I was originally going to write this article as an “Open Letter to the Democratic Elected Officials in Queens.” At one point, I thought of doing so by name. Then I decided to just write as a general letter addressed to all our Democratic reps. My intention was to ask them, despite being Democrats, to please not be openly supportive of the Harris/Walz campaign, which represents disaster for Israel and the Jewish people. If the dissing of the Jewish Pennsylvania governor did not make that crystal clear, then no argument would be persuasive.
In truth, I differ with many of the politically active people in Queens. Their position is that if a political representative has been good to the Jewish community, then only show appreciation and gratitude in return. No need to spoil things with any controversy, or even ask for their response to issues that may bother us. I feel that we need to hold our friends’ feet to the fire so they do not take our vote for granted. It is necessary to ask them respectful but direct questions. In fact, I had someone hand-deliver a message of mine to a major local representative a few weeks ago, but never heard back from them or staff.
However, I came to the realization that the Jewish community in Queens is a lot better organized than here in Baltimore. In fact, there is no local organized political, rabbinic, or lay group here at all.
The greatness of Baltimore is that it is a very laid-back community. Everyone gets along, despite different forms of religious background. There is very little “hock,” and everyone minds their own business. Local rabbanim are deservedly respected and, in some cases, revered. I could go on with many stories to illustrate that; however, it is not the point of this article. But it does come with a price.
There is a critical US Senate race here in Maryland. Senator Ben Cardin, a solid supporter of Israel, is retiring. Fighting for his seat is former Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, an outspoken advocate for Israel and Jewish people, opposing Angela Alsobrooks. Alsobrooks is a moderate Democrat who has a decent record on Israel as some kind of county executive, but she is a supporter of the disastrous and disproven Two-State Solution. Neither Israel nor the Arabs have any interest in that politically correct approach. There is very little doubt that she will be in line with all the other nonsense of the progressives. To make matters worse, the other US Senator from Maryland, Democrat Chrisopher Van Hollen, is very hostile to Jews and Israel. We need a strong antidote.
I started to realize that the Jewish community here, as an organized body, is totally not involved, at least outwardly, in this race. There is no political action committee to speak of.
This letter, then, is really addressed to me. As much as I have strong feelings about elections, including in Queens, I realized I have a lot of work to do right here in Baltimore. The problem is that anybody active is a registered and participating member of the Democratic leadership and will not be able to overtly support Republicans without jeopardizing their standing with the Democrat machine. Rabbanim, perhaps to their credit, do not voice any position in the electoral process. Of course, people complain when rabbanim are involved in the political scene, yet complain if they are not.
So, my message to you in Queens is that you are very fortunate to have a dedicated group of men and women to whom you can turn to get things done – even by those who are registered with a political party. Yes, we do have our differences – sometimes rather sharp differences – but consider yourselves lucky that you have a group of activists trying to work within the system in the best interests of the community.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
