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Election Day is less than a week away. As much as we may find politics distasteful, it is important for all of us to participate in the process. The crucial decisions that will impact on our lives, from the security of Israel to our safety here, will be made by the people who are elected this coming Tuesday.

Since the Democrats took hold of the New York State Senate in the beginning of 2019, New York has been a one-party state. Between the radical legislation, the malicious prosecution, and the mishandling of the executive, it’s become clear that New York Democrats need some check on their power. New Yorkers have the opportunity to right the ship by voting Republicans back into Albany.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Attorney General Letitia James, and others have been named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam (BYAM) of Far Rockaway. The suit claims that Cuomo has violated their constitutional rights and specifically targeted the Orthodox Jewish community when implementing his latest series of lockdowns.

We are in the days of transition between the Yamim Nora’im and Z’man Simchaseinu, the joyous holy days of Sukkos, Sh’mini Atzeres, and Simchas Torah. The words in our davening during the Yamim Nora’im, which just ended, “who will live, who will die,” resonated more this year than in the past. 5780 was a year in which there was death by the sword (the fatal stabbing of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg in Monsey during Chanukah and other anti-Semitic attacks), asphyxiation (the murder of George Floyd, which brought longstanding racial tensions to the surface and led to rioting), fire (wildfires on the West Coast), water (hurricanes), and (most notably) plague (the COVID-19 pandemic).

With the election already underway in many states, many Republican voters are asking themselves the same question they did in 2016, which boils down to: “How can I put a stamp of approval I find so personally abhorrent?” It’s a legitimate question, one that began a movement of former Republicans pushing hard for voters to not only reject Trump, but all Republicans down-ballot as well. However, if conservative or even liberal policies have meaning, voting for any Democrat in 2020 is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

The year 2020 threw the United States another curveball with the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her vacant seat on the Supreme Court is an inverse of the situation that occurred four years ago, when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away during an election year. This time, however, the Republicans hold the presidency in addition to the Senate.