[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
While Anthony Weiner’s favorability numbers have plummeted among general primary voters amid the latest revelations of his inappropriate behavior, the lack of choices for mayor has brought some Orthodox Jews to remember Mr. Weiner’s good deeds in the past, as a representative for the community in the City council and Congress. At least that was the intent of Rabbi Gedaliah Weinberger hosting a meeting at his home, Thursday morning, between Orthodox Jewish media personals, reporters, PR professionals and one of the Democratic candidates for mayor, Anthony Weiner.
“There is appreciation for what Anthony [Weiner] has done for our community,” Rabbi Weinberger told the dozen of reporters and community leaders gathered in his dining room. As an example, Rabbi Weinberger cited Mr. Weiner’s help in assisting Jews during the Georgia/Russia crisis, as well as stepping up in demanding fairness for Sholom Rubashkin and the Spinka Rebbe. “During the Rubashkin case, no congressman was ready to step up to the plate, in any way, just to ask for an examination in the fairness of the event. Anthony was the one who sent a letter to Holder, at the time, requesting a review of the case. He was the only one and the first, not the first asked, to step up,” he said.
“There is no question that Orthodox Jews, especially Haredi Jews, are discriminated by our government in New York. The fact that the mayor was proud that he “stood up to 10, ooo Black hats” in his words, is profiling in the worst way and considered an act of anti-Semitism,” he further claimed. Adding, “When we have someone who has a track record of coming to the support of our community there’s nobody else that has anything similar to Anthony Weiner.”
Mr. Weiner, on his part, reiterated his support for the Orthodox Jewish community’s needs. He cited his record representing the community as a champion for Jewish causes such as Metzitizah B’peh, his call for fairness in the Rubashkin case, his strong support for Israel and him being the first elected official calling for the release of Jonathan Pollard, as well as supporting minority rights.
“It has been a very long time since there has been someone at City Hall who really has a sense in his ‘kishkes‘ about where the community is from and what kind of issues they have,” Mr. Weiner said. “There’s no one in this race for mayor that is like that for me.”
Mr. Weiner also highlighted the fact that his campaign is not run as a traditional NY political campaign of endorsements. “If you’re interested in what people are going to do when they get in, then I’m the only candidate who’s waging a campaign that is doing that. There’s also a notion of whether you want kind of more of the same. I’m running against a Comptroller, Public Advocate, a former Comptroller and a City Council Speaker. They all come from the same caldron of municipal whatever that has being going on for the last 20 years. If you think that’s the type of direction you want the city to go in, if you want that type of a leader, you have plenty of choices. I’m not one of them. I’m running a campaign that says we need someone that has a certain level of Independence,” Mr. Weiner explained.
In the Q&A session following his remarks, Mr. Weiner also addressed the latest scandals and revelations about his inappropriate behavior. In a pretty heated exchange with Yair Hoffman, a reporter for 5 Towns Jewish Times, Mr. Weiner argued against the concerns about his judgment and what the reporter called his “un-predictive qualities” if he gets elected as mayor.
“I’m asking you to make the following calculation: Who would be the best mayor?” Mr. Weiner responded to the questions raised about his judgment. “You now have 100 percent information about me… and all I’m saying is ask the simple question: Who’ll be the best mayor? Who’ll be the person that will take care of your money, making sure your children are safe and making sure the policies that you care about are getting implemented, who would be the best mayor? If you want to know who’s the person that has never had anything in his personal background that makes you wonder, that’s fair. If you think that disqualifies me, I also want to caution you that this disqualification is then going to lead you to vote for someone who’s not going to be a good mayor.”
When pressed by the reporter about his un-predictive manners, Mr. Weiner angrily replied: “Is there? Wait a minute… Is there? Have I shown un-predictive? Have I shown anything that has shown you, out in the world doing my job, which I have in any way been un-predictive? I’ve been probably the most consistent person on issues important to Eretz Yisrael (Israel) in the entire congress. I was doing things that no one else was standing up for… So, if you’re saying I’m unpredictable… as far as your life, your neighbor’s life, have I been unpredictable? On the issues of being a good elected official, I am not applying for any other job right now; I am asking to be your mayor, a good mayor.”
Below is the video of the heated exchange between Mr. Weiner and the reporter:
Here is another video in which Mr. Weiner claimed the media and special interest groups don’t want him in the race, which ultimately makes him the best choice for mayor.
(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)
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5 Responses
Weiner’s pitch must be weighed against the incredible Chilul hashem that would result from support by religious jews for such a person as Weiner.
Personally, I think Democratic candidate, the Reverend Erick Salgado is the right man for mayor. He is the ONLY candidate in this race who supports traditional morality.
A vote for him would be a true Kiddush hasher.
When the aptly named Mr. Weiner was a member of Congress, he represented a heavily Jewish district, and a heavily frum district. His support of “Jewish” interests, like fairness for Rabbi Rubashkin and assisting Jews in the Georgia/Russia mess, is exactly what anyone representing that district would have done. If, c”v, Mr. Weiner is elected mayor of the entire City of New York, he will no longer be accountable to a heavily frum Congressional district and you surely can expect that his support for “Jewish” issues will diminish. So supporting Mr. Weiner is a bad idea even if we ignore his disgraceful behavior.
But his disgraceful behavior cannot be ignored: it would be a shondah, a chilul Hashem, if leaders of the Orthodox community closed their eyes to his disgraceful misconduct and supported him for mayor. And the idea that frum Jewish leaders could ignore such grossly misguided behavior would do more harm to the political concerns of the Jewish community than any marginal support they might get from a Mayor Weiner.
Am I the only person who disregards a candidate’s views on topics which have no connection to the office he is seeking?
The new mayor will have ZERO say in the treatment of Pollard and Rubashkin, nor will this mayor have a say in the treatment of Israel, that is federal. The new mayor will have NO say in the definition of marriage and the legality of abortions, that is state.
In the meanwhile, we have a candidate who had to resign from congress due to his inappropriate use of social media, and has shown no desire to change his ways.
Quinn and Weiner are both RODEF ACHAR HA’TAAVOS, they just have different ta’avos.
Vote Neither of those two
Reply to deepthinker:
It’s not up to you to decide who should run or mayor. Our rabbonim will tell us who to vote for!
Yosef stern:
I hope the rabbonim who tell you who to vote for are very careful where they tell you this information so as not to put their non profit status in question.
In addition we don’t really hear from Rabbonim anymore we hear from the self appointed askonim who know better than all of us.
I on the other hand will make my own choice who to vote for.