Dear Editor:
I am writing this letter out of deep concern for the Orthodox Jewish communities that have been deeply infiltrated by the ultra-processed food and medical industries. The Ozempic/Wegovy weight-loss drugs have apparently taken these communities by storm, and it is deeply disturbing on several notes.
The frum communities put a big emphasis on food when it comes to the Torah, including the weekly Shabbos, the Yamim Tovim, and simchos, as well as rewarding children for the long hours they spend in yeshivos. When my mother was a little girl, growing up on a tiny farm in Poland, her parents grew all of their food, and so everything was basically organic.
Growing up as a child in the 1960s in Brooklyn, despite the faulty food pyramid, you still didn’t have the ultra-processed and bioengineered food that is available throughout most supermarkets today, including, sadly, the kosher ones. Nor did you have the huge amounts of medications being promoted to men, women, and children. Back then, it was illegal to advertise medical drugs on television. In fact, it only became legal in the late 1980s, and today the medical establishment practically owns the television stations with their non-stop advertising of drugs throughout the day. These drugs are promoted in newspapers and magazines, as well as in Jewish publications, en masse. No wonder obesity, diabetes, and other autoimmune diseases are rampant in our communities. It is a vicious cycle, as the foods that are now being promoted cause all kinds of disease for which doctors promote a pill that causes side effects, for which doctors promote more drugs. It never ends.
As a retired school psychologist, I saw this pattern, as well, when it came to drugging children with psychotropics. Growing up in the 1960s, these things were unheard of; but as a psychologist in the 1990s and onward, it became all too common to drug children to get them to be compliant. These drugs also caused side effects, and it became not uncommon to have children put on several different brain-altering drugs to control behaviors. The psychotropic industry has led to the mass drugging of men, women, and children; and yet there is little data to prove that this is really helping, and in fact may be worsening the situation. Sadly, today, despite the rush to put so many millions of children on these drugs, our kids are more depressed and unfocused than ever before, and they lack the skills they need to cope in life. Many of these drugs also cause side effects such as obesity, depression, mood swings, fatigue, etc.
The latest craze to promote weight-loss injections in the abdomen to lose weight, under the guise of “wellness,” is deeply disturbing, as these drugs are relatively new and reportedly have dangerous side effects from cancers to kidney failure to depression to suicidal ideation, to name a few. In addition, just like the psychotropic drugs, etc., they do nothing to really teach our population self-control and discipline when it comes to eating healthfully, exercising, and developing good lifestyle habits. These drugs also are extremely expensive and, at more than $1,000 a month per patient, the cost of these drugs under Medicaid and Medicare will be a terrible, unsustainable burden on taxpayers. A much better commonsensical and healthier approach would be to pressure our kosher supermarkets to carry more healthful alternatives and get rid of the ultra-processed foods and seed oils that line their shelves. In fact, I challenge the kosher industry to get involved to make this happen and work with RFK Jr., who will hopefully get appointed to President Trump’s cabinet next month. Promoting exercise and healthful foods in our local yeshivos would be a nice start, as well. Having classes that study the teachings of the Rambam on nutrition would be great, too.
RFK Jr. has stated, “for half the price of Ozempic, we could purchase regeneratively raised, organic food for every American, three meals a day, and a gym membership for every obese American.” Being pro-active and practicing prevention is a much better alternative than the cycle of eating unhealthful, ultra-processed foods while taking drugs with lots of side effects.
Remember that the Jewish communities, particularly the Orthodox ones, are extremely small, and we want to make sure we all grow up healthy and strong. Our children are our future! With Hashem’s help, let’s make that a reality!
Rebecca Chesner
Rebecca Chesner is a retired school psychologist and the author of two children’s books: Sam and The Trump Hat and Savta’s House.
Dear Editor:
In the January 23 issue of the Queens Jewish Link, Moshe Hill writes of talks of rioters (and he does admit that there was a riot) who “walked into the Capitol building on that day past smiling guards.” If it was so easy to walk into the building, why did the rioters bring along mountain-climbing equipment and scale walls to enter through upper-story windows? Of course, we understand why some carried bear spray: There is always the danger of bears walking through the hallways of the Capitol. As for defecating on the floor, obviously such a large crowd of “tourists” strained the capacity of the restrooms. (I don’t want to discuss the deaths and injuries resulting from the riot as they are well known.)
David Segal
Kew Gardens Hills, New York
Who Is Right?
Dear Editor:
Two men come to a rabbi with a conflict. The rabbi listens as the first presents his argument and then declares, “You’re right.” The rabbi then listens as the second man presents an opposing argument and then declares, “You’re right.” The gabbai, listening, says to the rabbi, “Rabbi, they are giving opposing arguments. They can’t both be right.” The rabbi answers, “You’re right, too.”
Ben-Gvir, who resigned as Security Minister in opposition to the hostage deal, is correctly screaming that “This is not what complete victory (which Netanyahu promised) looks like. Heroic IDF soldiers did not fight and give their lives in the Gaza Strip, only for Palestinians to return north and celebrate.” He says, “We must return to war and destroy!”
Yet, our rabbis have approved this deal. Pidyon sh’vuyim, redeeming hostages, is considered one of the greatest mitzvos. Our rabbis further teach us that we have to do what is right at this moment and let G-d deal with the future. It is our responsibility to bring home the hostages because the opportunity to do so is now.
Hopefully, the true deal is to bring back the hostages and then go back in and destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities and all its proxies. President Trump is giving Israel the weapons it needs to guarantee its continued safety. Baruch Hashem, most of Trump’s cabinet is fiercely pro-Israel. But then, frighteningly, Trump chose Steve Witkoff, who is close with Qatar and helped negotiate an extremely pro-Palestinian hostage deal, as his Middle East envoy, and chose Michael DiMino as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. DiMino is known to have controversial views on Iran, Israel, and US involvement in the region.
Trump has provocatively, though naively, suggested that Egypt and Jordan, either temporarily or permanently, absorb the million and a half Gazans. (From 1948 to 1970, Israel absorbed 610,000 of the 990,000 Jews who fled Arab countries due to persecution. Between 1989 and 2006, Israel absorbed 979,000 Russians fleeing the Soviet Union. Over the years, Israel absorbed hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians. Tiny Israel continuously absorbs all Jews from every part of the world. It has also absorbed 2.1 million Arabs, 185,000 Christians, and 150,000 Druze into society. This request by Trump doesn’t seem so much to ask of Gaza’s Arab neighbors, who are so supportive of the Palestinians. Yet every Arab nation has refused to take in Gazans. They want Israel to keep them as their problem.
Trump has a vision of changing the Middle East, building Gaza into the gorgeous beachfront city it has the potential to be, sanctioning Iran to the point where it is once again too poor to fund terrorism, limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and work with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to add on to the Abraham Accords and with Israel, technologically improve and revitalize the entire region with peace among all nations.
May G-d help Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu, and Trump all be right, so that our hostages are freed now, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are totally incapacitated, and Israel can live in peace and prosperity, being appreciated by its neighbors rather than threatened by them.
We are doing pidyon sh’vuyim now. May Hashem bring about a magnificent plan for the future that only He controls.
Ruki Renov
DEI Is DOA
Dear Editor:
Two weeks ago, I wrote how DEI policies and political incompetence directly led to the worst wildfires in California’s history. From lowering firefighting standards to not filling the reservoirs with water to rerouting funds from firefighting to DEI initiatives – these horrific actions directly led to the horrific outcome. In last week’s Queens Jewish Link, Yaakov Ribner either pretends to or even scarier, really doesn’t know these obvious truths. Blaming the wildfires on “bone-dry conditions and insane winds,” as Mr. Ribner does, is a complete misdirect. Granted, those conditions exist and maybe they were even worse than normal for this time of year. But California was warned in advance of these conditions, and they still did nothing to prepare: no fire trucks in place, no water in the pumps, no calls to other states for some backup. Nothing but woke, DEI incompetence on full display.
Mr. Ribner’s attempt to tie the fires into climate change is again another misdirect. Irrespective of whether climate change is real or not, Californians have a right to expect the basics from their government, which includes protection against having your entire neighborhood burned to the ground.
The Green New Deal with electric turbines and EVs were not going to save these neighborhoods. Competent firefighting and a water supply likely would have. Mr. Ribner’s complaints about Trump withholding federal funding from California pending some changed policies shows just how out of touch with reality Mr. Ribner is.
Are we to infer that he is of the belief that California should get federal funds while keeping the same woke policies that got them into this mess in the first place? Newsflash: Those days are over. The White House is occupied now by someone sentient. The rewarding of state government incompetence with a windfall of federal funds are over, too.
Jonathan Goldgrab
Maybe The Strategy Is…
Dear Editor:
Okay, if this is Trump’s strategy, then maybe I was wrong to be disappointed in him.
Because right now, this morally insane deal has Israel exchanging 30 to 50 imprisoned mass-murdering jungle jihadi psychopath Islamozombies for every one brutally kidnapped and tortured Israeli held by Hamas.
It seems to me that when every morally sane nation has life imprisonment or death sentence for egregious kidnapping, when it comes to Israel the world is okay with Hamas kidnappers getting rewarded with thousands of their fellow jungle jihadi mass murdering psychopaths returning to Hamas to freedom to slaughter Jews again.
But, maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe the strategy is to:
- Rescue every single hostage in Gaza ASAP!
- Return as many psychopath Islamozombies back to Gaza as possible.
- After all our precious hostages are returned to safety, and when all the most savage Islamozombies are kicked back into Gaza, that’s the time to destroy Hamas and Iran!!
I can live with that.
We will all live better with that!!
Howard Neiman, PhD
It’s Going To Be Okay
Dear Editor:
QJL reader Arlene Ross worries how she will make it through the next four years under the terrible Trump. I will offer her an analogy and hopefully she feels better about the new administration.
Usually, elections come down to Americans deciding whether they would like to continue with the incumbent policies or if it’s time for a fresh look with some new policies. This past election was unique in that we had four years of Trump, followed by four years of Biden-Harris. Putting Trump back into office is the equivalent of being married to someone, not realizing any of your spouse’s good qualities, going through a nasty divorce that includes swearing off ever having anything to do with your former spouse, getting remarried and realizing your new spouse is so much worse than your original spouse that, as soon as you divorce the second spouse, you remarry the original one.
Take a deep breath, Mrs. Ross. You survived the worst President in American history. You’ll do just fine under this one.
Jason Stark
The Truth on Trump
Dear Editor:
Mr. Hecht wrote in his previous column that he is waiting for some Trump criticism from Trump supporters over the hostage deal. The deal itself that involves the fairly complex issue of trading lives today for potential pain down the road is far beyond the scope of whether Trump pressured Israel to make this deal. Mr. Hecht believes that Trump has sold out Israel, putting his own interests in ending foreign wars ahead of theirs. I would be interested in hearing Mr. Hecht’s take on the news that broke Sunday that Trump sent 2,000-lb. bombs to Israel that Joe Biden held up for months. Trump tweeted: “A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel but have not been sent by Biden are on the way.” Not exactly the words of an Israel sellout.
Mr. Hecht complains of intellectual dishonesty regarding Trump supporters not criticizing Trump, but the real intellectual dishonesty is comparing virtually anything Trump has done re: Israel to Biden.
Remember, Trump was the architect of the Abraham Accords. The genius and genesis of that agreement was the recognition by Trump that the failed policies of Obama/Clinton/Bush/Carter would never succeed. The reason why those Presidents never achieved the Mid-East success that Trump enjoyed is because they prioritized the Palestinians and made them the linchpin for any potential deal. Trump’s brilliance was his recognition that Palestinians were never and will never be peace partners. Bypassing and de-emphasizing them was the only way to make deals happen.
Of course, as soon as Biden took office, he took the anti-Trump approach to everything including the Mid-East, chilling the Abraham Accords while emphasizing diplomacy with Israel’s number one enemy, Iran. Biden ostensibly financed October 7 with the billions of dollars he paid Iran for no good reason.
So, on one hand, we have Trump who authored the Abraham Accords, rendered Iran irrelevant by bankrupting and isolating them, and now has shipped Israel the weaponry it needs to defend against Hamas. On the other hand, we have Biden who propped up the number one terror threat to Israel, did little to nothing to bring home any of the hostages for 15 months, and constantly whined about Israel’s need to use “proportionality” in response to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, the modern-day Nazi party. And Mr. Hecht is waiting for some criticism of Trump?! My friend, keep waiting!
Doniel Behar
That Hat!
Dear Editor:
The hat! I know. You thought I was going to parse every word of President Trump’s inaugural address. Have no fear! I don’t remember anything he said because my eyes were riveted on that wide brim blue hat that Melania wore. Now, I could “pull” that hat off in shul, but for Mrs. Trump, it was a huge sartorial error unless she didn’t want to show any of her emotions or have her husband kiss her cheek.
Don’t worry. Being the bipartisan that I am, I will also criticize Democratic clothing. Kamala, I know you are upset, but what’s with that zippered pantsuit? How do you get through airport security wearing that outfit? Hillary, could your hair have been more puffed out? Back to the Republicans. Laura Bush’s dress looked like something your Bubbie wore on Erev Pesach when she was cooking and still cleaning the house. Also, what’s with all the buns? It looked like a Bubbie convention. Mrs. Vance fared better, but I’m not into Barbie pink. The only one who nailed it was Ivanka (alias Audrey Hepburn).
For the inaugural ball, Mrs. Vance wins the prize in that blue shimmery number. Just add a neck and sleeves, and you have a mother of the kallah gown. Melania’s geometric gown got me seasick, but once again, Ivanka’s gown wasn’t tzniusdik, but it was beautiful.
Oh, by the way, Trump’s speech was forgettable, and the Black minister, despite being dramatic, took every word from MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech for which, I believe, one has to pay copyright fees. Rabbi Berman did YU proud and absolutely nailed it with his benediction.
Debbie Horowitz
Dear Editor:
You voted for a candidate who despises Benjamin Netanyahu and hates Israel, Mr. Hecht. She would have treated China and Iran, our mortal enemies, better than Israel. We don’t need a lecture from you on intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy. President Trump has just released all the weaponry that Israel has been waiting months for. A strong Israel is America first. There was no way that a Harris presidency was going to be pro-Israel.
President Trump is on a mission. In just the first week, he has made real strides in bringing this country back from the brink. He has closed the southern border and has ordered the removal of criminal illegals. He has removed DEI and transgenderism from our government. He pardoned almost every single imprisoned January 6er. Pro-lifers, who were thrown into prison by the Merrick Garland DOJ, have been pardoned and released. All the ridiculous climate change regulations are now going to be reversed. We will be able to use regular water heaters, washing machines, and light bulbs. No electric car mandates.
It’s a new day in Washington, DC, and we should all be excited about it. Here’s to the next four years of prosperity and common sense!
Shalom Markowitz