Compounding this challenge is Maryland's decision to cut nursing home reimbursement by a staggering $23 million. Perhaps equally troubling is the fact that this cut only saves the state $8.8 million after the elimination of $14.2 million in matching federal funds that would have been available to nursing home residents.

Over the last four years, the state has reduced nursing home reimbursement well in excess of $130 million. In our organization, these reductions are compounded by declining earnings on endowments that are typically used to provide charitable care to the elderly residents of Montgomery County and surrounding communities.

Nursing home residents, most of whom have complex medical needs, are the frailest segment of Maryland's population. This latest reduction jeopardizes not only quality of care but their quality of life. Some nursing homes may have to close or discontinue their efforts to provide charity care, thereby jeopardizing access to quality nursing home care.

The challenges facing Maryland are difficult. However, in addressing Maryland's budget shortfall, essential health-care services for our elderly should be the last services to be cut, not the first.

Maryland needs to ensure that the steps it takes now in the short term will not destroy the fabric of the health-care system for our state's frail elderly in the long term. Don't our elders deserve better?

WARREN R. SLAVIN

President/CEO, Charles E. Smith Life Communities, Hebrew Home of Greater Washington

Touched a nerve

In response to the letter written by Rhoda Ritzenberg regarding the Cantors Assembly trip to Poland ("Pluralism should be the norm in Poland," WJW, July 30), this issue of pluralism has touched a nerve ‹ regarding men's and women's voices being heard in a synagogue dark for more than 60 years.

I, too, was in attendance at the Friday night service at the Krakow Temple Synagogue on July 3 and I could not even penetrate the crowd to get into the shul. I was in line for well over an hour and waited with Jews and non-Jews alike, mostly native Poles, who tried to sneak a peek at the Jewish service going on.

I, for one, was there to daven, not as a spectator, because it was such a momentous occasion. Whether or not men's or women's voices were heard was not the issue at all, but the revival and burgeoning interest in all things Jewish in Krakow, Poland.

This service and the Cantors Assembly coincided with the 19th annual Jewish Klezmer Music Festival held in the former Jewish Quarter in Krakow where literally thousands of spectators come to the festival and stand in the square for hours on end listening to Jewish music.

I was not offended by the "men-only voices from the bima," but rather touched by the experience and this significant occasion; I am sorry that this emotion was lost on many in attendance.

SARA SILVERMAN KLOMPUS

Lake Worth, Fla.

The right to know

Dan Kosky libels the IDF veterans group "Breaking the Silence" when he says that "the group attempted to discredit the IDF as a whole" ("New Israel Fund has a duty ... not to fund groups opposing the Jewish state," WJW, Aug. 6). In fact, many of the testimonies BtS collected and published justify the Gaza operation ‹ but they reported problems in its execution, problems from the standpoint of international and IDF codes of conduct.

BtS is made up of former combat officers and soldiers who feel that the Israeli public has a right to know what is done in its name.

It is not a political organization and does not call for an end to the occupation. It is not anti-war or pro-peace. It informs the Israeli public what the moral price of the occupation is and about the dubious conduct of military operations.

The testimonies, which were double-verified, and which are not claimed to be representative, can be downloaded at http://www.shovrimshtika.org/oferet/ENGLISH_oferet.pdf

It is time for NGO Monitor to stop smearing the messenger and start paying attention to the message.

JERRY HABER

Jerusalem

Enough with the settlements. Enough with the road map. Enough with negotiations that lead nowhere. Let's get real ‹ this is as good as it is going to get for Israel. We aren't going to eliminate crime; we aren't going to eliminate hate; we aren't going to eliminate or appease Abbas or Hamas (nor will America eliminate or appease the Taliban or al Qaeda).

Before Oslo, Israel controlled all of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza. With Oslo, Israel ceded to Arafat/Abbas large chunks of territory, released thousands of terrorists, limited growth in some settlements and uprooted others. With the disengagement, Israel ceded all of Gaza to the P.A./Hamas. What have the Palestinians ceded to Israel? All Israel has ever gotten from the Palestinians in return are worthless promises, suicide bombers and rockets.

Critics are fond of complaining that the settlements have not and do not provide security for Israel. Has the appeasement of Arafat, Abbas and the Palestinians in the territories provided more security or less security for Israel? Have fewer Israelis been killed and terrorized since Oslo as compared to the preceding years or have more been killed?

Have the last few years of not negotiating with Abbas caused more terrorism or less terrorism ‹ more Israeli deaths or fewer?

Neither Abbas nor any Palestinian leader will ever give up the "right of return" and the demand for full control of eastern Jerusalem. To do so they would be measuring their life expectancy in days or even hours.

A "perfect peace" does not exist. The best peace is one that minimizes Israeli casualties. Appeasement has never brought down casualties; it has led to more casualties. A strong defense has been and is Israel's best course.

MELVIN FARBER

Silver Spring