Opinion

In this week’s parshah, Moshe is instructed to speak to the Jewish people in Hashem’s name, saying, “And now, if you listen diligently to My voice and preserve my covenant, you shall be my treasured people.”

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

It’s time to put an end to this.  No more masking our children.  No more quarantining a whole class when there’s a positive test.  No more demands to vaccinate.  No more bans on parents entering the buildings.  If it wasn’t done in 2019, it should not be done in 2022.

Last week in Daf Yomi, we learned that Rav Ashi stated that the words “vay’hi biymei – and it was in the days of” is “lashon tzaar–painful language.” In his shiur, Rabbi Shalom Rosner brought a beautiful word from the Gra (the Vilna Gaon).

A year ago, Republicans allowed themselves to fall prey to a short-sighted and false narrative that caused large numbers of them to do something that they, and many people around the country, regret.  The nation has paid a heavy price for the failures of these few, and the repercussions of that decision will be felt for years to come.  I am referring, of course, to January 5.

The state-imposed nightmare that New Yorkers have been living under is continuing, as Governor Kathy Hochul and her comrades continue to enact greater and greater impositions and decrees on the people who elected her predecessor.  This is not a national issue; rather it’s a local one, as states with Republican governors do not have to fear the authoritarian overreach of their ruling class. After forced masking and vaccination, the question New Yorkers must ask is: How far will they go?