Lawrence Kulak
Brooklyn, NY
Neocons = Jews?
MSNBC never lets up. From Chris Matthews on the left to Pat Buchanan on the right, they’re still telling us it was the fault of the “neocons” that America went into Iraq. (For a while, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd jumped into the neocon fray but seems to have stopped when too many Times readers recognized the complaints against the neocons for exactly what they are: pure old-fashioned anti-Semitism.)
Whenever MSNBC’s pundits and others of like mind actually name names – that is, identify who, exactly, the neocons are – the names are always Jewish. In other words, a group of Jewish advisers used their tenacious influence on George W. Bush to send our troops into Iraq, practically against his will.
And all along you thought Bush’s main advisers were his vice president, Dick Cheney, his secretary of state, Colin Powell, and his secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld – none of them Jewish.
Saul Grossman
Flushing, NY
Minyanim That Don’t Drag On
As a practical answer to reader Alex Lapin’s Feb. 28 letter regarding Shabbos morning services, I would advise Mr. Lapin to move to a frum neighborhood with many minyanim.
I know of several minyanim where meaningful Shabbos services are completed in under two hours. It’s straight davening without the chazzanut.
Lawrence Fleck
(Via E-Mail)
Shul Decorum
Jewish Press readers bothered by fellow congregants who disrespect a shul by talking and using cell phones (adult pacifiers) should know there is an organization that can help them if they feel they need some chizuk in the matter.
The Shul Decorum Association has a range of programs and products to help us be more respectful of the shul. There are posters to combat talking and texting. There are speakers who deliver inspiring lectures. There is a youth program that rewards young people for showing respect for davening.
The organization can be contacted at 917-306-1940 or [email protected].
Most people say they don’t want to get involved. They say they feel uncomfortable criticizing others. But if your wife were to declare that she didn’t want to get involved in Pesach preparations, or if your child decided he or she didn’t want to keep the mitzvah of kibud av v’eim, what would you say? We don’t get to pick and choose the mitzvahs.
It is incumbent on all of us to help each other out. If you see someone disrespecting the shul, you have an obligation to help him out. Of course, we have to be careful not to embarrass someone while doing this mitzvah; it has to be done with love, not anger. But it has to be done. We must all stick up for the house of Hashem.
By increasing our respect for shuls, we increase our merit to receive the Beit HaMikdash.
Chaim Cohen
Shul Decorum Association
Lakewood, NJ