- "I'd like to," she says, "but it's so much trouble...First, I have to get a cab to the airport, and I hate waiting on Queens Boulevard...."

- "Mom! I'm President of the United States! I'll send Air Force One!"

- "Yes, but when we land I'll still have to carry my luggage through the airport... An try to find a cab...And you know what holiday crowds are like..."

- "Mom! I'll have a helicopter pick you up! You'll go straight from the plane to my front lawn!"

- "I don't know... I'd still need a hotel room. And hotels are so expensive; and they're not like they used to be..."

- "Ma! You'll stay at the White House!"

- "And then, you know, all the Kashering of the silverware and the dishes..."

- "Ma! Rabbi Levinson himself is one of my advisors and he can take care of all the details"

- "Well..." She thinks. "I guess. O.K. " she sighs, " I'll come...for you."

That afternoon, she's talking on the phone with one of her friends. "What's new?" The friend asks.

-"I'm visiting my son for Passover."

-"The doctor?"

-"No...the other one."

This masterpiece of Jewish humor has a very good possibility of became a reality if Al Gore wins the elections for President and Joe Lieberman becomes the first Jewish Vice-President of the United States of America. Then, Jewish relatives coming for Passover will not be any longer part of a futuristic scenario but a tangible reality. Mezuzot, a Jewish library and reduced activity not only for Yom Kippur but also for Shavuot and Shemini Atzeret, could easily become part of the daily routine of the White House.

Although there are many important international and Jewish-related events that deserve our attention during these days – among them the chaos in the Middle East, I was -and still am- particularly impressed by the possibility of being part of a country with a Jewish Vice-President.

I know that I am not the only one who has been touched by the announcement, last August. However, I would like to tell you why I see it as a very important milestone in American Jewish life.

I personally met Lieberman in Washington D.C, before the announcement, when a group of twenty Conservative Rabbis visited the Capitol last June and met with him and I was strongly impressed. Active in his local Synagogue, Senator Lieberman possesses a rich Jewish-related vocabulary, and over all, is openly supportive of Jewish causes, without shame and without fear of looking partial. Being Jewish was not an accident in his life but something that defined him as a person and maybe something that brought him to his position in Washington. He spoke slowly, facing his small audience, answering difficult questions, not eluding sharp answers.

Senator Lieberman, in addition, brought with him a religious ingredient. He told us that Jewish senators and representatives meet in one of the Capitol offices once a week with one of the local Rabbis to study Talmud. He also explained to us how being a committed Jew helped him to gain respect from other Jewish and non-Jewish colleagues.

While being Jewish is not any more a taboo in America, to be religious, to wear a Yarmulke while walking in the streets, while ridding public transportation or while shopping in the mall, is still a strange phenomena outside of New York or a few other large cities.

When the generation of our grandparents came to America their main goal was to assimilate the American culture and the English language as soon as possible, in order to find a job, to obtain a position and to be able to send their children to school. In other words, to be accepted.

We know how the Jews who arrived at Ellis Island looked. We know that the majority of them knew how to pray and how to read Hebrew. We know they kept Shabbos and Kosher in Europe and, although poor, they were proud of their Jewish observance and heritage. We also know that things changed slowly and giving up the baggage of religious observance was part of the price they paid to become part of the American society.

The generation that came later, the generation of my parents -a generation that is vastly represented here today- faced another battle. Not now for the acquisition of the English language or the possibility of sending their children to first class colleges. This battle was of a different kind. It was a battle to be accepted by society as Jews. It was the time of the Green Hill Club in Roanoke, of "Dogs, Black and Jews are not allowed here", was a big time for the A.D.L. I strongly believe that it was a well fought battle and it is a fact that our parents won the battle. The Green Hill Club lost its importance and disintegrated when Jews were allowed to become an integral part of the society. The product of this battle is the great involvement of Jewish people in the arts, politics and science.

Our generation faces a different situation. Young Jewish professionals have gone to Ivy League colleges in the USA and today are great lawyers, businessmen, professors and physicians (like the one that every Jewish mother from the previous generation wanted to have as a son, or son in law). Today, young Jews in America, in their thirties or early forties, have achieved almost everything their parents and grandparents dreamed for them. They are successful, competitive and still Jewish.

However, the word "Jewish" here is defined more as the inclusion in a specific social group of people rather than a spiritual –religious essence. Most of our congregations are made from successful Jews with a very diluted, or custom -made Judaism, adapted to the current times.

However, as rabbi Avraham Weiss explains very well:

"Spirituality is a readiness to go against the grain. In fact, the more a synagogue is consistent with contemporary culture, the less it is able to be spiritual. As much as we are part of the contemporary world and can learn from its wisdom, we dare not be swept up by all its values.

One of the main goals in developing synagogues in the twentieth century, was to enable Jews who felt foreign, to feel part of American culture; to feel that they had a religion which reinforces, indeed, glorifies Americanism and democratic values.

Now that we have, thank God, succeeded in America, Jews no longer feel as foreigners. Synagogues now have a unique opportunity to regain their spiritual voice by allowing themselves when necessary, to become counter culture and strive to achieve a distinctiveness in which we can take pride".

And suddenly Joe Lieberman comes into the picture and he does exactly what Rabbi Weiss recommends. In a society where "Jews no longer feel as foreigners" he strives to achieve a distinctiveness in which he takes pride and allows us to take pride. His distinctiveness is not in being Jewish. Kissinger, Albright and Brandeis also are and were Jewish. Lieberman’s distinctiveness is that he is an observant Jew. He become suddenly the prototype of the successful person in America: nominated against many of the predictions to the second highest position in the most powerful country in the world, Lieberman is not only an honest and nice person, but he is also Jewish, and for a change, and observant and traditional Jew.

Lieberman speaks about God because God is a vivid presence in his life. The ADL and many liberal Jews may feel that Lieberman is too Jewish. However, you never can be too Jewish. In addition, Lieberman did not become more religious after the nomination. Torah and Mitzvot were part of his life before the nomination and will be part of his life after.

Voters, Jews and Christian alike, like to see commitment and loyalty in the people they are voting for, and Lieberman has such a commitment. I don’t know how well he will do as a Vice-President, if he wins the elections, but certainly he started very well as a Jew.

I really believe Lieberman’s nomination was one of the most important things that occurred during this past year to Jewish life, not only in America, but in the entire world.

I see in Lieberman’s centrality in American politics, a process of Teshuva, of return, to the Judaism our grandparents brought from Eastern Europe, with the difference that now it is the heritage of successful people, who are not at peace with an easy way of being Jewish. People like Lieberman believe that, as "much as we are part of the contemporary world and can learn from its wisdom, we dare not be swept up by all its values". Moreover, we carry with us a legacy of wisdom, texts and traditions, that can help shape the values of the American society.

With all I have mentioned until now, the real test won’t be in Lieberman’s hands but in ours. As my colleague, Rabbi Mel Glazer says, "It wont matter what kind of Jew will live in the Vice President's house in the coming year; it will matter what kind of Jew will live in your house over the coming year."

Never before have we had the conditions of freedom, wealth and influence that the Jews have today in the USA.

May we be able to use all these blessings to enrich our Jewish life, so that our children will have something concrete and real in their hands to transmit to their children, the way our parents and grandparents tried to transmit their heritage to us.

Gemar Chatima Tova!