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Rob Eshman correctly notes that tzedakah is not merely charity but is also a religious and community response about social justice (“Entitled,” Oct. 19). Nowadays, “entitlements” are frequently used as a synonym for charity. However, Eshman inadvertently undercuts his own argument by failing to point out an essential fact: For working Americans, Social Security and Medicare are earned benefits paid for by payroll deductions.
Chip Bronson and Stephanie London’s response to the excellent JTA piece on Rachel Corrie saddened me deeply (Letters, Sept. 7). I read the article (“Rachel Corrie Suit Hinged on One Small Question,” Aug. 31) and had a different reaction. I wanted to believe it was all an accident and was relieved that Judge [Oded] Gershon ruled thus. Nevertheless, his choice to use this moment as a soapbox to denounce an admittedly ethically challenged organization reveals his own biases on the matter. I remain unsure whether it was an accident or whether the driver actually saw Corrie and deliberately buried her alive, though I am not yet ready to believe the assertions of Corrie’s parents or her lawyer. We simply don’t know what happened.
Chip Bronson and Stephanie London’s response to the excellent JTA piece on Rachel Corrie saddened me deeply (Letters, Sept. 7). I read the article (“Rachel Corrie Suit Hinged on One Small Question,” Aug. 31) and had a different reaction. I wanted to believe it was all an accident and was relieved that Judge [Oded] Gershon ruled thus. Nevertheless, his choice to use this moment as a soapbox to denounce an admittedly ethically challenged organization reveals his own biases on the matter. I remain unsure whether it was an accident or whether the driver actually saw Corrie and deliberately buried her alive, though I am not yet ready to believe the assertions of Corrie’s parents or her lawyer. We simply don’t know what happened.
Community Briefs
Letters to the Editor
In 1947, a young Bedouin scrounging around some caves about 15 miles from Jerusalem came across some sealed clay urns and unearthed one of the most important archeological discoveries of the century -- the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls are 2,000-year-old fragments of Hebrew manuscripts written on parchment, leather and copper. Some are transcriptions of Torah portions, others contain commentaries on the Torah, and still others contain records of a separatist Jewish sect in the mid-Second Temple era that established itself high on the hills of Qumran, where the scrolls were found.