Lecture on Kiryas Joel draws Crowd
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| Legislator Michael Anagnostakis (standing) addresses both Professor Hull and the attending crowd during Question & Answer session following Professor Hull's Lecture. |
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| Assemblyman James Skoufis (standing) addresses both Professor Hull and the attending crowd during Question & Answer session following Professor Hull's Lecture. |
November 14, 2014
Professor Richard A. Hull of New York University, and the Town of Warwick Town Historian, gave a free community lecture that was titled "A Village Apart - The Satmar of Kiryas Joel: A Historical and Cultural Perspective" tonight, November 6, 2014, in Munger Cottage, on the grounds of the Cornwall Town Hall located at 183 Main Street, from 7 pm to 9 pm.
The lecture was both academic and scholarly in nature and was devoid of any political, partisan or religious agenda. It emphasized the origin, history, trials, tribulations and religious and social traditions of the Satmar Sect of Judaism from its inception in Central Europe, immigration to the NYC Borough of Brooklyn, and finally it's expansion into Orange County and attempts to expand further north.
Professor Hull's lecture, which was extremely well attended, drew a crowd of approximately 100 attendees, including a good sprinkling of local, County and State political figures. The crowd included both Assemblyman James Skoufis and Orange County Legislator Michael Anagnostakis, both whom addressed the attendees relative their fears about what both they, and Professor Hull, described as Kiryas Joel's apparent insatiable need for expansion.
During the lecture Professor Hull addressed all pertinent issues such as population growth, rates of educational disability and handicap, poverty, and the self imposed isolation of the very insular Satmar/KJ culture, and posed the question, "could they survive?".
Legislator Anagnostakis said the question is, can Orange County survive KJ.
Professor Hull is the author of "Jews and Judaism in Africa", has published numerous articles in academic peer reviewed journeys, holds 4 excellence in teaching awards from NYU, and he was 2013 Warwick Citizen of the Year.
All photos by Jim Lennon.
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