You're In a Fight Against an Anti-Democratic Theocratic Movement. Act like it.
Nationally, we're in a fight against the authors of Project 2025 and Ziklag. But a little closer to home, that same fight comes in the form of actions taken by Rebbes Zalman and Aaron Teitelbaum.
Just a quick bit of house keeping, if you don’t mind, before we get to the news:
I left the Families of Woodbury Facebook group. If you are a Woodbury resident and you’d like to reach me, or ask questions about what’s happening in your community, the only place to reach me on Facebook is in the Woodbury United Facebook group.
Why did I leave the other group? Because Families of Woodbury, for a long time, actively did not run posts from The Monroe Gazette when I posted them.
At one point, I counted a backlog of 30 articles that they chose not to run. This was the only Facebook group that I’m a participant in that did this. (They have run our posts from other community members who post it, but never from me specifically.)
In addition, yesterday and this morning, one of their group admins was actively telling people that what Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum says “doesn’t matter.”
This was said in the context of the voters in Districts 3 and 5 of Woodbury — both neighborhoods the Rebbe has claimed are now part of his city — acting on behalf of the Rebbe in local Woodbury elections, despite Woodbury not being part of that city.
The admin’s argument: Those voters are still part of Woodbury despite what the Rebbe says. This is only superficially true.
More importantly, this statement is incredibly dangerous, first because it’s hilariously inaccurate in the face of 50+ years of documented reporting and evidence concerning events in Southern Orange County.
The second is Satmar, specifically an Aronnite, which means that you’ve decided that Rebbe Teitelbaum is your spiritual and religious leader, and what he says, you follow. At least publicly. In private, the Aronnite Satmar community's opinions about the Rebbe vary. But in public, people who speak out have been — again, verifiably and factually — punished.
In fact, the people the Rebbe has punished would go on to sue the Village of South Blooming Grove in order to get it dissolved. And when that lawsuit was unsuccessful, they formed the company known as Keen Equities, which has been fined numerous times and ignored multiple stop-work orders from the State DEC. To this day, State Senator Skoufis refuses to write a letter on behalf of South Blooming Grove residents asking for Keen Equities’s permits to be revoked. In fact, he gets really mad when you ask him why he hasn’t done this, so I encourage you to ask him sometime if you get the opportunity. In his defense, neither Assemblyman Brian Maher or Orange County Legislator Katie Bonnelli have written letters asking for this either.
If the Rebbe tells you to vote a certain way, you do it. If the Rebbe tells you to vote a certain way in order to further benefit his own goals at the expense of secular residents of the town you “live in”, you do it. That’s the whole point of being part of this specific religious group.
What the Rebbe wants, he gets.
Third, this sort of statement also feeds into this narrative that we’re going to touch on briefly here today.
Yes. If you live in Southern Orange County, Rockland County, or Sullivan County, you are indeed in a fight with a growing anti-democratic theocracy. You’re not crazy. It’s not your imagination. It’s not the fevered dream of some bigot or antisemite (although we do have those people in our community, and they should be scorned appropriately. Bigots and antisemites are not welcome in this discussion. Nor are bad-faith hot takes like the one shared by one of this Facebook Group’s admins. I have no tolerance for gaslighting in any form, and it’s particularly bad when it comes to Southern Orange County and the root cause of a lot of the issues here. I took this group admin’s comments as an attempt at gaslighting. I will not participate in any Facebook group that gaslights its members.
This is 50+ years of research, peer-reviewed, and verified fact coming home to roost. It’s time we engage in an actual, good-faith conversation about the situation.
In Sullivan County and Orange County’s case, that fight pits every secular and non-Arronite Haredi resident against Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum (Woodbury, Monroe, Orange County) and Zalman Teitelbaum (South Blooming Grove, Sullivan County)
In Rockland County, that fight is similar in some areas, and in other areas, there are other Haredi and Orthodox movements that can be equally anti-democratic. (Just ask the ACLU about the East Ramapo School District sometime, where they’ve referred to the behavior of the majority Haredi school board as a form of “21st Century Jim Crow.”)
Of course, if you look at this petition (pictured above) you’ll notice the ACLU dances around the actual issue. And that is: An antidemocratic, rising theocracy punishing minority children because many members of that theocratic movement believe in the racist Curse of Ham. The ACLU does not touch on that, instead they attribute the cause to the White population in the school district.
That’s … Not quite accurate.
Especially when, in discussing the Satmar religious sect specifically, they’ve made numerous attempts over the last 40 years to loudly declare that they are not, in fact, white. (This was detailed in the book “A Fortress In Brooklyn.”)
Whiteness and Judaism in general is a loaded subject, but it just further adds to the fact that the ACLU, while well-meaning here, is not directly addressing the root cause of the issue in East Ramapo, in terms of the theocracy’s racism.
For the record, The ACLU and NYC ACLU have declined repeated requests to comment from The Monroe Gazette and repeated requests from area residents across Rockland, Sullivan, and Orange to intervene in various unfolding situations involving the Rebbes.
It’s nice to see they’re (finally) engaged with East Ramapo, even if it seems half-assed at best. You can’t quite fix the issue without addressing why it’s happening in the first place.
Ditto with the Anti-Defamation League. Both the ADL and ACLU had previously joined lawsuits against the Kiryas Joel School District, including one that went to the Supreme Court. And yet … Nothing. No comment. No response to resident concerns. In the case of the ADL, no response to complaints and concerns by Jewish residents of these three counties, myself included.
The point here is, facts are facts.
What the Rebbe says matters.
Having an admin of a large, 10k+ Facebook group telling their members that what the Rebbe says does not matter allows for disinformation to spread.
And in this fight? Disinformation kills.
Specifically, it’ll kill the community that a group called “Families of Woodbury” is supposed to protect.
Right now, all across America, Democracy is under attack by Theocracy.
On the national level, that comes in the form of Project 2025. And no matter how hard Trump tries to publicly distance himself from Project 2025, the fact is, his people wrote it, and his people will enact it if he wins this Fall. (Assuming his followers don’t just try to overthrow the government after he loses because of claims that this election was rigged or unfair, which he’s currently been peddling at rallies.)
It’s not just the Far Right Christian Whack Jobs that are trying to subvert democracy, though. There’s a lot of religious extremists all across America who want to ban porn, abortions, and anything that offends their delicate sensibilities.
Here in South Eastern New York, we have Rebbes Aaron Teitelbaum and Zalman Teitelbaum. It’s the same fight. You have a hostile, anti-democratic force actively working to subvert democracy to the benefit of the movement’s religious leaders and their cronies.
So, again, I want to stress this to you: Yes. You are in a fight against a theocratic, anti-democratic movement all across America. And yes, if you live in South Eastern New York, that fight takes the form of Project 2025 on the national level, and Rebbes Zalman and Aaron Teitelbaum on the local level.
So, what can you do?
The following is a letter I sent to the Woodbury Village Attorney, Kelly Naughton, that requests one course of action. Specifically, removing bad-faith politicians who are actively working to subvert democracy, regardless of their political party.
Dear Kelly,
I'd like to direct your attention to the following video:
In the words of J. Michael Luttig, who is a former Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, "Lawyers in America are uniquely qualified and uniquely obligated to support and defend America's democracy in this time of need."
This statement was partly provided to support a bipartisan task force report issued by the American Bar Association urging lawyers across America to help defend our democracy from local, state, and federal officials operating in bad faith. (I stress the word bipartisan here, given Trustee Fabbro's frequent insistence that all investigations, such as the one I'm proposing, be politically neutral. I believe the bipartisan findings and request for actions by the American Bar Association meet his threshold, assuming he is being truthful and honest in raising this concern.)
I encourage you to follow the guidance provided by the American Bar Association's bipartisan task force and intervene during Woodbury's time of need.
Unfortunately, Woodbury has at least one Village Trustee — perhaps two — operating in repeated bad faith at the service of the local theocracy. That would be Village Trustee James Freiband, who, despite the best efforts of local residents, Village officials, his fellow Trustees, and other parties, continues to willfully make false statements at public meetings and in his communications with the public. This includes at least one comment made during a Village Board meeting concerning the Thruway Authority that he intentionally revealed to the public; despite that discussion occurring during Executive Session. This comment may be used against the Village in future legal battles with the Thruway authority.
These willfully false statements also include a recent email newsletter sent by Trustee Freiband, where he states that Senator Skoufis's proposed legislation would save local residents money and reduce the inefficiency of duplicative services.
As you know, there is no overlap in the functions between the Town and Village, meaning there would be no cost savings on that front. Mr. Freiband lied to the public. Again.
As you also know, the amount of money taxpayers would save would be minimal and speculative at best if one unified board oversees village and Town functions. Mr. Freiband misled the public. Again.
Woodbury residents have a more than reasonable impression that the elected officials that could represent them on such a unified board may not act in ways that provide this financial cost savings.
For example, Supervisor Luciani in early 2024 introduced and passed a law (Local Law 1 of 2024) that raised her salary for the Supervisor position despite it being a part-time role, making her the highest paid Town Supervisor in the history of the Town.
The second law that she is looking to pass, Local Law 2 of 2024, as Town Supervisor would amend the Town Ethics Code and allow, in her own words, for the Town Board members to hire their children to work full-time for the Town despite the ethical and moral implications of doing so, to say nothing of the Town's fiduciary responsibility to its residents.
Therefore, there is absolutely zero guarantees that a reduction in village officials' salaries would translate to cost savings for Woodbury taxpayers when we have elected officials in the Town of Woodbury demonstrating a reckless and wanton disregard for how those tax dollars are spent, including spending taxpayer money to hire their children.
Trustree Freiband knows all of this, has been told this by his fellow trustees, by the public at meetings, and has been repeatedly corrected by Village employees, yourself included. Despite this knowledge, Trustee Freiband continues to willfully act in such a way that violates his moral, ethical, and fiduciary responsibility to all Woodbury residents.
This includes an incident where Trustee Freiband intentionally slandered the character of Woodbury Planning Board Christopher Gerver through a series of false statements about his credentials. These concerns of Mr. Freiband, as pointed out by multiple parties, were not shared concerning other members of the Planning Board or ZBA. Much like his comments about the Thruway Authority, these comments concerning the Planning Board Chair could raise to a level of a potential lawsuit against the Village given Mr. Freiband's willfulness in making false statements before the public.
Trustee Freiband continues to willfully spread misinformation that is harmful to Woodbury residents, and advantageous to the local theocracy that elected him.
Mr. Gerver, as just one example, is often blamed by members of the local theocracy for "holding things up" when the truth of the matter — and this can be verified by reviewing planning board documents which you already do in your capacity as their attorney — is that these applications are often incomplete, and in some cases, filled with misleading information concerning the environmental impact that would be created through their approval.
I can safely and factually assert that Trustee Freiband is violating his ethical, moral, and fiduciary responsibility to Woodbury residents on behalf of Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum. I can state this based on the voter breakdown from the Fall 2023 Village Board elections, where Mr. Frieband (and Mr. Fabbro) received an inordinate amount of votes within District 3 and District 5 (Woodbury Junction and Highland Lake Estates.) Without the votes from these two districts, Mr. Freiband (and Mr. Fabbro) would not be sitting on the Village Board.
While it's true that you and I and the people who will read this email will logically conclude that the residents of Districts 3 and 5 are Woodbury residents, this is only superficially true.
In a speech by Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum in the Fall of 2023, he explicitly stated that Highland Lake Estates and Woodbury Junction fall under his purview and are part of what he calls the City of Kiryas Joel. In fact the Rebbe went as far as to rename both neighborhoods, with Woodbury Junction now referred to by him as “Chasam Sofer” and Highland Lake Estates as “Beis Yosef.”
As part of a federal lawsuit, and counter suit, between residents of Highland Lake Estates and its Board members, the counter-suit claims that the Haredi board members and residents are actively working to push out the secular residents. My reporting on the activities of Mr. Richard Cattagio, former Building Inspector Michael Panella, and the three Haredi Board members of HLE confirms the claims in this countersuit, so much so that acting on that reporting, the Mayor removed Mr. Cattagio and Mr. Panella from their positions within the Village.
While there are non-Haredi residents who live within these districts, for now, the majority of Haredi residents — specifically Satmar residents — follow a strict adherence to the word of the Rebbe.
You can see coverage of this speech here: https://www.shtetl.org/article/rabbi-aaron-teitelbaum-gives-jewish-names-to-neighborhoods-surrounding-kiryas-joel.
If a chunk of "Woodbury" residents believe they do not live in Woodbury, and follow strictly what the Rebbe says — as this is an essential part of being Satmar as opposed to other Haredi sects where the word of the Rebbe holds far less sway, if there's a Rebbe at all (often there isn't) — then it stands to reason that these voters are voting in such a way as to further the wishes of Rebbe Aaron Teitelbaum as part of the larger plan to push out secular residents from all of Woodbury.
His word is law. That's the core component of being Satmar and part of his specific religious group within the Satmar community. The Rebbe has actively and verifiably retaliated against those who disagree with him within this religious sect, as documented in numerous histories of the creation of the Village of Kiryas Joel, such as the book "American Shtetl" a peer-reviewed book published by Princeton University Press written by two legal scholars.
The Rebbe's activities in District 3 and 5 consist of using free and fair elections to further the desires of a religious leader at the expense of all secular residents of Woodbury, and begins to rise to the level of constitutional violations on both the federal and state level. Especially when elected officials such as Trustree Freiband repeatedly bring to the floor issues that only the Rebbe would be concerned with. This includes Mr. Freiband's support of providing a tax break to the Village of Kiryas Joel when they requested an exemption because some of their water facilities rest within Woodbury's borders. As you’ll recall, only Trustee Freiband spoke out in favor of this tax break.
This behavior by Freiband also includes continuously pushing to lift the building moratorium despite comments from the Water Superintendent, members of the public, former board members, and other parties advising that there is not enough water at this time. In fact, there is also no sewer capacity at this time either, as Orange County Sewer District 1 is at capacity. Despite these facts, Trustee Freiband has clearly demonstrated that he works on behalf of the Rebbe and not the people of Woodbury, who do not support lifting a building moratorium at all.
While these votes from Districts 3 and 5 are constitutionally valid, all elected officials are expected to behave in such a way that benefits all residents and not just the ones who got them elected. This is especially true given Woodbury's unique circumstances of having a religious sect and a religious leader actively working to destabilize a democratically elected government with the goal of replacing it with a theocracy. You can see the results of this process firsthand by attending any meeting of the Village government in South Blooming Grove, where a local democracy was replaced by a theocracy that is unresponsive and openly hostile to secular residents and their concerns.
The behavior of Trustee Freiband, as well as the current Woodbury Town Board, provides a preview for all residents of Woodbury as to what their government will look like if the Rebbe is successful in his attempt to destabilize the local government — whether it be in the form of a political gift given to him by State Senator Skoufis in the form of a unified Town Bord — or through the election of future board members such as John Keleman and Tyler Etzel Jr. In the latter's case, Mr. Freiband should be made to explain why he invited Mr. Etzel with him to look at wells with the Water Department despite security concerns involving the location of the wells and Mr. Etzel's verifiable connections with Rebbe Teitelbaum through the sale of the ACE farm property to the Rebbe.
Finally, I want to direct your attention to the New York State Constitution's Establishment Clause, which says, "The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this state to all humankind; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his or her opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state." (Emphasis added.) Licentiousness has a few different meanings. Most relevant here are: "unrestrained by law or general morality; going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules."
Given everything laid out for you here, I believe Trustee Freiband has verifiably committed acts of licentiousness in his capacity as Village Trustee operating on behalf of a religious leader and his voters actively working to push out and discriminate against the secular residents of Woodbury.
Yes. It is possible for secular people to be discriminated against.
As Project 2025 and its authors have demonstrated, it is incumbent on all people to identify and resist religious extremism in all its forms, in particular, in its efforts to corrupt our democracy. I believe Village Trustee Freiband is a corrupting force for our local democracy and should be removed from office.
I am formally requesting that, as the attorney empowered to operate on behalf of Woodbury Village residents, given the facts above, that the process commence to remove Trustee Freiband from office on the grounds of his violations of the NYS Contitution's Establishment Clause, and repeated and willful deception to local voters. If we, as a nation, are to heal and recover from the repeated traumas of the 21st Century driven by religious extremists, beginning with 9/11 and bringing us to today with Project 2025, it's incumbent that we act on every level of government to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions.
And when they are found to be furthering the ends of theocracy and not democracy, for them to be stopped and removed from office before any true and irreversible damage can be done.
If you want to stop this anti-democratic, theocratic movement across America, then it starts on the local level. And it starts in ensuring that your elected officials are acting in the best interests of all the people who live in their town and village, and not just the religious fanatics.
I’ll have more tactics for you soon. Until then, remain vigilant, and call out the bullshit when you see it.