Writer disagrees with a rabbi’s perspective

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In the June 21 issue, Rabbi Jim Rosenberg starts his column, “The need for theological humanity,” by quoting Anat Hoffman:  “We entered the plaza to the sound of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men screaming insults and throwing garbage.”

He goes on to ask,  “For what reason did haredi women scream at the Women of the Wall for defiling ke-dushat ha-makom, the holiness of the place – apparently blind to the actions of their sons, their brothers and their husbands who were ‘sanctifying’ this sacred space with garbage, with spittle, with abusive language?”

This must be juxtaposed with the comments of Rabbi Raphie Schochet in his op-ed submission in the same issue, “Every soul is precious.” He wrote that the ultra-Orthodox “are fulfilled by their abundant love of life and of their fellow Jews, demonstrated through countless acts of selfless kindness and generosity and all of this will continue unabated.”

I think Rabbi Schochet should open his eyes. It is the Conservative and Reform Jews who are not tolerated by the ultra-Orthodox, not vice versa.

Edwin S. Mehlman, D.D.S.
Warren