14 minute read
A Frum Guy in the House: TJH Speaks with Gabi Grossbard
A FRUM GUY IN THE HOUSE
Gabi Grossbard Talks About His Run for Congress
BY SUSAN SCHWAMM
Gabi, you are running for Congress in Michigan, but you lived in Far Rockaway for a while.
Yes. I was born and raised in Israel. I went to Sh’or Yoshuv in Far Rockaway, NY, for some of my teenage years, and then I went back to Israel and served in the Israeli Army.
What was your position there in the IDF?
I was a sergeant when I was honorably discharged, but I was in an infantry unit for artillery. I served in some of the “funner” cities of Jenin and Jericho.
Do you remember Reb Shlomo Freifeld, zt”l, from your years in Sh’or Yoshuv?
Yes. When they first started yeshiva, they would invite boys to the Friday night seudah. I was either the last or one of the very last who came to his house for a Friday night Shabbos meal. That was a really memorable experience for me.
I got married towards the end of my IDF service. My wife and I moved back to Far Rockaway for a few years and lived on Neilson Street. I shouldn’t have sold my house in Far Rockaway; I’ll tell you that. It’s worth so much more today.
We moved here to Michigan, to the suburbs of Detroit, in 1998. My wife is from here. And my father is from here as well, so we have a lot of relatives here.
When we lived in Far Rockaway, I worked ridiculous hours – like 14, 15 hours a day. We realized that for normalcy in our life the best thing to do is to move to Michigan, which we did. And I like it here. It’s a nice place to raise kids, and looking back, it was a good move.
Is the Detroit community a growing frum community?
Yes.
Tell us why you decided to get into politics.
It’s relatively new for me. I decided to get into politics after the 2018 election when Michigan elected Representative Rashida Tlaib to go to Congress. She is of Palestinian background, and she’s a radical leftist who is constantly trashing Israel and playing the violin, if you will, for the Palestinians. I felt that the people of Michigan should have an opportunity to answer to that. I couldn’t think of a better answer than a conservative Republican who is an observant Jew who was born, raised, and served in the Israeli military as a counterweight to that.
I ran for Congress in 2020. I like to say that in 2020 I ran from scratch; this time, I’m running from experience. I learned a lot from my previous run.
The last time you ran in the 9th District, correct?
Yes. But both in 2020 and now I am running against the Democrat incumbent, Andy Levin. He is Jewish. Both his father and his uncle were lifelong politicians here in Michigan on the federal level. One was a state senator; one was a Representative. But although Andy is Jewish, he is not good for us or our cause or our values or Israel. He’s a public critic of Israel. He’s a public critic of the Jewish people. He’s amongst the most radical leftist members of Congress. I feel that he should be challenged every election cycle.
I ran against him last time. But I was fresh; I was new. I didn’t know that much. But I learned a lot. And I’ve decided to go for it again this time.
In 2020, I ran in the 9th District, which Andy was representing. But every ten years, there is redistricting. And because of redistricting, Andy is running for re-election in the new 11th District.
They don’t make anything simple nowadays, do they?
No, with government, nothing is simple.
Did the redistricting help you?
Yes. I’m looking at the map at this new 11th Congressional District. It does lean blue, so I’m not a shoo-in, and I’m not a favorite to win the general election. However, I’m looking at this map, and with the demographic and with the way the map is set up, I really think that this map was drawn for me. I’m convinced that if I work hard, and I have support, and I’m able to get my message out, victory is achievable.
Why are you so confident?
I’m confident about that for a couple of reasons. First of all, the old 11th – which comprises about 44% of the new 11th – had a chunk of Wayne Country in it. Wayne County is the county that includes the city of Detroit. In 2020, in the old 11th, the Republican candidate beat incumbent Haley Stevens in the Oakland County portion. But then Wayne Country came in and swung the election her way. That part is not around anymore. So there is no part of Wayne County in the new 11th .
The other part about the new 11th that I like is the way it was drawn in Oakland County. It’s entirely in Oakland County. Oakland County has the vast majority of the at-large Jewish community in the entire Metro Detroit area. So especially if in the general, if it’s an election of Andy against me, there are about 70,000 residents who identify as Jewish who are vastly pro-Israel. They’re going to have a choice. They’re going to look at Andy Levin, who’s a vocal critic of Israel and a friend to Rashida Tlaib. He stands right next to her and smiles and says, “Oh, what Tlaib and Omar are doing is not antisemitic, it’s not anti-Israel.” And we all know that it is. Or these Jewish voters could vote for a representative who was born and raised in Israel and served in the Israeli military and is clearly pro-Israel.
I have a big chance to convert many of those voters to vote for me.
One of the things that will help me in that is that I recently received a big endorsement from Ambassador David Friedman, who was the architect of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the sovereignty recognition of the Golan Heights, and the Abraham Accords. His endorsement will play a big role for me with converting many of those moderate pro-Israel Democrats to my side.
How do you get people to actually go out and vote?
That is where campaigns, if they’re efficient and they have the money to get their message out, try to focus their message. Andy Levin has the Levin name. The Levin name has been winning in Michigan politics for decades, and he has that going for him. For me, for Gabi Grossbard, yes, I’ve been around for a couple of years, but I’m still an unknown newcomer, so I need support and funding, which is why I’m reaching out to beyond just the district right here in Michigan. I’m reaching out to Jewish people everywhere including New York and Five Towns where I think it would benefit all of them if I was a representative in Congress. Yes, it’ not in their district, but when it’s a federal seat, it affects you everywhere in the United States. Right now, our lives are completely affected by one congresswoman out of San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi. She gets to make all of the decisions of the entire House. You can live in Nassau County and never have voted for Nancy Pelosi, but she is running the House of Representatives. What she does affects you wherever you are. Similarly, if there is a frum representative from Michigan in the House, I can and will advocate for our way of life. Antisemitism is growing everywhere. We need someone in the
House, in the halls of Congress, who is standing up for us, who understands what our life is like.
What are you looking for from the communities outside of Michigan?
The main thing that I’m looking for is for contributions, for funding that would help me run an efficient, strong, and impressive campaign – a campaign that can win. That costs a lot of money. If I don’t get the funding, it’s essentially going to be a missed opportunity to unseat Andy Levin and to get a representative who can really do a lot of good with advocating for us and our values.
You’ve been meeting with prospective voters and with people in your district. What is primary on voters’ minds nowadays?
Well, out here in Michigan, there are a few things that are front and center. First of all is schools – although not in the traditional way where people are saying, “Oh, we need to improve education and we need to improve fundings for schools.” The issue with schools is for the parents. Parents are being cut out of the process. As you know with COVID, parents got to learn a lot about what’s going on in public schools. And they came to realize that many of their kids are graduating without the ability to read, yet they’re being taught about gender starting in kindergarten. They are being taught about race. The little six-year-old boy who is white is being told he’s racist just because he is white. And the six-yearold black kid is being taught that he is oppressed just because he is black. Parents don’t like that, and they don’t want that. Parents in Michigan are rising up, and it’s a very strong movement. There are a lot of grassroots organizations that are taking on schools. They’re recruiting people to run for school board and to effect that change in the schooling.
The other thing that is on people’s minds is inflation and the cost of living that’s rising. Gasoline is the thing that we see so clearly because what’s unique to the gasoline market is that they advertise to the penny. People will drive an extra block to save a penny, and that goes back years. It’s not something new to us, right? You say, “Oh, this place charges this much. Down the street, they’re two cents less. I’m going go to go over there.” It’s the only industry that loses businesses over a couple of pennies. So people really pay attention to gas prices. And now, we’re going so high so fast. People are able to connect the dots, and they realize that it’s because of this administration and this administration’s policies that prices are rising.
But inflation is really everywhere. You see it at the grocery store, you see it with your electric bill, you see it with everything you buy and pay for. If your car lease is up and you need a new car, dealerships don’t even have cars, and if they do, the price is close to double what you paid for your current lease that’s maturing.
Inflation doesn’t just affect the rich or the middle class. Inflation really affects the most people who are on fixed incomes, seniors, people who are in public assistance, and even people who get food stamps. People really are feeling that squeeze on a daily basis.
So it seems that schools and inflation are really on voters’ minds in Michigan.
People like to talk about more national stuff, but in our county specifically, we do not feel the rise in crime yet, and I hope it stays that way. We do not feel the major influx of the illegal immigration which exists, but it doesn’t affect us in our daily lives.
What about jobs in general? Isn’t Michigan a manufacturing state?
Michigan is a manufacturing state. It’s had its ups and downs like everything else.
Two years ago, when I was running, I was running on economy. We said we needed to bring back more manufacturing jobs. We needed to take them from China. We said that we can bring high-quality, good-paying jobs here to Michigan. But two years ago, there were plenty of opportunities, and business and the economy in general was clicking on all cylinders. Everyone was having a good life.
But now, two years later, companies can’t find employees to fill the jobs. There are so many businesses that have been shut down and are out of business. It’s really a strange situation where it’s a worker’s market. An employee can decide where they want to go work for what kind of money. So it’s not exactly a shortage of jobs because there are jobs, but they can’t fill them, and businesses don’t have business, so it’s a strange dynamic.
You ran in 2020 during a presidential election year. Did you feel that Trump running in 2020 was a help or a hindrance for you?
Well, in terms of issues, there were a lot of things different last time around. The economy was good and we were energy independent and we didn’t have such an influx of illegal immigration just pouring through the border. This was pre-COVID. We didn’t realize what the schools were teaching our kids; we only found out when schools went online.
Now, I’m talking about jobs in a horrible economy, in a stagnant economy, in an economy in which inflation is rising, and the stock market is dropping, and people don’t have business or employees. Trump won Michigan in 2016 but lost it in 2020. Did you feel that running as a conservative Republican in Michigan in 2020 was an uphill battle?
Well, Trump was a president who had a lot of accomplishments. If you look at the issues and what he succeeded to accomplish in his four years, they’re actually pretty impressive. There are many people – here in run as a sort of a counterweight to Rashida Tlaib and Andy Levin who are anti-Israel. If you could debate Rashida Tlaib, what would be one question that you would pose to her or one thing that you would want to say to her directly?
Well, I’m specifically not running against her. And I also don’t want to fall into the trap of being a one-issue candidate. I’m clearly running to
Michigan and here in the district – who love Trump. There are those who like everything he accomplished and don’t like him, and therefore, don’t like everything that he accomplished.
If you make a list of all his accomplishments and show it to voters without his name on top, more times than not, people will look at those accomplishments and point to them as those that they like. But as soon as you attach Trump’s name to those accomplishments, you get mixed reviews.
You mentioned that you wanted to represent Americans, and life here in America. I’m familiar with all the issues, and I’m familiar with the life of everyday Americans. And that’s really what I’m campaigning on. Israel happens to be just another dynamic. So I don’t know that I would necessarily debate Rashida Tlaib, but I would hope that after I win my election in November, and assuming that she wins her re-election bid in November, once I’m in the House of Representatives, I will reach out to her and I would say, “Hey, Rashida, how about we establish a bipartisan caucus, a Middle East bipartisan caucus? You know the issues from your side of the table. I know the issues from my side of the table. There is no one better and more qualified to sit down and see how, from an American point of view, we can help and assist and work these types of things out.”
I like that idea. When are the primaries being held?
Primaries are set to be held on August 2. Absentee ballots start in July, so we only have a few months until the primary.
I’d like the community in New York to know that, in a way, I’m still part New Yorker. I drive like a New Yorker. But the reality is that once I’m a U.S. representative, even if it’s out in Michigan, it could help and benefit all Jews in the country. I would like for the community in the Five Towns to hear about my campaign and learn about it. It will be great if they can support me and contribute to me, but just knowing about me is important.
What are certain challenges that you’ve met because of you are a frum Jew?
I’ve seen that non-Jews find the rules of our religion strange, at first. But when they realize that it’s a real thing, and it’s not just a theory, they’re very accommodating, very understanding, and they even come around to respect it. I’ve been in the business world as a frum guy. I go to places where they haven’t seen a Jewish guy – let alone a frum Jewish guy – in their life, and I’m wearing a kippah. My kippah says “Vote Gabi” on it. I wear it everywhere, and people respect it. I don’t see it as an issue when I become a state representative.
Do you feel that religious Christians connect more with you because you are religious?
They do. And when they find out that I was born in Jerusalem on December 25, their eyes light up. But Republicans, in general, tend to be warm to that spiritual side. And I don’t travel in staunchly leftist Democrat circles, so I really don’t know what that would be like if I would be conversing with them.
