Opinion

“Izzy, come over,” he yells across the beautiful, renovated shul. “Sit. Please join us for Shalosh S’udos.” I had just met Yaakov on Friday night when I decided, for the first time, to daven at the Young Israel of Briarwood. It was very difficult for me to walk in, given the sentimental value there. YIB was the shul that my parents, especially my mom, adored. Mom was very active in the sisterhood and always spoke with such excitement about upcoming shul activities. Mom loved engaging in conversation with Rabbi Kaufman zt”l. Rabbi Kaufman was part of our family. In fact, Rabbi Kaufman was part of everyone’s family.

Last week, the Republicans made significant gains in elections throughout the country. A few days later, the House of Representatives passed the most significant bipartisan infrastructure legislation in the past half-century. The two events are closely related. They show what both parties need to learn and provide the guiding posts for a path forward. Focusing on Donald Trump is a losing strategy for both parties. The agenda of the woke progressive left has been soundly rejected by the public. Republicans need to stop talking about a stolen election; Democrats need to stop focusing on Trump and capitulating to the extreme left. Both parties need to focus on a positive agenda that appeals to a broad cross-section of the public.

Did you know that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen stormed the former U.S. Embassy last week and held U.S. citizens hostage?  Unless you’re an avid reader of the Washington Free Beacon, you probably didn’t. Why was such a monumental story largely ignored by the vast majority of politicians and media?

Voters shocked the political establishment last week when they elected Republicans to office in deep-blue Virginia and almost did the same in bluer New Jersey. The results for the New York City Mayoral race notwithstanding, the electorate in The Empire State may be ready for Republican leadership.

Why exactly are the barbaric Israelis, with their violent cameras, taking so many pictures of Arabs? Can you guess?

Israel’s critics have a new rallying cry: Stop taking pictures of terrorists! They don’t word it quite that way, of course. They wrap it in slogans about “big tech” and “privacy rights.” But at the end of the day, the message is the same: They don’t want Israel to keep track of Arab terrorists and their supporters.

Do you like your streets to be safe?  If there’s a fire, do you want it to be put out?  Do you like your garbage to be picked up?  If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you have some problems. That’s because the NYPD, FDNY and the New York City Sanitation Department are all severely understaffed because of Bill de Blasio.