Take a Lesson From Chelm

This week’s edition announced the State of Israel’s plan to dump hundreds of millions of dollars of cement deep around the 60-mile border with Gaza to prevent infiltration tunnels (“New Underground Concrete Barrier to Encircle Gaza, Stop Terror Tunnels,” August 4, 2016).

This reminds me of a story of the people of Chelm. It seems they had a bridge with a hole in it. People were falling through and getting seriously injured. The people of Chelm got together and raised funds to build a hospital underneath the bridge to help the people who fell through.

The problem is not with the border of Gaza; it is with the people inside who need to be dealt with definitively.

Scott David Lippe, M.D.

Let the Worldwide Jewish Community Help Protect Gaza

The publication of your August 4, 2016 edition’s headline article, “New Underground Concrete Barrier to Encircle Gaza, Stop Terror Tunnels” has the potential of accomplishing significant beneficial outcomes for Israel and the Diaspora community.

The article discussed the planned 48 mile underground/aboveground, sensor embedded, NIS 2B wall that Israel will construct along the entire length of the Gaza/Israel border. It will protect Israel against tunnel attacks from Gaza-based terrorists. The article also noted that several foreign companies refused to become involved with the project, citing “political sensitivities.” I think that major segments of the Jewish community have no such qualms.

This is a Bonei Israel project that has the sole goal of protecting the nation from attack, so all friends of Israel should want to be a part of it.

I write this Letter to the Editor in order that it may reach far and wide, from President Netanyahu to JNF (or another sponsoring agency) to the entire Jewish community.

JNF, or another sponsoring agency, should sell memorial/honoring “bricks” in this protective wall in order to save Israel (and its taxpayers) all, or a portion of, the NIS 2B cost of the project. This would give individual Jews/Jewish organizations a great project for which to raise money. I’ll bet that these fund-raising programs could make a nice dent in the $500M+/- cost of the Protective Wall.

Please put me down as a “brick” purchaser once a sponsoring agency, or agencies, gets the funding program up and running.

Jeff Wilder

Congregant

Young Israel of Fort Lee NJ

Targeting Weight Loss Ads to Young Seminary Girls Is ‘Beyond the Pale’

Thank you for always putting together an informative and often entertaining publication. This past week, however, I think something in advertising was overlooked and a highly sensitive, serious and offensive mistake was printed.

To offer weight loss programs to adults (healthy options or questionable ones) is any publisher’s prerogative. But to target young seminary girls—at the prime age for eating disorders—when this is a major concern in our community, is at best irresponsible and definitely reprehensible, vile, frightening and just simply BEYOND THE PALE. Your newspaper even runs a regular column on positive body image!

The fact that this ‘‘weight loss” company would even consider creating an ad like this erases any of its credibility, so I implore you to stop running it and explain to them why.

Shira Ashendorf