September 23: License to kill?

The comparison between the reckless-driver sentences of Yaron Bracha and Avigdor Klagsbald was indeed bone-chilling.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters good 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
letters good 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
License to kill? Sir, - The comparison between the reckless-driver sentences of Yaron Bracha and Avigdor Klagsbald was indeed bone-chilling ("Sixteen years inside," Editorial, September 16). But what concerns me most is not the respective lengths of the two men's prison terms, but what Adv. Klagsbald may be doing in future. Does anyone know if he is still driving on our roads? Was his license at least denied him, or is he still - after those 23 "citations before the fatal collision" of April 2006 - being allowed, by law or our judicial system, to get behind the wheel? SARAH AVIHAI Jerusalem Editor's note: Avigdor Klagsbald's license was revoked for 10 years. Chicago defense Sir, - As a former Chicagoan, I take offense at Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines, referring to the feuding crime families in Netanya, saying, "It is unacceptable to allow this situation to become the norm, turning the streets of our cities into Chicago" ("Police don't have what they need to take on mob," September 16). Was he ever in Chicago? I doubt it. True, back in the 1920s, they did have a lot of mob action there. But since then, in the past 80 years, Chicago has had neither more nor fewer shootings than any other large city. I lived in Chicago for over 50 years and it was definitely not like in the days of Al Capone. Between all the mayors of Chicago since the 1920s, the city has become a beautiful and tranquil one. Please, Mr. Paz-Pines, check the facts. JULIUS SHWARZSTEIN Jerusalem Unkosher speech Sir, - Some years ago, I attended a wedding, officiated at by an Orthodox rabbi, on the grounds of a magnificent estate in the North. After the ceremony, the waiters started passing out canapes and I discovered, to my horror, that some were cheese and others meat. Finding the rabbi, I asked whether or not the affair was required to be kosher. After a brief hesitation, he said, "If it were not, they wouldn't have gotten a certificate," and promptly left. So much for the gratuitous comment attributed to Jerusalem marriage registrar Rabbi Yitzhak Ralbag: "The pig also tries to prove it is kosher by showing that its hoofs are cloven" ("Conservative leader decries ban on non-Orthodox immersion," September 22). It would be grossly unfair to claim that Orthodox rabbis - or even one specific rabbi - knowingly officiated at a wedding where the food was not kosher. It is, on the other hand, a gross violation of Jewish principles, to say nothing of common decency, for an Orthodox rabbi - particularly one to whose hands the administration of the sacred mitzva of marriage in the city of Jerusalem has been entrusted - to speak in such insulting and boorish terms about those who may feel obligated to submit to the yoke of the mitzvot, but are not comfortable in submitting to the unfair yoke of those who so obviously despise them. JAC FRIEDGUT Jerusalem Unmanly mission Sir, - I read with disbelief David Benkof's "My gay 'akeda'" (September 18). Mr. Benkof, admittedly gay, has decided to not only forgo same-sex relations but to "eventually pursue traditional Jewish family life married to a woman." What does he imagine that his proposed spouse will experience, married to a man who chooses to be with her only in order to live his personal sacrifice, going against his own instincts and desires? What can a man do that would be more selfish or more hurtful to his life partner? If Mr. Benkof is not alone in his mission, it is a sad commentary on what the meaning of Jewish identity and observance has sunk to. Whatever happened to the old-fashioned idea that "love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage"? Mr. Benkof could choose to live celibate as a form of personal akeda. Abraham too was alone in his fearful decision - Sarah was not party to the event. The only other moral choice open to him is to be what his fate determined him to be. ARNOLD I. KISCH, MD Jerusalem No place at the table Sir, - Two important points need to be added to Isi Leibler's excellent "Canadian Israel advocacy in turmoil" (September 21). The takeover by a small group of fund-raisers and main donors was really a coup, without any consultation with the Canadian Jewish Congress, a body elected by all Jews across Canada, or with the Canada Israel Committee (the Canadian AIPAC), a group of volunteers comprising supporters of all Israeli political points of view. Both organizations had highly qualified staff with excellent PR qualifications, and were very efficient. But the new group - the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) - controls the purse-strings and the budgets; and the message to other organizations, who were doing a much better job than CIJA is now doing, was to go along, or be cut off. Most of the "machers" are good friends of Shimon Peres and want only his agenda as the policy of the Canadian Jewish community. It is thus not so much the "sha shtil" approach, as leftist-only ideas. Political centrists, even more so those a little to the right, have not only lost their place at the decision-making table. They cannot even approach the table. Sometimes it seems that this new entity is a branch of the Israeli Labor Party. Happily, as Leibler points out, there are a number of smaller groups in Canada carrying the message Israel needs to be sent to the Canadian Jewish community, and to the Israel-friendly Canadian government. DAVID ROTENBERG Jerusalem /Toronto Helping lubricate the evil machine Sir, - Re "Ahmadinejad: Iran to break 'hand of offender'" (September 22): The Iranian president should not be permitted to travel freely around Manhattan, or anywhere in the US for that matter, while he is in New York to address the UN. Rudy Giuliani is the only mayor who would have implemented such a measure, thus helping to define for the world who the bad guys are and treating them in the way they deserve. Not isolating and disgracing Ahmadinejad during his visit to New York suggests acquiescence in his behavior and only lubricates his machine of evil. MEL DRILLER New York Bloody waste of time Sir, - Iraqi parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi's persecution by his fellow Iraqis is a good illustration of what a waste America's investment in that country has been. Al-Alusi's unequivocal condemnation of terrorism and open admiration of Israel represent the progressive thinking we have sought in liberating Iraq. Nevertheless, he is only a one-man party, elected by about 1,400 voters out of 26 million. His statements and visits to Israel have gotten his two sons murdered, and now he is facing a ban on travel and possible criminal charges ("Iraqi MP calls for joint intel network with Israel and US," September 11). Our mistake in promoting democracy lies in not understanding that it is more than just majority rule, that it also means individual freedom; and as long as Iraq is an Islamic state, real democracy will never happen there. DAVID KATCOFF Jericho, Vermont Holy restoration Sir, - Re "Catholic Poles mobilize to save neglected Jewish cemeteries" (September 18): I would like to add that the Web site (www.kirkuty@kirkuty.xip.pl) covers the tremendous work being done by Krzysztof Bielawski and colleagues in restoring the cemeteries of former Jewish communities. The site is in Polish and English, and covers a brief history of many Jewish communities as well. HERMAN STORICK Larchmont, New York