In Judaism, there is a term for one of the largest sins that a human being can do: lashon hara.  It literally means “the evil tongue,” and it's the term used to describe gossip. It is the equivalent of murder, theft, and idolatry all at once. It murders the reputation of the person you are gossiping about; it steals the opportunity for the person to whom you are speaking to learn about the person you're gossiping about; and it is a form of setting yourself up as an “idol” who is all-knowing. It is a quality that is despicable, and something that should never be part of a discussion between responsible adults.

And yet, it is now the fallback position of Vice President Kamala Harris as she flails uncontrollably in attempting to win the upcoming election.

The Atlantic has published an article attributing former Chief of Staff John Kelly with saying that Donald Trump admires Hitler.  The hit piece by Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of The Atlantic, is composed of quotes from Trump haters like Kelly, and lots of references to anonymous sources whom he claims to have spoken with. It is a glaring example of irresponsible journalism on every level by a man whose articles demonstrate that he is a mouthpiece for the far left.  (On a personal level it is sad to me that Goldberg, who is a brilliant man and actually served in Israel, has demonstrated being  committed more to the Democratic party over the last year than to the the values he has treasured for the majority of his life.)  But Goldberg and the Trump haters like Kelly are significantly less of a problem than this woman seeking to become president of the United States.

Politics is often ugly, but rarely in history have national politicians stooped to the levels of defamation that Harris embraces. Goldberg repeats hearsay as as a reporter for an article. Harris, on the other hand, consciously passes third-hand gossip in a quest for personal power. She is the spokesperson for that gravest of sins, gossip.

Harris gave a speech specifically about this topic of Trump supposedly admiring Hitler, and drew a parallel between a president who led our country into a time of peace and prosperity with the epitome of evil, Adolf Hitler.  When Harris calls Trump “unhinged” or “unstable," she is using hyperbolic exaggerations of an opinion to try to scare people to vote for her. But when she passes on gossip that Trump admires Hitler, she has crossed an ethical line from which there is no coming back.  When she says that Trump “invokes Hitler,” she is making a claim that is not only ludicrous, but the epitome of the evil tongue. In giving a speech about Trump admiring Hitler based on third-hand accounts, she has descended to a level of rhetoric that is darker than anything I have seen in the national public arena previously.

The behavior of the vice president is not only disgusting, it is entirely contrary to what Donald Trump has demonstrated previously.  As a rabbi, I am always concerned about anti-semitism in politics, but President Trump has without doubt been the greatest president for Jews and for Israel in the history of our nation.  His actions speak louder than any words ever could.  He was the first sitting US president to ever pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Israel and for Jews.  The architect of the Abraham Accords, Trump started a peace process that most people thought was an impossible task. Although four presidents before him had vowed to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, the historic and current capital of the State of Israel, it was only Trump who made that happen.  His inclusion of anti-Semitism in Title VI protections is the reason that Jewish students on college campuses who were persecuted last spring are winning lawsuits against their universities. He has been a champion of Israel, Judaism, Christianity, and people of religion. On the anniversary of October 7th, while Kamala Harris was honoring the date by planting a pomegranate tree at her house, President Trump joined rabbis and others in saying prayers at the grave of Rebbe Schneerson, the deceased leader of the Chabad movement of Judaism.   While Harris has been cozying up to Islamic extremists, and filled her staff with anti-Israel/ pro-Iranian individuals, Trump has consistently been throughout his entire life a great supporter of Israel, and Kamala Harris' actual support of Judaism and Israel is relegated to the supposed brisket recipe that her secular husband raves about.

And yet, Harris has the audacity to compare this champion of Israel to the greatest personification of Jew hatred and evil of the last century. In her attempt to grasp power, she has committed the gravest of theological sins, and spoken with an evil tongue about a man of action and integrity in his relationships with Israel, Jews, and all people of faith.

There is a story that is shared among many cultures in one form or another. A man went to a rabbi feeling guilty about the gossip he had spoken, and wanting to know how he could fix this deep spiritual mistake. The rabbi told him to take a feather pillow to the top of a tall building. There, he was to cut open the pillow and let the wind catch all the feathers and spread them around the city. The rabbi explained that to stop gossip is like trying to collect all those feathers back together -- it simply can't be done.

I am not sure whether to feel anger at the vice president’s words and actions, or just to be sad about how far she has fallen in her flailing attempts to acquire power. But I do know that it is an example of exactly how unethical she is, and what she is willing to do and whom she is willing to sell out in her personal quest.

Harris ended her speech saying that she knows what Trump wants, and in 13 days we will find out what the American people want. Her entire speech demonstrates who she is and what she really wants, and we should all pray that the American people desire and choose Donald Trump as our national leader for the next four years.