Letters
July 4, 2008

Help Sderot kids have a good summer

Did you know that the children living in Sderot, Israel have 15 seconds from the time the missile alarm is sounded to seek shelter in a bomb shelter before the missile strikes? Sderot is a small town less than a mile from Gaza.

More than 6,000 missiles and mortar shells have been launched from Gaza by Palestinian terrorists since 2005 with deadly results, having killed and wounded scores of children, college students, parents, and grandparents. Schools, synagogues, homes, businesses, and playgrounds have been attacked.

Nearly all of the children suffer from traumatic stress disorders. And it is impossible for them to play outside or engage in many other normal childhood activities. Nearly one quarter of the town’s population has fled their homes. Most are unable to escape.

To provide some needed relief from these terrible conditions, 110 children from Sderot will be spending a month in the United States attending camp and enjoying the summer here (see related story). Ten children are coming to Western Monmouth County. This is the only program in N.J. and N.Y. to provide them with the opportunity to have a fun filled summer free from the threat of a missile attack.

The children will be participating in the Gan Israel day camp, having weekend and evening programs and community activities. We must feed, clothe, and house them as well as provide for their transportation to and from Israel and within the United States and other expenses.

For more information please go to www.CGINJ.com/sderotkids. Contributions may be sent to Sderot Children Summer Relief Fund, 26 Wickatunk Rd. Manalapan, N.J. 07726.

Hal R. Crane

Morganville

Joy of Shavuot

It is not easy to say something is the best we have experienced in our lifetime. It is even more difficult when it is the truth without any exaggeration. That is the kind of wonderful Shavuot I experienced at Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe Township. It was everything a happy holiday should be.

Rabbi Zalikovsky and Chanie set the tone for the two days by easing everyone through the services and the Kiddushes that followed. The rabbi inspires us with his sermons and Torah insight. The Yizkor service was solemn and meaningful.

I must mention Meir Brandwine and Ed Thompson. Both did a beautiful chanting of the haftarahs.

Most of all was the spirited participation and good feeling of being a close family. We prayed, we ate, we drank, and we left with a great feeling of joy in the celebration of Shavuot.

Fred Wohl

Monroe

Politics of health care

First, I wish a "refuah sheleima" to letter writer Jeff Weinstein, who has a brain tumor. But voting for Democrats will hurt, not help, his chances of realizing a cure.

If the Democratic universal health plan were in effect now, there would be fewer neurosurgeons, less research for chemotherapeutic drugs, less access to the best cancer centers, a longer wait to be seen by a specialist. A columnist recently pointed out that if Sen. Ted Kennedy was restricted to the kind of managed care system that he espouses for others, he would not have been seen to quickly at Mass. General, nor would he have had access to the expert neurosurgeons at Duke.
 
He would stand in line along with Dr. Weinstein.

Indeed, the only medical procedure Democrats can provide way better than Republicans is an abortion.

Eva Gold

Highland Park