Mario Cuomo, the three-term governor of New York who passed away Jan. 1 at the age of 82, was known for his involvement with numerous Jewish causes, organizations and his support for Israel, and counted many well-known Jews among his colleagues, friends and supporters.
One rabbinic figure who was close to Cuomo from the start of his political career was Chabad Rabbi Jacob J. (“J.J.”) Hecht, an educator, writer, radio commentator and founder of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE).
Cuomo and Hecht first met in 1977, according to Hecht’s son, Rabbi Shea Hecht, when Cuomo was making a run for mayor of New York City. At a meeting with Jewish leaders, he acknowledged to the rabbi that he might not win. Hecht replied, “I’m not backing you because you may win, but because you should win.”
While he lost the bid, he won a new friendship.
A year later, Cuomo ran for Lt. Governor and got the job, which he held for three years, until 1982. That year, he was elected to his first term as governor of New York and remained in the top state seat until 1994.
In 1992, Cuomo gave the director of New York’s Criminal Justice Services, Richard H. Girgenti, the authority to investigate the 1991 riots in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y. Cuomo was supportive of the report’s conclusions, which was widely seen as a condemnation of New York City officials’ response to the rioting and its aftermath.
Following his terms as governor, Cuomo served as keynote speaker at a number of NCJFE and other Chabad-Lubavitch events around the nation.
A Pre-Election Blessing
Eight years after first being elected to New York’s highest office, on Oct. 14, 1990, a few days after the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Cuomo met the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. He was accompanied by Rabbi Shimon Hecht, one of Rabbi J.J. Hecht’s sons.
With a black-and-white kipah on his head, Cuomo—known for his oration skills and strong demeanor—spoke in a deferential tone to the Rebbe, thanking him “for all you do for the whole community, for all you do with education, for the wonderful example you set. I have listened to you; I have watched you on television; I have learned from you. And I am grateful to you.”
“May G‑d Almighty bless you,” replied the Rebbe. “And thank you, especially for helping me in my activities also, through your management of this community and the community at large.”
“Well, Rabbi, I wish you another many, many years of good health and strength. And if G‑d sends me a little,” he said, smiling, “I’ll continue to help.”
“May G‑d Almighty bless you. You are not connected with the elections?” asked the Rebbe.
“I’m running again on Nov. 6, just about a few weeks from now.”
“Then it should be with a double effort,” said the Rebbe. “And may G‑d Almighty bless you with double success.
“Go from ‘strength to strength’ until the elections,” continued the Rebbe, handing him first the typical one dollar and then another, adding “and this is for after the elections.”
“Thank you very much,” replied Cuomo, accepting the bills. “This is more than I expected, Rabbi! This will require me to give back more, and I will.”
“Not back to me, but to all the people,” the Rebbe emphasized.
“To the community, yes, Rabbi,” said Cuomo, and the exchange ended.
Advancing ‘The Truths of Their Belief’
Cuomo was interviewed, along with hundreds of others in the years following the passing of the Rebbe in 1994, as part of Jewish Educational Media’s “My Encounter with the Rebbe” project. In it, he speaks of the Rebbe’s abilities to communicate so well with adult and child alike, and his way of explaining even the most difficult subject matter and making it sound lucid to all.
“His great gift was taking the tremendous knowledge and intelligence he had—especially his intelligence, his ability to understand arcane subjects, complicated subjects—and reducing that to a point where” people understood him. “It’s easy to simplify if you’re allowed to be simplistic. It’s harder to simplify if you have to remain intelligent in the process, and that’s what he was able to do.”
“You took one look at him,” said Cuomo, “and you felt his presence. If he said nothing, if he never gave you a dollar or two dollars or touched you, there was a force coming from his very presence that made you feel better and uplifted, and that doesn’t happen often.”
Cuomo added that one of the Rebbe’s gifts was to lead the Jewish people in actively expressing “the truths of their belief.”
“He showed them how to be Jews and how to be proper Jews, and how to live their lives fully, and frankly, how to enjoy, because by understanding that it’s your mission, it makes life easier for you.”
He concluded the interview with an eye towards the future: “One of the challenges of the community is to try to decide where the Rebbe is now in their lives; where is Rebbe Schneerson now? Here, with me, forever? He will keep the Jewish people who know him occupied for the rest of their lives, and if the Jewish people are fortunate—the ones to come—they will have him in their lives as well.”
