Opinion

A synagogue defaced, a storefront window broken, a Jewish mother harassed on the street, Jewish blood spilled on the ground. A dark cloud has rolled in and is hovering above the heads of all Jews. There is fear and worry and uncertainty. It can be felt in every shul, school, home, and market. It is palpable and it is warranted.

This past week, President Trump took the courageous and bold action and ordered the hit on Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, killing one of the leaders in global terror and a man responsible for the death of hundreds of Americans and countless others. Under normal circumstances, this would have been seen as a strategic and morally good decision, and would have received praise from the media and Democrats, with some outlying wonderment as to the ramifications of the act. These, however, are not normal times, because Donald Trump is President and he is reviled by the Left. Therefore, much of the reaction to this event has been thoroughly insane, even by the political standards of the day. Those reactions basically break down into five different groups:

Since the beginning of the New Year, the new Bail Reform laws, passed by the New York State Assembly and Senate last March and signed by Governor Cuomo last April, have been an unmitigated disaster. The law officially went into effect on January 1, and there have already been murmurings in Albany about reforming the new Bail Reform or repealing it altogether. The good news, though, is that the destructive power of a Democrat-only government is on full display for the whole country to see.

 By now it may or may not have been widely covered – well, certainly covered in “fringe rags” like the New York Post and the Daily Mail, and barely covered in Leftist shill outlets like The New York Times and the Washington Post – that anti-Semitic hate crimes, and specifically violent attacks against Jews, are on a major upswing over the last couple of years.

CCTV footage of a “suspicious” person taking photos on the morning of Monday, December 16, outside of the Young Israel of Queens Valley was shared recently on a local Facebook group for Kew Gardens Hills. A lot of people posted their comments, most were concerned, and a shul representative said that the NYPD also thought it was suspicious and was looking into it. It was not just the taking of photos, but some of his mannerisms that called out a question.

Although January 1 is an important date on the secular calendar, it usually has little significance in the Torah community. Other than getting used to writing a different number on checks and having an extra day off (in Chutz LaAretz), it generally does not engender much excitement.