Op-Ed: Why We Should Be Proud

by Max Coen

As we all know by now, the result of the gubernatorial election was not one that the majority of the New York Orthodox community wanted.

Many people are feeling despondent, disappointed, and disillusioned, with the state of the political situation.

We all made such a big deal about going to vote for Zeldin, that it’s easy to feel like it didn’t even matter.

Let me tell you something however. It did matter. It mattered in a way that it never did before.

The Narrative

We have long been complaining about the state of crime and anti semitism in NYC, but now we actually did something about it.

For a long time our leaders have been lobbying the ruling democrat side to assist us, however to no avail.

And after the recent attack on our yeshiva system, which is an integral part of our lives, we had reached a breaking point.

So doing what most intelligent people would do, our leaders decided we need to show everyone we mean business.

So, we endorsed Zeldin, and we had the biggest “go out to vote” push that the orthodox community has had in a while.

And the turnout! How impressed was everyone when we saw the videos of Borough Park and Williamsburg. All the ads. All the videos. All the social media posts. But nonetheless, Lee Zeldin lost the election. 

So why shouldn’t we be disappointed?

Here’s something that some people don’t realize. For the first time in a long time, a huge majority of orthodox communities were unified, working together, and in constant contact, to advance the goal of getting Zeldin elected. Personally, I was in constant dealings with people from Queens, Five Towns, Flatbush, Borough Park, Williamsburg, and Crown Heights. As Dov Hikind mentioned to me at Zeldin’s Election party in Midtown, “It’s magnificent. Hashem is Proud. I’ve been in this forever and It has been a long time since I saw such unity”.

And it wasn’t just us who noticed it. Already There have been multiple articles in the mainstream media about how Orthodox Jewish Voters flipped sides for Zeldin and showed their power. People are talking. People are noticing. People are finally listening.

As another silver lining, the strength of Zeldin’s campaign cause for multiple republicans to flip house seats, notably Mike Lawler in NY-17. Additionally many local state senators were propelled to victory, causing the democrats to lose the supermajority in Albany, making it more difficult for them to pass legislation.

All in all, I can now comfortably say that instead of being: “The Orthodox communities in NYC”, we are now: “The Orthodox community in NYC”. We switched from a plurality to a singularity. We backed someone who shares our values. We help cause a shift in the power dynamic in New York. We helped Congress flip to Republican. we helped Albany lose the democratic supermajority. And finally, we made people listen to us.

There is a lot we should be proud of.

Max Coen is a financial consultant based in NYC who focuses on non-for-profits and Jewish advocacy efforts. He has had involvement in the Zeldin Campaign in an unofficial capacity since March 2021. All the views in the article above are his own.