Tisha B’Av Prayer Rally At UN
Jewish Press readers have been emotionally involved with the remarkable achievements of the 21 communities of Gush Katif and the tragic expulsion of their residents the day after Tisha B’Av ten years ago. They are concerned with the fate of the expellees and the consequence: several wars instigated by Hamas, the last one a year ago.
Your readers are also well aware of the upsurge of anti-Semitism in Europe and other parts of the world, and how criticism of Israel is often a convenient cover for old-fashioned Jew hatred.
We urge Jewish Press readers, their families, and friends to join our 38th annual Tisha B’Av traditional Minchah prayer service, complete with Torah reading, for Israel and Jews in danger worldwide on Sunday, July 26, 2 p.m., at the Isaiah Wall, First Avenue and 43rd Street in Manhattan, opposite the UN.
Speakers will include two American activists who were present at the Gush Katif expulsion – Rabbi Avi Weiss (by phone from Israel), and AFSI’s Helen Freedman. For information, call (212) 663-5784 or visit tishabavattheisaiahwall.com.
Glenn Richter
Amcha-Coalition for Jewish Concerns
That Supreme Court Decision (I)
If Nathan Lewin (“My Rabbi Needs Legal Aid,” op-ed, July 10) is correct that an “Orthodox synagogue’s enforcement of this religious principle [forbidding same-sex marriage] on its premises, like Bob Jones’s enforcement of its religious ban on interracial dating on its campus, [might] make the institution no longer ‘charitable’ under the laws of the United States,”
then it seems to me the only solution is to cease performing civilly recognized marriages altogether.
This would entail some inconvenience in that couples would have to marry in front of a judge instead, and then have a separate religious ceremony afterward, but that is a small price to pay in order to avoid being forced to validate same-sex unions.
Martin D. Stern
Salford, England
That Supreme Court Decision (II)
Reader Avi Goldstein (Letters, July 10), in condemning the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, called it “a significant blow to those who treasure traditional morality.” Well, if Mr. Goldstein feels that same-sex marriage violates traditional morality, no one is forcing him to engage in such behavior.
Mr. Goldstein also stated that “American law recognizes the right of citizens to practice any or no religion.” But he seems to be trying to force his religious beliefs on everyone else.
Gerald Deutsch
Glen Head, NY
When Israel Considered The Beatles Too Radical
I really enjoyed “The Beatles in Israel: The Concert That Never Was” (front-page essay, June 16). Author Saul Singer provided just he right mix of history and popular culture, as he does in all his articles and columns for The Jewish Press.
We can laugh today at the surprisingly puritanical attitudes of Israel’s leaders circa 1964, but what is truly shocking is the realization that those leaders were without exception secular socialists. In those days, even people on the left held to conventional norms of morality. Imagine what David Ben-Gurion or Golda Meir would have thought of the idea of same-sex marriage. That really puts into perspective just how drastically times have changed.
Chanie Baum
(Via E-Mail)
Charity, People, Priorities
We live in a period when there seems to be more rich people than ever in both the Jewish and general population. At the same time, there seems to be more people than ever who need and deserve our charity dollars. Which people have priority for my charity? There are many questions to ask about poor people. I’ll pose a few.
If a person is physically and mentally able to go to work and does not, do I have an obligation to support him? How about if he spends all his money on liquor or gambling? Lehavdil, can a young (or not so young) man decide to sit and learn, and expect the community to support him from charity funding? How about his equally brilliant sister?
More basically, what determines if someone is poor? If someone solicited money to live on Park Avenue in Manhattan, most people (and I assume halacha) would suggest he move to Brooklyn where rents are presumably lower. But rents are much lower in Atlanta than in Brooklyn. And even lower in upstate Rochester. Why shouldn’t poor people be directed to live in one of those welcoming Jewish communities?
Besides rent, can a poor person solicit money for a car (mine is 15 years old) or should a poor person have to take the subway? How about a cell-phone? Or cable television? Most of the “poor” in our community are living much better than the poor of two hundred years ago. How does halacha determine whom I should give my money to? There is an economic concept of subsistence. But that concept seems to have evolved over the past 200 years. How does halacha determine subsistence?
Halacha lists “the precedence of relatives.” Thousands of families are supporting their “poor” children and even grandchildren sitting and learning in bais medresh or kollel. Is that all a legitimate use of charity dollars? Is some of it? Is there a distinction between supporting a learning child with food or a new car? If you buy your “poor” grandson a Mercedes, is that still charity?
Does poverty depend on cash flow or wealth? There are unfortunately many retired people who can’t pay their bills because they have little income, but they still live in their million-dollar homes. Are they entitled to charity finds or must they support themselves by liquidating assets?
In discussing poor people, halacha says current needs take precedence over future needs. But is the donor also allowed to look at his own future needs? How does a donor weigh giving money to the currently poor over his own need for a retirement nest egg?
Halacha clearly states that the poor of one’s own city have precedence over the poor of other cities, probably even when the other city is Jerusalem. But I’ve never seen a discussion of what halacha considers a “city“ in today’s world. Is “Five Towns” a city? Certainly legally, as I understand it, there are five cities. If it’s one city, is Far Rockaway part of that city? How about West Lawrence?
Is New York City a city? How about Brooklyn? There is a statistical concept of a “metropolitan area”; would that include the five boroughs, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester? Is that the city halacha refers to?
If my charity obligation is greater for a “local” person, this becomes an important question.
I have a lot more questions about poor people that I’ll leave for another time. As I mentioned in a previous letter to the editor, while I am certainly not a generous person, I do try to give at least a little charity. Therefore, any clarification would be greatly appreciated.
Harold Marks
(Via E-Mail)