By COLlive reporter
Photos: Shalom Ross

There’s an official Call for Candidates to run in the upcoming election for members of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council (CHJCC) and Vaad Hakahal, two representative bodies of the Jewish community in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights.

CHJCC is the social service and representative arm of the community, while Vaad Hakahal serves as the religious arm, supporting the Beis Din, Kashrus (CHK), and services such as Ask the Rav, Taharas Hamishpacha Hotline, Mishpat Shalom, and more.

The community elections, the first to be in over 10 years, is set for Sunday, June 2, 2024 – 25 Iyar 5784.

Candidacy forms will be available for pickup from Monday, April 1, at the CHJCC office at 387 Kingston Avenue during office hours.

Candidates will have until Thursday after Pesach to bring in their petitions with 50 signatures of eligible voters and other documents in order for them to be on the ballot.

This new development follows the most recent meeting of over 35 shul representatives, where a Nominations Committee and an Elections Committee were formally authorized to conduct the election.

The Nominations Committee, comprised of Mendy Wilhelm (Nosson’s Shul), Naftali Berkowitz, Eli Felberman, Alexander Weisz, Binyamin Dubroff, and Nosson Kuperman, will collect and verify the petitions before publishing a list of candidates for the election.

The Elections Committee – Shloma Hecht, Mendel Wilhelm (Menachem’s Shul), Yossi Chayo, Naftali Berlowitz, Eli Felberman, and Alexander Weisz – will be making all the preparations for the elections and will organize the teams of volunteers who will actually man the polls on election day.

At the meeting, Rabbi Moshe Feiglin of Aliya opened with a Dvar Torah about the importance of a Korban Oni. Felberman reviewed the response from the Beis Din of Crown Heights authorizing the election. This was followed by a vigorous debate and the appointment of the committees.

Definition of both organizations

Crown Heights Jewish Community Council is a secular (not religious) organization that is the central social service organization for the community.

The Council provides:

• emergency aid for families and individuals
• support for seniors aging in place and Holocaust survivors.
• applications for government assistance and health insurance.
• Intervention with City State and Federal government on behalf of individuals, families, schools, shuls, and schools and other community institutions.
• some affordable housing units
• Weatherization Assistance
• Crime Victim Assistance
• a food pantry that distributes free food packages on a weekly basis and before holidays
• Money is raised for Yom Tov food and direct assistance to people that cannot be paid with grants
• Positive Connections with our neighbors
• Interface with government and law enforcement on behalf of the community

The Board members: The role of the Board Members is to oversee the operation of the Council and to make sure that the staff fulfils its mission. They are responsible for fundraising for emergency assistance funds. They are also the face of the community to the outside world. Each Board member should have an area of interest (housing, helping people, legal, etc.) to be able to further the mission of the Council.

The Board also oversees the operation of the Shalom Senior Center, funded by New York City and operated through a separate non-profit corporation called Crown Heights Preservation.

Vaad Hakohol Deschunas Crown Heights is a religious organization whose main mission is to provide the framework for the community’s religious structure. It is responsible for the funding of the Beis Din and all its activities. This money comes from monthly “Mas Hakohol” dues that are to be paid by all community members and from the operation of the CHK hechsher. Approximately one third of the current Beis Din expense needs to be raised from individual donors. The Vaad has in the past also run certain communal events, in honor of special dates.

The role of the Board members of Vaad Hakohol is to ensure that the Beis Din has a home and the funding that it needs in order to operate. They oversee the Kashrus committee that runs the hechsher and receive regular reports from the committee.

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