April 15: Deserving honor

During the terrible time of the Holocaust, Greek-Catholic archbishop of Lvov, Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytskyj was instrumental in saving many Jewish lives.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters to the editor 88 (photo credit: )
letters to the editor 88
(photo credit: )
Deserving honor Sir, - We would like, through your newspaper, to voice our disappointment and puzzlement at the strange tardiness of Yad Vashem in acknowledging the noble activities of the Greek-Catholic archbishop of Lvov, Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytskyj. During the terrible time of the Holocaust he was instrumental, through his personal involvement, in saving many Jewish lives. Yet there is still no tree in his honor in the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, and he has yet to be accorded the title of Righteous Gentile. We know some of those saved by him personally, and they assure us that at no time was there any pressure on them to convert; the metropolitan's help was for purely humanitarian reasons. Did not our sages say: "He who saves one life, it is as if he had saved the world entire?" Andrei Sheptytskyj saved some 150 lives. It is high time he was accorded all honor. LEONARD KURZER, Chairman LUDWIK KLEINER, Vice-Chairman Polish-Jewish Ex-Servicemen Association London House in Hebron... Sir, - Re "Peretz: I'll remove settlers from Hebron house" (April 6) and "Sneh: Settlers in Hebron house must go by April 19" (April 8): I think a defense minister and deputy defense minister should take a course in Jewish history, and then another course in How to Keep a Jewish State's Honor. It all makes one wonder how much they learned about the Arab massacres of Jews living in Hebron in 1929, and in the 1930s. The Arabs became the majority after killing the Jews or forcing them to move away. Many years ago Henrietta Szold opened a medical clinic called Beit Hadassah in Hebron. Now Jewish citizens have bought a property. Don't Jews have the right to buy and live in Hebron, if they so desire? LILA BRODSKY Jerusalem ...will Peretz pay? Sir, - When my husband and I bought our home and moved in, we were not instructed to get Mr. Peretz's permission first. Of course, our home is in Jerusalem, not on the road to Hebron; but if living in that building was dependent on such special permission, the sale should not have been authorized without it. There are many permits required, and conditions which must be met, before purchase of a home can be finalized. The families should have been advised about this one up front - not after they had paid out a large sum of money and moved in. I wonder if Mr. Peretz intends to reimburse them for their purchase and moving expenses. This action is, at best, a case of the government's right hand not knowing what its left hand is doing; at worst, it is callous disregard for the rights and needs of its citizens. DEENA SPIGELMAN Jerusalem Sad step Sir, - Your excellent "Mauritania: Colonialism to dictatorship to democracy" (April 6) mentioned that the new Mauritanian government, though fully recognizing Israel today, is considering breaking relations with us. This is personally very sad as I was the first Israeli to enter Mauritania on an Israeli passport in 1993, when the Mauritanians were still in a state of war with us. They wanted help in developing their country and it appears that the specific aid they requested was not forthcoming. Do we have so many Arab countries supporting us that we can allow this to happen? REUVEN YAGIL Beersheba To clarify Sir, - Re "Tel Aviv school teaches singles how to be a good date" (April 11) describes this Date School as "the only psychotherapy-based dating program in Israel." This is incorrect. There are other professionals in Israel, like myself, who run educational dating programs based on human behavior. MAX GRUNBERG Ra'anana Jewish experience Sir, - Re "A first-time author, finally published at age 96" (Arts & Entertainment, April 4): "It seems to me I've heard that song before." The book reviewed appears to bear a strong resemblance to Louis Golding's novel Magnolia Street about a street in Manchester where one side is Jewish and the other gentile, and the enmity between the two. It's all there - the fights, the intermarriage, the shiva, the ostracism. Golding's book, written in the Thirties, became a best-seller and was considered to be biograhical. It was followed by an equally successful sequel titled Mr Emannuel. Both books were made into films. It seems a lot of Jews had similar experiences. B. GATOFF Herzliya Pituah Let there be light Sir, - I have often read in your articles and letters that the police need more revenue. I've noticed thousands of cars, over time, being driven with only one rear red light working. I know that in South Africa this is a serious offense, covered by a heavy fine. Such fines could bring our police much-needed funds - and perhaps our drivers will be more careful and replace faulty lightbulbs as soon as they see one is not working. LOU SCOP Netanya Tracing Willie Sir, - I am trying to trace Willie Goldberg, aged about 70, who was born in Antwerp and lived in London. He worked as a dentist and moved to Tel Aviv about 1990. He is the son of Leibel, born in Riga, Latvia. My grandfather was Ben Goldberg, a brother of Leibel. Ben was married to Jean, and they lived in Glasgow, Scotland. Can anyone help? Please write to 18 Abercorn Crescent Edinburgh EH8 7HR, or email oppygoldberg@blueyonder.co.uk NORMAN GOLDBERG Edinburgh Brothers in bondage Sir, - It was hard to sit at my Seder and be happy knowing that my brothers were in bondage in enemy hands ("Israeli officials: Mashaal may not be able to deliver Schalit," April 11). IRMA F. GOLDMAN Arad