TORAH page 22
DESIGN
INRECON
BUILD
A Tirade
Unjustified?
The Land of Israel: Given by God to the
Jewish people.
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people? Rabbi Yohanan ben Za-
kkai was able to establish a
yeshiva at Yavneh. Otherwise,
there would be no Jews in the
world today. Ben Zakkai's stu-
dents became Torah scholars
and leaders in whatever land
they traveled to. They unified the
Jewish people through the
Torah. It was only through the
Torah that the concept of Zion-
ism was sustained until Herzl
happened upon it a mere 100
years ago.
The first and original Zionism
is religious Zionism because it is
part of the Torah. Without the
Torah there would have been no
Zionism because there would
have been no Judaism.
The political Zionism of Her-
zl would never have existed.
Likewise there would have been
no labor Zionism or cultural
Zionism or any other kind. With-
out the Torah, the Jewish peo-
ple would have ceased to exist.
Rabbi Wine incorrectly fo-
cused on the Jews that keep the
laws of the Torah as the source
of Israel's malady. In fact, they
are Israel's strength. Only by re-
membering that the Land of Is-
rael was given by God to the
Jewish people can we ever hope
to attain the peace for which
everyone is striving.
By dividing Jews into cate-
gories, Rabbi Wine negated the
importance of the contributions
each of us makes. Rabbi Kook,
the first Chief Rabbi of Israel,
understood that we are one peo-
ple when he said that every Jew
did God's work in his own way.
The chalutzim and present
kibbutzniks were and are ex-
perts at tilling the earth and re-
claiming the soil of Eretz Yisroel.
The rabbis were and are experts
at studying the Torah and re-
claiming the soul of the Jewish
people. Each of us together,
wherever we place ourselves on
the scale of mitzvot in Judaism,
are doing a piece of God's work.
Harriet Drissman
West Bloomfield
What precipitated the outra-
geous tirade against Jonathan
Pollard by [Jewish News Pub-
lisher] Arthur Horwitz ("We've
Gone Overboard" Jan. 10)?
Mr. Horwitz does not have
any of the pertinent facts in the
Pollard case; otherwise, he
couldn't have possibly equated
Pollard with the traitorous likes
of John Walker or Whitworth.
Mr. Horwitz's main focus was
the money issue ($40,000, most-
ly operational expenses initiat-
ed at the insistence of Rafi Eitan)
and, also, the vital documents
given to Israel, which never com-
promised the security of the
United States. This is docu-
mented; look it up.
Jonathan Pollard
It is ironic to consider that the
publisher of The Jewish News
has discounted the long history
of the survival of Jews.
There is a dangerous division
in the Jewish community at
large. "A house divided will not
stand."
Barbara D. Racey
West Bloomfield
A Day
For Reflection
On Jan. 20, America will observe
the birthday and celebrate the
life and dreams of Martin Luther
King Jr. The Rev. King saw an
inclusive America that all peo-
ple could take part in and take
pride in.
His vision was of a nonracial
America that allowed each indi-
vidual to achieve his or her best,
and he dedicated his life to
reaching that goal. Tragically,
one person's senseless hatred cut
short the life of Martin Luther
King Jr. before he or America
reached their potential.
On Jan. 20, American democ- c_ /\
racy will observe a milestone —
the inauguration of President
Bill Clinton for a second term in
office.