Shalva’s Holy Work
Re Naomi Klass Mauer’s moving and well-written Feb. 13 op-ed article “Kalman Samuels Proves Dreams Really Can Come True”:
I too am in awe of people like Kalman and Malki Samuels, who seemingly achieve the impossible through their hard work, dedication, and determination.
May they and the new Shalva facility see much hatzlacha in their avodas hakodesh, their holy work,of helping (less) fortunate children realize their dreams as well.
Thanks for an interesting and informative read.
(My son, b’ezrat Hashem, will be one of the many runners taking part in the Jerusalem Marathon on March 13 in support of Shalva.)
Naomi Gross
Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel
Supporting One’s Family (I)
Please allow me to provide some supplementary points in support of the excellent front-page essay by Dr. Yitzchok Levine (“The Obligation to Support a Family,” Feb. 20).
1) Cutting down on the number of yeshiva students who will need support during years when most people earn an honest living will increase the size of stipends available for the few future leaders who will be subsidized long-term;
2) Decreasing the subsidies to people old enough to earn an honest living in Israel will free more funds to help those people who are too young or infirm or otherwise burdened (such as widowed women with children) to earn a living;
3) It will also free more funds to be spent on defending the people of Israel from terrorists and foreign armies;
4) It will decrease the dependence of Israel on foreign workers;
5) It will reduce the animosity of non-religious Israelis to religious Jews in general;
6) It will reduce the pressure by the non-religious to force the future leading rabbis of the next generation into army service;
7) It will reduce the heartbreak of making it impossible for the children of permanent students to marry appropriate people, and in some cases to marry at all, since now many of them have no dowries;
8) Above all, it will make the Orthodox Jewish community more self-sufficient with the ability to subsidize people in true need, real charities, and emergencies of all kinds.
Ron Rich
(Via E-Mail)
Supporting One’s Family (II)
Bravo to Dr. Yitzchok Levine for his excellent article on the obligation to support one’s family. Perhaps by virtue of Dr Levine’s stature our yeshivas will finally render a listening ear.
Poskim from Rav Yosef Karo in the Shulchan Aruch (and the Tur before him) to Rav Moshe Feinstein have quoted the following admonition from Chazal: “Torah study is beneficial together with derech eretz…. All Torah study that is not joined with work will cease in the end and will lead to sin.”
It boggles the mind that well-respected major yeshivas would so blatantly ignore the Shulchan Aruch and all the other major poskim and Torah luminaries. But repentance always helps.
Bezalel Fixler
Kew Gardens , NY
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Republicans, Democrats, And Obama
The Case For The GOP
Reader Richard Schwartz (Letters, Feb. 20) wonders if Republicans would disagree with certain statements he made. I would like to respond:
* Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan would approve of the goals of the Tea Party, i.e., smaller government and lower taxes. While I am not a member of the Tea Party, I also believe in smaller government and lower taxes.
* Republicans are promoting policies that will reduce the size of government. This will improve the economy, create jobs, and reduce the U.S. debt which has skyrocketed under the Democrats.
* Republicans should never support any bills by Democrats that they see as harming the country. The 55 consecutive months of job growth that Mr. Schwartz cites reflect an increased number of jobs in government and fast food establishments. Small businesses are failing and major corporations are cutting back on jobs.
* Republicans support tax breaks for everyone, and that includes wealthy Americans and corporations. Providing “basic” social services, especially without proper responsibility and accountability, is a cover for giving the government a blank check to buy votes. Too many people abuse the system.
* Republicans deny climate change because it’s based on bogus science supported by those looking for government handouts to support their research or businesses.
* Republicans support the Constitution of the United States which is why they’re against background checks for gun purchases. Background checks are designed to control law-abiding citizens, not criminals or terrorists.
* Anyone in the Israeli government or military establishment who publicly spouts positive platitudes about Obama are obviously aware of Obama’s immense ego and vindictive nature. They cannot be taken seriously.
Ben Feigenbaum
East Brunswick, NJ
Blame Bush, Not Obama
I commend The Jewish Press for running the letter from Dr. Richard Schwartz that featured a perspective on President Obama that no doubt differs from the perspective of most of your readers.
I’ve worked for several Republican presidential campaigns and did not vote for Obama in either 2008 or 2012. But I’ve become increasingly revolted at the way the president is viewed by significant numbers of Orthodox Jews, many of whom seem to robotically parrot whatever talking points they hear on conservative talk radio.
At the same time, many of these same Orthodox Jews look back longingly on the administration of George W. Bush. I voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 but I’ve come to realize what a disaster his presidency was, with policies that brought the nation to the brink of economic collapse and, thanks to the unforgivably foolish invasion of Iraq, ignited an unprecedented reign of terror and chaos in the Middle East.
Earlier this week I read a comment on an Orthodox website claiming that “Obama has done more for terror groups than for middle class America.” I immediately responded:
You mean like when Obama gave the order to kill Bin Laden (a risky mission that was opposed by many of his advisers)? Or when he drastically increased Drone attacks that killed more terrorists in his first five years in office than were killed during Bush’s eight years? Or when he began air strikes against ISIS a few months back? (A belated decision, to be sure, but he made it and many ISIS fighters are dead as a result.)
And by the way, when we’re all cheering Bibi’s speech to Congress on Iran next week, let’s remember it was Bush who enabled Iran to become the threat it now is when he invaded Iraq and took out Saddam Hussein, who, evil despot that he was, had kept Iran in check and was a stabilizing force in that very violent neighborhood. Since his fall, Iran has emerged as a regional power and crazed Islamist fanatics have been swarming all over the Middle East, raping and kidnapping and killing virtually at will.
So if there ever was a U.S. president who did “more for terrorists than for middle class America,” it was that great warrior George W. Bush.
Chaim Berkowitz
(Via E-Mail)
Selective Indignation
I can still recall the angry look on the president’s face as he stepped to the microphones and, referring to Israel, said in a hard, cold voice, “It’s not the business of another country to try to make U.S. foreign policy.”
The president was Ronald Reagan, in 1981, and he was enraged that the Israeli government was publicly opposing the administration’s sale of surveillance aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
That would be the same Reagan who earlier that year had his administration condemn Israel at the UN for bombing the Iraqi nuclear reactor – and then he held up arms shipments for good measure. The same Reagan who in 1982 ordered Israel to stop bombing PLO bases in Beirut because, he said, the scenes he was seeing reminded him of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Holocaust. The same Reagan who in 1985 insisted on visiting the cemetery in Bitburg where SS troops were buried and who actually said that Nazi soldiers killed in the war were also victims of the Holocaust.
Obama has never come close to doing or saying any of the above. And yet many in our community label him a “Jew hater” or a “closet Muslim” while having only nice things to say about Reagan.
Nor has Obama ever been photographed strolling hand in hand with the king of Saudi Arabia and kissing him on the mouth – but George W. Bush was photographed doing so, on more than one occasion.
And neither of Obama’s secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, accused Israel of treating Palestinians like American blacks in the old racist South – but George W. Bush’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, sure did. And Bush never uttered a word to convey any disagreement with that statement.
Bush was also the first American president to unambiguously call for an independent Palestinian state, and he reiterated U.S. opposition to Israeli settlements at least as often as Obama has.
And yet according to the Obama haters, Bush was “the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.”
Will someone please volunteer a cogent reason for the double standard and selective indignation?
Aaron Fried
(Via E-Mail)
