Worthless evaluation

In his Chronicle letter of July 1, Dr. Leonard M. Moss of Scottsdale claims that at a recent meeting President Obama “... repeated his commitment to Israeli security, stating that he knew what was best for the Jewish state.” Apparently Dr. Moss can provide your readers with the date and the direct quotation from President Obama so that we can all check out Dr. Moss’ contention for ourselves, just as in my letter I cited the location of the material to which I referred. Without proof his evaluation is worthless.
My previous letter was not about President Obama’s promises of security, as Dr. Moss claims. The letter was regarding President Obama’s reference to peace talks beginning with the 1967 boundaries. I stated that it has been widely publicized that those boundaries are, in fact, already the starting point of the peace agreement to which both the Palestinian Authority and the previous Israeli government theoretically agreed. See the feature article in The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 3, 2011.
As to deceit, remember Maimonides’ halachah in the Mishnah Torah, Hilchot De’ot 2:6 (B.T. Hulin 94a and b) regarding “g’neivat da’at,” “It is forbidden for a person to conduct himself with smooth and seductive words. And he should not be one thing with words and another in his heart. Rather, his insides should be as his appearances (tocho k’baro), and what is in his heart should be the same as is in his mouth. And it is forbidden to deceive (lignov da’at) anyone, including gentiles...” In plain words, Jewish law forbids knowingly leading someone, whether by omission or commission, to a conclusion the speaker knows to be false.

Rabbi Mark H. Levin, D.H.L
Congregation Beth Torah

Beware

It was interesting to read in The Chronicle (July 1) where Gov. Sam Brownback presented Unity Coalition for Israel founder Esther Levens with a special proclamation for the work her late husband had done in supporting Israel. And Esther is certainly to be commended for the work she has done, also. But as we all know, the governor is a “longtime religious right ally” who has had no problem “blurring the church-state line.” In January, he all but “turned his swearing-in ceremony into a religious revival.” I once read that what differentiates many religions from cults is that with a cult, if you don’t believe what they believe, you are going to be punished. Perhaps the time has come for Christians to acknowledge that you don’t have to believe in Jesus as your savior in order to get to heaven.
And kudos to Rabbi Mark Levin (June 10) for his use of the word “deceitful.”  Dr. Leonard Moss (July 1) must be getting too much sun in Scottsdale; either that, or he’s also one of those right-wing Republicans who would love to see President Obama fail. Could be both.

Marvin Fremerman
Ridgedale, Mo.