Jewish Pearl

Joel Pollak: I was born in South Africa and grew up in Skokie, Illinois. I had the privilege of a great Jewish day school education at Solomon Schechter, as well as a great public school education at Niles North High School. I went on to Harvard, where I concentrated in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy. I was a college Democrat--and very far to the left--until I began to have experiences and debates that illustrated for me the grave dangers of big government and the great potential of freedom.

Joel Pollak: No--my debate with Barney Frank triggered this campaign, although I do think I would have been very involved politically in volunteering for other candidates. This is an extremely important election--quite possibly our last chance to stop a radical Congress from shoving America over the brink, economically and otherwise.

Joel Pollak: I have met both Joe Lieberman and Eric Cantor several times, and they have led the way in showing that it is possible to be an outward and observant Jew as well as a political leader. Being Orthodox has not affected the campaign, nor vice versa, though having a very busy campaign schedule does pose a challenge. Shabbat is a great blessing, and allows me to go 120 mph the rest of the week.

Joel Pollak: There's no debate about the fact that the Obama administration has been very unfriendly towards Israel. The way President Obama treated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his first visit to Washington was disgraceful. The debate is about whether Obama's behavior will have negative consequences for the U.S.-Israel alliance. We all hope that it does not, at least in the long term.

Joel Pollak: J Street is attempting to destroy the close relationship that the U.S. has with Israel, especially the U.S. Congress. There is now evidence that J Street played a large role in orchestrating the Obama administration's overly hostile reaction to a housing development in Ramat Shlomo, for example. In Chicago, J Street even threw a party on Tisha B'Av, co-hosted by my opponent's campaign manager. People in J Street are perfectly free to voice their opinions, yet I believe those opinions are wrong and should be opposed. AIPAC remains a very important organization. It is experiencing a crisis as a result of the cold shoulder that the administration has shown to Israel, and the rapid drift of the Democratic Party rank-and-file towards positions that are hostile to Israel.  I believe that AIPAC will be more effective when there is a better balance of power in the government.

Joel Pollak: The Obama administration's foreign policy has, with a few notable exceptions, been one of appeasement. It has failed to stand up for human rights and democracy, and abandoned key allies, while coddling tyrants and dictators around the world for little gain. I am cautiously optimistic about the peace talks, yet the emphasis really has to be on Palestinian acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state, as well as abandonment of terror and incitement. Israel has given up so much already, and should not be pressured into more concessions. Settlements are not important to the success or failure of the peace process, or else we would have seen progress instead of violence after the Gaza disengagement. I am not particularly moved by the meeting at the White House--what counts is what Palestinian leaders do, or fail to do, in the Middle East. We also cannot forget that the far bigger and more urgent challenge, and a prime cause of ongoing Palestinian violence, is Iran and its ambitions. Peace talks ought not distract us from the task of stopping Iran's nuclear program.

Joel Pollak: I love to spend time with my wife--to travel together and go out together. She is a great fan of classical music, and we enjoy going to concerts when we can. We also enjoy the simple fun of playing pub games such as pool and darts. I bought her an engraved pool cue for her birthday last year. We hope to return to Israel for a visit sometime soon, as well as to Prague, where we spent a month together a few years ago.