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Yom Kippur is upon us once again, and it is time to atone for our sins. When the Jewish people enter shuls around the world this week, they will ask for forgiveness from sins against G-d, but not against their fellow Man. That forgiveness must be sought by asking the persons themselves; G-d has no power to forgive you for those transgressions. In this time of political strife and turmoil, when arguments are waged online and in person, relationships are made or destroyed based on the tweets of millionaires in New York, Washington, and Los Angeles. We should all take a minute to examine the need for forgiveness.

Various media outlets criticized President Trump over one of his defenses of his decision to remove American troops who were assisting Kurdish fighters in Syria. “They didn’t help us in the Second World War,” President Trump said regarding the Kurds. “They didn’t help us with Normandy, as an example.” To rebut Trump’s argument, CNN quoted Michael Rubin, from the American Enterprise Institute: “World War II was a war among states and the Kurds weren’t a state.” It also quoted Henri Barkey, a Middle East expert from the Council of Foreign Relations, who said, “Just like many other people who did not have a state, (Kurds) could not have helped the United States.”

“PBA” stands for the Police Benevolent Association and nearly every police officer in the United States is a member. Friends and family members of police officers are sometimes given a PBA Courtesy Card. A PBA card will usually have printed on it, “The bearer of this card is a supporter of the PBA and you should try to extend every courtesy possible.”

We have just finished nine days of celebrating the beautiful holy days of Sukkos, Hoshana Rabbah, Sh’mini Atzeres, and Simchas Torah. In the inspiring and joyous words of Hallel, there is one line that should serve as a warning for our time. “It is better to trust in Hashem than to trust in princes.”

Since the Democrats gained the majority in the House of Representatives in January, they have shown over and over again that they are not interested in governing. Governing, especially when there is a split government, requires a certain level of cooperation and compromise. The Democrats, however, have only done what President Trump asked them not to do in his State of the Union address in February – investigate him.

The Queens Jewish community breathed a collective sigh of relief when the final ballots were counted in the Democratic Primary race for Queens DA. Tiffany Cabán, a progressive socialist in the same ilk as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who endorsed her) frightened people so much that there was an immediate voter registration drive with an urging to register as a Democrat. If Queens is so deeply Blue, then logic would dictate that even the conservative voter should register as a Democrat so that a more mainstream politician would reach the general election. The Democratic mainstream, however, has gone so far to the left that a lifelong Democrat is now running against Melinda Katz as a Republican.