By Ben Sales
Then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks before President Joe Biden takes the stage to speak on his Safer America Plan at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Aug. 30, 2022. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(JTA) — When he was elected governor of Pennsylvania in 2022, Josh Shapiro declared victory by quoting a famous adage from Pirkei Avot, an ancient code of Jewish ethics.
Now, after losing the battle to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, Shapiro has turned to the same adage, attributed to Rabbi Tarfon, a sage who lived nearly 2,000 years ago.
“Since I first ran for State Representative 20 years ago, I’ve been called to serve because I want to leave our community, our Commonwealth, and our country better off for our children – and because my faith teaches me that no one is required to complete the task, but neither are we free to refrain from it,” Shapiro, who is Jewish, said in a statement Tuesday morning, following reports that Harris had chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential nominee.
The quotation — “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it” — is generally taken as a reassurance to those facing monumental or seemingly unreachable goals. It has become a mainstay of Jewish activist circles across the political spectrum.
Shapiro’s statement came after a two-week period when he was thought to be one of the frontrunners in Harris’ veepstakes. By Monday, he and Walz were reportedly the final two contenders. The distinction between them had been framed as a choice between one swing-state governor — Shapiro — with a reputation for centrism and bipartisanship, and another — Walz — with a folksy demeanor and cachet with the party’s progressive wing.
Rumors that Shapiro was the leading candidate ignited a campaign by progressives to sink his bid, focused on his support for Israel, his criticism of pro-Palestinian college student protesters, and his positions that buck Democratic norms. Several of Shapiro’s Jewish allies, noting that Walz also has a pro-Israel record, suggested that the anti-Shapiro effort was antisemitic. No parallel anti-Walz campaign emerged in the public eye.
Shapiro, who went to Jewish day school and remains involved in his Philadelphia-area Jewish community, didn’t address those allegations in his statement, which said he had gone through Harris’ vetting process and “was grateful to have the opportunity to speak with the Vice President directly about her vision for the role and the campaign ahead.”
He added, “As I’ve said repeatedly over the past several weeks, the running mate decision was a deeply personal decision for the Vice President and it was also a deeply personal decision for me.”
He congratulated Walz and his wife, whom he referred to as “Tim and Gwen,” and whom he called “good friends of ours.” He wrote that Harris “has my enthusiastic support,” and he pledged to campaign for her in Pennsylvania, seen by many analysts as a must-win state. He said he would appear at a rally with Harris later on Tuesday in Philadelphia, where she will publicly appear with Walz as her running mate.
Shapiro took office at the beginning of last year, and recommitted in his statement to serving as Pennsylvania’s governor, referring back to the Rabbi Tarfon passage.
“Pennsylvanians elected me to a four-year term as their Governor, and my work here is far from finished there is a lot more stuff I want to get done for the good people of this Commonwealth,” he wrote. “In just 19 months, we’ve made a meaningful, positive impact in peoples’ lives, and I’m proud of how Americans all across the country have taken notice of what we’re accomplishing here in Pennsylvania.”
