|
|
|
February 6, 2004/Shevat 14 5764, Vol. 56, No. 20
Letters to the EditorFebruary 6, 2004
Both Torah and Koran command lifeEditor:Well, I see that Carl Goldberg is still, spouting vitriol. ("Crucial to read the Koran," Jewish News, Jan. 30) When people spew vitriol they close down communication. Without open communication between Jews and Muslims, many more Jews will die. With open communication, more people will live. I don't say it will be easy. It will be difficult. However, The Koran and the Torah both require that every person choose life. That is not a request in either religion. It is a requirement in both. Better than spewing caustic comments to divide people, Goldberg should work to bring people together. Shalom, salaam, peace. The choice of language is irrelevant. The meaning is the same. Bob Rosenberg Phoenix Editor: I read with interest Carl Goldberg's warnings about passages in the Koran. ("Crucial to read the Koran," Jewish News, Jan. 30) I agree with Goldberg that there are some passages that are discomfiting to Jews, but there are also passages of sublime beauty that can lift the spirit of any reader, Jews included. I think it is important to remember, especially now when Mel Gibson's movie about the passion of Jesus is about to be shown - based on the scripture of the Christian Bible that has always troubled Jews - that it is not the individual passages that matter, but the manner in which men and women of good faith interpret them. I'm sure Goldberg is equally troubled by the many passages in Torah that describe negative Jewish attitudes toward non-Jews, or the severe penalties required that our later commentators found the need to mitigate, such as "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Not all Jews, Christians or Muslims are evil. Mashiachzeit - peace on earth - will be achieved by those willing to sit down with the "other" in an attempt to share the commonality between us. For the majority of us, that would be an unusual step, but it would be a step away from the path of violence, recriminations and death. Rabbi B. Charles Herring Temple Kol Ami Sepharadic decision raises questionsEditor:I read the article about the Sepharadic congregation deciding formally to become Orthodox. ("Sepharadic synagogue will be Orthodox," Jewish News, Jan. 30) Imagine my joy seeing that Jews who are not shomer Shabbat (Shabbat-observant) will not be allowed to read the Torah - and therefore are no longer welcome and treated as second-class Jews. The return of the degrading mehitza, (separate men's and women's sections during worship) disenfranchising women, reminded me of another degradation of non-Orthodox Jews that your paper ran a few months ago: making the signature of a non-Orthodox eid (witness) invalid on a ketubah, effectively making a kosher marriage contract invalid. Howard Weinstein Mesa Editor: I was extremely happy to read the community news in the Jan. 30 edition about the Scottsdale Sepharadic Synagogue announcing the steps they are taking towards being an Orthodox Synagogue. Mazel Tov! It is great news for the Sephardic community as a whole. However, being Orthodox has to have the approval of an Orthodox rabbi (Sephardic or Ashkenazic), and having a kosher kitchen involves having the hashgaha (authorization) from an Orthodox rabbi and from a mashgiah (kosher slaughterer). Can we get more details about which rabbi is supervising the kitchen and the synagogue? Mercedes Roussel Phoenix STO program should have raised moreEditor:Thanks for the great article about the scholarship tuition organization ("STO tops $1.2 million," Jewish News, Jan. 30). But the choice of wording in several instances reveals one of the fundamental problems with community perception of this organization. The money sent is not a donation and the people sending in the money are not donors. A lot of people felt that they were making donations and didn't understand that participation was not costing them a dime that they wouldn't have sent already to the state of Arizona. We should have easily taken in more than $2 million, which would have had an enormous impact on day school education in the Valley. In any case, keep plugging the program. Let's hope that the legislature doesn't take back this wonderful program. Daniel Feller Scottsdale
|
