Debating Choice
Steve Heitner complains that a developing baby has become a choice (“Kvetch ’N’ Kvell,” May 7). I celebrate that a woman has a choice regarding her pregnancy.
Even the ancient rabbis differentiated between a baby and an embryo, punishing the killing of a baby as a capital crime, but the fatality of an embryo required monetary compensation.
Ina Asher | Merion
Daf Yomi and More
Jesse Bernstein’s article (“A Daf a Day, in Quarantine,” May 7) reminded me of an almost mystical experience on Jan. 1, my birthday. My wife and I were playing golf at Osprey Point Golf Course in Boca Raton, Florida. It is an expansive Palm Beach County facility with an amphitheater, several bodies of water, doggie parks and much more.
We were on a hole with a long-range view of the amphitheater and saw several people congregated. A woman with a loud microphone was telling the group they were about to begin. What sounded like Hebrew to us, was, and the service went on for a while. We were confused as to why there would be a Jewish service on Jan. 1, a Wednesday. It culminated with Kaddish, and that assured us that it was in fact, a Jewish service.
A couple of days later, there was a feature article in The New York Times about the end of the daf yomi cycle, and the beginning of a new one on Jan. 4. The idea of engaging in that rigorous pursuit of committing to a daily reading and reflection for 7½ years is daunting. Those who engage in it are no doubt better off and smarter as a result. Recently, I subscribed to a Tablet podcast that has a short commentary on the daily daf yomi study. The content is most interesting and reflective.
It’s nice to have a local Jewish newspaper bringing us consistently relevant information.
Herman Axelrod | Blue Bell
Ina you’re making my point.The killing of a fetus right up to birth, which can feel pain and suffers tremendously during the abortion is nothing to celebrate. The fact that you do is proof of what almost fifty years of abortion has done to many of us. In Virginia they started killing babies after birth: that’s called infanticide.Do you celebrate that too?