September 29: Like it is...

One more thing to thank God for on Rosh Hashana is writers like Caroline Glick.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters good 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
letters good 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Like it is... Sir, - One more thing to thank God for on Rosh Hashana is writers like Caroline Glick. Thank you for sharing her brilliance with us Post readers. She's a breath of fresh air in today's media jungle of delusion. As hard as the truth is to read, enlightenment is better than naivete ("A road paved on reality," September 26). LEAH WOLF Metar ...unfortunately Sir, - Re "A spy confesses, and still some weep for the Rosenbergs," Sam Roberts, The New York Times, September 28): We should all still weep for the Rosenbergs! It's not a question of whether they were innocent or guilty, but whether the punishment fit the crime. The state killed two people, parents of young children, while giving a relative slap on the wrist to others who committed similar crimes of espionage. The Rosenbergs deserved to be punished, but they did not deserve to die. In our day, too, we have a severe miscarriage of justice in the case of Jonathan Pollard. Life imprisonment in a maximum security facility for a crime others paid for with only several years' incarceration is rather too much for the greatest democracy the world has ever known to mete out. HAIM M. LERNER Ganei Tikva The love you take is the love you make Sir, - Kudos to David Horovitz for his articles on Paul McCartney's visit to Israel. I forwarded his exclusive interview with Sir Paul ("Speaking words of wisdom," September 21) to BeatleFans.com - the largest Internet collector of media pieces about the Fab Four, and the editor replied: "Fantastic!" In "Mahmoud or Macca?" (September 26) your editor masterfully compared McCartney's message to that of Iran's Ahmadinejad: peace and understanding vs hate and destruction. The final words Paul sang at his gig last week were: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Re his use of a ukulele for the introduction to "Something" ("Glad he got us into his life," September 28): This particular instrument was a personal gift from George Harrison to McCartney years ago. The "Quiet Beatle," who passed away in December 2001, was a ukulele enthusiast, a member of the George Formby Fan Club who performed at its annual UK convention in 1991. Shortly after his co-Beatle's death, Paul inserted the "Something" tribute into his world tour, playing the entire song on this small four-stringed instrument. A year later, in London, the full band arrangement was introduced at the "Concert for George" organized by Eric Clapton on the first anniversary of Harrison's death. This was the version Paul played Thursday night in Tel Aviv. As he left the stage, he called out in Hebrew, "Lehitra'ot" - see you again. I can only reply, "Lu yehi," or "Let it be." HOWIE KAHN Jerusalem Sir, - I'd like to correct fellow-Scouser and Liverpool expert Gabriel Sivan's interesting letter ("Paul's alma mater," September 25). Brian Epstein's family davened at Greenbank Drive Synagogue, not Childwall, and were "machers" there. I remember them well, wearing their top hats for services; not just father Harry, but also Brian and his younger brother, Clive, whom I knew well. David Benkof ("How Jewish were the Beatles?" September 25) referred to Brian Epstein as "openly gay." Well, he certainly wasn't in those shul-going days, and not really for a long time after he became famous. GLORIA DEUTSCH Kfar Saba Sinai sojourns Sir, - "As Israelis head to Sinai, Barak nixes idea to close border" (September 25) missed an important component to Israeli choice. If Israelis are going to travel to the Sinai regardless of government warnings, the taxpayer should not have to pay for rescuing anyone kidnapped or injured while there. Israelis who decide not to pay attention to official warnings must learn that they are responsible for their decisions. We demand it of Arabs. We should expect it of ourselves. DAVID TEICH Rehovot This comparison is an outrage Sir, - How dare Ellis Weintraub compare Michael Freund's vision of a renewal in Jewish patriotism to the propaganda spewed by a Nazi ideologist? ("Blood, soil, and Michael Freund," September 25.) Weintraub, who claims that "this land has Arab memories too," obviously has little knowledge of the history surrounding the Land of Israel; or has chosen to ignore its reality. While the Jewish connection to Israel has remained unbroken for the past 3,000 years, where were the so-called Arab "Palestinians" in the year 1867, for example, when Mark Twain visited Israel and reportedly found a "barren, empty, desolate country with a small, impoverished, scattered population?" Weintraub compares Freund's vision to "Eastern fascist movements." Yet nowhere has Freund suggested that Israel's Arab minority be liquidated. However, calls to genocide against the Jewish nation are emitted regularly by Iran and Hamas. And incitement against Israel continues unabated in the media of even our PA "peace partners." JOSH HASTEN Jerusalem Sir, - Ellis Weintraub wrongly assumes the "Right" is trying to take land away from the Palestinians. Not at all. It's trying to give them land. Was Mr. Weintraub here when Gush Katif was evacuated and the Gazaites entered and made a garbage heap of everything? He would have countered with, "That's their right." True, but it isn't their right to launch Kassams to kill Jews. When it comes to the Palestinians, we're not talking about Greater Israel, but Any Israel (at all). Y. PETERSEIL Jerusalem Sir, - What a rare pleasure to read an article and agree with every word! Thank you, Michael Freund, for reminding us of why we are here. By giving up the Greater Land of Israel, our right to the small land of Israel that will possibly be left will be more and more tenuous. MIRIAM NAGEL Ofra