What NY-9 Portends for the Jewish Vote

By Rabbi Aryeh Spero

Many have commented on the rebuke of President Obama reflected in the Republican victory in NY-9, a district with a 3-1 Democrat registration. The pro-Israel Orthodox Jewish community in the Brooklyn and Queens sections of the district displayed its pent-up horror over Mr. Obama's never-ending derisive and hostile attitude toward Israel and its frustration over the passing, by mostly Democrats, of a law in New York State bestowing marital sanctity to homosexual unions. The Orthodox have never been morally comfortable with the zealousness with which New York Democrats have pushed and whitewashed abortions, yet because abortions are done privately in hospitals, the issue has never been a decisive factor in how they vote. State affirmation of homosexual marriage, on the other hand, is seen as an in-your-face public assault on the traditional family and historic understanding of marriage -- both cornerstones of Orthodox life -- and is, therefore, personal. Homosexual marriage is a public display and something from which there is no escape, especially when the State tells the children.... (Read Full Article)