The Shame of Josh Shapiro

In her brilliant biography of Sandy Koufax, Jane Leavy described the day, indelible in so many American Jewish memories, that her subject refused to pitch in a World Series game that fell on Yom Kippur. Another great Dodgers pitcher, Don Drysdale, pitched in place of Koufax—and got slaughtered. The Dodgers were many runs behind when the manager, Walter Alston, walked to the mound to relieve Drysdale. “Hey skip,” Drysdale said. “Bet you wish I was Jewish today too.” In so doing, Drysdale reflected his respect for the decision Koufax had made. Leavy observes that for Jewish Dodgers fans, the “loss was a win.” And indeed it was. Koufax had shown that the spotlight of the series mattered less than denying something central to his identity as a Jew; and in the process, he taught American Jews to act likewise.

It is with this in mind that we can study the sad saga of Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. What it portends for the future of American politics, and the place of Jews within it, will be judged by many factors, including the course ultimately taken by the political party of which he is a part. But in the annals of Jewish history, one tragedy can already be marked in the life of this undeniably talented, and proudly Jewish, political figure. He was faced with an opportunity to define himself in the minds of American Jews, and he historically and tragically whiffed.

With Shapiro widely reported to be the leading candidate to serve on Kamala Harris’s ticket, someone clearly seeking to damage his candidacy dug up an op-ed from Shapiro’s college days in which he expressed his doubts that the Oslo peace process would succeed. Leaving aside the prescience of this prediction, Shapiro actually concluded the article by stressing that he genuinely hoped that peace would arrive in the Middle East. But it was the language he utilized in this final sentence that so many of his political enemies seized upon. “Despite my skepticism as a Jew,” Shapiro wrote, “and a past volunteer in the Israeli army, I strongly hope and pray that this ‘peace plan’ will be successful.”