"The only Jewish nation that exists is a nation with a foundation built on Torah and mitzvot."
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)
It is a shame that you continue to polarize the Jewish people and promote a destructive, progressive slant on the relationship between Israel and the US (“Two Jewish nations and the abyss between them,” Observations, November 3).There is one Jewish nation.The only Jewish nation that exists is a nation with a foundation built on Torah and mitzvot.Not every member of this nation observes the commandments, yet to infer that a State of Israel that supports Jewish values that are true and proper under the dictates of the Torah is causing a rift is a perversion of the truth.The state and the ultra-Orthodox do not force the progressive fringes to conform. It is the opposite: The leadership of the Reform and Conservative movements (not the individual members) seek to legitimize their weak and watered-down beliefs. They seek to get the kosher seal of approval for their deviant path by having the state stamp its approval.This attitude has caused friction and discontent for these leaders and their devoted few.They are not a plurality of American Jewry or secular Jewry. Most Jews are happy to respect the right-wing of Judaism for its beliefs and practices.The abyss is the works of people like writer Shuki Friedman who have a deep need to justify their position and make themselves relevant in an arena that should not even exist.There is no need for tension among Jews. We have enough tension from the antisemites of the world. Let us unify to fight BDS and all the other ills because failure to unify is the downfall of the Jewish people.ELIEZER COHENCedarhurst, New YorkGreat disgust...I read with great disgust that two senior Trump administration officials leading a US push for peace talks (read: surrender of Jewish land to terrorists) paid a visit this week to a senior PA official recovering from surgery (“Kushner, Greenblatt visit recovering Erekat after lung transplant,” November 2).Saeb Erekat is no less a terrorist than his boss, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is no less a terrorist than the leaders of Hamas.So how is it that the great America, like all the other countries, has fallen for the Arab narrative that this is their land and we, the Jewish people, are the occupiers of this land? Or could it be that Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt know who the rightful owners are, but don’t care in their quest to satisfy President Donald Trump’s obsession with making his deal of all deals? Would I be right in thinking that both of these “Orthodox” Jews removed their kippot so as not to offend Erekat? PHYLLIS STERN Netanya ...and no surprise According to Channel 2, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked US President Donald Trump to allow Jonathan Pollard to move to Israel.It does not take a Rhodes Scholar to see what impediments are in the way of both that and moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem. President Trump’s delusional dream is to see Israel and the Palestinians reach a peace settlement.Wouldn’t we all! Yet President Trump is willing to overlook Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas continuing to pay monthly salaries to the families of the terrorist murderers of Americans and Israelis.For President Trump to release Pollard as a favor to Prime Minister Netanyahu or move the embassy, it would be viewed by President Abbas as showing favoritism to Israel.The end result would be to drive Abbas away from any chance of a negotiated peace, a death knell to Trump’s dream.Such being the case, let’s not hold our breath waiting for Pollard to make aliya (although I sincerely hope I am wrong).LEONARD KAHNZichron Ya’acovDouble standardThe newly announced master plan (“Municipality approves master plan for Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem,” November 2) includes “regulating the current illegal buildings.”That means thousands of illegal Arab buildings will become legal – retroactively! When the High Court of Justice ruled that Jewish homes in places such as Amona and Migron had to be destroyed because they were “illegal,” no such option was permitted or offered. The court has ruled that eight homes in a section of Elazar, in Gush Etzion, must be destroyed for the same reason, and the Civil Administration uses the same excuse to destroy Jewish homes and property in Judea and Samaria.Isn’t this a double standard?MOSHE DANNJerusalemHaving an agenda With regard to “Jews for Jesus studied Jewish millennials – and found 20% think Jesus was God” (November 2), publishing a study funded by Jews for Jesus is like publicizing a fox’s study on whether he believes the chickens like him before he eats them.Obviously, Jews for Jesus has an agenda, and you play into their hands by publicizing it. If an agency has an agenda, it cannot be independent in its surveys or actions.YEHUDA LAVEJerusalemThe writer is a rabbi.Protecting our own In your November 1 editorial “Judo shame,” you criticize the “snub of Israeli judokas at the Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam,” saying: “Not only were these Israelis being publicly shamed for who they were, but they were told that this shaming was for their own protection.”Would you say the same for Jewish Israeli citizens of the State of Israel being barred from the most holy place in the State of Israel by the police of the State of Israel, with these citizens being told that it is for their own protection? If we cannot honor and protect our own people, how can we expect another country to respect and honor us?BINYAMIN CHERNOFSKYJerusalemLearning HebrewI was surprised to see the photo and caption “Time to learn some Hebrew” accompanying Sara Bloom’s “A way to bring Israel to life for American 8th graders” (Comment & Features, November 2).I don’t know if it was intentional, but the picture is of a child learning the Yiddish-language Jewish partisan song, written in 1943 in the Vilna ghetto. As much as I believe in preserving Yiddish language and culture, I don’t think this is what the writer, founder of the Hebrew Public charter schools, had in mind in promoting her school’s mission to teach modern Hebrew! CHANA PINTO Tel Mond Moral turpitude Your November 1 article “Deri’s case is evolving, is likely to include ethics-related charges” suggests that a change in the Israeli electoral law is required.Interior Minister and Shas leader Arye Deri’s case indicates that deferring eligibility for election to the Knesset, whether for seven or 14 years after a conviction involving moral turpitude, does not protect us from bad apples entering or reentering the Knesset. Deri makes it plain that a conviction for moral turpitude should bar a person for life.This comment should be understood as a defense of the public’s right to be governed by honest parliamentarians, and not as implying criticism of the principle of “innocent until proved guilty.”GERRY MYERSBeit ZayitCORRECTION Vladimir Lenin died in 1924 and could not possibly have “lauded” those who perpetrated the 1929 massacre of Jewish residents of Hebron, as was suggested in “Bolshevik centennial” (Editorial, November 2).
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