As New Yorkers across the state reflect on the public career of former governor Mario Cuomo, who passed away last week at the age of 82, we are reminded of the special connection he had with observant Jews, particularly his understanding that they needed accommodation of religion-based needs that may conflict with standard societal practices.
His general openness to using government to better people’s lives extended to religious Jews. During his three terms in office, a broad array of creative legislative solutions developed in the State Assembly by then-Assemblyman and current Speaker Sheldon Silver made their way into the statute books after passage in the legislature by virtue of the governor’s full-throated support and his readiness to sign them into law.
Thus New York led the way in recognizing the right of observant Jews in significant ways. They were now entitled to adjustments in work schedules that took into account religious restrictions. Students could observe religious holidays without penalty. Administrators of college and professional school entrance exams, licensing exams, and civil service exams, generally scheduled for Saturdays, had to offer alternative dates and times that did not conflict with Sabbath observance.
Enforcement of autopsy laws had to take into account halachic restrictions where Jews were concerned. Determination of whether a person was deemed legally dead had to take into consideration the halachic definition of death.
New York’s Domestic Relations Law was amended to ensure that the needs of an agunah in a divorce proceeding were considered along with other variables in the run-up to the legal dissolution of a marriage.
And these are but the highlights. Indeed, the notion that religiously observant Jews can fully participate in society without having to violate the tenets of their faith is now largely embedded in the law, both in New York and nationally.
But none of this was a slam dunk. Despite all of the innovative ideas that were coming out of the legislature, the governor still had to sign them into law. And here our community lucked out with Mario Cuomo.
He often noted that in his youth he was a “Shabbos goy” for his observant Queens neighbors. He also surrounded himself with advisers sensitive to our issues. He forged a deep and decades-long friendship with Rabbi Israel Mowshowitz, who became part of his administration and offered his special insights. One of his senior aides, Appointments Secretary Ellen Conovitz, was fully supportive of our community’s needs. And then there was Kalman Finkel, well-known in the Orthodox community and a longtime personal friend of the governor.
Mario Cuomo is being justly recognized for his compassion, extraordinary intellect, and oratorical skills. But we remember him as well for opening the door to full citizenship for observant Jews.