March 16: Suitable, indeed

Due to the unbelievable success of our son’s education and values-building experience, we sent our second son, and thereafter our third, to the Or Etzion yeshiva.

By JERUSALEM POST READERS
Suitable, indeed
Sir, – Regarding the complaint by a reader about Rabbi Haim Druckman (“Druckman’s suitability,” Letters, March 14), in 1970, when we were looking for a yeshiva high school for our eldest son, we were advised by a well-known yeshiva head to send him to “Haimke Druckman,” a young and energetic rising star, the best choice possible. We met Druckman the next day and were convinced after a brief discussion that, yes, this was the school for our son.
Due to the unbelievable success of our son’s education and values-building experience, we sent our second son, and thereafter our third, to the Or Etzion yeshiva. Thank God, all gained immeasurably in their personal and educational growth.
The faculty of both the religious and secular segments of the school were outstanding. But one could not state a better position on the validity of the choice of Rabbi Druckman for the Israel Prize than was stated so eloquently in the op-ed by David Newman (“The Israel Prize for Rabbi Haim Druckman,” Borderline Views, March 13).
YAAKOV ZEV Jerusalem
Sir – David Newman’s excellent op-ed comprehensively sets out the fractures existing in the religious- Zionist community.
This has led to a multitude of small parties, each claiming the religious- Zionist vote.
Newman’s column makes a convincing manifesto as to why religious- Zionist political parties are no longer relevant. The legitimacy and ubiquitous presence of religious- Zionists in Israeli society is all the more reason why they should assume their representative role in each of Israel’s mainstream parties.
Newman also takes the opportunity to lament the absence of a leadership figure on the Left. Is he forgetting President Shimon Peres (who is not much older than Rabbi Haim Druckman)? Could it be that the peace camp has discovered that the “new Middle East” is wonderful in theory but does not exist in practice?
ALAN (SHLOMO) KOOR Petah Tikva
No role for EU Sir, – Let me reassure Miguel de Corral (“A new start: The case for EU leadership in the peace process,” Comment & Features, March 14) that if the European Union’s 27 countries do as he suggests and act in the partisan way he mentions, far from jump-starting the peace process they would ensure that the EU has absolutely no role to play as an honest broker.
American power in the Middle East may well be on the wane, but that does not mean the EU’s power is increasing. Any deviation from UN Security Council Resolution 242 now will achieve nothing, and de Corral’s suggestions are full of such deviations.
PETER SIMPSON Jerusalem
Purim centennial Sir, – On Purim 2012, after receiving wonderful service in a series of checkups at Hadassah Ein Kerem, I noticed some photographs on the wall.
Under one it said that on Purim in 1912, Henrietta Szold and a group of women in Baltimore met to start an organization to bring health services to the Land of Israel. Since it was Purim, they decided to call it Hadassah, the Hebrew name of Queen Esther, as mentioned in the Book of Esther.
Now I know why I had that accident when I did! The 100th birthday of Hadassah, and I celebrated it there! I grew up with Hadassah.
My grandmother, mother, sister and niece, all active Hadassah members. Every month I would read Hadassah Magazine, and even learned some of my Hebrew there. My older daughter was in an Israel Scouts delegation to Camp Young Judaea in Texas, and my younger daughter was sports counselor at Camp Tel Yehuda in New York.
And I cofounded a chapter of Young Judaea in Maspeth, Queens.
Hadassah has done so much for Israel. Thank you, Hadassah!
STEVEN “SHAYA” KELTER Jerusalem