(Courtesy of Yeshiva University)

Over the past few weeks, Yeshiva University has successfully welcomed back undergraduate students from around the country and across the globe to its Manhattan campuses. Since the middle of October, undergraduate men and women have returned to the dorms, cafeterias, batei midrash and classrooms on the Wilf Campus uptown and Beren Campus in midtown, all done with appropriate social distancing, mask wearing, a proactive COVID-19 monitoring program and daily temperature checks.

On Election Day, Council Member Donovan Richards showed support with the Kew Gardens Hills community with a campaign stop at P.S. 164, the Queens Valley School of Arts. Richards, who was challenged by Republican Joann Ariola, cruised to victory in the race for Queens Borough President. Richards was joined by Assembly Member Daniel Rosenthal, who himself was up for reelection, unopposed, along with community activist Sorolle Idels.

For many, the end of the most contentious election in modern history signals a new beginning. The best way to start over is being nourished both spiritually and physically. Throughout the pandemic, the Kehilat Sephardim Food Pantry went above and beyond to arrange food distributions that in turn eased the financial burdens on literally thousands of local families by providing essential items during times of misfortune.

Should lifesaving measures be denied to the developmentally disabled, the very old, the very sick, in order to use those resources for the higher-functioning, the younger, the more likely to survive? Is one life more valuable than another? In the presence of unending, life-threatening risk, must we abandon all the daily routines that define and structure our lives? What can we do – what must we do – to protect our parents, our families, ourselves?