Speaker Johnson Visits Rockland, New Square

By Matis Glenn

House Speaker Mike Johnson visited the communities of Rockland County and New Square Sunday, where he met with the Skverer Rebbe shlit”a and community askanim.

Though New York is mostly dominated by Democrats, three House seats were flipped to the GOP as a result of the 2022 mid-term elections, which were pivotal to the Republicans gaining a majority. One of the seats, newly-drawn D-17, which covers  Husdon Valley and Rockland County, was won by Congressman Mike Lawler in an upset victory against longtime Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney.

During that election cycle, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited the same Jewish communities to shore up support from the Jewish community.

While visiting Rockland, Johnson attended an event in Monsey organized by Shlomo Werdiger, Chairman of Agudath Israel of America’s Board of Trustees.

New Square Mayor Izzy Spitzer says that Johnson wanted to learn about the community.  “After McCarthy’s visit, Speaker Johnson was intrigued. He wanted to meet the Rebbe and learn about both our community and Klal Yisrael,” Spitzer told Hamodia.

“The main discussion between the Rebbe and the Speaker was about the gezeros on chinuch, and they also discussed antisemitism,” Spitzer continued. “The Rebbe says that Speaker Johnson is a serious, genuine partner, someone who understands and values our rights to educate our children in our tradition, and is continuing to fight for religious freedom.”

Johnson appeared very emotional when he saw the hundreds of cheder children assembled.

“He was clearly overtaken by what he saw…their happy faces, the respect and discipline that they showed, the chein…”

Later on Sunday, Johnson met with askanim in Manhattan at a fundraiser for Republican Rep. Marcus Molinaro, who was also in attendance. Molinaro defeated Democratic incumbent Josh Riley in 2022 to win District 19, which covers most of the Catskills and all of Sullivan County. Molinaro pledged to continue his work in fighting antisemitism, advocating for school choice, and to increase security for the Jewish community, especially in the summer months when many Jewish families travel to the Catskills.