Letters To The Editor - September 26, 2025

Canceling A Shidduch Because of Names in Common

Re: “Same Name No Wedding” (Aug. 29). Rabbi Klein: I was totally dismayed and at the same time infuriated by your article about having the same name as a future in-law. Not once did you take into account the emotions of the prospective bride and groom. Like most of today’s yeshiva crowd unfortunately does, you simply looked at this issue in a legalistic, semi-religious vein. Do you not realize the emotional damage that following this childish objection could cause? There are bigger problems that rabbonim have found ways to deal with than this nonsense – and it is nonsense.

Your lack of concern for people's emotions is appalling, and is concerning for the rest of us if it reflects the attitude of others in a rabbinical position. All you seem to think about is what new chumra can be imposed on us. I may be wrong, but perhaps amongst those who think like you and today’s black hat crowd, there are no emotions involved in marriage. It’s simply the fulfillment of p’ru u’r’vu. Regardless, your article should have taken into account the damage that could be caused by breaking up a couple over something as ridiculous as this. It’s certainly more easily solved than the agunah problem. And then people wonder why we lose so many to the secular world. Such lack of concern for human feelings certainly doesn’t help matters.

Dr. Robert Solomon Via E-mail

Rabbi Klein responds:

Thank you very much for your letter. I truly appreciate the passion with which you wrote, as well as the genuine concern that you expressed. As a scholar, my general approach is to mention only that which has a very clear source in the classical texts. While your point about the emotional toll of breaking off an engagement because of issues relating to names is very real – and is certainly implied in the responsa literature that I cited – those sources do not explicitly address it or emphasize it in a way that would have allowed me to develop it fully in my article. For that reason, I refrained from discussing it in detail, even though in hindsight I realize that it would have been worthwhile to at least note it.

Of course, this does not mean that such concerns are irrelevant. Quite the contrary. I am confident that when individuals approach a rabbi directly with questions of this sort, any responsible posek will take the human and emotional dimensions into account before rendering his opinion. I realize that this clarification does not dull the pain you are describing, but I do hope it helps you better understand where I was coming from in my treatment of the topic.

R.C.K. Beitar Illit, Israel

Saying Kaddish For New York City

I read with interest Mr. Moshe Tassalman’s letter to the editor in the August 22 edition of The Jewish Press urging support for Republicans. Missing, however, was a constructive recommendation on how to get one million Jews in N.Y.C. to coalesce around one candidate. Unfortunately, I don’t have a superb suggestion either. However, history suggests that we Jews seem to unite only after a tragedy but not to avert one. Hence, we should not be afraid to exercise our clout around the upcoming mayoral race. Would a Marxist-Islamist like Jews better even if we supported his candidacy? Not likely.

I understand Mr. Tassalman’s support for Curtis Sliwa. The reality, however, is that Democrats comprise approximately 66% of the N.Y.C. electorate, the unaffiliated make up 21% (and consistently have a very low voter turnout), and registered Republicans, only 11%. Can a Republican win the N.Y.C. mayoral race? It’s worth remembering that Republican Lee Zelden came close to winning the governor’s race against Democrat Kathy Hochul, which gives me hope for Elise Stefanik’s chances against Hochul next year. So, I agree that support of Republicans is paramount.

For now, I am advocating that Jews get together for Curtis Sliwa. Unlike anti-Trump Cuomo, Sliwa, an “outsider,” has supported many Trump policies – primarily law-and-order efforts. I hope that Jewish leaders will make their voices heard to persuade Jews to unite behind one viable candidate. (I leave it to them to argue about the better candidate to endorse. Let’s remember that we took a chance on an “outsider” in 2016 and again in 2024 and it has served us and the country well.) In the event that we cannot do this, we may as well write an obituary for N.Y.C. and prepare for the repercussions of that failure. If a Marxist becomes mayor on November 4, this already ailing and decaying city will enter its death throes on that date.

In a political vacuum created by a vote split among four candidates, control of this once glorious city will be ceded to a radical, inexperienced Marxist-Islamist, antisemitic leader. It is easy to anticipate the following circumstances:

• Jails will be emptied because “What purpose do prisons serve?” per the new leader. Police will be defunded – whether they are let go or leave via mass resignations – and public safety will be as dead as the dodo bird.
• Hundreds of small businesses will shutter their doors as they will not be able to meet the $30 per hour minimum wage demanded by the new administration. Thousands of workers will join the ranks of the unemployed. Large companies will leave N.Y.C. just as they have absconded from California.
• Investors will shun New York. Landlords will remove apartments from the market as they fear privatization, thereby increasing homelessness as well as rents.
• Government-run supermarkets will be subject to looting. Marauding bands of teenagers will claim victimhood since there were no provisions to loot. They will be supported in this claim by the D.A.
• The attorney general will announce that any agency or organization that in any shape, form, or manner evidences support for Israel will have their government funding eliminated or have their tax-exempt status revoked. BDS will be officially implemented.
• Two Jewish politicos, a senator and representative, will be surprised by their political purge despite their steadfast loyalty to their party and its vile, often antisemitic rhetoric – in the face of which they were silent. Two even more radical Marxists will be installed in their place.
• ICE agents will continue to be vilified and attacked since the agency has been labeled a “terrorist organization” by the media and some politicians. Illegals will continue to receive benefits and possibly voting rights. Jewish students and residents will continue to be targeted in hate crimes.
• Buses will be free and universal childcare will be free – all paid for by the higher rate of taxes imposed on “white neighborhoods.”

Theresa Rosenfeld Manhattan