Gertner speaks about the Hasidic movement

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

FOSTERDALE, NY — In a suave mix of English and Yiddish, Jewish women discussed their children while sitting in the lobby of Mel Gertner’s Relax Inn Monday morning.

“My life is the kids,” one elderly woman said, and the conversation came to a temporary halt.

It was as if her words apprehended the one single message masked by the details of dialogue.

Gertner put in some time on his cell phone, advising a friend in Yiddish and directing an electrician in unbroken English, and then he pulled a chair close to his guest.

He wanted to explain the central tenets of the Hasidic movement, founded by Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) of the Ukraine. But in order to do that, he had to start with Abraham, Isaac, and the story of God’s promise to reward their devotion with a new nation for their children.

What, you might ask, could devotion to the nation of Israel have to do with life in the Catskills?

The scores of Hasidim that congregate in bungalow colonies, hotels and summer camps every year are just one example of the culture’s determination to keep the practice of Judaism and the nation of its people unified.

Of all the traits that distinguish these people from others in America, social organization is king.

Following centuries of persecution and exile from Israel, which Gertner said broke the religion from its nation and diminished the practice of Judaism, the Baal Shem Tov worked to reunify the culture’s two halves, and he believed organization was the only means to that end.

The distinctive style of Hasidic dress is the same style adopted by their ancestors in the time of Moses, Gertner said.

“As the Baal Shem Tov explained, the system will work if it is not changed,” he said.

Other practices, which Gertner called “styles of life,” include prohibition of both abortion and birth control.

“Our people have as many children as possible. God communicated this to his believers in the Old Testament,” he said.

Each young couple has four to eight children on average, but it is not uncommon to see Hasidic parents with 10 or 15 kids, Gertner said.

“I’m the youngest of 12, and I have six children.”

“What you’re seeing today in the Catskills is the result of multiplication over the last 60 years, after World War II,” he said.

“We grow so rapidly,” he said, adding, “People very seldom leave the Hasidic community.”

Thumbing through the 20th annual edition of the Catskill Summer Calendar and Directory, Gertner pointed out the dozens of organizations that provide free referrals to Jewish doctors.

Cheverim of Rockland is the place to call if your car breaks down.

“You can call them and they will be out to help you in 15 minutes. They will do it all, and it costs nothing,” Gertner said.

Other organizations provide free ambulance service and help for elders in need. The directory contains lists of places for prayer, public baths, kosher markets and hotels. It is a how-to guide to virtually everything Jewish in the Catskills.

“It’s a great community to grow old in,” Gertner said.

When asked about the public concerns surrounding Kiryas Joel, the Orange County village of some 15,000 Hasidim that hopes to draw water from the Upper Delaware basin in order to keep up with its annual population growth rate of 5.9 percent, Gertner said, “Whenever people try to discourage us, we always fight and always get stronger.”

“If a Hasidic organization is growing and wants to start a synagogue for 150 people, but neighbors make noise and complain, they [Hasidim] will make sure to fight back and start a synagogue for 300 people.”

“They will do it, legally,” he said.

“They’re used to being abused. They gather and strengthen themselves.”

In April, Gertner presented his plan to the Town of Cochecton to double the size of his hotel, and further examples of the Hasidic community’s growth in western Sullivan County include Jack Leskowitz’ purchase of The Meadows property in Fosterdale, where a hotel is planned for use as a year-round resort.

Gertner and his business associates recently purchased the Valley View Resort in Kenoza Lake and leased part of it to a Hasidic camp for girls.

While many not-for-profit religious facilities receive property tax exemption, Gertner said he pays full taxes on his business property in Fosterdale.

In response to common complaints from the public about visible overflowing garbage dumpsters at bungalow colonies, Gertner looked out the front window and said, “I’d like to see other hotels and colonies in the Catskills as clean as this.”

“I can’t talk for the others. You have to look at each individual case.”

“The Talmud tells us to be responsible to the laws where you live,” he said.

Gertner emphatically rejected the perception that Hasidic people spurn interaction with people of secular American culture.

“We have full respect for others. We don’t even debate it.

“Every week, we say a blessing for our country’s president and the vice president,” he said.