August 1, 2019 (MassResistance) — Our latest MassResistance chapter — based in Lakewood, New Jersey — has hit the ground running! Led by local Orthodox Jews and working with area Christians, they are taking on the LGBT agenda publicly and without fear. They've recently held three public protests, and they're just getting started!
New Jersey MassResistance was started by a group of Orthodox Jews in Lakewood, NJ who have been horrified by the LGBT movement targeting their community. MassResistance has worked with their local leader since 2015.
Their community decided it was time to organize the resistance! It didn't take long for local Catholic and Protestant religious leaders and their congregations to join them.
The force behind it: Rabbi Yehuda Levin
Rabbi Yehuda Levin of Brooklyn, NY, has been a strong figure in the pro-family movement for decades. MassResistance began working with him in 2004 when he came to Boston to oppose the imposition of “gay marriage” on the state, and we have helped each other on several projects since then.
Rabbi Levin is closely aligned with the Orthodox rabbis in Lakewood, NJ. Seeing what was going on, he made a series of videos to rally the Orthodox community and also to get the local Christian community involved. This got things rolling. Then he traveled to Lakewood to join the protests personally.
Rabbi Levin video to Lakewood Orthodox rabbis
Rabbi Levin video to Lakewood Christian community
1. Protesting “Pride Night” at local minor league baseball stadium
The Lakewood BlueClaws are a Class A Minor League baseball team affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies. Their stadium is located just blocks away from an all-boys Orthodox Jewish school and several Orthodox synagogues. It's widely considered to be a “religious yeshiva” part of town. There are also many Christian churches in that general area.
When the BlueClaws management made a big announcement that their June 8 game (on the Jewish Sabbath) would be a “Pride Night” and they would be giving out free rainbow caps, local residents were shocked. It was seen as a direct affront to the surrounding community of religious Jews and Christians.
So Rabbi Levin announced a protest would take place outside the stadium a few days before, on June 6. The MassResistance group of Orthodox Jews leafleted the entire area, encouraging all religious people to join them.
The rabbis also noted that the town politicians had given the BlueClaws a favorable leasing deal, and now they are “turning a blind eye as they flaunt their politically correct anti-Judeo-Christian” message and push “anti-family values down our throat.” They said they are part of “the homosexualization of our community.”
It quickly got the attention of the local liberal media:
The BlueClaws management reacted by insulting the local people even further. The team released an absurd explanation saying that “baseball is for everyone” — a statement that no one disagrees with. People disagree with promoting sexual perversion. It's not for everyone!
Here's the BlueClaws statement to the press a few days before their Pride Night:
We are committed to the idea that baseball is for everyone and all people are welcome at a BlueClaws game. It is unfortunate that some individuals are choosing to display intolerance rather than embrace the true spirit of the night. We look forward to BlueClaws Pride Night on Saturday.
A group of local Catholics and also some Protestants joined the protest. On June 6 outside the stadium, over 70 pro-family protesters showed up (about half Christians and half Jews). It was a great success! (About 15 LGBT counter-protesters came to try and intimidate them, but that was a flop.)
2. Protesting “Pride month celebrations” at local public library
Unfortunately, there was more to come at the local Ocean Park Public Library, which is also just blocks from Orthodox synagogues as well as Christian churches. The library draws many Orthodox Jewish children from the area.
During the month of June, the library aggressively celebrated “Gay Pride Month.” According to local reports, this included “displays of LGBT themes, books with LGBT characters, LGBT speakers and presentations, movie screenings and other events that are geared toward varying ages.” In other words, it was purposefully pushing a perverse anti-family agenda on the local religious community.
As a result, a nearby Jewish school, Yeshiva Orchos Chaim, told parents it was their official policy was that no child should go to the public library during the month of June.
Furthermore, as the Lakewood MassResistance leaders noted, the library's offensive activity contradicts its own policy, which states that:
The Library strives to create a warm, welcoming environment for our customers of all ages … The library is a public place and the safety of children is therefore a serious concern … Young children need to feel safe and secure.
But the library officials ignored the complaints from the parents.
So Rabbi Levin called for a protest outside the library on the evening of June 27. Again, the Orthodox activists leafleted the neighborhoods.
And again, the local liberal media reacted angrily to the upcoming protest:
But the protest was another big success! This time over 110 people came to protest. Nearly a quarter of them were Christians, the rest Orthodox Jews. The local Bible Baptist Church sent its pastor and many others to take part. A lot of people — including public officials — got the message! (Again, about 15 LGBT counter-protesters tried to intimidate them, but weren't effective at all.)
3. Protesting outside a fundraiser for pro-LGBT “Orthodox” Jewish politicians
This was a much smaller protest with only one person physically participating. But many others in the Orthodox community were extremely outraged and worked in the background.
On July 24, a local Jewish businessman in Lakewood put on a political fundraiser at a private home there. The event was to raise money for Illinois State Representative Yehiel Mark Kalish. The special guest was New Jersey Assemblyman Schaer, who represents an area north of Lakewood.
Both politicians are Democrats. But it's far worse than that.
Illinois Rep. Kalish is an ordained Orthodox rabbi who strongly supports legalized abortion and “the rights of the LGBT community” including “marriage equality.”
New Jersey Assemblyman Schaer is the first Orthodox Jew elected to the New Jersey Legislature. In 2017 he was endorsed by the statewide LGBT group Garden State Equality as an “LGBT-friendly candidate.”
Here's the poster that was circulated around Lakewood advertising the fundraiser:
The flyer advertising the “orthodox” fundraiser.
How does this happen? Even among Orthodox Jews there are those who will sell out their faith for a little power. It's particularly infuriating because it puts dishonor on everyone else.
To hold such an offensive fundraising event in a serious Orthodox Jewish community seemed more than a coincidence. It almost seemed purposeful. A statement had to be made. So with the blessing of Rabbi Levin, one of the group went and held a sign in front of the house during the event.
People got the message!
Final thoughts
Orthodox Jews believe that it's important to fight back against immoral attacks on one's community, even if the odds are stacked against you. They also believe that one must not shy away from telling the truth. We absolutely agree. And from what we've seen, that attitude and approach always brings positive results in some way, despite what you are up against.
You'll be seeing more from New Jersey MassResistance!
Published with permission from MassResistance.