BMG: HAVE THIS CAKE AND EAT IT TOO?

[Thank you "yeshivaguy" for today's post. To all readers - please comment on any topic, your comment might be tomorrow's post - KollelVeib]

I see Corzine is set to sign the bill legalizing gay marriage in NJ. So the candidate endorsed by the yeshiva supports gay marriage. Very nice.

Perhaps it's time for the yeshiva to look beyond narrow local interests in deciding whom to support, particularly when the race is not a local one. Or better yet, perhaps it's time for the yeshiva to get out of politics altogether.

GROUPS ARE TRYING TO GET ALONG

Lakewood's diversity tested by assault charges
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/15/06

BY JOHN VANDIVER
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

[EXCERPTED]

LAKEWOOD — Jamarr Dickerson, 16, sat around for three hours in juvenile court Thursday, waiting his turn to appear before a judge. It was the third time Dickerson had to miss school for court dates in connection with a confrontation last spring that sparked allegations of racial bias. "I keep missing days at school because he won't let this go," said Dickerson.

"He" is Elchonon Zimmerman — a private school teacher in Lakewood whom police charged with assaulting Dickerson in an alleyway. Dickerson says that while he was being assaulted, a group of Orthodox Jewish men surrounded him and hurled racial slurs. After police charged Zimmerman in the May 17 confrontation, Zimmerman filed complaints of simple assault, harassment and criminal mischief against Dickerson. Both cases remain in the court system, unresolved.

A day before Dickerson's Thursday court date in Toms River, Lakewood civic leaders met to discuss the status of relations between Lakewood's Orthodox Jewish and black communities. Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, a member of the Vaad, a council of Orthodox leaders, and Warren Sherard, president of the local NAACP chapter, were the guest speakers at the forum. There was a touchy-feely tone to much of the meeting, with people calling for greater tolerance and understanding. In Lakewood, there's a need to get beyond perceptions and stereotypes, audience members said.

"Is this town close to a riot? Absolutely not," Weisberg said.

"Are there issues in Lakewood? I think there are. Most come from people not understanding one another," added Sherard.

There are a handful of negative incidents that happen each year, which get blown out of proportion by the newspaper, Weisberg said. "Lakewood gets a bum rap," said Weisberg. "We're a collection of wonderful communities."

[READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE]



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