Eilfort: ‘Deep sense of betrayal’ over Goldstein’s tax fraud

Other items in today’s column include:
*Cory Briggs accuses local Democratic party chief of employing anti-Semitic tropes
*Recommended reading
*In Memoriam

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO — Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort of Chabad of La Costa, who is among the longest-serving Chabad rabbis in San Diego County, on Sunday described the revelations of the tax fraud crimes of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of Chabad of Poway as “deeply shocking and profoundly hurtful.”  In an open letter to the community, he wrote:

The past week has been extremely difficult. The terrible news that has come out of Poway is deeply shocking and profoundly hurtful. Since the news broke I have been on the phone non-stop, speaking to family, friends, colleagues, and members of our community and the Poway community. My voice is nearly completely gone. I have been asked to try and help many other rabbis deal with this tragedy. In addition to dealing with this issue I have been appointed to serve on the Chabad of the West Coast Covid Taskforce. We are finding ways of serving our beloved communities despite the difficulties of the pandemic.

A deep sense of betrayal is nearly overwhelming. Yet, the many voices of support and friendship, help immensely.

I would like to make a few points crystal clear:

1. Rabbi Goldstein was relieved of his duties when the charges came to light.
2. I have absolutely no direct knowledge of any of the facts of the case. I know exactly what anyone who has read the public statements knows. I cannot add any information.
3. When it comes to finances each Chabad is independent. Chabad policy has always been to be scrupulous in all accounting practices. Anyone who does not follow that policy is going against the policy of the movement. Every Chabad rabbi must commit to keep that policy before opening a Chabad center.
4. Jewish law says very clearly that the law of the land is the law. Anyone who breaks the law of the land is breaking Jewish law. Anyone who conducts business outside of the law is undermining the Torah, and therefore Hashem Himself. We utterly reject any illegal activity.
5. We fully support financial transparency.

We are profoundly concerned about the Poway community. Beyond speaking with them I would like to explore ways of helping support them. Hashem knows, they have had more than their fair share of tragedies. Please share with me your ideas of what we can do to help our brothers and sisters in Poway.

If you have any questions/concerns please do not hesitate to respond to this message. We can schedule a phone call. Baruch Hashem, we have nothing to hide. Your inquiry will be handled with complete confidentiality – it will be kept strictly between us. Please give me a couple/few days to get to you, as I try to recover my voice.

Our plan is to soldier on. We will overcome the pandemic, the protests, and now this. We will do so because of our incredible relationship built upon love and trust, and because we are doing the right thing. We will do so because we have not completed our mission of ushering in the era of revealed goodness and kindness; “When the knowledge of G-d will fill the world like water fills the seas.”

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Cory Briggs accuses local Democratic party chief of employing anti-Semitic tropes

 

Cory Briggs, a candidate for San Diego City Attorney, alleges anti-Semitism may be behind opposition by Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, chairman of the San Diego County Democratic Party, against Sara Jacobs and Barbara Bry, a candidate for San Diego Mayor.

Briggs, Jacobs, Bry, and 78th Assembly District candidate Sarah Davis are Democrats who saw their Democratic opponents receive the endorsements of the State Democratic Party and/ or the County Democratic Party, depending on what level of government office they are seeking in the November general election. Their opponents respectively are City Attorney Mara Elliott, San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez, State Assemblyman Todd Gloria, and San Diego City Councilman Chris Ward.

There are three other Jewish Democratic candidates in local races, including two who were endorsed in races against Republicans incumbents: Kate Schwartz in the 75th Assembly District and Terra Lawson-Remer in the third supervisorial district They are attempting to oust Assemblywoman Marie Waldron and County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, respectively.  The third,  longtime incumbent Bernie Rhinerson, was endorsed in a San Diego Community College Board race against Daniel Pedra, a Republican  An eighth Jewish candidate on the local ballot is Joe Leventhal, a Republican, who faces Democratic party endorsee Marni Von Wilpert in San Diego’s 5th City Council District.

In an open letter, Briggs wrote, in part:

Anti-Semitism is the oldest form of systemic racism, and one of its oldest tropes is the slur associating Jews with money (so much so that it’s become the subject of a London museum exhibit). Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy has trafficked in this trope in two Dem-on-Dem races involving Jewish candidates, one with Sara Jacobs and the other with Barbara Bry. His Twitter and Facebook accounts are replete with examples.

In a tweet on October 17, 2019, Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy began a criticism of Ms. Bry’s anti-YIMBY position by referring to her as “a wealthy mayoral candidate.” Two days later, he began a Facebook post asserting that “[w]e should not allow wealthy candidates to buy political seats.” The post itself took no issue with any policy position but was critical of some unnamed “oligarch.” In the post’s comments he not only made clear he was primarily attacking Ms. Jacobs, describing her as a member of “one of the wealthiest, most powerful families in the county,” but took the opportunity to ratify his tweet against Ms. Bry from two days earlier.

Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy also fixates on where Ms. Bry lives, especially when she speaks out against the YIMBY [pro-growth] agenda. This, of course, is a preposterous attack on at least three levels. For starters, it suggests that the CDP [County Democratic Party] opposes material rewards inuring to women. Moreover, it wasn’t that long ago when exclusionary land covenants prohibited Jews from owning a home where Ms. Bry lives. And finally, even though Ms. Bry is not the only non-endorsed Democrat who both lives in that part of town and is running for office in a Dem-on-Dem race, she is the only one derided by the Chair for living there. (That’s right; the other Democrat who lives there is not
Jewish.)

Most recently, Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy decided to insert himself into a tweet-storm in which [a] Republican operative … tried to paint Ms. Bry as racist for her anti-YIMBY communication asking, “There goes the neighborhood?” One of San Diego’s most respected and accomplished leaders and a supporter of Ms. Bry, Geneviéve Jones-Wright, responded by pointing out that those four words (sans question mark) are the title of an anti-gentrification podcast by nationally recognized Black journalist Kai Wright. She added that she finds it “interesting that people wanting to help [People of Color] by unlimited housing development think the solution to bottlenecks is gutting our democratic institutions and
working against us equity advocates.” That’s when the Chair piled on to accuse Ms. Bry of “embracing policies that have racist consequences or using terms that derive from racial tropes” – which was entirely predictable because … the YIMBY playbook calls either for racist attacks or accusations of racism whenever anyone questions their agenda. Birds of a feather
– namely, the Republican operative and our Republican-cum-Democrat leader – flock together.

In other words, not only does Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy employ anti-Semitic tropes against Jewish candidates, but he simultaneously accuses YIMBY opponents of supporting racist policies. He has managed to exploit racism from both directions in order to protect and advance the YIMBY agenda, to a degree that would make Lee Atwater proud.

What’s particularly shocking about Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy’s animus toward Ms. Bry and even Ms. Jacobs is that he is attacking members of his own party. As the Chair, it’s his job first and foremost to help get Democrats elected to public office. That will happen no matter who wins the Mayor’s race or the 53rd Congressional District. Given that San Diego will have a Democrat as Mayor and a Democrat representing the 53rd by year’s end, why is the Chair doing everything
he can to alienate candidates with whom we might have to work on policy and governance issues? There’s obviously something more important to him than seeing Democrats get elected.

Any suggestion that Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy’s negative references to Jewish candidates and money merely reflect his antipathy toward wealth generally is belied by his eagerness to join forces with corporate interests. He was more than willing to glide up to land speculators when he helped the CDP oppose Measure A (which would have protected the backcountry from speculator- sparked urban sprawl) and support Measure C (to subsidize corporate hoteliers’ convention-center expansion). The wealth of his advocacy’s beneficiaries didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest – at least not enough to speak out against them with the vitriol he has directed at Jewish candidates.

I tried privately to counsel Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy and offered to help him engage in honest policy debate without resorting to anti-Semitic tropes. I thought we were making progress, but a few days ago he decided he’d fare better by accusing this messenger of – you guessed it – using racist language against him. He must not have meant it when he wrote on Facebook that he would crack down on “toxic political behavior” and that “for allies, it is important that you step
up and stamp out the racism in your midst.”

At this point, I want to make three things clear. First, I know Mr. Rodriguez-Kennedy’s statements and conduct are not representative of the overwhelming majority of Democrats or San Diegans. Because he is the Chair, however, the slurs reflect directly on the CDP. As a Jew, I object to anti-Semitism and racism everywhere in society but most strenuously when it comes from a leader of my party.

Second, I’m not writing this letter to express political support for Ms. Bry or Ms. Jacobs as candidates. As I’ve stated since the first day of my campaign, I believe no candidate for City Attorney, whether as challenger or incumbent, should take a public position on any other candidate in any race; my integrity and neutrality – and maintaining the public’s confidence in my integrity and neutrality – are more important than political back-scratching. I wish both candidates and
their opponents the best of luck – nothing more, nothing less.

Third, I struggled over how best to respond to what I’m witnessing. I considered keeping quiet because I don’t want to be accused of playing politics, especially given my promise to be a non-political City Attorney, but I’ve never veered from calling out corruption when I see it; this time will be no different, the corruption here being obvious. I even contemplated changing my voter status to “no party preference.” However, that didn’t feel right because of all the honest, decent Democrats – particularly in the clubs – who believe in my ability to clean up the City Attorney’s Office. I owe it to them to stick it out and try to do the same within the CDP.

San Diego Jewish World has messaged Rodriguez-Kennedy, Jacobs and Bry seeking comment.  There was no immediate response.
*

Recommended reading

*Joshua Washington, director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI) challenges the anti-Semitism in the Black Lives Matter movement in an article for The Times of Israel.

*

In Memoriam

*Dr. Jamin Eiseman was to be buried at 3 p.m. today (Sunday) at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Road, San Diego, it was announced by Young Israel of San Diego.  Friends said that the doctor had been fighting brain cancer for a long time.  The Orthodox synagogue said if people wished to attend the funeral, “be sure to wear a mask and keep 6 feet distance from other attendees.  In alerting its membership of Dr. Eiseman’s death, Beth Jacob Congregation messaged: “We express our sincerest condolences to Eva, Ariana, Gregory, Zachary, Maxwell, Brandon and Marsha Eiseman on the passing of their husband/father/son.”

 

*Rudolph Jacobson, 87, died Tuesday, July 14, it was announced by Am Israel Mortuary. His funeral at 1:15 p.m., Friday, July 24, at Miramar National Cemetery, 5795 Nobel Drive, will be shown via Zoom. More information is available via this website.

*

Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Free obituaries in memory of members of the San Diego County Jewish community are sponsored on San Diego Jewish World by Inland Industries Group LP in memory of long-time San Diego Jewish community leader Marie (Mrs. Gabriel) Berg.