Dear Editor:
I want to say how wonderful I think Goldy Krantz’s column is. The last two weeks have just been phenomenal!
The advice she gave to Sara, who asked for general advice since she is just beginning to date, was spot on. We all get caught up in the silly, stupid stuff so that we lose focus on what we are doing: looking for a life mate, our bashert. It may seem like simple advice to trust yourself, but it is so true! And so many will try to give you advice, but it’s only you living this life, so everyone should keep their mouths closed.
I loved her answer/reply to Nechama. I don’t think the boy she was dating knew what he wanted. First it was the diagnosis and then it was transparency? He’s playing, and unfortunately other people’s lives and emotions are affected by his (ridiculous) words and actions.
It’s great to read a dating column when the columnist talks to you as a friend would and not like a rebbetzin. Goldy is real! And that’s why I love her column.
Keep up the great work!
Menucha Goldstein
Dear Editor:
The COVID-19 vaccine distribution has begun, and many seem very pleased with that and hope that this marks the beginning of the end of the pandemic and all of its associated lockdowns and restrictions. I do not believe this is the case, however. I believe we will have restrictions for probably at least another year, and perhaps much longer than that. At least from what I’ve seen, the COVID vaccines provide an unknown duration of immunity, perhaps permanent immunity, perhaps only three months of immunity.
I believe that what we will see going forward is an increasingly mandatory vaccine, perhaps a yearly vaccine like the flu, or perhaps even a quarterly vaccine. There are already new strains of COVID-19, and there will continue to be new strains and presumably new vaccines. Now that the precedents are in place, governments will order lockdowns whenever they feel like it, ostensibly “following the science.” I can easily see lockdowns becoming a yearly thing, or perhaps lockdowns will occur several times a year around times that people generally socialize, such as summertime and the holiday season. There is a reason politicians call this “the new normal” – because that’s exactly what it is.
As human beings, we are social creatures, and we need to be free in order to grow. Because of fear, we have forsaken these basic instincts. We have become lonely, depressed, and suicidal. Young adults, the lowest-risk group, turn down invitations to interact with each other out of fear and some twisted new COVID morality that has little basis in reality. We have allowed ourselves to be convinced that all of this is necessary, when the truth is that “science” is not as black-and-white as our politicians would have us believe. Science is about questioning the status quo, not embracing a narrative, and thousands of scientists do exactly that, with little to no coverage in the media.
There are studies that claim that masks don’t work, and studies that claim that used masks are worse than no mask. There are countries that have not had a lockdown, and countries that have been open since the summer. All of them are ostensibly following the science, which means that the tactics our politicians take have little to do with science, and are instead about fear and control.
We have allowed our mayor, governor, and (unelected) Dr. Fauci to utterly destroy individual liberties, and we have voluntarily given up our friendships, travel, movies, concerts, religion, and anything that makes life worth living, really. Small businesses have closed, and will remain closed. Entrepreneurship and free market seem more like distant ideals than reality. Mental health has packed out and left the country. None of this is going away anytime soon, and people need to realize that and come to their own decisions. Is it better and more moral to live under fear and restrictions? Or is it better to be free? Is a future without friends and family a future that is worthwhile? Or do we truly need to start thinking about “give me liberty or give me death”?
None of this is going away until people remind our politicians that they work for us, not the other way around.
Ephrayim Fox
Queens
Dear Editor:
I was pleased to read the December 17 opinion piece from Warren Hecht. He is expressing himself just like President Donald Trump. If you do not agree with either, they categorize you into generalized degrading groups. Calling well-intentioned individuals communists, student radicals, or Black Panthers, lacking in courage, will never create an atmosphere of unity. To call what a group of legislators do “a joke” shows a total lack of respect for any government official. What is necessary for this country to come together is for us all to focus on the good we can do for each other. What we have now is both sides creating a more divisive society. So Warren, good job on establishing your idea of a society where opponents need to show no respect for each other.
Zvi Fishman
Dear Editor:
Moshe Hill’s contorted rationalization (Biden is legally in but it is the crime of the century) of why Donald Trump was cheated out of being re-elected fails to identify the culprit for his defeat: Donald Trump, who the American electorate realized lacked the leadership, integrity, and vision to guide the nation through the crises it faces.
A sampling of the challenges and his limitations should suffice:
1) Trump might have been re-elected had he shown real authority in dealing with the scourge of COVID-19. Instead, over 300,000 have died as he failed (and mocked) our best medical minds who urged simple measures like wear a mask, keep social distance, and disinfect. Moreover, states were left to fend for themselves, which aggravated the problem.
2) The preponderance of scientific evidence is that the Earth is doomed unless there is a collective effort to confront the man-made pollution that is quickly destroying it. Yet the president pulled the US out of an international climate control initiative to deal with the problem, and removed national anti-pollution regulations, which exacerbates the problem.
3) The president withdrew the nation from the international compact overseeing Iran’s nuclear development, even though international inspectors said that Iran was complying.
4) The New York Times and The Washington Post have documented Trump’s thousands of public fabrications (Remember: “Mexico will pay for the wall!”?).
5) The Trump administration has done little to forge peace between Israel and the Palestinians as promised. Cessation of war is the result of facts on the ground. The Arab nations have recognized that they cannot defeat Israel by war or boycotts, and they are no longer willing to shed their people’s blood in vain. They have also realized that they have more to gain from peace. The terrorists are learning that terror is only bringing a minimum return. Besides, it is increasingly difficult to recruit suicidal recruits.
Donald Trump, as it is becoming clear, is sadly afflicted with a weak ego (like a bully) that manifests itself in narcissism, megalomania, paranoia, and ultimately self-destruction when he implodes. Biden may not make America great again (if it was not already great), but we can at least hope for harmony, serenity, and rational leadership.
Bernie Greenspan
Dear Editor:
Mr. Hecht has utter contempt for President Trump and his supporters. He calls us Communists. What sheer chutzpah! It is Joe Biden and the Democratic Party that seek to destroy our way of life and our free markets and our economic system. His mayor, Mr. de Blasio, even admitted it last week when he said that there needs to be redistribution of wealth. That is communism. Nothing the President has done has been illegal, despite whatever lies that the media and the Democratic Party have concocted. Mr. Hecht is just too gullible to believe them.
He belittles the Texas Attorney General’s lawsuit and says that every first-year law student knew that the case didn’t stand a chance. I think Mr. Hecht is the one who needs a repetition in Constitutional Law. Article II Section I Clause II states: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.” It is the state legislatures that make election law in each state - not the governor and not the secretary of state. These five states committed federal unconstitutional acts, and therefore Texas had every right to challenge what occurred in the Supreme Court. As far as why didn’t the Supreme Court take the case, that’s easy: He can thank Senior Senator Chuck Schumer for that. On multiple occasions, Mr. Schumer has threatened the Supreme Court justices and the Court itself. He even did it on the very steps of the Courthouse. If you were faced with that, would you have the courage to take him on? I probably wouldn’t.
It has now come out that there was rampant fraud throughout the country when it came to this election. Brave men and women have come out and testified or signed affidavits proving they saw illegality. One mail truck driver went on the record that he drove pallets of pre-marked ballots from New York to Pennsylvania. Gee, I’m sure that was okay.
No, President Trump will not stop, and neither will the 74 million of us who voted for him legally. I have but two questions for Mr. Hecht. Do you believe Joe Biden legitimately received the most votes of any Presidential candidate in history? After you ponder that one, do you believe Joe Biden, hiding in his basement and not out campaigning, is more popular than Barak Hussein Obama? If the answer to question two is No, then the answer to question one cannot be Yes. I rest my case.
Daniel Grossman