Goldilocks
Dear Editor:
Jet lag is a dirty six-letter, two-syllable term. What to do about it? There are a variety of suggestions from well-meaning relatives and friends. Here are a few for you to ponder: Stay in Israel and never return to the U.S. Take melatonin a) as you board the plane, b) after you watch a boring movie like Barbie or Wicked, c) three hours into the flight, or d) three hours before landing.
Once you get home, you should either immediately correct the time on your watch or leave it at Israeli time until you return six months from now. Don’t go to sleep upon arrival, or go to sleep immediately. Do your laundry, your taxes, and your bills right away. One of these activities should put you into a deep slumber.
Ironically, upon my return from Israel, I chose to buy a mattress. Really! I know I sound like Goldilocks, but I didn’t have time to do it before my trip. If there was a way to solve the jet lag problem, this is it. Naturally, I needed to try out at least three different mattresses as well as accompanying pillows. The salesman droned on and on about coils, firmness, and mattress size. Of course, to me, it sounded like, “Blah, blah, blah.” It felt like a Seinfeld episode.
All of a sudden, I hear, “Ma’am, ma’am. Wake up!” I finally found the solution to my jet lag problem! Naturally, I woke up in time to check out the price differential among the mattresses.
All in all, your biggest problem should be recovering from jet lag. I wonder if those female celebrities experienced jet lag going into space for ten minutes. What’s the time difference between Earth and... Earth?
Debbie Horowitz
Letter to the World from Galus
Dear Editor:
I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to believe. I am a Jew – like millions of others – a man of flesh and blood. I have a name, a history, and a homeland. I am part of a people that has outlived empires and endured exile, persecution, and rebirth.
I am also an American citizen, born and raised in this country. My parents and grandparents were European refugees: Jews who fled pogroms, war, and annihilation. They arrived in America before there was a modern State of Israel. In those days, there were only scattered Jewish communities in a land then called Palestine. My ancestors dreamed not of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, but of the Goldeneh Medinah – the golden land of America – where they hoped to live in peace and raise their children as Jews.
But I write now with a heavy heart and a few things I need to get off my chest. I am not a diplomat, so I will not mince words. I do not need to flatter you or even persuade you. I am here to tell you the truth because, too often, no one else will.
You did not defend us when others sought our destruction. When we cried out, the world turned its face. And if you try to destroy us again, know that we have learned our lesson. We will fight back. We will fight, if necessary, to your death.
I am a proud American. I registered for the draft at 18. I went to college, got married, paid my taxes. I worked hard, and I wore my yarmulke in public without fear. I believed in the promise of this country. But in recent years, something has changed.
I have heard words that cut like knives. Ugly things muttered in passing: “Go back to where you came from.” Or worse: “Hitler didn’t kill enough of you.” I was in Manhattan on 9/11. I saw the towers fall with my own eyes. And even then, even in that moment of national mourning, I heard people whisper: “The Jews must have done it.”
And still, when Israel is in danger, we – Jews in galus – run to her defense. We always have. Remember Colonel David “Mickey” Marcus, a US Army officer who became the first general of the Israel Defense Forces. He died in service to Israel. The first Israeli Air Force was flown by American, Canadian, and British veterans of World War II – pilots who flew cast-off German Messerschmitts to defend the Jewish homeland.
And yet today, in this same America, we see elected officials – members of Congress – who call openly for the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of its people. We hear calls to dismantle the only Jewish state on Earth. We even see Jewish senators and other public figures who demand the overthrow of Israel’s democratically elected government.
Sometimes I sit in disbelief and wonder: Am I the crazy one? Or am I one of the last sane Jews left?
And what of these “Jews for Palestine”? Let’s speak plainly. These are self-hating Jews. Jews who have been so alienated from their own people, their own history, their own faith, that they would stand with those who call for our erasure. They chant in the streets with those who celebrate October 7. They weep not for the hostages, but for their captors. They stand with Hamas, not with humanity.
But still, we try to make the best of every situation. It is our way. We are taught to be a “light unto the nations.” Even in exile, even in adversity, we build, we learn, we give. Take the Nobel Prize: nearly 900 individuals have received it since its inception. Of those, almost 200 – or roughly 22% – have been Jewish. And yet, Jews comprise just 0.2% of the world’s population. Think about that.
It is not arrogance, it is resilience. It is not superiority, it is survival. It is the legacy of a people who never gave up, no matter how many times we were told to disappear.
Am Yisrael Chai – the People of Israel Live – was first uttered not at a rally, but in the ashes of a hell on Earth. In April 1945, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Rabbi Leslie Hardman, serving as a British Army chaplain, spoke those words at a Friday night prayer service for newly liberated inmates.
Decades later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote the same words in the guestbook of the Wannsee Villa in Berlin – the very place where the Final Solution was plotted. He also wrote them again at the grave of David Marcus at West Point.
These are not just words. They are a vow.
Am Yisrael Chai. The People of Israel live.
And we are not going anywhere.
Yaakov Ben David
Dear Editor:
Warren Hecht traces the public’s lack of trust in government back to our government’s deceptions surrounding the war in Vietnam. One need not look back half a century to find good reason not to trust our government. And I’m not even talking about Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” or transitory inflation.
Just take a look at the CDC’s current vaccine schedule recommendation. The CDC – a once trusted agency – currently (!) recommends a Covid “vaccine” for children as young as six months old. So, an agency from our government wants to inject all children with an experimental procedure that, to date, has caused irreparable harm to many people, to prevent something almost no child is prone to – all in the name of “public safety.”
Mr. Hecht, there’s no need to rehash the government lies from 50 years ago. We have fresh ones to contend with right now.
Jason Stark
Dear Editor:
We recently hosted a friend of Gershon’s, Errol Santos. They joined the NYPD together in 1982 and were close friends early in their careers. They resumed their friendship in 2020 with the help of several mutual friends.
Errol was in Israel doing three weeks of volunteering with Sar-El. He is not Jewish but is very interested in Judaism. This was his first time visiting Israel. He told us of his experience at Ben Gurion Airport when he arrived. The Houthis had just sent missiles that hit the airport. There were several explosions, and the volunteers and other passengers had to proceed to a shelter area in the terminal. Errol assisted the soldiers with the evacuation by holding up a shelter sign that had been knocked off the wall. He was amazed at how calm everyone was! Welcome to Israel!
We took him to the Kotel and around the Old City of Jerusalem. It was special to see the city through his eyes. For Shabbos, we went to two different synagogues where there was lively singing, and we were hosted by two different families for meals. Everyone enjoyed meeting him and hearing about his background. He grew up in Puerto Rico and remembers his childhood at his grandmother’s home. She lit candles in her oven every Friday night. He never asked her about it.
It is fascinating to meet people who are drawn to Judaism and to Israel!
Rachel Epstein
Dear Editor:
Mr. Hecht, did you know that in America we have private property rights? We all are aware that your beloved Democratic Party wants to rule over us with an iron fist and take those rights away. Until that point, we are free to make our money in any legal fashion. That includes the Trump family, which has run a successful real estate business worldwide for several decades. Nowhere in our Constitution does it say that a President is not allowed to be a businessman.
The President has divested from his real estate empire and given day-to-day operating control to his sons. They are entitled to run their company any way they see fit. If you have a problem with that, too bad. The family does not have to cease their business dealings simply because their father is President of the United States, or because Mr. Hecht thinks so.
Mr. Hecht is used to corrupt politicians making millions on insider trading, like Nancy Pelosi, like those who do not actually own their own business but profit off private information. To him, that is acceptable. After all, he has never written a column complaining about that.
In discussing the Vietnam War, Mr. Hecht marvels at the fact that President Trump is the champion of the blue-collar worker. Why is that so hard to grasp, Mr. Hecht? He employs them! He gets it. He respects them. Without them, he would not be the real estate magnate that he is. You know what we call that, Mr. Hecht? Hakaras ha’tov!
Mr. Hecht missed the most consequential anniversary that was celebrated last week: the 80th anniversary, on May 8, of V-E Day. On that day in 1945, the Allied nations defeated the Nazi empire in Europe – without which there would be no State of Israel three years later.
Shalom Markowitz
Dear Editor:
Regarding Jason Stark’s observations on the issue of deporting illegal immigrants, while I agree with him that it is ridiculous that a President’s power to protect this country is being thwarted by a District Court judge, I disagree that Trump’s end goal is to deport 20-30 million people.
Trump realizes that even if he could deport that many people, doing so would crash the American economy. His campaign promise to do so was mere puffery, similar to his promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war in a day.
Since deporting all illegal immigrants is impractical, if Trump were wise, what he would do is pass an executive order making illegal immigrants ineligible for all entitlement programs. Minimizing the incentive to be here would result in the largest mass self-deportation in this country’s history. It would separate the illegal immigrants who are here to earn a living from those who are here for the freebies – without needing to deport them one by one.
Doniel Behar