Minority whip Josh Stein speaks for North Carolina Hillel

N.C. Senate minority whip and Chapel Hill native Josh Stein explains the state’s current political climate with an old Jewish proverb.

“They not only took the entire field, but they also went into someone else’s field and took a little more,” he said.

On Monday Stein came to speak for North Carolina Hillel, a statewide organization for representing Jewish values.

He told the audience that Jewish values instilled in him while growing up helped him to form his political views today, saying that many of the current political actions taken by the state have been in contradiction with his beliefs.

He also said the current system doesn’t work, specifically the trickle-down economics.

“Our economy should be built from the center out,” he said. “That’s when we’re strongest as a state. That’s when we’re strongest as a nation.”

Stein has been using social media to guarantee that the people of North Carolina can hear his message. He said he believes state politics are directly affected by national politics, and that North Carolina politics especially reflect this.

But Stein said it is important that everyone pay attention to what’s going on in their state.

“It’s the government that is closest to people that makes the decisions that most directly impact people’s lives,” Stein said.

Chapel Hill citizen Bob Schwartz said his high expectations for Stein’s presentation were more than exceeded.

“I thought he gave a very good synopsis of what was going on politically,” Schwartz said.

Senior Alex Gottschalk, who organized the event, said he feels students on campus have a very strong focus on national politics but that state politics seem to fall through the cracks.

“A lot of students here don’t know much about our state politics,” he said.

He said his goal was to show students and community members that there is Jewish presence in North Carolina state politics and that state politicians are just like the constituents they represent.

Ari Gauss , the executive director of Hillel, said Gottschalk’s idea fit very closely with Jewish beliefs and with current events in state politics. Members of the Hillel have been partaking in the Moral Monday protest movement in Raleigh, which in many ways fits with Jewish principles.

“The Torah refers many times that we were strangers in the land of Egypt and we are obligated as Jews to look after the disenfranchised in the community,” Gauss said. “So much of the legislation really sought to marginalize a lot of members of society, and that’s fundamentally un-Jewish.”

Gauss said Stein fit the teachings of the Torah well.

“The Torah teaches that we’re all created in the image of God,” he said.

“Each of us has a divine spark in us, regardless of the color of your skin, the depth of your pockets or your political affiliation.”