Congressional candidate deletes controversial post picturing Hasidic leaders.
‍Candidate Mondaire Jones, a challenger to Rep. Mike Lawler, deleted a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he captioned a photo of Lawler and Rep. Kevin McCarthy meeting with Hasidic leaders, calling it “a waste of everyone’s time.” Jones told the Forward that the comment referred to McCarthy’s recent ousting as Speaker of the House of Representatives. “Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly wasted the time of Hasidic leaders in the Lower Hudson Valley,” he told the press.

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Teach Coalition establishes new advocacy organization.
‍Teach Action Fund, a new 501(c)(4) organization established by the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition to advocate for increased public funding of private schools, including Haredi schools, launched at the end of September, reports Jewish Insider. The article says that Teach Action will not give direct campaign contributions to political candidates, but it will be able to take positions in electoral politics.

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Queer woman recalls being a Hasidic wife.
‍Therapist Sara Glass, who serves as a clinical supervisor for the organization Jewish Queer Youth, published a personal essay in the Huffington Post last week recalling her experience as a Hasidic wife and mother, including undergoing what she calls a “pro bono ritualistic vaginal exam.” Mostly, Glass writes, she does not miss her Hasidic lifestyle. “But,” she says, “a small part of me, underneath the broken section of my heart, will miss that forever.”

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Town of Ramapo accused of botched handling of Airmont mikvah approval.
‍The town of Ramapo is planning to seek dismissal of a lawsuit that claims it botched the handling of the approval of a ritual bath, or mikvah, in the village of Airmont, reports Lohud. The lawsuit, filed by a local resident in federal court, argues the town and its planning board purposely delayed filing reasons for approving the mikvah in 2021 until after it was too late for residents to express objections in state court.

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Four reportedly arrested at Crown Heights sukkot party.
‍At a traditional Chabad-Lubavitch sukkot party on Wednesday night, Crown Heights Info claims “a gang fight between a group of Jewish teens who came into Crown Heights from a non-Lubavitch community broke out,” leading to four arrests. The article asserts that multiple other assaults happened at sukkot events in the neighborhood this week, related to arguments over whether the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is the messiah: “the assaults appeared to be related as a group of Israeli teens were found to be responsible, targeting anyone who did not believe in their extremist views on the Rebbe and Mashiach with brass knuckles and pieces of wood.”