Last night, along with over a hundred men and women, I rescheduled work and left my spouse and young children at supper to attend the Ramapo town hall meeting. The meeting regarded New Square’s current attempt to annex additional land from the Town of Ramapo. This issue has taken on new significance in light of New Square’s large and ongoing attempt to destroy their neighboring Jewish communities. During the period assigned for public comment, many town members stood up and voiced their anger, pain, and sadness at New Square’s shameful and embarrassing attempt to destroy their neighboring Jewish communities. The meeting represented another Desecration of God’s name in the long string of New Square’s deep rooted and continually expanding Desecration, which continues to bring shame to their community.
To the village leaders of New Square:
To your mind I ask, where do you think this is going? Do you not see the writing on the wall? The efforts against you will only continue and expand and the shame that your efforts bring to you, your Chassidus, Klal Yisrael, and God will only increase. Whether it ends peacefully now or drawn out over time, whether people go to jail or don’t, it will end. The hundreds of affected families will not continue to be quiet in the face of your abuse and injustice.
To your hearts, I want to share a reflection:
After watching the group of you sitting in front of a room where person after person, for the better part of an hour, stood up and discussed your shameful actions I started to wonder. Really, I was wondering if you were wondering, what will this upcoming Yom haDin (Day of Judgement) look like for you.
I sincerely hope and believe that you will have beautiful prayers and that beautiful things will be reported about you. I am sure that each of you in your own way help many people every day and do an amazing amount of good.
But what will happen after that. When thousands of people start to shuffle in to the proverbial judgement room. People that you don’t recognize and don’t know. And each person: man, woman, and child starts talking about the years of abuse and pain that you have caused them. Of the sleepless nights and fear of living in their home and walking the streets. Of the financial pain and fear for their children’s wellbeing and lives that you have caused. What will it be like for you to sit in that judgement when every single individual, unrestrained by time and schedule and without a three-minute talking limit details all the pain you have caused them over one, three, five, eight years. How will you respond when you can’t just sit there silently and walk out at the end? How will you account for each tear? What will you answer then?
There are no coincidences and I believe the fact that the actual vote was postponed for ten days has spiritual significance. As we approach the Ten Days of Repentance, I sincerely believe that we all the opportunity to repent. To say “I am no longer that person!” That I refuse to continue the shameful acts of before and bring them into this new year. That I, others, and ultimately God deserve better than this and I will do everything in my power to correct the wrong and appease those I have hurt. The time is now, the world is begging, the choice for repentance is yours.
SEE LINK BELOW FOR THE FULL VIDEO OF THE TOWN HALL MEETING
7 Comments
You’re assuming they are of the same religion. They believe in and worship the same G-d. They uphold the same Torah. They subscribe to the same values. Not sure you’re right. Don’t get me wrong. Lots of people in Skver are frum and ehrlich. I’m talking about the people running this fight and their cohorts. The hardcore Skver chassidim who think the world revolves around the skver rebbe. You talk about teshuva and Hashem. Their religion is about a neighborhood, a rebbe they worship, their neighborhood institutions, etc. and it’s generally predicated on real jewish concepts (though I don’t get where the boots come from). Thou shalt not murder, which by the way is a biggie, wasn’t too important in their minds, when someone didn’t want to pray with the rebbe. That’s not judaism. That’s something else. A cheap kind of knock off judaism. I don’t think your letter is going to make major inroads with them. They’re not talking your language. But, then again, maybe it’s worth a try.
@shmeel here is the difference. Yes you are right, those people that run the show don’t care about halacha and have their own god. At the end of the day, we are actually erlich yidden that do care about what the Torah and halacha says. We follow what our Daas Torah tells us. There’s a place and way for everything. In time they will see what will happen, they don’t realize it yet, probably because they think they can do things against halacha (like the guy in the recording said). The halacha is on our side. They will get a rude awakening very soon. But all in accordance with halacha.
“The very foundation of Yiddishkeit is Shema Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. Anyone who even hints that there is more than one G-d is not saying something that belongs in a Torah discussion—it’s simply kefirah (heresy). Our mesorah is built on the absolute oneness of Hashem. So if someone starts claiming otherwise, their opinion carries no weight and doesn’t deserve a platform. We can disagree on leadership, approach, or hanhagos, but questioning Yichud Hashem is outside the pale of Judaism.”
I think that’s a bit harsh. I’m on your side but don’t think we need to go that far. I think we can simply ask- why is the Rebbe silent when others are in pain? Why are we totally being ignored? Saying go to BD is not a response. Maybe in the long term BD can be helpful (although we’ve already discussed all of the skepticism), but why do you not feel an achrayus to try to fix the issue in the interim? We haven’t heard any response of sympathy towards the situation, no proposal to change anything. We are just being told too bad, this is what the Rebbe wants and bring us to BD if you disagree.
Shmeel, you call it “cheap knock-off kind of judaism”.
I think a more apt term is “Throwbacks of the Pre-Churban Biryonim”.
Or במילים שונות Moshiachs-Times Biryonim.
With some people, only fear gets them to actively comply. Nothing else.
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