Candidates For Vaad Hakohol Discuss Local Issues and Solutions

By COLlive reporter

A Meet the Candidates event was held on Monday to introduce the people running in the upcoming election for the Board of Directors of the Vaad Hakohol – Crown Heights Jewish Community Council (CHJCC).

The election will be held on Sunday, June 2, from 9 AM to 9 PM at the hall of Lubavitcher Yeshiva on Crown Street. Voters must show ID and present proof of address (if not on the ID) to vote. Voters must select a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 7 candidates. Ballots with less than five or more than 7 checks will be disqualified. The votes will be counted, and winners will be announced the same night.

Activist Avi Lesches opened Monday’s forum, followed by a Dvar Torah by Rabbi Mendel Yusewitz, Rov of Anshei Moshe shul in Crown Heights and Menahel of Ohr Menachem Yeshiva. He expressed hope that there would be special Divine assistance commensurate with the Rebbe’s vision for Crown Heights, the Crown Jewel of communities. 

Each candidate was then allowed a three-minute presentation, followed by a Q&A at the end. A common theme of all the candidates’ presentations was the appreciation of the spirit of unity and warm spirit in which this election is being conducted.

Shmuel Rosenstein, a 15-year resident of Crown Heights with his family, supervises special education in Oholei Torah for YeledV’Yalda. He said he was motivated by the desire to make a difference. He hoped to bring trust and integrity to the Council, funding help to families struggling with housing costs, tuition food costs. He wants the Council to make benefits more accessible and that all clients be treated with dignity, update the physical office and website, and create an online appointment system. He seeks to address cleaner streets, parking, and restore places lost to CitiBikes, by moving them onto the sidewalks. He promised to Look, Listen, and Learn avoiding Conflict, Corruption, and Controversy. He is joining with other candidates from the next generation to work for common goals.  

Dovid Halon said how the community is ready for the combined efforts of the team of five working together from several shuls but sharing one vision. This group had already discussed issues and how to work together to make decisions.

Yitzie Kamman spoke of his family’s lineage in the work of CHJCC, both on the Flint and Kamman families. He promised to better understand what can be improved quickly to serve the community better and focus on the most important long-term goals to establish the best approaches to address them. Fist will be to do the assessment and use creativeness to find the answers. His priorities: tighten up funding, work on housing, improve access to food, and bring achdus to the community. He looks forward to working with the others elected to the Board and being a team player.

Pinchas Woolstone emphasized his 23 years of experience running the Jewish House in Sydney. During that time, he was able to raise money, to the tune of 55 Million dollars, in a small community for a lesser-known cause. With more money, Crown Heights can do a lot more, and it will be able to grow from the current $4 million to an additional$1.5 million annually to support the staff and the increasing number of clients.

Meir New, born and raised in Crown Heights, thanked the Netzigim and the election committees, the outgoing board for their service and keeping the peace, and the staff for all their hard work. He praised the other candidates for being willing to step forward for the benefit of the community. He spoke of the special quality of the residents of Crown Heights, a place of blessing, where they serve as an example, sacrificing material comforts to live in a place of great spirituality. He gave an especially warm shout-out to the women, hosting people from all over the world and caring for others. He plans to establish a grant-writing office to support community institutions and tackle mental health and loneliness. He is also part of the slate of five, not excluding anyone but just committed to working together.

Chaplain Yaakov Goldstein, 66 years in Crown Heights, described his rich 52-year experience in government and 35 years in community affairs, serving as Chairman of Brooklyn Community Board 9. He is the long-standing assistant commissioner of Housing for New York State. His past achievements include rebuilding Eastern Parkway and rebuilding community parks.  He fought important battles to preserve the safety and political clout of the Jewish community in Crown Heights. He plans to remove bikes and stands not found in similar communities for the sake of the merchants and to reduce alternate side parking to one day a week.

Berel Hildesheim said he was publicly putting himself out against his natural will. He is a small business owner joining with others in a unified voice out of concern for the community. He joins with the others to aim to reduce the burden on the community, using creative and out-of-the-box solutions. He will learn from other Chasidic communities to understand their secret and what potential benefits can be made accessible locally. Key benefits he would like to provide are tuition vouchers, Medicaid, housing, interest-free loans, senior care, and immigration services.

Zalman Friedman wakes up daily thankful for the privilege of living in Crown Heights with its amazing people and resources. He said that the negativity of the past has dissipated, and the community is ready for young leadership and achdus. He felt that the cohesiveness of the board candidates running together will bring broader support and they will be able to join many other community members to the team.

During the question and answer session, the candidates were asked how they would connect the 73 Shuls of Crown Heights and all the organizations that do good work in the community.

Rosenstein said he would compile updated lists and provide connections to the various services offered. New said he would work to find grants to help the organizations. Friedman spoke of all the worthy groups that offer such comprehensive services. Goldstein would provide guidance on ways to comply with the terms of grant applications. Halon saw strength in numbers while keeping individualism. He saw the benefit in calling together people and organizations, saying that success will bring more people together. Kamman would use the netzigim as a forum to connect the shuls. Our community has diverse shuls but also having a shared purpose.

About the cost of housing – Kamman spoke of helping people find jobs and other resources such as educational programs and direct aid for tuition. Hideshaim said the Council should provide emotional support and private funds where necessary. Halon lamented the gap between those dependent on government support and those making it while the shrinking middle class suffers. Goldstein hopes to train people for suitable government jobs and generally overlooked ones.

Friedman said that so many are willing to take on the high expense and lack of space to be here is a great sacrifice that should be appreciated. New would form committees to promote and assist CHYE and other organizations and boost their efforts. He would also seek to teach financial literacy, using banks as a resource. He quoted the Rebbe that bitachon brings parnoso and would promote learning to develop trust in Hashem. Woolstone would promote vocational classes and other suggestions by the panelists. Rosenstein spoke of the community’s generosity and would connect with those resources to connect people to classes.

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