Queens Jewish Link
Connecting the Queens Jewish Community 
It’s a tough job, and perhaps getting tougher, to be a public advocate for Israel. Ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Israel Consul General of New York Ofir Akunis invited The Jewish Link once again to visit him in his Manhattan offices, and shared updates on his advocacy and projects in motion. Akunis not only is Israel’s top representative for New York and New Jersey, but also Pennsylvania, Delaware and Ohio.
Many of us would not consider ourselves political individuals and do not put going to the polls on our list of priorities. Nonetheless, casting your ballot gives you a voice on issues ranging from housing and education to employment and healthcare. Being involved in the voting process allows you make a real difference in the makeup and decisions within your community. Casting a vote has dire consequences for the quality of life that both you and your family experience today and in the years ahead. From riding the bus or train to raising minimum wage to getting better textbooks in school, your vote decides how these issues will play out. Casting your ballot affords you the opportunity to delegate how your hard-earned tax dollars are divvied out for necessities like medical expenses and social services that many take for granted.
Early voting across New York State begins this Shabbos, continuing until November 2, with the last day to vote on November 4. The top contest on the ballot is for Mayor of New York City, which began with a crowded field earlier this year in which incumbent Eric Adams skipped the Democratic primary.
By the time you read this, we may well know the result of the Special Election for the City Council. But if you think there will be a respite from politics, guess again. The big election this year will be the Primary on June 22. The winner has already started running for re-election and potential opponents are already gearing up. They will start collecting signatures to get on the ballot in less than three weeks.
After a long day crisscrossing the five boroughs, mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa made a late-night stop at one of New York’s most sacred sites — the Ohel, the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory.
We are all busy preparing for Pesach: shopping, cleaning, learning the Haggadah, packing for the hotel in Aruba… Trust me: We are all doing something for the upcoming holiday. So while you are getting ready, I want to ask you a question: If Hashem wanted us to be slaves in Egypt and then free us, why did He wait 210 years? Why weren’t we slaves for “just” 42 years… or 133 years… or 209 years, 51 weeks and three days? That wouldn’t have been enough? Why the enslavement for a full and back-breaking 210 years… and not a day less?
