The Day Daas Torah Died

There were two very important outcomes from Tuesday's gubernatorial race in NJ. The first message is that the residents of the state of NJ are sick and tired of higher taxes and corruption and not getting anything back for all the taxes we pay. We sent a clear message that we will not reward failure and if you are not doing your job in working for the people, we will fire you, and fire him we did. I hope that Christie got the message that it is now his time to lower our taxes and restore the state to the people. The frum community, across the state, overwhelmingly voted for Mr. Christie because we believed that on the issue that matters most, school funding and tax credits, he was the better candidate.

The other message that was sent loud and clear from Lakewood NJ is that the idea that Daas Torah is absolute and the argument of "who are we to question the gedolim they know better" is clearly not as iron clad as many in the charedi community would like you to think it is. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this election proves that these people do not truly believe in the concept of absolute Daas Torah or they would have voted overwhelmingly for Corzine and as these results show, Lakewood overwhelmingly voted for Christie and the two districts that Corzine carried are heavily minority. Here are the events as they played out.

Last week the Vaad in Lakewood, with the haskamah of the roshei yeshiva, including Rav Malkiel Kutler, came out and endorsed John Corzine for re-election to Governor. Hearing this many in Lakewood, who felt that Christie was better for the overall community, were up in arms. They felt that Corzine was only better for the Yeshiva not the rest of the town and that the whole town should be looked at not just the yeshiva. Some of the rabbonim whose names were on the letter who were not endorsing Corzine for a variety of reasons including his support for "Toeva" marriage. Sensing some discontent and descent among the ranks Rav Malkiel Kutler put in a call to Rav Aryeh Leib Shteinman is EY, to get the ultimate daas torah decision, one which, presumably if you follow absolute daas torah, would get everyone in Lakewood to lineup behind the candidate that Rav Shteinman said to vote for, after all who are we to question the gedolim? Let's not focus on the fact that they are turning to a 90 Year old rosh Yeshiva living in Eretz Yisrael to ask him who to vote for in a local election and they did not provide him will all the facts (like what generally happens with these takanos).

"The shailah explained that one candidate will sign the marriage equality bill, while the other says that he won’t, but the first one - i.e., Corzine - has done favors for the community. Rav Shteinman responded that there is no lifnei iver with respect to a goy, so it is not assur to vote for Corzine, and since he has been helpful to the kehillah in general, members of the community should vote for him."

So to make sure we are all following because one candidate has done "favors for the Yeshiva", regardless of where he stands on the rest of the issues even on Gay Marriage, he should get the support of the Kehila. After this speculation was abound that some of the rabbonim who previously endorsed Cristie were now changing their mind, however the following sign was posted: “There is a letter that says that Rabbonim were consulted who were Maskim that it is Mutar to vote for Corzine. If this is Mashma to you, that either me or Rav Forscheimer or Rav Felder or Rav Lieberman or Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen were consulted - that is not so.”

As far as I know the whole thing came to a head at about 6:30 on Tuesday night. I received the following text from a cousin of mine in Lakewood, "huge demonstrations in Yeshiva [BMG] for and against [Corzine]. It was like Meah Shearim. They had goyim come to join in the picket and campaign for Christie".

So to recap, the vaad endorses Corzine with the support of the Rosh Yeshiva, there is a machlokes and people are upset so they go to THE authority in Lakewood Rav Malkiel Kutler. He does not know what to do so he turns to the world authority of Daas Torah Rav Aryeh Leib Shteinman. And even with the haskamah of Daas torah across the board from Lakewood to Israel the people turn against their leaders and vote for Christie.

If these people truly believed what they preached that daas torah is absolute and we have no right to question the gedolim John Corzine should have taken the Lakewood vote by a huge margin, but indeed he lost all the frum areas, including where BMG is located. What does this say for Rabbinic authority? To me it tells me that it is a load of garbage because these people won't even practice what they preach. Even in Englewood New Jersey, an area that is the furthest thing from a bastion of Daas Torah, Rabbi Genack endorsed a candidate and the people overwhelmingly came out to support him. This says to me that the Modern Orthodox community holds Rabbinic authority in much higher terms than do the hypocrites in Lakewood.

The next time you hear the likes of R' Pinkey Lipschutz or Avi Shafran or any of these other guys preaching about how Rabbinic authority is absolute, ask them if this is something they really believe in or are they just using it to try and look frummer than the rest of the community but when push comes to shove they are going to do what they want.

HAVE YOU NO SELF RESPECT?????

Cong. Shaarey Tefillah in Lawrence was built [into a great institution of Centrist Modern Orthodoxy] by Rabbi Walter Wurzburger. Rabbi Wurzburger was a pioneer in the Modern Orthodox Community, someone responsible for making the 5 Towns and Lawrence into a bastions of Torah. He once famously said that "Orthodox Judaism is not an 'obsolete relic.'' While he said that he had great reverence for scholarship of the ultra-Orthodox, he made it clear that Orthodox Judaism must step down from its ''spiritual ivory tower'' and become ''conversant with modern culture". He served as the editor of Tradition for many years and was the president of the RCA. He taught philosophy at YU and Revel and was a living embodiment of Torah U Madah. He was a strong believer in Religious Zionism and held it as one of the cornerstones of his life. The face of his shul has changed and gone to an extreme opposite end from the values that he held dear. I do not think it is a stretch to say that he or someone like him would not be welcomed to speak in his shul.

This week his memory is about to be stampeded upon with the visit of the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Rebbe to his shul. It's not that this guy is stam a chassidishe rebbe, he is the most extreme rabid anti Zionist anti modern and anti woman rebbe around whose radical views are matched only by his brother. He and his followers are the ones responsible for the chillul shabbos riots. He is also responsible for women getting beaten up on busses and in the streets and having bleach spilled on them by his terrorist thugs. As a commenter on one of the blogs pointed out, "this guy is coming to the Hot Channie Capital of the world" and in fact he distains the lifestyle that you live. He has no problem taking your money while insulting and having his followers literally spit on your way of life. HAVE YOU NO SHAME? HAVE YOU NO SELF RESPECT? I reached out to Rabbi Weinberger the Rabbi of Shaaray Tefila and did not hear back. When questioned by the Jewish Star about this Rebbe's appearance the rabbi said, "It’s true that Rabbi Kohn is an anti-Zionist, Rabbi Weinberger acknowledged, and that some of his followers violently protested the arrest of allegedly abusive mother, and the opening of a parking lot in Jerusalem on Shabbos, but, “I don’t think he has the ability to stop” the protests." This is a copout and an excuse. If he can't control his own people why are you people fawning all over him, clearly he is not as great as you people are making him out to be. Meyer Ferdig, the Editor of the Jewish Star has a great editorial which I am posting below. Good people of the Five Towns, do not sit silently by when this radical extremist comes into your town and infects your shuls. If you have an ounce of self respect left in you, you will protest this man's visit. Make signs stand outside the shul, call the rabbi and president of Shaarei Tefila and voice your opposition even if they will not listen. Send this rebbe a taste of his own medicine with a loud protest, send your wives out to greet him in their traditional Hot Channie garb!

Editorial: Is this really a smart move?
In Editorial, Hashkafah, Israel, Kosher, Lawrence, Mayer Fertig, Money, Opinion, Shabbos, Torah, Travel, Zionism on November 3, 2009 at 5:25 pm


Issue of November 6, 2009/ 19 Cheshvan 5770
The smart money says criticism of this weekend’s visit to Lawrence by an anti-Zionist chassidic rebbe from Jerusalem aligned with the Neturei Karta will be dismissed by some as the work of troublemaking bloggers (or perhaps of a muckraking newspaper that’s too modern for its own good).
What chutzpah! defenders of the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Rebbe will fume. Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Kohn is an adom gadol — a great man — a tzaddik, a talmid chachom, and a paragon of Yiras Shamayim and gemilas chasodim, too.
Very likely, that’s all true.
It is, however, not at all the point.
The Rebbe’s followers — at least a good number of them — are thugs and criminals who created an unprecedented desecration of G-d’s name with their violent street protests in Jerusalem.
In a few short weeks they managed to undo and turn around — v’nahafoch hu — a general perception of observant Jews as peaceful and genteel. In some cases they even altered our own self-perception; more than a few frum Jews this summer reported feeling discomfort at being seen as kin to the Orthodox hooligans in the news.
Yet, this weekend, in a display of shocking naïveté, the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Rebbe is to be feted and honored — and funded — at Cong. Shaaray Tefila in Lawrence, even as the Rebbe’s brother, the even more extreme Toldos Aharon Rebbe, is making his own appearances in the New York area.
Make no mistake: there are female members of nearly every shul in this region who would run the real risk of being physically attacked, were they to walk in their everyday street clothes through neighborhoods in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh these rebbes control.
While well-meaning people in the Five Towns are proffering respect and kavod haTorah to someone who looks very different from them but ostensibly observes the same Torah, ask yourself if the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok or the Toldos Aharon communities would be terribly likely to extend the same courtesy in the reverse? Same tefillin, same mikvah, same Shabbos, same kosher. But not to them. Does that make us forgiving or foolish?
There are people in our community who cannot pay their mortgage. Who cannot pay tuition. Families that are in crisis and simply cannot make ends meet. They need and are entitled to our help first, based on the halachic ruling of aniyei ircha kodmim. It’s a shame if the community as a whole hasn’t yet internalized the Torah’s guideline, that charity must begin at home.
For those who say that Israel is local, and that supporting Torah study remains a primary value no matter what, fine — there are plenty of other kollelim and plenty of people in Israel who are more in line with our values.
You want a photo op with someone in Yerushalmi garb? Great. Go to Israel.
But here at home, why don’t we reserve scarce tzedakah dollars for people who don’t hold us in such low regard?

A CALL TO ACTION FOR THE RCBC

Over the weekend I was perusing the local shul announcements and was incensed to read that the community is going to be hosting Rav Shmuel Kaminetzki this week to raise funds for Nechomas Yisrael. I am sure that it is a fine organization but it's time for these organizations to find another place to raise funds. If these rabbonim want to jump on the Gadol bandwagon and host these charedi roshei yeshiva that is their business and for another post, but let's see how fast they will be to come and speak in the community if they are not coming to raise money for something. When was the last time one of these people came without trying to collect money or push an agenda but just came to speak?

I can't imagine that the rabbonim in town that are promoting this event are that out of touch with the needs of the community and their mispallelim. As these rabbonim I am sure are well aware, we cannot fund our own yeshivos, people are losing jobs in our community at almost a daily rate. I am being told that Project Ezra cannot keep up with the requests they are getting. If they want to show the community that they are serious about solving the tuition problem and taking care of Aniey Ircha I put out a call to action to them. I propose to all RCBC shuls and participating rabbonim that our shuls have a one year moratorium on hosting and promoting outside organizations that are coming to town to raise money for their organization, I don't care if it's Bnei Akiva or Lakewood. No money should be flowing out of the community until such a time that all our local establishments are funded and there is money in reserve for a rainy day. If a specific Rav feels it is so important to host an event or promote it that they need to get involved out of fear of insulting the host, let them get a guarantee that every dollar that is raised at the events will be matched dollar for dollar to either Project Ezra or NNJ Kids. People are working tirelessly to create and support organizations like NNJ Kids (which I plan on posting more about later on in the week) and every event like this undermines the goal of having 100% participation and having this funded in the very near term.

Let's send a message to the rest of the Jewish world that we take care of our own first. That although we are rachmonim and think every organization is important OUR PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY MUST COME FIRST. I know that there are community askanim and shul board members as well as rabbonim that read this blog and I challenge you to make the tough, but necessary decision that we will take care of our own at this point, that we will not look for kavod from outside roshei yeshiva and other organizations at the expense of our own community. Speak to your rabbonim tell them that they need to stop promoting these events. Tell them that they should have major event for NNJ Kids, let Rav Shmuel Kaminetzki come to town to speak about the importance of supporting this organization and making sure our yeshivos are well funded enough that we don't have to worry about parents putting their kids into public school because they cannot afford the tuition. I am sure Nechomas Yisrael is a great organization, but what about Nechamas Bergen county? What about NNJ Kids, Project Ezra, scholarship funds at YNJ, Yavneh, Noam, TABC, Frisch and the other local schools that are literally bleeding money. When will the insanity of sending money out of our community so we can seem important to some Rosh Yeshiva end?

Now is the time for action. Let us tell our rabbonim and shul boards that we care and we expect them to make this difficult but necessary decision and do it now! Let these rabbonim take the leadership role on this and show the community that they are truly serious about solving the tuition crisis at any cost.

GET OUT AND VOTE

I have many things I want to post about this week including NNJ Kids, which I think we need to get behind and support 100% over every other organization. The rabbonim in the Teaneck area, once again, selling out to a charedi Rosh Yeshiva and allowing Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky to come to town and collect for an organization while we can't pay our own bills or support our own Yeshivos. Are these rabbonim so out of touch with the community that they see nothing wrong with advertising for and promoting this event? Are they not talking to people who are telling them that they can't pay their mortgage and their tuition bill, or they can't find work, if they have not heard from these people let me know, I'll send you some. Where is the sensitivity to your own community? The toeva that is going to take place in Lawrence this coming weekend with the Toldos Avraham Yitzchok Rebbe coming to town and what you can do about it, among other things but today I am going to blog about the issue at hand.

Tomorrow is Election Day and our community needs everyone to get out and vote. There is no excuse for you not to get to the polls. There are many people reading this blog who know who I am. If you cannot get to the polls or know someone who can't let me know and I will make sure they get there. This election is too important to our community to stay home. For too long the Democrats have done nothing but raise our taxes and bring corruption to our State and county. We need to send them a message that we care and our voice counts. I had a meeting with the local Republican committee a number of months ago and the feeling they have is that the people in our community don't vote so why should they bother working for us regardless of the tax burden our community has. The numbers speak for themselves and in the past we have not made the best showing. This apathy is embarrassing and needs to be changed. There are those in the local community who know better than do I of to vote for and are advocating for certain candidates. While I am aware that they have their own agenda it is possible that they are correct in who is better for our community, (the local Republicans were not at all impresive).

Nothing is to say the Republicans will be any better but the Democrats have not worked for us and it is time to vote them out. Our community can make the difference. If nothing else it will show that we care and we will no loner stand by and vote these people into office time and again while they continue to raise our taxes and send all of our money to the public schools.

Regardless of what certain local rabbonim will tell you, Chris Cristie is the only NJ candidate that will advocate for tax vouchers for private and parochial schools. It was Corzine who pulled millions of dollars away from our schools and it was he who refuses to have the tax credit bill brought to his desk.

Get out and vote. Vote on the issues that are most important to our community. Send a message to our politicians that if you do not take us and our issues seriously we are going to fire you, and fire them we should!

But most importantly, regardless of who you decide to vote for on a local level get out and vote on the State level for who is going to work for us. There is no excuse not to be voting.

Take to the Streets

This is a link from Dov Bear, I know it may be late in the day but I urge all those in the 5 Towns to take to the streets and protest this sick man and his actions. Can you imagine what this does to the memory of Rabbi Wurzberger zatzal, to have a man like this come to his shul, it is Unconscionable.


The grapevine tells me that one of the high ranking Hasidic Rabbis who sponsors and facilitates violent attacks against women and policemen will be appearing this Shabbos at Congregation Sharay Tefilah in Lawrence, NY.

Followers of Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Kohn, the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Rebbe or of his brother, Rabbi Dovid Kohn, the Toldos Aharon Rebbe, are the perpetrators of bus beatings in Bet Shemesh and Jerusalem, street riots, and the violent protests last summer in Jerusalem. Though Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Kohn and Rabbi Dovid Kohn, as supreme ruler of their chasidim, have the power to shut down the violence in an instant, both have steadfastly refused to do so. Instead they teach hate, and look the other way when their Hasidim act on their lessons. Moreover, both are leaders of the strongly anti-Zionist Edah HaChareidis.

It's probably too late to organize a mob outside with pitchforks and placards, but if you find it outrageous that Lawrence is playing host to man who disparages and disdains their values, and helping him raise funds, I encourage you to call the shul, and to politely ask why they are giving aid and assistance to this man, and supporting the chillul hashem that occurs, and continues to occur under his watch.

Mah Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov

There is a song on one of the Journeys albums about a man whose daughter was getting married and he called frum a wedding consultant who proceeds to outline a crazy outlandish wedding ("why not buy a brand new Shas for every guest") which he is selling off as standard for the community. The song is very funny and unfortunately too real when it comes to Jewish weddings. Towards the end of the song the guy says to the consultant that he was looking for something a little more modest. The consultant responds "Oh, modest...so on the invitation write in a way that's real polite that the women should dress tznius if you please because we are dealing with a crowd that is oh so very proud as to how they keep the laws of modesty".

The song is very funny and the message is clear and unfortunately too true these days. The frum community places a huge emphasis on tznius of dress. Skirt lengths, collars, tight fitting clothes. Everything that has gone wrong in the frum community is being blamed on a lack of tznius in the way that the women are dressing, from the current "parnasah (or lack there of) crisis", to the jailed drug smugglers in Japan, everything has to do with the length of the skirt. The thing that is troubling to me is what about the other part of tznius, what about living more modestly. What has happened to Mah Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov, and the famous Rashi that says that Bilam saw that the opening to the tents were not facing each other so no one knew what was happening in the other's tent. Nowadays everything we do in our community is because this guy has this and that guy has that. When was the last time you heard any of these "tznius asifos" deal with the outlandish lifestyle that the community has brought upon itself? Take a drive around Flatbush, Boro Park, Lakewood, Lawrence (even the holy city of Teaneck) and you see people out building their neighbors. You have 5 stories on your house, I am going to have 3 swimming pools. You drive a Mazarati, I am going to get a Bentley. What happened to tznius in the rest of our lives?

I have listened to a lot of shiurim recently (I spend an inordinate amount of time in my car) and I have only heard one shiur, and it was by Rabbi Reisman, dealing with people living above their means. No doubt it is this that has lead to all of the [financial] scandals in our community of late. When did it happen that every 22 year old newly married kollel guy needs to drive an Acura? I was in a kids clothing store in Cedarhurst the other day trying to spend a $50 credit and the only thing I could find for a 12 month old was a sweater AND I HAD TO ADD $10 to it. Some of the dresses were $200...for a 12 month old???? Why do we need to be spending this kind of money on kids clothes? Because your neighbor does? When I grew up in Flatbush it was only the Syrians that had huge houses, now if you don't have a huge house you are considered an outcast. You only have 4 bedroom, oy nebach!

Instead of this insane focus on skirt length and trying to drive the Hot Channies out of town maybe we should be speaking about living our entire lives B'tznius. From the cars we drive to the sizes of our houses to our kids clothes and even to how we and our wives dress and conduct ourselves. If we are going to continue focusing on only one aspect of tznius we are going to continue to bang our heads against the wall and get nowhere. I understand why this is the only aspect that is focused on, because it is the more comfortable one. After all how can the rav of a shul get up and tell the balabatim that are paying his salary that they should drive different cars and live in smaller houses, he would lose his job. There is a story told about Rav Levi Yizchok, that he once gathered the entire town into the shul and got up to the amud with his tallis on and after all the anticipation as to the urgency of the meeting he told the people "Yiddin, remeber that there is a G-d in heaven" and then he stepped down. Can you imagine if a Rav would try something like this nowadays?

It is time to leave our comfort zone and start dealing with how our community is living our lives on a broader scale. We ave priced ourselves out of our own lives. I think that we need to start focusing on all aspects of tznius in our communities, from the top on down and then we will truly be able to look at our community and say "Mah Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov".

Yechi Ha Vodka

There is a new bill that was recently introduced by Likud Kenesset members that some religious groups are claiming infringes on their right to practice Judaism. I am not talking about a draft, or cut in funding to charedi yeshivos. I am not even talking about introducing ideas of Israel's history into classrooms that accept government funding. What law am I talking about that a certain group is claiming infringes on their right to practice Judaism? That law is the banning of under age drinking and the group apposed is....chabad (big shock there). Let me start off by saying that I think that most chabadnicks are meshichists in some form or another and believe that they fall out of the mainstream of Judaism. I would be hesitant to eat in one of their establishments or in many of their homes. Now it is a well known fact (to steal a line from YW) that chabad gives out alcohol to minors with no problem at their fabrengens and other events. I am not a proponent of prohibition or "dry shuls" but I do see the rational behind them, we don't need our kids drinking or even adults getting out of control. If a guy wants to, in the privacy of his own house give his teenage son (or daughter) a shot of liquor with kiddush it is their prerogative, however I do think that under age drinking is not an activity that should be encouraged. As MK Yariv Levin said when introducing the bill "the intoxicating effects of drinking alcohol are responsible for the involvement of young people in road accidents, crime, and violence". Not only that but I believe that studies show that kids who drink at a younger age have a higher dispensation to alcoholism as adults.

This, however is not good enough for leaders in Chabad who say that "apart from some rare cases, alcohol is not consumed at farbrengens in enough quantities to cause drunkenness." He goes on to say that "there is a need to change the bill somewhat, allowing the consumption of alcohol in limited amounts as part of an educational or religious framework, supervised by a responsible adult". Let me make sure I understand this, these people are advocating underage drinking as long as it is in small quantities? Also, what kind of drinking can be categorized as "educational"? I have been to fabrengens and more time than not there are people who get drunk at them (maybe it helps them better connect with the rebbe like at a séance).

Here you have a major religious organization actually challenging a bill that would outlaw underage drinking. I think maybe this guy has had too much to drink. Like I said above, what a parent does in the privacy of his house is his prerogative but this guy is claiming that public alcohol consumption by minors is necessary for "religious" and "educational" purposes. Maybe by religious purposes e means by taking communion while waiting for the rebbe to return but as far as I can tell there is not one Jewish source that would advocate serving alcohol to minors and MANY that would say it is assur.

This is just one more example where these people are so far removed from normative mainstream religious Jewish thought that you begin to question if these people are practicing the same religion as us. Now I know the argument on the other side that Lubobs do a lot of good and lead the world in kiruv, which I agree. They are going to places like South America and Mumbai and often putting their lives on the line to carry out the mission of the rebbe, but the movement as a whole has moved away from the mainstream with the belief that the rebbe is moshiach and is going to return from the dead (that is if you are not one of those who believed he never died). If this guy cannot see how "a mere sip" or a "small l’chaim" by minors can lead to bigger issues perhaps these people should find a better spokes person, maybe someone who "gets it".

(Hat tip Shamarya)

Wrong Side of the Debate

Yesterday I received a very disturbing letter from a local community rabbi who was advocating for governor Corzine in the upcoming NJ governor's race. Not only was he advocating for him but the letter was actually sent out on Corzine letterhead. Let me start off by saying that I am not supporting Corzine in this election and I have said so in previous posts, and I think that if you are going to be advocating for one candidate over another why not look at the facts.

Governor Corzine has come down on the wrong side of the issue which most affects our community time and again and that, of course is funding for and assistance to private schools. To quote from an e-mail I got from the NJ School Choice group, "...Governor Corzine has promised time and again to oppose legislative support to private schools that are not structured as secular charter schools". Not only has Corzine said he does not support vouchers (even though they are never going to happen) he is actually responsible for $7 Million in technology funding being pulled from Yeshivos resulting in a net loss to our community while he increased funding to public schools, all while he is Governor. All other issues pale in comparison to this one for the community. The letter states that he is a strong supporter of Israel. Show me anyone running in this area that is not a strong supporter of Israel. The letter says that the Governor has worked hard to keep taxes down. ...Um, are we living in different states? The majority of us have seen our income and property taxes going in only one direction over the last few years, and it is the wrong one. The letter states in addition that in his budget he kept the property tax rebate for families earning $75,000 and under. I hate to sound like a snob, but my dear rabbi, how may families in our community at this point are truly earning under $75,000 combined? I would venture to say that this is the minority. Our state does not have a deduction for charitable donations, but this Rabbi has an assurance from the governor that he is going to work on it, funding has been cut from our yeshivos, but this rabbi has an assurance that the governor is going to look into it. The governor has had four years to do what is right for our community on this issue and he has not, but all of a sudden he is running for office and he is willing to take the lead on these issues? If you believe him I have a bridge to sell you. The governor is totally indebted to the teacher union and will never advocate for anything that would help private schools.

I don't know if Cristie is the best candidate, he has run one of the worst campaigns I have seen, but on this issue he is in our camp, the quote NJ School Choice again " He has consistently championed school choice throughout the campaign and has specifically pledged to support it as governor". Corzine's policies have not worked for the majority of the state's residents recently and we should not reward failure. Taxes are up, jobs are being lost (except in the government), businesses are leaving the state at a rapid pace due to the tax burden and corruption???? And you are asking us to throw our support behind this guy? Why because he has a D after his name? I don't care if the guy has a D an R an I or a Z for that matter, we need to get out there and vote on the issues and for who is going to be better in the long run for our community. Corzine has had four years to prove himself and he has failed. He is beholden to the teachers union and that is that. Period. End of story. It's time for change.

To the Rabbi in question, if you would like to advocate for an issue which has put the largest burden on our community that is great and we welcome your input, but in that case why not look at who is truly in our community's best interest and not at the letter next to the name.

UPDATE:

YW has also picked up this story.