Op-Ed: What To Say When Developers Claim Anti-Semitism To Shield Their Crimes
I put on my yarmulke today and explain why claiming anti-semitism by the Clovewood developers is just a smoke screen. One to disguise their criminal acts.
On Wednesday, April 3rd, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold two (virtual) public meetings concerning Keen Equities and their Clovewood development in South Blooming Grove.
The first public hearing will be held at 2pm, and you can sign-up here to participate.
The second public hearing will be held at 6pm, and you can sign-up here to participate.
At some point during the public hearings, I have no doubt, you will hear comments from Clovewood boosters that go something like this:
People who are opposed to this development are just anti-semitic / anti-Satmar.
They [Gentiles/Goyim] don’t want Jews in their town.
“Preservation” is a dog-whistle for anti-semitism.
Between now and April 3rd, I’m mostly focused on covering Keen Equities and Clovewood because of the looming DEC hearings.
We will resume our regular local news coverage on April 4th.
These hearings are happening because of the numerous fines and violations issued by the DEC against Keen Equities LLC, and the subsequent ignoring of these fines and violations.
So today, I’d like to give the public participating in these hearings some ammunition to use to refute these bogus claims by Keen Equities LLC, the Clovewood Developers, and the Village government of South Blooming Grove, since they are now indistinguishable from Keen Equities LLC and Clovewood.
Now, if you’ll allow me to put on my yarmulke for a moment …
Addressing Anti-Semitism
93% of American Jews, and 74% of US Adults, believe that anti-semitism is a serious problem in America.
So, the first, and most obvious, thing we need to deal with is this: Yes. There are anti-Semites living in Blooming Grove and Orange County.
This is indisputable.
I’ve experienced this first hand. One of my earliest memories of living in Orange County, not long after my family moved here from Long Island, was going to the Orange County Fair and having a group of douche bag teenagers throw rocks at my family because we were Jews.
I’ve also been called a “kike”, a “yid”, and all sorts of other derogatory terms since I was little all the way up to, and through, high school.
So, you won’t get an argument from me when someone says there are anti-semites in the area.
However …
The people who said those hateful things were a small group that did not reflect the vast majority of people that live here.
In the Talmud, it states: Who says your blood is redder than his? (Sanhedrin 74a)
This is an admonition to not judge all the people around you.
It would be unfair of me then, as a Jew, to judge everyone in this community and issue blanket statements about their intentions given my experience with these anti-semites.
Judaism teaches to give others the benefit of the doubt, regardless of whether or not you’re Haredi.
This applies equally to those who are concerned about the impact Clovewood will have on the area’s water supply. We must give them all the benefit of the doubt concerning their intentions in raising these concerns.
It is wrong, then, to make blanket statements asserting that the opposition to Clovewood is completely based in anti-semitism.
It is not.
Let’s put this another way:
In much in the same way the alleged criminal actions of Mr. Joel Stern, Mr. Isaac Ekstein, Mr. Y.C. Rubin, and other co-conspirators, do not reflect the Satmar in the Haredi community, it is equally true that the anti-semites that do happen to live in South Blooming Grove do not reflect everyone else who lives there.
The Sages taught in a baraita: One who judges another favorably is himself judged favorably (Shabbat 127b:2)
I can’t speak for all my fellow Jews, but personally, this is my approach. I don’t judge anyone or assume they have bad intentions until they’ve exhibited it.
That’s why I spend so much time on here talking about Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone. Again and again, he has demonstrated bad intentions through his actions, and my coverage is a reaction to this.
Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Bazeh
Judaism rests on a foundation of justice.
When one member of the tribe — Haredi or not — acts in a shameful or criminal way, it reflects poorly on all of us. All Jews are responsible for one another. (Shavuot 39a)
The actions of Mr. Stern, Mr. Ekstein, Mr. Rubin, and other associated parties in Keen Equities LLC and the Clovewood development have brought shame and disgrace upon all Jews both here and around the world, Haredi or not.
If you want to look at what fuels anti-semitism, you don’t have to look further than the actions of Keen Equities and its associates. Actions that have shown an absolute disregard for their neighbors, the environment, and the law (both Jewish and American.)
So, it’s incumbent on my fellow Jews and I to call out this behavior and describe it for what it is: Mr. Stern, Mr. Ekstein, Mr. Rubin, and their co-conspirators are assholes, and they should be shunned, not embraced, by the community.
There is a concept in Judaism known as Pikuach nefesh. It translates roughly to “saving a soul.” And basically what this means is that it is the obligation of all Jews to put the preservation of human life above everything — including the rules and regulations set forth in the Talmud and the Torah.
There is nothing more important than that.
Nothing.
So, when residents of South Blooming Grove raise concerns about the safety of their water supply, and Mr. Stern, Mr. Ekstein, Mr. Rubin, and their co-conspirators ignore these concerns as they have done so since 2020, they are violating a central tenant of Judaism in the name of personal profit and greed.
They are also further endangering the future residents of South Blooming Grove, many of whom may indeed be Haredi, by ignoring the environmental concerns that are being raised.
“Choose life, that you and your descendants may live" (Deuteronomy 30:20)
It just may be, that the future of Southern Orange County can be found in the City of Joel, as the former village of Kiryas Joel’s population is projected to reach 96,000 by 2040.
Whether this turns out to be true is unknown. But what is true is that those future residents, and the residents in the surrounding communities, have a right to clean drinking water.
This is a human right as declared and agreed upon by the United Nations.
Therefore, it is all of our responsibility to choose life, and make sure there is enough clean drinking water for all.
The actions of Mr. Stern, Mr. Ekstein, Mr. Rubin, and their co-conspirators fly in the face of this reality.
You Must Obey The Laws of America
I think there’s one more point we need to touch on.
Within the Satmar community, there are pockets of people who — like the anti-semites who live among us in Orange County — reflect poorly on the larger community through their actions.
In this example, by showing a reckless disregard for the laws of New York State and the United States.
(Remember: It’s not ok to judge someone until their intentions have been revealed through their actions.)
This could explain why Keen Equities LLC / Clovewood have continued to ignore the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
It could ALSO explain why Mr. Joel Stern and company decided to build a road on land they did not own, without securing any permits or permission to do so. The latter of which is now subject to a lawsuit between Orange County and the Village of South Blooming Grove, which Mr. Stern appears to run as the de facto mayor.
This idea though, that the only law that matters is what’s in the Talmud and not what it says in the Constitution is bullshit. It’s a convenient excuse to do whatever is desired.
How do I know this?
Joel Teitelbuam himself, the man who Kiryas Joel is named for and the founder of the modern Satmar movement, instructed his followers in 1961 to follow the laws of the United States. He said, “Being faithful to the government of one’s country of residence is one of the basic principles of Jewish religion.”
So if following the laws of this country was good enough for the grand rebbe, who are any of us to disagree? Especially those who adhere to his prescribed way of life in the Satmar community.
Therefore, there is zero reason to ignore what the DEC has said. And there is zero reason to ignore New York State’s laws.
What we truly have here, in the instance of Clovewood and Keen Equities, has nothing to do with religion.
It has everything to do with greed.
And it’s a classic American story: Greedy real estate developers who want to turn a profit at the expense of anyone who stands in their way.
We even elected one of those real estate developers president, and look where that got us.
So, we see this story playing out all over America today with the housing shortage.
Greed got us into it, and greed will not fix it.
It’s time we all said, enough is enough.
Tzedek
A central tenant of Judaism is our view of justice, which doesn’t just apply to how things are, it equally applies to how things should be for the benefit of all.
We do not live in a just world if justice is only available to some and not for all. And my fellow Jews and I want to live in a just world. We are obligated by the Torah and the rules set forth in the Talmud to pursue that just world, no matter the cost or inconvenience it may bring.
Since water is at the heart of concerns involving Clovewood, I’ll close with this:
In Isaiah 58, it says that when people do justice, they are watered like a garden. And like it says in Amos 5:24:
וְיִגַּ֥ל כַּמַּ֖יִם מִשְׁפָּ֑ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה כְּנַ֥חַל אֵיתָֽן׃
But let justice well up like water,
Righteousness like an unfailing stream.