October 12: Morality & the mensch

Clearly Yaron Yadan missed the point of religious morality completely, even while he was head of two kollels ("Religion and secularism - a moral accounting," October 8).

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters 88 (photo credit: )
letters 88
(photo credit: )
Morality & the mensch Sir, - Clearly Yaron Yadan missed the point of religious morality completely, even while he was head of two kollels ("Religion and secularism - a moral accounting," October 8). In Jewish tradition the ceremonial side of Torah and Halacha has always been secondary to social responsibility. Jewish morality centers on one's responsibility for happiness, liberty and equality - of one's neighbor, not oneself. That's what we call tikkun olam. The paramount ethos transferred through the generations, father to son, has always been: "Be a mensch." Go back to your sources, Yaron. And g'mar tov. BRUM BERKOVITS Haifa Wounding omission Sir, - The exclusion of Dr. Robert Gallo from the Nobel Prize reminded me of another exclusion, that of Dr. Albert Schatz, discoverer of streptomycin, for which Prof. Selman Waksman received the Nobel Prize ("And the winner is..." Editorial, October 8). Dr. Schatz was my biology teacher at Brooklyn College in 1950 when he was embroiled in a suit against Waksman. As we walked to the subway together he would tell me, with bitterness in his voice, how his supervisor at Rutgers University had taken all the credit for the discovery. Waksman was also getting all the royalties for the sale of the drug. Rather than letting the case drag on - biology teachers did not get paid much in 1950 - Schatz agreed to an out-of court settlement. Schatz died in 2005 with many achievements and awards to his name, but not the one many scientists strive for, the Nobel Prize - which he deserved. IDA SELAVAN SCHWARTZ Ganei Omer Film that wounds Sir, - Your last Billboard cover (October 3) showed a couple of smiling youngsters, the protagonists of For My Father, riding a bike. What were the Israeli makers of this film about a suicide bomber and a Jewess thinking of? Many survivors of suicide bombings are still limping around, inextricable pieces of shrapnel and metal screws in their bodies. One surgeon will never operate again. He was blinded by a female bomber. Why this bland review of an insulting film? That it was made in Israel is damaging to the integrity of our society, let alone those directly wounded by the unrepentant bombers. MARIE THERESE FEUERSTEIN Zichron Ya'acov Surrogates who spy Sir, - In your October 3 issue of UpFront, we learned how the Israeli NGO B'Tselem gives out cameras to Palestinians to record the misbehavior of Israelis ("Image Makers"). Two days later, we saw the Israeli NGO Yesh Din filing a claim in the Supreme Court protesting the government's failure to evacuate Migron ("Palestinians sue state" October 5). It must be clarified that these organizations are not really Israeli since they receive funding from European governments. B'Tselem's donors include the British Foreign Office, the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry and the European Union. Yesh Din's include the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German's Foreign Office, and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.This information appears on their Web sites. If these donor countries object to the conduct of our people or to our settlement policies, they should address their concerns on the diplomatic level. That is what nations do. They should not conduct their foreign policy vicariously and inappropriately though our judicial system, or spy on us by means of NGO surrogates. Israel must put an end to this totally unacceptable practice. Early this year, Amendment 11 to the Amutot Law was adopted, requiring registered non-profit groups to disclose contributions from foreign governments in excess of NIS 20,000. But reporting is not enough. We should follow the example of the Foreign Agent Registration Act of the US, which declares that NGOs receiving such funding are agents of foreign governments. They should be disqualified from filing petitions to the High Court of Justice or demonstrating on any issue except insofar as it affects the interests of their own governments. JAN SOKOLOVSKY Jerusalem Simple or sobering? Sir, - In juxtaposed articles, Gershom Baskin ("Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur") and Caroline Glick ("The convenient war against the Jews," both October 7), touch on major issues facing Israel and the Jewish people. In addressing the conflict with the Palestinians, Baskin suggests that PM Ehud Olmert has correctly recognized the existential nature of the conflict with the Palestinians, leading him to the conclusion that the conflict can only be resolved by dividing the land along the 1967 lines. Caroline Glick addresses radical Islam's anti-Semitic agenda and the readiness of others in the world to bow to their threats;as has Italy, we now learn. While Baskin appears to believe that the conflict with the Palestinians can be ended, Glick paints a dire picture of a "war against the Jews" that is only growing. Her thesis is sobering. If it is correct, Baskin's suggestion of a simple, though painful resolution of our dispute with the Palestinians would likely be short-lived, with the peace it hopes to achieve soon being seen as an unproclaimed, but de facto, hudna. ABRAHAM COHEN Jerusalem Yours, staunchly Sir, - I am a Zionist Evangelical Christian who loves Israel. I pray for all Jews and the peace of Jerusalem. I have supported LIBI for many years. Even if America should abandon Israel, either because of trouble at home or a simple lack of will, I and people like me never will. I send money out of every check, and will continue to do so. Masada shall not fall again. Shalom! Shalom! KENNETH SCHUSTEREIT Victoria, Texas