Letters

Who Killed Daniel Pearl? Not Pakistani Extremists!
The article about Judea Pearl from Tom Tugend of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Nation & World: "Judea Pearl: Aggrieved Father and A.I. Pioneer," Jan. 5) was interesting, but one line angered me. The article says that Daniel Pearl was murdered in 2002 "by Pakistani extremists."

Daniel Pearl was murdered by Muslims who chanted "allah akbar" while slicing his head off. What is a Pakistani extremist anyway? What do they have against Jews, other than the hatred they learn from Islam?

Maybe Tom Tugend is afraid some follower of the religion of peace will get mad and kill him. Sharia law demands that there be no criticism of Islam.
Ron Kall
Philadelphia

So, Which One of God's Fingers Was It Exactly?
I see that in the Jewish Exponent's Torah portion of Jan. 19, titled "Divine Power Is Absolute, but Humans Do Matter," Rabbi Joshua Runyan failed to point out the significance of the third plague, as the one which would prove his point -- that the God of Israel did, indeed, mean business, and had it in for the Egyptians.

The rabbi simply notes that "the third plague of lice leads the Egyptian sorcerers, who couldn't duplicate the miracle, to confess that no less than the 'finger of God' was at work."

Question: Which finger was it? I suggest: the middle one.
Wojo Cohen
Cherry Hill, N.J.

Holding Fast to Torah Is What Has Saved Jews
There are several issues I have with the letter written by Mr. Charles Smolover ("It's Not Husbands Only Who Victimize 'Agunot,' " Jan. 26).

First is his reference to an "archaic and misogynistic system, maintained by today's Orthodox religious establishment." How does Mr. Smolover's rhetoric differ from that used by the Ku Klux Klan when referring to Jews. According to such groups, Jews are "bloodsucking parasites."

The second issue is with his reference to "so-called Torah authorities." Exactly how many of these authorities has he had substantive contact with?

He then states that these same authorities should "summon the courage and creativity" to change the "discriminatory rules governing the giving of a get," that these rules "have outlived their usefulness." Would he say that the laws regarding Shabbat and kashrut have also "outlived" their usefulness?

To those of us in the Orthodox community who do our best to practice the laws of Torah, no law ever "outlives it's usefulness." It is not something that can be voted on or legislated or made to change with the times.

Mr. Smolover should consider what kept us different from the other nations of the world and why we have outlived so many other well-known peoples.

Was it because we dumped parts of our religion, as we saw fit or as the times dictated? Or was it because we held fast to the tenets of our faith?

If Mr. Smolover thinks we can change with the times, I'd be very concerned for his descendants. Will they still identify themselves as Jews? Will they know that they had Jewish forebears? I think not.
Harold S. Rose
Narberth

We All Have Different Definitions for Insanity
Albert Einstein once said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Israel has been negotiating with anti-Semitic Arab entities over and over for the past 43 years -- with the same result.

In his letter to the Jan. 26 Jewish Exponent, "Be Careful Who You Put in the 'Pro-Israel' Camp," Kenan Jaffe clearly believes that doing the same thing, once more, will somehow produce a different result.

Israel has given back both Gaza and Lebanon only to have these areas used as bases to launch attacks against it's military and civilians. Between 2000 and 2008, Israel attempted twice to broker peace by setting up a Palestinian state with half of Jerusalem as it's capital. The Palestinian Authority just up and walked away.

Yet Mr. Jaffe attacks not Hamas, but the Republican nominees, who solidly support the Jewish state's right to exist. This is my definition of insanity.
Steve Heitner
Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.