Meet Cameron Kerry, the Jewish, pro-Israel brother of John Kerry [Hidden by MSM from leftist base]

As many of you know, one of the things John Kerry's leftist base is most uncomfortable about is his strong support (at least on paper) of Israel. In fact, his pro-Israel policy paper last week caused severe consternation among Kerry supporters.

There is a little secret that the media has kept from the people, in deference to the anti-Israel stance of the left wing of the Democratic party, and that is the existence of the Jewish brother of John Kerry, Cameron Kerry. Not only is he a converted Jew, he is a prominent lawyer for a major Boston law firm which represents many high profile Israeli business interests. Read below for a profile of Cameron Kerry from Forward magazine:

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When Massachusetts Senator John Kerry learned last year that his paternal grandparents in 19th-century Austria had converted to Catholicism from Judaism, one of the first people he called was his younger brother, Cameron.

In an interview at John Kerry's New York headquarters last Friday, Cameron Kerry told the Forward that his family had "an inkling" that they had a Jewish grandmother, but no "concrete" evidence. Furthermore, he said, his grandparents' conversion, which was discovered by the Boston Globe, struck him as "ironic." The younger Kerry, 53, had converted to Judaism from Catholicism in 1983, upon marrying a Jewish woman, Kathy Weinman.

Cameron Kerry, who lives in Boston, was in New York last weekend politicking for his brother in advance of the March 2 New York Democratic primary. One of the campaign's most public faces in the Jewish community, he spent the Sabbath at Manhattan synagogues and stayed in local homes. On Sunday, he and his brother met with some 40 Jewish communal leaders in Manhattan at a gathering that got glowing reviews in the next day's newspapers. The candidate impressed attendees with his knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs and his emotional grasp of the issues. He also got a chance to correct an earlier faux pas, in which he had suggested naming two figures who are unpopular with the Jewish community — former secretary of state James Baker and former president Carter — as possible envoys to the Middle East.

"It was Cam's doing to bring that together and make that happen," said Alan Solomont, a Jewish philanthropist and fund-raiser for Senator Kerry who attended the meeting. "He understood the importance of John getting in front of the community... of showing his incredible intellectual depth."

Cameron Kerry, who said his brother was "supportive" of his decision to convert, has given the senator some first-hand experience with Judaism. Kerry and his wife have raised their two daughters in the Reform tradition, with baby namings and bat mitzvahs. John Kerry attended those functions as a treasured uncle, and while he hasn't celebrated Jewish holidays such as Passover with the family, "he has been to Shabbat dinner," Cameron Kerry said. So, in a historical first, the probable Democratic presidential nominee not only possesses Jewish roots — and, it was discovered last week, relatives who died in Nazi death camps — but some Jewish family experiences.

In a campaign that heralds a "band of brothers," namely the fellow veterans who have flocked to the war hero's camp, it seems fitting that the candidate's biological brother would figure prominently. The brothers are close, so close in fact that the younger Kerry has served as one of his sibling's chief counselors and strategists on all of his campaigns, from his unsuccessful run for Congress in 1972 through some tough subsequent contests. His role as political strategist has turned Cameron Kerry into a story in his own right more than once.

In 1972, in what the family says was a "setup," he was arrested for having broken into a building that housed the campaign's phone lines. A caller had tipped him off to the threat that an opponent would cut the lines, but the police caught Cameron Kerry instead.

A recent New York Times profile examined Kerry's role in the axing of Jim Jordan, his brother's popular campaign manager, comparing him to the late Robert Kennedy, who gained a reputation for ruthlessness as John Kennedy's campaign manager in the 1960 presidential campaign.

James Segel, a Boston Democratic activist who has known Kerry for 30 years, laughed at the comparison.

"Cam is tough, but he doesn't give the impression of being ruthless," Segel said. "I would not compare him in style to the Bob Kennedy of the 1960 campaign. As confidant to the candidate, there's a comparison there. John Kennedy had 110% confidence in Bob, and John Kerry has 110% confidence in Cam."

Segel and others describe the younger Kerry as his brother's eyes and ears on the campaign, "kind of quiet" and "not obtrusive" but with "very good political judgment."

"He gives good, honest advice to his brother, and that's rare, because too often people tell the candidate what they want to hear," Segel said.

A more apt comparison than the Kennedys might be to another dynamic duo, Batman and Robin. The younger Kerry looks like a boyish version of his 60-year-old brother, who stands several inches taller and whose features are craggier. He speaks about Senator Kerry in terms Robin might have used for the caped crusader, too.

"There's nobody I want more by my side in a tough situation than my brother," Kerry said. "That's what his crewmates have seen, and that's what more and more and more people have seen in this country as this campaign has unfolded."

The Kerry campers and others consulted for this article all praised Cameron Kerry as a thoughtful, self-effacing, gentle man. He's even a hero to his rabbi. Rabbi Ronne Friedman of Temple Israel of Brookline, Mass., recounts how last year Kerry's family took the lead in the class project of his daughter's b'nei mitzvah class, to build a playground for an urban school in Roxbury. The family helped raise money, worked with the parents of the school and assembled dozens of volunteers for the construction, according to Friedman.

"He's present in the pew with regard to worship, and whenever time allows has been a student," Friedman said. "He's genuinely an intellect and has an interest in Judaism from an intellectual point of view."

Kathy Weinman Kerry is a member of the synagogue's board and its ritual committee.

Cameron Kerry's Jewish connections also extend to his business life, and have paid off for John Kerry. A telecommunications lawyer, Kerry works at a Boston-based firm, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, although he has taken a leave to work on the campaign. While Mintz Levin is now a diverse, 450-lawyer shop, it was once known as the "Lox et Veritas" firm — a play on the Yale motto "Lux et Veritas" — having been founded in 1933 by Jewish lawyers "who weren't entirely accepted at white-shoe firms," Kerry said. The firm, which built itself up as counselors to the Jewish entrepreneurs of Boston, even now has a big business in helping Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs gain access to American markets.

Kerry has made rain handsomely for his brother at Mintz Levin. Employees of the firm have emerged as the second-largest source of contributions to the candidate in this election cycle, providing a total $113,500 in contributions, according to the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics.

The younger Kerry describes the campaign fund raising in the Jewish community as "very strong," thanks to the efforts of Solomont, national campaign finance chairman Louis Susman and Denver fund-raiser Ron Brownstein.

As a strategist, Cameron Kerry said, the decision of which he is most proud was "to shift gears from being a national campaign to focus on Iowa."

John Kerry's surprise win there started the momentum that has carried his candidacy forward to the point where it appeared to have locked up the Democratic nomination after wins in 9 of the 10 states that voted this week.

But Cameron Kerry may have another role: humanizing the John Kerry often pilloried by the press as stiff and aloof. Kerry said he doesn't recognize that figure.

"He's somebody with very intense personal relationships," he said of the senator. "You can see on this campaign, it's impressive the number of people who have intense loyalties going back a lot of years. It's a reflection of the deeply loyal relationships he has."

"Go on, go to your local Orthodox shul, tell them you weren't born Jewish nor have you had a proper conversion, and see if they let you make aliyah.
On the other hand, if Jerry Seinfeld did make ba'al teshuvah (a complete turn around), he could walk into any shul and they would be pleased to give him an honor.

Non-Jews do not get to dictate how Jews deal with 'in-house' issues."

Would not dream of dictating how anyone deals with 'in-house' or 'outhouse' issues. I just know what is written in the OLD and NEW.

I have read the OLD and this is not Biblical!

You are entitled to your opinion, but this is something that is up to Jews to decide for ourselves.

Oh, and to us, it isn't the "OLD". On FR I usually refer to them as the Hebrew scriptures. But the customary term in Judaism is tanakh, which is an acronym for "Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim" ("Law, Prophets, Writings").

"I have read the OLD and this is not Biblical!
You are entitled to your opinion, but this is something that is up to Jews to decide for ourselves.

Oh, and to us, it isn't the "OLD". On FR I usually refer to them as the Hebrew scriptures. But the customary term in Judaism is tanakh, which is an acronym for "Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim" ("Law, Prophets, Writings")."

I am familiar with the "Law, Prophets, and Writings", as well as the Gospels, the "NEW" which were written base upon the "OLD" or mostly Hebrew scriputres.

Sometimes some females choose the "Hubble option" and the children have different-looking visages. I've read that that's the real reasoning behind Jewish lineage being matrilineal - 'cause no one but the mother really knows who the father was.

as well as the Gospels, the "NEW" which were written base upon the "OLD" or mostly Hebrew scriputres.

I am quite familiar with the Christian scriptures, I just don't accept them as inspired or canonical.

Noah created the world with Gentiles.

There were no Gentiles at the time of Noah, because there were no Jews. There cannot be Gentiles without Jews, right?

Basically Judaism began with Abraham (circumcision) & even more so with Jacob (Israel). Abraham became un-Gentile by virtue of being chosen to be a father of a many. 'Course Abraham became father of the Arabs, too.

All in all, was it not the Law & the Commandments that truly separated the Jews from the pagans/Gentiles?

"Biblical" has nothing to do with Jewish law. Rather the laws are extra-biblical. I would wager that the "Jewish if your mother was Jewish" understanding is not in the Torah, but is in the Talmud.

The two documents are not the same. The Torah is closer to the Christian Bible, but the Talmud is Jewish tradition & law, correct?

"The two documents are not the same. The Torah is closer to the Christian Bible, but the Talmud is Jewish tradition & law, correct?"

Not a student of the "Talmud", cannot speak to its contents, however, as a student of the OLD & NEW (I choose to use that word) I am familar with what is written.

Unfortunately too many Christians know little, maybe a couple of verses here and there from the OLD. The teachers and preachers and priest have not given them that foundation.

Nothing new about it, was written it would be that way.

I would wager that the "Jewish if your mother was Jewish" understanding is not in the Torah, but is in the Talmud.

Which son carried forward the promises made to Abraham? Ishmail the son of Hagar, or Isaac the son of Sarah?

"Biblical" has nothing to do with Jewish law.

"Jewish law" as a whole is grounded in the scriptural commandments, the law of the Torah.

The Torah is closer to the Christian Bible

"The Torah", most precisely understood, is the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

but the Talmud is Jewish tradition & law, correct?

The Talmud provides, among other things, the traditional interpretation of the "law" (commandments) of scripture. Consider it like this: the Torah is comparable to the statutes promulgated by your state legislature, and signed into law by the governor. But the interpretation of the statutes is the purview of the courts. As statutes are applyed in the judicial system, case law is established which becomes precedent for future judicial decisions. The Talmud is akin to "common law" or "case law" -- it is the interpretation of the law of the Torah, and the application of the law to new situations.

Depends on whether one is Jewish, or Arab, garding which son carried the promises. ;) Ishmael had his own set of promises from God, given to his mother, Hagar. None of those promises included the sending of a Redeemer through Ishmael's line.

Just, if a one is speaking to a Jewish person regarding his or her heritage, bringing the New Testament into the argument is foolish. They don't believe the NT. Doesn't matter what YOU believe. Better to stick to the Law, the Prophets & the Writings.

I see what your saying..I always have heard NOAH was referred as a Richteous Gentile. I also understand that the Covenant with Abraham and the commandments given to the JEWS at Mt Siani are what today many JEWS feel are the way to GOD and I do respect that. The TALMUD to me from what I know is not GOD inspired as maybe some of the religious laws of some Christian denominations, rather they were inspired by Man's interpetation...

But I guess it comes down to this for me, when it's all said and done, first and formost ALL human beings have fallen short from the Glory of GOD there is not one human works that we can do that is worthy of his glory.

And as I said before a lving GOD has given us a way to reconcile with him through Jesus Christ and his forgiveness of human SIN. I understand many Jews reject this notion, but I believe as time goes on it will be clear to the Jewish people that Jesus is there Messiah, and that does not take away from there sincerity and the correct way GOD has instructed them to worship from the original Covenant GOD has made with the Jewish people...

You surely are not suggesting that what is written in the OLD does not foretell of what happened in the NEW.

Psalms 22 gives the NEW credibility. Ones belief does not change what was or what is or what will be.

I would suggest to you "IF" Christianity had the instruction and knowledge that is in the OLD they would be utterly stunned. But hey not my duty to enlighten them, all in our Heavenly Father's time. Parable of the SOWER!

As I posted with Malakhi yesterday, the New Testament is not a Book written by Arabs or Buddhists it was written by the Jewish people, some might of rejected the writings but many did not. Look at the travels Paul, Barnabas and Peter made in spreading the GOSPELS...They FIRST went to the largest cities through-out the Midddle East (ANTIOCH) with Jewish populations. In fact after Jesus's resurrection the APOSTLES still did not have a clear idea how to speak with the Gentiles until the HOLY Spirit came upon them.

The great divide with the early Jewish Christians and the bringing of the Gentiles into the church was that many JEWS still thought it was necessary for the Gentile Christians to adhere to the law of Moses, this was long before the Greeks and Romans put there spin on the Church.

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