We drove through the streets of Teaneck and Bergenfield on Yom Ha’atzmaut and wondered where all the flags were. Every year, on the day that the State of Israel was born, we attach blue and white flags to the back windows of our car and proudly drive everywhere with the flags blowing in the wind. With the exception of one house on Highgate (whose tenants happen to be related) we saw nothing blue and white. There was not a mention on West Englewood—such a disappointment from a community that places aliyah and Eretz Yisrael so highly on their radar. You can be sure that there must have been others hiding from us somewhere but we did not see them. We were accustomed to the major street in Cote St. Luc where we lived, Cavendish Boulevard, a street similar to Queen Anne, where on both sides of the street every light pole for at least three blocks had Israeli flags attached for the week leading up to Yom Ha’atzmaut. What we thought about were the many homes in this community that prior to Chanukah erect life-size Chanukah decorations on their grass which do nothing but imitate those of our Christian friends and neighbors who light up their lawns for their holidays. Are our values becoming slightly mixed up?
During the same week just two days earlier we were proud to join the festivities surrounding the victory celebration of the candidates who were re-elected to the Teaneck city council. Most impressive to us was the combination of people from so many different ethnic and racial groups celebrating for the purpose of the betterment of their community. We are sure that Lizette Parker, whom we did not know, was shining her radiance on the events that evening. We have been told that she was a moving force in encouraging the black community to work together with the white community to improve the services for all of us living here. Former Mayor Hameeduddin working alongside Mendy Schwartz, Elie Katz, Dr. Pruitt and everyone else on the council is reason for this community to feel a sense of satisfaction. Families of the candidates sharing stories and pride with each other over the accomplishments of their family members was a sight to be seen. We felt as though more of us should be exposed to such fraternity.
Perhaps a greater lesson for us all to learn from is why we in the Jewish community have so much difficulty interacting with those who do not live their lives similarly to the way we do. The Charedi are generally with their cohorts, the Yeshivish generally tend to be within their own circles and the wide range of Modern Orthodox used to be classified as one. Unfortunately, that case seems to be disintegrating as there are now myriads of opinions as to what it actually means to be “Modern Orthodox.” Even more challenging seems to be the relationship between the Orthodox world and their attitudes to those who are less observant or not at all observant. Why can’t we all be friends in the same way as we saw in the interactions between the Teaneck city council? Does it really matter whether or not a person keeps Shabbos in order to have them as a friend? Do we want to raise our children with the attitude that those who are not observant are less Jewish than those who are? We would hope not. It is time, we believe, for the entire Jewish community to reevaluate their attitudes to their fellow Jew and perhaps they could take an example from the Teaneck city council. We were obviously moved to see their faces wrapped in smiles, sharing their victory and truly happy to forge forward for the betterment of the community.
By Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick
