26 | APRIL 21 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

he Michigan Legislature’s three 
Jewish members — Rep. Ryan 
Berman (R, 39th District), Sen. 
Jeremy Moss (D, 11th District), and Rep. 
Samantha Steckloff (D, 37th District) are all 
Oakland County natives with strong Jewish 
backgrounds. They are a small minority 
among Michigan’s 110 state representatives 
and 38 state senators. Moss is the only 
Jewish state senator and Berman is the only 
Jewish Republican in the state legislature.
Each day they are reminded of their 
minority status when an invocation is given 
in each legislative chamber. “When the 
prayer ends in ‘in Jesus’ name,
’ you’ve just 
left me out of the prayer,
” Steckloff says. 
Berman says that before COVID, invoca-
tions were typically given by Christian cler-
gy. When it was his turn, he invited Rabbi 
Paul Yedwab of Temple Israel to speak. “I 
had to explain what the rabbi did — not just 
reciting scripture like the Christian clergy.
” 
Steckloff gave a prayer during Sukkot 
that included a description of the pillars of 
the holiday. “Some members 
have never met someone who is 
Jewish,
” she says. 
Being a Jewish legislator 
can be “very isolating due 
to antisemitism from the far 
right and far left,
” Moss says. 
He cites legislators who have 
compared COVID mandates to 
anti-Jewish restrictions during 
the Holocaust, as well as claims 
that Israeli actions toward 
Palestinians are comparable to 
German persecution of the Jews. 
Some comments encroach into antisemi-
tism, he says. “We hear things as antisemitic 
that others don’t hear that way,
” explains 
Moss.
Steckloff says that the line between 
criticism of Israel and antisemitism “was 
crossed too many times,
” referring to 

speeches that were given in the Michigan 
House in May 2021 when there were violent 
clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. 
The state House considered a resolution 
condemning Israel, and she found it diffi-
cult to sit through discussion of the resolu-
tion. 
Moss, who previously served two terms 
in the Michigan House of Representatives, 
says that “there has been 
a major shift in dis-
course” in recent years. 
Previously, Democrats 
and Republicans were 
more likely to come 
together on some issues 
but he describes a “very 
tense atmosphere today. 
I don’t know if I’m 
going to get COVID or 
get shot,
” he says. Moss 
notes that there have 
been armed men in the 
state Capitol, notably 

during an organized protest in April 2020.
Steckloff says that 21 state representatives 
believe that the 2020 election was stolen 
from former President Donald Trump. 
“They believe in conspiracy theories, and 
they are very loud. 
“Decorum is no longer there — there is 

swearing, yelling — no respect for the insti-
tution.
” 

LEGISLATING IN LANSING
Berman notes that “there isn’t much interac-
tion across the aisle of the legislature,
” where 
representatives of the two parties are seated 
in separate areas. When seeking Democratic 
co-sponsors for a bill, he was surprised at 
the negative reaction 
from fellow legislators. 
“I hate the partisanship. 
I like to put people over 
politics,
” he says.
Despite political divi-
sions, Moss says that 
most bills are passed 
unanimously or by a 
large majority. He adds 
that he “serves with a 
lot of great people from 
both sides.
” 
Moss and Steckloff 
say that as Jews they feel 
a special obligation to 
educate their colleagues 
about potential “unin-
tended consequences” 
of some legislation. As 
an example, Moss cited 
a bill providing state 
funding to faith-based 
adoption agencies that could have rejected 
Jewish couples as adoptive parents. 
Another bill concerned the handling of 
human remains. The bill’s sponsors were 
unfamiliar with Jewish law that all human 
remains are sacred and require burial. 
As recently as 2013, Michigan had five 
Jewish members in the state house and sen-
ate. “Term limits (the state law that limits 
the number of terms served by state repre-
sentatives and senators) reduces diversity,” 
Moss says.
Each of the Jewish legislators has par-

Three Jewish state legislators strive to be effective 
in a challenging environment.

Making a Difference in Lansing

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ABOVE: 
Jeremy Moss 
and Samantha 
Steckloff

LEFT: Ryan 
Berman speaks in 
Lansing

