Letters
They really are lucky
As one of Joseph Kaplan’s adult children, I can confirm that he is very gentle in giving advice and only when asked (“Deciding Is What Adults Do,” October 20). But when we do ask, his advice is always very, very good.
How lucky we are!
Raquel Kaplan Goldberg
Toronto, Ontario
Eruv’s not a religion
The text of the First Amendment reads as follows:
“Congress (or any legal governmental authority) shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
It continues on to forbid “abridging of the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The proposed eruv in Mahwah does not establish a religion. Neither does it “aid,” “prefer” or “favor” one religion over any other.
What it accomplishes is the allowance for the free observance (“exercise”) and expression of an established faith.
In my opinion, when the Township of Mahwah passes a law that blocks the eruv, it is in violation of the “free exercise” protection guaranteed in the First Amendment.
Additionally, when laws are passed that prevent the use of public parks by nonresidents” (as well as other harassments) ugly xenophobia is clearly in evidence.
Jerrold Terdiman M.D.
Woodcliff Lake
At it again
The team of Simon and Gold are at it again, presenting their extreme left-wing interpretation of reality to an unsuspecting Jewish community (“The curious case of David Myers and the Center for Jewish History,” October 27).
While they criticize the BDS movement [boycott, divest, sanction] which is a clearly anti-Semitic movement to target Jews in their homeland, they praise a targeted boycott of Jews in the settlements in the “West Bank.” The use of boycotts against Jewish communities is obscene. The nuance of a West Bank settlement versus one against Israel is a subtlety that will be lost on everyone but the Jews who fight among themselves. Please remember that to leftists, the settlements include all of the “West Bank” as well as the Golan Heights and Jerusalem. Also remember that Arabs perceive all Jews in the land of Israel as settlers, and Tel Aviv is as much a settlement as those the leftists deride. Discriminating against over 600,000 Jews and damaging the entire State of Israel seems to fit the leftist, blame-Israel-first, ideology. Raising an international campaign to prohibit the purchase of arts and crafts made in the Old City of Jerusalem accomplishes — what? Complaining that there really is a difference between BDS and a “West Bank” boycott is Orwellian doublespeak for empowering anti-Semites. There are red lines in Jewish political discourse, and of course Simon and Gold’s latest diatribe has crossed it again.
Scott David Lippe M.D.
Fair Lawn
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