JS-26*

Opinion

Leading by example: How local government shapes the response to immigration policies

ith the news of the mayor of a city blessed with a flourish- citizens readily embrace pains to dexterously advise senseless violence in ing immigrant population, I have seen our customs and tradi- the population to ensure El Paso and the recent firsthand how action — or inaction — can tions, bringing vibrancy that everyone knows their mass roundup of impact a community. Elected represen- and depth to their adopted rights and can safely raise undocumentedW workers in Mississippi, tatives of local governments need to communities. their children. it’s impossible to ignore the often heart- understand that immigrants are mem- Things become more While no one wants breaking challenges immigrants face in bers of the community and are due complex when we’re open borders, we need to the . the same dignity, respect, and right to asked to examine unlaw- exercise deliberate com- With a Congress that is either incapable safety as their native-born neighbors. ful immigration and how it passion when dealing with or unwilling to compromise on legislation Across the country, lawfully admitted affects the management of Michael hard-working families who that effectively addresses the weaknesses aliens add to the richness of experi- a small town or city. In the Wildes often toil in the shadows in our current immigration policy, and ence and promote shared values. This face of increasing strains and contribute vital ser- a president more interested in inflam- is not a recent development — integra- on services and the diffi- vices. At the same time, ing an increasingly radicalized base for tion is embedded in the DNA of the culty that comes from governing people we have to be mindful that this spirit of political gain, the burden of protecting USA. Responsible governance requires who frequently do not want to be found, inclusion can be stunted by fear, intoler- at-risk populations while simultaneously us to make sure that recent immigrants leaders are forced to make tough deci- ance, or simply misinformation, particu- enforcing the law increasingly is falling on are encouraged to engage with their sions when allotting resources or enact- larly when those sentiments are spewed local governments in communities across communities in order to fully integrate ing policies that are fair and in keeping by so-called leaders. And no matter how America. and contribute. While critics of immi- with the spirit of the law. In sanctuary effective we are at managing complicated The question is: how can we make the gration claim that newcomers threaten cities, for example, we understand that immigration issues, there are cities and global local? to dilute some unarticulated notion of even the undocumented are important towns in other parts of the country that As an immigration attorney and “American-ness,” the reality is that these members of the community, and we take actively work with ICE and CBP to limit

Will the Jeffrey Epstein case serve as a wake-up call?

s a Jewish feminist and child of the much needed closure to the wounds found her account credi- “that was not totally true,” advocate, I was horrified to they suffered for years. ble. But my child never was even though my child con- learn of the cruel and abusive News reports show his victims crying allowed to testify before the firmed the abuse to the behavior committed by con- out for justice, looking toward his alleged Ulster County grand jury, agency workers and later victedA sex offender and financier Jeffrey accomplices as new prosecutorial targets. nor was she allowed to be to a leading child abuse Epstein. I am doubly pained by the fact that As a Jewish woman, I, too, cry out for jus- interviewed by the district expert who supported the he was a Jew. That is not because our reli- tice not only for the Epstein victims, but for attorney. Why? child’s claims. It was not gion is in any way immune to the transgres- all the under-aged Jewish children who are The answer is simple. easy for my child to talk to sions that traverse all groups. We certainly forced into sexual slavery. This is a topic I A succession of New York the workers who boasted are not immune, and we don’t need to dis- know a lot about. power brokers stepped Dr. Amy of their repeatedly telling tance ourselves from Epstein out of shame. More than three decades ago I became in to wield unusual influ- Neustein her about the “danger” she I am pained because the Epstein deba- involved in a painful legal drama involv- ence in this case. First, was posing to her father by cle — which comes down to the cloaking of ing my daughter, who was left to suffer my mother’s report of eye speaking openly. Yet, as a his perversity and cruelty behind the ban- at the hands of an alleged pedophile and witnessing the abuse brought forward a result of this undoubtedly baseless charge ner of money and power — shows a very those who protected him rather than controversial publicly funded agency, the of neglect, my child was seized from me serious lapse in how we rein in members her. The story was described by attor- Brooklyn Society for Prevention of Cru- immediately and placed in a foster home of our own community when their actions ney Karen Winner in her book “Divorced elty to Children. In a memo to the New in Brooklyn. defy American law and the . from Justice” as “the most notorious case York State Legislature, Jeremiah B. McK- Once in foster care, the agency told the There is a poetic cadence to the way on record.” A New York Magazine cover enna, chief counsel to the New State Sen- Ulster County DA that he would have to this case ended in a jailhouse suicide. In story on pedophilia referred to me as “the ate Committee on Crime and Correction, “move heaven and earth” to get them to secular terms, the suicide arguably could issue’s best-known cause celebre.” What would write that he called upon a contact allow the child to cooperate with a grand be seen as a craven response to the release was never written about, because at the whom he had “worked with on a kiddie jury investigation. They also made it known of the 2,000-page record of his legion of time it was too shocking to reckon with, porn investigation” and found out this they would give testimony in support of the contacts who were embroiled in his Byz- was the vast network of power, from the agency was “known to assist divorced father. The case was dropped. antine world, which was made public just religious institutions that exercised power Orthodox Jewish fathers in child custody There was another report of suspected one day before he took his life. In religious over lay authorities, to the legal and gov- cases.” He later would write, in a letter abuse by the father, this time made by the terms, he took his life just one day before ernmental institutions that failed spec- to the Human Resources foster mother. The report was not investi- Tisha B’Av, the day we commemorate the tacularly and deliberately, by shielding Administration, that “Amy Neustein is a gated. Around the same time, my child’s desecration of our Holy Temple. the alleged pedophile — not the child — at victim of a criminal conspiracy.” teacher told me that my daughter was Taking his life right before the fast day every step of the way. Second, after the father made what very upset because she was forced “to makes it especially hard to escape the sym- In 1986, my mother, a rabbi’s wife, the agency called “social visits” to the go on appointments” every evening and bolic representation of his existence in this walked into a room and witnessed her higher ups at the BSPCC, his request “couldn’t do her homework.” My daugh- earthly world: it was nothing more than grandchild — my daughter — in the tight not to be investigated for sexual abuse ter became obsessed with “modelling” a colossal desecration of both God and grip of her father. She was horrified and was obliged willingly. He never had to and complained about her figure con- humanity. The manner in which he ended grabbed my daughter away immediately. answer any questions about his daughter. stantly. In a letter from Kathy Rosenthal, his life — by self-strangulation — left his vic- My mother gave a detailed account to the Instead, I was charged by the BSPCC with a founding member at the National Cen- tims figuratively “hanging,” depriving them district attorney of Ulster County, who “neglect” for making a report of abuse ter for Missing and Exploited Children, to 26 JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 23, 2019 JS-27*

Opinion

A VIEW FROM THE PEW the undocumented living among them. The Torah teaches us to befriend the stranger, as we were once strang- The mitzvah of gratitude ers ourselves. Now more than ever, we need to encourage the kind of cultural he Torah portion this week, Par- 1. How do you continually remove the and economic vitality that comes with shat Ekev, teaches us a transcen- cloudiness from your thinking and feeling welcoming new neighbors. We cannot dent lesson of Jewish living. Long so that you are truly living according to your hope for addition by subtraction, and before day-planners, computers, soul? if we want to build a country that truly andT smart phones, with calendars and apps 2. How do you give dignity to all human is first among nations, we need to show that constantly remind us of what we are sup- beings and help everyone have a voice in our that our identity is not based on lineage, posed to be doing, the rabbinic interpretation societal discussions? but a commitment to the principles that of the Torah enabled Jews to schedule our 3. When and how do each of us and all of guide us — fairness, bravery, and gen- lives by Jewish time and thereby remind us of us surrender to God’s will? erosity. The Congressional silence has what was important in a Jew’s life. Rabbi Neal I. As our calendar is about to turn to the been deafening, and we will remain a The Jewish calendar not only sets aside a Borovitz month of Elul and the daily sounding of the nation divided without decisive action weekly Shabbat and an annual calendar of shofar, I find that the call to gratitude for our in Washington. Until then, small towns Holy Days, but also a daily structure of wor- physical sustenance and the reminder that must look inward to find a direction. It’s ship and blessings. One of these structural tools is the tra- we do not live by bread alone not only call upon me to be a journey that can start only at home. dition of expressing gratitude to God for the food that sus- grateful for the blessings of my life but also command me tains our bodies, which is derived from the words of this to be a better partner with God in providing physical, spir- Michael Wildes is the mayor of week’s Torah reading. “When you have eaten your fill, you itual, intellectual, and emotional sustenance to all. Englewood and the author of “Safe give thanks to Adonai your God for the good portion of To me, in 2019, this means that it is my obligation — it Haven in America: Battles to Open the this earth that God has given to you” (Deuteronomy 8:10). is our obligation, as Americans and as Jews — to be God’s Golden Door.” He is a former federal The rabbis of the Talmud derived from this passage voice and hands in the world by insuring that no one goes prosecutor and an adjunct professor the command to recite Birkat HaMazon, the grace after a hungry, that no one lacks shelter or lives in unsanitary of at the Benjamin N. meal. The Talmud says that the purpose of these blessings conditions, especially here in our nation. Deuteronomy Cardozo School of Law. is to make each of us realize that without God, none of us repeats more than 30 times that we must take affirma- would ever enjoy the gifts of this world, despite how hard we work. It is a clear statement that gratitude is a central value of Judaism. the commissioner of the Administration “U’vayrachta,” which is a derivative of the Hebrew word of Children’s Services, she would say that “baruch,” literally means “and you will bless.” Yet the JPS When we live each photos of the child “showed a child being translation, following a long line of rabbinic tradition, groomed for child erotica.” understands “u’vayrachta” as the command to give thanks. day being just a little By the age of 8, a once heavy-set child I believe that every time any of us recite a bracha and begin had become so slim that a shunt had to with the words “Baruch ata Adonai,” we are expressing more decent, with just be placed in her heart because of severe gratitude to God for being alive, and that it is a blessing in one additional grain anorexia nervosa. At the emergency room itself. The message of the Birkat HaMazon is to be grate- at Kings County Hospital they found her ful for what we have and to commit ourselves to be God’s of integrity, we should to be severely dehydrated and emaci- agent in the world. ated. The admitting doctor testified, and When we live each day being just a little more decent, be both grateful told the press that the child was “by far with just one additional grain of integrity, we should be and satisfied. the worst case of emaciation he had ever both grateful and satisfied. Each of us should learn to say seen” and thought “she could possibly “Today, I lived the best I could, and I am grateful that I die.” After my child regained her strength did. Tomorrow is another opportunity to add more grains tive action on behalf of the widow, the orphan, and the she confronted her father in the hospital. of goodness by expressing gratitude to God in both word stranger in our midst. Our government’s inability to deal A nurse overhead her say “You got me and deed. with the terror of continued mass murders in our cities, into this. If you don’t get me out of here, The more I think about gratitude these days, the more our schools, and our college campuses; the tragic suffer- I’m going to tell everything.” The father I wonder if saying “thank you” to God through the Birkat, ing of children along our southern border; and the threat asked not to investigate and to other people as well, is enough. of funding cuts to food stamps and Medicaid for the poor- him for sex abuse — and they oblige. Judaism teaches us that it is not enough. est of our fellow Americans leads me to feel shame rather Ironically, it was Jeffrey Epstein’s high The 19th century sage Chatam Sofer, in commenting on than gratitude. profile that finally proved his downfall. another verse from this week’s Torah portion, “man does This Shabbat and every day, as we recite the Birkat HaMa- Power protects such perverts until the live on bread alone,” understands this verse as teaching zon, may all of us remain unsatisfied as long as the strangers protectors themselves are put under a that no one should focus his or her life merely on making a on our borders and too many of the citizens in our communi- spotlight. We need to force such agencies living. “A person’s true purpose is to sustain him or herself ties do not have enough food to eat or places to sleep. and powerful protectors to become as in order to have the strength to learn and teach; observe May we all come to read the verse “circumcise the fore- accountable for their actions as those they and act: and uphold Torah, in truth and faithfulness” skin of your hearts so that you will no longer be stiff-necked” are trying to protect. Let Jeffrey’s Epstein My brother, Rabbi Mark Borovitz, in his Torah com- as my brother Mark suggests, as a command to remove the sordid life and suspicious death act as a mentary “Finding Recovery and Yourself in Torah” ( Jew- thin membrane that too often separates the individual from clarion call to stand strong against the rich ish Lights, 2016), comments on another verse from later a clear connection to other people and to God. and powerful. in this parsha. In Deuteronomy 10:16, we are commanded May 5770 be a year in which each of us as individuals Because if we don’t, we will have dese- “circumcise the foreskin of your hearts so that you (plural) and all of us as an American Jewish community see all the crated everything we hold dear. will no longer be stiff-necked.” residents of America and all the inhabitants of the world Mark suggests “this refers to the need to remove the thin as our sisters and our brothers, and realize that they too Dr. Amy Neustein of Fort Lee is the membrane that too often separates the individual from a possess the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pur- editor of “Tempest in the Temple: Jewish clear connection to other people and to God. Like a cata- suit of happiness. Communities and Child-Sex Scandals” ract obscures our physical sight, this membrane clouds our from the Brandeis University Press series in spiritual, emotional and intellectual vision.” Neal I. Borovitz is rabbi emeritus of Temple Avodat Shalom in American Jewish history, culture and life. Mark then asks his readers to consider three questions: River Edge. JEWISH STANDARD AUGUST 23, 2019 27