Esteemed, former U.S. Senator and Vice Presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman gave an unprecedented endorsement to NY State Assembly candidate Simcha Eichenstein this evening. The glowing endorsement for the 48th Assembly District candidate (Boro Park and Midwood) was released on video.

“I’m delighted to be able to endorse Simcha Eichenstein for the New York Assembly in this year’s election,” said Lieberman. “I haven’t gotten involved in many campaigns since I left the United States Senate, but this is an unusual one—first, because I know Simcha. I met him more than 15 years ago when I was in the United States Senate, and he came to talk to me to ask me to help him and others preserve cemeteries in Europe, where some of our family members were buried and had been overlooked and not cared for. It was a real mitzvah because, as we know, those who benefitted—those who were buried there—their neshamos were in Olam haboh—were not here to say thank you to Simcha. So he’s a very good person.

“He has been a great advocate for the Orthodox community working for Tom DiNapoli and for Mayor de Blasio in Albany. So if—and I know with confidence when—Simcha is elected, he will really be able to hit the ground running.

“He also, I think, will break a barrier. He’ll be really the first Chasidishe member of a state legislative body in the United States of America. And he’s uniquely prepared to do that—to represent the interests of his Orthodox Jewish constituents, but also, in a broader sense, to do Kiddush Hashem. He understands how important it is to conduct himself not only productively, but honorably, so people will say, ‘These are the values of an Orthodox Jewish person.’

“I’m really proud that we’ve come to this moment where Simcha Eichenstein is running for the Assembly. I’m very impressed that he seems to have the endorsement of just about everybody. I worry about too much partisanship in American politics. Maybe the answer to too much partisanship in a candidate like Simcha. All the parties support him. And that means he can, I think, be a very effective member of the New York Assembly.

“So I wish Simcha Eichenstein well, and I urge all the voters in his district of all parties to support him for the New York Assembly this year. Good luck Simcha.”

Simcha voiced his heartfelt gratitude to Senator Lieberman for taking the time to offer such a warm endorsement. “I can’t adequately describe how honored I am to be here with Senator Lieberman, one of the most respected public servants of my lifetime,” Simcha said. “Senator Lieberman has brought Orthodox sensibilities and a Torah perspective to public office in a way that no one else in America has ever done before. He’s a legend and I recall how thrilled I was when I first met him over 15 years ago. As the Senator mentioned, I first approached him about cemeteries in Europe being in danger. He immediately took action. Of course, anyone who knows the Senator understands that he takes on all issues passionately. As an elected official, I hope to emulate a fraction of his outstanding and ongoing examples of Kiddush Hashem.”

Lieberman concluded his endorsement of Eichenstein with something of a fatherly blessing: “You’re a young man,” said the Senator. “You have a lot of great years ahead of you. You can do wonderful work for your constituents, for New York, for America, and for Kiddush Hashem.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)