This piece is a drosh targeted to my friends in the Orthodox community about “Hakoras Ha-Tov,” a Jewish concept which is roughly translated as either “thankfulness and appreciation,” or “dancing with those who brung ya”.
It was 1996 and an Orthodox Doctor at ODA’s Health Clinic was railing about the impact of budget cuts on his poor and mostly (but my no means exclusively) Hasidic Jewish patients.
That same year, Rabbi David Niederman, a great community leader who runs Hasidic Williamsburg’s most important social services network, but had once given (probably after a D’Amato push) $10,000 to the national Republican Senatorial Committee, started railing about Clinton—he was not railing about Israel (the existence of which he opposed), or about homosexuals (a concept he barely grasped), but about the horrible effects welfare reform had had upon his poor clients.
I looked at him piteously. “Then Rabbi, you must vote for Clinton and the Democrats for every office, for only they can undo what they have done.”
I once took a nice Jewish girl friend from Boulder on a drive through Billyburg, and as we proceeded down Lee Avenue, she turned and said “Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.”
But, in a way, we were.
The thesis of Thomas Frank’s What’s The Matter with Kansas is that the political discourse of recent decades has dramatically shifted from the social and economic equality to one in which "explosive" cultural issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, which are used to redirect anger towards "liberal elites."
They are voting their values instead of their interests.
And this phenomenon had also affected the Orthodox Jewish community.
To be fair, this is surely their right.
When rich Reform Jews from Scarsdale vote for the Democrats, they are voting their values instead of their interests. When poor Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn vote for the Democrats, they are doing exactly the opposite.
Left of center Jews are often hailed by liberals for selflessly voting their values as opposed to their interests, but somehow these liberals fail to salute the same when the same is done by church-going blue collars workers who like to hunt, or those who daven twice a day.
This phenomenon has been at its most extreme in the Weprin/Turner race.
Ultra-Orthodox communities tend to have low levels of education and high levels of fecundity, and tend, despite the presence of many folks with high incomes, to be impoverished.
As my mother-in-law, who works in a pharmacy on Lee Avenue once put it, “everyone not named Schwimmer (a family which manufactures helicopters) is getting Medicaid.”
This is why I thought David Weprin would be an ideal candidate for this seat.
While Jewish social service agencies like the Metropolitan Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty are among the City’s foremost social services providers, and receive many contracts through the normal means of competition, most groups serving the peculiar needs of the Haredi community get a lot of their funding through member items precisely because they fall though the holes of purely objective criteria.
This is not to say they don’t deserve the money, but rather that sometimes some needs are only met through politics.
During his years as the City Council’s Finance Chair, David Weprin was a hero to Jewish Social Service providers throughout the City for his constant support of their needs.It was this very record which led Dov Hikind (now backing Bob Turner) to support Weprin for City Comptroller. Hikind’s was the only AD outside of Weprin’s Councilmanic District to back Weprin in that race.
And yet, the same community for which Weprin delivered so much is now turning its back on him in in his hour of need.
Weprin addressed this in an interview with the Jewish Press:
JEWISH PRESS: You've taken some heat in the Orthodox community for your vote in favor of gay marriage.
WEPRIN: I know it became a highlight in some of the rhetoric that's been used against me. But [where is] the hakaras hatov for over 10 years of support? When I was finance chair [on the City Council] I got blasted by my colleagues for supporting so many Jewish organizations. I started the autism initiative, where 80 percent of the money went to Jewish organizations, mostly Orthodox organizations, and there was a lot of internal criticism. I did capital projects for Agudah. My record [is clear] on funding for Ohel, for Agudah, for United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, all the JCC's, COJO of Flatbush.When I was finance chair, I basically saved their funding.
When Gifford Miller came in [as Council Speaker] he knew nothing; to him they all sounded the same. I literally was the guy who saved all of these.
JEWISH PRESS: Many Jewish communal organizations have had their budgets cut and there's a real danger there will be more cuts. How would you balance this with the need to control spending?
WEPRIN: As a matter of fact, that's where you differentiate me from my opponent. My opponent has said he wants to cut the budget by 35 percent. At the same time he doesn't want to raise any taxes, and he kind of identifies himself with the tea party movement as well. You can't cut the budget 35 percent and not raise any taxes without devastating social programs, devastating Medicare, devastating Social Security, which I think would significantly hurt our community as well.
I, on the other hand, have advocated for a millionaire's tax. I think we can afford, with the deficit being where it is, to have a millionaire's tax., to [do more on] corporate taxes, certainly oil companies and major companies that pay very little in taxes. There are corporate loopholes that can be closed, deductibility for corporate jets and corporate yachts. I don't want to see small businesses taxed or the middle class taxed. But a high-end tax will help preserve a lot of these social programs.
But, in response to Weprin's pleas for hakoras ha-tov, the haredi community has basically answered, "but vus haf ya dun fuh me lately, boychick?'
The painful irony become even more excruciating when one compares Turner’s answers to the same line of inquiry.
Asked about funding Jewish groups, Turner proposes a brit melah, but thinks the foreskin accounts for 35% of the length:
JEWISH PRESS: Many Jewish communal organizations have had their budgets cut and there's a real danger there will be more cuts. How would you balance this with the need to control spending?
TURNER: We're borrowing 40 cents on the dollar. How long can we do that? In about 10 years, with the cuts we've made – and really we're just cutting the amount we're borrowing – we'll have a $24-$25 trillion debt. The debt servicing at that point will be greater than our defense budget and Social Security. We can ignore the problem or we can do something responsible now before it's a disaster.
We have to cut expenditures. We'll make priorities. I'm against privatization of Social Security and Medicare. I'm not going to support any privatization of Medicaid. We will not support block grants, which favor states like Mississippi over New York.
We have to cut expenditures by 35 percent, and then ultimately get to a balanced budget amendment, which has worked for New York City and New York State…
There’s more, but it’s more of the same.
This week, the Jewish Press featured dueling OpEds on the matter.
Omitting the parts about Israel,’ here is the portion of Weprin’s piece addressing the specific concerns of the Orthodox Jewish community:
Growing up in Queens as a religious teenager and raising a frum family prepared me to uniquely understand the needs many of my constituents and of the broader Jewish community. I am also able to advise my colleagues in government on how to best serve the Jewish community.
There were several periods when Mayor Bloomberg was intent on cutting Priority 7 vouchers. These vouchers subsidize after-school care that is vital for many families in our community. I was front and center in the battle to combat this cut that would have hurt so many of my neighbors.
Part of what makes our Jewish community so special is the sense of responsibility we feel toward each other. Hatzolah is an organization that exemplifies this feeling. I am very proud that I have been able to secure two capital grants to assist Hatzolah in its vital work.
A few years ago I received a frantic phone call from a group of concerned rabbis. They had been notified that the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health was going to ban metzitzah b'peh, an important part of the bris milah ritual for many religious Jews. I immediately contacted the commissioner and, in conjunction with other leaders in the community, got the city to back off.
I mentioned above that times are tough for all of us. As somebody who sent his children to yeshivas, I understand what the added cost of yeshiva tuition can do to a family budget.
In fact, I had the opportunity this year in Albany to help pass TAP, or Tuition Assistance Program, legislation. This historic bill will provide up to $5,000 in tuition assistance for yeshiva students learning in post-high school yeshivas.
I have constantly fought for all members of our community. I have been a strong supporter of various organizations – Met Council on Jewish Poverty, Ohel, Chai Lifeline, Coalition of Jewish Organizations of Flatbush, among many others.
In dealing with social service agencies for over a decade, I understand their importance to many in our communities. My opponent wants to cut 35 percent of all federal agencies. He wants to abolish the Department of Education that helps educate our special-needs children. He wants to end the Department of Agriculture that provides food stamps for the neediest among us and provides funding for the enforcement of kashrus laws.
By contrast, here is everything Bob Turner chose to print which arguably falls within the same parameters:
From 2005 to 2009, New York City lost roughly 45,000 people age 25 to 34. It is a sad day when a generation is priced out of the community they love. Families are being forced to leave loved ones here at home to relocate in Baltimore, Lakewood, Passaic, Houston or Boca Raton, whether for job opportunities, affordable housing or both…On the subject of families, I will also champion legislation for more choice in education. Vouchers and tuition tax credits for yeshivas and other private schools are essential for parents who want to make religious education more affordable.”
As to Israel, I’ll repeat what I said before:
Koch told NY1 that he is backing Turner to send a message to President Barack Obama about his stance on Israel….
The first problem is that Darrell Issa and Ron and Rand Paul notwithstanding, the Congressional Republican Conference does not really need additional troops to reinforce their right-wing Zionist bonafides.
By contrast, while the House Democratic Conference is full of pro-Israel members (not withstanding the substantial minority who are not) the number who are to the right of Bibi Netanyahu is rather limited, and without Anthony Weiner, it is down by one.
Electing David Weprin, who apparently enjoys visiting West Bank Settlements would replenish their numbers.
Further, Republican support for Israel has some inherent problems, such as Eric Cantor’s bizarre and dangerous proposals to separate aid to Israel from the rest of the foreign aid budget. A favorite point of the first generation of Podhoretzes and Kristols was "you can't let America abandon its commitments to the rest of the world and still expect it to defend Israel. " And they were right. But these days it is the conservatives who propose to do exactly that.
But even more importantly, if Jewish voters punish Democrats by voting against even the most hawkish pro-Israel Democratic candidates, so that that stream of thought is no longer represented within the Democratic Party, and US support for Israel becomes strictly a partisan issue, swaying back and forth depending upon the political winds, how does this help Israel?
Once there was rough consensus in the Jewish community on certain issues which served to hold it together politically. Now, that consensus exists less and less. Even among Jews who proudly call themselves pro-Israel, the disagreements concerning which policies would best advance that cause are often so grave as to be insurmountable.
As these changes gradually evolved, Orthodox Jews became a swing vote—the default position was Democratic, but it did not take much to move them to the GOP column.
I may be among the first to recognize that those days are truly over.
As I’ve noted before, in 2010, the Orthodox community rejected Democrats lock, stock and pickle barrel.
Being a Democrat running among Orthodox Jews was now an obstacle to be overcome.
The once sacred Orthodox pattern of holding down-ballot Democrats harmless for perceived transgressions at the top of their ticket has finally come to an end.
Last year, the default vote was Republican, and it was the GOP who was held harmless down-ballot for transgressions for the boob (Carl Paladino) at the top of their ticket.
As I noted last year, “Orthodox Jews hate Barack Obama and the Republican are poised to take advantage of it down ballot in a big way.”
These chickens have now come home to roost.
This is a lesson for the Democrats, but it is not a lesson without consequences for the Orthodox community.
If the Orthodox community believes it can look at allies like David Weprin, and stop taking “yes” for an answer, those politicians are going to respond by no longer giving them that answer.
This was one thing when the Republicans were pastrami barrelers like Al D’Amato and George Pataki. With Pataki and D’Amato, even when they made cuts that hurt the community, they funneled enough back in favors to give the illusions of more than making up for the damage.
But, Pataki and D’Amato have given way to 35% Turner secessionist Perry, and no amount of member items (if indeed the still exist) is going to heal the pain when the mohel’s knife slips a bit too far and too hard to the south.
And then, when you come to the Democratic Party looking for friends, someone is going to ask:
"But vus haf ya dun fuh me lately, boychick?'
You have been duly warned.
Like the mohel’s knife, Hakoras Ha-Tov cuts both ways.