Mormons Further

Nazi Goals

It seems there is no limit to the ingenuity some people can muster when it comes to targeting the Jewish people. I was shocked to read that the Mormons have allowed some of their members to continue baptizing Jews who were murdered by the Nazis (news story, Nov. 14).

While they may sincerely think this is the way Jews will achieve ultimate salvation, a practice such as this encourages the mentality that underlay the Nazi view of the Jew as untermensch and that ignited the pogroms and mass murders of Jews down through the ages - i.e., that Jews are a disfavored people.

The practice actually takes the goal of the Nazis one step further, despite the assertions of lofty religious principle. Hitler tried to rid the world of any living trace of the Jews. These Mormon zealots are carrying the plan one step further, from this world into the next.

Harold Nidetch

(Vie E-Mail)

Pleased But Skeptical

I found last week's editorial on Barack Obama ("A New President") very informative and insightful. I was particularly pleased by your caveat that while we must treat Obama as the president of all the people, we should still maintain a healthy skepticism given the concerns that were raised during the course of the campaign about his apparently non-mainstream views on economics and world affairs.

I think it is fair to say that those concerns - legitimately - went well beyond any raised about a major-party candidate in any presidential campaign I can remember - and I'm 73.

I must add that I am encouraged by how President-elect Obama is going about the business of building his administration. At least so far, many of my earlier concerns have been eased. But as you said, we must still be prudent.

Asher Scharf

(Via E-Mail)

Dem Mainstream

Is The Problem

I'm a non-Jewish reader who loves your paper. I happen to think President-elect Obama is showing himself to be in the mainstream of Democratic Party thinking. I am sure this may give comfort to those who thought he was a closet socialist or third world fanatic.

The problem for me, however, is that I believe the policies favored by that Democratic mainstream is harmful to our economy, harmful to our position internationally, and harmful to Israel's ability to make peace with its neighbors without pressure from third parties.

Kenneth Lee

Cincinnati, OH

Whom Will

He Choose?

Now that the election is over and the usual political rhetoric is behind us, will the real Barack Obama please step forward?

Certainly the first indication of his true feelings about Israel will be reflected by his choice of two critical Cabinet posts, namely secretary of state and secretary of defense. The former will assist in determining foreign policy for a historically anti-Israel State Department. The latter will be key to the military cooperation and aid Israel will receive from the U.S. Both will be instrumental in determining the response of the U.S. government if Israel chooses to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities.

As of January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be our president. Let us hope the American electorate and the Jewish community in particular, which gave him nearly 80 percent of its votes, have not made a major error.

Nelson Marans

Silver Spring, MD

Obama Falls

Short Of King

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes that Jews should be applauding America's first black president as the fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of full equality for African-Americans ("A Transcendent American Moment," op-ed, Nov. 14).

In his famous "I Have a Dream" speech given on August 28, 1963, King said, "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." Unfortunately, Barack Obama did drink from those waters. He and his family sat in the pews of Jeremiah Wright's church for over 20 years listening to his vitriolic hate-filled sermons, and only left when Wright became a political liability.

Martin Luther King also said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Obama's associations with racist Jeremiah Wright, unrepentant former terrorist Bill Ayers, convicted felon Tony Rezko, and anti-Israel professor Rashid Kalidi speak volumes about the content of his character.

Sadly, Martin Luther King's dream still awaits fulfillment.

Rabbi Mordechai Bulua

Montreal, Canada

Make Your

Views Known

The official campaign website of candidate Barack Obama links to a new President-elect website where citizens are invited to present their views. (The link is www.change.gov/page/s/yourvision.)

This is an excellent opportunity for us to covey our feelings to the president-elect. For example, I wrote that he please recall the following points:

1) The Palestinian people themselves voted Hamas into power.

2) There have been countless rocket attacks on Israeli cities launched from territory ceded by Israel.

3) When Joseph's Tomb fell into Palestinian hands it was vandalized and set on fire. Given that history, how can Jews be expected to abandon such Jewish holy sites as Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, or the many sites in Jerusalem including the Mount of Olives with its a large Jewish cemetery?

4) If Israel withdrew from all Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, it would endanger any Jews still living there; we recall how Jews had to duck sniper fire in Jerusalem before 1967.

5) Who will guarantee that what happened in Southern Israel will not happen again if Israel withdraws to pre-1967 borders? Jews all over Israel would be in the same position in which the residents of Sderot now find themselves.

6) If Israel is forced to withdraw to pre-1967 borders, more than 200,000 Jews will be made homeless and pushed into a cramped, insecure Israel.

Ben Klein

Brooklyn, NY

Two Views On The Agri Mess

Piling On

I wonder if all those people obsessed with the allegations against Agriprocessors are happy now that the company has been virtually driven out of business. The inflated, incendiary charges about child labor and illegal fees imposed on workers have yet to be proven or even evaluated. And of course the kosher consumer has lost a major source of products. One can certainly expect a hefty spike in prices.

I do not condone wrongdoing by anyone, but I think the issue of comparability is important here. Agriprocessors was cast in the spotlight of public opinion and pilloried from pillar to post seemingly as the embodiment of all evil. I think, given the great potential for anti-Semitism that could arise out this, perhaps those in our community who have been piling on should have awaited the disposition of the charges and searched for perspective.

How much do any of us know about other similar enterprises? It seems to me that if PETA, a union, and a religious group seeking Jewish relevance had not simultaneously set their sights on Agriprocessors, few of the allegations would have arisen and they certainly wouldn't have aroused such notoriety.

Mendel Scheinblum

New York, NY

Light Unto Nations?

While I believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty, there has just been too much information coming out of Postville for any Jew of good conscience to simply blame Agriprocessors' problems on animal-rights activists, or unions, or anti-Semitism.

Forget for a moment the allegations concerning the treatment of animals, which one can attribute at least in part to the anti-shechita agenda of PETA and leftist Jewish groups. (I'm not saying PETA had no case regarding the slaughtering practices at Agriprocessors, but I'm willing to extend the company benefit of the doubt based on the identity and proclivities of the accuser.)

What really bothers me, however, are the charges concerning the way the company allegedly conducted its business. Haven't we suffered enough because of the image of the unscrupulous Jewish merchant or businessman? And if an Orthodox Jew acts unethically or illegally toward non-Jews or the government, it's only a short step to cheating fellow Jews as well.

In fact, I lost count of how many Orthodox Jews admitted to me over the years when I was living in America that, based on their all too many unfortunate experiences with frum Jews, they'd rather do business with non-Jews than with other frum Jews. We've all heard so many of the horror stories - and worse, read about them, along with millions of other people, in the newspapers.

As reader Reuven Steinberg pointed out in this section last week (he quoted an eloquent essay by Rav Schwab, zt"l), cheating the government or stealing from non-Jews or mistreating non-Jewish workers is just as assur as cheating and stealing from (and mistreating) Jews.

As long as we have an appreciable number of frum Jews making all kinds of excuses or trying to shift the blame whenever an Orthodox Jew gets into trouble with the law, we have no right to expect others to see us a holy people or a light unto the nations.

Kalman Jacobs

Jerusalem

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