Five Towns Jewish Home - 12-30-21

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DECEMBER 30, 2021 | The Jewish Home

mission occurs early in the course of the illness, in the first day or two before the onset of symptoms and the two to three days that follow, the agency said. The CDC also updated its recommended quarantine period for people who have been exposed to Covid-19. For individuals who are unvaccinated, or for those who are eligible for a booster shot but haven’t yet received one, the agency recommends a five-day quarantine followed by strict use of a mask for five more days. However, if a five-day quarantine isn’t feasible, an exposed person should wear a well-fitting mask, such as an N95, at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received a booster shot don’t need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days, the CDC said. If symptoms occur, individuals should quarantine until a negative test confirms that they don’t have Covid-19.

Harry Reid Dies at 82

Senator Harry Reid led the Senate Democrats for more than a decade. This Tuesday, he died at the age of 82 after battling cancer for four years. Reid was known to be tough; he led the Democrats without bombast, yet pushed through legislation that were hard-fought, including the passage of Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, an economic stimulus package following the 2007-08 recession, and the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. Critics of Reid pointed to his 2013 push to alter Senate rules to make it easier to confirm Obama’s judicial nominees. Those rules, though, helped Donald Trump to confirm supreme court nominees with a simple majority. In his defense, Reid told the New

York Times Magazine, “They can say what they want. We had over 100 judges that we couldn’t get approved, so I had no choice. Either Obama’s presidency would be a joke or Obama’s presidency would be one of fruition.” Reid did not always fight clean. During the 2012 presidential race between Obama and Mitt Romney, Reid announced on the floor of the Senate that Romney had not paid taxes in 10 years: an unfounded and ultimately debunked claim spurred by Romney’s refusal to release a full set of tax returns. Asked if he regretted the charge, Reid said, “Romney didn’t win, did he?” Reid blasted Trump when the New York developer, as a presidential candidate, criticized Hillary Clinton’s health. Reid replied that Trump was in no position to criticize because he “is 70 years old, he’s not slim and trim, he brags about eating fast food every day.” In December, Reid called Trump “amoral” and “the worst president we’ve ever had”. The people of Nevada stood squarely behind Reid, bucking national demographic trends in 2016 to reject Trump. In 2018, voters threw out incumbent Republican senator Dean Heller. Efficacy behind the scenes became a trademark for Reid, who won loyalty from colleagues for his willingness to bestow credit and cede the limelight. “I know my limitations,” Reid told the New Yorker in 2005, the year he took leadership of the Democrats in the Senate. “I haven’t gotten where I am by my good looks, my athletic ability, my great brain, my oratorical skills.” Asked in March last year what he thought of Washington since his retirement, Reid shrugged, “I just shake my head is all I can do.”

2nd Life Sentence for Poway Shooter John T. Earnest, who admitted to a shooting at a San Diego area synagogue that killed one and injured three others in 2019, has been sentenced to a second life sentence. Earnest was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison in federal court on Tuesday after previously

pleading guilty to a 113-count indictment that included hate crime and weapons violations, according to a Department of Justice news release. He was previously sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a plea agreement in state court.

Lori Gilbert Kaye was killed in the shooting on the last day of Pesach in 2019 when Earnest, who was 19 at the time and armed with an AR-15 style rifle, entered the crowded Chabad of Poway synagogue and began shooting. Earnest also admitted to setting fire to a mosque in nearby Escondido just weeks before the shooting. “The defendant targeted his victims because he hated the Jewish community and Muslim community, hatred that has no place in our society and hatred that will never, never win,” said Randy Grossman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. “The defendant and his hatred have been silenced. He will spend the rest of his days and die in prison, while he languishes behind bars.” Prosecutors noted that a manifesto written by Earnest and posted on the internet shortly before the attack was found during the investigation in which Earnest made many anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim statements, including, “I can only kill so many Jews” and “I only wish I killed more.”

Cash Box Postmarked November 10, 2020, Vinod Menon discovered the cardboard box while sifting through a pile of mail in his office. The box was large – around the size of a toaster – and had been sitting in the mail pile for months. Addressed to the “Chairman, Physics Department,” it had $90 worth of postage on it.

Menon, who was the chairman of the physics department at City College of New York, was shocked when he finally opened the unassuming package.

In it, the physics professor discovered cash – lots of it. In fact, the box was full of $50 and $100 bills, totaling a whopping $180,000 “It was a complete shock — I know a lot of academics and I’ve never heard of anything like this,” the 49-year-old said. “I didn’t know if the college accepted cash, so I didn’t know if they’d keep it.” A letter accompanied the cash, explaining the donor’s motivations but not his or her identity. “Assuming that you are bit curious as to why I am doing this, the reason is straightforward,” wrote the donor, who said he or she “long ago” took advantage of the “excellent educational opportunity” of attending both Stuyvesant High School and earning a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics at City College, which helped lead to “a long, productive, immensely rewarding” scientific career. He or she wanted to help needy students attend the college. The note was unsigned, and the name on the return address, Kyle Paisley, was not listed as a graduate in the college’s records. College officials contacted authorities to ensure the cash didn’t come from nefarious sources. After police determined that the cash was not connected to criminal activity, CUNY Board of Trustees voted to formally accept the thousands of dollars in cash. “That is absolutely astonishing, $180,000 in cash in a box,” said the board’s chairman, William C. Thompson, in introducing the vote earlier this month. For now, the funds will be used to gift two full scholarships each year and should last for more than a decade. In the spirit of the donation, he said, the fellowship would require the students to “give back in some way,” perhaps by peer mentoring. Talk about a big bang for your buck.