New York – Opinion: Politics and Government, Keep Religion Out of It

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     Ezra Friedlander, CEO Friedlander GroupNew York – First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ezra Friedlander, and I am the Chief Executive Officer of the Friedlander Group, a government relations firm with clients that serve the Orthodox community. I begin by telling you this so you should understand where I’m coming from. I do not consider myself a community askan or a leader. I don’t come to you with any agenda. But after working for many years with political and community leaders, I have gained some insight into the political process which I would like to share with the readers of Hamodia.

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    Recently, our community has taken a strong interest in elections and political campaigns. This in itself is a positive development. At the same time, it requires us as a community to take this process very responsibly. It’s not enough to dabble in politics. We have to know what we’re doing.

    The world of politics is not pure or holy by any means. It is largely based on compromise. Very often we have to compromise on issues and on principles that mean a lot to us. It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s the only way for us to accomplish our goals. Anyone who knows anything about politics will tell you this. If they don’t, they are misleading you at best or lying to you at worst.

    Recently, we’ve seen members of our community debating on whether to support candidates who hold certain positions on social issues that do not conform with our standards. The issues range from abortion to same gender marriage. As Torah Jews, we certainly know precisely where we stand on these issues. And, as far as we are concerned, our positions on these issues are unyielding and uncompromising. This is what distinguishes us as Orthodox Jews.

    But when it comes to the political process, it is unproductive to bring these values to the mainstream. It just doesn’t work. Sometimes we feel that if we support a certain Conservative candidate, we’re taking the higher ground. This is a mistake, especially in New York State. Not everything is as it appears. If we were to scratch beneath the surface we would find that most of these candidates have very similar outlooks as the Liberals, only they couch their views in different terms. Recently we’ve seen individuals in our community who have endorsed certain candidates only to discover that their opinions did not conform with our standards at all. In the end they accomplished nothing. Here’s a little secret. Campaigns are all about winning. As far as our community is concerned, nothing else should matter.

    There are those among us who are critical of our askonim who advocate for government funding for various organizations. They claim that we are making deals with politicians who don’t necessarily share our values in the interest of receiving funds for our organizations and institutions. That we are compromising ourselves. Is this justifiable? My answer is absolutely yes! As a government relations consultant, I have watched the process work on our behalf. At the end of the day, it is the elected officials who represent us that fund and regulate the gamut of social services ranging from children who are developmentally delayed to adults who are in dire need of financial assistance. I challenge anyone to tell me that we are willing to give up the funding for a Group Home because we want to make a point.

    I do not have the authority to speak in the name of our community’s Rabbonim, but I’ve been around the block many times in terms of interaction with government officials and I’ve seen how it works. I’ve also seen Rabbonim of today as well as of yesteryear who never expressed concern about social issues. Whether an elected official was married to a Jew or not was not on their agenda. Their agenda was – Can you be helpful to my community? Can your office/position allow us to raise our children and our families in the ways dictated by our mesorah? That was their primary concern. They did not feel it was incumbent upon them to enlighten the world about our religious values. It was never the derech of our Rabbonim to try to influence the greater society around us. Unfortunately today we see misguided askonim manipulate Rabbonim for their own personal agenda, tricking them into thinking that the position of an elected official will translate into an official government action detrimental to our community. Just because it supports their interests in a particular political campaign.

    I am not writing this as a Democrat or a Republican or a Conservative or a Liberal. But since we’re on the subject, let me bring up another point. It can be argued that those elected officials who recognize lifestyles that are not in accordance with our Torah values are often the very same ones who will fight for the right of observant Jews to maintain our religious lifestyle without discrimination. This may sound paradoxical but it’s true. In many cases it is indeed the ‘detested liberals’ who show sensitivity to our way of life. Many of them have been attacked in the Jewish media as individuals who should not be supported by us. I am saying that we must be practical and look at all sides of the issues.

    Recently, certain organizations have been pressured by self-proclaimed askanim not to engage with elected officials who don‘t share our Torah ideology. These activists have no budget to meet and have no constituency yet their opinions are reaching the masses thanks to the wonders of modern technology. They attack our organizations for engaging certain elected officials or giving them a platform. My response to them is that the result of their efforts may lead to a candidate’s or elected official’s decision to write off the Orthodox community completely. They may just decide that we’re simply not worth the aggravation. Then what will happen? Organizations won’t have the funding that we so desperately need and the so-called activists will not be able to effect the legislation that they are so concerned about.

    Do we need the funding? Absolutely! We have a tuition crisis on our hands. We have to fight for funding, not push it away. Just because we endorse certain candidates that doesn’t mean we are endorsing their lifestyle as private citizens. We are endorsing them for the sole purpose of their ability to enhance the quality of life for our community.

    At the end of the day, here’s the reality. The Orthodox community is a very small minority in a city of eight million residents and a state of 19 million people. Our numbers cannot effect massive change. But if we stand united, we can indeed protect our community and insulate our children from outside influences through the legislative and political process. As a result, we will be able to raise our children in the Torah way of life.

    I write this purely as an observer of the political process. I am not interested in criticizing anyone of any political persuasion. But I am in the business of representing clients who are funded and regulated by government agencies which are controlled by elected officials. On a personal level, I feel that if we don’t take a responsible approach to the political process, we will ultimately lose out.

    Sure it’s easy to criticize. All you need to do is sign on to a blog or write an anonymous letter to the editor. You can vent about anything you want. But before you do that, I challenge you to walk into any organization that feeds the hungry, educates children with autism, or provides therapy and homecare for children with developmental disabilities. See the pain of these parents if they are told by the organization that there is insufficient funding for their child. Now witness what happens when an elected official intervenes on behalf of this organization to a government agency. See what happens when that no turns into a yes. Often this is based solely on the fact that our community voted for this official or supported him or engaged in a dialogue with him.

    Now what would happen if the elected official did not have a relationship with the community? Would you be able to look these parents in the eye? And for what? All because of a single issue or legislation that would be passed anyway. We can’t use singular issues, as important as they are to us on a personal level, as a litmus test to pass judgment on government officials. Making a moral statement without achieving your goals is just not worth it.

    If we look back in history we will find that it was common for the Rabbonim and community leaders of the past to meet and interact with the rulers of the land they lived in. I think we can safely assume that they did not impose a litmus test on these rulers’ values. Now that we are living in a democratic nation, we have a right to express our opinions and that’s a wonderful thing. However, let’s not drag our proudly held religious beliefs into it. It only serves to cheapen them.

    We live in a troubled society with many social ills. The best we can do is to strive to raise our families in our sacred traditions. Remember the famous statement of the Sanzer Rov. “I wanted to change world, but I couldn’t. Then I thought I could change my country, but I couldn’t. After that, I thought I could change my city, but I couldn’t do that either. And finally I wanted to change my family, and that didn’t work. That’s when I realized that the best I can do is change myself.”

    We are not obligated to try and change the world. Let’s do our best to raise our children properly within the framework of the society that we live in. If we can do that, we have accomplished a lot.

    Ezra Friedlander is CEO of The Friedlander Group, a boutique public and government relations company headquartered in NYC speclizing in the representation of non-for-profit and corporate clients. He may be contacted at: [email protected]


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    36 Comments
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    13 years ago

    i agree

    Aryeh
    Aryeh
    13 years ago

    Kol ha kavod! I think that this message opens up a world of opportunity for us to vote for parties outside the Rep/Dem framework. Once we decouple our moral outlook from our best interest, we find a completely new list of people to vote for.

    13 years ago

    Mr. Friedlander is wrong. Winning is not everything. It may ahead of all other concerns, but we, the frum community, should not sell our souls for the “all mighty dollar” that we’ve been promised by some politician looking for votes. I’m imvolved with a local chesed organization and I’m terribly disturbed to see all of these s-called askanim constantly “kissing up” to politicians. It makes me sick. Whether they do it for the possiblity of money that may come their way, or more likely, for the kovod and ego of getting their picture on the web, it is not the derech of our forefathers.

    moshe43
    moshe43
    13 years ago

    The authors assertion that Gedolim of yesteryear did not care about social issues when deciding on endorsing a candidate is false they cared very much and they would have never given an endorsement to a candidate who’s beliefs where pro abortion and pro gay because they could possibly help institutions with public funding. The Jewish community can not and should not be about money we stand for what is right and what is wrong in society. Besides, the organizations will be better off in the long run if a fiscally responsible person is running the show rather then some socialist who just likes to hand out public money because remember all public money is coming from the tax payers pockets.

    13 years ago

    Bravo, Mr. Friedlander,
    You are a true askan despite that you claim you are not. Thank you for reminding us not to lose the forest for the trees. It is important t o support our politicins who will get our agenda out there and allow us to continue living the way we are fortunate to. Keep up the good work!!

    Nobama
    Nobama
    13 years ago

    Nice to see a person with his head screwed on straight, very well said!

    13 years ago

    What a beautifully written and meaningful article. Too bad that many of us didn’t read this before the election.

    Askupeh
    Askupeh
    13 years ago

    On the whole Ezra is right, but I would disagree on a few points. One is that we are obligated to try and change the world. What that entails is up to debate. If we take a don’t-ask-don’t-tell approach with our politicians then they will install Sedoim-on-the-Hudson as they are already far into the process. On the other hand when mayor Koch came to the renaming of Bobov Promenade street and a handful few came to protest Koch, the Bobover Rov said that when I look for a good plumber I am not Boidek his Tzitzis, meaning that politicians are plumbers and we need the one that can do the job best.

    charliehall
    charliehall
    13 years ago

    Well said.

    13 years ago

    Well written but wrong.
    The chilul hashem is tremendous that orthodox Jews are voting in huge numbers for someone who says that they will support gay marriage. Its not about someones personal lifestyle,Mr. Friedlendar. Its about making it a law. and what should gentiles say when they see that orthodox Jews don’t care about Sodom and Gomorrah.
    Also,when politicians come for the orthodox Jewish bloc votes,lets say boro park that delivers like 8000 votes, if we would tell them that we cant vote because you support gay marriage, you think they would walk away or they will not vote for that disgusting sin to become a law?
    Same goes for williamsburg,Monsey,KJ etc.
    Senator Clinton went to New Square for a mere 1300 votes in a state of 19 million. So Friedlendar is nothing more the a Jewish politician with a goishe kup

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    He speaks emes…the so called “gadolim” of old or their contemporary counterparts have to focus on whats best for klal yisroel. That means they have to hold their nose and get up close and intimate with some dreche politicians whose personal values and lifestyles are not to be emulated in order to get the outcomes the kehillah needs from the political system. Look at EY where rabbonim like Eliyahshiv and Yosef compete with one another for government subsidies for their followers rather than worrying about whats right based on daas torah.

    JamesDean
    JamesDean
    13 years ago

    R’ Ezra, while I agree with most of what you say, we do a disservice to ourselves when we speak out of both sides of our mouth. I have some experience as I was once an elected official.

    If we want to have the flexibility to endorse who we want for the reasons we do, we cannot take public positions on certain moral issues that we KNOW our candidates have a strong political position that disagrees with our moral position. This is especially true when we do it in a way that turns off the populace.

    For example, the recent election for Governor in Lakewood highlighted the problem. The Kehila’s Rabbinical and Political leadership felt the better candidate was the incumbent, the blogs were full of discontent with his political position of an issue that we are strongly morally against and the same leadership called for public protest on the issue. Ergo, the populace voted for the other candidate.

    Our Rabbinical and Political leadership either needs to stick to its moral guns or keep quiet on these types of issues. Therefore, I humbly suggest the Agudah no longer challenge the issue of gay marriage if they want to support candidates like Mr. Cuomo. They look like hypocrites.

    right-of-center
    right-of-center
    13 years ago

    I agree with Mr. Friedlander on abortion, but disagree on toiva marriage, especially vigorous enforcement.

    1. If society around us is descending, it has a strong influence on our young r”l. Officially recognizing depravity makes it much worse.

    2. Talking about funding, we can easily lose government support because we descriminate against gay couples who claim to be religious, or even because of our refusal to teach our kids tolerance for immorality. Also, I know of at least 1 case where a judge claimed falsely that lesbian lifestyle is not against theTorah. What about housing descrimination against same gender couples? What about foster / adoptive homes for traditional abandoned children?

    Alot of your criticism was implicitly directed against Yehudah Levin. I agree he goes too far. But completely ignoring this issue is also wrong.

    Your claim that Rabbonim of yesteryear did not make morality an issue is misguided. First of all, many of them did make it an issue, as evidenced by signed posters. Also, gay rights, which was the issue only a few years ago, is a far cry from gay marriage.

    13 years ago

    Reb Chaim Kanievssky, Shlita instructed the voters in Lakewood that one may not vote for an individual Jew that married out of the religion. That individual has been removed from Lakewood politics. Reb Chaim said further “that they should not vote for him on a State level either thats how to make a kidush-Hashem”

    boropark1
    boropark1
    13 years ago

    Ezra ! Are you making fun of your self ? Is the problem why the oylim is fed up with the so called askunim because they support for office someone not with our values ? We don’t even believe that our next door chaver shares my value forgot about a local politician

    The reason we are fed up with the old askunim is two fold

    # 1. As you wrote so nicely that politics is sometimes not a nice business , we here in brooklyn have two types of askunim , one is really representing his khilla or org. And looks out only what is good for them like a belz asken looking out for belz and pupa looking out for pupa or each satmar looking out for themselves , and they understand that once they have to give and sometimes they take ! This is very reasonable and yosher

    Then there is asken # 2 , he only looks out for himself while at the same time he does good work for the klall ! But since he needs to survive in his field , he will pit one khila against the other when it is in his own interest , he will crush any other jew trying to help another jew if he feels that his position can be weakened

    While both of the above type of askunim make mistakes once in a while (the same way we all do) however while asken # 1 will have to give a din v’chesbon for his kehilla or rabunim ! Asken # 2 does not answer to no one and will do it as long as he likes it and its wrong

    Another thing that we all see is that some major org. That used to represent up with pride and we all looked up to them , started to take us for granted and did not work for us full time , they became busy with good issues but not what they should do while representing up

    Ezra next time we talk I will tell you more about this subject , but since you are doing this for a living , tell your clients that the only way to go forward is to look backwards

    Boro park was ignored and taken for granted by a few good people that forgot why we trusted them to represent us

    They can still sit down and turn things around because I really believe in their hearts they only mean good

    I will call you tonight Ezra

    Mandel
    Mandel
    13 years ago

    Well written… we the Williamsburg community needs a person like Ezra to work for us and represent us,
    If we just follow community’s Rabbonim the voting booths would be empty, you never see local Rabbonim at the voting places,
    This belongs to organizations that represents all of us equally….

    stavnitzer
    stavnitzer
    13 years ago

    You are wrong!!! Politicians typically are junkies who don’t care about the good of the people “they care about their jobs”. If we show that we stand up for what means a lot to us and we do so at the polls (like ehrlicheh yidden did this week and voted in 3-1 for the candidate who doesn’t openly say “turn NY into sedom”) they might think twice or ten times before coming out with a garbage message or support. They might see that losing a block vote (if only we voted) might not be beneficial to them.
    And as a voter, I would rather use the influence to benefit the general public and not these special groups (which by the way do a lot of good). By pushing the agenda of autistic children you are giving up the fight for the “all” parents who are struggling on a daily basis. Of course it’s an easy way to gain a nice write up in the local paper and make the politician who rubbed shoulders with a local bum to convince him that “ALL” of the chasidim will vote for him. Now when real issues like vouchers/tuition housing taxes etc comes up, which affects ALL of us, there are no shoulders to rub anymore cause the brownie points are used up.
    We have to stop thinking in a box and look at long term

    Paskunyak
    Paskunyak
    13 years ago

    Ezra,

    Is this what your father taught you? Is this what you learned in your yeshiva? To give up your morals and Torah values for money?

    I read your rambling article and re-read it. You should be ashamed of yourself! Are you rebelling against Yiddishkeit? You criticize all who take a moral position and tell them that if they want to find favor with politicians they must also be ‘politicians’ and ‘prostitutes’.

    Is this what you want your kids to learn? Is this what you want future generations of Yidden to learn and emulate? Anything goes as long as you get your buck???

    Your article is disgusting!

    If your organization can’t make ends meet, CLOSE IT DOWN NOW! The fiscally responsible organizations will survive while the wasters and big spenders will end up in the trash bins of history.

    I personally knew Rabbonim who would not take a check from Yidden who were not Shomrei Torah V’Mitzvohs. ALL their moisdos are flourishing today.

    Put your trust in Hashem not in politicians!

    No matter how much you kiss-up to the politicians ONLY Hashem will decide what your share of this world will be.

    joojy
    joojy
    13 years ago

    Hmmm
    So what Rav Friedlander is saying is that we as a group can publicly endorse a candidate who espouses gay marriage just so we can get an earmark??!??
    We are a minority of a minority – us frum orthodox Jews. The world knows deep down that we are different and special. The things that we as a group do are looked at and magnified by the world. Any 2nd grader can tell you that in camp before a trip it is ingrained in every child’s head not to make a chillul Hashem – ‘The whole world is watching’.
    And now comes Rav Friedlander and he paskens that “it’s all lishmah – we just want an earmark – we don’t necessarily endorse their views”. Guess what Rav Friedlander – The whole world now sees that the orthodox Jews are endorsing a pro gay-marriage candidate. And just because it might be the “PC” thing to do it is still a massive chillul Hashem.
    And if there is a ‘Rosh Yeshiva’ or a ‘Gadol’ that disagrees with that, then I think maybe it’s because they are very ‘nogaeh bedover’ just as Rav Friedlander himself is nogaeh bedover’

    lakewooder
    lakewooder
    13 years ago

    There is a clear difference between a Goy who has unacceptable beliefs. We have not given up on any Yid and we are truly pained by the fact that Bloomberg lives with a shiksa. If we truly felt this pain we would never be able to have anything to do with him, especially as he believes himself to be a kosher jew. However, a goy who believes in deviant marriages, too bad for him. We have no arvus for him and we do not care.

    iPullTeeth
    iPullTeeth
    13 years ago

    Let me start by saying I respect your organization and what you do, I wish you continued success.Much of what your article stated might very well be true, however we’ve all grown accustomed to this modern idea that the government owes me just about everything. Many in our community (I’m not sure if there’s a levelheaded syntactic on this) take advantage of all sorts of government benefits. Including Medicate, Food Stamps, Section 8,WIC and more… Regardless of the candidate elected, you won’t lose any of those any time soon. I’m not going to debate if our community at large is taking advantage of these programs in a justified or legal approach. A few years back NYC had a pilot program which offered School vouchers. Last I checked all school accepted them and conveniently continued to charge the very parents tuition. Last I checked, I don’t know many who consult with Rabbonim on tax or market advise, why would you take their political directives? they have no business getting involved in gutter politics. If anyone ever reported them (for making political endorsements) they would lose their tax exempt status they so much enjoy. Look at your own circumstance, if you’re on every government program, go ahead and vote for that liberal candidate. If you’re a working shlob (like myself) and any $14,000 on health insurance annually choose the conservative.

    sanzerbubby
    sanzerbubby
    13 years ago

    Ezra is forgetting something- our principles should come before politics. When my grandfather came to the U.S.,in 1925,he turned down a check for $25,000, (a fortune in those days) because the donor was not shomer shabbos. If we compromise on our principles, what sets us apart? only our chasidishe levush!

    stavnitzer
    stavnitzer
    13 years ago

    At this point BP has spoken very clearly in the past election. We voted in great numbers (block vote style) for what we believe and stand for. We voiced our disgust with the politicians (and their so called puppet askonim) who’s platform was toaivah. Although the candidate lost, we in BP won. Politian’s know if they make “all” of us happy they will get a block vote. If they don’t they will get the raw end of the block vote.
    The voters have for some time now (as we saw in the last councilman elections) made it very clear, we don’t vote as we are told. We vote as we see, feel and decide what is important for us.
    For Ezra hachochom to make a stupid comment that we don’t care (or shouldn’t care) about social issues is ludicrous. As the general world stoops to a new low, we have a harder time to be mechanech our little ones.
    Ezra and company, askonim like you need to understand that by scoring a picture with some junk politician you disgust all of us. We don’t approve it and we will say it again and again at the polls.
    Stop working for yourselves and start working for the “entire” klal.

    mordechaiinJerusalem
    mordechaiinJerusalem
    13 years ago

    Who is you political rebba who taught you politics?

    PUBLICSAM
    PUBLICSAM
    13 years ago

    “There are those among us who are critical of our askonim who advocate for government funding for various organizations. “

    The problem we have is, that the organizations decide who is “good for our community” based on how much money they get from that politician. They ignore not only the moral issues, but also the fiscal policy positions of these candidates. Sometimes, what is good for these organizations, is not good for the people in the community who try to work for a living. Maybe it is “good for our community” for these organizations to get less money, and then the people in our community will have enough money to give them some donations. The net result for the organizations may be the same or even better, while the rest of “our community” will benefit as well.

    HedgeYid
    HedgeYid
    13 years ago

    Ezra,

    Your commentary is appreciated for the purpose of intellectual discourse. however, I must disagree on some points and interestingly enough it is about money. The Effective tax rate for a NYC resident is north of 55%. As a community (especially one that has limited advanced education) also garner a disproportionate amount of overall wealth. In addition to great wealth as a community we give a disproportionate share of our after tax income to Tzedaka. All of the scare tactics used convince voters that they should vote democrat, who routinely push taxes up to create new programs are hurting those same institutions you are claiming to defend. If our wealthiest donors could keep 10-15% more of their wealth many of those institutions (boys homes, Masbia and the like) would still be supported, but the “New York” middle class (In NYC a person making $250,000 is middle class, sorry to break the news to President Obama) would have more money and buy power. Additionally, you brought up our overburdened parent body. Interestingly enough, the Dems are the ones opposed to Charter Schools, and Vouchers. Additionally, unlike the Dems/Reps of old Reps today will fight for religious freedom.

    scmaness
    scmaness
    13 years ago

    the lubavitcher rebbe disagree with you,however he says it should be done with warmth,we can changed opinions! we can changed people and the rebbe has done and we con’t to do it. make this world holy! we want the geula!

    13 years ago

    It seems he’s saying that since we’re in New York, we cannot effect massive change ourselves and so we must make deals with the devil in order to get our money. And this is absolutely fine because Da’as Torah says the funding is all that matters. Also, if we do not compromise then we are personally responsible for the lack of funding for Tzedakos. But why assume that we cannot affect massive change. Our “few” votes do count. Who says we can’t elect a conservative candidate? There are very tight races, especially on the very local levels. And why can’t we stick to our principles and get funding too? Do you really think that if we vote for a conservative who wins then we will not get these things? And do we lose our funds if liberals win without our votes? And liberals do not always deliver anyways. Really, is any liberal going to get us school vouchers? Beyond that, there is the most important factor of the Chilul Hashem of Orthodox Jews openly supporting those who have anti-Torah values in exchange for money. And is this really Da’as Torah? I do not know that every Gadol would agree with this idea of compromise.

    13 years ago

    For the most part, I agree with R’ Ezra, though perhaps for a different reason.

    We cannot custom order a politician. Anyone running for office will have issues I agree with and others I don’t. I believe it to be irresponsible to vote for a candidate because of a single issue. Furthermore, many of these “social issues” are beyond the domain of that politician to influence. It a serious argument whether one elected official has such a major influence on the morality of the street.

    I am not so sure that money issues should rank so close to the top for our individuals and organizations of askanus, but it needs to be on the list. I would only expect that we use respected and educated daas Torah to guide us in setting the priorities.

    I appreciate Rav Friedlander’s essay, as it sheds light on the process we discuss and opine about. It is prudent that he doesn’t provide us the answers either, just the way to ask the questions. Thank you for the eye opener.

    Truth
    Truth
    13 years ago

    Since you claim to be a macher for our rights as Jews. Why don’t you ask your federal politician friends -why they don’t support vouchers -which would be good for those struggling with tuition in our community? Also, ask them how come Shabbos discrimination is alive and well in this so-called “free” country of ours? Why do they allow federal Judges to throw out any Shabbos case under the guise of “undue hardship”? This “undue hardship” clause from the Supreme Court should have been overturned by Congress in the seventies! So you tend to portray the current lawmakers as whatever they do is their business, nothing to do with us. You see just from the two examples above, that it is your Neigious that is talking, not the TRUTH!

    13 years ago

    Contrary to what many here are arguing, the issue is not “selling out” for money, but selling short for principle. There’s a very big difference between the two.

    The sad fact is, the Republican representation in New York City is pathetic, almost nil. The leadership of our kehillos and mosdos have a responsibility to ensure – and insure – that our institutions and communities function. Askanim don’t deal with theory but real lives. And they understand full well that squandering the ability to grab the hands of those who will inevitably win office would ultimately leave us in a very vicarious position. Rest assured, after Election Day, all of the candidates whose values we as a community agree with, will, understandably, all but disappear. Theory, after all, only goes so far.

    Our askanim also understand that although our communities continue to grow exponentially, we are but a small but colorful blip on the New York political map. That’s even truer, nationally. We need the politicians more than they – currently – need us. When the “ultra-Orthodox” community grows to the size of our Catholic counterparts, well, that would be very different.

    13 years ago

    While many argue: “Chillul Hashem, chillul Hashem!” Do we honestly believe that the average person cares what our political habits are enough to think the issue would even warrant scrutiny? In the media, when the need arises for public comment on social and religious issues, we do, thankfully, have articulate spokesmen. They set the record straight, particularly when others (mis)speak in the name of Judaism.

    The world of talk radio is a wonderful place to visit, but those of us involved in communal life live in reality.

    Professor
    Professor
    13 years ago

    What I get in this article is “screw the morals and go for the money”