I appreciated reading Gerard Leval’s op-ed regarding 80 rabbis who shamefully penned a letter related to “moral clarity.” They had the chutzpah to identify themselves as rabbis and Orthodox. I question how astute they are when it comes to Jewish law. Do they know what the halacha is regarding Milchemet Mitzvah (wars of self-defense) and Rodef (when someone comes to kill you)?
They might also want to familiarize themselves with the philosopher George Santayana who said, “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
During World War II, many German innocents and children, who were not Nazis, were killed when the allies bombed and destroyed cities. Two cities come to mind immediately — Dresden and Berlin. When we had to bring Japan to the peace table, we dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Unfortunately, precious lives were lost in both of these circumstances of war.
In all these situations the United States was not the aggressor, but in war you have to be aggressive and tenacious. Weakness does not win prizes nor wars.
We as Jews and other people of goodwill should not forget that awful day on Oct. 7, 2023, when our fellow Jews were murdered, some set on fire and beheaded. Women were raped and many men and women were taken hostage and tortured.
If Winston Churchill were alive, he would probably restate his famous words on appeasement to these 80 rabbis: “You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war.”
Professor Dr. Martin Garfinkle, former Chevy Chase resident
Gerard Leval’s support of Israel’s pursuit of the Gaza war is certainly a legitimate position, no matter how one feels about the war. As President Donald Trump might say, “There are very fine people on both sides.”
But some of his statements are confounding: “The accusations of a Gaza famine remain largely unsubstantiated,” “There have been very few images of starving Gazans,” and “To the extent that the assertions regarding an alleged famine are unverified, their dissemination is inappropriate.”
Exactly what more than we have been seeing and hearing would it take for him to believe there was verification? Finally, it is not “arrogant” or “a moral failing” for the 80 Orthodox rabbis to advocate for Jews to behave like Jews. We should expect no less from our moral leaders.
Steven Block, Baltimore
