by Rabbi Elie Mischel
The Lone Ghost Tree, in Tel Lachish National Park (Shutterstock.com)
Let’s be honest – we all laughed at John Fetterman. The 6’8″ ogre in gym shorts and a hoodie, stumbling through sentences after his stroke, somehow won a Senate seat in Pennsylvania. We watched in disbelief as this slovenly giant shuffled onto the Senate floor looking like he’d just rolled off his couch. Conservative commentator Rich Lowry scorched him: “It wouldn’t be acceptable at many fraternity events around the country. Philadelphia Eagles fans dress more carefully on game days.”
We sneered. We mocked. We dismissed him as an embarrassment to the United States Senate.
And we were dead wrong.
Since Hamas butchered 1,200 Jews on October 7, including babies in their cribs, this “embarrassment” of a senator has become a towering moral voice. While progressive Democrats abandoned Israel and Harvard’s president fumbled through congressional testimony about whether calling for Jewish genocide violated university rules, Fetterman stood firm. He plastered his office walls with photos of Hamas’ hostages. He wore dog tags to demand their release. He confronted antisemitism head-on, even disowning his own alma mater Harvard for its weakness in the face of Jew-hatred. This man we ridiculed for his appearance has shown more backbone than those in perfectly pressed suits. And now, remarkably, President Trump himself has embraced Fetterman after a meeting at Mar-a-Lago. “He’s a commonsense person. He’s not liberal or conservative. He’s just a commonsense person, which is beautiful,” Trump declared, praising Fetterman’s love for Pennsylvania and America. The man once dismissed by so many has earned respect across political lines.
The Bible warned us about this exact mistake 3,000 years ago. When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel, Samuel was sure he’d found him in David’s older brother – tall, handsome, looking every inch a king. But God rebuked his prophet:
The Hebrew phrases used here – yireh la’einayim (sees only what is visible) versus “yireh la’leivav” (sees into the heart) – carry two distinct meanings. The biblical commentator Rashi notes that these words contained God’s sharp criticism of Samuel: “Even though you called yourself ‘seer,’ for you said to Saul, ‘I am the seer,’ here I inform you that you do not see.”
Along these lines, Rabbi Meir Wisser explains that “la’einayim” (only what is visible) refers not just to physical sight but to surface-level understanding – the quick judgments we make based on appearance, speech, and social status. In contrast, “la’leivav” (into the heart) speaks to the core essence of a person – their moral courage, their integrity, their willingness to stand for truth regardless of cost. In other words, this verse isn’t just about avoiding superficial judgment – it’s about training ourselves to see as God sees, to look for the divine spark in every human being, even those who seem furthest from our expectations.
The next king wouldn’t be the tallest or most handsome. He would be David, the shepherd boy who wrote psalms in the fields. The one nobody expected. The one who looked nothing like a king.
Sound familiar?
Those of us who pride ourselves on traditional values and principles fell into the same trap as Samuel. We judged Fetterman by his hoodies and shorts, his rough speech, his progressive politics. We couldn’t see past the surface to the moral clarity burning in his heart.
God doesn’t care about dress codes or polished sentences. He sees the courage to stand up for truth when others run away. He sees the willingness to defend the innocent when it costs you politically. He sees the heart.
The next time we rush to judge someone by their appearance or stumbling words, remember the prophet Samuel’s mistake. Remember John Fetterman – the hoodie-wearing giant who turned out to be a warrior for Israel and a defender of American workers. God’s greatest servants rarely come in the packages we expect. Sometimes they show up in Carhartt and gym shorts, ready to do what’s right.
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Rabbi Elie Mischel is the Director of Education at Israel365. Before making Aliyah in 2021, he served as the Rabbi of Congregation Suburban Torah in Livingston, NJ. He also worked for several years as a corporate attorney at Day Pitney, LLP. Rabbi Mischel received rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Mischel also holds a J.D. from the Cardozo School of Law and an M.A. in Modern Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He is also the editor of HaMizrachi Magazine.
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