|
|
|
June 8, 2001/Sivan 17, 5761, Vol. 53, No.36
Letters to the EditorJune 8, 2001
Peace without IsraelEditor:The suicide bomb attack on the Tel Aviv beach Friday night took 17 lives and wounded more than 110 Israelis. Keeping in mind that the United States has a 55-1 population ratio with Israel, those numbers would translate to 935 killed and 4,730 wounded. Could you imagine the response by the United States against the sponsors of such an attack? Could anybody even begin to imagine such a tragedy? Would the United States exercise a policy of restraint? I doubt it. The United States should not stand in the way of Israel in its attempt to deal with its enemies and should immediately stop all pressure on Israel to exercise restraint. We have all seen that only helps to increase the numbers of casualties. As for "peace," who really believes that the Arabs will ever want peace with Israel? The only peace they want is peace without Israel. To believe any other way is to only be patently ignorant of Middle East reality. Kenneth J. Heller Americans for a Safe Israel (Via the Internet) Watch CNNEditor:We know that children around the world are vulnerable when it comes to learning to hate. We need volunteers to monitor the way CNN portrays Jews and Israel in their classroom programming. Please let me know if you are willing to do this and to report to the CNN-WATCH on a regular basis. Reply to: Shoshana Avigail Polin (Awaken613@aol.com) Executive Director, CNN-WATCH CNN-WATCH groups.yahoo.com/group/CNN-WATCH Or, to sign up go here: CNN NEWSROOM - Daily Classroom Guide www.turnerlearning.com/newsroom/archive/0401/NR040401g.html Shoshana Avigail Polin Executive Director, CNN-Watch (Via the Internet) Judaism without faithEditor:Rabbi David Wolpe deserves praise for courageously questioning the "truth" of Bible stories (Jewish News, May 25). However, his words as well as those from a narrow selection of national and local community leaders imply that one must have religious faith in some form in order to be "Jewish." For many unaffiliated and secular Jews, this presents a dilemma. Does a lack of a traditional religious belief system make them any less Jewish? In response to this and other issues, Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine established Humanistic Judaism in 1963. Steeped in the roots of other secular Jewish movements, Humanistic Judaism offers a nontheistic alternative to contemporary Jewish life. Humanistic Judaism defines a Jew as a person who identifies with the history, culture, and future of the Jewish people. Humanistic Jews believe and connect with experiences of beauty, nature and ethical idealism, which give meaning to their lives and become the foundation of a nontheistic spirituality. Humanistic Jews believe that the Torah is the creation of humans and therefore, subject to errors. Studied objectively and with the aid of modern biblical interpretation, the Torah is an indispensable source of historical data as well as invaluable literature. In a world filled with injustice, pain and inequality, it takes an act of courage to live a life without guarantees and without reliance on supernatural power. This approach to life has deep roots in Jewish history. In defense of dignity through human determination, our ancestors passionately lived lives of integrity. Humanistic Jews choose to continue that tradition which has long been part of the Jewish experience. Jack Silver, president Or Adam Congregation for Humanistic Judaism Phoenix |
