State Senator David Storobin vs. Simcha Felder — How Did THIS Get By Without a Bigger Noise?

In the Storobin-Felder race for the New York State Senate in the 17th SD — Did Simcha exhibit a “No Simcha” symptom by saying in a largely Yiddish holiday mailer that Storobin isn’t Jewish  —  or at least  implying that he isn’t Jewish enough? 

Citing  a report in the Jewish Voice, the 10/10/12 Gestetner Updates says that a “FIRESTORM...” has erupted over a 15-page mailer from the Felder Campaign that was aimed at the Boro Park frum community.  In that mailer, which was in Yiddish, Felder referred to David Storobin as a “son without a name” (translation) explaining that he is “not even to be considered as a candidate for our community” (translation). But so far, the only "FIRESTORM" seems to be flickering candles in the wind on a couple of blogs.

Days before the Gestetner report, Jacob Kronbluh, who was quoted in the Gestetner post, had posted his own piece, “Shocker: Simcha Felder Claims Storobin is Not A Jewish Candidate” in his own blog, “Let’s Talk Dogri (straightforward)!!!” Jacob Kornbluh has a close association to the Brooklyn GOP and is a strong supporter of State Senator David Storobin. It is not surprising, therefore, that he would be passionate in his defense of the State Senator when he sees an unfair attack by Storobin’s opponent, Simcha Felder.  According to Mr. K (a/k/a “the Jacob Kornbluh”),  Simcha Felder made the claim that Storobin is not a Jewish candidate on page four of Felder newspaper that had been written in Yiddish.  According to Kornbluh, who is fluent in Yiddish, the Felder piece said,  "We have no alternative: Simcha is the ONLY actual candidate from a Jewish standpoint. The other side (Storobin) is a son without a name. And its understandable that he is not even to be considered as a candidate for our community."

The second part of Kornbluh’s “...Dogri...” was equally telling. Jacob Kornbluh took note that, not only has Storobin’s Jewishness been well established, along with his family history in Russia, Simcha Felder’s own prior history of minimizing the depth and significance of his Jewish background is also well documented.

An account similar to the one that appeared in Yossi Gestetner’s blog was contained in a 10/5/12  post by Azi Paybarah, “Simcha Felder’s Holiday Newspaper” in ‘This Is How New York Works – Capital”.  According to Azi Paybarah’s report, “a supporter” of Simcha  Felder, who saw the Kornbluh  translation of the Felder Campaign material, admitted  that the overall message in the offensive  passage was accurately translated by Jacob Kornbluh. However, in an update to the Paybarah report, “...Capital” quoted an unidentified "spokesman" for Felder, who maintained the initial translation by Kornbluh was too literal, and that the phrase was comparable to saying, "He isn't known around here." in English.