The WHO’s Israel Obsession
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently held its annual assembly. The meeting began with a discussion on the WHO’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it soon turned into a four-hour attack against Israel, with some of the world’s worst human rights abusers condemning the Jewish state.
Israel was singled out by 30 delegations, including those of Venezuela, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Malaysia, and Lebanon. There were no condemnations of Syria, where hundreds of thousands have been killed. Nor of Yemen, where 14 million people have no healthcare.
It seems clear that discrimination against the Jewish state continues to infect United Nations agencies. Unfortunately, President Biden is having America rejoin the World Health Organization. That decision should be reconsidered.
Arthur Horn
Fort Lee, NJ
Tarnishing Polish Reputations
It is well-known that Poland has made efforts to whitewash the involvement of Polish citizens in Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust.
Just two weeks ago, a Warsaw court ruled that two historians had to apologize for tarnishing the memory of a Polish mayor. In Night Without End, a 1,700-page book, they write that Edward Malinowski, the mayor of a Polish village, may have been complicit in a massacre of local Jews by German soldiers.
The historians have been accused of “defiling the good name” of a Polish hero, which supposedly harms all Poles.
But we have a sacred responsibility to remember. And if that means exposing the bad actors in Poland or anywhere else, it must be done.
Brian J. Goldenfeld
Oak Park, CA
Time for Beis Din Reform
There was a popular expression in the 1960s: “A conservative is a liberal who was mugged.”
Many years ago, The Jewish Press launched a campaign to champion the cause of agunot. At the time, I was disturbed by the intimation that the beis din system was slanted in favor of men as it implied that our rabbanim couldn’t be trusted. But now you can consider me mugged.
I had a tenant who walked out in the middle of his lease, owing me several months’ rent. I was exhorted to use a beis din, so I did.
I enlisted the services of the Beis Din of America. I sent the required check to begin an action and someone was assigned to handle the preliminaries. I sent an e-mail to her requesting certain documents from my adversary as I wanted to get all the paperwork out of the way before the trial.
A week went by, and I got no answer. I sent a follow-up email, and it too wasn’t answered. At this point, I was given the name of a rabbi – let’s call him Rabbi Cohen – who’s familiar with these matters. He suggested I contact the head of the beis din to voice my concerns.
I called and left a message and also sent an e-mail. No response. I waited a week, called again, and sent another e-mail. Again, no response. Rabbi Cohen then recommended going to a different beis din and I agreed, but the other side refused.
So Rabbi Cohen told me we had to use a rabbinic technique called “zabla” to find a beis din agreeable to all parties, which can be very expensive and complicated.
The saga continued, but the bottom line is that it’s time for beis din reform. Reforming the justice system is actually a hallmark of Judaism. Moshe Rabbeinu himself acceded to his father-in-law’s suggestions on this topic because he understood how important a properly-functioning system is.
One last point: My opponent is a recent product of Israel’s finest yeshivas. I would advise all roshei yeshiva to give their minions a serious mussar shmooze every day. That any boy can spend several years in yeshiva and wantonly lie and steal is an absolute abomination.
Yaakov Stern
She’s Had Enough
I have just switched my political affiliation to the Republican Party. Why? Because the Democratic Party is waging a war against the average American.
Right now, tax dollars are being spent on free housing, medical care, and transportation for thousands of illegal immigrants pouring over the southern border. Border towns in Texas and Arizona are begging the president for help, but their pleas are falling on deaf ears.
The highly-touted Dr. Fauci, meanwhile, is warning about an uptick in Covid-19 cases but is silent on the border crisis contributing to this rise or the damage caused to American youth by schools failing to reopen.
To save this country, we must get behind Republican leaders like Ron DeSantis, Christine Noem, Josh Hawley, Jim Jordan, David Nunes, and Ted Cruz.
Theresa Rosenfeld
Happy To See Cornel West Go
In a move that should please all Israel supporters, Cornel West has announced his departure from Harvard University after he said the university wouldn’t consider him for tenure. My only comment is: “Good riddance.”
Nelson Marans
New York, NY
Plagues – Then and Now
Which of the 10 plagues was most like Covid-19? The very last one. An invisible element – perhaps an invisible airborne disease – wreaked havoc, filling every Egyptian home with death.
Interestingly, the tenth plague took the lives of the firstborn, and those who suffer the most from Covid-19 are the oldest members of our societies.
But Moses instructed his people to shield themselves with a mezuzah rather than a mask; to gather their families together rather than cower alone in fear; and to prepare themselves to travel rather than lock themselves in isolation.
G-d gave Moses two tablets. Today we must get two doses. The ancient Israelites desperately bowed down to the Golden Calf, whereas today liberals prostrate themselves at the feet of Fauci.
Dennis Goldman
Aurora, CO