Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

The scene where a man was stabbed whilewalking to synagogue in Monsey Peter Carr, pcarr@lohud.com

Fear gripped the greater Monsey area after Wednesday morning's stabbing of a man walking to synagogue. Shock, they said, should not be mistaken for surprise that such an attack would occur in an area that is home tothousands of Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox Jewish families.

Many pointed to growing tensions between a generally secular Rockland and Ramapo's ultra-Orthodox community, an issue that bubbled up duringthe recent elections.

"The bigotry has been allowed, it has grown, it has involved political parties, Facebook pages," saidRabbi Yisroel Kahan of Monsey.

Ramapo police are continuing the investigation and seeking any information on the incident.Police Chief Brad Weidel said during aearly afternoon news conference on Wednesdaythatthe incident is not currently classified as a hate crime. He said that doesn't mean it won't be classified assuch at some point, but he must follow the statute.

People walk by the scene of a stabbing on Howard Dr. In Monsey Nov. 20, 2019.(Photo: Peter Carr/The Journal News)

MONSEY: Man walking to synagogue is stabbed

The attack took place around 5:49 a.m. along Howard Drive. Ramapo police say the victimwas stabbed and slashed by assailants as he walked to morning prayers at a nearby synagogue. The victim was in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, the Trauma I facility for the region.

"A stabbing attack is horrific especially for people within a community who know the victim and in a neighborhood that has otherwise a very low crime rate," said Yossi Gestetner, a founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, known as OJPAC, and resident of Spring Valley. "If it turns out to be motivated by hate, it sure takes us all in Rockland into unchartered territory."

A representative of the Anti-Defamation League attended the Ramapo Police Department's news conference, and cited a growing number of hate crimes in the New York metropolitan area.

The NYPD continues investigating a string of possible hate crimes inBrooklyn's Hasidic neighborhoods, and has reported a swell of such incidents in 2019. Rockland County has been home to Hasidim for decades.Anti-Semitic graffiti incidents have spread, but law enforcement has reportedfew violent hate crimes.

Meanwhile, rhetoric tinged with negative connotations against Orthodox Jewish voting power has gained steam on social media and elsewhere.

During local elections in November, key races, including for a Rockland Legislature seat that represents an area nearly devoid of ultra-Orthodox residents, the Jewish community's perceived political power served as a focal point.

In the contest for Legislative District 17, which includes Orangetown's riverfront villages, to Blauvelt and Orangeburg, and a bit of West Nyack, incumbent Nancy Low-Hogan, a Democrat, lost her seat toRepublican challenger James Foley of Grand View-on-Hudson.

Attorney Michael Diederich, an independent candidate for Rockland district attorney, speaks to Ramapo Town Board on proposals for zoning update on Aug. 19, 2019.(Photo: Steve Lieberman)

Foley once ran a blog called "Block the bloc," in reference to the strong and often unified bloc vote seen in the ultra-Orthodox community. His campaign signs and literature focused on neutralizing power of what he had called the"Ramapo Mafia."

When asked about the Monsey incident, Foley said, "We do not yet know what motivated these men, so any discussion on their motivation at this point is premature." That said, he added, "no person should ever be the victim of violence or a hate crime. This assault should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The recent Rockland District Attorney's race included a minor-party candidate who attempted to make the election a mandate on the quality on Hasidic yeshiva education and intra-community safety of children and families.

Michael Diederich, who ran for Rockland DA on the Serve Rockland line, said law enforcement must investigate to uncover the motivation for the attack. "Ifthis was in fact a hate crime, it is all the more reason for encouraging more interaction between the ultra-Orthodoxand the larger society," the Stony Point resident said."The more both learn about each other, the more understanding will result, and this will help reduce the 'us versus them' thinking that is so destructive in human affairs."

Prior to the September primaries, the Rockland County Republican Committee released a video, "A Storm is Brewing In Rockland," that singled out Aron Wieder, the only Hasidic member of the Rockland County Legislature, andwarns residents of a "takeover" by the Hasidic Jewish community while dramatic music plays and storm clouds roll past. The video, posted on social media, was removed after backlash.

Rockland Legislator Phil Soskin has represented that area of Monsey for the past 17 years. "With all the negative language going on, this act could be imminent," said Soskin, who likened the current rise to the anti-Semitism he saw in 1950s Europe when he served in the Army."The whole climate in the country seems to be changing. Anti-Semitism is on the rise all over." That includes Rockland, the Monsey resident said."So many negative things have been said that stirthe pot. You want to be very careful.

"All of us are very infuriated as to what's going on in our area," Soskin said Wednesday afternoon during a news conference at Ramapo Town Hall.

Reflecting on the tenor in the county, Wieder pointed out that"regular folks in Rockland County put out lawn signs that said 'Beat the bloc.'Those signs are probably still out there."

Ramapo's large and growing ultra-Orthodox community lives amid a diverse community, but in many ways separate from it.

Most in the ultra-Orthodox community send their children to yeshivas, so there is little of the community interaction that often takes place in a public-school setting. Close proximity, yet cultural distance, can been seen in theEast Ramapo district, where families of public-school students, mostly children of color, cite repeated cuts to their schools at the hands of a school board dominated by white men elected by the Orthodox Jewish community.

Sen. David Carlucci, who represents Ramapo, as well as Orangetown, Clarkstown and Ossining, saidhe was awaiting more details on the Monsey assault. "This act of violence is horrific and not reflective of our peaceful community," he said in a statement."Violence or hate of any kind is never tolerated."

Twitter: @nancyrockland

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Ultra-Orthodox community fears what could be behind attack on Monsey man heading to synagogue - Lohud

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