I'm going to share, with permission, what a secular Jewish friend witnessed yesterday as she took a walk with her family on a popular riverside road in Rockland County. I'm upset on behalf of every Hasid who has to put up with this bigotry. And, before you blame me,

1/

Consider that my op-ed was an attempt to explain the challenges the community is facing, not, contrary to what my detractors argue, a way to malign all Hasidim.

Here it is, copy and pasted as she wrote it:

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"We walked up and down 9W by Nyack beach park, which is a gorgeous walk. It was, of course, more crowded than was comfortable, but we kept at least 10 feet apart from anyone, with the exception of one douchey guy who was walking his dog and stopping to take pictures of people
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He thought were not social distancing properly. The douche, I might add, then passed us at a two foot distance. Dick. 

And, a few blocks later, we heard him complaining to a cop about everyone walking, and, get this, he said,

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'I was very concerned because I saw about fourteen or fifteen people over there dressed like Hassids...' Never mind that what he saw was easily a single family out enjoying the sunshine, but, really, what a rat."

I'll add that we were out on a hike yesterday.

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Quiet, tranquil trail. As we turned into the parking lot, we saw many families barbecuing and playing on strips of grass. While they tried to maintain a distance, we couldn't help but wonder if, had they been Hasidim, some would be quick to photograph them.

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Look, I try to straddle both worlds and present everything with nuance. I tried shutting down minyanim and weddings because friends on the inside were livid and begging to spread the word. I'm not walking back and not apologizing for anything.

But, I will not sit

7/

Idly by while bigots take our words of concern and run with it to attack people on the streets.