Opinion

Dear Editor:

 Queens Jewish Link readers are rightly deeply concerned about increasing incidents of anti-Semitism. A powerful, simple way to show our Jewish communal response will be on Tuesday, January 31, at 9 a.m., when Matthew Mahrer and Christopher Brown are due in New York State Supreme Court, Criminal Term, 111 Centre Street, Manhattan, room 733, before Judge Diane Kiesel.

Dear Editor:

 Years ago, I composed lyrics for a well-known holiday tune, while I was having difficulties with my supervisor at work. This year, I made a concerted effort to celebrate each day of Chanukah by wearing Chanukah attire to publicize the miracle in my own way.

Smoke Shop To Open In Center Of KGH

Dear Editor:

 The heart of the Jewish community of Queens will soon be home to a smoke shop that intends to offer marijuana amongst its array of smoking paraphernalia that would presumably include vapes, pipes, bongs, rolling paper, lighters, and the like. The lease is set to begin in just three weeks on February 1 at 71-38 Main Street in the former home of Royal Home Goods, next door to Studio 18 Medi Spa on the block of Shimon’s Pizza, most definitely not an appropriate location for such a window-shop. Yes, anyone will be able to march in and buy pot in our relatively quiet neighborhood.

Dear Editor:

 In his column two weeks ago, Moshe Hill offered a novel defense of prominent Republicans, such as Gov. DeSantis, who failed to condemn former President Trump’s meeting with anti-Semites, arguing that they were just avoiding follow-up questions from the media. And then, last week, he defended Marjorie Taylor Greene’s much criticized comments about January 6 by saying they needed to be understood as a joke in the face of media criticism of her. I understand that Mr. Hill views the “mainstream” media as a boogeyman (and maybe, as a hyper-partisan member of the conservative media, he has a unique insight into that), but continually using them as a convenient excuse for all types of questionable behavior seems like a copout.

Dear Editor:

 In Sergey Kadinsky’s “Memories of Shuls Past,” there were a number of errors regarding Utopia Jewish Center. The most glaring was that the Orthodox Minyan in the synagogue began much earlier than 2001. The Orthodox Minyan actually was initiated first as the Annex of the Young Israel of Hillcrest, and then as Utopia Torah Congregation in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It was established by a few families that were formerly full-time members at the Young Israel of Hillcrest who lived closer to this side of the neighborhood. (The synagogue even had a little league team in the early ’90s.)

Dear Editor:

 Last week, I wrote a letter addressing some of the many lies our government officials have told us. Included in those lies was the well-documented fib about the COVID-19 vaccine’s ineffectiveness in preventing infection or stopping transmission. While much ink has been spilled over why our government told this giant whopper of a lie, it’s worth taking a look back at some of our thought leaders’ responses to this lie, both before and after the truth was revealed.