That Kind of Talk Is Un-American

So says Superman, in today's very short post while I go get ready for a meeting.

Today, I’m taking a field trip to see members of the Orange County Ethics Committee.

We are going to discuss my complaint to them about Mr. Issac Ekstein, president of the United Jewish Community of Blooming Grove and one of two de facto mayors of South Blooming Grove.

I will be submitting a similar complaint concerning Mr. Stern, the other de facto mayor, once this process has concluded.

If found guilty by the Ethics Committee, Mr. Ekstein can face misdemeanor criminal charges and be banned from serving in any capacity with the Village of South Blooming Grove for up to five years.

It seems like the discussion is going to center around Mr. Ekstein (and Stern’s) lawsuit against the Washingtonville School District, and the misinformation they’ve put out to our friends in the Yiddish speaking community about the school district and lawsuit.

And when I say our friends, I want to be clear, I mean that sincerely. It is wrong for Mr. Ekstein and Mr. Stern to intentionally lie and mislead our haredi friends and neighbors.

The Talmud forbids lying and deceiving others. Yet both men do it regularly.

There are only three, or four, exceptions that allow for someone to lie, according to the Talmud:

1. If you’re being humble about your familiarity with the Torah.

2. If someone is asking you intimate questions about your married life.

3. If someone is questioning the level of hospitality you’ve received from a host (this is to protect the host’s standing in the community.)

4. In order to promote peace among neighbors.

I can see Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein arguing that fourth one, but I’d say their efforts to deceive both the haredi community and “the goy,” promotes no peace at all.

I truly believe that removing both of these individuals, and selecting new representatives from the haredi community who can honestly communicate with the larger South Blooming Grove community, will go a long way to improving this situation.

Change is coming. Yes.

But change doesn’t, and should not, mean chaos. Especially when the environment is concerned during a crucial moment in human history. One that requires all of us to be vigilant about how we’re managing the planet.

It does not, and should not, mean cruelty and a lack of compassion to the people already living here.

The people of SBG, both haredi and not, deserve equal treatment under the law, fairness, compassion, and respect for their needs. This includes the water situation which Mr. Ekstein and Mr. Stern have willfully ignored for at least two years in a row.

This water situation impacts everyone equally. Bad water does not discriminate.

None of us want to see a situation where retirees and others living on fixed incomes are driven from their homes and forced to drink and use bad water, while others come to this new community only to find hostility created specifically by the actions of Mr. Stern and Ekstein.

No doubt, there are antisemites in the community, as there are antisemites throughout the world.

But I truly believe that much of what Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein often dismiss as antisemitism is anger caused specifically and directly by the dishonest actions of these two specific individuals.

Removing them both in a fair, ethical, and lawful matter is what’s needed to help heal this community.

I hope the Ethics Board agrees.

More from me tomorrow.