The following are excerpts of a NY Post article:
NYS Gov Paterson went positively kab-ballistic this morning over a newspaper report suggesting that he has forsaken his Catholic faith to practice the same form of Jewish mysticism as various celebrities.
The angry governor – no longer wearing the red thread bracelet cited by the Daily Snooze today as proof of his “spiritual shift” – lashed into the paper during an unrelated news conference for disrespecting his religious beliefs.
“It was like throwing dung at a cross – or stamping on the Star of David,” Paterson said of the paper’s front-page story, which mocked the governor’s decision to don the kabballistic bracelet under the headline “Heaven Help Us.”
The governor – reiterating comments made on the radio earlier – said he decided to wear the bracelet this spring after feeling “touched” during a visit to the Queens tomb of revered Orthodox rabbi, Jacob Joseph. It’s tradition for visitors to put on such bracelets, he said.
“As usual, the Daily News butchers the observance,” Paterson told WOR 710-AM. “It’s supposed to bring you good fortune, the same way people wear a cross or a star or something like that.”
At any rate, the governor said the purported telltale talisman of his new-found faith fell off weeks ago. And it hasn’t been replaced.
“It came off toward the end of June,” Paterson said. “Somebody in the Executive Mansion found it and I put it on. It came off again.”
(Source: NY Post)
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One Response
Of course he is furious the Daily News should be ashamed of themselves. A red bendle is news?
What is important to note is that the Governor has been a long time friend of the Jewish community and has consistently looked out for our interests. Stories like these undermine the importance of the real story here, that a gentile Governor went to pray at the grave of a revered Jewish figure the holy former chief Rabbi of NY Rav Yakov Yosef ztl. WOW! This negative story by the daily news cannot hide the fact that this Governor has stood tall against a run a way legislature and before he leaves office may still yet bring TAP to fruition for our Yeshivos. Yes he vetoed the bill but he vetoed 6900 bills to bring the senate back to the table. Just sit tight. Askonim and political leaders are working furiously to help save our Yeshivos. The Governor has been a great friend to our community and stories like this from the Daily news are meant to embarrass him and us. Governor if your reading this please know how much we need your leadership and your help. Poking fun at religion or faith is disgraceful. We know who our real friends are.