Tweet
Rabbi Breaks With Paladino Over Apology
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS
Published: October 13, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/ny...R_AP_LO_MST_FB
Well, that didn’t last long.
Enlarge This Image
Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press
Rabbi Yahuda Levin, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, said he felt betrayed.
2010 Midterm Elections
The alliance between the Republican Carl P. Paladino and an Orthodox rabbi from Brooklyn has fallen apart, with the rabbi denouncing Mr. Paladino on Wednesday for his apology over remarks he had made about homosexuality on Sunday.
The rabbi, Yehuda Levin, who helped write those remarks, said Mr. Paladino “folded like a cheap camera” because of the uproar they had set off. And the rabbi said he could no longer support Mr. Paladino’s candidacy for governor of New York.
“Which part of the speech that you gave in Brooklyn to the Orthodox Jewish community are you apologizing for?” Rabbi Levin asked at a news conference in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on Fifth Avenue. “Will we see you next year with your daughter at that gay pride march?”
Mr. Paladino, during a meeting with a small Orthodox congregation that was arranged by Rabbi Levin, said Sunday that children should not be “brainwashed” into thinking that homosexuality was acceptable, and he criticized his Democratic opponent, Andrew M. Cuomo, for marching with his daughters in New York City’s gay pride parade.
On Tuesday, after broad condemnation, Mr. Paladino apologized for his “poorly chosen words” and said he would “fight for all gay New Yorkers’ rights” if elected.
Rabbi Levin said that he considered the apology a betrayal, and that he pined for the “old Carl” who spoke from his heart rather than bending to political whims.
Rabbi Levin said he was especially upset that Mr. Paladino gave him no notice that he planned to back away from the comments.
“I was in the middle of eating a kosher pastrami sandwich,” Rabbi Levin said. "While I was eating it, they come running and they say, ‘Paladino became gay!’ I said, ‘What?’ And then they showed me the statement. I almost choked on the kosher salami.”
Mr. Paladino, of course, had not become gay, but had announced that he wanted to clarify that he embraced gay rights and opposed discrimination. In explaining his views, Mr. Paladino and his aides noted that he had a gay nephew who worked for the campaign.
That seemed to bother Rabbi Levin as well. He accused Mr. Paladino of deciding to apologize because “his gay nephew or his family told him so.”
“He discovered now he has a gay nephew?” the rabbi said. “Mazel tov! We’ll make a coming-out party!”
Rabbi Levin said he chose to hold his news conference at the cathedral because he hoped Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan would take a stand on the controversy involving Mr. Paladino’s remarks.
Mr. Paladino made two stops in Brooklyn on Sunday, one at a yeshiva and the second at a synagogue in Williamsburg. Rabbi Levin has said that he wrote the first set of remarks and helped shape Mr. Paladino’s comments at the second stop in which he talked about homosexuality. Mr. Paladino’s campaign manager said that he reviewed the remarks, as did the candidate, but that they should have been more sensitive to the language and the furor the comments would create.
Rabbi Levin said Wednesday that Mr. Paladino probably did not write his apology either. He suggested that “militant gays” wrote it and handed it to a naďve Mr. Paladino.
“Believe me, I spoke to Carl Paladino,” Rabbi Levin said. “He doesn’t know half the stuff that has to do with the gay agenda.”
Despite his unhappiness, Rabbi Levin did leave the door open for a reconciliation. “Carl, we’ll leave the light on for you,” he said. “Come back, Carl.”
At a campaign stop at a water-bottling plant in Forestport, N.Y., Mr. Paladino shrugged off Rabbi Levin’s criticism, saying he wanted to stick to the issues.
“We’re on message,” Mr. Paladino said. “That’s it.”
Nicholas Confessore contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 14, 2010, on page A31 of the New York edition.
By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS
Published: October 13, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/ny...R_AP_LO_MST_FB
Well, that didn’t last long.
Enlarge This Image
Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press
Rabbi Yahuda Levin, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, said he felt betrayed.
2010 Midterm Elections
The alliance between the Republican Carl P. Paladino and an Orthodox rabbi from Brooklyn has fallen apart, with the rabbi denouncing Mr. Paladino on Wednesday for his apology over remarks he had made about homosexuality on Sunday.
The rabbi, Yehuda Levin, who helped write those remarks, said Mr. Paladino “folded like a cheap camera” because of the uproar they had set off. And the rabbi said he could no longer support Mr. Paladino’s candidacy for governor of New York.
“Which part of the speech that you gave in Brooklyn to the Orthodox Jewish community are you apologizing for?” Rabbi Levin asked at a news conference in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on Fifth Avenue. “Will we see you next year with your daughter at that gay pride march?”
Mr. Paladino, during a meeting with a small Orthodox congregation that was arranged by Rabbi Levin, said Sunday that children should not be “brainwashed” into thinking that homosexuality was acceptable, and he criticized his Democratic opponent, Andrew M. Cuomo, for marching with his daughters in New York City’s gay pride parade.
On Tuesday, after broad condemnation, Mr. Paladino apologized for his “poorly chosen words” and said he would “fight for all gay New Yorkers’ rights” if elected.
Rabbi Levin said that he considered the apology a betrayal, and that he pined for the “old Carl” who spoke from his heart rather than bending to political whims.
Rabbi Levin said he was especially upset that Mr. Paladino gave him no notice that he planned to back away from the comments.
“I was in the middle of eating a kosher pastrami sandwich,” Rabbi Levin said. "While I was eating it, they come running and they say, ‘Paladino became gay!’ I said, ‘What?’ And then they showed me the statement. I almost choked on the kosher salami.”
Mr. Paladino, of course, had not become gay, but had announced that he wanted to clarify that he embraced gay rights and opposed discrimination. In explaining his views, Mr. Paladino and his aides noted that he had a gay nephew who worked for the campaign.
That seemed to bother Rabbi Levin as well. He accused Mr. Paladino of deciding to apologize because “his gay nephew or his family told him so.”
“He discovered now he has a gay nephew?” the rabbi said. “Mazel tov! We’ll make a coming-out party!”
Rabbi Levin said he chose to hold his news conference at the cathedral because he hoped Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan would take a stand on the controversy involving Mr. Paladino’s remarks.
Mr. Paladino made two stops in Brooklyn on Sunday, one at a yeshiva and the second at a synagogue in Williamsburg. Rabbi Levin has said that he wrote the first set of remarks and helped shape Mr. Paladino’s comments at the second stop in which he talked about homosexuality. Mr. Paladino’s campaign manager said that he reviewed the remarks, as did the candidate, but that they should have been more sensitive to the language and the furor the comments would create.
Rabbi Levin said Wednesday that Mr. Paladino probably did not write his apology either. He suggested that “militant gays” wrote it and handed it to a naďve Mr. Paladino.
“Believe me, I spoke to Carl Paladino,” Rabbi Levin said. “He doesn’t know half the stuff that has to do with the gay agenda.”
Despite his unhappiness, Rabbi Levin did leave the door open for a reconciliation. “Carl, we’ll leave the light on for you,” he said. “Come back, Carl.”
At a campaign stop at a water-bottling plant in Forestport, N.Y., Mr. Paladino shrugged off Rabbi Levin’s criticism, saying he wanted to stick to the issues.
“We’re on message,” Mr. Paladino said. “That’s it.”
Nicholas Confessore contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 14, 2010, on page A31 of the New York edition.
Comment