SEPTEMBER 10 • 2020 | 5
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for openers
Watch Out!
letters
D
ear Readers, if you
saw the title and
immediately thought
that I was requesting you to
check your timepieces then
I have you too
conditioned
for puns; I am
sorry.
Rather, I
would like
to draw your
attention to
precarious situations that
have led to colorful expres-
sions in our daily talk.
If you have ever just gotten
by in a situation, then you
have done so by the skin
of your teeth. You had to
watch your step because you
realized you were on shaky
ground.
Dealing with people who
you know are overly sensitive
may make you feel that you
are walking on eggshells to
interact with them.
Been living dangerously?
Then you have experienced
many a close call or close
shave. You may wonder what
caused you to stick your neck
out, but you made it and
lived to tell the tale.
There are many situations
in which the outcomes may
be touch and go. You may
have found yourself on the
edge of your seat or worse,
playing with fire. Was it too
late to remember to look
before you leap?
Sometimes you find your-
self walking a thin line or
skating on thin ice. Do not
add fuel to the fire by inter-
acting with someone known
to be armed and dangerous,
or your life may hang by a
thread.
This does not mean that
you must approach life afraid
of your own shadow. You
can bite the bullet and try to
be more adventurous. If you
come out unscathed, then
you have dodged the bullet
and can live to fight another
day.
In situations where you
are hanging on for dear life,
there is little consolation in
knowing that only fools rush
in where angels fear to tread.
Take strength from the
words of Franklin Roosevelt:
“The only thing we have to
fear is fear itself.” Just do not
forget that I warned you to
watch out!
Sy Manello
Editorial Assistant
guest column
It’s Time to Show Up
I
was a sensitive child.
After I learned about the
Holocaust as a young
child growing up in Israel,
thoughts and images of peo-
ple being tor-
tured and mur-
dered by the
Nazis because
of their race,
religion, sexual
orientation and
political beliefs
kept me up
at night. I felt deep horror
at these thoughts and was
consumed by them to the
point where it seemed like I
could almost feel their terror,
their pain. As I lay awake, my
father would try to reassure
me by saying, “These things
happened a long time ago, in
a land far away.”
Today, I lay awake at night
again. This time, I am hor-
rified by thoughts about the
Black lives injured and lost
to racism and police violence
every day. The words of my
father, “a long time ago, in a
land far away,” do not com-
fort me as they no longer
apply. This is happening here.
Now.
The systems of American
society continue to normalize
and justify the brutal killing,
systemic imprisonment, and
structural disadvantage of
Black and brown people. And
up until recently, many of
us, including myself, chose
silence. Instead of struggling
to find the “right” words to
express my deep sorrow and
horror about those horrify-
ing, infuriating, senseless kill-
continued on page 6
Yifat Clein
Post Office Feedback
One paragraph stands out
in Andrew Lapin’
s column
“The JN and the Post Office”
(Aug. 27). Lapin noted, “On
Aug. 12, President Trump
confirmed in a TV interview
that he was deliberately seek-
ing to underfund the agency
in order to sabotage mail-in
voting this November.”
And so I ask our Jewish
Trump supporters, how can
they support someone who
boasts of this egregious act?
No need to list Trump’
s
many flaws. This ridiculous
scheme shows he is immor-
al and unethical. What a
pathetic role model for our
children and grandchildren.
Regardless of your allegiance
to the Republican party,
please rethink your vote for
president.
— Edith Broida
Farmington Hills
Regarding two Aug. 27
articles: “The JN And the
Post Office” and “Protecting
Postal Services Is a Mitzvah,”
the Post Office is losing bil-
lions of dollars of your tax
money every year and the
Postmaster General is look-
ing for ways to stop the hem-
orrhaging of your tax dollars.
Is that how you manage
your personal finances —
running a deficit every
month?
More than 14,000 mail-
boxes were removed by the
Obama administration to
save the Post Office money.
Where was your “gutting”
and “dismantling” then?
Regarding: “Find out what
you can do locally to help peo-
ple get their absentee ballots
to their clerk’
s offices” — I
suggest every one of us con-
tact JSL and other elder care
continued on page 8