Prove it or Shut it! We're not anti-Semitic...

Imagine that it is a beautiful Wednesday. Your kids are out on the front lawn playing and when you take a look outside to check on them you notice a car going by at, what must be, 5 MPH. In the back seat of the car, the only thing you see is the lens of a camera sticking out and upon seeing you in the window, they speed off.

Imagine you are a female homeowner, sitting at home, watching TV, and the doorbell rings. You proceed to open the door and find a woman standing there who begins asking you questions about your home. Your husband comes from the back of the house and when spotted, the woman runs as fast as she can, back to her car, gets in and the driver of the car, hits the gas pedal and gets out of there?

What if you saw a blue van, with almost no windows sitting in front of your house and the only thing you could see was the lens of a camera, taking pictures?

In these examples above, would you care what religion, skin color, or otherwise, of the folks behaving in this way?

I really can't take this any more. How is it that a person can make an accusation, never prove it, and still, others agree with them? Over the weekend, I read this article and just cannot believe how little research or fact-finding people are willing to do, versus just believing whatever they are told. That or they have a personal interest in further promoting propaganda. I reached out to the author of this article who did respond to me, asking that I advise him on what is inaccurate in his writing. You get that? He published this article, having never taken the time to even bother to proving or disproving anything that he wrote. Let's see if (and hope that), he changes his story once presented with the facts. Larry Yudelson, this article is for you.

Yudelson stated, "At the township’s meeting last week, council members and residents complained about being portrayed as haters. As they did so, they proposed changes to their park ordinances that appear to be in response to Orthodox Jews from Rockland County using their parks. Those changes explicitly would bar hanging string in the park. And that is all about the eruv." The park ordinances being proposed were initially brought to the attention of the Council in April, 2017. That predates any of the current events that would even, remotely relate to any topic that would lead to a "response to Orthodox Jews from Rockland County using their parks."

Yudelson proceeds to mention how Michael Cohen, an Englewood NJ Councilman, brought his friend, Anthony Cureton with him, who is the president of the Bergen County chapter of the NAACP. Yudelson stated, "Mr. Cureton was greeted with boos when he spoke of witnessing “hate” in the council meeting." Question for you Mr. Yudelson...what hate? Where is the hate? The only place where "hate" exists is in the imaginations of Michael Cohen and the rest of Sherer's army. Mahwah's residents were booing Cureton for one, specific reason...he was perpetuating a myth that has never been proven. People have continued to walk up to that microphone and make statements against our town when they have never (actually) observed any hate. Cureton was commenting on how he was in the back of the room and witnessing hate. I was in the same room. Mahwah's residents approach that microphone and go out of their way to stress that they do not have anything against religion. I will ask you, Mr. Yudelson, the same question I have asked of so many others...where is the hate?

Yudelson then wrote "Mr. Cohen said that Mr. Cureton’s appearance at the meeting began when his friend approached him after he read about the eruv controversy. Mr. Cohen explained the situation, and Mr. Cureton reacted to it. “This is disgusting what’s going on,” Mr. Cureton told Mr. Cohen. “We have an opportunity to work together to fight discrimination here.” That is part of the problem. If Mr. Cureton works for the NAACP, he especially should appreciate the need to listen and digest both sides of a story. He listened to Mr. Cohen's take on the situation? Of all people? He read the articles Mr. Cohen shared with him?

"But Mr. Cureton’s remarks were greeted less positively by Mahwah residents. “He played the race card,” someone can be heard saying on video as Mr. Cureton spoke." I don't know who said this but would imagine that anyone with even the slightest sense of intelligence would appreciate that one person's voice does not speak for the majority. And it most certainly does not represent the official voice of our town- the Council's. And let's not discount the horrific and unconscionable statement Cureton stated as he left the room to one of our residents. I will not repeat it here but unlike Mahwah's residents, Cureton is filled with a tremendous amount of hate.

Yudelson includes a few comments from Michael Cohen- “Being there at the meeting is very difficult,” Mr. Cohen said. “You feel the tension in the air. Some of the things you hear are things that can make you cringe.” I don't feel tension in the air. Mahwah's residents are (pretty-much) all on the same side. What "things" is Cohen hearing that make him cringe? Care to share a few examples so I can quickly point out of full of it you are, Mr. Cohen? You cite the example that you aren't being paid off to say these things. Is this what makes you cringe? Because, if so, allow me to be clear that there is good reason to make this assertion Mr. Cohen...damn good reason. Are you sure you want to go down this rabbit hole?

Mr. Cohen wasn't convinced by our Council President's explanation as to why the new ordinances we are fighting for having nothing to do with religion. Mr. Cohen stated “They claim they’re just trying to prevent their public sites from having anything they don’t want without approval,” he said. “But if you’re in the middle of an eruv battle, and you’re now legislating not to have string, it’s kind of clear what’s going on.” We agree on one thing...you are definitely unclear as to what's going on. It mentions "string"...true. But why would anyone want string running across, overhead in their park? Again, this has nothing to do with religion.

The townspeople don't want Mr. Cohen here. But allow me to stress that the point is we do not want him here. Religion has nothing to do with our objections to anything, including his attendance. Similar to the reason I explained above, he is a distraction and forcing the conversation to go in a direction where none of us have any interest in it going. It is almost as if he wants this to be about anti-Semitism. It isn't and every attempt to make it so is at the center of why we don't want Mr. Cohen or any of these other folks at that microphone.

Regarding the financial trail, again, this has nothing to do with religion. The reason any of this is even remotely tied to religion is because of the likes of Mr. Cohen, who have made false assertions, while pushing a dialogue of untrue and unfounded, BS rhetoric. We are concerned with financial trails...none of which have to do with any, one group or their religion and which are, frankly, none of your business.

The objections our area's residents have also does not relate to what the eruv represent Mr. Yudelson. They were put up, without permission, in the dead of night, and against our ordinances. In one breath, it is argued they are religious symbols, in another we are told they are not. The reality is...we don't care and that is for a court to decide. But we don't want them up. Tying this to religion is not only insulting to us but is disrespectful to my own ancestors who lived through the Holocaust. How you (or anyone) can look at our town and compare us to what occurred in Charlottesville is irresponsible, hurtful, and I'm sorry...is truly the only form of "hate" that I can see.

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A side-note to Michael Cohen, should he read this. You and your friends are continuing to point fingers, yet you have yet to share a single shred of evidence that Mahwah's residents are anti-Semitic other than random comments, made by a bunch of boo boo's. Four quotes does not represent the majority of our voices and I am completely certain you would state the same if the shoe were on another foot. I have challenged reporters and others to debate me on this subject...I extend the same to you. I'm not sure what your interest is in Mahwah but believe it is likely because Sherer is lining your pockets just as he is likely doing with so many others. But if you want to debate me...I'm ready. Because face-to-face with me, you won't get away with spewing such BS.