Style & Living

President Donald Trump and his administration have long been on a path to diminish Palestinian declarations of statehood. The Trump administration recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel, and in a historic move relocated the American embassy to Yerushalayim. David Friedman, US Ambassador to Israel, is recognized for engaging the White House on such a transference, and must be commended for his painstaking efforts since assuming his position.

The recent comments by freshman Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib during a podcast have been discussed thoroughly in the Jewish, and non-Jewish, community. Tlaib, who spun an ahistorical lie that the surviving Jews of the Holocaust were welcomed with open arms by her Palestinian ancestors, has her defenders in the Democratic Party. The nefarious aspect of the defense tactics is not claiming that she is right; rather, they attack the criticizers themselves. By doing this, their goal is to silence their opponents, and this silence has a history all its own.

“Not only one has risen against us to annihilate us, but in every generation they rise against us to annihilate us.” These words, recited during the most emotional point of the Pesach Seder, still ring true, despite the incredible freedoms American Jews enjoy. Six months after the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, last week another shooting occurred at the Chabad in Poway, California. A few days earlier, The New York Times published a cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as a big-nosed dog with a Jewish star necklace leading a yarmulke-wearing, blind President Trump. Anti-Semitism rears its ugly head in many forms, and American Jews must be knowledgeable of who our enemies are and where they come from if we are to continue to survive.

Dr. Briendy Stern was named academic dean of Touro’s Lander College of Arts & Sciences, Touro President Dr. Alan Kadish announced today. Most recently, Dr. Stern served as academic dean at Touro’s School for Lifelong Education and administrator of the Touro Freshman Center Program in high schools throughout Brooklyn.

NEW YORK NEWS

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed support for reinstating a mask ban in non-health-related areas, such as subways and protests, to curb crime. He emphasized that “cowards cover their faces” and argued that such a ban would reduce hate crimes and other criminal activities. This aligns with Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent consideration of a mask ban to combat rising crime, a proposal met with mixed reactions due to ongoing Covid-19 concerns. Adams stressed proper implementation of the ban and urged protesters to show their faces if they believe in their causes. He believes that the quicker the ban is enacted, the sooner it will help reduce crime in the city.

Recap: Akiva and his cousin Estee and his older brother Betzalel are caught in the Alaskan earthquake of 1964. A lamp gets knocked over and now the house is on fire…