The Tim Tebow-Hating Rabbi and Progressive Bigotry

We all have to count our blessings. One of my new blessings is that I do not attend Temple Beth El, in Stamford Ct., because the last person I would want teaching my children is their rabbi, Joshua Hammerman.

Hammerman is behaving like a different kind of “RINO,” a Rabbi In Name Only. Writing in this week’s issue of the progressive New York Jewish Week, Hammerman has displayed bigotry unworthy of the pulpit. (His article has since been pulled from the website. If you still wish to read the rabbi’s original post, you can check out the cached version here.)

Hammerman admits he has a Tim Tebow problem:

A poster boy of the Christian right, Tebow steadfastly thanks Jesus after every game and, while in college, often inscribed biblical messages on his eye paint. Homeschooled in Florida, this child of missionaries turned down his selection as a Playboy All American because it was, well, Playboy. His trademark prayerful touchdown celebration (imagine Rodin’s “Thinker” on bended knee, or your grandfather davening Tachanun with a football) has become a verb.

Funny — whenever something really special happens in my life I pause and say a Jewish prayer.

The prayer translates to:

Blessed are you, our God, who rules the universe, granting us life, sustaining us and enabling us to reach this day.

I wonder if that would scare the rabbi? If not, than it’s clear that Tim Tebow scares him solely because he is Christian.

(more…)