Dear Editor:
QJL readers are urged to show Jewish community concern and solidarity on Monday, October 19, at the court hearing of antisemite Dawood Faisal, whose utterly reckless driving crashed into two cars, the second of which careened out of control, killing Cara Trager, a beloved member of the Jewish community. Days earlier, he’d vandalized the outside of Bagels & Co. on Union Turnpike, which proudly flies American and Israeli flags.
For his killing, Faisal faces 10 charges, headed by manslaughter. Show Judge Michael Hartofilis and District Attorney Melinda Katz that we care and we show up. And let Faisal know we have eyes on him. When I looked at his face at the last court hearing, I couldn’t find an ounce of remorse.
Faisal will be brought from prison to Queens Supreme Criminal Court, 125-01 Queens Boulevard, Part K-25, room 640, at 9:30 a.m. The court is a couple of blocks from the Union Turnpike stop of the E and F trains.
Glenn Richter
Dear Editor:
Everyone is talking about the attempted hijacking that occurred recently on an flydubai flight. The miracles that Hashem performed on that flight were truly mind-boggling, and we should talk about them at great length. As the pasuk tells us, “sichu b’chol niflaosov – speak of all His wonders.”
The truth is that Hashem is constantly doing miracles for us, as we say three times daily, “al nisecha sheb’chol yom.” I believe that this incident should serve as a reminder to us that Hashem is constantly foiling the plots of our enemies and that we got a small glimpse of the protection He is constantly providing for us.
We must put more fire into our Modim that we say three times each and every day. Yes, it is nice that we read articles and are even inspired by this tremendous event; however, we cannot stop at that. We must take the inspirational feelings and put them into our Modim and even Asher Yatzar. If you study the body well, you will realize how many miracles we require to exist, and Asher Yatzar will never be the same.
Let us make a commitment to refresh our view on life and to increase our appreciation for the daily miracles and chasadim that Hashem is showering upon us each and every day.
Rabbi YY Friedman
Dear Editor:
My rabbi got up to speak Friday night after Kabalas Shabbos and posed the following question: “What word comes to mind when describing Parshas Bereishis?” No one in our small minyan knew what he was referring to. After a brief pause, the rabbi said, “Responsibility.”
Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. The serpent blames G-d. After all, why create a tree if you can’t eat its fruit? Later on, Cain kills Abel. However, Abel has the same complaint as the serpent: G-d, I gave You a sacrifice as well; why did You accept the other one and not mine?
To this day, it is difficult for one to accept responsibility for one’s behavior. We are less than a month before the midterms, and Democrats are lying to our faces. They refuse to accept responsibility for any of their rhetoric or actions.
President Biden let in over 14 million illegals. Now, ICE is trying to round them up and deport them. Democrats are protesting the removal of these illegals. Why? Because they see them as future voters for Democrats. Last week, an illegal was shot, and the mayor, Governor, and Attorney General all came to the defense of the criminal illegal. Whose side are they on?
The Governor and AG are on the ballot in three weeks. If they are not protecting the citizens, then they do not deserve our vote. They choose criminals over law-abiding citizens. They choose the war on oil and natural gas, so we have higher gas and electric bills. They follow Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin’s secret police chief: “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.”
All members of the House are up for reelection. Last time Democrats had control, they abused the impeachment clause of the Constitution. You bet they’ll do it again if given the opportunity.
The Democrats hate Jews and hate Israel. They refuse to take responsibility for their antisemitic rhetoric. They want to stop all aid to Israel despite all that Israel gives the US in return.
They are all in for Marxism and the Islamic takeover of our country. Just look at what’s taking place in England and France. It’s frightening that it’s spreading to other European countries. We are watching the fall of Western civilization before our very eyes. The Democrats are all in!
Democrats spent like drunken sailors and caused the worst inflation in 40 years. It took President Reagan six years to get inflation under control after Carter. Trump doesn’t have that kind of time but is doing all he can to bring prices down. Democrats pass the blame and say that affordability is Trump’s fault.
We must hold the Democratic Party responsible. We have solid Republican candidates running. We must make our voices heard on November 3 with our vote.
Shalom Markowitz
I’m Not AI
Dear Editor:
Did I write all those letters, or did I get them from AI? Truth be told, AI comes up with a lot more exciting and well-written pieces than I could. Nevertheless, I would never want to cheat like that, so instead, you have to settle for more lukewarm, pareve prose. (Did you like that alliteration?)
However, if AI had existed a while back, I probably could have gotten my Ph.D. (not that a doctorate in linguistics would have made me rich). As a writing teacher, I could have caught all my students’ purloined papers. I also could have understood the English in Beowulf and Shakespeare. It seems that, according to some, Shakespeare didn’t write his plays and never set foot in Denmark. According to that opinion, he had a Jewish woman write his plays. I guess she was his A.I.
Needless to say, no one will ever accuse me of plagiarism or lifting ideas from someone else. My sarcasm belongs to me, and me alone. When I suffer from writer’s block, I usually leave the house and experience something on Main Street to inspire me. Therefore, if I say, “Good Shabbos” to you, make sure you respond in kind, or you will be the subject of my next Debbie-inspired letter.
Debbie Horowitz
Dear Editor:
When I previously wrote about the absence of Jewish representation from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s 19-member Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, one unanswered question involved retired Appellate Division Justice John Leventhal. We knew Chief Judge Rowan Wilson had nominated Leventhal and that the administration declined to approve him. We now know more.
In a September 17 NY1 interview, Leventhal called the administration’s explanation for his rejection “hypocritical” and a “pretext,” saying his exclusion “smacks of antisemitism.”
Mayor Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, did not question Leventhal’s credentials. He called him an “eminently qualified jurist,” but said City Hall objected to his paid appellate representation of Ghislaine Maxwell because the administration did not want committee members with financial ties to associates of Jeffrey Epstein. Kassem distinguished that from his own pro bono representation of controversial detainees.
That explanation does not resolve the broader issue. If Leventhal’s Maxwell work made him unacceptable, why was another qualified Jewish legal professional not appointed?
This was never simply about Leventhal. It was about how City Hall assembled a committee it called a “truly representative cross-section” of New York’s legal profession without a Jewish member that the city’s Jewish bar associations could identify.
Kassem said four of the 12 judges Mamdani appointed or reappointed in January identify as Jewish, and Mamdani has said Jewish judges will continue to be appointed because they reflect New York’s population. That is welcome, but if Jewish representation matters on the bench, why not on the committee helping determine who reaches it?
The administration also restored the New York City Bar Association’s independent role in reviewing judicial candidates, and the committee adopted its first public code of conduct governing impartiality, conflicts, and recusals. Both are worthwhile reforms.
Corporation Counsel Steven Banks, who is Jewish, also participates in the administration’s judicial-selection process. Executive Order 6 provides for consultation among the committee chair, chief counsel, and corporation counsel as necessary regarding judicial appointments. Banks, however, is not a member of the 19-member committee that screens candidates and recommends who advances.
More than two months after four Jewish bar associations objected, the committee remains unchanged.
This is not an argument for religious quotas, nor does the committee’s composition alone prove deliberate discrimination. But City Hall chose the standard by which the panel should be judged. Mamdani promised an inclusive, transparent process reflective of the city it serves. Kassem called the committee a “truly representative cross-section” of New York’s legal profession.
New York’s Jewish legal community has produced generations of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, professors, and leaders of the bar. Its absence from this committee remains difficult to understand.
If Jewish New Yorkers should see themselves reflected on the bench - and Mayor Mamdani has said they should - why were they not reflected on the committee helping determine who gets there?
Shabsie Saphirstein
