A Hill With A View

Originally published December 11, 2019 https://www.dailywire.com/news/hill-the-jewish-nation With the news of President Trump  signing  an executive order affirming the fact that Judaism can, in fact, be seen as a nationality (as opposed to a religion), left-wing groups and pundits — both Jewish and non-Jewish — have declared that this action is anti-Semitic. These groups seem to despise the notion of a Jewish nation. In his 2018 book,  “Judaism, Zionism, and the Land of Israel” , Rabbi Yotav Eliach begins the history of the Jewish people in Israel with the definition of a nation and how Judaism fits into that definition. That premise is pivotal when discussing the conflicts of the Middle East, as it cuts against the left-wing and Arabist arguments that the Jews are a colonial interloper in Palestinian-Arab land. Zionism is, itself, Jewish nationalism. Those who classify themselves as “anti-Zionist” are anti-Jewish nationalism at their core, so this executive order embodies eve

Originally published December 10, 2019 https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-difference-between-loving-israel-enough-and-dual-loyalty/ At the Israeli American Council (IAC) summit over the weekend, President Donald Trump re-opened the door for the left to attack his philo-semitic bonafides. Some might believe that in claiming American Jews “don’t love Israel enough” Trump was trafficking in the same anti-Semitic “dual loyalty” smear that Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and others have pushed. Not only is this demonstrably false, the distinction between the two is one American Jews need to understand when making political decisions in 2020. When Omar accuses Jewish lawmakers or pundits of siding with Israel, to the detriment of America, she accuses those Jews of dual loyalty. That smear has historical ramifications, as it was the excuse used for centuries in Europe and Russia to segregate the Jews into ghettos and attack them. Many countries would not allow Jews to become full citizens,

Originally published December 4, 2019 https://www.queensjewishlink.com/index.php/local/26-community-corner/1629-a-tribute-to-rabbi-david-hill  Rabbi David Hill was known by many names.  Rabbi Hill, Dave, Davey, Dad, and Zaidy.  He was known by many as a leader in the Modern Orthodox community during the 1960s and beyond, as the President of the National Council of the Young Israel, Owner and President of 999 Real Kosher Sausage Co., and founder of Operation Lifeline, which provided a necessary connection between the Jews trapped in the Soviet Union and the rest of the world.  Rabbi Hill died this past Saturday, at the age of 98.   In the minds of the average person, the history of the Jewish People in the 20th century can mostly be attributed to two events, the slaughter of six million Jews during the Holocaust, and the reestablishment of the Jewish State thereafter.  That history is a fundamental and core aspect of Jewish existence, and it created the focus of Rabbi Hill’s lif

Originally published December 24, 2019 https://www.queensjewishlink.com/index.php/opinion/1772-chanukah-s-wars-still-rage-today Instead of becoming the Jewish version of Christmas, where we don’t have as many songs and don’t have as many presents, Chanukah is an opportunity for the Jewish people to remember the history of how the Jewish people fought for a sovereign Jewish home. This is all the more important when there are prominent politicians who seek to demolish that sovereignty and control Israeli policy from afar. For the last 3,000 years, the land that currently consists of the State of Israel, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, has existed in three different forms: a sovereign Jewish state, and autonomous Jewish state as part of a foreign empire, or a territory as part of an empire, with no borders or sovereignty of its own. Knowing the difference between the three forms shows how the battles that are occurring today are the same fight that was fought by the Maccabees in 165 BCE

Originally published December 18, 2019 https://www.queensjewishlink.com/index.php/opinion/1734-labours-loss-foreshadows-democrats-defeat Boris Johnson’s gamble when he called for elections in the United Kingdom paid off, as the conservative Tory Party trounced Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.  The American equivalent would be if the Republicans, with a small majority in the House of Representatives, gained 75 more Democrat seats in an election. When looking at the current Democratic Party, they are headed down the same road as Labour, only a few miles back.   The Labour Party has spent the last three years undermining the Brexit vote that occurred in 2016, where the British people decided to leave the European Union.  Labour, under Corbyn’s communist leadership, has pushed hard to stay in the EU, which espouses the same globalist sentiments that are the antithesis of the nationalism that the pro-Brexit electorate desire.  While Labour didn’t directly campaign against Brexit during

Originally published December 11, 2019 https://www.queensjewishlink.com/index.php/opinion/1674-the-meaning-behind-a-nay This week, Satan pulled out the snow shovels, because the “Squad” split apart from the Democratic Party to vote with Republicans. The vote was for House Resolution 326, “Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding United States efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a negotiated two-state solution.” The resolution passed, 226-188, with 184 Republicans and 4 Democrats voting Nay. Not all “Nays,” however, are equal, and the reasons behind a vote are sometimes more important than the vote itself. The resolution, which was introduced by California Representative Alan Lowenthal and pushed for by J Street, was immediately seen as “a strong rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump” by The Times of Israel, the former of whom has expressed plans to declare sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria

Originally published December 4, 2019 https://www.queensjewishlink.com/index.php/opinion/1622-elizabeth-pipko-leads-a-modern-day-exodus This Thursday night, December 5, the Queens Village Republican Club will host their annual Holiday Party. While the monthly meeting regularly discusses the dangers of one-party Democrat rule – which is what New York currently has – this particular meeting will feature an up-and-coming leader in the Republican Party, Elizabeth Pipko, the founder of the Exodus Movement. Pipko, much like Candace Owens did with the Blexit Movement, took her conservative political values and started questioning the premise that Jews will always vote for Democrats. Statistically, the Jewish vote is over three-quarters Democrat in the last few election cycles, so that premise is well-founded. However, given the prominent rise of anti-Semites in the Democratic Party, like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and those that enable them and espouse anti-Israel policies, like Al

Originally published November 27, 2019 https://www.queensjewishlink.com/index.php/opinion/1577-meet-fernando-cabrera-the-democratic-nyc-councilman-who-s-taking-on-aoc While Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez traipses around the country with her ideological mentor Bernie Sanders, lines are forming around the block with challengers to her congressional seat. On the Republican side, there are currently eight candidates who will battle it out to take her on in the General Election next November. However, two Democrats will try to knock her out of the race well before then. Fernando Cabrera, Councilman for the 14 th  District of the New York City Council, is one of those candidates. Cabrera’s motivation for running for a congressional seat after nearly a decade in the New York City Council is AOC herself. “I had a lot of concerns,” he said in a phone interview. “The first one began with the Amazon deal where we lost 25,000 jobs, direct jobs, 100,000 indirect jobs, and $27 billion of tax reven

Over Christmas week, President Trump's Adopt-a-Highway sign was vandalized, with spray paint covering the last name of the 45th President.  The sign is located on the 79th Street exit of the West Side Highway in New York City.   According to the New York Department of Transportation website, "Legislation to formalize New York State's Adopt-A-Highway Program was passed in 1990 to encourage individuals or groups to clean up highway roadsides and to recognize those volunteers who do. Participation in the program also fosters a sense of community ownership of the roadway as well as a sense of pride in its appearance."  Trump has sponsored the 2-mile stretch of highway since at least 2009. This is also not the first instance of vandalism on this particular sign.  In December 2017, the sign was removed to be cleaned after a vandal threw black paint on it.  On the other side of the country, Trump's walk-of-fame star on Hollywood Blvd has been vandalized

Originally published December 3, 2019 https://www.dailywire.com/news/hill-whos-to-blame-for-the-do-nothing-congress As the year 2019 comes to a close, many will reflect upon their own productivity and accomplishments over the past 12 months. Fortunately for America’s elected representatives in Congress, they don’t need much time. Congress has done little to nothing in terms of “major legislation” — so much so that any bill that hits the president’s desk makes national news. Since September, one of President Trump’s  favorite phrases on Twitter  has been “Do Nothing Democrats,” thereby blaming the House majority for the lack of meaningful legislation in this calendar year. Given Trump’s tendency to exaggerate, a legitimate question to ask is: Which is actually the worst offender, the Democratic-controlled House or the Republican-controlled Senate? Knowing they were at a partisan impasse on most topics important to the American people, the House seemed to  largely focus on inve