Delaware Jewish Community on Senator Joe Biden

(lubavitch.com) After hearing from Alaska's Jewish community on Governor Palin, lubavitch.com caught up with its Chabad representative in Delaware to learn about the Democratic candidate for vice-president, Senator Joe Biden, and his relationship with the local Jewish community. 
According to Rabbi Chuni Vogel of Wilmington, who runs the only daily minyan in the state, "Senator Biden has always been very friendly. We always knew that we had a friend in him and could turn to him should the need arise."

Attorney David Margules agrees. Margules is president of Chabad of Delaware and a long-time supporter of the Senator’s various Senate bids over the last 20 years.

“Within the Delaware Jewish community Biden is very well-thought of and liked. He has developed the reputation for being a strong supporter of Israel,” says Margules.

This is an issue close to the heart of the small Jewish community Senator Biden represents in Washington. Although they are few in number, the Jews of Wilmington are active, and many are affiliated with Chabad–the only daily minyan in Delaware which has grown out of Rabbi Vogel’s living room and into its own building last year.

According to Margules, Senator Biden is “very supportive” of the burgeoning Jewish community. He attends events geared to it in various informal and structured settings, such as at the Federation or for briefings at the JCC. When Chabad celebrated its 10th anniversary several years ago, he praised it as “one of the state’s most important examples of charity, community service, and spiritual uplift and a testament to what G-d’s people can do when called upon.”

Margules is emphatic about Biden’s support for the Jewish homeland.

“Nobody should ever question Biden’s commitment to the security of Israel, the American-Israeli relationship, and other issues important to the American Jewish community. And I say this not just as a committed Jew, but as a Republican.”  

As far as Margules is concerned, “It is comforting to know that if Obama wins, voices close to him will be sympathetic to Israel.”