Vance’s Moral Muddle
I wish to commend Jonathan Tobin for his brilliant assessment of J.D. Vance and extremism from the right (“Note to JD Vance: Catering to Extremism Is a Losing Political Strategy,” Nov. 7).
Tobin pointed out the personal connection that Vance has with Tucker Carlson, which undoubtedly influenced Vance’s decision not to condemn Carlson for courting Holocaust denier and Jew-hater Nick Fuentes. Vance didn’t have the moral courage to distance himself from Carlson, and Jewish voters need Vance to explain.
Zachary Margolies
Philadelphia, Pa.
A Time To Plan, Not Panic
Re: Your cover headline last week (“NYC Elects Obsessively Anti-Israel, Far Left Zohran Mamdani as Mayor”): Mamdani is now mayor-elect, and arguing with the Jews who supported him will accomplish nothing. We must face reality: This may be a dark period for New York’s Jewish community, and rising antisemitism feels increasingly unstoppable.
Some say we should flee to Florida, but the only true refuge for Jews remains Israel. Meanwhile, Mamdani will likely moderate his tone once in office; after all, he wants to advance his political career and be reelected in four years. We live in an age of volatility and violence, and he will need to tread carefully once he assumes power. I also believe he will eventually seek higher office.
This is not pre-1933 Germany, nor are we facing a potential genocide. If Jews are ever targeted, Israel now has a strong army and a homeland that will never allow mass annihilation again. We have a place to go.
My purpose in writing is to calm those who are panicking. Still, it is wise to plan ahead – and consider purchasing property in Israel or obtaining Israeli citizenship. Remain in America as long as it is viable, but recognize that antisemitism has entered the mainstream. The danger is real.
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Via E-mail
Israel’s Miracles Come From G-d
The November 7 issue of The Jewish Press Perspective column provided a rich summary of Israel’s “miraculous” achievements in just 77 years of statehood (“Israel: Nation of Miracles”).
But in two pages of narrative, G-d was not mentioned even once.
The article ended with the words: “Seventy-seven years after its birth, Israel is indeed a nation of miracles…because it endures, builds, and contributes to humanity through its science, spirit, and strength.” I will give the writer the benefit of the doubt, that he implied G-d in his reference to “spirit.”
Moses warns us in Deuteronomy 8:17: “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the L-rd your G-d, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reminds us that our achievements are all blessings from G-d: “Good things, says Moses, will happen to you. Everything, however, will depend on how you respond. Either you will eat and be satisfied and bless G-d, remembering that all things come from Him – or you will eat and be satisfied and forget to whom you owe all this. You will think it comes entirely from your own efforts.”
Israel has responded to the October 7th massacre with game-changing victories in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. Even the United States’ bombing of the nuclear facilities was made possible only by Israel having neutralized Iran’s ability to resist. We must remember that it is only through G-d’s blessings that in a mere 77 years, a ragtag air force of several worn-out WWII aircraft was transformed into a fighting force that is second to none.
We must also remember not only Who is responsible for the growth of Eretz Yisrael, but also Who is responsible for our return to nationhood after 2,000 years. And we must remember Who commands us to settle the land. As The Jewish Press editorial in the same issue reminds us: “Aliyah is always a great idea.”
In the end, there is little difference in opinion between a Mamdani who refuses to recognize a “Jewish” nation of Israel and the White House’s opinion of Jewish sovereignty in the heartland of Biblical Israel, as Vice President J.D. Vance is quoted in the same edition of The Jewish Press as saying, “…The West Bank [note: not using the Jewish names Judea and Samaria] is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy.”
President Trump was presented with the opportunity to bless the Jews when he ordered the bombing of the nuclear reactors. The Jewish nation is very grateful for his assistance. If he chose not to, then G-d’s salvation would have come from another source. I am very disappointed in the comments of Vice President J.D. Vance and in President Trump’s peace plan which allows for a two-state future in Eretz Yisrael. Our strength is to follow the path of our faith. Returning to our ancient land and rebuilding our nation after 2,000 years of exile is a prophecy now materializing in real time. When Mandani, Vance, Trump, or anyone else is attempting to deny this belief of the Jewish people, then it is no different than demanding that we, G-d forbid, convert.
David Ferster
Great Neck, N.Y.
Mamdani’s Fighting Words
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech sounded more like a declaration of war, especially against President Donald Trump. He’s in the wrong business – he should be a late-night talk show host. But his hateful rhetoric as soon-to-be mayor of New York City, combined with his known racist and bigoted views on Israel, doesn’t bode well for the city, which hosts the largest Jewish community outside of Israel. If New York City experiences any violence that can be directly attributed to Mamdani’s rhetoric, then he should be arrested and charged with incitement.
Josh Greenberger
Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Islamic Takeover of the West
I write this shortly after learning that the communist, jihadi, antisemite Zohran Mamdani was declared the winner of the New York City mayoral election, much to my dismay.
This development is bad enough, but is part of a much larger issue. Jonathan Braun (“New York on the Brink: The Radical Threat of Zohran Mamdani,” Oct. 31) hit the nail on the head when parsing the dangerous and existential threat not only to N.Y.C.’s Jews, but to the entire city.
Braun is also correct that this has been in the works for a long time, spurred on by the infiltration of our country’s moral fabric by foreign bad actors. Among them are Qatar, Iran, China, and Russia. Untold billions have been spent by them to infiltrate our educational systems all the way from K-12 through the university level. Marxist and Islamist ideology has been force-fed to our youth, producing a large swath of indoctrinated useful idiots for the communist-jihadi cause.
They have been trained to view our free society as imperialist and oppressive through the binary lens of the oppressor and oppressed. Naturally, this places Israel and Jews in the category of oppressors in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
We know this not to be true. Israel is fighting a righteous and just war, not committing genocide as parroted by antisemitic brainwashed mobs. Goebbels, yemach shemo, is undoubtedly grinning in his grave.
Getting back to Mamdani, he is just a small cog in a larger movement that seeks the destruction of Western civilization and its replacement with totalitarian Islamic Marxist rule.
If they were sentient, viruses and bacteria would be quite jealous of the Islamic invasion and effectiveness in multiplying. Europe has been, for all intents and purposes, conquered, and Islamists are working to make America the next victim of their parasitic infection. Europe was asleep at the wheel and allowed such masses of these malevolent interlopers to enter that it is now too late for these countries to recover. We must not let that happen here in the United States, and we need to recognize that the process is already well underway here. These newcomers do not wish to be coexisting members of our society – rather, they seek to dominate and establish a caliphate.
We recently read in Parshas Lech Lecha how Yishmael and his descendants would be wild men and at the neck of the entire free world, and that the free world would be battling them in turn. This is certainly what is occurring today. Furthermore, it was foretold that during the birth pangs of Moshiach, the entire world will turn against Israel and the Jews. Unfortunately, this appears to be coming to fruition.
Fortunately, however, it portends the coming of Moshiach. Let us coalesce as a people and show Hashem that we are one, united with love for each other. May we be zocheh to the geulah with the least amount of pain possible, speedily in our days.
George Weiss
Brooklyn, N.Y.