Funding Lavishness Is Not Tzedakah
I am writing about a trend that I personally find disturbing, and that was epitomized in Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser’s article, “A Bracha for You and Your Family,” which appeared in your March 28 edition.
Rabbi Goldwasser wrote about a young, recently married couple who came from modest homes. As Pesach of this year was approaching, the husband came to see him to sadly say that his work hours had been cut, yet his wife was still hoping for the “beautiful” Yom Tov that she had visualized having. The young husband, although not wishing to “crush his wife’s dreams,” realistically felt that their Pesach would have to be a more temperate one.
Instead of recommending that the husband speak directly to his wife, explaining their prevailing financial situation and making do with the current (hopefully temporary) reality, Rabbi Goldwasser told him that he would seek to raise the necessary funds so as not to disappoint the new bride.
I am on the mailing list of a large number of Jewish charities, and many of the solicitations are actually from fathers asking the general public to help them provide for a wedding that their daughters “dream of having.”
If a family can only afford a modest event, be aware that 100% of the mitzvos can be realized whether the event is lavish or simple. Respectfully, I find that soliciting tzedakah so that a family can have the “holiday of their dreams” is bizarre.
Pesach-Yonah Malevitz
Miami Beach, Fla.
Concern For The “Stranger Within Our Gates”
This newspaper makes all kinds of allowances for Donald Trump’s actions. It doesn’t matter if he fires people based on the color of skin, or does not allow due process for illegal immigrants, or deports students based on their opposition to the Gaza war. All The Jewish Press cares about is his support for Israel.
Have you forgotten how Hitler turned Germany into a dictatorship? Have you forgotten the 1924 National Origins Act where Jewish immigration to this country came to a halt? Simon Weisenthal hunted Nazis to show how history could repeat itself in the future, and that is now.
The Torah teaches us that there is only one law for us and for the stranger within our gates. Are there two laws in this country, one for citizens and one for non-citizens?
Are we as religious Jews so assimilated in this country that we ignore what this president is doing?
Dory Frank
Los Angeles, Calif.
Karma For Letitia James
I read with great interest The Jewish Press editorial regarding Letitia James (“NY AG Letitia James Continues to Disappoint,” May 9). This corrupt and polarizing New York State attorney general ran on “getting” Donald Trump, and boy did she ever try.
She obtained a bogus conviction and massive fine against Donald Trump in connection with his alleged over-valuation of his properties, including Mar-a-Lago. There were no damaged parties, and the banks themselves had no issues with the loans, which were paid back in full as per the loan agreements. And banks, of course, always conduct their own appraisals when dealing with loans of such magnitude. If they had any concerns about property valuations, they would have surely made their apprehensions known. She was hell-bent on bankrupting Donald Trump and seizing his properties to pay the outrageous fines and penalties assessed by her willing accomplice, Justice Engoran.
Ironically, she herself is now accused of multiple counts of mortgage fraud which she claims are baseless and retaliatory prosecutions. Well, the old adage that people who live in glass houses should cast no stones is quite relevant here. Unlike the case she brought against Donald Trump, the lending institutions she did business with were in fact damaged by the false statements and assertions she made on her loan applications – from claiming that her Virginia property was her primary residence, to asserting her father was her husband, and purposely stating that her Brooklyn house had 4 units instead of 5 – all to obtain favorable loan terms.
Both hers and Alvin Bragg’s (presumably under her auspices) prosecutions were clearly politically motivated hit jobs. Bottom line: Letitia James and her incidental partner in crime, Fanni Willis, deserve all they have coming to them. Love Donald Trump or hate him, no one should ever be the subject of such glaring weaponized prosecutions. Our justice system now needs to repair the public’s dearth of trust in its impartiality. Holding James and Willis accountable will hopefully be the first step in that regard.
George Weiss
Via E-mail
Kahane Derangement Syndrome?
Kudos to The Jewish Press for your coverage of the unfortunate cancellation of the speaking engagement of Minister of National Security and leader of the Otzma Yehudit party Itamar Ben-Gvir at the Young Israel of Woodmere (“The Cancellation of Ben Gvir’s Talk at the YIW,” May 2). The arguments for and against his opportunity to speak in an Orthodox shul were presented with objectivity and professionalism.
The article reported that a journalist and former synagogue member, Robby Berman, and Dr. Elana Stein Hain linked the policies of Ben-Gvir with former MK Rabbi Meir Kahane. Berman reminded members that former rabbi at YIW Rabbi Hershel Billet refused to publicly welcome Rabbi Meir Kahane because of his views. Dr. Elana Stein Hain went even further, saying, “There must be halachic and moral boundaries. Kahanism must never be equated with Torah Judaism.”
It must be noted that leading rabbis did and increasingly do equate Kahane’s ideas with Torah Judaism. Indeed, Rabbi Sholom Klass, founder and publisher of The Jewish Press, gave Rabbi Kahane a weekly forum to present his Torah views for 30 years, from the paper’s founding in 1960 till Rabbi Kahane’s assassination in 1990, sometimes with two or even three columns per issue!
Unfortunately, there are many in the Jewish world, even amongst the Orthodox, who suffer from “Kahane Derangement Syndrome.” Even after the October 7 holocaust, they refuse to admit when Kahane was right, which was almost all of the time.
The article correctly acknowledges Dr. Stein Hain’s belief that “inviting a shul speaker is ‘more than simply airing a viewpoint’ and will likely result in material support for him and his ideology.”
It was precisely for this reason that in 1993, I, along with a very prominent Queens rabbi, joined a group of picketers, ironically outside a different Young Israel shul, to protest its hosting a presentation by Israeli government officials in support of the proposed Oslo Accords. Our position was that Jews are mandated by the Torah to not relinquish even one inch of Eretz Yisrael to a non-Jew, regardless of whether they were terrorists or tzaddikim. Therefore, we agreed with Dr. Stein Hain’s position that an Orthodox shul should not showcase such irreverent viewpoints since the optics would imply Orthodox approval.
However, since there were many good Jews who mistakenly followed the then-popular argument of “pikuach nefesh” in favor of the Accords, I would not have opposed giving these same speakers a shul podium in the context of a debate with Kahanists. As Rabbi Meir Kahane so logically pointed out, pikuach nefesh does not apply to obligatory wars to defend the land of Israel. Otherwise, we could never have a country, as we would automatically surrender to every attacking army in order to save a Jewish life.
Rabbi Kahane also warned that those who can’t debate will instead defame. He challenged anyone to debate him – it was the fastest and easiest way to increase his followers by publicly exposing the “fake news” which labeled his ideas as being anathema to Torah Judaism.
It’s worth noting that President Trump’s innovative, out-of-the-box suggestion for Palestinians to vacate Gaza and relocate to neighboring Arab states is an idea proposed by Rabbi Kahane over 50 years ago when he spoke about the transfer of Arabs who do not acknowledge Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael. For basically making the same proposal as President Trump, Rabbi Kahane was labeled a racist and undemocratically cancelled from the elections of 1988, much the way the Democrats and opponents of Trump tried every trick in the book (including assassination) to cancel his candidacy in 2024.
Finally, I would like to point out a very serious divergence of opinion between Rabbi Kahane and one of those quoted in the article, Rabbi Natan Slifkin. The article summarizes Rabbi Slifkin’s view that Israel cannot go it alone – that it needs the support of other nations. When Israel bombed the nuclear reactors in Bagdad, Israel did not have the support of many nations. When Israel “invaded Ugandan air space” during the rescue from Entebbe, Israel did not have the support of many nations. When Israel annexed Jerusalem, Israel did not have the support of many nations. Indeed, when Israel declared statehood in 1948, Israel knew it could not count on any other country to help defend itself the next day against seven invading Arab armies. Israel could only count on help from G-d.
Rabbi Kahane led a rally in downtown Manhattan the day before his assassination. The rally’s theme was “Israel Against The World.” Rabbi Kahane was emphatic in his belief that the Jewish nation needs to understand that its help is from G-d, not from man. That is why Israel needs to clear out Gaza and settle our land – because G-d obligates us to do so, not because President Trump gives us permission. Our salvation is from G-d. Indeed, Ben-Gvir recently commented that Prime Minister Netanyahu should “embrace Trump…love him, but also…tell him we have principles that we need to stand on.”
David Ferster
Great Neck, N.Y.
