Rabbis Oppose Burdensome Ballot Initiatives n New York, Florida

 

Baltimore, MD, November 4, 2024—Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in American public policy, today announced its opposition to New York Proposal 1, called the Equal Rights Amendment, to the New York State Constitution,  and to Florida’s Proposal 4, an Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, 23-07. “The New York proposal enshrines unlimited abortion rights into law, and promotes the LGBTQ agenda without limit,” said CJV Rabbinic Circle Chair Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer. It would place ‘trans women’ into women's sports, prisons, and private spaces, with no protections for traumatized women, much less people of faith. It will promote anti-Torah lifestyles, and could even be interpreted to permit minors to undergo destruction of their bodies as ‘sex-change procedures’ without parental consent.” “The Florida initiative is similarly problematic, though focused upon abortion,” added CJV Southern Regional Vice President Rabbi Moshe B. Parnes. “It is particularly disingenuous, implying that it only protects abortion done to save a mother’s life; in actuality, it gives any abortion clinic employee, as compared to a medical doctor, license to decide an abortion is ‘necessary.’ It also replaces parental consent with mere notification if a minor seeks an abortion. So this law is a radical change, but designed to fool voters into thinking it is merely a benign outgrowth of existing provisions.” Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) represents over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis as the largest rabbinic public policy organization in America. A 501(c)3 non-profit, CJV promotes religious liberty, human rights, and classical Jewish ideas in American public policy.

If your son or daughter is not listed on your car insurance, your claim must and will be denied. Go with the Emmes only!

Urgent Voting Alert: VOTE NO on Proposal 1 in NYS. It is an enormous threat to freedom of religion and to normative society.

Election update דעת תורה בלי נגיעות-vote Eli Eisenbach, Shubert, and Lang

 Urgent Election Message on Lakewood’s Debt

For over a decade, I’ve fought to change the school funding formula, and now I urge everyone to vote for the “Fixing the Formula” candidates for the Lakewood Board of Education, found in the top three rows of the ballot. Thanks to broad support, the court has recognized Lakewood as an underfunded district, similar to an Abbott district, which IY”H will finally bring the much-needed funding reform.

Fixing the formula will stabilize Lakewood’s finances for generations, increase funding for students, and lower transportation costs, creating opportunities and growth for the entire community.

Currently, Newark, with 54,000 K-12 students, receives $944 million in state aid, while Lakewood, with nearly the same number of students, gets only $15 million. The current formula doesn’t account for the many nonpublic students, for whom Lakewood must provide transportation and special education, costing $100 million annually.

To cover this funding gap, the BOE borrowed an additional $100 million last year, raising our debt to $300 million, three times the annual school tax levy. Without reform, debt could hit $500-$600 million by 2026, adding $50-$60 million yearly to local taxes beyond the $100 million levy.

Why does BOE representation matter? With a $400 million budget, the BOE needs members committed to fixing the formula. Unless the court waives this debt, the legislature will have to address it. We need to show Trenton and the Township that Lakewood stands united behind candidates who support reform.

Please vote for Avrohom Schubert, Mordechai Lang, and Eli Eisenbach — the “Fixing the Formula” candidates dedicated to funding reform for the benefit of our students and taxpayers.

Aaron Lang
Educator / Attorney at Law