Instead of painting such a negative picture because of the fear of “radicals,” I suggest we allow for a natural evolution of responsibilities among our very fine frum young women, which will develop into a consensus of wider participation, settling at a level more widely acceptable and compatible with both previously more restrictive and more open viewpoints.
Dr. Joseph Berger
Toronto, Canada
Guns And Violence
Re the Feb. 28 letter from reader Favi Walfish, which he wrote in response to my letter of Feb. 21:
Logic dictates that the easier the all-around access to guns, the more difficult it is to control them and ensure they remain in the hands of law-abiding and mentally stable citizens.
If you believe guns help prevent violence, then note that when Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot by a crazed gunman at an outdoor rally a few years ago in Arizona, she happened to be carrying a pistol in her purse that unfortunately did little to help protect her at that point.
Just ask yourself: If you were a teacher at a university and all your law-abiding students were permitted to carry guns in class (as some states such as Idaho are now allowing), would you feel more or less safe knowing one of those armed student may get upset for failing an exam? If you were on an airplane and all your fellow law-abiding passengers were permitted to carry guns onboard, would you feel more or less safe during the flight?
I fail to understand why so many people in our country have such a love of guns that they want to return to the days of the Wild West, and somehow feel more secure owning and walking around with a pistol or rifle in their hands.
And if accosted or threatened by a would-be robber, how many people would have the skill and wherewithal to immediately take out their loaded guns and prevent the robber from shooting them first and without possibly killing innocent people in the crossfire?
Tzvi Hershkowitz
(Via E-Mail)
Opera And Shabbos Davening
I immensely enjoyed Harvey Rachlin’s well-written op-ed column comparing Shabbos morning services to an opera (“The Shabbat Morning Service: Like an Opera – Only More,” Feb. 14). I too have long compared services to a show, often an opera – but with very different conclusions.
I would think that today opera draws a very limited audience. Certainly opera recordings come nowhere near popular music in terms of sales. So why is a Shabbos service that is like an opera desirable?
If you were to ask our religious leaders about shul-related issues, they would probably point out four problems: (1) not enough people attend, especially among the young; (2) too many people come late; (3) there’s too much talking; and (4) people walk in and out, including those going to Kiddush club in the middle of davening.
And Mr. Rachlin thinks the answer to these problems is opera!
I would also categorize the players differently from the way Mr. Rachlin does. I would argue that the main job of the gabbai is off stage – to be the program’s director and stage manager, the boss of everything that takes place on the bimah. The chazzan, the ba’al koreh, and, yes, even the rabbi, are just actors on stage. And the first rule of a good production, whether it be opera, Broadway or a movie, is that the director is the boss – and actors are supposed to “hit their marks,” read their lines and in general follow directions.
Bestselling shows today tend to be shorter than before. The music tends to have a beat – consider tapping your feet or even clapping along. There’s often lots of audience participation. Those are the shows that attract audiences. As noble an art form as opera may be, operas are a small, unimportant part of today’s musical spectrum, let alone of the entire performance genre. That’s exactly what’s wrong with Shabbos morning services – they’re too much like opera. And that is why the number of shuls, at least in Brooklyn, that have full-time paid chazzanim as opposed to ba’alei tefillah has been shrinking for the past fifty years.