Thank you for the opportunity in allowing me to write an open letter regarding the recent articles related to Jackson Township.
There have been a few articles in the news lately regarding some officials and Jackson residents being anti-Semitic. A few comments were from Jackson residents voicing their opposition and disgust at such behavior. The comments further mentioned how the voices we are hearing about are from a minority that are simply being loud. I would like to personally relay the testimony of myself and my fellow neighbors that have made the move to Jackson from Lakewood over a year ago.
I cannot begin to say how friendly, warm, and welcoming my neighbors have been to my family. From the day I moved in, my neighbors in the Flair community have come over to introduce themselves and welcome me into the neighborhood. They offered their assistance, which being a new home-owner (and being born with 2 left hands) I definitely needed a few times. In the 12 months I have been here, I never seen the slightest sign of hate or anything remotely close to that. It is a pleasure taking walks as we are greeted with smiles and “good morning” wishes every day. My kids love seeing the neighborhood dogs going for walks and the owners are always patient and friendly allowing my boys to pet and play around with the puppies.
A few short examples come to mind about the kindness and generosity of my neighbors.
John (name changed to protect privacy) has given me a lot of advice regarding keeping up our new home. When I asked him a few months ago how I clean the gutters out on my roof, he mentioned he will go over and take a look. A few hours later he texted me back saying it was all done. John climbed with his ladders and cleared out all my gutters! When I tried offering pay he refused saying “it’s all good” and later taught me the way to clean them so I can do it myself in the future. On another occasion, I had plumbing issues an hour before Shabbos began and was nervous about the tight timing, so I called John and again within 20 minutes he was at my door with his tools ready to help out!
After a few weeks of moving in, we had a snowstorm. As I was shoveling near my front gate I noticed a snow-blower go right over my whole front path clearing it all up. My neighbor decked out in his orange snowsuit just gave me a thumbs up and continued on with his own home!
On another occasion I mentioned to my neighbor Joe (again name changed) that I was having a tree service come to remove branches that were allowing squirrels to get onto my roof. Joe offered to grab his tall ladder and cutting tools and together we got up there to chop down the branches ourselves.
These are just a few stories that popped into my mind but the friendly, communal and caring atmosphere is felt day in and day out throughout our neighborhood.
I am not naïve and I know there are some issues at the township level as we have seen lately but I can say that this is a small minority and we are all super appreciative and grateful to the vast majority of Jackson residents that have welcomed us so warmly. We had some renovations done on our house recently so naturally we had to deal with the building and permits dept. for quite some time. Of course, there were some obstacles and tense times but overall the experience was great. When we brought the wrong paperwork, they showed us clearly what we needed to have and after a short wait we were granted permits for the work we needed done.
In short, I firmly believe that the key to keeping the peace and maintaining our beautiful town is through unity and open dialogue. When we come together to discuss our hopes, concerns and questions, we all stand to gain and we will be able to grow in a smart, responsible and safe way.
Thank you for allowing us the forum to express our thoughts and for always keeping us up to date on all the news!
Sincerely,
A proud Jackson resident
(TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to [email protected])
Well written and I couldn’t agree more with the writer.
To the proud Jackson resident,
Most people in Jackson agree with you and have similar stories, however the ones who are creating the ordinances (Nixon and Calogero) are not interested in dialogue and are outright anti semites. The mayor and the other council members follow their lead and don’t have a backbone to stand up to the bigotry and hate.
There are many (most) people in Jackson that despise what’s going on there and if we unite the frum people and the other great people of jackson, we could oust all the haters (politicians) and vote inclusive people into the council and still maintain the quality of life we all enjoy here.
There are anti-semites in Jackson. Also in Lakewood, Howell, Toms River, Brooklyn, Newark, San Francisco….there are also anti-muslims, anti-catholics, and anti-christians…..if you look for hate, you will find it.
The majority of people are good. Let’s focus on the positive.
I disagree with the writer. I too moved to Jackson, and I think there is definitely a bunch of people that hate Jews here. When I walk to shul I get yelled at to go back to Lakewood and cursed at. Out of all of my new neighbors only one introduced themselves to me.
Lets not focus on the haters.
All u have to do is go on Facebook and read comments that they write about the Jews. It’s horrible and anti Semitic. T5
Reporting live the Jackson Scoop!
Eli- really? I am shocked as I have not heard this from anyone. Which area if you don’t mind me asking do you live in? Have you made the effort to introduce yourself to your neighbors?
Aks guys in the White street, Melissa Lee, Pitney-Danielle and the S. Cooks Bridges-Brewers Bridge areas. Many people experienced shouting and cursing on their ways to Daven. Those people represent the extreme minority, yet make a lot of noise.
There are good people and bad people everywhere. Bad people need to be stopped, good people need to be praised. Those who are elected officials show the greater voice of the community. Lets work to make the greater voice a good voice, not a bad one.
How about a letter from a non Jewish Jackson resident about his or her feelings regarding the current situation.
There are both:
On the one hand the overwhelming majority of our gentile neighbors and have been nice and friendly, once in awhile that pickup truck will shoot out antisemitic slurs, or the Jackson Strongers seeking out any excuse to call the inspectors to come down, but most people are good and kind. There’s no room for HATE in Jackson
That pickup truck will also yell at blacks, muslims and mexicans most likely, so it’s not a matter of being anti-semitic, they are probably anti anything not WASPy.
Jews and non-jews in Jackson can do more to unite against developers and political corruption in our town, pay to play, connected builders getting COAH deals, etc.
People in Jackson do have valid fears which derive from the Orthodox need to live in the same neighborhood and because of the housing demand being higher than the inventory here. The fear is mostly of the unknown and of “Lakewood” the city itself.
They fear communities like Westgate which are small cities and that feeling of being pushed out. They do fear how state aid in town for education is being taken from Jackson and sent to cities, leaving Jackson already with a deficit and as enrollment goes down, private busing, etc go up, that is also a valid concern that town leaders must plan for NOW, but instead they chase shadows hoping to win a few votes.
There are very valid fears that both communities must be open and honest with each other and for MOST people those fears have absolutely nothing to do with religion.
The majority of the people who outwardly are haters, like the women you see in those emails do not even live in areas where Orthodox live among them. They might seem to represent the majority, but they are the minority as far as their blind hate goes.
I, like most of them will vigorously fight the “Lakewood” effect. dense housing, poor development strategy, a bad masterplan, politicians selling out to developers, reckless spending, patronage, nepotism, etc etc, but we already have that here lately. I will NEVER fight a person because of how they look, what they believe or because of religion.
I have many friends who have new orthodox neighbors and for the most part have absolutely no problems with their neighbors and they coexist very peacefully.
The problem in Jackson is not a one-sided issue, I’m still waiting for open dialogue and discussion from both sides here without all the lawsuits. I’m still waiting for town leaders to do the right thing and stop causing more divide, more hate and more problems.
Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to people driving in pickups yelling obscenities.
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It’s so easy to judge people by the way they seem to be
We must overcome this problem to live life peacefully
Break down the walls!
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Right now there is no real answer and no real solution and the leaders have banded behind the group that seems to be led by the most fear and hate.
The sad part is they are going to be the first ones to sell and those of us who are committed to Jackson will all suffer long after they abandon the town.
I would like to see the lawsuits dropped in exchange for open discussions with the township officials with mediation and in the public view. Those suits can always be refiled. If it can’t be worked out, then go ahead and beat eachother senseless to death for all I care.
I care more about property values, taxes, pedophiles running rampant in town government, school system, roads/infrsatruture, etc than I do about poles and wires and where they can go.
Just my 3 1/2 cents.
I live in Lkwd but walk to Jackson to visit friends , get yelled at and cursed at. It’s discusting. I feel like Jackson Twnsp is just a backbone for all the the hate, they are obsessed with making laws that make observent jews not welcome. And they are not even ashemed of it.
phil lawsuits must be filed within 45 days in order to be accepted..no one wanted to file suit but the unwillingness of town to even engage has forced it..opra it and you will see the Eruv Association requested a ” chance” to talk