Biden Calls Skverer and Vizhnitzer Rebbes, Seeks Endorsement of Maloney

By Reuvain Borchardt

President Joe Biden called the Skverer and Vizhniter Rebbes on Monday, seeking the Rebbes’ endorsements of Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who is locked in a tight battle for reelection in a new district in Rockland County that includes the Skverer Village of New Square and the Vizhnitzer Village of Kaser.

A source in the Vizhniter community told Hamodia the President’s call to the Vizhniter Rebbe lasted about two minutes. Further details were not available.

A source in New Square told Hamodia the call to the Skverer Rebbe was “a very warm, tachlisdige (substantive) phone call – not just checking off the boxes, but a deep phone call.” News of the call to the Skverer Rebbe was first reported by Rockland Daily.

During the seven-minute call, according to the source, “the President said he appreciates the Rebbe’s leadership, and he was complimentary of the Orthodox Jewish community.”

The Rebbe told the President he would refer the matter to New Square’s endorsement committee.

Neither these Chasidic groups, nor any other major Orthodox endorsers, have made endorsements in this race for New York’s 17th Congressional District.

Polls show the race between Maloney, the chairman of the Democratic National Campaign Commitee, and his Republican challenger, Assemblyman Mike Lawler, in the single digits, despite Biden having won election in the district by ten points.

According to Rockland political commentator Yossi Gestetner, there were slightly more than 3,000 ballots cast in New Square in 2020, and around 3,500 in Kaser and the surrounding Vizhnitz communities. A total of around 18,000 Orthodox Jews voted in Rockland County that year, though Gestetner said he expects turnout to be lower in this, a non-presidential election.