Living in New York is getting tougher and tougher. No matter how carefully some of us planned, much of our retirement savings and investments have been dwindling away. Additionally, many of my neighbors are scared that the benefits they have paid into for years – Social Security and Medicare – may be taken away.

They are right to be nervous. These concerns cannot go unaddressed.

My name is David Weprin and I am running for United States Congress to represent the people of the Ninth Congressional District in New York.

I was born and raised in Queens. I attended local yeshivas for elementary and high school, as did all my children. I am a member of the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates and the Young Israel of Holliswood. My wife Ronni and I have five children and one grandchild.

I was a member of the New York City Council for eight years and served as chair of the Finance Committee the entire length of my service. Currently, I serve in the New York State Assembly.

Growing up in Queens as a religious teenager and raising a frum family prepared me to uniquely understand the needs many of my constituents and of the broader Jewish community. I am also able to advise my colleagues in government on how to best serve the Jewish community.

There were several periods when Mayor Bloomberg was intent on cutting Priority 7 vouchers. These vouchers subsidize after-school care that is vital for many families in our community. I was front and center in the battle to combat this cut that would have hurt so many of my neighbors.

Part of what makes our Jewish community so special is the sense of responsibility we feel toward each other. Hatzolah is an organization that exemplifies this feeling. I am very proud that I have been able to secure two capital grants to assist Hatzolah in its vital work.

A few years ago I received a frantic phone call from a group of concerned rabbis. They had been notified that the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health was going to ban metzitzah b’peh, an important part of the bris milah ritual for many religious Jews. I immediately contacted the commissioner and, in conjunction with other leaders in the community, got the city to back off.

I mentioned above that times are tough for all of us. As somebody who sent his children to yeshivas, I understand what the added cost of yeshiva tuition can do to a family budget.

In fact, I had the opportunity this year in Albany to help pass TAP, or Tuition Assistance Program, legislation. This historic bill will provide up to $5,000 in tuition assistance for yeshiva students learning in post-high school yeshivas.

I have constantly fought for all members of our community. I have been a strong supporter of various organizations – Met Council on Jewish Poverty, Ohel, Chai Lifeline, Coalition of Jewish Organizations of Flatbush, among many others.

In dealing with social service agencies for over a decade, I understand their importance to many in our communities. My opponent wants to cut 35 percent of all federal agencies. He wants to abolish the Department of Education that helps educate our special-needs children. He wants to end the Department of Agriculture that provides food stamps for the neediest among us and provides funding for the enforcement of kashrus laws.

Yes, there is fat in the federal government that needs to be cut. There are tax loopholes for giant corporations that pay a lower tax rate than teachers and small business owners. But there are ways to lower our unsustainable deficit that don’t involve turning our backs on our seniors and the neediest among us. Our social safety nets, like Medicare and Social Security, need to be preserved.

An issue especially close to my heart is Israel. I have led a number of missions there and also traveled as part of a delegation during the Lebanon War in 2006 to help raise soldiers’ morale and transfer food and clothes to shelters. We actually came under rocket attack ourselves while helping out.

As a Democrat, I was very outspoken against President Obama’s suggestion that Israel use pre-1967 borders to come to an agreement with Palestinian negotiators. One of the missions I’ve led to Israel was to Beitar Illit, a city of over 40,000 people. I have seen first hand the communities that would be displaced if Israel would return to pre-Six-Day War borders.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, when he endorsed my candidacy for Congress a few weeks ago, stated clearly and unequivocally that the best way to send a message to President Obama in disagreement with his Mideast policies is through me, not a new member of the Republican majority whose criticism would be dismissed as partisan politics.

I believe Jerusalem is and will always be the capital of Israel. I believe Israelis want peace and are ready now, as they have been for years, to negotiate with a willing partner – but I am unsure that such a partner exists.

It is in America’s interest to have Israel as a secure ally in the region, and I will be passionate about explaining that to those in Washington who are uninformed or have been fed lies by Israel’s enemies.

I will be a hard working and strong representative for my community in Congress.

Mr. Weprin represents the 24th Assembly District in Queens.

This month Social Security, the most successful domestic program in our nation’s history, celebrates its 75th anniversary.

On August 14, 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. With one pen stroke he laid the foundation of modern American social policy. Today, millions of retirees live in dignity thanks to their monthly Social Security benefit payment.

Over the decades, Social Security expanded to not only protect against the risk of poverty in old age, but also the economic risk of career-ending disability and the premature death of a worker.

In his statement at the signing of the Social Security Act, President Roosevelt said, “If the Senate and the House of Representatives in this long and arduous session had done nothing more than pass this Bill, the session would be regarded as historic for all time.”

I could not agree more.

A little over a quarter century ago, I came to Washington to work on Social Security. Just a few months later, I got a very important lesson on how important Social Security is to families. My own father, who was almost the same age I am today, suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage. He started to recover, and then we got the bad news that he had a fatal form of brain cancer, so we began the process to apply for Social Security disability benefits.

That was a very anxious time for my family, particularly for my mother. We were all very concerned that the health care costs for my father would bankrupt her; it was a great relief when the decision came. That’s a lesson that has always stuck with me and why I push very hard as commissioner of the Social Security Administration to try to make sure that we get benefit decisions to claimants as quickly as possible.

As we celebrate 75 years, I reflect on how Social Security was there for my family, how proud I am to work for this remarkable program, and how lucky I am to lead such a talented and compassionate workforce.

I have two wonderful children who entered the workforce in the past year. One is being called up for active military duty in October and the other will teach inner-city children. It is imperative that they and millions of other young Americans have confidence that we will continue to honor the great intergenerational contract that is Social Security.

It is in this spirit that President Obama established the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform that in December will make recommendations regarding the future of Social Security.

With the 75th anniversary of the Social Security Act upon us, the agency has been revitalized despite the huge workloads caused by higher unemployment. Compared to four years ago, productivity is up, backlogs are down, and an aging IT infrastructure is being replaced with state-of-the-art systems and the best electronic services in the Federal government.

I am excited about the next 75 years of Social Security, and you should be too.

Michael J. Astrue is commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Among his various government positions he served as general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services and associate counsel to the president during parts of both the Reagan and Bush administrations.

I have written several articles, in the past years, about the Well Spouse Foundation. I became a member of this organization decades ago. The book Mainstay, by Maggie Strong, was really the start. When I read this book, written by a young woman when her husband became ill with Multiple Sclerosis, I felt I had found a friend who was dealing with the same emotions that I was coping with. Mainstay was the impetus that led to the Well Spouse Association. It is a wonderful organization that provides support for the spouses of the chronically ill.

Through their newsletter, “Mainstay,”(which I have often referred to as a support group in your mailbox) many well spouses get emotional and practical help. Their many programs include respite weekends, forums, listings of local support groups, book reviews, and online discussions that give many well spouses their only contact with others who are dealing with the same problems, situations and emotions.

Their Mentor Program is online support for members providing one to one support for a well spouse from a veteran caregiver.  For members without e-mail who want to communicate with other well spouses, their Round Robin Letter Writing Groups consists of communication among five to seven well spouses.

Help Your Mom Save $3,600!
By Everett M. Lo

Social Security Administration in New York

Dear Readers: I want to share a letter I received this week giving me hope that there are some level heads out there in the shidduch world, and that not everyone is caught up in the hysteria and/or ga’avah (arrogance) that accompanies a suggestion for a date.

The letter was in answer to my previous column, in which I pointed out that the level of “checking” into a prospective shidduch has gotten way out of hand, as has the “criteria” used to assess the boy’s or girl’s “worthiness.” Case in point: A fine young man in his mid-20′s was asked the names of his high school yeshiva rebbes- which he readily supplied.

However, despite a glowing report from the various rebbes and his chavrusah, etc., the girl’s parents decided that they needed further information and wanted the names of his yeshiva ketanah teachers – even though over a dozen years had passed and he was now an adult.

In another shidduch scenario, a young lady’s reference was asked how she would rate the girl’s communication skills (perhaps the boy’s mother wanted to know if she would be able to decipher baby talk so the future eineklach would not cry unnecessarily). In yet another case, a reference was asked how she would assess the sincerity of the girl’s davening. The startled but indignant reference stated that she was too engrossed in her own davening to notice!

I have been following the shidduch crisis in all the Jewish papers in the last year or so. We live about 400 miles from New York City. Needless to say, I see the situation from another perspective. Of course, everything is subjective.

We have three married children who met their spouses in New York. We did not check out future sons- and daughters-in-law and/or their parents. Baruch Hashem, they are all happy. After raising our children in the Torah way by sending them to day school, we allowed them to make their own decisions. We respected their judgment. By the time they are grown, hopefully parents have instilled in their children Jewish values – and they should back off and let their children decide (I am not talking about extreme situations).

Judging people according to rigid and superficial categories, such as whether the “other family” serves on paper plates, linen or plastic tablecloths, the mother’s (or father’s) weight and when that person was toilet-trained (don’t laugh, I heard it!) breaks down communication – ensuring that there is no room for flexibility.

Parents who meddle too much should be told to respect their children and stay out, at least in the initial process. Our son met his wife through a girl whom he dated twice. One never knows how one can meet his or her bashert.

Young people (and their parents, if they are involved) should be looking for a person who demonstrates kindness, commitment, responsibility, honesty, integrity, respect to parents and older people, sense of humor, self-esteem, flexibility and, if possible, the ability to find out how a person handles his or her temper and disappointment.

Our last single son is a graduate student who is looking for a frum and independent girl who will be able to stand on her own two feet. (In fact, we made sure that our daughter had a profession, too.) He is talented and was considering staying in a yeshiva. But who will support him and his future family?

Those who wish to sit and study at the expense of others pay the price, in every sense of the word (and ultimately so do all of us). They mostly stay immature, depending on their parents’ financial support and just don’t grow up in a healthy way.

Since the parents pay for their adult children’s livelihood, some feel entitled to dictate to them where to live, how to space their children, how to dress them and what to name the grandchildren, among other demanding expectations. The adult children’s decision is often under a magnifying glass, and many times they are criticized about minor things. All this stress causes shalom bayis tension.

Now back to your article. Where do those young girls come from, wanting to stay home and have a husband who only learns? Are they realistic? Those who only study will not have earned money to get enough Social Security or any money for retirement, and will not benefit from all that goes along with the satisfaction of working and supporting one’s family. Having said that, I have no objection to parents occasionally helping out financially.

May we soon witness an improvement in this situation.

A Concerned Reader

         You can reach me at annnovick@hotmail.com

         You can contact me at annnovick@hotmail.com