“Every Asken has the politicians they are close to, and with that relationship, the Asken seems to become beholden to the politician. To that end, askonim are afraid to back anyone who might rock the boat of that relationship, especially without the guarantee that they’ll win. So why are they wrong?“

Crown Heights has historically never been a community that puts up candidates. There have been anash who have run for office, but to my knowledge, there was never a push from CH askonim to support them. Until recently, CH has not been a community that has voted much. In recent years, there has been a change with many more Anash going out to vote, thanks to the tireless work of the askonim.

Askonim work their magic by currying favor with politicians: the promise of support, the promise of votes, the promise to answer the phone when they call. This approach has been very helpful, and BH in recent years, our community has enjoyed the benefits of a close relationship with various political offices. Every Asken has the politicians they are close to, and with that relationship, the Asken seems to become beholden to the politician. To that end, askonim are afraid to back anyone who might rock the boat of that relationship, especially without the guarantee that they’ll win.

So why are they wrong?

Pirkai Avos spells out very clearly a warning to those involved in askonus; never forget who you’re dealing with. Government is a friend as long as it works for them, but if some other interest becomes more important…

It should be self-evident that our community, when given the option, will support a local candidate over anyone else.

In the democratic primary elections we need to use our voting block strategically to support whomever we are most comfortable with, but when it comes to the general election we need to vote for the candidate whom we would actually want to see in office – a candidate we don’t have to curry favor with, because the candidate’s interests and values are identical to our own.

It’s important for our friends in office to see that we will come out and support someone who’s values align with ours. It’s important for them to see the numbers we can put up.

It’s important for our community to see that if one of us steps up, we can get the support of the community.

Now is the time to take action:

If you’re not registered to vote, do that now! The Jewish Future Alliance has made this so easy with their website AnashVote.com.

In this election cycle, you have the opportunity to support two Anash candidates: Me, Yehuda Shaffer, running in city council district 41, and Benny Rosenberger running in district 35.

Help us by contributing to our campaigns. The city matches each contribution x8, we need these funds to get our message out!

You can find our contribution pages here:

https://contribute.nycvotes.org/campaigns/yehudashaffer/contributions/new

https://contribute.nycvotes.org/campaigns/bennyrosenberger/contributions/new

Then go out and vote for Benny in his district and for me in mine.

Thank you for your support.

Yehuda Shaffer

Future City Councilman D41

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 929-773-7325