It seems to me to be an oxymoron. Who needs rights in a republican controlled America. They just want your money and the freedom to enslave you to get it.. I guess the Israel issue is all powerful. A good case of “the enemy of your enemy is a friend.”
Unfortunately, in the video clip Congressman Frank mops the floor with him.
Joel Pollak is the only Repulican to ever be endorsed by Alan Dershowitz (who spoke by the Kinus Hashluchim a few years ago. He goes beyond party lines, and truly is an intelligent young man!
Dear Jack,
Joel speaks fluent French, Arabic and Hebrew and works as a human rights lawyer for the Hudson Institute-promoting Israel’s interests at the United Nations. When not at work-he is actively campaigning for the Illinois 9th congressional seat. He will appear on Hannity on the Fox news channel tonite at 8.00pm CDT. His campaign website is http://www.pollakforcongress.com to which you and others can visit for more information and to send a donation for the candidcacy of this fine young man who belongs in Congress.
I met Joel in Chicago, and he is truly a smart, incredible young man.
I wish him much success in his campaign against Jan Schakowsky!
This guy graduated law school eight months ago, how did he get himself the title “human rights lawyer” already?