Erasing Women
I completely concur with reader Alex Lapin (Letters, Feb. 19) about the lack of a female presence in so many Orthodox Jewish publications.
I too have had to explain to my daughters why in another Jewish newspaper images of little girls (toddlers!) were blurred out of an advertisement and a page-long obituary tribute to a major rebbetzin included a picture of her husband – but not of her!
I couldn’t make sense of it, and neither could they. There are women walking on the streets and in stores, schools, and businesses, so why the need to erase them in print?
My wife is especially offended when there is a simcha announcement and the name of the mother/wife is not mentioned.
Women’s names are mentioned and even exalted in the Tanach, no?
Yasher Koach to The Jewish Press for not caving in to what I’m sure is a lot of pressure to conform.
Mendy Price
(Via E-Mail)
Rav Tannenbaum, ZT”L
Re the passing of Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, zt”l (news story, editorial, and personal reminiscence by Rabbi Yaakov Klass, Feb. 12):
Klal Yisrael has indeed lost a great chaver. His whole mission in life was chesed twenty-four hours a day.
For close to twenty-five years we chaired a monthly Rosh Chodesh seudah attended by dozens of distinguished rabbonim. At these meetings Rabbi Tannenbaum was only interested what more he could do for his fellow Jew.
He is sorely missed.
Yehu Zichro Burech.
Rabbi Joseph Salamon
Vice President
Igud Harabbonim
Silence Of The Mullahs
Before an Arab terrorist murders his innocent victim, he yells out “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is great), most likely as a way to personally justify terrorism as being Allah’s commandment.
Why don’t Muslim clergymen – even just a handful of mullahs and imams – come out with a statement that killing innocent people is prohibited by the Koran and that terrorists should stop using Allah’s name to condone their actions?
Pesach Yonah Malevitz
Miami Beach, FL
Administration Vs. Schumer
In light of its recent verbal attack on him, the White House doesn’t seem very happy with Senator Schumer’s criticism of its planned cuts in New York’s homeland security funding. Apparently, it’s also still seething over Senator Schumer’s previous opposition to America’s cave-in to Iran last summer.
Senator Schumer committed the Obama-era cardinal sin of thinking for himself rather than blindly following the administration. Kol hakavod to Senator Schumer.
Why is the administration so defensive about its Iran deal? Could it be because of Iran’s two tests of ballistic missiles since October? Could it be because of Iran’s capture and humiliation of American sailors? Could it be the major role that Iran has played in the siege of Aleppo? Could it be because of Iran’s recently announced purchase of advanced weaponry from Russia, likely facilitated by the ongoing release to it of $100 billion?
Senator Schumer was right last summer, and he’s right now.
Mark I. Fishman, Esq.
Fairfield, CT
Bernie Sanders And Jewish Issues
In her Feb. 12 “Right Angle” column, Sara Lehmann criticized Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and his views on religion and Israel. Other writers in The Jewish Press have been critical of Sanders for his many sins.
Personally, I don’t think Senator Sanders has any chance of being elected president, at least partly because he’s a Jewish guy from Brooklyn. And I can’t see myself voting for the senator because he is much further to the left than I am, and some of his solutions seem farfetched.
At the same time, I believe Sanders is raising some very fundamental and important questions – many of which are important not just to the future well-being of the United States, but to the well-being of its Orthodox Jewish population as well.
The disappearance of the middle class and the growth of both extremes of rich and poor is not just an extremely important American issue, it’s a Jewish issue.
The Census Bureau asks no questions on religion, so getting accurate detailed data concerning the Jewish population is next to impossible. But every indication we have from anecdotal evidence is that Orthodox Jewry, like the general community, is increasingly becoming a population of haves and have-nots.
The phenomenon of families struggling to keep up with the Joneses (or Schwartzes) in making simchas is but one example. A more telling example is the growing demand for the services of our many fine anti-poverty charities. It seems more Orthodox Jews are going hungry and desperately searching for decent-paying jobs than ever before.
Free college tuition for all is one of the Sanders’s planks. For those in our community who accept the importance of a college education and who have already paid their children’s yeshiva tuition for 12 or more years, that would be important assistance. Just putting a discussion of tuition on the table is important for all members of the Jewish community.
Sanders proposes replacing Obamacare with a single-payer health care system. Putting aside the proposal and its practicality, it should be clear to us that the current health care system is broken. Indeed, I believe Obamacare only came about because the Bush administration ignored the problem for eight years. We all know people who are unable to switch jobs because their health insurance is tied to their employment. Most of us also know of people who are suffering from sky-high drug prices, ridiculous charges for one night stays in hospitals, and doctors who refuse to take their particular insurance.
What we can broadly refer to as consumer protection is another Sanders issue. While there are debates on which people can disagree, there is no question in my mind that the government needs to do a better job protecting both consumers and savers/investors.
Likewise, working people in this country have been promised a viable social security system since the late 1930s. To change it at this time, as other candidates have admitted to considering, would be a betrayal of the highest order.
From a very different perspective, Donald Trump is raising some of the same issues. I don’t believe he will get his party’s nomination either. But there is much to be said in terms of the “populism” that both Trump and Sanders are expositing and that one could argue are consistent with the Orthodox viewpoint.
Who can deny the Jewish mandate to help the poor, to assist those who need medical assistance, to encourage education, to aid and respect our senior citizens?
Others might call these ideas “socialist.” I call them Jewish. Let’s not ignore the important issues being raised by Bernie Sanders and others because we don’t like the messengers or their views on Israel and religion.
Harold Marks
(Via E-Mail)