Letters to the editor 3-27-09

Issue of March 27, 2009 / 2 Nissan 5769

No mercy on molesting

To the Editor:

I read “Seeking second shot at predator clergy” by Michael Orbach and your editorial “Yes on victim compensation, no on communal bankruptcy” in the March 20 issue of your paper. The position attributed to Rabbi David Zwiebel, speaking on behalf of Agudath Israel, touched a nerve. I am appalled that the Agudah –– an organization I have always held in the highest esteem –– could waver on this issue.

When parents send their children to school, we are entrusting the school, its administration and its faculty, with what we hold most dear. When a child is abused, that trust is violated in the most basic, damaging and ugly way. I have as much sympathy for the abusers as I do for the yeshivas and community organizations (and their administration) that enabled the abuse and have little sympathy for whether they are bankrupted. As far as I am concerned, those yeshivas and community organizations should be razed to the ground and the land sown with salt.

Mark Klein

Woodmere

Remembering Shep Melzer

Dear Mrs. Melzer,

I cannot begin to express the sorrow that I personally, and speaking for our Lawrence Board of Trustees and Administration, feel for the loss you and your family, together with all of us, have sustained by Shep’s untimely passing.

He was the best kind of human being one could be. As Chairman of our Zoning Board of Appeals, he gave of himself tirelessly to the community, to all who dealt with him professionally and to so many, who needed his generous hand and heart on a personal level. He was also generous of spirit and showed respect for all human beings.

I spent many hours discussing with him matters before his board and always urged that we find ways to settle conflicts amicably, in compromise and out of court. His last deep and dedicated involvement, accomplished exactly such an outcome.

It will be almost impossible to find someone to take his place. He will be sorely missed. I thank him for the indelible impact he has had on me.

Fondly and with deep admiration,

I remain sincerely yours,

C. Simon Felder

Sports coverage

To the editor:

I am a Long Island parent with five children who attend the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC). While I do not live in the Five Towns, I look forward to reading The Jewish Star each week for a variety of reasons. One reason for certain, is that it is always nice to catch up with the Yeshiva League sports.

I am very disappointed that there was no article written this week about the Yeshiva League basketball playoff games. While we know at this point that none of the Five Towns schools’ teams will be represented in the boys championship game on Sunday, March 22, it really would have been nice to see coverage of the quarterfinal and semifinal games (especially as you bill your paper as the “independent and original reporting from the Orthodox communities of Long Island”).

While these boys are quite the rivals on the court, they all seem to be pretty friendly off the court –– be it from their neighborhoods, sleepaway camps, or Jewish social networking. My husband and I attend many, many games. It is a pleasure to see the boys congratulate each other and console each other after the games.

Perhaps there is a lesson to learn from these youngsters. Wouldn’t it be nice if we, as adults, could offer each other the same camaraderie and give kudos to whichever team comes out victorious, regardless of what neighborhood their school is in?

Loren Daitch

Merrick

The following letter appeared first in the online edition. It is to appear in print April 3, 2009

Another look at Bircat HaChama

To the Editor:

Listening to the speakers at a Yeshiva University symposium about Bircat HaChama, I cringed at the ongoing misinformation about this blessing (Shedding new light on Bircat HaChama; March 20, 2009). Although your writer reports that according to presenter Rabbi David Pahmer our sages were able to make precise astronomical calculations, the reality is quite different.

Bircat HaChama is meant to commemorate the moment that the sun, as perceived from earth, returns to its position when it was first created. That moment, the onset of the fourth day of creation, signifies the start of spring, the vernal equinox. Although our day begins in the evening, the sun is not visible at night, and so we delay the blessing until Wednesday at sunrise.

The calculation used for Bircat HaChama was made by the Talmudic sage Abaye, based on the computation of his fellow sage Shmuel, who determined that the solar year is 365 and a quarter days long. Every 28 years, the sun returns to this original position. The date of the equinox is April 7 at night.

But the true solar year is actually over 11 minutes shorter than Shmuel's figure. This results in an improper determination of the equinox. Indeed, whereas spring began this year on March 20, Bircat HaChama will be said 19 days too late. (Furthermore, Pesach must occur in the spring. If the equinox falls on April 7, then there are many years when Pesach begins in winter!)

Rabbi J. David Bleich, another symposium presenter, has written that Shmuel knew the true length of the year but rounded it off in order not to confuse the masses. This suggestion is untenable. Is it logical that Shmuel would have permitted the recitation of a blessing to mark an anniversary that he knew did not occur?

Additionally, according to Rabbi Bleich, this year marks only the third time that Bircat HaChama is recited on Erev Pesach. The other two, he claims, were in the year that the Jews left Egypt and in the year of the Purim miracle. Simple arithmetic discloses that neither of these years completes the required 28-year cycle. Moreover, the day of Shmuel's equinox has actually coincided with Erev Pesach on 11 occasions.

I am not trying to change the halacha, and I plan to join my fellow Jews in joyfully reciting Bircat HaChama. But we achieve nothing by being intellectually dishonest regarding the quality of Talmudic scientific knowledge.

Avi Goldstein

Far Rockaway