by Debra Rubin
NJJN Bureau Chief/Middlesex

June 9, 2009

Edison mayor Jun Choi’s slate was defeated in the township’s Democratic primary June 2, disappointing an Orthodox community group that had endorsed the incumbent.

But the chair of the Kehilla of Raritan Valley said his group did not regret his support for Choi and did not anticipate any repercussions from his opponents.

Choi’s slate lost to one headed by Edison Council member Antonia (Toni) Ricigliano, who ran with council member Robert Diehl, former council president Charles Tomaro, and Thomas Lankey.

Ricigliano received 6,582 votes, 378 more than her opponent Choi. Council races were similarly close. In overwhelmingly Democratic Edison, which has not had a Republican mayor in many decades, the primaries usually predict general election results in November.

Choi, who was running for a second four-year term — once again without the endorsement of the local or county Democratic party — was joined on the ticket by Edward Fitzgerald, Meiling Kravarik, and Rachel Callen. If she had won, Callen would have been the first Orthodox Jew elected to the township council.

“That’s the way the democratic process goes,” said Dr. Israel Rivkin, chair of the Kehilla of Raritan Valley. Choi’s slate, he said, “put up a good campaign. It is not going to affect us because we support all administrations that are kind to us, and we will support this administration.”

The Kehilla describes itself as a community organization “created to support the unique needs of the Greater Raritan Valley Orthodox Jewish community.” It claims to work “with a common voice” with local and state government officials to address those needs.

The Kehilla had sent two letters through the Orthodox community urging members to vote as a bloc for the current mayor, Choi, and his slate. The letters were signed by Kehilla president Moshe Feuer and Rivkin, a rabbi who serves as a gabbai, or top synagogue volunteer, at Congregation Ohr Torah in Edison. Rivkin also oversees the upkeep of the local eruv, or Shabbat boundary.

‘Positive toward community’

Ricigliano’s coattails weren’t long enough to help Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg and running mate Cheryl Carval, who ran on her ticket for seats on the District 27 committee. Incumbents Callen and Vincent Guarino were re-elected as committee members in that district, which has the highest concentration of Orthodox Jews in the township.

Rosenberg, an Orthodox-trained rabbi who leads the Conservative Congregation Beth-El in Edison, criticized the Kehilla’s endorsement of Choi’s ticket, saying bloc endorsements and voting were “dangerous.”

“I have told the Jewish community over and over again not to put all their eggs in one basket, but this is what they do constantly,” he said. “Candidates running for office need to feel that their voice will not be silenced by a particular bloc.”

Nevertheless, said Rosenberg, “I can assure you that Mrs. Ricigliano and her slate will be very positive toward our community and will deliver the same services as those of the previous administration.”

Rosenberg has had a long-running dispute with Choi after the mayor did not reappoint him to his longtime post as police and fire chaplain and as chair of the township’s human rights commission, where he served for 10 years.

Despite the Kehilla’s endorsement of Choi, Rivkin said in a May 26 NJJN interview that Guarino, a committeeman for three decades, deserved support because he sensitized administration and town officials to the special concerns of the Orthodox community and served as a “Shabbos goy,” a gentile neighbor who assists Jewish worshipers on the Sabbath and holy days.

Callen said she had no regrets about the run for council.

“I have always represented my community in a positive way,” she said. “Our community has always had a cordial and respectful relationship with every administration, and I look forward to continuing it with our new administration. We are loyal constituents to whoever has the reins of government.”

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