The presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) released an open letter to the Jewish community, signed by nearly 70 Jews across the state -- including religious leaders, elected officials and party activists -- asking for support for the lawmaker in his April 22 Keystone state showdown with U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)
"We have each chosen to pray with our feet and stand with Barack Obama because he is sensitive to the issues of the Jewish community and a stalwart supporter of Israel," read the letter, which was released on March 31 and signed by, among many others, State Rep. Josh Shapiro (D-District 153) and State Rep. Daylin Leach (D-District 149.)
The letter praised Obama's response to the controversy surrounding his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who has made comments blasting Israel and who also reprinted a Hamas-written opinion piece in a church newsletter.
"While we are profoundly disturbed by the unpatriotic, bigoted and anti-Semitic comments of the retired pastor of Sen. Obama's church, we are moved that Barack stood up at the National Constitution in Philadelphia ... and expressed his own views on issues near and dear to the heart and soul of the Jewish community," the letter continued.
http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/15799/