By Ezra Friedlander. In the aftermath of the release of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, we’ve seen much jubilation. But that was followed quickly by speculation from members of our community regarding the role or lack thereof of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in the advocacy pertaining to the President’s commutation of Rubashkin’s sentence. In the blogosphere especially, there have been efforts urging people to contact Senator Schumer’s office to express their “outrage” and calling him out on this issue. These recommendations were generally accompanied by lots of chest pounding and inflammatory language.
There have been those who suggested that even Nancy Pelosi, the non Jewish woman who represents California’s 12th Congressional District, has expressed her written consent for a commutation of Mr. Rubashkin’s sentence. And yet, Chuck Schumer, who calls himself the ‘shomer yisroel’, refused to write a letter.
I’m always amazed at how our community manages to shoot ourselves in the foot and display our political immaturity to the world. Or perhaps the right verbiage here might be ‘political suicide’.
There’s an old expression – Those who know don’t speak. And those who speak don’t know.
Dear readers: Do you think for one moment that Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic Leader, is not in contact with Schumer, Democratic Leader of the Senate, on a daily basis?? Do you think they don’t work together to formulate the official policy of the Democratic caucus? Wouldn’t you think that Schumer had given her the green light of approval before she decided to write a letter as sensitive as this to President Trump? Are we really so immature not to realize this? In my opinion, this proves that those who are writing these opinions have zero understanding of the governmental process.
Some may counter by asking why Schumer didn’t see fit to write his own letter as well? Honestly, I don’t have the answer to that question. Sometimes there are questions that beg for an answer yet the answers remain unknown. But I can assure you of one thing. Nancy Pelosi would never write a letter of advocacy for Rubashkin without Senator Schumer’s advance notification and tacit approval.
Let me reiterate that I am not privy to inside information on this issue. I am just surmising what must have occurred based on my understanding of the political process. As a consultant who has been in similar situations in the past, this is my conclusion.
The Rubashkin case was very important to our community and I was as outraged as everyone else about the travesty of justice, as I was elated at the news of his commuted sentence. We all have tremendous hakoras hatov to President Trump and appreciate this commutation.
But we need to understand that there is also a tomorrow. There was also a yesterday. And that yesterday included Senator Schumer coming out against the Iran deal.
It’s never a good idea to try to convince an elected official that he is not our friend. I’m not just addressing the Schumer issue on this. It’s something we have to realize when it comes to other officials as well. Because guess what happens. When you declare someone as your enemy, that is eventually what he will come to be. Once we write him off, this is how he will come to be perceived. And that is not responsible politics for our Jewish community.
The community must internalize that Chuck Schumer is as powerful as they come. In his capacity as Senate Democratic leader, there are a myriad of issues that the community approaches him on for support. And in many cases he responds positively. The day might come when he will be even more powerful as Senate majority leader. Is it really in the best interest of our community to be in a situation where he views us as confrontational?
We need to conduct ourselves more pragmatically. For example, I personally supported Hillary Clinton for president. Yet the moment that Donald Trump was elected, I accepted him as my President and work with the White House accordingly. I decided to treat the office of the Presidency with the respect and honor that it deserves, and I’ve publicly condemned anyone who did otherwise. There is a time, a place, and a season for everything.
We as a community need to internalize the larger picture. Yes we are a vibrant and growing community, boruch Hashem, and we have much to be proud of. But our numbers are minuscule in the grand scheme of things. And we tend to shoot blanks. We sometimes declare war on an elected official, and when that happens outside of our local districts, we become marginalized. Elected officials at the highest level will pass us over and won’t even invite us to sit down at the table with them because of the immaturity with which we conduct our political and governmental relationships.
I say this as someone who is professionally engaged as the CEO of a public affairs consulting firm. I am in no way a community leader. But I see the handwriting on the wall and I feel it’s time for us to take stock of our actions and add real value to all of our political interactions and relationships.
As far as the wonderful news of the President’s commutation of Mr. Rubashkin’s sentence is concerned – Now that’s something we can all be proud of!
(TLS welcomes your opinions by submitting them to [email protected])
You lost me at “I personally supported Hillary Clinton for president”.
Bottom line is Schumer took the political path on this by not supporting something because it would put Trump in a positive light, instead of doing what was morally correct.
What happened Freidlander? Yes you don’t have answers that Question, well we do. Shummer is a selfish person, only in it for himself.
Not again Ezra Friedlander.
How much did Friedlander get paid to write this oped?
This is the same Friedlander who nonstop bashmutzed Trump during the campaign.
He never once bothered to defend Trump. Only Schumer the Democrat.
Wow. Our self anointed Gadol Hador speaks. How dare we argue with Ezra Friedlander?
Ezra – I am all for your theory and your approach to how to handle our elected officials. That is though, as long as you have the Gedolay Yisroel set the standard. Not you. We must learn from our history. Our greatest geula came from Mordechai Hatzadik refusing to follow the decrees of the politically powerful Haman Harasha. More recently we know how the Chazon Ish stood up to Ben Gurion. Rav Shach railed against the Israeli Government. Look at the current situation in Eretz Yisroel and how our Gedolim act and react towards their elected officials.
Yes there are times we must be friends but there are times where we must rise up against. It is not Ezra Friedlanders place to tell us when and how. It is our Manhigim who will tell us. Schumer doesn’t run the show – G-D does.
what’s wrong with Friedlander expressing his opinion? He gives his reasons and you are free to agree or disagree with him…..
While your opinion is correct as it would apply even in a case where a politician is in fact an Anti-Semite, we still have to be careful of an attack, the readers should know that the LEFT was always against Rubashkin. Readers should know the score.
Dear Ezra,
I myself may not know the details regarding Senator Schumer’s involvement in this case.
However just this past Shabbos I met with Rubashkin’s son-in-law, and he told me the following:
1. Not only did Schumer not write a letter in support of Rubashkin, he was vehemently opposed to his release.
2. Nancy Polosi was busy with this case on literally a daily basis. In fact, there was almost no government representative who took the Rubashkin case more to heart than Nancy Polosi.
Now I ask you to contrast Schumer and Polosi.
Does it really make sense to seriously suggest that Polosi only involved herself in this case with Schumer’s approval?
As much as I respect your analysis, in this case I believe you got it all wrong.
Yaakov
Schumer is an opportunist and when push came to shove on the Iran deal he did nothing to go against his party and do what’s right
Friedlander was on live radio at the Oorah Oorathon telling everyone not to vote for Trump. He should have followed his own advice.
I sure hope Trump didn’t hear that speech on 770 WABC. Or better yet, I sure hope President Trump realized that Friedlander doesn’t talk for the rest of us frumme yidden.
By the way, Your voting for Hillary meant that you voted what you thought was best for you since you think you represent us. So since you were so sure Hillary would win you voted for her and came out in support of her. This just shows all of us that you didn’t vote for who was the better choice for klal yisroel. You voted for what was the better choice for Ezra Friedlander. Shame on you for not recognizing that Hashem runs the world. If you would have then you would have done your hishtadlus of voting the best one for the Jewish people and then doing your best for us people with whoever Hashem chooses to lead us. Look in the mirror before giving mussar!
Hi, Can we please not post controversial op ed as it will then sink the lakewood scoop website to a whole new level.
Thanks
I noticed a comment here using the word “bashmutzed”, please do not exaggerate. You are allowed to say the truth, but please do not go overboard. Mr. Friedlander is a human being just like you are. Please correct him like a Mentsch.
I think Ezra’s main point is that yes we are angry at Schumer for his lack of support. However, where will that anger get us? Will denouncing him get us anywhere? Do we have enough power to vote him out of office? No. We need to face the reality the Schumer is here to stay and we can’t easily vote him out. Now when we have such a powerful guy in washington whom we can’t vote out of office, do we gain anything from bashing him? Since there is no gain we might as well keep our mouths shut and try to remain his friends for at-least some issues.
Of course Ezra has a motive since its his parnasa and he wants Schumer as a customer. But he has a point. lets not knock his point.
well said I agree 100%
Based on that logic no matter how bad a politician is he can never be crticized when he looks like he will be in offfice for a while.
You make the point that as the leader of the Democrats, Schumer is onvolved in everything and gives his approval for every step taken by Democrats.
That is precisely why Schumer’s conduct during the Iran vote was so disturbing. He vited against it, saying it is a dangerous deal, yet didn’t use any of his powers to stop it!
I honestly don’t know who Ezra Friedlander is, but after googling him, I see he’s a public relations person in NY, ie: more of the swamp. If people want to know why Trump has such unmovable support by his base, this is why. People are sick and tired of the fakery, the lack of honesty within our political system. Politicians should just stand up for what they believe in and stop playing in the swamp. It’s no wonder congress has such a poor favorable rating.
Ezra, you lost me at “consultant”…
Hmmm…wonder….hmmm….
shumer told ppl that KJ didnt vote for him so he see’s no reason to help rubashkin
at least he’s honest in that regard
Makes sense
Most of the comments are missing the point…what you think of Schumer (or Friedlander for that matter) is irrelevant…what’s relevant is, keeping up a good relationship with any politician that you might ever need assistance of…don’t see how it makes sense otherwise…it’s just how politics works.
Yet Friedlander had no problem shooting off his mouth against Trump. We hate Friedlander’s hypocrisy.
Really now?
Did you ever look up the definition of shooting blanks?
How about lets leave it to real PR experts to deal with this and not paid political lobbyists. No disrespect to Mr Freidlander but his eagerness to be be pokiyucalky involved on his own accord is uncalled for.
to # 21 I was wondering the same thing, if he had ANY idea about the usage of this phrase. Perhaps the consultant needs a consultant. ‘Just wondering.
Dear editor please put Friedlander’s stuff as communicated not as an oped & make sure he pays you
How self serving- as if only this swamp creature really understands the inner workings of the DNC and Washington and everyone else is too amateur to have an opinion on this matter. Chuck Schumer is of the same self-serving camp that Ezra is. For whatever reason he decided this was politically unopurtunistic he let all his years being “shomer yisroel” by the wayside. Not to mention comment attributed to Schumer regarding chassidim voting Republican this time round.
Ezra, please list endorsements from gedolei yisroel for your positions, maybe then Klal Yisroel will pay more attention to you.
Blah blah !
I guess now he was paid to clean up Schumer’s mess .
Freidlander you supported Hillary. I don’t trust what you have to say. You’re a paid political hack. You dont represented anything other then your own pocket.
Can we stop quoting this self serving hypocrite? His attacks against President Trump were vicious. Schumer voted against the Iran deal but did nothing to get his democratic comrades to vote against it. The bottom line is Friedlander is a democratic lobbyist. The Democrats (as opposed to the Republicans) by and large have become anti Israel, and are proponents of lifestyles that are abhorrent to Orthodox Jews. Let Friedlander spew his rhetoric in his disgusting Periodical Vox. He has no business getting a venue on one of our sites. Schumer is just another part of the self serving swamp that is prevelant in Washington. When it serves his needs he will help.
This is the biggest bunch of nonsense I have ever heard. The man is an (moderated) plain and simple
Great article! Glad to see some sensible writing once in a while on this site
With all due respect Mr. Friedlander, what did you do personally to try to get Mr.Rubashkin out of prison. Did you put your articulate writing skills to use or is that reserved reserved only for situations that may benefit your pocket. After all you proclaim that you are a master in the public relations business. Well I’m very happy that other people namely Rabbi Pinny Lipschitz stood up for what’s right which eventually led to Hashem putting the idea into the head of our dear President Donald Trump to have Sholom Rubashkins sentence commuted. Hillary wouldn’t even lend an ear to the suggestion. Furthermore, by now we would probably be going to daven at the kosel in Palestine surrounded by a bunch of terrorists. You may be a professional but don’t forget that you are also a frum yid that has certain guidelines that he must follow and not sell himself out for money.
Ezra FYI Shumer is history. He showed his real interest. Guess what his interest is. HIMSELF and only himself.
Ezra Freidlander bends over backwards to defend the liberal Left because he is a paid lobbyist for them. So much for an “unbiased” opinion.
I think he knew he was gonna get this type of feedback, but he tried taking a play out of trumps playbook. That negative Publicity is still Publicity
The Brisker Rov famously said “Oib es tut vei shrayt min (if something hurts,you scream)”.If a fellow yid is suffering unjustly and you are in position to speak up and you don’t the silence speaks volumes of who you are.Schumer might have been born jewish but unfortanatly he is severely lacking in the 3 middos that define a member of klal yisroel.
You lost me by voting for Hillary. I actually was intently reading and taking it in… until there… and that disqualified anything that you wrote before that was making sense.
I dnt know if people understood his point that we still need shumet on our side for the future because the knockers in towne can’t help us in Washington we need the power man so everybody stop criticizing he did so much good for the frum people and u need on our side so let’s make shalom bec we need him more than he needs us. To all the clueless people start doing research before u write somthing
It’s very naive to think that the former speaker runs everything she does past chucky like he’s her master or something
Don’t think it’s naive, think it’s democrats working together towards the greater advancement of the democratic party which is really a way of advancing themselves in the long run…
As friedlander says “those who speak don’t know” that would be referring to him and this oped.
We need Shumer???!!! – We need Hakodosh Boruch Hu!
Don’t kiss the dirty feet of a human being who turns his back on Klal Yisroel!
Hakodosh Boruch Hu takes care of us.
If A human helps Klal Yisroel – then we have to say thank you and show Hakoras Hatov. What has Schumer done recently for Klal Yisroel????
Ezra, I don’t know you nor do I know the facts of this case and whether Schumer did or did not support Rubashkin’s release. That said, I have never read such a dismissive and condescending article against fellow Jews. What gives you that right especially when you yourself admit that “I am not privy to inside information on this issue”?
As the CEO of a public affairs company, one would think that you knew how to express yourself in a way that people would actually listen.
If you really cared about your fellow yidden, the tone of this article would have been very different and not condescending.
The feeling I and everyone else gets when reading this op-ed is that Ezra Friedlander cares about himself and he will sacrifice all personal values to get what he wants. Your transparency is the greatest “political suicide” of all.
Great job at public relations Ezra!
Freeland
How much did shumer pay you for this article?
I agree with Ezra. Schumer was
wrong, but he still is one of the most powerful politicians and he represents the largest Jewish population in the US.
To an objective person it would make sense not to shoot yourself in the foot by calling him out in derogatory ways.
Perhaps there is a way to demand an explanation in a respectful manner, as nobody should be immune to wrong decisions. But the way in which people have expressed their outrage is completely wrong, and could have undesirable repercussions.
it seems b’h the lakewooders got it right and aren’t persuad by mr friedlanders self serving op ed
i was quite surprised that mr friedlander supported hillary for pres but that was until i found out he was on the payroll of the democrats hired to deliver the jewish religious vote after which the maxim of money is the answer to everything -he was paid to bring the religious vote
anyone that his views are based onb who pays him has no moral right to preach to others who and why they should support a specific candidate as his views are based purely on money
Dear Mr. Friedlander, You have it all wrong.. Lets look into the Megilas Esther, Mordechai Hatzddik,tells Esther, if she won’t help the Jewish people, Hashem, will find others who will. The same thing is in our modern time. Senator Schummer, had the opportunity to help a Jewish man . He missed the call! Please don’t defend him. Keep quiet, he blew his chance.. Nancy Pelosi and all the other politicians who signed the letters will get their reward. Hakodosh Boruch Hu, runs the world.
I think orthodox Jews in New York should move out to Conservative States like Texas or Florida. We are polar opposites in terms of our values compared to our elected officials. Just move out to States that will embrace our values so we can live better and productive lives versus living in that cesspool known as New York
#46 well said.
i am disgusted with this article. chuck schumer is a disgrace, and we should not kiss up to him just because he is powerful. he hates the jews.
+1 to # 21 & 23.
TLS, do you screen your articles (or more importantly – your article titles) before you post them?
Inappropriate title.
Please be more careful in the future.