Monsey, NY – On Friday afternoon, we buried my brother at Ascension Cemetery. To get to the burial we had to drive from St. Gregory’s in northern Rockland to the cemetery in Airmont. The funeral procession began along the 13-mile trip taking us through many towns. At each intersection and side street, respectful citizens patiently put their cars in park and waited as we drove by.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
As we reached Monsey on Route 306, we became outraged at the actions of some members of this community. For a religious group who firmly believes in the right to participate in a religious ritual without bias, ridicule or interruption, some in this community acted disgracefully. Drivers cut off cars in the funeral procession, including the limousines behind the hearse; they yelled, hollered and laughed at us as we drove by.
When did it become acceptable to be so disrespectful?
Dennis Collopy-West Nyack, NY
We’r sorry we were wrong and we apologize
this letter makes me sick ot my stomach! what a c hillul hashem! makes me want to cry. the people who did this should be ashamed of themselves
Nebach how low we have fallen. Even on erev shabbos its a total disgrace. Ch”V if it were hatzola we would wait
Embarassing. While I’d like to think that the bad behavior here was exhibited by (or would be acceptable to) only a few bad apples, that’s really all it takes to create a terrible impression. I can imagine the response of the Jewish community if a bunch of gentiles had yelled or laughed during Jewish funeral procession. Sorry, Mr. Collopy– most of us aren’t like that.
thanks, how about its shabbos coming in this area, its like driving by china town before christmas, I feel their pain however I can’t balme friday before sunset on 306 to drive 20 mph,
one word…OUCH!!!
if it is true that people were deliberately disrespectful to the point to chillul hashem, an apology should be made. 306 was probably a poor choice for the many car procession on a friday afternoon. 1 lane each way with many side streets having no other outlet but 306.it can get harrowing without a procession.
I was the third car off the intersection of Maple and 306 at approximately 1:15 when this funeral drove through, sitting at an elevated position as the Blauvelt side of Maple heading west is elevated prior to the actual intersection. There was a Ramapo squad car parked in the middle of the intersection and the officer was holding traffic on all sides. I saw nothing even close to what is described in this letter. While I was obviously not able to see all directions, and have no idea what happened on 306 north of the intersection, prior to the funeral reaching the intersection, I can safely say that at the intersection every single car waited for the funeral to pass, which took at least three or even four minutes. Keep in mind also that it was erev shabbos, and much traffic converges on the intersection at 1:15 when the Williamsburg and Boro Park buses depart. There were three Monsey Trails buses and a KJ bus that waited for the intersection to clear.
they probably have no clue what a funeral procession is….they prob think it some crazy drivers with their lights on in the middle of the day
First of all, this story seems exaggerated………..
And Friday afternoon?, I guess this most have been very close to shabbos and those drivers were simply rushing home.
I have no doubt that the author of that post is a bigot, who is looking to spread hate, for the simple reason of associating these drivers with the community and religion they belong to, since when does any religion have an effect on how a person drives? there are disrespectful drivers in every community, religion and fate.
And no doubt that the Journal News is a great place to host these posts.
no derech eretz (proper decorum – respect), it’s unacceptable! i believe every rov should make a speech about this matter this shabbos in shul. People need to hear it when they do something so blatantly wrong.
I wasn’t there. I don’t even live in the USA . So i can’t comment on whether this accusation is true or not…….BUT why wasn’t i shocked and shouting it can’t be..it never happened?! And others around me feel the same. It’s sad that our education has led us not to respect non religious Jews and Gentiles as much as we respect our own.
I wish I was wrong! Am i?
very understanding to the Jewish community…… on a short Friday they need to drive through our community holding up a mile long of cars driving slow…..
They will not learn. They will do it again, and again and again until we are told to get out of this country. Laughing at a funeral procession? And we wonder why girls can’t find a decent shidduch?
ive been driving for a while already and never knew of such a thing , until my husband pointed it out to me a couple of months ago, they dont teach this anywhere, i consider myself a very mannered person, but was clueless about this.
First of al, it’s not at ALL fair for them to sweep our community with one brush. My mother got stuck at an intersection where a cop was holding up traffic for this procession. At first she was upset wondering why she was being delayed – she’s older and was tired and wanted to get home. When the officer explained to her the reason for the procession, she told me she no longer minded being delayed, but felt sympathy to those making a funeral that day. Where is this story in the news????
By the way, many people in the Jewish community are probably UNAWARE what a funeral procession of cars even is. How are they supposed to know that a long line of cars means a funeral??? At least my mother had a police officer explain it to her. Probably it looked funny to other people, which is why they laughed.
And yes, I can understand a driver even getting angry if the light turns green for him yet the cars in that line “persisted” in “running” the red light – because he didn’t KNOW it was a funeral procession. They probably thought it was a bunch of nasty stubborn drivers. I’ve never seen a funeral procession around here – why should we know what it was? Maybe now people will know…
I was there that day the police told me to move to the side.first of all,that time of day is the busiest time of thw week and I waited to turn onto main street until I thought that all of the cars have passed but behind the taxi in back of me there were another fifteen cars.it was a mad house then you couldn’t even move I think most people didn’t understand what’s was going on
WHOA – this story is a lie!!!!! I just re-read the article and saw the intersection was 59 and 306. My mother was stopped there for this procession, and you can confirm with the police that the RAMAPO POLICE HELD UP ALL TRAFFIC AT THAT INTERSECTION to allow the procession to pass! NO, I do NOT believe that drivers were behaving that way, cutting off the procession RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE COPS! Yeah, right! Whoever wrote this article is a LIAR who is looking for TROUBLE!
Go ahead and call the police on their non-emergency line and confirm that they were at that very intersection holding up traffic.
wow,these excuses r making me vomit,anything just not 2 admit that u r wrong,own up and say u r srry,if uve been driving 4 awhile,and uve been 2 bklyn and ur connected 2 the outside world then u know what it is,its not new square or monroe,every idiout knows what a funeral procession is and remember karma (idont no what that is eitheir) karma means what comes around goes around,if u dont have the respect 2 wait 4 a funeralprocession,when it come urtime then the same thing will happen!!!!!!
I love to bash the frum as you guys know, but even I find this hard to believe
Drivers cut off cars in the funeral procession, including the limousines behind the hearse; they yelled, hollered and laughed at us as we drove by.
dont over exaggerate beacuses liars belong in the ground
shaul in money, please please send your comment in to the journal news(lohud.com) and let them see a different side to us religious people. it might make us seem a bit more decent. thanks.
These excuses post by some that the funeral procession inconvenienced them because it was erev shabbos are a busha and actually lies. The procession came through the town at just after 1:00 PM and licht benchen was not until at least 3 hours later. Respect for the niftar ALWAYS takes priority over buying a kugul for shabbos or rushing home to wherever you are going. It would be better to walk home than disrupt a levayah like these people did.
who is this Dennis Collopy who wrote this “alleged” letter? whats his agenda?
No place in the DMV booklet, is there a mention of stopping for a funeral procession. This practice virtually does not exists in our frum community. Also please don’t compare stopping for an ambulance, should be equal to stopping for a funeral. I think perhaps we need to learn some basic cultures of America, and for our rabbonim to teach us to respect other customs.
Why should we wait ? Was this a police officer or a soldier ? Why are dead people accorded more respect than live people ?
In Israel, in Canada and in many other countries it has lately become law that one must drive with headlights especially in winter, to be more visible. For this reason, you will notice many people lately do this in the US, as well.
When you have a long funeral procession, those encountering cars that are part of the funeral distanced from the hearst have no way of knowing why their headlights are on. They ususally assume that it is done as a safety precaution without giving second thought.
I am sure this is not the first time such a misunderstanding took place anywhere in any community anywhere in the USA.
Let’s try another method of identification such as a black (or any other consistent color) banner tied to the antenna or front of each car.
Headlights daytime is no longer conveying any message to anyone.
I leave in Monsey and i can tell you that drivers have no respect for anyone. the driving rules in Monsey are I HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY!!!
The chilul hashem is tremendous.
Drivers yelled, hollered and laughed—sorry, doesn’t ring true.
2 all the people that r worried about getting home be4 shabbos,do what u need earlier or do it thurs nite,i understand that some people have 2 do things be4 shabbos because of work or other unrelated issues but the people that can doit the nite be4 then DO IT,and to #11 ,please dont post anymore because ur making people sick with ur bull
If the the story is true, it is indeed outrageous and sad. However, this incident is not sufficient to condemn the entire Jewish community because of the acts of some individuals. I remember driving behind the casket of Rav Eliezer Kirzner zt’l (many years ago), with police escort and all, and some non Jewish persons were jeering, grimacing from their cars. The sad reality is that bigots exists everywhere; we should try to teach respect for others. We can’t draw conclusions about an entire community over the outrageous acts of some individuals.
The letter likely contains many false allegations. I don’t believe a word it says except for his name on the bottom. In fact, I can only imagine how much the Journal News added to it. I heard from someone that spoke to someone that knows someone that has a neighbor that lives not far from the intersection, altought she was not home at the time of the incident, she did however hear from her husband that has kids of his own and the COPS where on patrol and blocking all traffic except for the guys running the funeral procession Excuse my languaue however these bias, anti-semite, sick jewish hating, gentiles make me sick to my stomack! Mr. Collopy, We pray that god and your brother forgives you for the embarrassing pain and suffering you have brought upon his sole, yourself, your family and the world with these shamful lies.
I have lived in many states & I NEVER saw a law in ANY driver’s manual about stopping for a funeral procession. I will even say that unless there is police officer stopping cross traffic ther law is that the funeral procession MUST obey all traffic signals & posted signs. If anyone can prove it is a law, kol haKavod, please post it here. The only possible reason people would stop at the intersection for a funeral procession is altz sympathy to the live people.
This is not an ‘insular’ thing as some of you people are trying to spin it. Your strange agenda is that they have a life …. WITHOUT YOU.
I would strongly urge all people who saw this procession & said there was nothing out of the ordinary to send an email response to the Urinal News’ Editor letting them know there is another side to this story. Just remember, be sympathetic to the dead person’s family & be RESPECTFUL to all involved.
This is a person in mourning that needs to vent over possibly 5 out of 200 cars that might have cut into their procession.
I drove carpool this morning and just driving down 13th avenue, all i had to do was drive straight right – easy? NO – because at some point down 13th avenue TWO CARS pull out from their parking spots, no tchecking to see if a car was coming, and one of them was within a hairline of hitting my car.
That is the usual system. Or how about the lady that backed into a parking spot, banged into my car leaving a dark scratch across the front (and this was 2 hours after I bought the car home from the body shop with a full respray) and when asked what should be done she looked at me and said “consider it a Kaparah – it’s only money”. Cars jumping red lights is more normal here then cars stopping at red lights. It makes me sick to the stomach!!
And by the way – thanks to the driver that broke off my front lisence plate frame yesterday – whoever you are!
Whoever wrote this letter is clearly an ANTI SIMETIC BIGOT with a perfect excuse and great platform to spew his/her hatred…. I wouldn’t give it a minutes thought…
The problem is that you don’t know what a funeral procession is, you guys live in a ghetto and then bitchh that you didn’t know basic rules that the whole world knows and understands, and if you need a law to tell you to stop for a funeral procession then you’re already in bad shape, because all you guys think about is you you and you, how about just having respect for others, basic human decency, especially when a family drives by on their way to a cemetery with one of their loved ones in a box, RESPECT is the key, respect your fellow men. Isn’t Derech Eretz Kodma Letorah? If you don’t know the basics then you might as well just start all over again, start by keeping the Ten Commandments, who here remembers what it is?
#34 is to the point, just to add , My daughter volunteers in a hospital every Monday & Wednesday, let me tell you a story (in short) that just happened last week, this old gentile lady told my daughter (who always stops in with a good word & smile), that she is in the hospital for six weeks, has tree kids two living in NYC, and gets a visit from them an average of one child once a day for one hour, & thanked this jewish kid for giving her some enjoyment at the end of her life, NOW I will add to this, this woman will have a very nice funeral, her kids and large family will be very upset at this same Jew for not stopping, for this fancy limousine and funeral procession. PLEASE everyone use your brains before you write comments on Gods chosen nation
dont give me the belony that your people respect funerals i remember the skuleners levayeh when a car was deliberately driven amongst the participants injuring several people one critically also in boro park they go right through with cars honking their horns nonstop and pedestrains pushing through quite violently let alone throwing items from apartments while i believe that what happened on 306 was wrong it does not compare what some of your punks do
I just would like to say what I saw, I was driving in the opposite direction from pomona to monsey & I saw that at willow tree, grandveiw, violla & philys tr there were police blocking the intersection so I’m no sure what this person is talking about (however if I’m coming out of a side street & I did not see the lead car how am I to know that there is a funeral or any type of procession going on)
Let’s keep it real! This guy is clearly a bigot. If a white Jewish male was mugged at gunpoint by a black man in Harlem on the corner of 125th street and Malcolm X Blvd, would it be racist and unjust to categorize the residents of the surrounding area as “thieves, with no respect for the law”? That article would never make it to print. How can one incident identify the community as a whole? There are idiots, thieves, criminals and rude people everywhere in the world and this is the dirt you have to identify a community? The story has very few legs to run on. If anyone and everyone will go that intersection or three miles along that route can clearly see it is almost IMPOSSABLE for anyone to pass or cut off another car especially
that hour. So this clearly is an isolated incident. I feel for the family and there lost one. I guess when people experience a loss the get vulnerable they vent there frustrations and those frustrations could be exaggerated.
what funeral director would take a long funeral line of cars through Monsey on Friday afternoon? their business is to know how to make these things seamless…
There is A LOT wrong with this story. Everyone in Rockland knows that St. Gregory’s and Ascension Cemetery are Catholic, and Catholics conduct their funerals in the morning (9-10:30am latest) with burials over by 12:30 so the unionized grave diggers can close the graves before the cemetery closes at 4pm.
There is no way this person was coming through Monsey at the time he said. This is a hate filled anti-semite with an agenda.
No one would behave like that…NO ONE!
Two times I participated in a Hachnasos Sefer Torah (parade escorting a new Torah scroll to shul) in Brooklyn, and BOTH TIMES we had eggs thrown at us by gentiles. And walking through Spring Valley I’ve had cars beep their horn and scream obseinities at me (with my children there! and yes, we were walking on the sidewalk!), but I didn’t write an angry letter to the newspaper turning it into a gentile issue.
I know that there are gentiles that hate us for no reason, but I also know it’s not all gentiles. I blame only those individuals who threw the eggs or hurled the comments, not their community or religion or race.
h-shem is testing us again…is it ok to do a chillul h-sem in order to do a mitzvah?
I was going down Main street & was right in front of Bais Yisroel when the cop car pulled up & closed off the intersection of Route 306 & Maple. At first I thought there was a accident or some other sort of medical emergency but about 2 minutes later we saw the hearse coming towards us & realized it was a funeral. I just want to point out 2 things. First of all, even though it was a couple of hours to shabbos & it was very frustrating watching the light change from red to green many times over a 10 to 15 minute period without being able to move (especially since the funeral procession was coming TOWARDS us so theoreticly we should have been able to either go straight or turn right onto Maple without causing any disruption to the procession), I didn’t notice any driver, pasenger, or pedestrian getting impatient or acting with disrespect. Once people realized it was a funeral (& yes, most of the cars had headlights on & a bright orange placard in the windshield saying FUNERAL so it wasn’t that hard to figure out) they stood by quietly & respectively to let it pass by. I did notice a couple of non funeral cars that seemed to have gotten interspersed among the procession here & there but not any more then I would typically see in a procession of this size & most of those drivers looked serious & more like they had somehow gotten in there by mistake & were trying to figure out how to get out of there, definitely not trying to push their way in . Yes, most (if not all) of them happened to be frum yidden but remember, this is the center of Monsey on a Friday afternoon when most of the drivers are frum yidden anyway so I don’t think there was anything disproportionate about that.
One thing both I & my noticed in the long procession was that alot of the members of the funeral procession were laughing & pointing
Continued…
My wife even commented to me that she never saw so much laughter by a funeral before & whoever just died must have either been older & sick for a while so the death wasn’t unexpected, or the people in the procession must never have seen Orthodox Jews before & found them funny enough to laugh at them during a funeral. Bottom line is, my condolences go out to the family & if anybody acted remotely in the way described in the letter they should be ashamed of themselves & I apologize for them, but I certainly didn’t see it.
Someone to post a link to the brother’s obituary so that the time of the funeral can be verified. I just did a Google search and no obituary with the name Collopy came up for the past month.
Read up on the law my friends: S2792: Grants motor vehicles participating in a funeral procession the right-of-way over other motor — which requires drivers in a funeral procession to drive with their hazard lights on
S3119: Prohibits disruption of a funeral procession by making it illegal for a driver of a motor vehicle to force his/her way into the line of said procession
I am not from NY. I have seen Jewish funerals denied procession permits, as it would disturb the general population (read goyim). this undertaker should have used some common sense in routing his funeral through a congested area at a busy time. Visualize our having an activity, happy or sad, on one of their days, such as 12/25, passing their places of gathering or just living!? . I am a native Jew, and realize our country is the best for us, …… but we Jews are not considered important concerning offences to us. Who do we think we are? White goyim? Colored goyim? Arabs? Thy have all the rights, not us.
Finally, we, our extended family, would never break into a funeral line. It is illegal at home in Chicago; it is disrespectful . And, reading the many articles, I don’t think it really happened. Please explain how you run past a police car and break into a long line of cars?
Thank you. That’s all. Onto the next writer.