Spitzer Disregarded the Health of His Family Eliot Spitzer’s actions were reprehensible not just for the immorality of it, nor simply because of the inherent hypocrisy of his public positions, but for an altogether different reason as well — one that opinion writer Alan Dershowitz missed entirely (“Spitzer Has Sinned, But It’s Our Sex Obsession…
Knesset Was Right To Enact Smoking Ban According to Israeli government statistics, smoking is responsible for 1,800 deaths in Israel every year (“Israelis Fume Over Smoking Ban on Army Bases,” February 29/March 7). That number far exceeds the 1,200 deaths claimed by terrorist attacks since the outbreak of first intifada. To stem the epidemic of…
Rabbi Was No Mob Boss Contrary to Arts & Culture writer Allan Nadler’s description in a January 25 article, Rabbi Israel Friedman of Ruzhin was an innovative and charismatic Hasidic leader in Russia and Galicia during the first half of the 19th century (“Righteous Indignation: How Are We To Understand the Alleged Spinka Scandal?”). During…
A Generosity of Spirit Rabbi Irwin Kula’s February 22 opinion article on the Tridentine Mass is a welcome voice of reason on this issue (“Enough Tridentine Mass Hysteria”). As a Catholic I have heard and read many disparaging comments, both within and without the Church, about the petition in the Good Friday prayers calling for…
Reject Saudi’s Phrase Being of Greek extraction, I know that the etymology of Philologos can be “lover of reason,” so let’s proceed along those lines in discussing his February 1 column (“Rejecting the ‘Arab Jew’”). I agree that the term “Arab Jew” is a contradiction and cannot logically stand on its own. Perhaps the term…
Give Equal Opportunity Commission Its Due Opinion columnist Kathleen Peratis states that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “is mentioned in the major media no more than a few times a year” (“Bring Civil Rights Enforcement Out of the Shadows ,” February 1). In fact, a LexisNexis search shows that the EEOC was mentioned 1,282…
Note Jewish Scientists I could not agree more with Arts & Culture writer David Kaufmann’s review of the PBS series “The Jewish Americans” (“A History of Us: ‘The Jewish Americans’ Hits the High Notes,” January 25). What PBS did, they did well; what they left out was even more incredible. Kaufmann properly laments the omission…
Barack Obama Is A Friend of Israel Despite the ringing endorsement of Senator Barack Obama by Jewish colleagues in the Congress and ardent Jewish supporters in his home state of Illinois, the rumor mill does not stop churning out the spurious accusation that the presidential candidate is no friend of Israel (“Internal Memo Takes On…
School Is True to Torah In Banning Gay Couples The Yeshivah of Flatbush behaved properly in denying a reunion invitation to the partner of a homosexual graduate (“Gay Alumni of Brooklyn Yeshiva Fight for Right To Bring Partners to Reunion,” January 18). The institution prides itself on instilling in its students the values of the…
Worker Safety and Health Are Priorities In a December 28 opinion article, Avram Lyon reports that a former Smithfield employee was knocked down when an animal carcass fell on her and, after receiving little or no medical attention from the company, she later miscarried in the hospital, supposedly as a result of the injury she…
Rabbi’s Visit in 1980s Helped Open Belmonte A January 4 article reports: “Until the 1990s, the Belmonte conversos kept their history to themselves” (“After 500 Years in Hiding, Jews Bring Prosperity to Iberian Town”). In 1985, however, Rabbi Joshua Stampfer of Portland, Ore., visited Belmonte and made numerous contacts within the Judeo community. Robert Reed,…
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