Unorthodox tactics at the Orthodox Union convention

(Israelnationalnews.com) After hearing from several frustrated delegates, I am bringing to the attention of the readers the article below:

Unorthodox tactics at the Orthodox Union convention
by Menachem Gottlieb.

The Orthodox Union held their national convention this past week, November 26-30, 2008, in Jerusalem at the Ramada Hotel. I covered the highlight of the convention, the convening of the delegates Saturday night to debate and pass resolutions and amendments.

The voting session began after Shabbat at 6:45 PM and did not conclude until after 10:30 PM. At the height of the session there were over 100 voting delegates.  This number steadily dwindled to 65 or so delegates as the night wore on.

During the session that consisted of heated debate on important issues such as the lack of freedom of expression in Israel, a number of teenagers without the requisite nametags were spotted in the back waving voting cards.

“Why are these kids voting?” cried out Delegate Shulamit Hawtof, to the presiding Chairman of the resolutions committee, Mr. Stanley Weinstein.

Mr. Aaron Kinderlehrer, the presiding parliamentarian, explained that it is legal for up to 10 NCSY teenagers to be delegates according to the most recent bylaws.

Ms. Hawtoff and others noticed at least 3 boys in the back with voting cards. “They were all voting as a block!” she later exclaimed to me in an interview.

I myself witnessed 3 girls sitting in the front with voting cards.  In vote after vote, these girls looked towards David Luchins for direction on whom to vote for. This was caught a number of times on camera.

After the session, I approached one of the girls and began to discuss her NCSY activities. On her own initiative she told me: "I'm not familiar with the issues." She then went on to explain that she was requested to come and vote by David Luchins and Jack Abramovich.

Mr. Steven Savitsky, President of the Orthodox Union, told me that that he spoke to Dr. Luchins and that he doesn’t want to see young delegates voting without being familiar with the issues.

Dr. David Luchins, a Senior Vice President of the OU, has apparently solicited at least 6 teenage members of NCSY and as many as 10 members to act as voting delegates on his behalf.

The teenagers had apparently been solicited that night as they wore no nametags and all of them had blue voting cards. According to a staff member they were not with the OU for Shabbat.

"This is an outrage," says Shulamit Hawtoff, “the outcomes of some amendments were most certainly affected.”

Some senior OU officials expressed to me that night dissatisfaction with Dr. Luchins tactics, but requested to remain anonymous. Dr. Luchins denied any wrong doing.

It is hard to tell how many of the proposed amendments and resolutions were affected by David Luchins’ tampering of the convention process, but there is no question that the outcome of one of the resolutions was affected.

In particular, there was a vote to table the resolution promoting ‘civility in speech’ and to send it back for revision without adoption at the present time. In a close 30-32 vote it was not tabled. The resolution mustered enough votes to avoid being tabled due to the added votes of Luchins' NCSYers. In the resolution, the OU takes upon itself to criticize those in the Orthodox community who don’t speak civilly. Many delegates questioned the criteria of the OU’s criticism given its condemnation of an Orthodox Rabbi’s words this past January.

“I feel that the whole resolutions process was tainted,” says Shulamit, “There were a number of close votes, and I was saddened that the there are people in the organization who would stoop to such a low level. I really feel that the OU must have another makeup convention in which the process in conducted in a fair manner."

Michael Libbie, a delegate from Des Moines Iowa in an interview on Sunday said “I was up until 1:30 last evening because I was incensed at the failure of this organization’s leadership ... resolution after resolution, amendment after amendment was defeated – that had to do with freedom of expression for Israelis… I will go back to the US with a whole different attitude about this error in judgment.”

The whole process was “not proper” according to Rabbi William Bloom of San Diego California.

Dr. Bernard Lander, Honorary Vice President of the OU, in an interview conducted after the convention, worries that the OU has been turning towards the political left.