By: Nachman Mostofsky
Much has been written about the recent closings by Governor Cuomo. And how antisemitic they are. What has not been written is what needs to be done from here on out. After all, lawsuits have been filed. So far without results we need.
But that is not all that has happened.
As many people know, there are voice messages going around of recordings of a now second phone call between Cuomo and some “leaders”. Once again, a few on the call were pre-picked to get the “high honor” of asking the self-appointed King of Albany some questions.
But it didn’t end there. The amount of groveling that was done was absurd. The idea that it was said multiple times that our community supports this megalomaniac is laughable, and Cuomo knows it. That we have the deepest respect for him is just not true. We vote in greater numbers for his challenger, time and time again. And rightfully so. All this much to the chagrin of many of our “leaders”.
The fact that these leaders don’t understand that it takes about 15 seconds for Cuomo’s advisors to bring up the data, block by block, on the voting patterns of our community shows how failed our leadership is. Do we think that the governor is a fool? That he can’t look at voting patterns?
And in this lies the problem. Because we grovel to him, he knows something that we cannot admit to ourselves, but is the heart of the issue. We have zero leadership that is willing to go toe to toe with the governor. When we tell him nonsense about our community that he can verifiably check up to be untrue, it sends him a message that he can continue with these useless and extremely harmful lockdowns.
But… what if…
Our communities got together, and sent hundreds of coach busses filled with orthodox Jews of all ages and types to Albany. Tens and hundreds of thousands. And we march on Albany. And publicly showed the world how you peacefully protest against blatant and actual systemic bigotry.
Our communities got together and called the governors bluff. He wants to shut our Yeshivos, Bais Yaakov, and Day Schools: fine. We mass enrolled ALL our children into public schools. Every. Single. Child. The city and state would go bankrupt. Almost overnight. Because state law demands every child to have a seat. The public-school system doesn’t have the teachers, therapists, remote devices, or structure for this huge influx of our children. I’m pretty sure that instead of our Yeshivos, Bais Yaakov, and Day Schools getting closed, you may actually see vouchers in NY! Because the credit rating for the state would crater. And Cuomo’s wish of being seen as a potential presidential candidate will go up in smoke.
Our communities said in one voice we will not take this abuse anymore. And start really looking into alternative states to live in. I know in American history there has never been large population’s shifts of Jewish communities. Most communities that created and disappeared happened over time. But I am talking of moving everything, lock stock and barrel, to states like Texas, Florida, Arizona, or even Wyoming. States that will leave us alone to practice our religion as we see fit. The Mormons did it the 1830’s when they were persecuted in NY. Maybe it is time we followed, and left NY. Left its high taxes. Left its over-regulation. Left its anti-religious bigotry. And left its leftist agenda.
I know many of these proposals are hard to fathom as real. But they are.
All they need is new leadership. Because what we have now has, and is, failing us.
Nachman Mostofsky is the Executive Director of Chovevei Zion & Chovevei Zion Policy Fund. He can be found at twitter.com/mostofsky, while the organizations are at twitter.com/choveveizion and twitter.com/czpolicy.
Liberals are protecting human rights. Voting conservative because you believe that it furthers the Jewish agenda is not only selfish, but incorrect. Torah values promote empathy, kindness, and love of our neighbors. We need to focus our energy on looking out for and supporting the black community, the alternative lifestyle community, women, and immigrants.
Biden has done nothing for the Jewish community,and called black people “superpredators”.On the other hand Trump has freed Rubashkin,brokered peace deals in the middle east, and is pro-life.
vote TRUMP 2020
moshiach now!!
You’ve been brainwashed.
Torah based Judaism teaches love, not hate. Biden 2020.
Torah teaches life not death. How according to the Torah can you vote for him when he is pro abortion? By the way What has he done in 47 years for the black community? Last I checked before the communist group BLM came around everyone got along nicely, the rebbe said that unity among all races should be so great that you should not need to mention black or Caucasian (not exact words) specifying BLACK loves matter would suggest that they are different when they are not the whole world has to keep the 6 noahide laws no matter who… Read more »
As an educated Chabadnik, and educator, it is “scary” when a non-Jew (Cuomo) cares more about our health and-well being than we as a collective whole do! Even one death is too many. Coronavirus kills. And those individuals who refuse to listen and accept the guidance of qualified health professionals (as the author of the above article seems unwilling to do) contribute to Jewish suffering and worse.
If you think Cuomo cares about anyone’s health, let alone the jews, I have a bridge to sell you.
Of course we need to stand up and not hide in our basements. Of course we need to wear masks and social distances. BUT is this the time of Chanukkah where we are afraid to learn Torah and celebrate pubicly? Where are our leaders that are sending our children home from Yeshiva to go on a computer???
We must protect the vulnerable and where a mask however we can no longer go along with violating our constitutional rights!
Let’s go!
This country is better than Trump. Orthodox Jews are better than Trump.
Stay safe, put on a mask, and go vote for Biden! Orthodox Jews must be on the right side of history!
of antisemitism might hold some weight if we were more compliant with the health laws. Masking and social distancing are health issues, not political issues. If everyone in our shuls wore masks, if everyone in the stores wore masks, we’d very likely NOT be in the news. So we stick out our tongue at the health advisories, and then cry anti-semistims!
While it may be true that compliance may quieten the antisemitism, that isn’t the point. The point is that systematic antisemitism is very much alive in our governing body. For every Jew not wearing a mask there are many non-jews, for every Jewish gathering there are non-jewish gatherings (BLM protests, church, block parties, wakes etc.),more cases in other neighborhoods but Jewish ones being shut, being called out on the governors updates (the only group) Antisemitism is the cry. Are our memories so short we don’t remember summer before corona, Jews being randomly beaten, that shooting in n.j one door away… Read more »