Welcome, Sir Paul Sir, - How delighted and uplifted I was to read yesterday's Jerusalem Post! The usual depressing news about politics, bribery and corruption etc., was offset by almost two and a half pages devoted to the heartwarming visit this week of Sir Paul McCartney ("Upbeat McCartney plays up his 'peaceful message' ahead of Tel Aviv concert," September 21). I am married to an ex-pupil of the Liverpool Institute, the then prestigious high school at which Paul McCartney and George Harrison were students, and the music of the Beatles is immensely enjoyed by three generations of our family. Let's give a warm welcome and shalom to this world celebrity. RUTH POSNER Beit Shemesh A hard day's night Sir, - In 1962, I was 13 and living in London. An enquiry trickled down to me via my father, who was friendly with the assistant editor of Vogue. The magazine was doing a photo shoot with the Beatles - would I like to be one of the young people included in the spread? Would I like it? I daydreamed about it for weeks, and when the great day arrived, my mother (chaperone) and I traveled to the designated location to await the Fab Four. It was the first time she let me wear lipstick. After two hours, someone approached our group, and said: "The lads are waiting for you in (another place). Come on.... So we all (including mom) piled gamely into a van and drove off to the new rendezvous. Sadly, the Beatles never made it there either, and so there is no framed photo of me with four of the most famous people who ever lived hanging in my sitting room. Vogue did, however, send a dozen glossy pictures of the group as a "consolation prize," and they stayed on my bedroom wall for many years. MIRIAM LEVY Tel Aviv Flowers from George Sir, - In the early '70s, after my hippie days in San Francisco, I made my way over to Hana, Maui, Hawaii, where I was the owner/manager of a popular vacation rental business in the small, sleepy town of less than 2,000 people. We were approached by an agent with a "client" wanting to rent one of the lovely places located on Hana Bay while waiting for his home to be completed. After negotiating the rental, I asked for the name of the family. The agent wouldn't comply - and I didn't agree to rent unless I knew who the renters were. Finally the agent gave in: It was "the Harrison family." I met George, Olivia and little Dani, Dani's nanny and their bodyguard, and we soon became friendly, though George was cautious of new friendships and of people trying to get close to him. Their home, down in lower Nahiku, was finally completed and they wanted me to keep an eye on it while they were away, stock it with health food before they arrived, and clean up. I was experiencing marital difficulties, and a separation had left me and the kids with the business, alone in a small town where everyone knew everything. One day when I came in to collect the mail, the post office lady said: "You got some flowers in da mail," and appeared at the window with this huge box of the most gorgeous flowers I had ever seen, even for tropical Hawaii. The note inside said: "Olivia and I appreciate you and wish you happiness, love George." It meant so much to me at that dark time in my life, and I will always remember the day I got flowers from George Harrison. SHLOMIT GRANTZ Jerusalem Fiscal finagle Sir, - I cannot believe that anyone - except perhaps Prof. Jacob Frenkel - was surprised by the current financial meltdown ("The fiscal lessons of Jacob Frenkel," Calev Ben-David, September 21). Throwing credit at anybody who asked for it; persuading the gullible that they could borrow themselves out of debt; awarding themselves obscene salaries and bonuses, and even more obscene severance packages for managers of even failing companies - the financial/management sector only has itself to blame. And who is going to pay? The taxpayer, as usual. I suspect that the top management of those failed American companies will still walk away with millions. I believe it was only a few months ago that one of our ministers suggested that tuition fees for business management degrees should be higher than for other disciplines. Now we know why. ELLIE MORRIS Asseret Sir, - Lehman tree very pretty / And the Lehman flower is sweet, / But the fruit of the poor Lehman / Is impossible to eat. V. ABRAHAM Rishon Lezion Loan offer Sir, - About a year ago I received more than one phone call from my bank trying to convince me that I should take out a loan. I thought this seemed strange - the bank canvassing me that in order to be a good customer I should borrow money, go on a spending spree and get into debt. Banks in Israel are not the reputable institutions we expect them to be. RONNIE FELDMAN Hod Hasharon Old MacDonald had a farm Sir, - You really don't get it, do you? ("Rotting fruit," Editorial, September 18). The problem isn't foreign labor - the problem is agriculture, and the fact that this government doesn't particularly want an agricultural sector; nor did previous ones. Once the flagship of the Zionist dream, agriculture has become a burden - it needs large amounts of capital, land, water and inexpensive labor. None of the above is readily available locally, but no government wants to admit this and so it is easier to slowly strangle the sector in the hope that it will quietly go away. Historically, this was not entirely the government's fault as Israeli farmers were not slow in exporting their expertise to underdeveloped countries - who were also not slow in realizing the potential in agricultural exports. With their low labor costs and plentiful land and (in most cases) water, they were quick to learn and have ousted Israeli agricultural exports from many of their traditional markets. In the early days of the state, agriculture provided both a livelihood and much-needed food for its people; but in recent years, water has become even scarcer and really can be put to better use in other less labor-intensive industries. But what to do with all the Israeli farmers, most of whom live in the periphery of the country and still need to make a living? No government has come up with an answer. Until someone does, every government will continue the policy of slow strangulation of the agricultural sector, in the hope that the farmers themselves will slowly fade away. ROY SUSMAN Moshav Sde Nitzan True heroine Sir - Etgar Lefkovits's "94-year-old Holocaust survivor reconnects with family that saved her life" (September 19) moved me to tears. Stanislawa Slawinska was a heroine. She stood up against evil. Esfira Maiman should be praised for consistently seeking just recognition of her savior. And the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation played a remarkable role in this saga, not only by managing to reunite Maiman with Stanislawa's relatives, but also by conveying the whole file to Yad Vashem, resulting in its well-merited recognition of Stanislawa as a Righteous Among the Nations. MIRIAM RUBINSTEIN Tel Aviv