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,…
All Jews Have a Share in Jerusalem The Orthodox Union has not, as a December 28 editorial argues, said that the Israeli government “has no right” to negotiate the fate of Jerusalem, nor would we ever suggest that “Israelis must continue waiting — and continue dying — until Jews in Baltimore and Las Vegas approve…
Hold Moroccan King to Reasonable Standard A December 14 article reports that the Moroccan weekly Tel Quel has suggested the late King Mohammed V not be designated one of Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations because of doubts about his willingness to protect Jews who were not Moroccan (“An Arab King Righteous Among the Nations?”)….
Bank Trivializes Suit A December 14 article on several Israeli banks allegedly conducting transactions that benefited Hamas appears to create the impression that there is a rough moral equivalence between their actions and those of the Arab Bank of Jordan (“Two Israeli Banks Accused of Sending Millions of Dollars to Hamas Entities”). The impression of…
Emergent Communities Attract the Experienced One can scarcely begrudge opinion writer Shawn Landres his computer-infused enthusiasm for alternative emergent communities (“Breaking the Code of Ritual Observance,” December 7). However, a note of caution is in order. As a news article in the same issue indicates, such groups tend to attract Jews who have already had…
Partner Organizations Own Center’s Archives Regardless of whether a merger is desirable between New York University’s Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and the Center for Jewish History, as Lawrence Shiffman and Elisheva Carlebach debate in opposing November 30 opinion articles, facts regarding ownership of the center’s resources and of its mission need clarification…
Israel Faces Difficult Decision on Refugees The dramatic headline and conclusion to a November 16 article ignores the very positive ongoing dialogue between Israel and American Jewish organizations (“Israel Turns Down Help on Darfur Refugees”). The article correctly notes that the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and a number of American Jewish organizations have offered their…
Protect Pakistan’s Nukes Three cheers for a November 16 editorial on Pakistan (“The Bomb and the Taliban”). The most compelling idea that should inform our policy toward Pakistan is the urgent need to keep that country’s nuclear arsenal out of the hands of the Islamist extremists. That requires some stability, which rests, inter alia, on…
Recognize Importance Of the Temple Mount I was pleased to read Tzvi Hersh Weinreb and Stephen Savitsky’s vigorous defense of the future of a continued, unified Jerusalem (“We Cannot Forget Jerusalem,” November 9). I was utterly dismayed, however, by their description of the Western Wall as Judaism’s holiest site. We have come to expect such…
Religious Committed to Dialogue With Israelis A November 2 editorial perceptively links Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit’s proposal to drop the law of return and the efforts of American Jewish philanthropists to disconnect the Jewish Agency from the World Zionist Organization (“One People”). Both reflect the growing distance separating Israeli and American Jewry. Let me add…
For Jerusalem’s Sake The letter sent last month by the Orthodox Union to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with regard to the possibility of his government ceding sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority was not, as your editorial asserts, motivated by “anger and insecurity” (“Holier Than Thou,” October 26). Rather, it was a reflection…
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