[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 38 (Monday, March 30, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E516-E517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS OF RABBI EDGAR GLUCK
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HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN
of new york
in the house of representatives
Monday, March 30, 1998
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to
call to the attention of our colleagues the outstanding record of our
good friend and religious leader, Rabbi Edgar Gluck.
Rabbi Edgar Gluck is a man of exceptional qualities. His hard work
and dedication has helped to make his community, New York City and the
State of New York a better place. Rabbi Gluck has worked for many years
in the public sector. His innovative and intelligent solutions have
helped to solve many of today's most pressing problems. Each of Rabbi
Gluck's numerous accomplishments have been a reflection of his earnest
and profound desire to help others. It is Rabbi Gluck's selfless
dedication that makes him the remarkable man he is.
Rabbi Gluck's dedication and perseverance has brought a better life
to hundreds of people. Early in his long career Rabbi Gluck fought to
incorporate the Hasidic Village of New Square in Rockland County, N.Y.
Rabbi Gluck was faced with many obstacles including antisemitism. He
petitioned and worked along side government officials and bureaucrats
in hopes of helping his community. Rabbi Gluck's diligence,
understanding and intelligence made the incorporation of the Village of
New Square possible.
Rabbi Gluck has used his insight and intellect to bring about many
meaningful changes. Rabbi Gluck has been personally responsible for our
Nation's largest and fastest Volunteer Ambulance Corps. What is most
remarkable about Rabbi Gluck's accomplishments is that each program,
issue or organization he has worked with has involved bettering
people's lives. His convictions and love for community is an example
for all of us. For bringing about meaningful change.
Mr. Speaker, for my colleagues information about the Rabbi's
exemplary life, I would like to submit into the Record an article
entitled ``Rabbi Edgar Gluck: Personifying the Ideal of Service'' from
the Jewish Press's March 20th, 1998 edition.
[From the Jewish Press, March 20, 1998]
Rabbi Edgar Gluck: Personifying the Ideal of Service
(By Jason Maoz)
Rabbi Edgar Gluck first navigated the bureaucratic maze of
government as a yeshiva bochur back in the days of the
Eisenhower administration in the 1950's. Forty-plus years
later, in the Clinton 90's, he's still at it full force,
utilizing his savvy and his skill, his contacts and his
connections, working incessantly on behalf of the community.
A full and detailed account of each of Rabbi Gluck's
accomplishments through the years would easily fill half this
newspaper; certainly there are too many to list in this
space. But it is not very difficult to appreciate the scope
of his success: Just think of him the next time you see an
Hatzolah ambulance racing to the scene of an accident, or the
next time you pass--or use--the designated safe-site for
Mincha on the New York State Thruway.
Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1936, Rabbi Edgar Gluck came to
the United States at the age of two. His family settled in
the Bronx, where as a young boy he attended yeshiva Ahavas
Torah. In later years he would learn at Beis Medrash Elyon,
Chasam Sofer Rabbinical College and Mesifta Talmudical
Seminary.
It was as a talmid at Beis Medrash Elyon that Rabbi Gluck
became involved in the battle to incorporate the village of
New Square--a particularly fierce battle, given the
prevailing anti-Jewish attitudes in neighboring communities--
and learned how to deal with all manner of government
officials and bureaucrats.
``I was asked by the Rosh Yeshiva to work with some other
people on this issue and see if we could make any headway,''
Rabbi Gluck recalls. ``It was a real education, getting to
know about all of the various state agencies and how each
differs from the other in terms of specific responsibilities.
I figured out my way around Albany and made my first trip to
the Governor's office--Rockfeller was just starting his first
term--and we made steady progress toward achieving our
goal.''
It took several years and a lot of behind-the-scenes
maneuvering, but in 1961 the village of New Square was
finally incorporated. Rabbi Gluck saw first-hand that while
the wheels of government turn slowly, they do turn; the trick
is knowing how to steer.
Rabbi Gluck developed a close relationship in the early
1960's with then-Congressman John Lindsay. After Lindsay
became Mayor, Rabbi Gluck was appointed Supervisor and
Coordinator of Area Services, charged with overseeing nine
field offices of the Mayor's Urban Task Force, the
Neighborhood Conservation Bureau, and Nieghborhood City Halls
in Williamsburg, Boro Park and Coney Island.
`There was so much going on in New York during that period
of time, the late Sixties, early Seventies,'' he says. ``I
was fortunate to be right in the middle of things, on the
local neighborhood level, interacting with so many
constituency groups. It helped me gain immeasurably in my
knowledge of the communities that make up the city.''
Rabbi Gluck continued working in city government under
Mayors Beame and Koch, serving as Director of Neighborhood
Conservation in the Office of Housing Preservation and
Development and as city liaison to the Port Authority Police,
the U.S. Departments of Customs and Immigration, and Orthodox
communities around the city.
``The Rabbi played a key role in many high-level
negotiations,'' says a former official who worked on some of
the same sensitive issues. ``Racial problems, crime, health
services--these were the city's biggest headaches, and Rabbi
Gluck always brought to the table a cool head and an amazing
amount of relevant information. I remember that people who
dealt with him invariably came away with a great amount of
respect for the man.''
In 1979, Governor Hugh Carey named Rabbi Gluck Special
Assistant to the Director at the New York Division for Youth
where, working in tandem with legislators and community
leaders, he helped resolve a wide range of local problems.
Since 1984 he's served as Special Assistant to the
Superintendent of the State Police, acting as liaison between
the office of the Superintendent and state and federal
lawmakers, government agencies, and private-sector
organizations.
The many achievements for which Rabbi Gluck can justly take
credit include the Hatzolah Volunteer Ambulance Corp., which
he co-founded decades ago and which, he points out with
pride. Newsweek magazine has called it the largest such
organization in the country, with the fastest response time;
the Mincha site on the New York Thruway, which he fought for
despite fierce opposition from a number of secular
organizations; and the new stipulations--agreed to by
Governor Pataki at Rabbi Gluck's behest and now officially
written into state contracts--that all construction crews on
the Thruway work only until 12 noon on Fridays, a measure
that greatly facilitates the flow of traffic up to the
Catskills.
Rabbi Gluck has been instrumental in the matter of Jewish
cemeteries, working to incorporate the first new Chassidic
cemetery in New York State when Grand Rabbi Twersky died and
a new cemetery in Monroe when the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel
Teitelbaum, was niftar. He also helped increase the size of
the cemetery in Mount Kisco when the Pupa Rebbe, Rabbi
Grunwald, passed away.
Dennis Rapps, the executive director and general counsel at
COLPA, the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public
Affairs, has known Rabbi Gluck for more than 20 years. The
two of them have worked closely together on a number of
issues and have successfully influenced legislation, perhaps
most notably the autopsy law of 1983. Mr. Rapps describes
Rabbi Gluck as a ``pioneer'' on the matter of autopsies and
how they affect the Jewish community.
``I personally know so many people,'' he says, ``who have
been helped by Rabbi Gluck on autopsies alone. This was the
case before we got the law passed and it's the case even now,
when there are still problems that can come up. Whether it's
help to arrange for a special visa, or to get the medical
examiner to release a body in time for a flight to Israel, or
to make sure an autopsy is not performed on a loved one who
unexpectedly dies while abroad, everyone knows Rabbi Gluck is
the one to call--and they call him whenever they need him,
many times in the middle of the night. He is truly a
remarkable individual.''
[[Page E517]]
A particular source of personal satisfaction, says Rabbi
Gluck, is his work with the U.S. Commission for the
Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. Starting on his
own in 1984, and continuing as a member of the Commission
since 1987, he's traveled to Poland once a year for the
purpose of assessing the condition of shuls and cemeteries in
order to restore as many as possible.
Each stay in Poland runs about a week, and while he's there
he lends a hand whichever way he can--as rabbi, chazzan, and
all-around troubleshooter. He also makes trips on behalf of
the Commission to cities as disparate as Moscow and Kiev,
Hamburg and Prague, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Rabbi Gluck has won numerous awards and citations over the
years, including the U.S. Presidential Award for Community
Service, presented to him by Ronald Reagan, and the Man of
the Year Award of the Council of Neighborhood Organizations.
Later this month, he will be the Guest of Honor and receive
the Humanitarian Award at the annual Journal Dinner of the
Yeshiva of Manhattan Beach.
Asked who has been the most help to him over the years,
Rabbi Gluck names several elected officials, among them State
Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver and U.S. Representative
Benjamin Gilman (whom he describes as his closest political
confidante).
But ultimately, he says, the lion's share of the credit
must go to his wife, Fraidy: ``She never complains about my
crazy schedule, or about having to answer the phone at all
hours of the night. My real help, my most invaluable advice
and assistance, comes from her.''
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