Dear Editor:
I have been following the reaction to Anonymous’ letter with amusement. It seems to me that everyone read into it whatever they wanted to. There is no need to assume animosity just because that person pointed out the obvious reality that the neighborhood is changing.
Although Bukharian Jews are certainly our beloved brothers, it is just as true that many of their religious and social customs are quite different from the Litvish community. Isn’t that why they, as did we, built their own shuls? The exodus of Ashkenazim from KGH is no different from the one from Borough Park back in the 1980s or parts of Lakewood today, as they leave areas being taken over by chasidim. The desire to daven one’s own nusach or preserve their customary dress or minhagim is not an indication of hatred, chas v’shalom.
Those who insist on declaring otherwise should remember the words of our holy Chazal: Kol ha’pogeim, b’mumo pogeim.
Rabbi Oren Kagan
Cedarhurst, New York
Dear Editor:
I am writing in regard to the Goldy Kranz article about how she could not afford a house in Kew Gardens Hills and was moving, and the uproar that followed.
I understand the frustration in the costs of housing in KGH. However, it’s not just KGH; it’s all of Queens, and for that matter, New York City and the suburbs as well. While West Hempstead is a little cheaper than KGH, it’s not that much cheaper. KGH is also cheaper than nearby Forest Hills and Flushing. A two-bedroom co-op is about $450,000, which is cheaper than many other parts of the city, which brings people here. And KGH is a very nice neighborhood near Queens College and St. Johns, along with being near Flushing Meadow Park, Kissena Park, and Cunningham Park.
In her frustration about the high cost of housing, I’m not sure if Goldy said it or some of the letters blaming other Jews and non-Jews for the high cost of housing. Goldie bears some responsibility for these comments, which are sin’as chinam and a chilul Hashem. This paper is dropped on everyone’s front lawn. Not everyone who get it is even Jewish. It’s very possible other communities will read the comments.
Goldie needs to print an apology to the Bukharian community, within which there are many wonderful people, and the Asian community, as well. She bears responsibility for unleashing these comments even if she did not say them herself. She then needs to be removed from the paper. She was the author of a dating column, not lashon ha’ra column about our community.
The reasons for the high cost of housing in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York City, and pretty much everywhere (if you think KGH is high, go look at Modi’in, Israel) are numerous and not easy fixes. The days of $250,000 houses are long gone, unless you want to move to Scranton, Pennsylvania. It’s cheap there.
Howard Schoenfeld
Dear Editor:
The frum community must be cognizant of a recent kashrus alert regarding pea pods commonly used in salads. Due to the recent discovery of high levels of infestation in “unwashed” snap peas and snow peas, it is advised to soak these vegetables in a soapy solution and follow with a rinsing under a heavy stream of water prior to usage. This extra level of adherence to the mitzvah is only advised during this period of infestation.
Shabsie Saphirstein
Dear Editor:
This Week’s Satirical Headlines
“Breaking: COVID Tests Positive for Biden Again”
“Biden’s Teleprompter to Invoke the 25th Amendment If the President’s COVID Situation Worsens”
“Democrats Propose Inflating the Money Supply to Curb Inflation”
“Paul Krugman Finally Admits He Isn’t a Real Economist, but Self-Identifies As One”
“Jerry Nadler Says AR-15s Are So Powerful That They Can Blow Up Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
“Climate Experts Blame Summer for Surging Temperatures Nationwide”
Rafi Metz
Dear Editor:
Well, folks, the inevitable has become reality. Joe Biden has COVID. There are a bunch of takeaways from this news. First, it puts the final nail in the coffin of the phony narrative that this was always “the pandemic of the unvaccinated” that Biden had claimed for the past year and half. If that were true, then the double-vaccinated/twice-boosted President never would have contracted COVID.
Second, the fact that this time-battered, nearly-80-year-old man with multiple co-morbidities, including two previous cranial aneurysms, appears to be pulling through this episode, suggests that, for all intents and purposes, this pandemic is over. Any future suggestions by Democrats promoting lockdowns, school closures, mandatory masking, or vaccinations should be rejected out of hand.
In other vaccine news, former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx publicly admitted that she “knew the vaccines were not going to protect against infection.” That little tidbit of info would have been nice to know before jabbing the vaccine into hundreds of millions of people and mandating it for millions of others at the risk of losing their jobs if they refused the jab. Her withholding of that vital information is unconscionable and a complete dereliction of her duty as a public health official.
Dr. Fauci, addressing the adverse effect the vaccines have on menstrual cycles, stated, “We need to study it more.” Seems he, too, is a bit late to the party, as millions of women have already taken the vaccine.
One could still be comfortable if the vaccines were simply an overhyped Big Pharma product whose positive effects were exaggerated by our government health officials. However, a recent study on the impact of COVID vaccines that appeared in the Journal of Virology stated: “The immune function among vaccinated individuals eight months after the administration of two doses of COVID-19 vaccine was lower than that among unvaccinated individuals.”
So, despite all statements from Dr. Fauci and his cohorts that vaccine immunity was superior to natural immunity, which most people in the medical community knew was nonsense, now we find out that vaccines are depressing people’s natural immune systems?! What will the long-term effects be on those who took the vaccine? Will they become immunocompromised and thus susceptible to other diseases far more serious than COVID? I for one certainly hope not, but with no long-term studies, the unmitigated gall to now vaccinate children as young as five without evidence of efficacy is a monumental disregard for the health and safety of our most vulnerable. This is particularly so when the CDC publicly declares that the vaccination of children “appears safe.” Really?
Will there ever be any accountability for all the misinformation and fearmongering purveyed by our trusted health officials for purposes of advancing a market economy? Unlikely. But the “trust the science” crowd have used up their last bit of credibility, as nothing they say can be taken at face value. They have proven themselves to be completely unworthy of our trust.
Jonathan Goldgrab
Dear Editor:
It can’t be any clearer that the Democrat Party is the party of crime and violence. Just last week, a man attempted to possibly murder Congressman Lee Zeldin, who’s running for governor. He showed up at the rally after a strongly worded Tweet went out by Governor Kathy Hochul’s election campaign telling their supporters to show up at the Republican’s rallies and gave their locations. Just as no one blamed Bernie Sanders for the psycho who shot Steve Scalise and others at the baseball field, no one blames Hochul for this incident. However, the tone and choice of words clearly demonstrate a call to arms, which inevitably leads to violence, despite halfhearted words of condemnation after the fact.
Thanks to the disastrous no-cash bail in New York, the attacker was released on his own recognizance within hours of the incident. He was charged with attempted assault. Anyone who saw the weapon can clearly see that the sharp object used was intended to do maximum damage, including the possibility of death. Too bad for the criminal: He attacked a sitting Member of Congress, which makes his crime a federal one. He now faces up to ten years in prison and isn’t allowed to walk the streets.
Anyone who thought that Mayor Adams was going to be better than de Blasio was delusional. Despite his police officer background, it is clear that the Mayor has no intention of bringing down crime in this city. He hasn’t pressured the governor to remove the leftist DAs not prosecuting crime (and putting innocent 61-year-old men in Rikers). He has not pressured the Legislature to repeal the no-cash bail law in favor of cracking down on crime. Police officers will not engage with criminals if they know the criminals are just going to be released.
Shalom Markowitz
Dear Editor:
Remember the movie Harvey, where Jimmy Stewart stared as Elwood P. Dowd? The only one able to see the rabbit Harvey was Stewart’s character. It was one year ago when President Biden claimed that inflation was temporary. When it comes to growing inflation, it now appears to be a permanent part of our economy with no end in sight. It just reached nine percent for the month of June. President Biden can’t seem to see the rabbit. The rest of us can.
Sincerely,
Larry Penner
Great Neck, New York
Dear Editor:
The other week, we saw the political demise of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He lost favor in the public’s eyes because of his or his ministers’ wild soirees at inappropriate times (e.g., Prince Philip’s death). He was even scheduling a wedding party for his “new” bride (two children later) at public expense. All of this made me question not only his bizarre hairstyle, but why it is that out of millions of people, France elects a man (Macron) who is married to a woman 26 years his senior (his former high school teacher), or we elect a man who peppers his speeches with verbal gaffes like “honors of the Holocaust” instead of “horrors.”
Johnson’s downfall came at the same week that we read Parshas Chukas and its haftarah about Yiftach. It’s true that Yiftach had an ignoble beginning. He was the son of a harlot, and his stepbrothers kicked him out of the house. Yet, when it came to fighting Amnon, he was selected to fight them. For whatever reason, he makes a vow that if he is victorious in battle, whatever comes out of his house first to greet him, he will offer as a korban to Hashem. I don’t know what possessed him to say that. If he lived in Kew Gardens Hills, what would come out of the house first would be a gnat or a fly. I’m assuming that he didn’t have any goats or cows that would be exiting his house and greeting him.
The bottom line is we have to watch what we say and whom we vote for.
Debbie Horowitz
Dear Editor:
I am very disappointed in Warren Hecht. Warren ignores the facts and continues to repeat the false talking points of the Left. He keeps repeating that the election was perfect, and all the courts ruled that there was no fraud. He continues to ignore the fact that the courts refused to get involved in the election issues and dismissed the election lawsuits due to standing and other technicalities.
Perhaps even more ominous, Warren supports weaponized legalism by the Left. Weaponized legalism is when the legal system is used to persecute parties with political views that the ruling party does not agree with. The entire “Russian Collusion Hoax” was an extreme case of abuse of power. The government used false FISA warrants to spy on the Trump administration. The FBI raided the home of Roger Stone at 6:00 in the morning. The officers pointed their guns at Stone’s head in order to terrify him. Roger Stone is 70 years old, and he was unarmed. This extreme show of force was meant to send a message: “If you support Trump, we will get you.”
The Biden administration under Attorney General Merrick Garland has labeled all parents who object to the school LGBT curriculum as domestic terrorists. In addition, the government is arresting all demonstrators who went into the United States Capitol on January 6. They are being held in solitary confinement under inhumane conditions. Recently, two of them have committed suicide. These people are dead because they are not politically correct. The Biden administration is using Soviet-style justice to silence dissent. Recently, a 70-year-old grandmother was sentenced to jail time because she was at the Capitol.
Now we come to the phony January 6 commission. The media was crowing about the “bombshell witness” Cassidy Hutchinson. Cassidy testified that she heard a rumor that Trump overpowered two Secret Service agents. In this fantasy tale, Trump also managed to stretch his arms out over 20 feet and drove the “Beast” (presidential limousine) to the Capitol. The Secret Service agents denied this fabricated myth. Unfortunately, the January 6 committee refused to allow them to testify. What Warren and the leftists are hiding from the public is that Cassidy committed perjury. She said that she wrote a note that was clearly in a man’s handwriting. In addition, prior to her testimony, Cassidy admitted that the January 6 commission is, in so many words, a sham.
Then we get to Liz Cheney. Warren and the Left look up to her as someone who puts “morals above the party.” She is receiving large contributions from the Lincoln Project, which is the most immoral organization that exists today. Their leader is proud of the fact that he is a pedophile. In addition, the Lincoln Project supports forcing children to learn about LGBT, and they recently compared the January 6 demonstration to the “Beer Hall Putsch” led by Adolf Hitler.
Cheney is a RINO who works for Pelosi and the Dems. She is committed to hiding one fact from the American people: It was Trump who requested extra security on January 6 and it was Pelosi who blocked it. The fake news will never talk about this.
Eric Rubin