Well done to Jerusalem Post reader Leane Mortis from Estonia for being the first reader to correctly identify the object.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Strike gold Less than a day after the Antiquities Authority turned to the public to find out what exactly was the gold object found in a Jerusalem cemetery some months ago, (“Mystery gold object stumps IAA,” December 23), the riddle has been solved.Well done to Jerusalem Post reader Leane Mortis from Estonia for being the first reader to correctly identify the object as Weber’s new age energy protection device Isis Beamer (above).The product sells for less than €10 on the German retailer’s website.Inventor Eckhard Weber describes the product on weberbio.de as follows: “The Isis Beamers are active around the clock. They can create a protective field of the type generated by spirit energies or meditation. However, such a field needs constant renewal.The advantage of the Isis Beamers is that it seems like their energy is emitted constantly.“This is also the form you will encounter in connection with some of the ancient Egyptian headdresses. The pharaohs used to wear one half of an Isis Beamer as a crown, so to speak, and it enabled them to receive supreme inspiration.”Here are some of the original ideas that Post readers offered: • a rolling pin for the Temple’s showbread • a massager • a pasta cutter or a utensil to roll out noodles • a honey-dripper or server, or a device to drop larger quantities of oils on the corpses of kings • a masonry tool to pattern clay • a bone or flour grinder • a spool for high quality thread • a martial arts weapon • a hair curlerSticking point President Reuven Rivlin is not the country’s first president to redefine and enhance the specified job-description of the office (“Rivlin must eschew politics,” Candidly Speaking, December 17). As columnist Isi Leibler points out, predecessors Ezer Weizmann and Shimon Peres similarly played down the ceremonial function of the presidency in favor of the more consequential political aspect of government.As such, Leibler, effectively exposes the new president’s attempt to utilize the venerated position for his own ego. The nation of Israel cannot be seen in the world as one that speaks from both sides of its mouth.The people of Israel has democratically chosen only one leader. If Mr. Rivlin disagrees with the prime minister’s agenda, let him quit the presidency and join the opposition. A president’s role is to support the government, not to undermine it.The story is told that when Chaim Weizmann was offered the presidency by prime minister David Ben-Gurion, he was unaware that the position was purely ceremonial. He once complained to a friend that his handkerchief is now the only thing he can stick his nose into – a word to the wise for Mr. Rivlin.ROBERT DUBLINJerusalemA grave warning Kol Hakavod to all those involved, whether they be Israeli or not, in the hunting down of the infamous terrorist Samir Kuntar on Saturday night (“Israel mum on assassination in Syria of Samir Kuntar,” December 21).The pilots who actually carried out the assassination were probably not even born when this murderer performed his vile deeds in Nahariya. This is a warning to all those who wish to harm our fellow Jews that sooner or later they will be punished.There could have only been one day better than this to have happened, and that would have been on Purim, when we are told to remember Amalek and not forget him.BARBARA PFEFFERRehovotSilence is golden In Natan Hersh’s op-ed, “A Backward brand of patriotism,” December 22, the author paints the Breaking the Silence organization as a legitimate group who seeks to expose moral failings of the Israel Defense Forces.The reality is quite different and is revealed in the mission statement of the group. They are dedicated to ejecting Israel from Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and the Golan. They are extremists who are funded by outside nongovernmental organizations and seek to delegitimize and demonize Israel.The testimonies they produce lack credibility and substantiation.Their claims of illegal “occupation” are without merit.The backward patriots are those who demonize Israel and feel they are in the right.MICHEAL STEINERTel AvivExhibit courage The recent decision by Birthright to restrict its participants from walking to the Western Wall on Shabbat is a devastating blow, (“Fearing terrorism, Birthright drops Shabbat visits to the Kotel,” December 18).At the moment when Jews should exhibit courage, some fail the test of history. It is both sad and maddening to witness a philosophical, and even financial, justification for this latest cave-in to fear.One wonders in the aftermath of Ezra Schwartz’s murder last month whether lower Birthright registration is a factor? Despite the statements by the organization that they are thinking only of the safety of their tourists, one is left aghast at the implication of such a short-sighted policy.On Hanukkah we remembered proudly the bravery of the Maccabees.As the IDF today defends Israel in the face of horrendous terrorist attacks, what does this new Birthright policy say to our young visitors? That they must not act proudly along with the rest of the People of Israel? That somehow they are different – they are to be “protected”? I say, nonsense. The Jewish youth who come here to experience and learn and to be rebuilt are part and parcel of the entirety of Am Yisrael. The first lesson they learn is that we are all brothers. If they need special classes in krav maga (hand-tohand self defense) they are the right age to learn that.It is precisely now, at this time, that the leaders of our youth programs should show by example today what our heroes of the past exemplified then.It is to be hoped that reconsideration of this lamentable Birthright restriction will be initiated immediately.YITZCHAK BEN-SHMUELModi’inThe writer is a retired tour guide.Dutch treat In Wednesday’s editorial cartoon, the illustrator draws some interesting stereotypical caricatures of the four parties involved in the Syrian conflict.What is most interesting is how US President Barack Obama became a Dutch football fan overnight.Everything in his dress points to that decision. He is a wearing an orange shirt, as the Dutch do in honor of revolt leader William of Orange, and he is wearing a ‘rood-wit-blauw’ (red, white and blue) hat, which is commonly worn by fans when Clockwork Orange takes to the pitch.He may be trying to tell the Dutch to take in more Syrian refugees, or he is probably still in denial about how poorly the team performed in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. We are too.BENJY EBAIYAMAmsterdam
