What makes a good public servant? Do they have to look like you? Act like you?
I have known Lew Fidler for over 25 years. He has always worked hard to serve our community. And politics always took second place to his integrity.
I have heard his opponent claim to be “one of us.” Are we that politically naive?
I’ve looked carefully at his opponent’s material. In material sent to the frum community, he wears a yarmulke. But he sends mail to the Russian community and his head is bare. After Madoff, scam artists and crooked politicians, are we going to be fooled again?
Lew Fidler lives in Sheepshead Bay with his wife and two sons. His home is modest. He never used politics to make himself wealthy. He works hard to pay his bills just like you and me. He is a traditional Jew who is proud of his faith.
He isn’t frum and doesn’t pretend to be. But when Jewish students were threatened at Brooklyn College, Lew stepped in to defend them. He did this long before he was elected to the City Council. He gained no political benefit, but he knew it was the right thing to do. Lew knows the danger of apathy. He knows Jewish history. That’s what makes him one of “us.”
Lew has spent the last decade as a City Councilman supporting and protecting our community institutions, yeshivas and mosdos. His opponent doesn’t even come close to matching Lew’s service to our community.
Some are trying to make this election a referendum on the so-called marriage bill. It’s true that our community was disheartened when the bill passed last year. But Lew Fidler had nothing to do with that bill. In fact, it is David Storobin’s friend, Republican Sen. Dean Skelos, and those who support him, who are most responsible for allowing this bill to get to the Senate floor. If Sen. Skelos and the Republicans in the majority refused to allow this bill to the floor, it never would have passed. But they buckled to pressure, and now we have this law.
Mr. Storobin is using trickery and deceit to fool our community. Lew Fidler never attacked David Storobin, but Mr. Storobin has been untruthful about the facts. Lew simply asked why Mr. Storobin would allow his writings to be linked to racist websites. Mr. Storobin has still not answered those very important questions.
Like so many in our community, I’m a conservative voter. But I know a scam being perpetrated on our community when I see it. And the Republican candidate in this election is doing exactly that.
Lew Fidler will fight for us in Albany, like he’s fought for us at City Hall. You can take that to the bank.
Shlomo Z. Mostofsky is an attorney and the immediate past president of the National Council of Young Israel.
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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8 Responses
With all due respect for your service in Young Israel, are you claiming that Rav Yisroel Belsky, Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vodaath and the top Posek for the O-U Kashrus Division, who gave out an Issur forbidding anyone from voting for Fidler, and the many Rabbonim who joined him–all these responsible people–don’t know what they’re talking about?
Are you claiming that there is no basis to their assertion that Mr. Fidler has been a loyal member of the Democrat Party, supporting its degenerate immoral agenda that seeks to undermine all decency in our society?
I’m sorry, but I think you have been blinded to the truth by your many years of working with Mr. Fidler.
The Democratic party in NY State has been nled by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver a frum Jew. He co=sponsored the marriage law, permitted it to reach the floor of the Assembly for a vote and in his literature spoke how proud he was that it passed. he isn’t attacked because he’s responsible for appointments that lead to funding for mosdos. Lets not forget all the frum elected officials that are democrats does that make them degenerates?
And yoy missed the portion about the Republicans having passed the marriage law as well. ans the Agudah just met with Senator Skelos, the majority leader, without whom the marriage bill couldn’t pass.
I never worked for or with Mr. Fidler. I know him through the many years i volunteered in local politics to help the frum community. the zoning variances granted our mosdos didn’t come from non-existent Republican elected officials.
Your comment about Rav Belsky and others is interesting. Did they meet with Mr. Fidler? did they discuss his personal views with him or were they simply told he was a “degenerate.”
The entire Purim story started with Jews sucking up to Achasverosh at his party for political reasons. The Megillah only mentions one leader who saw through the political rhetoric – Mordechai.
Lew Fidler may not be frum but he certainly isn’t krum. and after the last few years wouldn’t it be refreshing for us to know that about OUR representative.
And my Young Israel involvement was for identification purposes only. Young Israel doesn’t endorse candidates and Lew never had anything to do with National Young Israel during my presidency.
Politics and emes dont have to be mutually exclusive.
With all due respect to Mr. Mostovsky.
You are a “lib”.
Everybody including your own family knows that.
Boruch Hashem, what redeems you are your own fine children who are conservative.
Even your own son Reb Nachman is supporting David Storobin.
..vlev bonim al avoisom.
Fidler is a conservative Jew, not a “traditional Jew”. That’s misrepresenting things completely.
Have we decided to start pretending non-frum Jews are frum?
“Lew simply asked why Mr. Storobin would allow his writings to be linked to racist websites. Mr. Storobin has still not answered those very important questions.”
This makes no sense.
How was Storobin supposed to control the websites that wanted to copy some of his articles?
And yes accusing Storobin of having Nazi ties is an attack.
ishbainanoshim:
I am the “Reb Nachman” of which you speak. I have no clue who you are, but one thing I can tell you, that my father is no “lib”, and definitely doesn’t need to be “redeemed” by me. Yes, I am active in the Kings County Conservative Party, and I agree politically with David Storobin.
That said, I have always said that Lew Fidler is a man who has done a tremendous amount for the Jewish community. The question in this election, and in elections going forward is: Should our representatives reflect our wishes, morals, needs, and ideals, or is politics just a patronage game, where we keep on electing the same people over and over, no care for what they pass legislatively, whether its taxes or social issues, as long as our social welfare programs get more money from the governmental trough. What we are seeing, and what I would consider the Orthodox Jewish Tea Party, is the former, and what you are seeing from the people rallying around Mr. Fidler is the latter. There is nothing wrong with either, as both do have legitimate attributes.
But again, my father needs no redeeming, not from me, you or anyone else. He has done more for Yiddishkeit and Jews in his many years, both in public and private, than David, Lew, and for that matter, any other politician you can think of lumped into one. He is a great man, shoulders above the rest, and rarely if ever gets credit for the tremendous amounts of chessed he does, whether through his law practice (the amount of tzedakah cases he takes are bordering on insanity) and his klal work. My conservatism, and political involvement, comes directly from watching him and learning from him, and that his moral compass always guided his decisions. What he believes about Lew, and his defending of Lew is sincere, should never be questioned, and I completely admire him for standing by his friend (for almost 30 years).
With all due respect Reb Nachman, the issue is not about your father. It is about Lew Fidler and his support of positions that should definitely be questioned. We see more often that good people excuse their bad friends or come under their wicked influence. We read that in Tanach, in Tehillim and in Pirkei Avot. It is impossible for you to be unbiased about your father. After all he is your father. But I would worry for him since he is endorsing a friend and not objectively looking at the Torah issues here.
This is a blatant lie, as Fidler has resorted to low down tactics in his attempt to besmear Storobin. Has anyone seen the mailings accusing Storobin of working overtime to protect child molesters? Seriously? The guy happens to work as a defense attorney, and Fidler manages to skew the facts to cast his opponent in a dark light That, along with the allegations that his opponent is a Nazi lover and the filthy words he called the guy’s mother, should be enough to show everyone that Fidler is in a very scared place! I refuse to consider any politician with such a corrupt campaign, and I don’t see why anyone is giving him credit for his “past experience.” Fidler is a fraud, an experienced and mud flinging fraud.