We had
a wonderful Pesach Seder with some old (and some new) friends in the Holy City
of Jerusalem. For us, it was a
celebration of our liberation.
One
person who may well be viewing it from a different perspective is former New
York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (of whom I posted here on 22
January 2015 ) . He faces sentencing
in about 2 weeks for his bribery conviction on bribery charges.
In
his heyday, Shelly Silver alone could determine which bills were put up for a
vote in the New York State Assembly. The
common street wisdom was that Shelly Silver looked out for the best interests
of the religious Jewish community (of which I was a member when I lived in New
York State, and of which I remain a member here in Israel), and that if a few
pieces of another kind of silver ended up in his pocket, well, that could be
overlooked.
I,
for one, did not and still do not buy into that line of reasoning. If anything, Shelly should be held to a
higher standard; it ultimately serves
the Jewish community's best interests to have a just and sound-working government.
It
therefore is, in a sense, somewhat perplexing that so many
letters of support from so many quarters are coming in to beseech Judge
Caprioni for leniency when she sentences Shelly. After all, certain groups in New York and American
can thank Shelly for allowing the same-gender marriage bill to pass the New
York State Legislature.
Understand
that I do not personally concern myself with the living arrangements entered
into by consenting adults, but continue to be vehemently opposed to according
same-gender arrangements all of the same legal status and benefits on par with
one-man-one-woman marriage. The governmental
approval of same-gender marriage has opened the door to the polygamous
marriages practiced by many Muslims, and imperils American values.
[And
speaking of intimate personal relationships, the U.S. Attorney's office has put
forward evidence, for consideration in imposing sentence, of Shelly's alleged extramarital
affairs for the purpose of debunking the notion that Shelly Silver is a
scrupulous person, bribery conviction notwithstanding (I have not read the
evidence, and accordingly, proffer no opinion and place not bets one way or the
other as to whether he has or has not been cheating on his wife).
Actually,
I sort of do understand why so many have stepped forward to speak up for Shelly
Silver. He has done much for those who
have greased his palm, and those who have shmeered him are not ingrates.
Labels: Jerusalem, Passover, Pesach, Sheldon Silver
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