The Honorable Bill de Blasio
Mayor of New York City
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor de Blasio,
I’m writing to you today regarding the controversy around the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Mertz, the Tweets after the funeral, and the uproar that followed.

I want to preface my words with a few crucial points.

Number one: as someone who is somewhat involved in community affairs in Williamsburg I know firsthand that any accusation on you Mr. de Blasio of Anti-Semitism cannot be further from the truth. Anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant of the facts or straight-up lying.

The fact is, that you Mr. Mayor has been a true friend to our community from the first day you entered the office and continued in this vein ever since. You have been criticized harshly at times for standing up for us, our way of life and rights as American citizens, and let there be no doubt about it, we acknowledge it and are tremendously appreciative.

Number two: All of that said, and all that I will address further in this letter – even if all my upcoming points are wrong and/or invalid – still cannot excuse the singling out of a community even in regular times, let alone in a time that the community is scapegoated on this issue all over social media with straight-up lies and fabrications and has lately unfortunately suffered so much hate and attacks in general even before all this.

That said, as our sages say “he had succumbed to anger, he had succumbed to mistaking”. We understand the stress you are under, and we understand how one can lose is cool at any time for any reason let alone in such trying times. It’s not an excuse, nor an approval for the tweets, just the realization of the limits of a human being, and the ability to understand and forgive.

Now, after that Preface let me get to the point I want you, Mr. Mayor, to know and understand.

Please understand, I’m not trying to justify what happened at the funeral. It should never have happened, and you have all the right to be frustrated, we honestly all are. The result of what happened that night is unacceptable and I can assure you that you will be hard-pressed to find a handful of individuals in the community who say otherwise.

But, I do want to point out the facts on the ground that induced the calamity. If we honestly study what preceded, although it doesn’t change the unquestionably bad result, it does explain how it came to be. Moreover why we as a community were “so hurt” to be singled out. Something that honestly should’ve not happened in any case, but only becomes more hurtful once we know the following facts.

First, the funeral was planned in conjunction with the NYPD. Streets were blocked, notices were distributed throughout the community asking people that were planning to participate to strictly follow the rules of the city and state to the letter, and the people were wholeheartedly prepared and willing to do so.

Secondly – and this is the most crucial point- the funeral organizers planned out the event in detail to ensure that it won’t violate any of the guidelines set out by the city and state. A sound system that was set up for blocs and blocs, so people would be able to listen to the eulogies from afar in strict adherence to the rules.

To stand on the street in adherence to the social distancing rules, wearing masks, six feet separated, Etc. should not be problematic. It is no different than what happens every day in parks across the city, and is not only tolerated but rather encouraged by the government and you yourself, and you were even quoted as saying you will open more streets for people to use in this proper way.

Of course, the community would’ve not undertaken such a gathering – even with all those precautions – if it wasn’t for the most necessary reasons and of utmost importance. As you may very well know, a funeral in general, and much more so in the case of a rabbi of the stature of Rabbi Chaim Mertz OBM is something extraordinarily important to the community. It’s considered “The last honor” and is an occasion that regularly brings together the biggest crowds of any other occasion in the community. I can with no doubt in my mind say, that should this funeral have taken place in “normal” times, tens of thousands of people from all over the Tri-State area would’ve gathered to participate. I would’ve not been surprised if upwards of 50,000 people showed. That only hundreds came, in itself comes to show how much the community was willing to “swallow” because of what the city is going through.

So that is why the congregation was willing to endure the difficulties of arranging the funeral in adherence to the rules in the first place, as hard as it may be, so people could come, participate, mourn and get some closure on the loss of such a great treasure.

Now, for some reason, a decision was made “not” to use the sound system. I don’t want point fingers as to who is at fault for this, but some do say the police didn’t permit them to be used. Why and how this happened is something that we all need to get to the bottom of. But “this” was the beginning of the snowballing of the situation.

Before the ceremony commenced people were standing separated following the rules. Volunteers were stationed at all corners distributing masks to those who didn’t have and made sure everyone puts it on.

But, as the ceremony started and people realized that the sound system was not in operation, they naturally started to gravitate towards the synagogue trying to listen in.

This is when and how things started getting out of hand. The police officers rightfully wanted to maintain order. They started shouting out orders for people to stay put, then for people to get on the sidewalk, to go left, to go right, Etc., sirens blasting, microphones hollering and consequently people running all over in confusion.

All the photos that so angered everyone, of the people, close together, are from “after” the confusion and the mayhem happened.

If one study’s the photos – and knows the local streets – one can easily deduce that this is what happened. In the photos, people are gathered at the corners of the streets relatively far from the synagogue while the street in front of the synagogue is empty. People are clearly just trying to get a little closer. This would’ve never happened if the sound system was working. Everyone clearly saw that there is no way of getting inside the synagogue or even the street in front of it as it was blocked off by the police and there was no reason to try to get any closer if the eulogies were broadcasted outside, but they weren’t, the sound system was shut.

To conclude:

Was this pleasant? No!! Not at all. Was the outcome terrible? Yes!!

But, can the whole fault be laid at the feet of the community, its leaders, and the participants at the funeral? Absolutely definitely no!!

People cannot be faulted for taking part in something that was sanctioned by law enforcement, arranged in a way that it does not violate the rules, just as people are permitted and encouraged to walk on the street or do essential business while following the rules.

The sound system was supposed to be working, and together we should try to find out why this wasn’t the case.

Law enforcement should not have started pushing people around, screaming, creating panic, more confusion that only exuberated the situation. Why the police did what they did is also something that you need to get to the bottom of.

May you Mr. Mayor continue to lead this city with success, may G-d continue to bless America, Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above. May we overcome this terrible disease speedily, may peace and tranquility now and forever encapsulate our community, government, and law enforcement and all kind decent human beings, Amen.

Sincerely yours,
Mosha Klein

P.S.
Mr. Mayor, because what happened at the funeral went viral, I’m sure there are others out there who would also appreciate understanding what went down. Therefore, I will take the liberty and make this letter public. I’m sure you will understand.

On that note, I wish to add some words intended for the public.

To whom this may concern.

Everything written this letter is in no way meant to speak to those cowards online, hiding under anonymity to attack others with vile, racist, and bigoted remarks. Unfortunately, the current hard times and the twitter misunderstanding were just one more opportunity for sick individuals to spew hate, to let the world know the bitterness and darkness that is their conscience. They are not at all concerned with the betterment of themselves or others, all they are concerned with is targeting people to satisfy their evil yearnings.

As far as I’m concerned people like that don’t deserve to live in a country like the United States. A nation – in the words of Abraham Lincoln -“conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” and the inalienable G-d given rights of “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that this nation guarantees to all of its people.

Never in the history of mankind has man conceived a country as just and as all-encompassing, as great and righteous as this “One Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.

All I can say to all of those individuals, is: “you will never beat us”!!

We will overcome anything you throw our way, and come out even stronger afterward. We overcame the Egyptians, we overcame the Babylonians, we overcame the Persians, we overcame the Romans, we overcame the pogroms, we overcame communism, and we overcame Nazism and so on and so forth.

As Mark Twain so eloquently put it long ago: “The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew”!

We shall overcome you too!

In millennia from now, our descendants will still sit around the Passover table and sing the age-long song: “For not only one enemy has risen against us, only in every generation men rise against us to destroy us and the Holy One, Blessed be He, rescues us from their hands”. Only this time you too will be on the same list of what the Jewish nation has overcome, while it still shines and flourishes forever and ever. While you “faded to dream-stuff and passed away…. are gone…… burned out…… sit in twilight now, or have vanished” (Mark Twain: Concerning The Jews).

And of course, to those who took the right track, who come out to express support for the community, we say bravo! And we tremendously appreciate it. It may take courage and strong character to do the right thing in difficult times, but it was the right thing to do. Doing the right thing is not always meant to be easy.

Let us all thrive to maintain and perfect good relationships between all peoples, let this nation be a beacon to the world in the words of George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island: “For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance…. may the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other Inhabitants; while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and Figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid”.

May we all merit to see in speedily in our days the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”. (Isaiah 2:4).

Amen.

Mosha

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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