Opinion

I bet many of you were surprised that in last week’s paper, I did not make the case for why you should vote for former Vice President Biden. I was planning to do so until my wife said that people are tired of hearing about Trump and they have made up their minds as for whom they are voting. I decided to listen to her. There is a second reason why it did not make sense to discuss who to vote for: because it is expected that Biden will win New York. Since we have the electoral college, vote totals do not matter. In the majority of states, if the candidate wins by one vote, they will receive all of the state’s electoral votes.

I have little doubt that those who write in the Jewish papers who are critics of Governor Cuomo will be out in force in their denunciations of the new regulations, claiming anti-Semitism. My question to them is: What would you have done if you were in the governor’s shoes?

Between April and October is the period when there are many bike events. I enjoy these events because I ride in locales that I would not have ridden on my own; it also forces me to ride longer distances. I use the time during bike riding to formulate what I am going to write about. It is one of the few times during the week when I cannot be distracted. 

This week, I decided to respond to the Trumpians who argue that since I am a Jew, I must support Trump because they claim he is good to the Jews, and in particular, Israel.

It has been reported that President Donald Trump and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie both got the coronavirus from the same event. They were both hospitalized for a short time and it appears the two will make a full recovery. Yet, they have had different reactions as a result of the experience.

Someone mentioned in shul that this Rosh Hashanah is one you’ll be able to tell your children or grandchildren about. It has been a unique experience sitting and davening with a mask on while social distancing. Some people had minyanim in tents or in community drives. I’d never heard so many shofars being blown in the afternoon for people who were unable to attend services due to health risks. However, the circumstances that caused it, namely COVID-19, is something I wish had never happened, and hopefully will never happen again.