Dear Editor:
It is with deep sadness, but necessity, that we mention about the unfortunate and inappropriate actions of how a vast amount of talmidim at a local Queens yeshivah conducted themselves on Purim night, as well as on Purim night of last year. In both years, the talmidim in question were engaging in very loud and inappropriate behavior during the very late hours of the evening outside the campus (we live on the adjacent block, but the disruptions could be heard by our friends blocks and blocks away). By looking out our window, we could tell the talmidim were heavily intoxicated, and many of them were engaging in public intoxication as they walked around chugging from wine and liquor bottles. It is also important to mention that many of the talmidim were allegedly but almost certainly below the legal drinking age of 21 in New York. Furthermore, many of the talmidim were wandering drunkenly outside of the campus, as well as into the street, where there was a constant flow of traffic from both sides.
The constant screaming awoke our young son (and I am sure many other young children in the neighborhood), and we had a hard time returning him to sleep. To give context, we also experienced the same issues during Purim night of last year but tried to shrug it off, even though we were frustrated with the noise and concerned for the safety of the talmidim, especially the ones who were walking dangerously drunk in the street. Since we had a feeling these incidents would occur again this year on Purim, we reached out to the yeshivah administration two weeks before Purim to express our concerns, and concerns for the talmidim. Sadly, our concerns were met with a lack of interest, and we were kind of laughed off, much to our dismay. We also called Queens Shmira to give them a heads-up, as well.
Come Purim night, the screaming and drunk behavior of the talmidim occurred right on cue. They continued screaming and yelling, as well as walking dangerously intoxicated into traffic, and the behaviors continued the same as last year, if not worse, starting at 10 p.m. As such, we decided to take matters into our own hands and called Queens Shmira, asking them to investigate, while also filing a noise complaint with 311. Within 20 minutes, multiple Shmira units came and addressed the issues. Shmira ensured that the talmidim were kept safely out of the street, corralled them inside the building as best as possible, and kept the noise down to an acceptable level. They then rotated members through the night to ensure everyone was acting in an appropriate and lawful manner. I also noticed that many Shmira members contacted leaders of the yeshivah and awoke them in the middle of the night, to make them aware of the situation, and they apparently stated their dissatisfaction at the behaviors, as well. We also saw an NYPD unit arrive, possibly responding to our noise complaint, but thankfully they were able to drive off right away, once they saw Shmira had the situation under control.
While it hurts us to write this letter, we feel it is necessary for the community to know, as it is a tremendous embarrassment to the community that this occurs every Purim. We unfortunately do not live in Eretz Yisrael, where this might be considered acceptable; but in America, it is not only unacceptable behavior but unlawful, as well. While we are thrilled to live in a vibrant Jewish community here in Queens, we must be mindful that it is not a 100 percent Jewish community, and that our actions should not lead to chilul Hashem. This is especially prevalent now, during this time, where we face even more scrutiny due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. We must double our efforts to ensure that we always act according to the Torah values we are raised on. It is sadly ironic how this institution, which grows and trains the future Torah leaders of America and the world, abandons much of what they preach during Purim, and just casually brushes it off as V’nahafoch Hu. We pray to Hashem that they take a good look at these incidents and take appropriate actions to ensure that this does not happen come next Purim and break the cycle.
To end on a positive note, we want to give tremendous thanks to Queens Shmira (especially their fantastic community coordinator and QJL writer Shabsie Sapherstein), as they went above and beyond to ensure the safety and decorum of these talmidim while showing the wonderful way of how Yidden look out for each other and their community, including our gentile neighbors. While we are saddened that these members of Shmira were reduced to babysitters and chaperones of talmidim, this clearly illustrates that these talmidim need more instruction from their parents and rebbeim on derech eretz.
We are deeply grateful to the members of Shmira who gave their time and efforts and left their families on Purim night to ensure that this incident did not become a bigger embarrassment on the community. We encourage all KGH residents to generously donate to Queens Shmira for all the efforts that they do on behalf of our community.
Disappointed Neighbors
Questions
Dear Editor:
As we approach Pesach, besides the elephant in the room (cleaning), we also think about the Haggadah and the Four Questions. Well, still being in a Purim mood, I’d like to extend the four questions into many more. I’ll play the role of “Tam” here, since I’m definitely not a “Chacham.”
First of all, why do cleaning people love Fabulosa? Isn’t it terrible for hardwood floors? Why did I get rid of my carpeting? Why did Taanis Esther seem longer than usual this year? Why didn’t I stop drinking coffee before the fast? Why can I never come up with creative costumes on Purim? Why can’t I come up with theme-based mishloach manos?
What would I do if I had to take the SATs online? What is the lowest possible score? Why can I remember my GPA in college and my standing in high school, but I can’t remember that there’s no Hallel on Purim? Why do I have trouble remembering where I put the ten pieces of chametz on Erev Pesach?
Why can’t I remember my kids’ Hebrew birthdays? Was I born on December 10 or December 11? (An insider joke) Why can I remember my exact weight, but not how much 8 oz. of something in a recipe equals? Why do I go shopping, buy a top or skirt that looks familiar, and then go home and realize I had bought the same outfit or sweater the previous year? Why do I get my nails done only to chip them five minutes later?
Why do reckless drivers cut me off and then end up at the exact same red light that I do? How does one play the brackets in March Madness? How much does the guy who won $1.5 billion in the lottery owe in taxes? Why is sports betting illegal in California? Why doesn’t Ohtani hire me to be his ESL instructor? If you can answer even a couple of these questions, you are a chacham.
Debbie Horowitz
Wrestling With Schumer
Dear Editor:
Politics often imitates professional wrestling. It’s heavily scripted, filled with acting, scheming, surprise finishes, and sometimes the strangest partners combine to form tag teams. Chuck Schumer was the good guy (or at least perceived as such) that the fans cheered for. That was until he turned heel and threw his tag team partner, Israel, over the top rope in the battle royale better known as international politics.
In last week’s edition of the Queens Jewish Link, Warren Hecht joined the rest of the fans in the QJL crowd in booing Schumer for his sneak attack on Israel. Warren deserves props for his Schumer slam. When the only people cheering Schumer are terror-supporting lunatics, that’s usually a solid sign that it might be time to switch allegiances. Now that Warren has finally decoupled himself from Democrats on a big issue, the next logical move to solidifying his fan favorite status is getting on board the Trump Train!
Doniel Behar
Democratic Party
Is No Longer Home
Of Working Class
Dear Editor:
The Democratic Party used to be home for working-class Americans, but they have completely abandoned them. Blacks feel betrayed by the open border and are being undercut in the labor market by illegal aliens. Blue Collar Americans have been abandoned by Biden’s hostile energy policies and are instead sneered at by Biden’s Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, telling people already struggling to pay bills to go out and buy $80,000 Teslas. Working class Americans without a college degree have been deserted by Biden’s student loan forgiveness/transfer of wealth scheme, whereby their taxpayer funds are used to subsidize the loans that elitist college graduates took out. Polling has shown that a near majority of Hispanic voters, most of whom are working class, will be voting for Trump in 2024.
This past Thursday, both Presidents Biden and Trump visited New York. Biden came to New York to rub elbows with the rich and famous at a campaign fundraiser where tickets ran as high as $500,000 a pop. Trump came to pay his respects to the family of slain Police Officer Jonathan Diller. When Biden, who has spent 40% of his presidency on vacation, was asked when he would visit the site of the collapsed bridge in Baltimore, a 45-minute drive from the White House, he replied that he would do it as soon as he could fit it into his busy schedule. After not mentioning Laken Riley’s name for days, until he was shamed into saying it at the State of the Union address and calling her Lincoln, “Captain Empathy” has once again said nothing about the murder of an NYPD officer by another career criminal let out of jail due to failed Democratic policies. Meanwhile, violent crime and illegal immigration have wrecked law-abiding, working-class people in Democrat-run cities.
Multiple media reports have stated that both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have been consulting with Biden because of his struggling poll numbers. If Biden were wise, which he isn’t, he’d listen to Clinton, not Obama. Clinton came into office as a hard lefty, got demolished in the midterms in 1994, successfully tacked to the center, and easily won re-election. Biden needs to win back the center of the country or at least deceive them into thinking he’s a moderate, like in the 2020 campaign. Instead, Biden continues with his hard-left pandering to woke, Israel-hating, Hamas-loving, preferred-pronoun-ing, college-educated nitwits while ignoring the plight of the working class, the one-time Democratic voting base. Good luck with that strategy.
Jonathan Goldgrab
Dear Editor:
Chuck Schumer is a shrewd political player. He’s someone who has not only survived in the DC swamp but has thrived there, making it to the top while staying at the top for decades at this point. Chuck Schumer does this by looking out and doing what’s best for Chuck Schumer.
At some point, Schumer realized that using the moniker “Shomer Yisroel” was good for business, so he ran with it. The mistake that people who listened to him made was believing him. They thought he cared about Israel. They did not understand his motivations and took him at his word. Schumer is also an ethnic Jew. Again, people mistakenly believed that since he was born Jewish, he has a connection to Israel. Newsflash: He doesn’t. Sadly, this does not distinguish him from most of his ethnically Jewish brothers. He does not daven three times a day for Jerusalem and the Temple to be rebuilt. He has way less of a connection to Israel than most religious Christians. His only connection to Israel is through his political position. When one examines the Schumer situation through these prisms, him turning his back on Israel when it was politically convenient for him should not be surprising at all. There was never a spiritual or religious component to his support; and now, in his calculation, there is no political reason for him to show loyalty to Israel.
Warren Hecht is correct in criticizing Schumer’s loathsome but unsurprising political posturing. Mr. Hecht criticizes the timing of the speech, but again this is how political creatures work. When they start feeling heat, they will do or say anything to maintain their power. Mr. Hecht soft-peddles the effect Schumer’s words will have on Israeli politics, which also may be correct, given most Israelis understand the war transcends politics and is a battle for their very existence.
However, a far more salient point that Mr. Hecht could have highlighted is why Schumer does not call for new elections in Gaza, as well. All of us, including the detestable Schumer, know the answer to this question. Gazans elected Hamas in 2006, and if elections were held today, they would elect Hamas again. They are by and large one and the same. Schumer is no dummy. He knows Hamas is a terrorist organization. He knows they are the ones causing whatever civilian suffering is taking place in Gaza. He knows nothing will change regarding the war, even if Netanyahu were replaced by someone else today. And most importantly, he knows Hamas is a threat to Israel’s security. He just does not care.
His past “support” for Israel was never about any strong convictions; it was merely politics and self-interest. Sadly, now that the political winds have blown in a different direction, Schumer’s tune has changed. But in reality, it has not. It is, was, and always will be about what is best for Chuck Schumer.
Jason Stark
The Schumer Shanda
Dear Editor:
I wrote a letter in this space two weeks ago decrying the despicable speech regarding Israel that Chuck Schumer gave in Congress. My main point was to bring attention to the ramifications that such a speech has on any potential negotiations for the return of the Jewish hostages being held by Hamas. Hamas is looking to exploit any daylight between the US and Israel positions on the situation. Schumer’s speech criticizing Israel directly endangers the lives of the hostages and only emboldens their Hamas captors.
I was glad to read in last week’s paper that longtime Democrat supporter Warren Hecht recognizes this very issue in criticizing the timing of the Schumer speech. I understand that politics is often a zero-sum game, and it’s the lives of 134 Jewish hostages vs. some 200,000 Muslim votes in Dearborn, Michigan. But if Schumer had any decency at all, he would have taken a “sheiv v’al ta’aseh” approach and said nothing.
Avi Goldberg
Dear Editor:
What a disgraceful and disgusting week the Democrats just had. Judge [Arthur F.] Engoron’s ridiculous judgment against former President Trump was overturned. Thank you, Eighth Amendment. President Trump will now post bond and go forward with his appeal. This whole episode just exposes the Democrats for trying to drain Trump’s resources, and not actually meting out justice in a fair and balanced way.
NBC has been exposed as the Democratic Party’s media propaganda outlet. Not a day after hiring Ronna McDaniel, former RNC chairperson, there was mutiny among the on-air personalities. Management caved and ended up firing McDaniel after only two days! McDaniel is not a strong conservative, and if the employees at NBC/MSNBC cannot handle her, then they are pretty weak.
The assassination of Officer Jonathan Diller in Far Rockaway was heart-wrenching. He leaves behind a wife and a one-year-old son. He was murdered in cold blood – for what? A ticket for parking at a bus stop? The two men charged with his murder had rap sheets longer than my arm. The Democrats who run Albany, Governor Hochul, the DAs, the City Council – they all have blood on their hands. This lawlessness that these Democrats have caused is getting police officers killed, and citizens are scared for their lives. Women are getting randomly punched in the face or are being thrown on subway tracks. No one is protecting the law-abiding citizens.
Which brings us to President Biden. Who thinks his Democratic Party is running a government on economic socialism and cultural Marxism. His EPA is banning gas-powered cars. His administration is attacking single-family homes and is taking over zoning laws in suburbs. Our private property rights are being confiscated before our very eyes. The dollar is being devalued from all the inflation caused by the Democrats’ spending binge in the first two years of Biden’s presidency. His attack on faith is now in full effect.
First, it was not protecting Jewish students in universities throughout the country. Next, he turns his back on Israel. He is now a full-throated anti-Semite. To top it all off, on the holiest day of the year for the Christian faith, President Biden declares the day “Transgender Day of Visibility.” This is sickening. We need to get our country back on the right path and vote all these sickos out before our constitutional republic crumbles.
Shalom Markowitz
