FORMER JCC PRESIDENT DEFENDS ED DAY IN OPEN LETTER

To the Rockland community,

My name is Steve Gold, and I’m writing as a former officer and member of many Rockland County Jewish organizations board of directors on behalf of Ed Day.

Ed is dear friend of mine and a lifelong friend of Israel and the Jewish community, particularly here in Rockland. When politicians have only shown up when campaign season rolls around, Ed has been a fixture at many county Jewish functions and events for years, helping us raise the money needed to do the good works these organizations are known for.

He has regularly participated in religious ceremonies in our Jewish community, Ed and his wife and kids haveattended numerous bar and bat mitzvahs, he has coached and mentored young Jewish children in various sports,members of his family are Jewish, and he has sponsored several resolutions and amendments in support of Israeland in opposition to Hamas and other terrorist groups.

It is this record, my personal understanding of the type of person that Ed is, and my being a child of Holocaust survivors that makes the sort of vicious attacks he and his family have been hit with during this campaign all the more disgusting. They have been directly compared to Nazis on the Internet and have been accused of the worst kind of things in the worst kind of language.

These attacks have continued as the Democratic primary ended and David Fried received the nomination. Here is just a small sample of the sort of attack Ed has received from Fried supporters that presents a striking visual:

 
Above the top photo, it reads, “David Fried is the last hope of our Hamishe community in Rockland County.” Above the defaced photo of Ed, it reads “The Hater of Jews/Israel is promising a bitter future to our community.”

Attacks like this, like the numerous other ones Ed has faced during this campaign, are unacceptable, and there is no place for them in Rockland.

I hope you will join me in not only condemning these attacks for their viciousness, but also sharing Ed’s record of support for the Jewish community with everyone you know. Only the truth and publicity can put a stop to this, and I ask you to help.

Sincerely,
Steve Gold

(Steve Gold is a past President JCC Rockland, past Vice President Jewish Federation of Rockland County and honorary board member of Holocaust Museum and Study Center)

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