Dear Members, Friends, and the Broader Monsey Community, Once again, we, in the Town of Ramapo, find ourselves in the midst of an election campaign to decide who will be the next Town Supervisor and who will occupy key trustee positions on the town board.

Unfortunately, politics often brings out the worst in people who engage in fear-mongering, innuendo, outright lies and fraud to further their agenda. In 2015, during the last election for Town Supervisor, my name, along with the names of many other Rabbonim in the community appeared on a mailing warning residents of Monsey of the danger to the Jewish residents of Ramapo should they allow a particular candidate or slate of candidates to be elected.

Needless to say, I was horrified and angered to find my name affixed to a letter that I had never been shown, never been consulted on, and adamantly disagreed with its assertions. I subsequently confirmed that a significant number of the other Rabbonim signed on that letter had never granted permission for their signatures to be used. (It is entirely possible that every name on that letter was fraudulently affixed. I simply stopped calling other Rabbonim after the first few confirmed that they had never been asked for their consent.)

At that time, I sent a letter to my shul explaining that the appearance of my name on that letter was pure forgery, and I encouraged my people to educate themselves fully on the issues involved in the election and to vote as they saw fit in that election.

Unfortunately, I have reason to fear that my name, and the names of other Rabbonim in the community will once again be falsely attached to terrifying mailings and advertisements warning of doom to the Jewish community if we do not vote for the candidate for whom they tell you to vote.

Please be fully aware that any political letter signed by any Rov has a high likelihood of being fraudulent. If you receive such a letter, do not assume that it represents the view any Rov whose name is affixed to it until you confirm with that individual Rov. If that Rov has, in fact, signed a letter that conflicts with your view of the political reality, you can, and should attempt to have a respectful conversation with that Rov about the issues at hand. He may be swayed by your arguments, you may be convinced by his, or, at the end, you may agree to disagree.

Unfortunately, there are many elements that have a lot of power, money, and prestige riding on the outcome of this election, and they will stop at almost nothing to achieve their goals.

During the last election, that included engaging in criminal fraud and fear-mongering with false attacks on candidates and even on the spouses of some of those candidates. I will not take a position publicly on the election, and if my name appears on any mailing it is definitely fraudulent, but I can assure you that I have met and spoken at length with both Mr. Bill Weber and Mrs. Shani Bechofer of the New Direction for Ramapo ticket. Mr. Weber impressed me as intelligent, fair-minded, balanced, and broad enough to lead the diverse community of Ramapo and all of its constituents. Mrs. Bechofer is a prominent Jewish educator with a deep sense of Jewish history and a proper perspective on the Jewish experience and role in galus.

I share my impressions with you because experience dictates that they are likely to be the target of vile and disgusting lies aimed at frightening Orthodox Jewish voters into believing that they will pursue an anti-Semitic agenda if elected. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. This is not an endorsement of A New Direction for Ramapo, nor for any other party.

On election day, each voter should go to the polls armed with as much knowledge as possible and vote his or her conscience. That knowledge includes your recognition of those who will use whatever means possible to manipulate you into furthering their personal agenda through lies, innuendo and false accusations.

May the Ribono Shel Olam guide our hands and those of our political leadership to the best outcome for all of our community for now and for always.

Respectfully, Rabbi Yisroel Gottlieb Congregation Bais Torah Suffern, NY

NOTE — THE FOLLOWING LETTER WAS WRITTEN BY RABBI GOTTLIEB FOLLOWING HIS FIRST LETTER:

Dear Members, Friends, and the Broader Monsey Community,

Two days ago, I sent out a letter to the shul email list in an attempt to address and preempt a wrong done to me and to the voting community of Monsey in the last community-wide election for Town Supervisor. That letter seems to have gotten a life of its own as it has been widely circulated.

Although I clearly stated in that letter that I am not endorsing any candidate, it has come to my attention that many viewed the letter as an endorsement of one slate of candidates since they were mentioned by name and I attested to their fairness and competence. I want to make it fully clear and unequivocal that I do not and will not publicly endorse any candidate for office in this or any election.

I am grateful to those who were concerned that my original letter might be misconstrued as an endorsement and therefore arranged for me to meet with Michael Specht and David Wanounou. Mr. Specht is running for Town Supervisor and Mr. Wanounou for the town board on the Democratic ticket. As my experience with the other party candidates, I am pleased to share that I found Mr. Specht to be intelligent, sincere, capable, and keenly aware of the issues that divide the Town of Ramapo that must be addressed. Mr. Wanounou is an active and vibrant member of Ramapo’s Orthodox Jewish community with an impressive record of public service. Both Mr. Specht and Mr. Wanounou share a vision of uniting the various factions in the town for the benefit of all.

Most importantly, in my meetings with all of the candidates, not one with whom I spoke said anything negative about the opposition. They each expressed a desire and commitment to running positive, issue-based campaigns that would avoid ad-hominem attacks and negativity. They are to be commended for swimming against the tide of poisonous partisanship that has so soiled American politics.

I share this information with you to make clear that I have no publicly stated preference for any slate of candidates over another. If my original letter gave that impression, I apologize for it and I have already apologized personally to Mr. Specht and Mr. Wanounou who were both exceedingly gracious and understanding.

I will reiterate what I said in my original letter. Despite the candidates’ commitment and desire to keep the election about the issues, there are others out there who may not be as ethical and moral. They may engage in personal attacks, innuendo, and fear-mongering in trying to discredit either one of the slates of candidates without the consent or knowledge of the candidates. If you receive any mailings or see advertisements that present the names of community Rabbonim affixed to letters warning of danger and fear, do not assume that those Rabbonim were consulted unless you have confirmed with them.

My meetings with the various candidates have given me new hope and faith in the future of our community. I believe that both Mr. Bill Weber and Mr. Michael Specht are fit and decent candidates for the office of town supervisor and that Mrs. Bechofer and Mr. Wanounou would each impact the town board positively as members.

On a personal level, I plan on respecting the wishes and desires of all the candidates in this election to whom I have spoken. I will do so by spending the time leading to the election educating myself on the issues and the platforms of the competing candidates, and I will vote for whomever I feel will do the most good for this town we call home. I would suggest you do the same.

I ask those of you who shared my original letter to please share this one as well, and, once again, I pray that the L-rd will guide our hands to choosing the candidates who will best serve the needs of our community for now and for the future.

Rabbi Yisroel Gottlieb – Congregation Bais Torah

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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