Protecting our Holiness
Dear Editor:
This past week, a story broke in the Jerusalem Post advertising an upcoming Pride festival in Israel. It was advertised as the biggest Pride festival in the Middle East, happening from June 1 through June 4. It is being promoted as a fabulous, amazing event for men, women, and children, and it will be taking place, of all places, at the Dead Sea. The irony of this news breaking right before the Shabbos Parshah of Kedoshim cannot be lost. This, of course, is only one event: In addition, there will be plenty of others in Israel throughout the month of June, a designated month to celebrate the LGBTQ agenda.
While I was considering posting it initially on my Facebook page with the intent of getting people to be aware of this and use their free speech to peacefully protest this event, I decided not to only because I felt embarrassed. For you see, there is so much antisemitism right now, particularly coming out of the right: I did not want to bring more attention to this disturbing story. I thought to myself: All we need is Tucker Carlson to get a hold of this story. Sure enough, within hours, Tucker put out a video shaming Israel for having this kind of event and asking Christians how they can support secular Zionism when they spend money putting on anti-Christian events like this. He also went on to denounce Israel for performing abortions on demand as well.
Needless to say, it is extremely disturbing. By the way, I want to make it clear to my liberal friends that this has nothing to do with racism: I believe all people are created in the image of G-d, and we need to treat everyone with respect and compassion. However, celebrating this event in the Holy Land is the antithesis of Torah. We as Jews are supposed to be a light unto the nations: It is sad that Tucker has to give the nation of Israel musar on this subject.
The point of my letter is that Torah-observant Jews need to speak out and use their voices to protest peacefully against this event. It is a big chilul Hashem, and we should do our utmost to contact the government in Israel to try to cancel this event. There is still a month to get our leaders and all concerned Torah Jews to use their voices to demonstrate and hopefully stop this event from happening.
Rebecca Chesner
Don’t Know Much About Geography
Dear Editor:
I have finally found my dream job: I want to be a Jeopardy! contestant. I must admit, though, that this job will require years of prep. How does one study world geography? Outside of New York, New Jersey (thanks to Uber drivers), and western Pennsylvania, I am a geography ignoramus. Add to that my lack of math and science knowledge. I guess I can watch 24 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, and that will help me identify parts of the body and diagnose illnesses.
However, what do I do about art and music? One term of Intro to Art in college (believe it or not, I got an A in the course) and weekly visits to the Met (a requirement) have given me an iota’s worth of art knowledge. The same, however, cannot be said about music. I cannot read it, nor do I know anything about its composers (O.K., maybe Mozart). So what areas do I excel in? I am O.K. in the Bible, but I do not know which sefer follows which in Nach. I am also O.K. in American history: I finally know that there were two Harrisons who were presidents. Add to that, I am familiar with literature since, after all, I was an English major. That and $3.00 get you on a subway.
So, Jamie Ding, watch out! I can be the next Jeopardy! contestant who wins $1 million or who is in the red and never makes it to the final round. I figure it might take a few years to bone up on all the areas I am deficient in. In other words, Shlomo and Jamie have nothing to worry about.
Debbie Horowitz
A Meaningful Celebration of the State of Israel
Dear Editor:
Yasher Koach to Rabbi Moshe Rosenberg, Rav of Congregation Etz Chaim in KGH, on organizing a meaningful Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut program with tefilos and guest speaker Rabbi Menachem Leibtag of Yeshiva Har Etzion.
Thanks to all the sponsors and those involved in the setup.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Stuart Verstandig
A Call for Gratitude and Realism
Dear Editor:
I would like to respond to Warren Hecht: I am tired of his constant attacks on Trump and the GOP. Trump has prevented Iran from getting access to a nuclear weapon: We all owe him our eternal gratitude. Warren refuses to show an iota of gratitude.
What is even more shocking is his silence on what the Democratic Party is doing. Warren supports the Democrats even though they have become a radicalized antisemitic party that is hell-bent on destroying the Jewish communities throughout the world. Case in point: Bernie Sanders introduced a bill in the Senate that called for sanctions on Israel for defending itself against Hezbollah. Forty Democratic senators voted for this bill. In other words, 85% of the Democrats support Hezbollah firing rockets into civilian populations as long as they are trying to murder Jews: This implies Jews are subhuman and have no right to defend themselves. Warren apparently has no problem with this. As I stated earlier, Trump has had the courage to prevent a Holocaust by destroying Iran’s nuclear program: He deserves our praise, not our scorn.
Martin Berkowitz
The Shift Toward Extremism in the Democratic Party
Dear Editor:
Why are Democrats thwarting the will of the people? President Trump was voted to be our president. For a third time, someone has tried to end his life prematurely. To the Democrats, the means (violence) justifies the ends (no more Trump). The party is no longer the Democratic Party: It is now the Marxist-Islamist Party.
Hasan Piker, a self-proclaimed Marxist, is now publicly campaigning with Democratic candidates. For those who do not know who he is, he is a podcaster who loves 9/11 and October 7. Born in the U.S. and then raised in Turkey, he came back to America as an antisemite and pro-terrorist. He recently said on a New York Times podcast that the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was justified and that stealing from a bank is perfectly acceptable.
Graham Platner, running for the Senate in Maine, has a Totenkopf (Death’s Head) tattoo on his chest, a skull-and-crossbones symbol used by the Nazi SS during World War II. Elizabeth Warren just campaigned with him and endorsed his candidacy. The Democratic Party is now back to the days of Woodrow Wilson and FDR: It has now fully embraced antisemitism, racism, and bigotry.
It is for these reasons that longtime Democrat Professor Alan Dershowitz has not only left the Democratic Party but joined the Republican Party. Mr. Hecht, you’re on the wrong side. Mr. Dershowitz says he cannot support a party that is the “most anti-Israel party in U.S. history.” Forty Democrats voted against sending equipment to Israel, including six “Jews.” Democrats now fully embrace our enemies and hate our most trustworthy ally.
Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut, went to a conference in Spain. He trashed our country and commander-in-chief! Who goes overseas and does something like that? He said: “Trump is the most significant threat to democracy since the Civil War.” I cannot think of why leftists are trying to kill him. Murphy also last week tweeted “awesome” in response to a post about Iranian vessels bypassing the U.S. blockade. Democrats keep demonstrating how much they hate America.
Virginia had a ballot initiative to redistrict their state for representation purposes in the U.S. House. It was a complete gerrymander job, going from 6–5 Democrat to 10–1 Democrat. However, the question on the ballot said this needed to be done to “restore fairness.” This was supposedly to defend democracy because Trump is authoritarian: What a bunch of baloney. See, saving democracy requires one party—the Democratic Party—to have total control and power. November is coming soon. We cannot allow the evil Democrats to regain power.
Shalom Markowitz
