NEW YORK
Forward
April 13, 2018
This holy Passover eve, New York politics produced the most astonishing scene imaginable. As Josh Nathan-Kazis reported in the Forward, Cuomo Called The Rebbe. The Rebbe Prayed To God. The Budget Deal Got Done.. The state senator from South Brooklyn, perhaps the most powerful elected representative of Orthodox Jewry, exercised his well-honed kingmaking authority to ensure that the next generation of Hasidic kids remain as illiterate as their predecessors. The crowd Senator Simcha Felder jockeys for is not the kids or their parents, nor the average voting schmo on the street. As those initiated into New York politics know, the Hasidic vote is largely influenced by fixers, power brokers and sometimes rabbis who determine the representative that the bloc will support, as is evident from the fact that Felder typically runs unopposed — in both the Republican and Democratic lines.
Given all of this, we can understand whose bidding Senator Felder was doing when he insisted on quashing state oversight. But the question remains: why do so many Hasidic parents put up with this nonsense?
As a father and member of the Hasidic community Felder represents, I know our neighborhood is home to many caring parents. I talk to them in synagogue while I grab a coffee, in the mikvah while I rub my toes dry, at family get togethers when we forget which side of the latest Hasidic dynasty fight we stand for — darn it, I know because I am one of them!
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.