One Year
Dear Editor:
One year=12 months=52 weeks=365 days. When we refer to a baby’s first year, we joyously count the months when he/she turns over, crawls, takes the first step, or says, “Mama” or “Dada”. When we count the first year of aveilus, however, we count the first Yom Tov, birthday, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day that the person isn’t with us.
To the question, “How are you doing?” my answer is, “Some days are better than others.” It’s been a year since my husband z”l has passed, but it’s really been longer. Parkinson’s, like other diseases, is a long tormentor. Sometimes, to the question, “When did you lose your husband?” my response is, “A long time ago.”
On the brighter side of things, I have become more diligent in my davening and more controlled in what I say. What I wish to express now is a heartfelt “thank you” to my brother and sister-in-law who have graciously made their home a second home to me.
Thank you to my kids who haven’t rolled their eyes (at least in my presence) to my myriads of klutz questions and worries. (e.g., Did Social Security forget me this month?)
Moreover, thanks to my friends who call me, go out with me to bagel stores, encourage me to go on a 5K walk for Israel and a protest march to Washington. “K’nei L’cha Chaver.” This is my advice to everyone!
Debbie Horowitz
Dear Editor:
Prejudices and anti-Semitism do not die but hibernate. Witness the case of Spain. A country occupied for seven centuries by Islamic Moors now rushes to recognize a never-existent Palestine that proudly boasts no Jews will be allowed in its areas.
Spain, who ignominiously expelled Jews in 1492, now – 532 years later – supports the expulsion of Jews again: now from large portions of the Land of Israel. How shocking!
Certainly, Jews who intend to visit Spain should reconsider their travel plans, as I am.
Sincerely,
Henry Moscovic
Lawfare Vs. Trump May Backfire
Dear Editor:
Leftoids are rejoicing everywhere on the phony conviction procured by New York City thug DA, Alvin Bragg, at the behest of a thuggish Biden administration. I’m sure that Mr. Hecht and Mr. Pecoraro will have plenty of hot air to blow over this verdict, with Mr. Hecht no doubt minimizing the plethora of Constitutional and due process violations that led to a verdict that will 100% be reversed on appeal either in the New York State Court of Appeals (The NYS Appellate Court is made up of partisan Democratic Governor appointees so they won’t reverse), or if need be, in the United States Supreme Court.
The fallout, though, from this malicious political prosecution/persecution of Trump will reverberate for decades to come. Don’t think for a hot second that this is the last prosecution of a political rival – it won’t be. The rules have changed. There’s no reversing the horrible course Biden has put this country on. If Trump manages to run through the gauntlet of thug AG Letittia James bankrupting him, the four cases of lawfare, and surviving an attempt to take him off the ballot, prominent Democrats should be nervous. Very nervous. How hard do you think a prosecutor would have to look to find a crime to pin on Bill and Hillary Clinton, career “public servants” with a charity fund who somehow managed to accrue hundreds of millions of dollars in wealth? Barack Obama could be vulnerable for his droning of American citizens overseas. The entire Biden crime syndicate could be hit with indictments. The country’s most notorious inside trader, Nancy Pelosi, could finally face justice. If you think this is far-fetched, you shouldn’t, because there’s precedent for underhanded political shenanigans backfiring on the perpetrators.
About a decade and a half ago, then Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid was having trouble getting President Obama’s judicial nominees confirmed in Congress. So, he came up with a plan. He would simply get rid of the filibuster, a rule that was in place for hundreds of years. This would allow him to push the judicial nominees through with a simple majority. Then Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Reid that he was setting a terrible precedent that would ultimately backfire on Democrats. Reid, however, insisted on following through with his myopic plan. In less than a decade, after Republicans took control of Congress, McConnell took things one step further and got three conservative Supreme Court Justices confirmed with a simple majority.
The Biden administration has upped the lawfare ante to unprecedented Third World Banana Republic levels. Anyone who runs for office in the future is vulnerable to a politically motivated, criminal indictment. But two can play this game. And Democrats shouldn’t cry foul when they’re staring down an indictment for all their corrupt misdeeds. Here’s hoping that when Biden suffers a resounding defeat in November that it is the least of his troubles, as instead of retiring to one of his three mansions that he has collected with ill-gotten gains, he is sent to rot in prison where he belongs.
Jason Stark
Biden’s Pathetic Legacy
Dear Editor:
Warren Hecht can attempt to minimize Biden’s authorizing the use of deadly force in the raid he ordered on Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago by citing deadly force statutes and pointing out that the use of deadly force on Trump was only a remote option, but the fact remains that our current mentally challenged President green-lit the raid on Trump but famously opposed the raid on Osama Bin Laden. Biden was the only one in the Situation Room opposed to taking out Bin Laden when given the shot. Biden has had a lifetime of failures just in the last three and a half years; but if you want to sum up his legacy, that’s it: He was too chicken to pull the trigger on Bin Laden but instead misused all of his Presidential authority to take out a political opponent that he was losing to in an election year.
Mr. Hecht running cover and finding defenses for the indefensible is nothing new. After all, it was Mr. Hecht who authored a column legitimizing Colorado attempting to ban Trump from the ballot, a decision that the Supreme Court reversed in a 9-0 decision. It’s hard to take Mr. Hecht’s “legal analysis” seriously, especially re: Trump, while his political leanings are apparently to the left of Justices Sotomayor, Brown, and Kagan.
Avi Goldberg
Priorities
Dear Editor:
Congratulations to Donald Trump on being the only person in 2024 who was convicted of any crime in a New York courtroom. Just an observation here on the current dumpster fire of an administration that’s in power now. Two weeks ago, National Institutes of Health Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak admitted to Congress that Dr. Fauci lied for years and, indeed, US taxpayers funded gain of research in the Wuhan Lab of Virology in the months leading up to the obvious lab leak that led to a shutdown of the world, millions of deaths and unending chaos for years. For those unfamiliar with what “gain of function research” is, simply put, it’s taking a dangerous virus and making it more infectious and more dangerous. Odd then that the Biden administration has been laser-focused this past year on doing everything within their power to put Trump in jail for the rest of his life on bookkeeping errors and mishandling of documents while Fauci, NIH operatives, and those responsible for the lab leak that killed millions of people and wrecked this country walk free.
Jonathan Goldgrab
Dear Editor:
The Democratic Party had such an amazing week with the ultimate crescendo occurring late Thursday afternoon. We have now become a socialist state and our Constitutional Republic is dead. The Democratic Party cares only about power and nothing else, which was the plan and executed to a tee.
Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush, two “Squad” members in the House of Representatives, put out tweets that demonstrated that they do not know the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. They ended up deleting them, but not before they received plenty of blowback for their error. While one should not be shocked by this, it is quite alarming that there are those elected representatives who do not know how to or do not care to, properly honor and thank those who gave their lives for this great country.
Rashida Tlaib continues to show us just how much she hates Jews, Israel, and America. She gave a speech at a PFLP conference. For those not familiar with this group, the People for the Liberation of Palestine is a terrorist organization started in the late 1960s. It was responsible for several airplane hijackings as well as other terrorist activities against Jews and Israel. Rep. Lawler of Rockland County is now leading the charge to have her removed from Congress. Say what you will about George Santos, he has done nothing compared to how dangerous and treasonous Rashida Tlaib is to our country. She continues to spew nasty rhetoric about this country and our ally, Israel.
The highlight of the whole week was when former President Trump was found guilty of a crime that is still unknown. President Biden came out pretending to be apolitical and said, “No one is above the law.” Leftists are celebrating the verdict. I will leave it to others to analyze the case. Those who think rationally, even if they lean left, like constitutional lawyers Alan Dershowitz and Jonathan Turley, are outraged at this whole episode, and while not surprised by the verdict, are disgusted by the abuse of power by Joe Biden to do this to a political opponent, who also happens to be a former President of the United States. Don’t think for one second that the White House was not involved. The DOJ sent Mr. Colangelo, the number three in the DOJ, to Alvin Bragg’s office to prosecute this case. It was a political hit job, and they got their “convicted felon” advertising line. It was a dark day in our country’s history. We actually crossed “the line.”
Our borders are still wide open. We are getting crushed by massive inflation. Primary elections are coming up. November 5 will be here before you know it. These elections are too important.
Shalom Markowitz
Don’t Do the Crime If You Can’t Do the Time
Dear Editor:
As the late, great Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan sagely stated, you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. I’ll address the opinions of fellow readers Jason Stark, Doniel Behar, and Shalom Markowitz, but first, the conviction of Donald John Trump on 34 felony charges by the People of the State of New York.
Yes, Trump is a convicted felon. That is an undeniable fact. He is no longer entitled to a presumption of innocence. One of the jurors who convicted him was a Truth Social follower. And to correct the recently convicted Trump, 15% of the voters in the County of New York voted for him, not the 5% he claimed. That would mean that more likely than not at least two of the jurors who convicted Trump (not DA Bragg nor President Biden nor AG Garland) actually voted for him. And to quote the late Sammy Davis Jr., “Don’t Do the Crime If You Can’t Do the Time.” In other words, if he didn’t want to be tried in New York County, then he shouldn’t have committed the crime. Trump could have taken the stand before he was convicted but chose not to, rather than add perjury charges to his conviction. Trump was convicted because the documents, as well as corroborated testimony, proved he was a felon beyond a reasonable doubt.
And now the GOP will have a choice, four days after Trump is sentenced, whether they wish to nominate a convicted felon who cannot complete sentences, rambles, and lies (all facts).
As to similarly truth-challenged fellow readers Jason, Doniel, and Shalom, here are the facts, and nothing but the facts:
Jason failed to note that while President Biden and Vice President Pence both voluntarily turned over all documents, convict Trump refused. And before Mr. Stark goes berserk over Trump’s inflammatory assassination rhetoric, the same forms were used for the searches of Presidents Biden and Trump.
Mr. Behar neglected to mention that gas prices were artificially low in 2020 because of Trump’s criminally inept handling of Covid that led to at least 600,000 additional deaths. And as Casey Stengel would say, you can look it up, and find prices were actually higher in 2018 than they are today. Mr. Markowitz and Doniel should check the price at the pump again because gas prices actually have gone down more than a dime to $3.25 at the Oceanside Costco this week.
And it is a fact that while core inflation month-to-month was zero from March to April, the stock market has hit multiple record levels, wages are rising this year faster than inflation, unemployment is at record low levels for the longest time ever. I’m sorry Doniel thinks facts are funny, but he must have plotzed when a panel of bipartisan Presidential scholars rated President Biden the 15th-best President ever, while the convicted Trump came in dead last.
Roads and bridges are being rebuilt while clean drinking water is being delivered under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. It is irrefutable that the jobs of police officers and firefighters were saved by the American Recovery Act, which has made our economy the best in the industrialized world.
President Biden unraveled the mess at our ports that was created by Covid under Trump, which resulted in empty shelves and miles-long food lines. And I must remind them that it was the convicted Trump who dined with Nazis and said there were fine people on both sides when one side were real live Nazis, then ignited a group of domestic terrorists who included folks wearing Camp Auschwitz shirts.
But I cannot close this letter without commending Shalom for his comedy musings. He clearly was trying out for the Borscht Belt when he condemned the scrupulous Justice Sotomayor, rather than the hopelessly corrupt Thomas (and his seditionist wife Ginny) and the seditionist Alito who disgracefully and illegally refuse to recuse themselves from cases involving the convicted felon Trump.
David S. Pecoraro
Former Vice President
Rosedale Jewish Center
Dear Editor:
I am Diana Rachnaev, and I am proud to announce my candidacy for the State Committee in the upcoming election on June 25. For over 38 years, my family and I have been an integral part of this community, contributing to its growth and prosperity since 1975.
In addition to my longstanding ties to this community, I have served as the CEO and co-founder of Yesodot, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing vital social services to individuals in need. Through Yesodot, we have worked tirelessly to empower and support individuals in their personal and professional growth. As a member of CB6, I have dedicated my efforts to cultivating the health, mental health, and substance use committee, striving to enhance the well-being of our community members.
Furthermore, as a member of the Jewish Advisory Council for the Queens DA, I have worked to ensure that our community’s diverse voices are heard and represented in the pursuit of justice and equality. With your support and your vote on June 25, we can continue to build on the progress we have made together. I am committed to being a strong advocate for our community’s values and interests, and I look forward to working collaboratively to create a more vibrant and inclusive future for all.
I humbly ask for your trust and your vote. Let’s continue to shape a better tomorrow for our community, guided by our shared values of unity, compassion, and progress.
Diana Rachnaev
Why Biden Ignores Inflation and Illegal Immigration
Dear Editor:
By polling data, the two most important issues for American voters are the inflated economy and the open Southern border. In an election year, it is crucial for the incumbent President to be cognizant of what is important to the electorate and attempt to satisfy them.
Apparently, no one has sent the polling data on American priorities to members of the Biden administration. I say that because Joe Biden’s priorities do not resemble those of the general public at all. Biden’s priorities appear to be transitioning immediately to green energy, pandering to Hamas supporters, and ensuring minor children’s rights to genital mutilation, i.e., trans-ing them.
I’ve written numerous times in the past, documenting Biden’s amoral and malleable political viewpoints; but examining them strictly from a political standpoint, one is left to conclude this is political malpractice at its worst. Eschewing the needs of struggling, mainstream Americans to cater to the fringe lunatics within your own base is just dumb, and Biden has been accused of many things (lying, treason, sexual assault) but being smart was never one of them.
The former Vice President of the Rosedale Jewish Center, David Pecoraro, wrote in a recent letter that Joe Biden enjoyed “the most successful first three years of any President.” As a former Vice President, he should know that when one has a successful record, one tends to run on it, not away from it. There’s a reason Biden does not want to touch the inflation or illegal immigration issues and has weaponized the legal system against his political opponent who excelled in both areas. It’s because, in reality, when one measures Biden’s performance in those two crucial metrics, it becomes abundantly clear that his first three years are likely the worst of any President in American history.
Biden has been a success in only one area: fast-tracking this once amazing country into a Third World hellscape.
Doniel Behar
Fighting Back
Dear Editor:
We may be winning the military war, but Iran’s war against Israel is multi-layered. Iran has attacked us militarily, economically, and psychologically. We must be aware of it and fight it. The ultimate goal of radical Islam is to destroy all free and democratic societies, rid the world of all Jews and Christians, and spread the horrifyingly immoral Sharia law.
Iran has been waging a propaganda war for years. It is obvious now that they have quietly been funding colleges and spreading their lies, inculcating the naive youth in the US and abroad with a false and dangerous narrative. They have created a culture that attacks the value of family and religion, of respect for history and science, and promotes rampant antisemitism. It is our job to defend, affirm, and propagate these values.
They have infiltrated the internet. Platforms such as Google, Instagram, and TikTok have been poisoned, and they continue to disseminate lies as to what is really happening in Gaza. Over the years, they have paid off UNWRA, made deals with UN members, backed candidates, and funded organizations newspapers, and TV networks, making it nearly impossible to spread any real and objective truth. In this arena, too, we are a few against multitudes, yet we must fight to make our voices heard. We can’t be silent!
Muslims have been infiltrating and “colonizing” communities all over the world, such as in England, France, and Germany. Although they are usually a small percentage of the population, they are violent and frightening, and governments have difficulty opposing their demands and growing political power. In America, Rashida Talib and the Squad have become a major negative force, and the Democrats are pandering to the Muslims in Michigan and Minnesota.
October 7 was, by no means, a plan to fight for a Palestinian state. Raping women, beheading entire families, burning babies, and dragging the naked wounded through the streets of Gaza, was a diabolical plan to degrade, humiliate and rob the Jews of their humanity and any sense of security.
Iran is also working at crippling Israel’s economy. Hamas fighters never produce anything except war and terror. They live off Iran's and UNRWA funding, whereas Israel has a bustling, thriving, successful economy. Every man and woman who is in the reserves has left a void in the workplace. Every store and factory has a work shortage. Schools have a scarcity of teachers. Israel only wants peace, yet from garbage collectors to heads of companies, people are soldiering rather than working. Due to constant bombing, thousands of families have been forced from their homes, left penniless, lost their jobs, and have had to take their kids out of their schools. Amazingly, many Jewish organizations and hundreds of thousands of volunteers have found ways to help, donating living quarters, food, clothing, army equipment, and money and giving their time and energy to do their part.
On Oct 7, Hamas terrorists killed all the innocent Taiwanese workers who harvested Israeli farms and burned the farm animals and the fields. This also caused all the other Taiwanese workers to flee the country. This was a deliberate Iranian strategy to destroy Israel’s agriculture, for which Israel is famous and of which the Muslims are jealous. Now, the farms, which have no workers and many landowners who have been called to duty, are unable to produce the products that Israel needs to survive. Horrendously, on this level, there is a secret war going on in which the farmers are going broke, and Iran is providing Israeli Arabs with the means to secretly buy up these farms. To counter this, we must support these farmers! (Please donate to saveafarmfund.org, a project of Keren Hashviis.)
Israel’s greatness lies in its technology. It is considered an innovation center for enterprise, security, and AI software. The Israeli tech ecosystem is the second largest in the world behind Silicon Valley. Many of these tech-savvy innovators went through the IDF and, since October 7, rather than running their companies, inventing new products, and developing new ideas, have been fighting Hamas. To their credit, many of the entrepreneurial CEOs, founders, and teams have found a way to serve the country and run their businesses, which is an incredible achievement.
The same holds true for the medical field, in which Israel ranks at the top of the spectrum for healthcare innovation and has one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Many scientists, medical technicians, and medical professionals are either serving in the IDF or are overwhelmed by patients and the wounded.
Many volunteers worldwide have flown to Israel to volunteer. Whether it be to work in the medical field, teach in schools, work in stores, prepare meals for soldiers or the displaced, or just cheer up depressed, traumatized, scared kids and adults. Each volunteer is a vital part of our strategy to win.
It is a truism that "Israel is a small country but a big family.” Hamas celebrates death, whereas Israel mourns every precious soul it loses. There is a psychological war that is devastating Israelis, as everyone fears for the hostages, worries about their loved ones fighting in Gaza, and mourns so many cherished souls.
Mentally, everyone is in excruciating pain. Studies show that Jews rank as one of the happiest people in the world due to the close-knit family unit. Yet, now, there is hardly a family in Israel that does not have an immediate or close family member in the IDF. Everyone feels a terrible void. This wearing down of people’s energy level is also part of Iran’s strategy. We, as a nation, try to be there for one another. Everyone is together in trying to comfort, encourage, and keep on the front burner the plight of our hostages and their families. Lone soldiers are given support. Funerals of fallen IDF soldiers are attended by overflowing crowds trying to show compassion and appreciation.
Militarily, Israel is one of the most technologically advanced, and its soldiers are among the best trained in the world. But the world is against us, and that is beyond problematic.
Yes, as I’ve stated, Iran has attacked us militarily, economically, and psychologically, which is taking an immeasurable toll. G-d and our military are fighting the battle in Gaza. To fight the Jihadihist Muslim terrorists and to fight against the growing antisemitism, our best defense is being one nation - helping and supporting each other, and most importantly, remembering that we are G-d’s nation. We must stay strong, optimistic, supportive, and united. We must remember we are all on the same team with one common goal of keeping our homeland secure for all Jews. We have been placed on this earth as a light unto the nations. We must recognize the challenges, stick together to fight them, and be the light and example to others. Jews and Israel have been here for nearly 4,000 years while all those who have tried to destroy us have perished. We will, B’ezrat Hashem. be victorious!
Ruki Renov