Brooklyn, NY – Hamodia Analysis: Was It Frustration?

Brooklyn, NY – A day after the elections in the 44th district; after all the racket from truck-mounted speakers and all the colorful impromptu street debates by young (sometimes pre-voting age) and old, occasionally with their black hats precariously hanging onto their hotly contesting heads, our community is sobering up to a new landscape in local politics.

David Greenfield has by all measures scored an impressive victory. He not only succeeded in besting his major opponent in the final victory, he succeeded in changing the way matters should be handled in our community going forward. His victory might even portend a significant social change for a community that traditionally eschews any change.

As it turns out, this was not an election that one could compare to an organized shidduch, with the usual actors getting together and presenting their loyal followers with a fait accompli, and the presumption that all they need to do is to cast their ballots following a pre-arranged script.

Having gotten an earful from dozens of voters, it seems that Greenfield tapped into a strong feeling of raw unarticulated frustration. Anybody familiar with our community and its life’s rhythm during the pre-Pesach season knows what a monumental achievement it was for his campaign to tap into that frustration and bring out such a relatively massive turnout, all that for a position that, in reality, is of little political consequence.

Indeed, after his victory celebration, and in response to a question posed by a reporter for Hamodia as to what he thinks the election represents, Mr. Greenfield responded: “I think it reflects individuals who were frustrated and who wanted something better and wanted the opportunity to work with somebody to try to help the community.”

So, on the day after an election that was supposed to be “in the bag and all wrapped up,” at least according to most of the establishment leadership; “sobering up” should be the operating term in any conversation concerning this outcome. Yeshivah leaders who endorsed Mr. Lazar can blame each other or fellow leaders for what turned out to be a mismanaged, lackluster ‘bedi’eved’ campaign.

But when it comes to leadership, any leadership, it seems that the first order of business is to be in tune with your flock. It is on that score that the election is pointing to a failure of many of our menahalim and chessed administrators in detecting, hearing, or tapping into what is the pervading mood in our community.

On the streets, one could hear those who voiced their frustration at hearing that those who endorsed Lazar were the victims of political arm-twisting. This was not a fair choice between competing persons but rather a puppet-show with faraway political figures pulling strings by proxy. There was a general feeling of discontent created by the economic malaise bearing down so heavily on our community. Maybe it’s all of the above and then some! But it is palpable out there, an un-articulated general frustration.

Those who follow politics in general and the politics of our community in particular know that the desperate needs and demands of the Orthodox community are mostly not in a category that can easily gain popular political support. By hashgachah pratis [Divine providence] our community, the largest frum community outside Israel, finds itself surrounded by a population dominated by a sea of liberalism and traditionally anti-religious folk, both in the City and the State of New York.

We can’t logically expect popular support for our private gender-segregated schools; for our position on how to conduct a bris; or sensitivity to the religious cultural needs of special children. For the longest time it was self-understood that many, if not most, of our needs could only be achieved by — for lack of a better phrase — back-room horse trading. That kind of work can sometimes be compared to the making of salami; the product is good but you don’t want to know how and with what it was made.

To succeed in this work requires great skill and the ability to return a favor. A ‘favor’ in this context means having the ability to deliver to a block of voters who may be not fully ‘aware’ of what is being ‘traded’ in their name. It seems that for the impatient masses and young energetic voters, this kind of wheeling and dealing is getting lost. In a fast-changing world with new communication technologies entering even our community, hopefully a person such as David Greenfield, with his special vision and verbal abilities, can solidify and articulate for the rest of New York City’s citizenry our needs, in a way that will resonate with their own values.

Asked if both sides’ campaigns might have heightened expectations beyond what he might be able to deliver, the newly elected councilman for the 44th district told Hamodia: “I don’t think so. I think people understand that really what we’re doing is our hishtadlus; we never said that we can guarantee that we can get everything done. We can guarantee that we will do everything in our power to try and get it done. And I think that’s what people appreciate.”

We should all join forces and back our new councilman by wishing him success in harnessing his own considerable powers of persuasion in a way that can resonate with others who until now have not shown any inclination to support our particular needs. May Hashem shine His light on your path, Mr. David Greenfield, and mazel tov on your new position.