Need more be said?
I would like to call to the attention of your readers that Congressman George Miller recently cast one of the votes against the resolution by the congress condemning the biased anti-Israel Goldstone Report. He is also one of the signatories of a letter to President Obama urging pressure on Israel to end the current limitations placed on the kind of materials that can be imported by Gaza/Hamas. Need more be said than that Hamas has refused to reverse its commitment to the destruction of Israel and has fired thousands of rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel and is allied to Iran.
Leonard Schwartzburd | Berkeley
Editor’s note: Rep. Miller was one of 11 California representatives signing a letter urging the Obama administration to “press for the immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza” as a component of the its push for Middle East peace. Also signing on: Lois Capps, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Michael Honda, Barbara Lee, Loretta Sanchez, Jackie Speier, Pete Stark, Diane Watson, Lynn Woolsey.
Praising Israel’s efforts in Haiti
Thank you for your articles on Israel’s rescue efforts in Haiti (“Helping Haiti,” Jan. 22), noting Israel’s leading role in providing doctors, nurses, engineers, rescue teams and other disaster relief in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake there.
Israel’s achievements in Haiti have been phenomenal: Israeli rescue workers have saved the lives of a 6-year-old girl who had been trapped in rubble under her home, eight students who were buried under a collapsed university building and untold numbers of people who were buried alive for more than a week. Israel has provided Haiti with its only field hospital equipped for complex surgical operations, and Israeli doctors have saved the lives of hundreds of people in need of surgery who otherwise would have died. A Haitian woman who gave birth at an Israeli field hospital even named her son Israel in appreciation of the Jewish state’s efforts for her and her people. IsraAid, the Israeli Defense Forces, Magen David Adom and ZAKA all deserve commendation for their heroic efforts.
Too often, Israel is unfairly vilified for its efforts to protect its citizens from genocidal terrorists. It is time Israel was lauded for its efforts to heal the world.
Stephen A. Silver | San Francisco
An inspiring story
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading the inspiring story about the Kaplan-Pasternak family (“Mission to Haiti turns deadly serious for Bay Area family,” Jan. 22). What a fascinating family, and so giving. It was wonderful to read about the way they stepped forward to help some of the people of Haiti.
Donne Davis | Menlo Park
Flaws in atheism
I was quite amused to see your article “Philosopher and writer refutes God’s existence in new novel” (Jan. 22). It is rare to see such certainty. The religious world will continue to exist and most likely pay her refutations absolutely no attention.
Why is this? The fundamental mistake is that Ms. Goldstein has confused the existence of ontological proofs with bona fide religious belief. The source for this fundamental flaw is that she does not know what it is to be religious.
Spiritual growth is literally the work of a lifetime, not mere “vague emotion.” She can say, “Religion is so much more than belief in God,” and proceed to deconstruct the various cultural aspects of religion, yet we know that religion without belief is a zombie, and those of us familiar with the Words of the Living God instinctively recoil.
Rav Soloveitchik quotes Kierkegaard about Anselem’s ontological proof, saying, “Does a bride in the embrace of her beloved bridegroom require proof of his existence?” The truth of the matter is that faith is its own experience and does not lean on proofs like an old man on his cane. Faith soars.
Joshua Skootsky | San Francisco
Orthodox shouldn’t rule the Wall
I attended a screening at Congregation Beth Israel–Judea of the documentary “Praying in Her Own Voice” about the Women of the Wall. A point made in the film is echoed in the op-ed by Rabbi Avi Shafran (“Women are turning a holy site into a political arena,” Jan. 22) — the ultra-Orthodox who control the Kotel believe theirs is the only right way.
I cannot agree. “Eilu v’eilu divrei Elohim Hayim” — “these and those are the words of the Living God” (Talmud, Eruvin 13b). Intellectual discourse and difference of opinion are at the very essence of Judaism!
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis in the film decried American Judaism, claiming that it is causing the destruction of the faith. Do they not see that their close-mindedness is at the core of many Israelis’ distaste for anything religious? Black-hat Judaism rules over many aspects of Israeli life. The divide is tearing Israel apart, and its very existence depends on reinterpreting halachah in the 21st century, continuing to enable Judaism toevolve meaningfully.
Non-Orthodox (Reform, Conservative, etc.) Judaism in Israel opens a way for those who want to come closer, to discover meaning in their faith, without having to accept the mantle of orthodoxy. Please direct your Israel tzedakah to those organizations that support religious pluralism.
Sara Yakira Heckelman | San Francisco
Israel must embrace pluralism
Thank you Rabbi Eric Yoffie for speaking up (“The Kotel belongs to the entire Jewish people,” Jan. 22). My mother did not survive the Holocaust to have our practice of Judaism at the Kotel and in general dictated by the tyranny of the ultra-Orthodox. Israel, please take note! Israel must continue as the land that embraces all Jews.
Rochelle Chaya | San Francisco