Splendid Work Of Art

The Jewish Press's Magazine section has always been inspirational, intellectually stimulating, and entertaining. But now, with each page of The Magazine in full color, it is exquisitely beautiful. The artwork is much more powerful in color, too.

In short, the new Magazine is a splendid work of art. Congratulations.

Dr. Mel Waldman

Brooklyn, NY

Moved To Tears

Over the years I have read many accounts of the Nazi atrocities perpetrated against the Jews, but I was still moved to tears by Dr. Ervin Birnbaum's front-page essay last week about Babi Yar ("Where Flowers Bloom Red From Jewish Blood").

It also called to mind the obscene charges of Nazism directed at Israel by the Palestinians and their fellow travelers. Anyone who would make such an analogy is an unspeakable creature.

Stephen Rose

Los Angeles, CA

Praying For Our Protectors

I recently returned from a trip to Israel during which I attended various synagogues. In many of them the prayer for the Israel Defense Forces is purposely avoided.

The IDF does not discriminate; it defends all the people of Israel - Zionists, haredim, atheists, et al. These synagogues would be unable to exist were it not for these young soldiers protecting Israel. We as Jews are obligated to say a prayer and make a berachah for them.

May we all pray to Hashem for the safety of the IDF, our protectors.

Dr. Stanley Goldstein

Brooklyn, NY

Picture Tells A Story

Talk about a picture telling a story!

I was struck by the graphic front page picture last week of the burning car in Ashdod struck by a Palestinian missile from Gaza. Is this the kind of thing Israel has to accept and not respond to? Is this the kind of thing the Palestinian Authority is not to be held responsible for?

Can Mahmoud Abbas be allowed to claim it was not he but the other guy while at the same time claiming to be president of the state of Palestine?

Avi Brenner

Jerusalem

Foxman's Unity Pledge

You were too kind last week in your editorial about the so-called unity pledge. The ADL's Abe Foxman has long been an apologist for the Democrats, as when during the 2004 presidential campaign he proclaimed, unsolicited, that there was no "daylight" between John Kerry and George W. Bush on Israel.

I also recall his infamous defense of Al Sharpton: "He makes anti-Semitic statements but is not an anti-Semite."

Plain and simple, the unity pledge was a device to protect President Obama from criticism in the Jewish community in the upcoming presidential campaign. This is very far afield from his mandate to deal with anti-Semitism.

Paul Feldman

(Via E-Mail)

Not My Leaders

Reader Isaac Younger was right on point when he criticized the apparent "back channel" between Jewish "leaders" and the murderous Libyan dictator Muammar Khaddafi (Letters, Nov. 4).

I, for one, never authorized anyone to discuss anything with a mass murderer, nor was I ever consulted about it. Nor do I believe anyone else was ever consulted. What gave these self-appointed representatives the right to give even a hint of legitimacy to someone who wantonly orders the death of my fellow Americans and fellow Jews?

These are certainly not my leaders.

Karen Berlin

Oakland, CA

Israel Doesn't Operate In A Vacuum

I disagree with Elliot Resnick ("Why Don't Israelis Revolt?" op-ed, November 4). He defines the current crisis in the Middle East as centering around the question of whether Israel should abandon the policy of surrendering land promised by God to the Jews in order to make peace with its enemy - "Or does it crush it as every normal country since the dawn of time has sought to pulverize its enemies?"

In today's real world, Israel doesn't operate in a vacuum. It depends on the material and political support of the United States. While Israel has been truly remarkable in its achievements, it is not self-sufficient. While I agree Israel has a wide range of options, pulverizing its enemies is not one of them.

Burt Lewis

Brooklyn, NY

Poverty, Unemployment All Too Real

Re "A Tale of Two Movements" (op-ed, Nov. 4):

We have a similar group of protesters camped in front St. Paul's Cathedral here in London. Similar in that they know what they are against, but cannot be sure what they are in favor of or how they would resolve the perceived problem. The gap in pay between the top ten percent and the other 90 percent has never been so big, and the problem is genuine as the cost of living is rising faster than the average salary.

Poverty and unemployment are too high and for too long. It's up to us to elect leaders who are committed to democratically improving this situation.

Joseph Feld

London, England

Arab State Terrorism (I)

I wonder how anyone, especially in the Arab world, has the audacity to criticize Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians. As Manfred Gerstenfeld showed so well last week ("Staying Silent About Arab State Terrorism," op-ed, Nov. 4), abuse of their own citizens by Muslim leaders is routine and institutionalized.

Gerald Klein

New York, NY

Arab State Terrorism (II)

The amount of publicity garnered by state-sanctioned murder of civilians is primarily dependent on how much the media choose to cover and focus on. There is, in a sense, a symbiotic relationship between the media and the public. If the public is content with how it is being served and does not demand truer media focus, the media can then choose to ignore certain events with impunity. Even assuming it was in Israel's interest to rant and rave about Arab state terrorism to begin with, it would be better at this point for Israeli leaders to be silent rather than to try to attract the attention of a disinterested audience.

Moreover, the civilians of many of these Arab countries who are being murdered are not necessarily Israel's friends, so it makes little sense for Israel to suddenly become their advocates for what is at best dubious political gain. To be sure, Israel can ill afford to call more attention than necessary to such occurrences and risk being labeled as hypocritical by a hostile and unforgiving world when it must make its hard decisions to defend its citizens from attack.

The falsifiers will ultimately be dealt with by the One Above - the sole Sovereign in matters pertaining to truth and falsehood. In the end, those falsifiers who slander the State of Israel will meet destruction in the same way as those who falsify religious doctrine and lead people astray.

Lawrence Kulak

(Via E-Mail)

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