Opinion

(As published in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles - October 2, 2022)

 The decision to bar “Zionist” speakers from meetings of student groups at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law has been described by some critics as creating “Jewish-free zones,” as during the Holocaust.

As leftwing and blue as New York is, New Yorkers could always look towards other states and say, “well, at least we’re not that crazy!”  That excuse has been dwindling since 2019, though, when Democrats finally took over the last barrier for legislative dominance when they won a majority in the State Senate.  The radical agenda hit New York with a force, and Kathy Hochul is running to be even more extreme.

I’m going to depart from my normal column format to speak directly to the readers of the Queens Jewish Link.  I want to share some observations I have made of the electoral season ahead of the all-important midterms, both as a columnist and as an organizer.

A hatchet-wielding maniac viciously and repeatedly demolished a McDonald’s in New York City - and was released on his own recognizance within hours.  The New York Post has found 10 career criminals who racked up 485 arrests between them since the cash bail law was enacted, with most of them still out on the streets. Crime has skyrocketed, people are scared, and New York State is headed back to the crime waves of the 1970s and 1980s.

The past month of chagim has been a time of uncertainty for observant Jews. Turn on the phone after two days and one cannot imagine who could be making the latest outrageous statement, and the number of likes, retweets, and shares for such insults.

The most recent term of the Supreme Court saw a bevy of wins for religious freedom in our country - a seismic shift from the previous generation of the court.  In Maine, religious schools were told they could not be penalized by their state in terms of funding because of their inclusion of religion in their curriculum.  In Washington State, a high school football coach was told he can pray on the field as he has done for his entire career.  Yeshiva University may be the next landmark case that the Supreme Court chooses to use to protect religious freedom.