[TorryJens]

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArt...ort_Takes.html

When Rabbi Marc Schneier withdrew his request for an eruv in Westhampton Beach in May after considerable neighborhood opposition (and some anti-Semitism, too), he said he was planning to rally support and re-file the application in September.

He got some support all right, from none other than Gov. David Paterson.
Paterson, speaking from the pulpit of Rabbi Schneier’s Hampton Synagogue last weekend, left no doubt that he was on the rabbi’s side in the increasingly nasty duel over the eruv.

Knowing there’d be town meetings to educate citizens about the eruv prior to a Village Board vote next month, the governor turned to the rabbi: “The next meeting is when?” “August 13,” said the rabbi.

“Maybe I’ll drop by,” said Paterson, to hurrahs from the pews. “People need to know there’s a new sheriff in town.”

The new sheriff was no stranger, he joked: “I was born in the ancient homeland of Brooklyn.”

While few, if any, in the Hamptons see themselves as bigots, in fact, said the governor, this is a civil rights issue and he wants to see some “tolerance” for “those who want to erect the eruv right here in the Hamptons.”

The large Hampton Synagogue is more upscale that most “homeland” shteibles, but an eruv is an eruv: unobtrusive markings, primarily on utility poles, creating a boundary within which Jews would be allowed to push strollers, wheelchairs or carry items that they otherwise couldn’t on Shabbat.

Rabbi Schneier said he has dedicated much of his life’s “energy and resources to championing the civil rights” of others but “I never imagined that I’d have to fight what I see as a civil rights battle in my own backyard, for my own congregation.”

Now, he sees, “the ugly head of anti-Semitism” can rear its head even in the Hamptons. An anti-eruv ad in a local weekly asked, “Is Westhampton Beach an Orthodox Jewish Community? ... Don’t let it happen.” E-mails and rumors have warned that local shops were being coerced into closing on Saturdays.

“I’m very offended by this Orthodox bashing,” said the rabbi. “This is so absurd; I mean, our kosher bakery is open on Shabbos ... We’re taking the high road and if that doesn’t work then we’ll do what we have to do.” He cited the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in 2002 overturning anti-eruv legislation in Tenafly, N.J.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a legal group, explained on its Web site that the government must demonstrate a “compelling interest” in banning an eruv or it veers into anti-Orthodox discrimination.

Marc Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, said these cases become problematic “if it is about singling out one religion for adverse treatment.” Or a community attempting “to keep out a certain group of people, which I think is what Gov. Patterson was saying when he called it a civil rights issue.

“Typically,” Stern continued, “opposition to an eruv has been motivated by
a desire to keep Orthodox Jews out. That’s been the pattern all along.”

[LottiFurmann]

Steve Cohen is a Democrat who serves as the representative for the Ninth District of Tennessee. He happens to be a Jewish politician in a heavily black district. This year, he's being challenged in the Democratic primary by Nikki Turner. Turner has refused to distance herself from a campaign circulating this piece of trash:

She is also running ridiculous ads linking Cohen to the Ku Klux Klan. Barack Obama has intervened in local races before, but he's silent on this one. Will he oppose this anti-Jewish Democrat? After 20 years of silence at Trinity, I don't think so.

http://guidetotheperplexed.blogspot.com/

Note: the strongest objection to Cohen came from the black churches who objected to Cohen's objection to the anti hate speech bill. The local coalition of black ministers stated that this would impinge on their right to curse the gays.