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Cynical’ Editorial

“The Democrats’ CIA Report” (editorial, Dec. 19) is one of the more cynical things I’ve read in a long while. You seem to dismiss an entire report consisting of thousands of pages of supportive material simply because it was prepared by Democrats without input from Republicans. Unbelievable.

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The Senate staffs are full of talented lawyers and other professionals who are tasked with accurately analyzing documentary evidence. This is the way they make a living.

While I agree that some corners conceivably might have been cut here and there in the interests of partisanship, I do not accept that there would be a pattern of gross misrepresentations. Nor do I understand how you can suggest that politicians on one side of the aisle can be empowered to effectively veto an important report simply by boycotting it.

Shoshanna Grossman
(Via E-Mail)

 

‘Spot-On’ Editorial

“A U.S. Retreat at the UN?” (editorial, Dec. 19) was spot on. I agree that the administration’s non-committal position on whether it would veto a UN Security Council resolution setting a date for Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem and the West Bank sent a message of wavering solidarity with Israel.

As it turns out, since your editorial appeared the Obama administration said it would in fact veto the current draft of the resolution. But the damage was already done. The world knows the U.S. dithered, at least initially, on whether it would cast a veto. This is a major strategic loss for Israel and a major coup for the Palestinians. The world will take from this the notion that the right wording can perhaps separate the U.S. from Israel in the international arena.

James Morton
(Via E-Mail)

 

Har Nof Aftermath

I was taken with Naomi Brudner’s Dec. 19 op-ed article “Focusing on Truth After the Tragedy in Har Nof.”

She certainly points to several mystifying and inspiring stories that emerged from the unspeakable incident. For me, though, the murders represented a profane intrusion into a place where Jews spent their time totally in thrall to what I would describe as the Ribbono Shel Olam’s culture.

The shul was more than a shul. It was a place where every interaction reflected the Torah way of life. It was a place where the ways of the world held no sway. This may sound naïve, but it’s what I felt when I had the privilege of visiting there. I fear that things will never be the same. I hope I am wrong.

Meir Reiss
(Via E-Mail)

What They Mean By ‘East Jerusalem’

Your Dec. 19 front-page news story reported on the efforts of the Palestinian Authority to have the United Nations Security Council call for immediate creation of a Palestinian state with so-called East Jerusalem as its capital.

Let’s be clear what they mean when they say “East Jerusalem.” They’re not just talking about some outlying all-Arab neighborhood on the edge of the city. The Palestinian Authority defines “East Jerusalem” as every part of Jerusalem beyond the 1967 armistice line. Thus the Palestinian capital would include the Western Wall and the Temple Mount; the ancient Jewish Quarter of the Old City; the Mount of Olives (site of the oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in the world); and major urban neighborhoods of Jerusalem such as Gilo, French Hill, Ramot, Har Homa, and Neve Yaakov.

“East Jerusalem,” in other words, is the very heart of Jerusalem. That’s what they want to tear away from Israel and the Jewish people.

Moshe Phillips, President
Benyamin Korn, Chairman
Religious Zionists of America

Philadelphia, PA

 

Obama Derangement Syndrome

During his Chanukah party address at the White House, President Obama said: “I’m told that in the Jewish tradition, one of the greatest mitzvahs is pidyon shvuyim. My Hebrew is not perfect, but I get points for trying. But it describes the redemption, the freeing of captives. And that’s what we’re celebrating today, because after being unjustly held in Cuba for more than five years, American Alan Gross is free. He’s back where he belongs, in America, with his family, home for Chanukah and I can’t think of a better way to mark this holiday.”

Referring to the victory of the Maccabees, Obama noted that the story has relevance so many centuries later:

“The Chanukah story teaches us that our light can shine brighter than we could ever imagine with faith and it’s up to us to provide that first spark.”

As I read those words I thought to myself that however much I oppose most of this president’s policies, we live in a most amazing country – a country whose leader, who also happens to be the most powerful man in the world, hosts a Chanukah party for Jews and speaks with such feeling about the release of a Jewish American from Cuban captivity.

Soon enough, however, I realized once again how all too many frum Jews are afflicted with Obama Derangement Syndrome and are therefore unable to express even the most basic words of hakarat hatov for anything this man does. The comments from visitors on a popular Orthodox news website were almost without exception negative and insulting (and reflected poor reading comprehension skills as well, since whatever it was they were reacting to was definitely not found in Mr. Obama’s speech).

One intellectual giant wondered “if Obama would use a Muslim holiday as a platform for discussing Islamic terrorism. That would be taboo. But it’s perfectly acceptable to bring up a rare case of violence by Jews on Chanukah. Just squeeze it in under the guise of celebrating diversity….”

Added another equally sagacious reader: “This man gets more dispicable [sic] by the moment, using a celebration to scold Jews.”

After several more such comments I felt compelled to add my own.

“Here’s a president of the U.S.,” I wrote, “taking time to gather with Jews and speak highly of the Maccabees’ struggle, a president who just helped bring about the release of a Jew from Cuba, and all we hear is complaint and criticism, as well as turning his words on their ear to make it into something negative (really, he “scolded the Jews”?). How far the derangement goes can be seen in the comment that Obama spoke publicly about Chanukah in order to highlight Jewish violence. Only an insane person would react in such a manner to Obama’s speech.”

I did not vote for Obama in either 2008 or 2012 and look forward to voting for a Republican in the presidential election of 2016. But the constant denigration – often delivered in the vilest terms – of Obama by large numbers of Orthodox Jews does not speak well of us a community.

Eliezer Becker
(Via E-Mail)

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