The Blogs: The Stories They Didn’t Print

Let’s start with the truth.

Not a conspiracy theory.

The Jewish Link is co-owned and co-published by Teaneck’s mayor, Mark J. Schwartz.

In the weeks before the recent primary, the paper again became a platform for the mayor’s endorsements. This time it was for Yitz Stern and Rosemary Hernandez Carroll. He didn’t just support them. He presented them as the only legitimate representatives of the Jewish community.

Rosemary Hernandez Carroll, plucked from obscurity and with no visible connection to Jewish life, was chosen as our community’s representative. She was elevated over Tamar Warburg, an Orthodox Jewish mother of five, a nonprofit lawyer, the wife of BCJAC’s co-founder, and the granddaughter of Rabbi Norman Lamm. She would have made history as the first Orthodox Jewish woman elected to the New Jersey Assembly.

In their open letter, Mayor Schwartz and Deputy Mayor Karen Orgen called Tamar’s candidacy a breach of tradition and a burden to the community. They questioned her independence on issues like the IHRA definition. They labeled her a product of “machine politics,” while relying on messaging from their own political machine.

Tamar’s other “offense” was supporting the re-election of Mayor Michael Pagan, a non-Jewish ally who stood with the Jewish community when it mattered. When Pagan sought to speak about his trip to Israel, he was quietly canceled at local synagogues for being “too political.” He gave interviews to both The Jewish Link and The Jewish Standard. A year later, The Jewish Link still hasn’t published theirs.

Tamar and her husband Yigal understood the moment. They opened their home to share one message: You are not alone.

Photo Credit: With permission from Tamar & Yigal Gross

What I Submitted

Election Reflection

The results of the June 10 Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 37th Legislative District are in. Assemblymembers Ellen Park and Shama Haider have secured renomination. Congratulations to them both.
The real story isn’t just who won. It’s how the conversation changed. That change is thanks to Tamar Warburg. Tamar entered this race with no local party institutional support, no PACs and no official blessings.
What she brought to the table and the race was clarity, courage and conviction.
She spoke plainly about safety, affordability, education, and Jewish identity.
She didn’t ask for permission. She didn’t posture. She didn’t water it down. She ran on values and moral principles, and 4,761 voters across the district stood proudly with her. In a district where deals are cut behind closed doors, Tamar brought much needed sunlight. She offered something rare in local politics: leadership rooted in principle, not favors.
She listened. She organized. She earned endorsements from trusted Jewish voices. By showing up, she changed the future. While others mocked her résumé, questioned her timing, or worse, Tamar persisted.
She proved that grassroots voices, especially unapologetically Jewish, female ones, still matter. No one’s ever kept a Jewish woman quiet.
To those who voted for her: thank you for demanding more. To those who didn’t: you were still heard, because Tamar made sure of it.
What’s disappointing isn’t disagreement. It’s the manufactured backlash against a Jewish woman who dared to run without waiting her turn or begging for approval from the kingmakers. That’s not leadership, that’s gatekeeping. Public service isn’t a private club. Our community deserves better.
To those claiming to speak “for the Jews”, stop. No one speaks for all of us. We are not one voice. We are a chorus. A people who argue, wrestle, and survive.
This election reminds all of us that representation isn’t owed, it’s earned.
Vote by vote, voice by voice. Tamar Warburg earned every single one.
The conversation she started? It’s not over. It’s just beginning.

The day after the primary, in an election where no Jewish candidates won a seat, I submitted a letter to the editor titled “Election Reflection.” I sent it directly to co-publisher Moshe Kinderlehrer.

He replied:

“Too late for this week. We’ll run it next week.”

It never ran.

When I followed up, his response was one line:

“Apologies… in the end we didn’t run it.”

It didn’t go unnoticed that on June 27th, The Jewish Link found room to publish “Why the Jewish Vote Didn’t Split the Primary,” authored by the Bergen County Jewish Action Committee, openly critical of opposing voices, yet unapologetically supportive of Rosemary Hernandez Carroll.

This wasn’t the first time

In February, I submitted a piece titled “We’re Not Done Sitting Shiva.” It was about the Bibas family and what it means to mourn as Jews while the world insists we move on, before all the hostages are even home. It emphasized that Jewish mourning isn’t political.

Mayor Schwartz himself encouraged submission, saying, “Absolutely. Send it to me and Moshe.” I did. It was never published.