January 4: It's only fair

I cannot understand why there is no such thing in the budget as COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) for pensioners.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
letters good 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
letters good 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
It's only fair Sir, - I cannot understand why there is no such thing in the budget as COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) for pensioners. It has been some five years since any increase in pension payments although the cost of housing, food, utilities and almost every other commodity has seen an appreciable rise. The United States and many other countries, in one form or another, have a provision for this in their budgets. Why not Israel? ("Pension plays," Editorial, January 2.) SHLOMO JUSTER Karmiel Come, Mr. Chopra Sir, - It was profoundly discouraging to hear a man as respected as Deepak Chopra make such a shallow and facile statement as "Arabs and Israelis are co-creating each other" ("Guru seeks Jesus," UpFront, December 28). While this fits into Chopra's general theory of encounters between explicit enemies, it falls far short of explaining, for example, the relationship between Nazi Germany and, say, France or the UK, and certainly the Jewish people. It does not explain and is, in fact, an insult born of ignorance of the struggles of the Jewish people over the centuries and into our present era. If Chopra were to follow through on his theory, he would come to the conclusion that it is as if we had nothing better to do here in the Land of Israel than struggle with the Arabs (which, incidentally, seems to be the deep Arab belief). While I am not so aware of the agenda of the Arab people, I do not believe that any truly intelligent and well-read person can come to such a conclusion regarding the Jewish people. Over the past 70 years alone we have engaged in a transformational process with a land that had become incapable of supporting human beings in a healthy and dignified manner. We revived an ancient, unique language and created a singular culture using that language. Via this effort, we have helped enrich all humanity by contributing the cultural diversity vital to humanity's health. We have and continue to contribute profoundly to the well-being of all peoples in fields such as health, medicine, agriculture and technology. We contribute to the pleasure of all human beings with beautiful music, profound writings, dance, film and other cultural contributions. Please, Mr. Chopra, come and visit us with a mind and heart open and prepared to contemplate, absorb and appreciate our reality beyond the tragic conflict we are engaged in with our neighbors. Open yourself to our unique consciousness forged by our unique language and culture. YORAM GETZLER Moshav Aminadav