Contact: Howie Beigelman
212-613-8123

Maryland Delegate Waldstreicher Meets With Orthodox Jewish Leadership

Yesterday, Maryland State Delegate Jeffrey Waldstreicher (D-18-Montgomery County) met with leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community. The meeting was facilitated by the Orthodox Union and was held at The Woodside Synagogue – Ahavas Torah, an OU member congregation and included leadership from the synagogue as well as local Jewish day school leadership.

At the meeting, the community leadership and the Delegate discussed issues relevant to private school education as well as energy funding for nonprofit and faith-based organizations. Delegate Waldstreicher expressed his willingness to work with the local Jewish community on these important matters.

As well, the synagogue raised concerns over the extremely dangerous cross walk that spans Georgia Avenue, adjacent to the synagogue’s building. On the Sabbath and Festivals, when Orthodox Jews must walk to synagogue, congregants – including children – are forced to navigate their way across this busy thoroughfare, without the aid of a traffic light.

Delegate Waldstreicher took the opportunity to take a personal look at the crosswalk and physically cross over so he might better understand the problem. He then offered to work with the Maryland State Highway Administration and the synagogue to eliminate this safety hazard.

Howie Beigelman, Deputy Director of Public Policy for the Orthodox Union stated:
“Delegate Waldstreicher’s visit to Woodside is a great first step towards an increased partnership with the community. We thank him for his time and look forward to continuing to work with him.”

Chanoch Kanovsky, President of Woodside Synagogue – Ahavas Torah added:
“We are grateful to Delegate Waldstreicher for meeting with us today to discuss pressing issues in our synagogue community. We especially appreciate the Delegate’s concern for our members’ safety – even offering his assistance in our attempts to have a traffic light installed over the crosswalk of our hazardous intersection. With thanks to the OU for its facilitation, we look forward to continuing our positive relationship with the Delegate and with other local leadership.”

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