This interview is part of Moment’s Jewish Political Voices Project. To learn more about the project, click here. To see our other participants, click here. To see all posts from Jaclyn, click here.
Age: 32
Occupation: Synagogue administrator
Location: Boulder, CO
Party Registration: Independent
Jewish Denomination: Renewal
Current 2024 Vote: Kamala Harris
2020 Vote: Joe Biden
News Sources: Instagram, NPR, The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian
What are you most worried about if Harris is elected president?
There haven’t been a lot of policy plans or promises, and hopefully that will change. Sure, we love Kamala. I definitely love the enthusiasm, and I think it’s bringing people out who like me were pretty resigned politically. But, I don’t really know what else she’s planning to do. I haven’t really heard a lot of that. I didn’t watch the convention, but I did watch some folks that were analyzing it and highlighting it. And they noted that we didn’t really hear any policy plans, and that’s concerning to me, because there are some really pressing issues. It’s about a lot more than just beating Trump.
Which candidate would be better for U.S. policy toward Israel?
A lot of the media I’ve been consuming is focusing on what Harris and Tim Walz have said about Israel-Palestine. They’ve definitely said condemning words about Netanyahu and the actions of the Israeli government. So, at least they’ve said some things. There’s also the scandal that there were no Palestinian Americans at the DNC who were allowed to speak and a lack of clarity around why that was. And so I definitely worry about a lot of talk and potentially not a lot of action, and I also know a majority of Congress keeps agreeing to send money and weapons over to Israel, even while condemning Israel’s actions.
Are you worried about the rise of antisemitism in the United States?
I’m more acutely aware of it in my role at the synagogue. We have to worry about having more security at services and how public we want to be with promoting our events. And of course, the High Holidays are events that you want people to come to who aren’t members of the shul. A lot of board members and some synagogue members are more fearful of violence here, but I’ve kind of moved past that.
Are you concerned about the threat of political violence?
I’m not currently afraid of political violence. That’s not to say that they’re aren’t protests that have started out peacefully, that end up being violent, like that has happened throughout our country’s history, and often the violence is perpetuated by the state or the police. I think that’s always a risk when there is politically charged protesting. So I’m trying not to be naive about it, but I don’t think it’s so imminent at this moment in time.
Are you finding yourself at all disillusioned?
I think in my teens and 20s, I was so much about voting being your civic duty, and if you don’t vote, you shouldn’t complain about anything that happens to you. And I still believe the beginning of that sentence, but I’ve come to realize that those people who choose not to vote, that’s a political decision too. I’m not gonna shame people who don’t vote because there’s a reason for that.