Suozzi Is Not The Squad
Dear Editor,
Mazi Pilip’s most recent campaign ads make a claim that Tom Suozzi joined the far-left squad during his time in Congress. Nothing could be further than the truth, as Tom was one of the most moderate members of Congress, serving as the vice chair of the Problems Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group that seeks out policy solutions by reaching a middle ground (the antithesis of everything the squad stands for). He was one of the leading critics of the squad in Congress, including by going on CNN immediately after Rep. Ilhan Omar’s noxious “Benjamins” comment in which she claimed it was Jewish money influencing her colleagues’ votes on Israel policy to fiercely criticize her and stand against her antisemitic remarks. Congressman Suozzi responded by relating his own family’s story as Italian immigrants who were once treated as disloyal Americans and reiterating that he supports Israel because it is good U.S. policy. Congressman Suozzi was one of the strongest allies of the U.S.-Israel relationship during his time in office, co-sponsoring multiple pieces of legislation, consistently speaking out against Israel’s detractors, and traveling to Israel in a show of solidarity following the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas. What supporters of Israel need now are representatives looking to build a bipartisan consensus in favor of the U.S.-Israel relationship, something that Congressman Suozzi has done and will do again if elected on February 13. Pilip’s charges reek of projection, as, despite her remarkable personal story, she has failed to offer critical information during her campaign to explain to residents what type of representative she would be. She has declined opportunities to participate in numerous debates that would allow voters to assess her policy positions, refused to say who she voted for in the 2016 and 2020 elections, or how she came to support former Rep. George Santos, despite the red flags about his background and support for the January 6 rioters that he expressed during the campaign, as he defrauded our district and is the very reason this special election is even occurring.
I am supporting Tom Suozzi because of his strong, consistent, and outspoken support of Israel, and because he has the experience needed to deliver on the issues most important to our community.
Peter Fishkind
Great Neck
Thank You Chosen Island Diner
Dear Chosen Island diner,
My wife and I are trying to find out who you are. On the evening of Tuesday, January 2, we were visiting family in the Five Towns and decided to eat at Chosen Island at around 5:30-6 p.m.
We were enjoying our dinner with our baby daughter (and trying to keep her quiet and not disturb people) and you were seated at a table over from us, enjoying your dinner.
We asked for the bill at the same time as you. The waiter brought ours and then brought yours.
You stood up, turned your back to us, and talked to the waiter but we couldn’t hear anything. You then walked with him behind the glass.
Our waiter then came back and announced that there was a mistake with our bill and took it away from us. He came 4–5 minutes later saying that you had paid for our dinner. You were long gone by then.
My wife and I stared at each other in shock, wondering what just happened.
We then went over the waiter and wanted to leave him a tip, he told us “You already took care of the tip.” (We still left him a tip.)
We wanted to say thank you, and we would also love to know why you did it.
Please e-mail us at zerashim18@gmail.com.
R & Y
From NJ
Managing Expenses
Dear Editor,
I want to start this letter by saying that this is not your typical venting session where I am complaining about life problems. This is solely to start a conversation. As camp applications started to go out and all the fees started to mount, I just kept asking myself: How is everyone doing this?! Camp prices went up significantly, and let’s not forget the average Jewish home has a few children. All this is expected to be paid for by the time camp begins, on top of tuition, kosher food, and the basic life necessities. The average salary of a hardworking 2-parent family cannot possibly cover these expenses. In our community day camp is NOT a luxury anymore. It is beautiful that we have all these organizations and funds to help people pay for this but what about the person who is making “too much money” and doesn’t qualify but is experiencing an obscene amount of stress because they just can’t cut it? I understand that life is expensive, and it takes a lot of money to run a camp and yeshiva. I don’t have the answer. But I do know that this “limbo” topic needs to start a conversation, because holding it in is not an option any longer. We need to come together as a community and talk about it. On all sides we could work together to come up with a reasonable solution, but the first step is to talk about it.
Feeling So Alone
Keeping-Up-With-The-Jones Kiddush
Dear Editor,
I am hosting a kiddush in my house for 12 guys from my shul. Each year one of us is required to host and this year is my lucky year. My eishes chayil wants nothing to do with the preparations and I don’t blame her. I plan to prepare the food myself. It will be a new experiment for me, but I believe I am up for the job. I wish I could auto draft this kiddush but it’s going to require a lot of effort on my part as I consider myself an expert on partaking in a kiddush but not really preparing for one. My main issue lies with my friends insisting their families come with them as well. A kiddush for 12 men would turn into a kiddush for 50 plus people. Having kids at a kiddush in shul (let alone my house) has been an issue for as long as I can remember. Kids grab all the food, make a mess, and by the time the men want to eat they are scraping at the leftovers.
Then there’s the expectations of food and drink. I myself don’t drink, (a Shirley Temple is the worst I would have) but most of these guys do. As far as food, I would love to keep it simple like I remember in my shul growing up, with gefilte fish, some jarred herring, potato kugel, noodle kugel, cholent, and once in a while falafel balls and meatballs, but these days expectations are high. Are meat boards and liver platters and a shmorg of herring really necessary? I would love to make a l’chaim on some grape juice, (maybe J&B for my friends), and keep it simple like we used to do back in the days with some herring and cholent. Here’s to hoping it all goes well on Shabbos.
AT
