July 30, 2004/Av 5 5764, Vol. 56, No. 45
Letters to the EditorJuly 30, 2004
Setting the record straightEditor:You published a letter from a man who was concerned that Chabad's success comes at a price and is more successful than the Reform or Conservative movements in bringing unaffiliated Jews back to Judaism ("Chabad success comes at a price," Jewish News, July 16). The letter writer feels that the increase in affiliation with Chabad comes with a high price tag, that Chabad women are third-class Jews because they are not able to pursue careers as rabbis or cantors, are not called up for an aliya and do not count in a minyan. A woman choosing to become a traditional Jew doesn't aspire to become a rabbi or cantor in the first place. She can fulfill her professional goals in numerous other ways, including medicine, law, business or education. In traditional Judaism, men and women choose to live honoring different mitzvot, or commandments. A traditional Jewish woman's chosen role is as sacred and precious to the Jewish people as a man's, as she raises the next generation of Jewish men and women in ways that will sustain the continuity of Judaism - unlike what most other branches of Judaism have been able to do for more than a generation or two. I have lived on both sides of this "fence." Some members of my extended family married outside of Judaism, and most are not raising their children as Jews. The highest price does not come from affiliation with Chabad. It is paid by Jews so secularized and distanced from our sacred tradition that they know not what they have lost. In an era in which the poison of anti-Semitism is at the highest level since the Holocaust, assimilation, intermarriage and disinterest in Judaism, taken together, perhaps are as great a threat to the survival of the Jewish people. Let's not fault a movement that is actually drawing Jewish people back to Judaism. Caren Litt Horensten Morro Bay, Calif. Editor: A recent letter writer referred to the women of Chabad as "third-class Jews." As a student at Arizona State University, I have been privileged to study with both Rabbi Laibel Blotner of the Phoenix Chabad and Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel of Chabad of ASU. They have taken me into their homes, and I have spent time with their families. Their wives, Gitty Blotner and Chana Tiechtel, are highly educated, articulate, modern, strong women, well versed enough in Torah to teach. Women in Chabad do not count as part of a minyan, but I urge anyone who worried about a lack of gender equality to ask an Orthodox woman how she feels about the way she practices Judaism. You will be surprised at the answer. Avi Beliak Scottsdale Nader disappointsEditor:Ralph Nader has always been a hero of mine, except for his critical views of Israel. Nevertheless, with tears in my eyes I realize my hero has clay feet. Many well known liberals have confronted him with all kinds of reasons to become a mensch, but he would not be moved. Will he be known as the man who gave us Bush for four more years? Faye Frankel Phoenix Let's talk honestlyEditor:Now that the highly respected 9/11 commission has debunked most or all of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and exposed Michael Moore and Richard Clarke as partisan propagandists, can we now expect honest, open discussion of the facts, or will we be treated to more ire from people who hate George Bush? Lenny Kalmenson Scottsdale Focus on U.S. needsEditor:Voting for President Bush because he is a friend of Israel is ridiculous. Every American president in recent history has been a friend and ally of Israel, for the sake of the United States. Let's concentrate on our own country's dire needs and problems. Grace Goldstein Roth Sun Lakes
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