The Lakewood meeting may have been the most important of all. It was organized by an Orthodox woman who had attended one of the earlier sessions. When she joined in the conversation, which earlier had focused on some of the negative stereotypes of Lakewood and the Orthodox, the tenor changed. Her story and her experiences dispelled many of the myths, and helped shed light on many of the commonalities.
APP editorial-
Of all the nasty, misleading campaign literature generated during the run-up to the recent elections, the most offensive appeared in mailboxes in Jackson, where competing slates tried to outdo each other in branding the opposition as being in the pockets of Orthodox Jews.
In an attempt to woo votes, the two sides exploited anti-Orthodox sentiment in the community, playing into residents' fears that an influx of Orthodox into the township would turn it into another Lakewood. It was disgraceful.
Disingenuously, both mayoral candidates agreed: "How is that anything but anti-Semitism?" incumbent Mayor Michael Reina said, accusing his political opponents of "spreading more misinformation about me than I've seen in the 12 years I've been doing this."
Said Reina's opponent for mayor, Tracie Yostpille: "It is truly the most disgusting dishonest campaign using the Jewish population in Lakewood to scare voters." Both said they weren't responsible for the ads. Yeah, right.
Ironically, Reina, who tapped into anti-Semitic sentiment to produce a winning margin of nearly 2 to 1, was one of the original members of Lakewood Neighbors, a group whose mission includes improving relations between Lakewood's majority Orthodox population and the non-Orthodox in neighboring towns — including Jackson.
Fortunately, some "listening sessions" I held in Jackson, Toms River and Lakewood in the past few weeks helped remove some of the bad taste in my mouth left by the Jackson election. It also reinforced my belief in the importance of conversation, engagement and interaction in improving relations between the Orthodox and non-Orthodox communities.
As part of an outreach effort being made by the Asbury Park Press to ensure we are writing about issues our communities think are important, not just what we think are important, we have been appearing at restaurants, libraries and other venues to hear first-hand from readers.
Last month, at my first listening session at the Jackson branch of the Ocean County Library, I fielded complaints about perceived bias in our opinion and news pages and praise for our newspaper's investigative reporting and commitment to holding public officials accountable. I also heard concerns about illegal immigration and what was characterized as our ill-informed eagerness to jump on the renewable energy bandwagon. But much of the discussion centered around what a number of Orthodox Jews in attendance perceived as an imbalance between positive and negative news about Lakewood and the Orthodox community.
It wasn't a new complaint, nor one without some validity. We have come down hard on corrupt and self-serving public officials in Lakewood. Holding public officials accountable, no matter where they live or govern, has always been an important part of what we do. Lakewood has had more than its fair share of corruption in recent years. But at every opportunity, we urge residents in the Orthodox community to pass along positive stories that reflect well on themselves and the town. It is a message I underscored at a subsequent listening session in Toms River and another one this past week in Lakewood that grew out of the first two.
The Lakewood meeting may have been the most important of all. It was organized by an Orthodox woman who had attended one of the earlier sessions. When she joined in the conversation, which earlier had focused on some of the negative stereotypes of Lakewood and the Orthodox, the tenor changed. Her story and her experiences dispelled many of the myths, and helped shed light on many of the commonalities.
We need much more of that. At a meeting she arranged in Lakewood last week, we were treated to more of the same — a positive exchange between three Press staffers and a diverse group of Orthodox that included a psychologist and educator, a commercial real estate agent, a journalist and a software developer, They all had two things in common: they were well educated and they were interested in improving the non-Orthodox community's understanding of the Orthodox Jew and to find ways to facilitate more interaction. All have indicated a desire to further that goal through continued dialogue between the two communities. read more at APP.com
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