Irene Klass: A Total Original
Re Naomi Klass Mauer’s Dec. 5 tribute to her mother, Rebbetzin Irene Klass, a”h (“Remembering Irene Klass on Her Fourth Yahrzeit”):
I was privileged to know Irene and I loved and adored her. She was a role model we can only aspire to. She was diminutive in physical stature but there was nothing small about her. She immediately lit up a room just by walking into it.
She possessed an abundance of goodness, kindness, and love – along with a zest for life and Torah. And she was blessed with an endless reservoir of creativity. A total original.
Nechama Armon
(Via E-Mail)
Empowering Iran
“How did we get to this point?” – the rhetorical question that headlined your Dec. 5 editorial on the Iran nuclear talks – has an easy answer.
The White House has made it clear that President Obama is interested only in coaxing the Iranian government into signing any agreement, whatever the ramifications, that might return U.S.-Iran relations to the period when the shah was in power – despite the fact that the present government of mullahs is ruled by Ayatollah Khameini, an implacable foe of the West whose goal is nuclear-weapons capability.
A feckless and incompetent U.S. secretary of state has empowered Iran to successfully bamboozle the West’s negotiating team while thousands of whirling centrifuges hasten the fruition of Iran’s drive to become a nuclear power.
Fay Dicker
Lakewood, NJ
Jewish Refugees
The plight of Jews expelled from Arab countries following Israel’s War of Independence is little known outside of Israel (“At Last, Israel Commemorates Mizrachi Jewish Dispossession,” op-ed, Dec. 5).
These heroic refugees have long been integrated into Israel or other countries. They were expelled from their native Arab lands without compensation or monies of any sort. They came to Israel poor and destitute – but grateful.
The Arab countries have never been held accountable for their seizure of Jewish property and expulsion of so many thousands of Jews from their homes. It is obvious to any objective observer that being a Jewish refugee is not important to the UN and other international bodies.
Will Jewish refugees from Arab lands ever get recognition or compensation? We shouldn’t count on it. We can only hope and pray that Israel will continue to be a home for all Jews. To paraphrase our national anthem, let us continue to be a free people in a free land.
Toby Willig
Jerusalem
Novelists In A Non-Fiction World
A.B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz, and David Grossman are three of the most acclaimed authors of modern Hebrew literature. But they seem to know little or nothing about political reality. I am appalled that their names are found on a letter urging European governments to recognize a Palestinian state.
Why do these men think that because they write fiction they necessarily know reality? What gives them the right to decide the fate of their fellow Jews? What gives them any special knowledge of Europe, its leaders, and its centuries-old anti-Semitism?
What kind of Palestinian state do they envision – one with borders dangerously close to Tel Aviv, Netanya and other places where a high percentage of Israel’s population lives? Where do these gentlemen live and work? Do they ever take buses or the railroad? They are completely out of touch with ordinary Israelis.
Far from admiring these men, we should understand that their gift in putting words on paper does not mean that they are compassionate toward other Jews or that they possess a real understanding of evil.
Thelma Susswein
Jerusalem