I have met Christians who think Jews are going to hell and think entering a synagogue is an abomination. I know far more Christians who feel entering a mosque is wrnog. If a Christian ran for office and refused to enter a synagogue or a mosque, I would criticize him for his refusal.

There are some Muslim extremists who think women should be kept out of public. If such a Muslim ran for office and refused to enter a building if women were there, I would criticize him for his refusal.

I refuse to hold a fellow Jew to a lower standard than I hold others. I am referring to my fellow Jew Isaac Abraham who is running for office but refuses to come to a candidate forum that is held in a childcare center in the basement of a church because of his religious principles.

He has every right to not enter a church. He has every right to refuse to enter a childcare center because it is on church property. But I will hold him to the same standard I would hold a Christian refusing to go into a synagogue or mosque or a Muslim who refused to go into a room with women.

Why do I bring this up again? Because I am getting emails criticizing me as a Jew who understands the Satmar community for criticizing Isaac Abraham for his refusal to enter a childcare center on church property. I think it is worth paraphrasing (intentionally edited quote, really) one of these emails:

You should understand that Hasids are going to be very strict in their practice and that their interpretation is going to differ from yours--and that they can't bend. Which black politician has a religious stricture against entering a synagogue? Not even Louis Farrakhan has such a stricture.

And it's irrelavant. So he can't go into a church! He'll have staff who can, or groups will start holding meetings elsewhere. Not a biggie.

Instead, your ignorant assertion that Isaac Abraham should for political purposes violate one of his relgious structures makes all liberals and brownstoners and especially heterodox Jews like us look bad and intolerant.

Moreover it brings unwarranted sympathy towards one of the most comtemptable pieces of garbage in NYC poliitcs.

I have not yet met Mr. Abraham, so I cannot judge on whether he is contemptable or not...though I would say he certainly has considerable competition for this distinction. And I do recognize that this is a genuine conflict between a person's religious views and the expectations of the larger society. I am being asked to defer the expectations of the larger society for the personal religious views of an individual.

Therein are the most interesting, and difficult, discussions.

I have been to dozens of community, political and social meetings held in churches and synagogues throughout NYC. CBID is in no way unique about this. Religious institutions rent out space and people rent that space often because it is cheap. Usually that space is NOT the actual religious space of the building, but a side room, basement or side building, often an auditorium or part of a school. At what point is it acceptable for a gentleman who wants to represent a community in political office to refuse to enter such a space?

Again, the space in question has no religious purpose or symbols. It is a place where children play and learn. But it IS beneath a religious space. AND in the Constitution it says there shall be no religious test for holding office.

So, a man refuses to enter a place beneath a church, and hence he will refuse to enter many a space used for community purposes that are associated with a religious institution, because of his personal religious beliefs. Let me be clear. There is a definite gesture of disrespect in his actions, whether he intends it or not. There is a definite gesture of intolerance in his actions, whether he intends it or not. There is a message in his actions that he chooses not to represent everyone in the district equally, whether he intends this message or not.

What would have been the solution?

First off, perhaps Isaac Abraham should have approached the club FIRST and discussed the problem rather than first complaining to the press about it. The first CBID heard about this was when the media contacted them. Isaac Abraham seems to have wanted to make an issue, not find a way to meet the club half way. Abraham is not working with the community. He is dictating to the community.

Second, should the club have anticipated this? If the space being used was a genuine religious space, I would say yes. But it isn't. It is a childcare center. And as far as I am aware it has never come up before.

Third, should a Hasid running to represent a community have to sacrifice some of his religious beliefs for that community? Simple answer is "no." But it isn't so simple. A member of a larger community must be accepting of that larger community if he wants to represent that community. It should not mean breaking one's deeply held beliefs. But sometimes bending, negotiating, discussing a solution is necessary when diversity is involved. When a community is all white Christian or all Satmar or all Shia, there is no conflict between one's religious beliefs and the larger society. But when the community is diverse, there will be conflict. And one cannot act like a martyr, as Mr. Abraham does, when you come up against such a conflict. Of course the reverse is also true. The larger community cannot MAKE someone a martyr for their religious beliefs. In this case, Abraham made no effort to discuss, negotiate, let alone bend to meet the larger community he is asking to represent. This is a horrible message for someone from ANY religion to give.

Finally, the club and the other candidates in the race are willing to accomodate Abraham's religious beliefs. That is perhaps the great irony here. The man who complained to the media and made no effort to make what could have been a wonderful discussion on the relationship of an individual to the larger communuity is playing the martyr when in truth the other candidates and the club are more than willing to take his individual needs into account. At, I should add, some considerable expense to the club Abraham is complaining about. Is this how Abraham plans to represent the district? With demands and complaints, not discussion and respect? It seems that way.