While the Agudath Yisrael of America along with Hareidi
community rabbis have started a campaign calling for an Orthodox vote against
plans for new casinos in the Catskill region of New York in the upcoming
November 5 general elections, Behadrey Haredim reports that certain groups
within the wider Satmar hassidic sect support the planned casinos.
The plan calls for five casinos to be built within the year
in the Catskill region, traditionally
popular among Orthodox and particularly Hareidi Jews as a resort area.
Initially, both Satmar weekly newspapers, Der Yid and Der
Blatt, called for a vote of "no" on the referendum, citing the moral
dangers the casinos pose.
However it soon became clear that the Satmar group Kiryas
Yoel, one of the three largest Satmar sects in the world, actually supports the
plan for casinos.
Rabbi Moshe Indig, senior spokesperson for the Satmar sect,
said in a statement to the media: "We will support the referendum and
support the building of casinos in Sullivan County, because our community
always supports whatever brings benefit to our country and therefore we will
not oppose the building of casinos in Sullivan county."
No comments:
Post a Comment