Vote On Election Day
Election Day, November 8, is less than two weeks away. It is crucial that we not take our obligation for granted. In fact Rav Yosef Soloveitchik, zt”l, said that a Jew “fulfills God’s will in working for the public good…” and concluded that Jews must vote in elections.
There is much at stake this year. In addition to the presidency, the entire House of Representatives, 34 Senate seats, 12 governorships, and many state and local offices are in play.
Government policy makers at every level are keenly aware of voting patterns and election district turnout levels. They are aware which precincts have a heavier Jewish population. In many instances post-election legislative cooperation is a response to voter turnout. We can ill afford to be complacent.
We urge you to use your vote for the candidate for public office whose beliefs best reflect your own beliefs, and who you feel will best support the state of Israel and your local communities.
Yosef Poplack
First Vice President
National Council of Young Israel
‘Outrageous’ Scenario
When Donald Trump would not confirm if he would accept the election results, I had a thought on what he could have meant. He may have been imagining a scenario where he would win the election only to realize that Hillary Clinton would make a better president and therefore immediately offer the job to her.
Sounds outrageous, right? But is it any more outrageous than any of the many shocking statements he’s made in this long, sad, soul-sapping election season?
Alan Howard
Brooklyn, NY
Trump’s ‘Fraud’ Claim
I am highly disappointed with Republican voters across the United States. Evidently, according to national polls, over 70 percent of Republican voters believe the propaganda being put out by Donald Trump and his campaign staff that the upcoming election is rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton. And my disappointment emanates from being a registered Independent for decades.
If Trump and his supporters actually believe the election is rigged, then they believe that fraud will occur in the balloting across the country in state after state, county after county, city after city, and town after town. How absurd and un-American are these beliefs.
If someone is really worried about this, it means he or she believes our voting system is subject to the same systemic fraud that occurs in Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba, and other totalitarian countries. Unlike those counties, however, we have thousands of responsible, unbiased, and honest election officials processing ballots.
Trump and his supporters are setting up Trump’s loss to be blamed on a fictitious and salacious conspiracy theory. And now he is saying he might not be willing to accept the results of the election if he loses. This is preaching anarchy.
Donald Moskowitz
Londonderry, NH
Orthodoxy And Trump
Reader Alan Krinsky (Letters, Oct. 21) wonders why so many Orthodox Jews support Trump when Trump’s values are not exactly in line with “fundamental Orthodox values.”
First, the term “fundamental Orthodox values” is a misnomer. There are “Torah values,” and all Jews are required to adhere to them. Those who do are generally referred to as “Orthodox.”
Mr. Krinsky cites a fact-checking website which claims that of 250 statements it researched, Trump lied 97 times while Hillary lied only 27 times. This supposedly shows that Hillary is more honest than Trump. The logic fails me. Is someone who robbed five banks more ethical than someone who robbed 15 banks?
Has Mr. Krinsky forgotten about some of Hillary’s positions? She is pro-choice (and also supports late-term abortions). The left has a way of sugarcoating the most dastardly and despicable acts with euphemisms that make those acts seem benign and even benevolent. The proper term for pro-choice should be pro-torture and murder.
Hillary is a strong supporter of gay marriage. Homosexuality is called an ”abomination” by the Torah. To institutionalize this abomination and make it an accepted norm, and then to have the gall to condemn those who oppose it, is probably the lowest point of depravity.
How can even a secular Jew sink to the level of supporting a candidate who has no regard for biblical ethics?
At least Trump will leave it up to the states, knowing full well that some states will ban gay marriage, which is better than nothing.
Mr. Krinsky claims that “We have no idea what Trump’s Israel policy is or might become.” Yes we do. We see that with just about every issue Trump has spoken out on, he is almost invariably on the side of logic and reason. I don’t see how Trump will view Palestinians who are reared to hate and murder Jews, and then grow up to carry out the most barbaric acts, as the ones who want peace.
Josh Greenberger
Brooklyn, NY