Prolonging the Machlokes

Op-ed: Yitzchok Wagshul

With elections for a new Vaad Hakahal successfully behind us, I think our community should take a moment to reflect on our accomplishment, and to congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

The idea for these elections—as mandated in the recent psak din that resolved all outstanding community disputes—was that we should have a Vaad Hakahal universally accepted by all segments of the community. As in any election, there will always be some people disappointed by the results, but—since virtually every eligible voter in Crown Heights participated—there can be no doubt that those results are the legitimate will of the people. True, “the people” aren’t always perfect; there’s always the possibility of winding up with an outcome that is less than objectively ideal. But democracy is the best system we have, and it was endorsed by the Rebbe, so, once a valid election has been held, we can all feel good about the results. It’s part of the system that, if things don’t turn out as expected, there will be another election in a few years and we will be able to choose again.

That last point is not the case with respect to our Beis Din. As confirmed by the psak din, once a rov is elected to the Beis Din of Crown Heights, it is a lifetime position. Therefore, I think it’s appropriate—indeed, it is necessary—that we now turn our attention to the upcoming election for a third rov.

A Beis Din is supposed to have an odd number of members, precisely because it is a Torah principle that majority rules. The psak din addressed the issue of the unfortunate deadlock on our Beis Din by decreeing that there be an election for a third rov to join Rabbi Osdoba and Rabbi Schwei as an active member of the Beis Din of Crown Heights. That election is a scant two months away (it is scheduled for the Sunday before this coming Rosh Hashana), and we must give ourselves enough time to learn who the candidates are; to learn all we can about each of them; to listen to, consider, question, and debate all the various things different parties are inevitably going to say about them; and, finally, to arrive at election day fully informed about the candidates and the issues, with a well-reasoned opinion of our own guiding our choice.

We’ve never seemed to do it that way in Crown Heights. In many ways, this community is politically immature; it is a sociological fact that we are only now transitioning from the insular, Russian mentality of the neighborhood’s “early settlers,” if you will, to the more open, empowered, modern mindset of those people’s American children and grandchildren. Generational shifts like this take time, but we are just about there now, and—at least insofar as it affects the way we conduct elections—that’s a good thing.

In Crown Heights, elections (including the most recent one) have usually gone like this: anyone who is considering running keeps that a closely guarded secret until the very last instant. Then, just as the deadline to announce one’s candidacy is expiring, a bunch of people come out of the woodwork and declare themselves. With the exception of one inadequate (candidates are allowed to speak for five minutes—big deal) “candidates’ forum,” we don’t hear another peep out of, or about, any of them until literally a day or two before election day. Then, we are inundated with flyers under our doors (and, in recent years, internet posts): “Don’t vote for X because he sacrifices to idols.” “Don’t vote for Y because he commits adultery” (don’t kid yourselves: there really was such an accusation in a Crown Heights election). Don’t vote for Z because he [any other outrageous thing some irresponsible fool can dream up].”

These charges are then countered by more flyers: “Actually, no, our candidate doesn’t sacrifice to idols. But, sadly, and contrary to our usually reserved, mature, natures, it has now become our solemn obligation to inform you of the true nature of their candidate, who…Kidnaps! Murders! Informs!”

Yes, it’s absurd, and yes, it would all be very amusing—if it weren’t the way we have actually been running our community. So let’s stop this. The real problem with this bad old way of doing things is that people have no idea whom to believe, and have absolutely no time to investigate what all those flyers and internet posts are talking about. Whenever I talk about this (and I’ve been advocating a longer election cycle for years) people say, “starting to campaign earlier would only prolong the machlokes.” But you know what? That is exactly what we need: to prolong the “machlokes”—the debate, in good faith, about the issues. Yes! That is precisely what we do need! We now have the most important election of all looming before us—the election to complete our Beis Din. Let’s do it right for a change.

You may think it doesn’t matter this time; you may think an election for rov will not be as politically charged as the Vaad Hakahal elections. Don’t be so naïve. The fact is that much of the strife (r”l) in our community has its roots in the division on the Beis Din. The recent psak din, which addressed all major community disputes, used the language “Rabbi Osdoba’s side” and “Rabbi Schwei’s side” when referring to the parties to all these controversies. No doubt, the rabbonim themselves base their positions on Torah principles of Halacha and public policy. Unfortunately, they disagree, and there has arisen a whole host of partisans claiming to justify their political positions based on those disagreements. The key to shalom in Crown Heights is for the elected third rov to be truly neutral as to all those partisan squabbles, joining the two sitting rabbonim in basing his decisions exclusively on Halacha and Torah policy, inevitably sometimes siding with Rabbi Osdoba and sometimes with Rabbi Schwei. Then, the Torah principle that “majority rules” will yield psakim from the Beis Din of Crown Heights that we can all accept as our Beis Din’s united ruling.

Let us not allow partisans to contaminate the coming “race for the Rabbinate” with last-minute, impossible to verify, claims about the candidates. According to the psak din, the Beis Din election is to be conducted—technically—by the same bipartisan, six-member election committee that conducted the Vaad Hakahal election, but, unlike in that election, this time the election committee will have no say in vetting candidates. Instead, any candidate must be automatically accepted by the election committee if he:

1) Has semicha for rabbonus;

2) Is married;

3) Is over forty years of age;

4) Is prepared to serve as a full-time rov if elected;

5) Is a resident of Crown Heights or commits himself to move here if elected; and

6) Obtains written confirmation from either Rabbi Osdoba or Rabbi Schwei that he is fit to be a rov.

The last day to submit one’s candidacy to the election committee is Friday, August 6. Within one week of that date—in other words, no later than Friday, August 13—the election committee is to publicize the list of candidates. The election is to take place three weeks later, on Sunday, September 5.

In light of all the above, I appeal to all concerned—not only the members of the election committee and the new Vaad Hakahal, whose roles are limited in this regard, but especially to the potential candidates, their supporters, and anyone interested in soliciting them, as well as to the voters themselves—to do the following:

1) Immediately begin or continue the search for qualified candidates, so that, by the deadline of August 6—just four weeks away—the community will have the broadest and best field to choose from.

2) Voters should immediately begin or continue thinking about the issues. Who would make a good rov for Crown Heights and why? What has been going on over the past several years with respect to our Beis Din, and how has that affected other areas? If you don’t already know these things, or if you are unsure, now is the time to start asking around and soliciting opinions and information from those you trust. If you hear names of possible candidates bandied about, see what you can find out about them while you still have plenty of time to do so.

3) Theoretically, there is nothing to prevent a potential candidate from announcing and beginning to campaign even now, but if candidates are afraid to expose themselves to the rigors of a campaign until all contenders are known, at least let them—and, perhaps more importantly, their supporters—use this time privately preparing their strategies and materials.

4) In real life, no one is likely to announce before the deadline, so the most important thing is this: AS SOON AS THE LIST OF CANDIDATES IS MADE PUBLIC, BY AUGUST 13—LET THE CAMPAIGN BEGIN! Anyone who has anything to say about the candidates or the campaign should prepare now to release their comments then. That will give the community three full weeks to absorb it all, to digest it, to reach an informed decision. Three weeks is still not a long time for such a crucial and possibly complex campaign, but it’s all we have: let’s make full use of it!

I’ll repeat that final point, because, to tell the truth, I could have left out everything else I’ve just written and this article would still say the same thing. It is my entire point, plain and simple: out of respect for our intelligence and our right to full and adequate information, campaigning must begin three full weeks before the election. Under no circumstances should we accept another last-minute campaign.

We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our children, and we owe it to our community to use our votes wisely and with full knowledge of all relevant issues, and we must demand—given the importance of this election and the lifetime nature of the result—that we not be deprived of the opportunity to do so by a one- or two-day campaign.

–Yitzchok Wagshul