Letters
May 23, 2008

Western Monmouth votes June 3

The League of Women Voters of Western Monmouth County would like to remind voters that the June 3 primary is just as important as the presidential primary in February. We have an opportunity to influence important legislation! Congress makes the laws of the land, and New Jersey will be electing one of its two senators in November.

On June 3, each party will be selecting its candidate for that race, and both the Democratic and Republican races are contested. The deadline to register or change your address in order to help decide your party's candidate was May 13, but absentee ballot requests can be mailed up to May 27.

Voters can also apply in person for an absentee ballot from their County Clerk up to 3 p.m. the day before the election. In addition, candidates for local and county races are also being chosen that day.

Citizens: Exercise your option and get out and vote -- polls are open between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. More information is available at www.lwvnj.org.

Sharon Steinhorn,

President, LWV Western Monmouth

Choosing to be Jewish

Here is a reprint of four (of the many) e-mail messages I received in response to my article "A bar  mitzvah by the sea": The first is from Harvey Morgenstern, an Orthodox rabbi, who is my son Alan's best friend:

         --"Annette, This was a beautiful story. Parts of it brought tears to my eyes. You have a lot to be proud of, especially your son Alan. Love, Harvey."

         --"I love it Mommy. I'm on the plane heading to Chicago and it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you. Love, Alta." ("Alta" is Alan's additional Hebrew name, given to him when he was 2 years old because he suffered from severe asthma.)

         --"Congratulations on your article on Jake's bar mitzvah. It's very emotional. I loved what Jake said about his parents. It was so touching. Thank you for writing such a beautiful article. We love you. Maryse." (Maryse is my daughter-in-law Marie's mother. She and her husband Michel live in France.)

         --"What a handsome grandson; I read your story -- more importantly, people have recognized his attributes of love, compassion, and humor. Congratulations to you and your wonderful family! Claire."

Mr. Glazer claims that he sees "the shared values in widely divergent practices, programs, and modes of expression." Yet, he adds that "the author of the report expresses no regret or remorse that all four of her children have intermarried," and "To share this sorrowful fact in a Jewish newspaper without qualification is a sad statement on contemporary Jewish life."

If he had read my article more carefully, he would have noted that Jake spoke of "all the Jewish traditions" he has experienced, which, thanks to his parents, include much more than the "consumption of latkes and chicken soup."

He also would have noted that my oldest son Steven died of a heart attack four years ago. The funeral service was performed by a rabbi and there's a Jewish star and the word "shalom" on his tombstone. My son's death is a "sorrowful fact," not the fact that all of my sons married lovely Christian girls and I have nine wonderful grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

The children are taught to observe and respect all traditions, both Jewish and Christian. Most importantly, I am blessed because they all know the meaning of the word love.

Jake chose the beach as the location for his bar mitzvah, just as he chose to be a Jew. And, contrary to what Mr. Glazer has written, this bodes well for the continuity of the Jewish faith that he has elected to discover.

Again, to Mr. Glazer: If all the world's people could become the kinds of human beings that personify Jake Wexler and our family, our world would be a perfect place.

Annette Wexler

Edison

Sages and conversion

In her May 9th op-ed piece, "Follow our sages, prevent conversion crisis," Debbie Israel claims that Rabbi Akiva's students died during Sefira because of a lack of respect. Yet, does she show the requisite respect toward the Israeli Rabbinate?

She claims the Rabbinate is "a politically appointed body that acts as a religious authority." Yet, isn't the Conversion Authority also a governmental agency that acts as a religious authority since it is charged with increasing the number of Jews through conversions?  In fact, the crisis spoken of in the title of Ms. Israel's piece might well be due to the Israeli government's initiative to promote mass conversions of Russian immigrants with questionable regard to either halakha or the convert's commitment to follow Jewish law.

The bulk of Ms. Israel's piece consists of her opinions -- which she is entitled to. However, there are two things she wrote that I would like to address:

First, she accurately references Pirkei Avot when she states that "we all should go find ourselves a rabbi we trust." The full saying, from Chapter 1, paragraph 6, is "Provide yourself a teacher, get yourself a companion (to study Torah with), and judge all men charitably." I find it interesting that Ms. Israel would "cherry-pick" a portion of a saying from Pirkei Avot, yet ignore the last part of that same saying. Is her judgment of the Israeli Rabbinate charitable?

Second, and of greater importance, is what she writes immediately after advising us to "find ourselves a rabbi." She then asks, "Why don't we rule than once a person converts…" (emphasis added). I don't understand why she would bother looking for a rabbi to trust when she seems to advocate Jewish law be subject to majority rule.

The issue of conversion to Judaism is a complex subject, which has implications not just for the convert, but for all of us. Since I'm not qualified to render an opinion on it, I won't discuss it. However, respect is something else. I would like to respect Ms. Israel's opinion. Sadly, I feel she's given me little reason to do so.

Benjamin Feigenbaum

East Brunswick