The 100,000 Jews of Brooklyn’s mostly-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park are agreeing on the Democratic candidate they don’t want for president, but are split when it comes to choosing between his rivals.
“Both Gore and Dukakis will be warmly received, as long as it’s not Jackson,” said Rabbi Bernard Freilich, administrator of the local Council of Jewish Organizations. “Still, we have a split. The Jews have to decide on one candidate.”
Freilich’s comments came the day before Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis was scheduled to visit Borough Park and the day after Sen. Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee made a neighborhood campaign stop. It included a private meeting with Rabbi Solomon Halberstam, the 81-year-old leader of the Bobover Hasidic sect.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson has not yet scheduled a stop in Borough Park before the April 19 New York primary.
The reasons the neighborhood rejects Jackson were best summarized in a quarter-page advertisement in Sunday’s edition of The New York Times, which listed Jackson’s association with Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, his comments in support of the Palestine Liberation Organization and his “respect and appreciation” for Syrian President Hafez Assad among reasons not to vote for Jackson.
The ad was signed by Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents Borough Park and yesterday gave his endorsement to Gore.
NO ‘STOP JACKSON’ CAMPAIGN
“This is not a ‘stop Jackson’ campaign,” said Hikind in a telephone interview Monday. “Rather, this is an effort to use education to tell his whole record.”
Hikind said he supports Gore because, as a member of Congress from Tennessee, representing a vastly non-Jewish constituency, Gore’s voting record on Israel “was 100 percent, and that speaks louder than any campaign rhetoric.”
Hikind said that unlike Dukakis, Gore has been willing to criticize Jackson’s views, especially on foreign policy in the Middle East.
“It would be horrible to reward one individual who avoids criticizing Jackson and to penalize the person who hasn’t. That would be immoral.”
COMMUNITY VOTE IS SPLIT
According to Freilich, Borough Park’s Jews aren’t ready to vote for anybody, and he blamed Democratic leaders for the split. Neither Gov. Mario Cuomo or Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, who share good relations with the neighborhood, have endorsed a candidate.
Neither Hikind’s endorsement of Gore, nor an endorsement of Dukakis by Rep. Stephen Solarz (D-N.Y.) carry the weight of an endorsement by those leading Democrats.
“True, we’re a voting bloc, but the party couldn’t care less about this campaign,” said Freilich. “The one thing you can say about all these things: It’s a plus for the Republicans.”
Freilich said neither the Council of Jewish Organizations nor the Bobover rebbe endorse candidates. Asked what transpired during the meeting between Halberstam and Gore, Freilich replied, “It was a prayer for good luck.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
