Five Towns Letters to the Editor

Posted

The numbers favor Biden
To the Editor:
If one were to only read the local newspapers in the Five Towns — including, I daresay, the Herald, which recently published an ad for the Trump “Freedom Rally” masquerading as a news piece (“Five Towns ‘Freedom Rally’ Sunday, Oct. 22”) — one would believe that the Jewish community, writ large, monolithically supports our current president.

For the record, recent surveys show quite the opposite. According to an American Jewish Committee poll, 75 percent of Jewish voters are set to vote for Joe Biden, compared with 22 percent for President Trump. They favor Biden over Trump 78 percent to 19 percent on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, 71 percent to 26 percent on combating terrorism, and 79 percent to 15 percent on uniting the country.

Indeed, even on issues close to the Jewish community, Biden is favored: 71 percent to 27 percent on dealing with Iran, 72 percent to 24 percent on handling crime, and even strengthening U.S.-Israel relations, 54 percent to 42 percent! In a Social Science Research Solutions poll asking who would handle anti-Semitism best, the response favored Biden, 75 percent to 25 percent.

And to the scare-mongering voices heard on the local streets, today’s America is not pre-World War II Germany. If any comparison can be made, it would be that there were a handful of individuals in the Jewish community — albeit primarily secular Jews, and perhaps not 25 percent — who supported the National Socialist Party ouster of the Weimar Republic. No doubt, however, they were motivated at least in part by a misguided overemphasis on the unholy grail of pocketbook concerns. A Faustian bargain, as it turned out.

We should all work toward a landslide victory for Joe Biden, so he will have broad support and not be beholden to the scarier radical elements of the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party, who are punching above their weight because of an overreaction to Trump.

I trust the Jewish community’s vote will reflect its continuing allegiance to Jewish values and ethics, as indicated by those polls. What is good for America is good for the Jews and Israel. Our current president is good for neither.
 
Jake Steiner
Woodmere

Remembering the Hillel bus accident
To the Editor:
Jeffrey Bessen’s article last week, “We knew we were the lucky ones,” about HAFTR’s memorial to the seven children killed in a bus accident in the summer of 1970, brought back very sad memories.

I started my first summer job at Hillel just a couple of weeks before that tragedy. I was lucky to have been assigned younger campers, so I wasn’t on that trip.

I remember the incredible feeling of sadness after we received the news, and recall the usually well-lit gym being dark as everyone moved around, trying to maintain the appearance of normalcy for the younger campers who could not grasp the horrible thing that had happened.
I am glad that those seven children will not be forgotten.

Gary Carlton
North Woodmere