I write to you today in response to a hateful and completely inaccurate letter recently published in your newspaper. The article painted a completely distorted view of the upcoming school board race between Barbara Berkowitz and Michael Glickman. While I appreciate Ms. Berkowitz’s long-standing contributions to our schools, like the author of the letter you published, I too am supporting Michael Glickman. It’s after this point our views depart.
The letter published indicated that the race was somehow influenced by party politics between Republicans and Democrats. As all involved know, our school boards and even most villages in Great Neck do not associate with political parties for the purpose of running these institutions. The last thing we need is another hurdle in the effective governance of our schools. The race for school board is wholly unrelated to party politics as it should be.
The letter further seemed to indicate some kind of internal religious war between Jews in Great Neck. Whether any animosity exists between any groups in Great Neck or not, it has not been a factor in this school board race. Furthermore, as a proud graduate of North Shore Hebrew Academy, I can tell you, there are many of us who travel in all circles of Great Neck Jewish life, and the various Jewish institutions have way more in common than are at any odds.
With so much anti-Semitism in the world today and so many groups against us, the last thing we Great Neck Jews need or in fact do is fight amongst ourselves.
And so it pains me to see Jeff Weisenfeld, a man I once looked up to in our community, spread lies about my good friend Steve Markowitz.
To call out Steve Markowitz, a man who has been at the tip of the spear of so many Jewish causes and has fought anti-Semites for decades, to falsely accuse him of being against certain groups of Great Neck Jews, in spite of all the facts to the contrary, is disgraceful.
Steve and I have spent over a decade together on the Board of Long Island’s Holocaust Center. The center has worked incredibly hard to teach Long Islanders about the Holocaust, to teach its lessons and to help all Long Islanders to stand up against hate in all forms. I never thought I would have to stand up for Steve against one of our own.
Understand, Great Neck Synagogue, a congregation Mr. Weisenfeld claims to represent, is a fantastic institution that has been a pillar in our community. They do so much good every day. I know that they do not stand with his views. It’s the antithesis of what they are about. They are about family, charity, and community. All the things that the hateful lies of Mr. Wiesenfeld go against.
We as a community need to stand up against the same old political ploys and bullying of Mr. Weisenfeld. People need to pay attention to our school board races and make decisions based on school and community issues. The adults need to take over the room and stop letting a vocal minority control the agenda. False accusations help no one but those who spew them.
Alan Mindel
Great Neck
