American Kapo

What happened to Chuck Schumer?

“Kapo” is a loaded term in the Jewish vernacular. The term originated with those compelled or recruited by the Nazis in the ghettos and extermination camps to supervise the inmates or carry out the orders of their German masters. While likely there were some who tried not to treat their co-religionists with cruelty, the term is usually understood as referring to those who succumbed to an ethos of brutality in their quest for self-preservation.

Stripped from its original Holocaust meaning, Kapo has become a term of opprobrium reserved for those in a position of authority, who betray the Jewish people and act to undermine us. While I originally was planning to write on a top 5 or more of those who have earned this title, I find it necessary to focus on one individual who by the very nature of his political position and influence ranks in the first position The reader already knows who has earned this award - the self-appointed “shomer, ”or “guardian” of Israel, Senator Chuck Schumer.

Schumer has come a long way from his Brooklyn roots. He grew up not only in a Brooklyn neighborhood but in my Brooklyn neighborhood. His family were friends of my parents, and my father, a local rabbi, touted Schumer’s early run for the New York State Assembly and helped launch his career. Schumer’s original Brooklyn supporters, myself included, believed he would live up to his appropriation of the title 'guardian of Israel.'

Schumer revealed himself to be nothing more than a self-aggrandizing political hack ready to sacrifice Jewish interests during the debate over the Iran nuclear treaty. He initially backed President Obama’s efforts until he realized the extent of the backlash in the Jewish community and attempted to thread the needle - by voting against it only when it was certain that his vote would not lead to the measure’s defeat - and failing to rally support against the bill. The shomer was no shomer but a sham.

Schumer, who has touted himself as the highest ranking Jewish official, abused this position to act as a lackey and infamously attempted to overthrow the duly elected democratic government of an American ally, the world's only Jewish state, while it was engaged in a war of survival.

For the past several months, Schumer has used his position to undermine and prevent legislation targeting antisemitism in the United States and abroad, the latest being his despicable blocking of a Senate bill, its counterpart already passing in the Congress, which would impose sanctions on those associated with the International Criminal Court for its antisemitic persecution of the State of Israel and its officials.

Schumer has moved from a merely self-centered politico with no concern for the people or community from which he emerged, evolving into a defender of evil, a man who shields the enemies of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

Schumer’s depravity is riveled by his chutzpah – witness his announcement of a forthcoming book on antisemitism.

He has worked hard to earn his award - the No. 1 American Kapo.

Those of us from the old neighborhood can only say with a sigh, “Chuck, we hardly knew you.”