For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

Another Jewish paper published an ad by a messianic Chabad group that believes that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the Mashiach. I assume that it was published to correspond to his Yahrtzeit. There may be some individuals who were upset that the paper printed the ad, but I think that they did the community a service by publishing it. It is a reminder that within the Chabad community there are those who believe that the Rebbe is the Mashiach. Clearly there has been a reduction in public pronouncements since the original fervor. Is the belief in the Rebbe as Mashiach lessening or are there other factors for publicly toning down the claim, such as it is “bad for business”?  Although I do not have an answer, the question is something we should have in the back of our mind.

I have a good excuse for not writing last week, since my daughter Yael Rebecca got married to Dani Miller, plus there was a week of sheva brachos. Now I may be able to get back to my regular routine.

In last week’s edition of the Queens Jewish Link, I wrote about becoming proactive in responding to the speech by CUNY Law School graduate Fatima Mousa Mohammed. I did receive a copy of a letter that someone was sending to the executive director for the second department admission committee voicing his objection to Ms. Mohammed’s admission to the bar. I hope that there are many people who make the effort.

Since some of my fans enjoy my bike riding columns, I decided to write another this week. I realize that it is a stark departure from my political columns, which usually get more of a reaction. In the October 29, 2020, issue of the Queens Jewish Link, I wrote about an experience I had while riding in the Nassau-Suffolk Bike Challenge. A few miles from the end, I got a flat tire. I was walking my bike back to the starting area when two guys who were riding stopped to change my tire. They were on their way back to West Hempstead. After playing Jewish geography, I found out that one of them is the son of the group leader in the Orthodox teen minyan that was in the Bayside Jewish Center who had an impact on my becoming religious. On May 21, 2023, I went to a siyum made by my future son-in law Dani Miller at his parents’ home. I was talking with one of the individuals present, also a big rider, who mentioned that he rides in group rides including the Nassau-Suffolk Bike Challenge. I told him the story. He said he was the second guy. Neither of us had recognized the other. It’s a small world.

I have a good excuse for not writing last week, since my daughter Yael Rebecca got married to Dani Miller, plus there was a week of sheva brachos. Now I may be able to get back to my regular routine.

Last week I wrote about the indicted former president and Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump. This week on the criminal docket is Congressman George Santos, charged as George Anthony Devolder Santos in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York. This judicial district includes Santos’s congressional district.