April 22: Chief Rabbi's CDs

The songs and Rabbi Sacks's commentary were a wonderful accompaniment to a busy day at home, preparing for Pessah.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
letters 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Chief Rabbi's CDs Sir, - Thank you, Jerusalem Post, for including in your April 17 edition a gift for subscribers of Jonathan Sacks's "Israel - Home of Hope" CDs. The songs and Rabbi Sacks's commentary were a wonderful accompaniment to a busy day at home, preparing for Pessah (even though I did miss some of the lovely songs performed by a female singer). RUTH GREENWALD Givatayim Sir, - A vote of thanks for this generous and uplifting gift. When such a touching and inspiring production is possible, our hope is indeed not lost. PESSY KRAUSZ Jerusalem Sir, - I listened to the CDs all morning last Thursday as I made my final preparations for Pessah. This condensed version of the history of the State of Israel and the relevant, well-known songs were really moving. JUDY PRAGER Petah Tikva Sir, - What a glorious way to present our history! I hope the CDs will also be sent to our leaders and MKs. Maybe it will inspire them. LILA BRODSKY Jerusalem Join us Sir - I write in response to Michael Greenspan's letter "Our birthright awaits us" (April 18). Michael, your heart is in the right place, and you write with an enlightened sense of Jewish understanding. But you are clearly doing yourself, your family and your fellow Jews a disservice by not living your dream. We made the move from Toronto two-and-a-half years ago, and it was the best thing we have ever done. Come and join us. The smiles on the children's faces will only get bigger. GIDEON HACK Zichron Ya'acov Lonely? Not me Sir, - As a student at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, I was surprised and disappointed to read Ilana Diamond's "It's lonely being pro-Israel on campus" (April 16). The pro-Israel community at UT, which I am proud to be a part of, is a pro-active body comprised of individuals at the top levels of student leadership. • I did not feel lonely on February 20, when UT students celebrated Israel's 60th birthday at the 10th Annual Israel Block Party. Over 6,000 students walked through the exhibits, listened to the performance of Hadag Nahash, learned about the US-Israel relationship and gained exposure to Israel beyond the conflict. I personally took student leaders from across campus through the Block Party, personalizing the experience according to their individual interests. • I did not feel lonely on April 2, when Texans for Israel hosted its semi-annual Campus Leadership Dinner. Its purpose is to bring together today's leaders on campus, who will undoubtedly be tomorrow's leaders of the community, to appreciate the US-Israel relationship. This year David Makovsky addressed over 100 top student leaders, including the Student Government leadership, College Democrats, College Republicans, Student Senate, Black Student Alliance, Latino Leadership Council, Asian Business Students Association, Christians United for Israel, and the Greek Community. It is true that every year pro-Israel activists on the UT campus, like campuses across the US, have to contend with many detractors. Under the guise of being pro-Palestinian, these groups are in reality anti-Israel. This year alone my campus has hosted various speakers, each adding a personal narrative to reach the same conclusion: questioning Israel's right to exist. I share this not to alarm - though their messages are worrisome - and not as a ploy for pity, as that achieves nothing, but to emphasize that pro-Israel activism at our university is not characterized by these detractors. • I do not feel lonely because I have the support of numerous organizations dedicated to providing students like me with the resources to engage others. I do not feel lonely because I am working together with students on my campus to build strong relationships and coalitions. Most importantly, I do not feel lonely because I am strong in my convictions and believe in promoting Israel's right to exist. KATINA RAJUNOV Austin, Texas Guts over Gaza Sir, - I found myself totally disagreeing with "IDF to escalate Gaza operations after 3 soldiers killed" (April 17). What is the good of a "difficult... extremely costly" operation to "clean Gaza out," only to hand it over to the Egyptians or to a third party, none of whom "would be too excited about taking over responsibility for the Strip," as Herb Keinon put it? It would be back to square one. We had the right idea some months ago, but ceased before it had a chance to work because of pressure from our American and European friends. We have no interest in feeding and providing fuel for those whose only interest is to kill Jews. We can, and did quite easily close the border and stop all food and fuel supplies. Unfortunately the Arabs screamed "Not fair,'' and our friends cried "humanitarian crisis!'' Where were they when we were surrounded in 1948 and 1967? It is surely permitted to deprive your enemies of the means to kill you. An economic blockade by land and sea would soon solve the problem. Has our governmentthe guts to maintain one? B. GATOFF Herzliya Pituah A pleasant dream Sir, - After reading "Revealed truths vs revealed lies" (April 18) I leaned back, closed my eyes and imagined that Caroline Glick wrote for The New York Times. Her column would then be required reading for President Bush, Condoleezza Rice and other policy-makers, and her clear and concise words and sharp common sense might make a difference. Reading something so sensible would, I felt, surely lead to people of influence developing opinions more in line with the facts. But then I woke up to the realization that nobody cares about the facts. MARCELLA WACHTEL Jerusalem Independence of will Sir, - In "Waiting for a hot summer in Gaza" (April 21) you report that an IDF incursion into Gaza is not likely until some weeks after President Bush and other world leaders have left Israel after attending its 60th anniversary celebrations. It seems that Iran is being given more time to prepare for our annihilation whilst Prime Minister Olmert prepares for feting with world leaders. The survival of this country is more important than photo-ops. With a clear and present danger building at a furious pace on two fronts, a responsible prime minister should be telling the US president: "It's best you cancel your trip. The security and territorial concessions I have made at your behest have placed our people under incessant missile fire and I must put their interests first. Therefore I have ordered our army into Gaza to wipe out the terror infrastructure and confiscate the Iranian missiles and weapons. We will be marking our 60th anniversary by demonstrating our independence of will to defend ourselves with no holds barred, and whether it suits world leaders or not." ZALMI UNSDORFER Jerusalem People's paper Sir, - The day my last letter was published (April 11), you ran a total of 14 letters in your Frontlines, UpFront and Metro sections. The Post deserves the appreciation of all its readers for bringing us so many diverse personal views. As comparison, many dailies, some considering themselves open-minded liberals, publish just two to four readers' letters a day, their contents fitting conspicuously with those papers' editorial lines. The Jerusalem Post is truly a paper of the people. ENDRE Y. MOZES Chairman, Take-A-Pen Haifa