Volume 67, Issue 3

From Political Science to Politics: Yeshiva Alum Runs For Congress

by Joe Greene

Known for its high acceptance rates to prestigious graduate schools in medicine and law, many students attend Yeshiva in order to join the rank and file of the prototypical Jewish workforce. Rarely, however, do we find a Yeshiva graduate in the political arena.  Opposing the norm, Joe Glass, a 1998 graduate of Yeshiva College as well as an alumnus of The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy Yeshiva University High School for Boys, is running for United States Congress in the upcoming November elections.

Contending in New Jersey’s Ninth District – which consists primarily of Bergen County and a few towns in Hudson and Passaic Counties – Glass hopes to garner support from many of the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, including Teaneck, Englewood, Bergenfield, Fair Lawn and Paramus.

Glass, 25, grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, with his parents Michael and Sharon and brothers Brian, a Yeshiva College alumnus, and David, a Sy Syms sophomore.  Now a resident of Teaneck and a member of Congregation West Englewood, Joe and his wife Adina – a Stern College for Women alumnus – are expecting their first child this December.

With plans to attend law school after graduating from Yeshiva College, Glass settled on political science as his major.  These plans changed during his senior year when he and Adina – who also planned on attending law school – decided to get married shortly after graduation.   Their marriage interfered with their aspirations for law, forcing at least one of them to put plans on hold, and Joe decided to join the workforce in order to allow his wife to attend NYU School of Law.  He entered the telecommunications field where he soon rose to the level of Senior Marketing Manager for a New York City firm.

As a manager within the company, Glass learned specific leadership qualities that now assist him as he pursues a career in politics.  He believes that his managerial position has afforded him the ability to better recognize problems and their ideal solutions.  It has also helped him improve his social skills, a requisite for a congressional career.  Although Glass has gained much from his stint in telecommunications, he considers his political experiences from high school and college as the most beneficial to his current campaign.

While in high school, Glass volunteered for different Presidential campaigns emphasizing voter registration drives.  He calls this type of the work, “The Parties’ Grunt Work” but emphasized that by “[sticking] your neck out for them and [doing] their grunt work, they will remember you.”  This is the advice Glass imparts to any student with aspirations for a career in politics; indeed, due to his “grunt work,” he was now asked to run on the Republican ticket in the November election.

At Yeshiva as well, Glass was very involved in student government. As a junior, he was the Yeshiva College Student Council Treasurer.  Additionally, he credits his political science professors for teaching him the ropes of politics.  One of Glass’s professors, former Yeshiva College Political Science Professor Dr. Ross Zucker, not only guided and taught him as a student but is also aiding him in his campaign.

Ari Feldman, a political science major at Yeshiva with aspirations for a career in politics, is thrilled to hear about Glass’s congressional run.  Feldman says, “It really gives me confidence to go into a career in politics knowing that someone from the same school with the same major as me is running for such a prestigious position at such a young age.”

Due to his Zionistic background, Glass asserts his strong support of Israel, stressing that America must assist Israel in her fight against terror.  Glass also hopes to establish Jerusalem as the officially recognized and undivided capital of the Jewish state of Israel.

On the home front, Glass has some immediate goals he plans to address if elected, one of which specifically pertains to the school system.  In a statement issued on July 12th, he said, “I am committed to working with the President to improve education so that parents, teachers, and students work together towards the same goals… Schools must educate our children to compete in a modern workplace.”  The latter statement refers primarily to the lack of emphasis placed on basic computer skills.  This proposition, known as “School Choice,” advocates that parents be permitted to send their children to the school of their choice, based upon their own political and religious ideals.  Parents would subsequently earn tax credits for a percentage of their child’s tuition.  By establishing a competitive system, the program is designed to give public schools motivation to improve.  The proposal is intended to save taxpayers money by reducing the cost of public schools, while leaving the public schools system with no choice but too improve.

As an Orthodox Jew and a Yeshiva alumnus, Glass plans to take the values of Torah U’Madda – instilled in him by his parents and schools from a very young age – to Washington.  “Being a Modern Orthodox Jew, brought up with values different from much of the secular world, I will have more morals and ethics than those of some other politicians in Washington,” he maintains.  The reference is to the recent allegations against US New Jersey Senator Bob Toricelli, who allegedly took favors and gifts and from wealthy businessmen whom he had promised to help out if elected.  Glass hopes that this case will remind him to uphold his morals if elected to Congress.

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