Dear YWN, I am disgusted after reading the following article in this mornings Asbury Park Press (APP). Please take note of the blatant anti semitism smeared against the entire Lakewood Jewish Community in the first few paragraphs. Notice how later in the article the writer of this hate mongering piece himself notes how many apartments are rented to people of all walks of life. The writer knows good and well that the Kol Koreh issued by the Rabbonim was pointed at the slumlords renting apartments to “unsavory rentals” – meaning people with criminal backgrounds who are plaguing once safe Lakewood, and not a well-meaning, hard-working non-Jewish rental.
For the record, this is not the first time the APP has written such negative article, and I’d like to publicly state that the forum section on the APP is a camping grounds for the most vile, subhuman anti-semitic creatures, spending their days bashing Jews.
Proudly Signed,
Joshua Weiss, Lakewood NJ.
While house-hunting here some time ago, Nancy Cedeno and her daughter Tammy stopped to consider a rental on Caranetta Drive. It was in fair condition, spacious enough for a family and in a relatively quiet part of town. They liked what they saw. But once outside after a tour of the house, they got the instant impression the neighbors were not as pleased.
“The next thing you know, when we come out, there are six or seven women swarming us, asking all kinds of questions, like “Who are you?’ and “What are you doing?’‚” remembered Nancy Cedeno, 63.
The perceived hostility caused the mother, who is white, and daughter, who is
half-Hispanic, to abandon any thoughts of moving there. It also left them convinced that the unwelcoming attitude was because they were not Orthodox Jewish, which virtually all the neighbors were.
“Lakewood has for many years been very prejudiced,” said Nancy Cedeno, who had been working in the township for several years and now lives with her children and husband in Barnegat. “They don’t want others living near them.”
Many Orthodox and non-Orthodox leaders in Lakewood say this is the exception, not the rule. Nonetheless, it provides a glimpse into some long-held feelings that the rental world in Lakewood is in cultural integration deadlock at a time when the township’s rabbis continue their public push for Orthodox landlords to vet their tenants more carefully.
Recently, more than a dozen leading rabbis signed and circulated a letter in Hebrew, scolding Jewish landlords for leasing to “”people not of the same values.” Signatories clarified that the letter’s intent was to serve as a slap on the wrist to those people who enable criminals with a lease and lazy background checks in light of increasing complaints from residents over burglaries and assaults.
“Lakewood’s history shows that they (landlords) have not discriminated. Look at how many Orthodox are right now renting to non-Jews … a huge percentage,” said Rabbi Aaron Kotler, chief administrator at the Beth Medrash Govoha yeshiva and member of the town’s council of Jewish leaders, the Vaad. “The outcry in our community was not about renting to non-Jews; it was about the impact on daily life from criminals and gangs.”
The rabbis’ effort has been applauded by township officials as a bold step toward
rectifying a far-reaching problem.
“I have been after them for months to take a look at this. They are in a unique position to hold these guys accountable when the rest of us cannot,” said Mayor Raymond Coles, who called the movement “an awakening.”
Asked if the letter could have the effect of tenant discrimination, Committeeman Robert Singer said, “This is not a witch hunt against the undocumented or any minority group.”
Still, at least to some people, it is a concern.
“This action by the Orthodox will definitely raise some eyebrows on discrimination,” said Carlos Cedeno, a Hispanic rental agent.
Cedeno, who is the husband of Nancy Cedeno, claims to have experienced prejudice in the community on multiple occasions when trying to find Hispanic residents a home. He told of being shown a contract in which a landlord promised not to rent to non-Jewish people.
“How can a landlord determine that a person is unsavory or undesirable unless they are referring to African Americans or Mexicans?” he asked.
Simple, Orthodox leaders and their supporters say: Criminal background checks.
Eve Roth, a prolific landlord who has not been publicly accused of careless management, said such checks were easier said than done.
“It’s a wonderful idea, but it’s expensive. I don’t know if it’s practical,” she said,
adding that her tenant screening usually included credit checks, previous landlord references and a personal visit to the applicant’s current residence.
In the last two weeks, the Vaad has strengthened its language against so-called slumlords as it continues to see a correlation between them and recent violence.
“It is time for us to go public against these destroyers of Lakewood,” Kotler said in a mass e-mail. He later backed off this call, however: “I have heard many say that perhaps the landlords deserve time to work on and improve what they are doing.”
Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg said there was talk of publishing addresses and owner names of properties where criminal activity and inspection violations fester.
Burglaries in the township dropped slightly last year to 462 from 529 in 2006, according to police statistics. Yet for the first six months of this year, the number has already reached 309, peaking in March at 74. From 2003 to 2006, Lakewood led Ocean County in burglaries, state crime reports show.
Last month, three purported members of the Bloods street gang pleaded guilty to a 2005 murder conspiracy in which they shot up a randomly-selected car, seriously injuring two of the three occupants. At least two of the assailants, according to police and property records, lived in Lakewood rentals owned by Orthodox landlords David Flam and Harold Frankel, both of whom are on the township zoning department’s list of 10 landlords and property managers with
the worst quality-of-life records.
Flam could not be reached. Frankel declined to comment other than to say, “”I might have more properties than everyone else; that’s why.”
At another rental on New York Avenue, a pregnant woman on July 27 was shot with a flare gun and injured. Police have issued an arrest warrant charging Eberardo Florez-Garcia with the assault. Sheryl Harnick, the house’s owner, said the shooter did not live there. She described her tenant as “”reliable, very decent and respectful” who had momentarily “fallen in with the wrong people.”
Harnick, who bought the house in June with her husband Benzion, acknowledged the neighbors were not happy when they decided to rent it rather than live there.
In addition to the Vaad’s admonishment about irresponsible landlords, talk has circulated about reviving a proposed ordinance that would mandate annual inspections of all rental units. The measure failed last year by a 3-2 vote of the Township Committee, largely because critics saw it as a “shotgun approach” that would unfairly burden the well-intending landlords with fees and nitpicking.
“To just try and take on 10,000 (units) in one shot, the system is doomed to failure,” said Deputy Mayor Meir Lichtenstein, who voted against the ordinance. “It will end up getting the good units while that few percent of bad units fall to the wayside.”
Lichtenstein has been criticized for not yet fulfilling his promise of bringing the
proposal back to the table. Committeeman Charles Cunliffe predicted it would have a direct impact on curtailing crime.
A widespread perception at the time was the measure died because of pressure from the Orthodox community, which includes a large percentage of the town’s landlords. Both Orthodox committeemen voted against it, and Weisberg, often seen as the Vaad’s spokesman, had called it too harsh.
Instead, in an interview last week, Weisberg suggested heavier focus on identifying and fining the repeat violators. This, he said, would help steady the delicate balance between accommodating a “tremendous need for housing” and discouraging slumlord behavior.
Roth, the landlord, likes this approach. She said she’s tired of being lumped with her less responsible counterparts.
Yet Rabbi Kotler said recently the Vaad had always supported the ordinance and hopes to soon see it passed.
Support from the Vaad, while welcomed, is too little, too late, according to the people who drafted and lobbied for the measure.
“We had this all along, so why didn’t they come to support us then?” asked Diane Reaves, who led the township’s Rental Advisory Committee that recommended the ordinance. “But if they want to show it now I’d surely welcome that .‚.‚. because Lakewood really does need some help.”
Referring to the Orthodox leadership’s letter to the landlords and Kotler’s outspoken backing of the inspection ordinance, Cunliffe added: “”I find it somewhat amusing that their political headers sat silent and now, all of a sudden, they come out against (the problem). I guess they’ve heard enough from their constituents to take a stance.”
One measure to legalize basement apartments everywhere except age-restricted communities and two residential areas could ease some of the trepidation landlords have toward the annual inspections and help pave the way for their adoption, Coles said. It passed first reading at Thursday’s committee meeting.
“I’d like to see it back before the end of the year,” he said of the inspection
ordinance.
Meanwhile, Cunliffe said the deterioration of Lakewood’s quality of life has been the primary topic among residents at the last few committee meetings.
“It has permeated every single neighborhood,” he said. “”I think people have finally had enough.”
(APP)
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34 Responses
People should be aware that the anti-semitic rag “Asbury Park Press” (Lakewood) is owned by the same company (Gannett) as another anti-semitic rag “The Journal News” (Monsey.)
…and both of these anti-semitic rags online forums not only tolerate but actively encourage blatant naked anti-semitism.
It is illegal to discriminate against a certain community or group of people. Why is it legal for drug addicts and robbers to target a certain community? WHere are all the laws about that??
When they move into a well known Orthodox area, they are looking to target Jewish homes because they think all Jews have money. They do that to nice Christian communities too. They move and take advantage any possible way they can.
So who is being discriminated against, I ask you!? Why doesn’t our government protect our communities from those who wish to destroy it? Do they want us to first let them move in, and then we should call the police and bother the cops every day? The offenders love to rent apartments in nice homes but woops they forget the laws against taking drugs and stealing and being disturbingly rowdy . Being like that is against ALL communities, Christian communities too. Good Christians also don’t like to be preyed upon! Even Mr. Cunliffe would agree that there are certain types who have no respect for others and are ready, willing and able to hurt the neighborhoods they live in. I therefore feel that the definition of “discrimination” is not broad enough.
Well, after reading the entire article, it appears that the article questions the motives of Orthodox Jews, and was likely motivated by this woman’s impressions, whether they are well-founded or not. It doesn’t “smack” of anti-semitism though.
Another YWN reader said a Newswrrk article whyich pointed out that someone was an Orthodox Jew was also anti-semitic. Wake up people, it IS a double standard, because we are supposed to be better than the umos ha’olam. They put us on a pedestal because we belong there.
When a landlord in Rockland county had immigrant tenants living in substandard conditions and the authorities went after him, I also heard cries of anti-semitism.
The fears are real and they have a right to ask the questions. If we react violently and cry anti-semitism, we’re just adding fuel to the fire.
The truth is, Lakewood is home to many elitist-minded people. It’s not just against people of other races, but even of Jews who don’t look like they do or go to the same Rav. We are not the tolerant people we claim to be so let’s look at it objectively.
If nothing else, calling the APP an anti-semitic rag (a term btw, which comes from a former paper source, not the quality of the writing) just gives them reason to read these postings and say, “See! We were right!”
Sorry guys, I think it’s time for a reality check. What does R’ Matisyahu say about the article?
..the writer of this article, who interviews the poor, frei woman who was *gasp* offended by women asking her what she was doing there – they conveniently left out the fact that this woman, being frei, was probably dressed like a chaya(her daughter was half-hispanic, need I say more? They all dress the same – not to be racist, but take a look in flatbush, it’s just a reality), so these women (the frum ones) were thinking ‘oy vey..we cant let our husbands and sons walk around with pritzus like this here”
APP has no notion of tznius – all they see is ‘discriminiation’, it’s a shame the rabbonim even had to engage them – and where do they come off trying t translate a kol koreh – they dont even know a word of hebrew! plus, the letter makes no mention of race – it talks about behavior and lifestyle, one can discriminate based on that for sure..
joshua…. i think ur takin this too personal
First of all, I don’t think you are being fair to the APP, the last article they had on this was pro the Kol Koray. Now they are writing an oposing view to their first. Newspapers do this all the time. Stop crying wolf unless there is one. Mr. Weiss- what you should be concerned about is the continued sinas chinum of the “frum”
landlords to other jews, who continually rent to lowlifes, when they can rent to either jews or goyim who are respectable. This somehow doesn’t irk you.
To Avrohom Abba,
What you are saying is nothing new, Liberals in America have made this country a haven for criminals. They have stopped the death penalty in most states. The amount of jail time for a lot of crimes is a joke. They do this because they are bleeding heart liberals who always have mercy on the lowlifes. Calling everything discrimination is just one of their tatics!
#6 proves the point of the APP aticle. His objection is not criminality but her being “frei” and “dressed like chayas”. That is discrimination and that is what the woman was reacting to.
Sounds like the press is not yet buying up the “spin” that the kol korei issue is a “safety” issue, or the non-performance of criminal background checks on prospective tenants.
Face the facts. The article is extremely accurate. You just may not like the way the it sounds through their eyes.
The brilliant ones who created this kol korei, will simply have to keep spinning it. This issue is not going away any time soon…
On the day after Tisha B’Av, I suggest that we need to take a long hard look at ourselves.
I used to work as an attorney at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs in Trenton. Dressed in standard Yiddishe “black” garb, I was approached in 2001 by a Rav from Lakewood, an author of seforim that are on the shelves of Bais Medrishim of most of our shuls, and asked to help steer affordable housing units to Yungeleit, in clear violation of law – I responded by saying that in most contexts I would be obliged to stand for him when he entered a room – but that what he was asking was pas nicht.
Among decent people who have work in State housing programs, people I personally believe to be without any anti-Semitism in them, “Lakewood” has a reputation of being particularly less than honest and forthcoming when it comes to applying for Federal housing funds – and then attempting to spend them with disregard of housing law.
This is a chillul Hashem that pains me – and it something we need to deal with. Many of us heard derashim yesterday that went to the need to address not only the Churban Bais, but the behavioral causes of the calamity. We heard Rabbis Mordechai Becher, in the taped address that was part of the Chofetz Chaim Foundation’s presentation, talk about how being menchlekeit, decent and honest are conditions precedent to Torah observance. And how often in any of our communities and shuls do we hear the words “goy” or “schvartze” said with the same disgust and prejudice that we would wake up to if the words were “kike” or “hymie?”
Please – don’t be so willing to cast off all criticism of the type in the Asbury Park Press article as just anti-Semitism. We need to work on ourselves.
Respectfully, and with Ahavas Yisroel,
Yonason Wolff
Highland park, New Jersey
While I can understand that someone may not want females who don’t dress like us (hamavin yovin)living in the proximity of their husbands and children, we don’t live in a ghetto, and we don’t own this town, unlike certain Chasidish communities in upstate NY. Therefore, to be fair we have to allow for others to rent homes and we can’t discriminate. I have very nice non Jewish neighbors who are an asset to the block that I live on, even though the women in the family do not dress according to our standards.I am not a landlord but, I do understand the predicament they are in and I sympathize with them and their problems with finding decent people to rent their homes. I also do not like the way Lakewood is turning out. Years ago before the building and real estate boom in Lakewood we did not have these issues.I do not like to consider myself a bigot, but I do want this town to be safe and clean and a good environment for us to bring up our children in.(My children do play with the non Jewish children on our block, They are not Hispanic, but, if they were and were a decent sort it wouldn’t matter to me as long as they understand our differences and respect them.)
Dear Mr. Wolf, post #12
I have to say that i generally do not post on YW anymore, and haven’t for some time. But, alas, I must say your post has me fuming. How can you claim “Ahavas Yisroel” in both the beginning and closing of your post?!
What on earth is your point by stating that a Rabbi who’s seforim are on shelves in B”M all over approached you to ask you to help him with something illegal?! Is it to say that Rabbis are frauds? Wouldn’t it have sufficed for you to say a frum man? Perhaps a Rav knows Choishen Mishpat better than yourself and had a right to determine what is Muttar Al pi din, and wanted to know if there was a LEGAL loophole to help?! I myself was once told by a lawyer that his job is to help me find loopholes in the law! Does that make him bad and wrong for asking to try to help? Was he doing this for his own benefeit, that you can say he was trying to get away with murder, or was he trying to help others?!
How can you say that Lakewood has a reputation of being ‘less than honest’ when it comes to affordable housing funds etc… Do you know where those ‘rumors’ spread from? Angry Balle Batim who don’t want Yungeleit to sit and learn and take government money! They spread rumors that we yungeleit are hiding all their assets and living lavish lives while drinking up all existing government funds…. First off, I invite you to come to lakewood and follow a few yungeleit on their daily routine to Shacharis, home, babysitter, yeshiva, babysitter, home , yeshiva, shiur, shmuess, home, night seder, etc…. then tell me about how wealthy we are and how unworthy we are of govt. funds.
Secondly, don’t get me wrong and misunderstand that i am saying that everything EVERYONE does is 100%, but alas, it’s like that everywhere in everty community and even more so nisht by unzere. I had a tenant who was collecting sec 8, did not get married and lived with her boyfriend in the house, the boyfriend made a salary, she made a salary, and was collecting a lot of money without the govt having any knowledge that he was living there. Get real, this is the way things are in the world, and why should those cheaters be illegally collecting govt money when people who really need it can be getting it through a loophole?
Don’t say the frum in Lakewood are worse, it is simply not true, and pure chutzpa. Sure you’ll hear stories when such a large percentage of ppl are on section 8, but I challenge you to come interview and scrutinize the average yungerman, and i truly believe your views will change.
May you be blessed to have your children living in Lakewood and being moser nefesh for torah one day soon!
My brother is in the construction business in Lakewood and he is in the process of renovating a home on a frum block. When completed he will put it up for sale. He has the frum neighbors hassling and harassing him that he should only sell the home to a family that sends their chidren to such and such schools, any lesser standard would be diminishing the level of the block. Truly anti-semetic !! Nebach, those cobwebs are growing thicker on Moshiach. When will we have enough confidence in our Yiddishkeit to trust ourselves around other Yidden of seemingly lesser levels ? When will we realize that we can gain by allowing ourselves (and our children) to associate with torah observant Yiden of all shades.
“Please take note of the blatant anti semitism smeared against the entire Lakewood Jewish Community in the first few paragraphs.” Well Joshua I read the article and it seems eminently fair to me. It seems to me that the artciel is both accurate and fair. The simple fact is that most of us heimishe yidden, in fact the vastly overwhelming majority of us, would no sooner have a “goy” or worse still a goyishe “shvartze” live in our multi family house or across the block. Period. I am not discussing what is right and what is wrong, but the facts are the facts. That being so we should shut our mouths when articles like this are written or sooner or later the APP will publish a virulently anti-semitic piece. The real problem will be that we will probably deserve it, not that it is written. Those of us who try our best to keep the law, like paying taxes, not driving as though we own the highway etc. etc. etc. are a lot more embarrassed by our fellow shomrei Torah umitzvos who look down on the rest of the world with utter contempt while doing whatever they want, that we are about a well written article in the APP.
Part of the problem is that we have no repsect for others. The lady who is the subject of the article may not have been dressed in a tzniusdik way but then she does not have the obligations we have. Is it unpleasant to have to live in close proximity to people who do not dress appropriately? Yes of course it is but that does not give us the right to describe such a person as a “chaya” and not just a “chaya” but a “chaya” with a half-hispanic daughter. I mean how low can a human stoop to tahn to be half-hispanic? Need I say more? We take great offence when ‘they’ describe us as smelly, money grabbing etc.
Reminder to ALL-
It is the day after Tisha B’av.
Let’s tone it DOWN and keep smart comments to oneself.
This site is read by all.
avreimi
Don’t you realize that the one who called her Chaya didn’t intend her half-Hispanic daughter? Does it not dawn on you that he knows something else about her, and that is what he’s referring to?
We seem to forget that we are in golus and that we do not own this or any other town or neighborhood. It looks very racist and arrogant to non-yeshiva-type people to publicly write the requirements for whom to rent to.We have to understand other people’s feelings,too.
We do not have derech eretz towards people of other backgrounds and we must.WE DO NOT OWN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS.We also don’t like to be discriminated against.
If you dont like the APP – DONT BUY IT!
As for Lakewood, some of the comments posted here made me think about all the new schools that open which are completely “filled” and they wont allow good kids in. These kids are forced to wait oif shpilkas until AFTER school begins to find out where they will be attending. Hanola, Staff, and children in each school are busy drinking the kool-aid that their school is the best. They walk around with such attitudes and their noses so stuck in the air its sickening.
I hate to tell all of you Lakewoodites that most frum schools back in the 70s and 80s outside of Lakewood had more on any of you now. We didnt look down at someone just because he went to Torah Vodaas, Chaim Berlin, Toras Emes, Eitz Chaim, or any other yeshiva be it chasidish or not.
Look inward and then look outward.
(I have many friends as well as relatives in Lakewood so I am getting this from someplace.)
“Part of the problem is that we have no repsect for others”
we have no need to and should not respect those that have taken the Tzelem Elokim and dragged it through ……, and continue to do so.
“respect everyone”
“love everyone”
liberal drivel that has nothing to do with Emes
HOWEVER we need to ACT WITH RESPECT to everyone, except for a known Rasha.
Lesschumrs – anti-semitism is something totally different – we dress different, but no one would say a charedi man is immodest, or repulsive to look at, and I am sorry, but for those of you who do not live in neighborhoods with this element, let me enlighten you – i have never, I repeat, never(with the exception of the lady who cleasn the floors in my yeshiva but she’s asked to dress that way) seen a hispanic woman dress anywhere near anyone’s perception of modesty.
That is not racism – it is looking at a trend in a group of people, and surmising that the person in question was a prutzah.
Goyim may not have any obligation to dress modestly(which is debatable), but we certainly have no obligation to accept them into our communities and have men be nicshol – is it because they’re spanish? of course not, it just so happens that every single women ive seen(not that I look but one can’t run the risk of being hit by a car), dresses immodestly by our standards; do other groups dress immodestly? of course, really, 99% of goyishe/frei women do, but again, this is because she was not dressed appropriately – she could have been a very nice woman, but we dont want prutzos living with us if we can help it – this is not an issue of inferiority/superiority or race, it has to do with modesty. The woman in question, was jewish, so i am not speaking just about goyim, however the addition that she was hispanic gave me more of a reason to believe that the reason the lakewood women treated her that way was due to her(albeit unwitting due to ignorance) immodesty
#19
although i agree with you that such statements that you mentioned, that would be considered “disgusting” by those that live in the american Sheker should NOT be posted here, and should not be allowed here by YWN. for the singular reason that you never know who is reading comments here, including (maybe even likely) media representatives, and antisemitic hate groups
19 – we’re supposed to have respectr for people altz kovod habrios – but when they dont act like a ‘briah’, meaning, a human being, and instead behave and dress like chayos, then the obligation only goes so far as interpersonal relationships – but to know and understand that the person is doing something wrong has little to do with respect, fakert, it’s because of the respect we have for humanity that we cant handle such immodesty and disrespect for the fact that all mankind was created betzelem elokim.
I do not see how we dont have the right to call someone else a chaya, if they behave like one – plus, are you a believer in the navi jefferson? with all this talk of rights you sound like one..i see no examples of the concept of ‘rights’ that you speak of in the torah – speaking disrespectfully to someone is wrong, but many times seforim will call a person a name, if it is fitting, and beneficial – it is so unbelieveably important for us not to be effected by immodesty that we must identify and yes, ‘label’ those who deny it with their very existence.
next you’ll say we cant call xtians ovdai avodah zara, because they have the right to worship avodah zara and inject tumah into the world, right? it’s their ‘g-d givren’ right, as your navi thomas jefferson put it.
it’s a twisted way of thinking, no, a mental illness called americanism that leads one to believe that i do not have the right to call a prutzah a chaya, yet they have the ‘right’ to dress like one.
#10 – yes, in fact, I cosnider it criminal to be a walking micshol for men – your comment just shows how materialistic you are, and how much tyou have been brainwashed by secular values.
Discrimination based on modesty is entirely reasonable to anyone with a grain of torah-sechel – if you could weed out immodesty just by not letting certai peple live there, you wouldnt do it, because it’s discriminiation??
this shows a terrible, terrible set of priorities..open up a kav hayasher on one who stares at women, and one who dresses immodestly, then we’ll talk.
Thank You Matisyohu and Feivel.
Gut gezugt.
In the USA people are allowed to wear anything or lack of almost anything as a freedom of expression. We are offended but they are proud to show of parts of the body that we always cover,besides the shape and poor fit of their clothes.We feel dignified,they feel materialistic.
It reminds me of how the ancients served thir god,Ba’al in the most vulgar way. Being vulgar is part of their social style.I wish all of us could live in a secluded area away from the goyishe areas of NYC…………………
I don’t understand how annual inspections will stop crime. it would only PERHAPS help prevent overcrowding which pertains only to the “illegal immigrants” not to anybody else who commit the violent crimes.
also this article sounds like the APP was fed info by our askanim who want this annual inspections ordinance passed badly. How else would the APP know the content of R’ aron Kotler’s e-mail and “talk has been circulating” etc. and names of frum landlords etc.
sounds like they are taking their battle of getting rid of all the illegals (due to their drain on public school township and healthcare funds vhamavin yavin) to the APP to embarrass the lanlords, after all their previous efforts like kol koreh and annual inspection ordinance failed and arent working. its also an implied threat to all lanlords that theirnames could also end up publicized in the APP just like the 3 mentioned in the article.
To those who advocate only letting Yidden into Lakewood (Matisyohu28 & others):
Kol Hakavod! B”H you still have a sense of tznius!But it still against US law and those who do it could be thrown in jail C”V.
I don’t think (I could be wrong, it’s not nogayh me so I didn’t ask my rov) that anyone is mechuyav to risk jail not to rent to those of whom they may disapprove.
Can’t the landlords just get out of the business altogether and be supported in Kollel? 🙂
P.S. I have seen all groups dress modestly, as well as all groups dress immodestly (including what we would call yeshivish/charaidim, especially the men). Perhaps you are not able to judge as you admit you have not been “outside” (for good, of course).
I truly believe Lakewood is in some serious need of help. And I feel this “help” should come from the members of the community. ALL the members. If we all decided to stand together to figure out what exactly can be done to improve the situation, instead of throwing daggers, we just may be able to accomplish much.
We cannot do it alone. We need to work together. We have all heard stories about this group or that group. But it’s time to put them aside and decide whether Lakewood is truly worth changing.
Wouldn’t we all like to reside in a neighborhood that only believes the way we believe;
Or reside in a neighborhood that only celebrates what we celebrate;
Or reside in a neighborhood that has only the particular race we happen to be.
But that’s not reality folks.
We live in a big world, we are bound to be in a neighborhood where there are going to be huge differences. Either we try to respect each other’s beliefs, or we hate each other. It’s a personal choice.
Lakewood has some issues with hiring and housing some who are not here legally. That’s number one. Number two, Lakewood has some issues with a growing gang population. Number three, Lakewood has some issues with a growing homeless population. And number four, Lakewood has an issue with “SOME” landlords who don’t care who they rent to, or what condition they leave a neighborhood, or the dwelling they are renting.
We must remember, there are some amazing landlords out there – not all the landlords in Lakewood are bad.
It’s completely unfair to put them all in the same boat. Just as it’s completely unfair to place all people of a particular race or religion in the same boat. Blanket assumptions are never fair, and very rarely are they true.
Instead of looking to each other for faults and such, what we should be doing is looking to ourselves, individually.
Are you being fair?
Are you being racist?
Are you being a bad landlord?
Are you being a bad neighbor?
Are you living an example that Abba would be proud of?
If we all took responsibility for our own actions, and took thought being doing anything that might be hurtful or harmful to others, think what a better place it would be.
Trust me, we are ALL afraid to have bad neighbors living beside us, or on our same street. ALL.
Nobody wants to live next to those who are going to dress like ??????????????? and be a blemish to our husbands.
Nobody wants to live next to those who are gang members and deal drugs out of their rentals.
Nobody wants to live next to those who will continually blast their horrid music, so loud your windows vibrate and you have no peace.
Nobody wants to live next to those who will trash the rental, thereby bringing down the value of your own property.
So instead of trying to ensure that you, alone, don’t have to suffer these woes, we should try to ensure that NOBODY has to suffer them.
If we start to divert away from the real issue, we will surely be lost.
Lets try to figure it out as a community. I say we have public meetings where all can express their suggestions for taking back Lakewood.
These are just my suggestions for what they may be worth.
humble angel
For those interested in boycotting Gannett newspapers, please Gannett publishes USA Today as well as over a hundred other community papers throughout the country.
Matisyohu28 – I suggest you pick yourself up and go and live in New Square. That is a community that makes its own rules and regulations. However I don’t think you will hear the Sverer Rebbe routinely describe another human being as a ‘chaya’. If New Square is not to your liking, go buy a plot of land in mid North Dakota and set up a ‘chaya’ free community there. However if you still want to live in Lakewood, zip up your mouth.
#12, Mr. Wolf. You are very brave for posting as you have. I hope your post will make some people a little better in such dealings than they would normally be had they not read your post.
Avreimi – it is encouraging indeed that there are other frume Yidden out there with your views. . . I do feel isolated at times. Shkoyach . . . and Ploini – I have spent much time in Lakewood. . . no need for a tour. Finally, thank you Interesting for your vote of support. Wolff