Ben Waxman has experience that not every politician has. The Pennsylvania state representative, who serves District 182 in the city of Philadelphia, had previous careers as a journalist and a public relations official, which showed him what political communications look like from the other side of the lectern. He said that that time strengthened his appreciation of the first amendment, and stays with him to this day.
“I just think the presence of a free press is such a critical check,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times I have heard an elected official say, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t do that because it could get in the paper.’ I have introduced a couple of bills related to freedom of the press to expand the shield law, so it’s definitely something I think about.”
Waxman is nearing the end of his first term, ahead of the start of his second in December. The 39-year-old from Montgomery County has always cared about the issues above all else. In high school, Waxman had his first foray into politics when he became an advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty.
“I was always interested in criminal justice reform and I became the youth organizer for a statewide anti-death penalty group, and that was the first thing I ever did in political organizing,” he said.
Waxman graduated from Springfield Township High School in 2003 and moved on to Juniata College in Huntingdon, where he maintained his reputation as an involved, thoughtful student leader.
“Juniata was a small school and that gave me a lot of opportunities for different things. [One of those things] was living in New York City for a semester to work,” he said.
That time in New York introduced Waxman to work in the labor movement, of which his mother is a member. He was exposed to the movement as a youth, but never got the chance to participate until he attended Juniata.
“I had a lot of internships, but I was also writing all the time,” he said.
One of his college advisors told him he should send op-eds to the local Huntingdon Daily News. The paper liked the idea, and the columns became popular. Soon, Waxman was writing for papers in Harrisburg. Then, it was the Philadelphia Daily News. When a full-time job opened up at the Daily News, Waxman applied. He spent the next half decade as a political reporter for the outlet.
“The things I was always interested in in high school and college certainly led me to where I am now,” he said.
Waxman’s background informs a lot of the work he does today, but that isn’t to say that all of his values come straight from his upbringing. In fact, the observant Jew grew closer to the religion thanks to his wife.
“I had a bar mitzvah, so Judaism has always been a part of my life, but my marriage to my wife and her passion has brought me closer to it,” he said. “Our synagogue, Beth Zion-Beth Israel, is just a few blocks from where we live, and consider ourselves to be observant.”
Waxman said that the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, which speaks of repairing the world, is a major reason that he entered politics with the ideals that he has. He said that there are only three Jewish elected officials in the city of Philadelphia on a local or state level.
“Across all of Philadelphia, there are three Jewish elected officials, which isn’t necessarily reflective of the population,” he said. “It hasn’t always been like this — it kind of ebbs and flows, but that’s what it is right now.”
Waxman said that, fortunately, the district he represents is largely Jewish, and that allows him to practice his faith and perform the duties of his job with ample understanding from his constituents. Still, he hopes that his religious practices have an impact on non-Jews too.
“I keep Shabbat, so I don’t work events from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, and that’s something that I am still learning to navigate,” he said. “It feels like I am projecting Jewish culture onto the wider world [by how I live].”
Waxman has done more than just talk about how much Judaism means to him, though. He has been integral in the creation of two separate bills that directly advocate for the Jewish community, and plans to propose more in his next term.
The first bill passed was done in collaboration with another Jewish representative and two Muslim representatives, and provided double the amount of funding for security measures at private nonprofits and religious institutions.
“I’m very proud of that because we were able to put together a coalition of impacted communities that includes Jewish representatives, but also Muslim representatives, too,” he said.
The recipients of the most recent round of funding were announced recently, and the list included a number of synagogues, mosques, churches, and other religious buildings.
The second piece of legislation is what Waxman called a largely symbolic but still important gesture.
“Pennsylvania is one of the few states where reparations from the Holocaust are taxed,” he said. “If you or someone in your family gets reparations from the German government, that money is taxed, and we’re one of the only states that does that — so I’ve introduced legislation to eliminate that. There’s obviously a smaller and smaller number of people but it has a symbolic nature and it’s something we’re trying to take a whack at next term.”
For Waxman, public service and profession are one. His purpose is to help other people, and he does it all through a Jewish lens. As he prepares to start his second term, Waxman wants to continue the momentum he has already worked so hard to build up.
“There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity here, and I am excited to be a part of it,” he said.