Don’t Be Naïve
In a recent editorial, you wrote, “To be sure, we are confident that both Pelosi and Hoyer are nowhere in sync with Tlaib and her cohorts when it comes to Israel and the Jewish community.”
Sadly, you are being naive. The pro-Islam stance has become increasingly entrenched on the left. The tide has turned. The left now realizes that there are enough Muslim voters for it to ignore Jewish voters.
The time has come for Jews in America to understand that it has no friends on the left.
Steve Cross
You Forgot These Bukharians
As a director and social innovator at Bukharian Jewish Union, I would like to commend you for your article “From Upstream to Mainstream: The Story of New York’s Bukharian Jewish Community article.” I think it was very informative and very well written.
The only piece it was missing was the non-yeshiva part of the community. I work with the 1,000 Bukharian students at Queens College, 550 Bukharian young professionals via Bukharian Jewish Union, and other Bukharians, 70 percent of whom are not fully observant.
If you would like to learn more about the community I represent, please reach out to me.
Manashe Khaimov
Sweden’s Dangerous Muslims
I appreciate the Swedish prime minister’s actions against Neo-Nazis, but it would have been nice had he also addressed the blatant anti-Semitism of Sweden’s growing Muslim population.
Jews are no longer able to walk the streets of Malmo or Helsingborg because of verbal and physical harassment by Muslims who only recently entered that country. The situation has become so severe that even policemen are often afraid to enter Muslim neighborhoods in Sweden.
While Sweden should be congratulated for its open-door policy, this policy should not have included bigots.
Nelson Marans
New York, NY
The Measles Vaccine – Some Key Omissions
Yaakov Kornreich, the editor of your recent Health & Living supplement, presented a somewhat misleading review of the measles vaccine debate.
For example, he writes that Dr. Andrew Wakefield (and his co-author, Dr. John Walker-Smith) was accused by UK General Medical Council (GMC) of severe medical misconduct and that other researchers were unable to confirm Dr. Wakefield’s findings.
What Mr. Kornreich doesn’t mention is that Dr Walker-Smith sued the GMC and was exonerated. The judge in the case actually stated that the GMC behaved in an abhorrent manner, was wrong, and was unable to prove any trace of medical misconduct.
As far as being “unable to confirm Wakefield’s findings”: Mr. Kornreich, with further investigation, would have discovered at least 28 studies across the world that replicated the results of Wakefield’s Lancet study. A recent study at the University of California Davis clearly indicates that “immune system and gastrointestinal deregulation [is] linked with autism.”
Interestingly, a science paper published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology notes that almost 40 percent “of measles cases were found to be vaccine reaction.” In other words, measles outbreaks will occur among children who are already vaccinated with the measles vaccine.
Mr. Kornreich should have included this information.
Dr. Jeffrey E. Weber
Impeach? Not So Fast
Democrats should think twice before rushing to impeach President Trump. Even if the House of Representatives voted to impeach, the Republican-controlled Senate certainly would vote to keep him in office. In addition, many Democratic representatives would likely be put in a difficult position.
Consider the case of Congresswoman Kendra Suzanne Horn (no known relationship), now representing the fifth district of Oklahoma. She won the 2018 election by a mere 1.4 percent, becoming the first Democrat to win her district in 44 years. Since President Trump won her district by 13.7 percent in 2016, a vote to impeach him may well result in her losing her seat in 2020.
In total, 31 Democratic representatives from districts that President Trump carried currently sit in Congress. A large turnout of motivated Trump supporters could throw control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans.
Despite all these basic facts, many of the Democrats running for president in 2020 are calling for the president’s impeachment. In other words, their selfish desire to become president means more to them than retaining control of the House of Representatives. Personal ambition, in other words, at the expense of their party.
Arthur Horn
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Kol Hakovod – The OU Removed Its Hechsher
Several months ago, I wrote an open letter to the Orthodox Union concerning a company named Big Gay Ice Cream. I challenged the OU to remove its certification from a brand whose very purpose is to undermine Torah morality.
I am pleased to report that several weeks ago, I received a message from the OU stating that its hechsher was being removed from Big Gay Ice Cream products. I am not here to claim credit; rather, my purpose is to acknowledge the OU for doing the right thing.
Traditional morality – a staple of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim societies for centuries – is currently under fierce attack. As reported in your newspaper last week, the House of Representatives just passed a nefarious bill (H.R.5) that would criminalize such decisions as refusing to serve as the official photographer at a same-gender wedding.
Meanwhile, teachers are encouraging children as young as four to question their gender. This practice is so bizarre and deviant that it’s hard to understand. Yet, it’s occurring.
The deviant-rights movement wishes to thoroughly undermine all traditional gender moorings, and we must not be silent in the face of this assault. History demonstrates that societies that discard traditional moral categories do not survive.
A few weeks ago, Rabbi Yehuda Levin wrote a letter in your pages noting that the New York Yankees are planning to hold a night celebrating LGBT behavior. The Mets have already held such a night for several years. The first year it was held, I wrote to every Mets player, as well as the front office. In response, an executive called me, and we discussed the matter. The Mets did not cancel the event, but clearly it made someone at the Mets take notice. And the more people who protest, the greater the impact.
Avi Goldstein
Far Rockaway, NY