How many will cry?
Five years. It is incomprehensible to me, and I have no doubt to many others, why the Israeli government was unable to find out the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit. As demonstrated in many cases, the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, was always able (no doubt with the help of paid informers) to pinpoint locations of individuals it found “necessary” to eliminate or extract (see Eichmann and Entebbe).
Doubting the “wisdom” of exchanging Gilad Shalit for a thousand terrorists may seem heartless of me, but what will be the result of giving in to the Arab demands? Kidnap more Israelis to force Israel to free all Arab prisoners, or renew murderous attacks by even a small group of the released captives? How many parents or relatives will cry because of actions perpetrated by the newly freed men? However, I want to be honest, if the kidnapped person would have been one of my family, I would have acted with the same vigor as the Shalit family did to free their son.
Gershon Evan | San Francisco
‘Our mutual hurts’
I, like so many others, am celebrating Gilad Shalit’s release while also remaining deeply worried. My thoughts turned toward the deep hurt imprisonment can bring. Would Gilad be OK? What of the Palestinians released from Israeli jails — would they carry deep resentment that will lead to more violence, or will their release plant the seeds of reconciliation?
What is the prayer we can offer?
In the very last words of all the biblical prophets, Malachi foretells that when Elijah announces the final shift to unity consciousness (the messianic era), then “the hearts of the parents will be turned to their children and the hearts of the children to their parents, lest the earth face dire consequences.”
Can we all turn our hearts toward each other in forgiveness and mutual responsibility?
Let’s pray that the hearts of the captors will be turned to the captives and the hearts of the captives turned toward the captors. Let us acknowledge our mutual hurts, hear all the blood calling out from the earth (Genesis 4:10) and agree to move on and engage in deep, respectful relationships with each other, to truly live out the forgiveness that we prayed for during this recent season of Holy Days.
Rabbi SaraLeya Schley | Berkeley
After Shalit, Pollard’s turn for freedom
The release of Gilad Shalit vindicates our mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim. Now it is time for klal Yisrael to press for release of another prisoner, Jonathan Pollard. Pollard has been in prison over 25 years, not for spying, but for passing vital information to Israel regarding her security and survival.
The United States was obligated to share that information, called “intelligence,” with Israel under a prior memorandum of understanding. It was an anti-Israel (read “anti-Semitic”) State Department that maliciously withheld that information.
Pollard’s life sentence is the harshest ever given for spying for a country that is friendly to the United States. Pollard is a prisoner of Zion and it is our mitzvah to press for his release. Call President Obama every week and urge him to release Pollard. The president’s number is (202) 456-1414, free fax (202) 456-2461.
Lawrence M. Weiswasser | Vacaville
Al Davis memory
In the spring of 1966, I was a 17-year-old senior at Oakland High School and an active participant in religious services at Temple Beth Abraham (“An attempt to briefly recap Al Davis’ life as a Jew,” Oct. 14). A call had come to the cantor, Simon Cohen, from Al Davis, the new commissioner of the AFL (American Football League): Mr. Davis was looking for pre–bar mitzvah coaching for his 11-year-old son, Mark.
Cantor Cohen gave Mr. Davis my name, and I was summoned to the Davis family home in the Oakland Hills. While I have no recollection of the terms of my employment, I’ll never forget the setting — Mr. Davis’ dark office, and what he said to me: “… I want you to teach Mark my daddy’s religion.”
The lessons continued into the summer — as it turned out, a tumultuous time for Mr. Davis, who resigned as AFL commissioner because of his resistance to merging the AFL with the NFL, and he immediately returned to the Oakland Raiders as part owner and general manager. It was a tumultuous time for me, too; after graduating high school I made aliyah to Israel. I don’t know how the bar mitzvah turned out, but I like to think I taught Mark something about his “daddy’s religion.”
Michael J. Cooper | Lafayette
Whom do you represent, JCRC?
In light of JVP’s deputy director, Cecile Surasky, being removed from the national Jewish Communal Heroes contest last week, I thought Rabbi Doug Kahn’s criticism of Rabbi Alissa’s work with JVP was particularly telling of the federation strategy of delegitimizing segments of our community (“JVP rabbi says fight is for equality, not Israel’s demise,” Sept. 30). He said that “Adding a rabbi to its staff is clearly intended to elevate [JVP’s] cover-giving strategy” and that JVP is “a tiny fraction of the community.”
Interesting.
JCRC, on the other hand, is the Jewish Community Federation’s public relations “cover.” JCRC used to claim to represent 80 Jewish community organizations. They no longer make that claim. Nevertheless, in the interest of transparency, why doesn’t Rabbi Kahn inform the public about their so-called consensus process? Please publish the names of the organizations you represent and the process by which community members are chosen to serve their policy-setting bodies.
If JVP represents a fraction of the Jewish community, who do you represent, JCRC? Certainly not me. Just call me another young Jew disillusioned with the federation and their censorship guidelines.
Elana Jacobs | San Francisco
Ad challenges assumptions
Thanks for printing the ad by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The week after you ran the ad, you published a letter by a person who described the ad as scurrilous (Letters, Oct. 14) and said that she hoped you would use better judgment in deciding what ads to run. The letter writer was “terribly disturbed” because the David Horowitz Freedom Center is connected somehow with Glenn Beck, and the ad reflected right-wing views.
Apparently her point was that you shouldn’t print views she disagrees with. The letter illustrates why you were absolutely right to run the ad. Presenting responsible views that get people to challenge their assumptions is what a newspaper should strive to do. You already run plenty of opinion pieces that reflect the views of the left. Running the ad was the least you could do to provide some balance. n
Allan Yannow | El Cerritoa