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Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s tweet, “I hope that Israel follows America’s lead,” is inexplicable. This country might be democratic, but this doesn’t mean the one Jewish country in the world has to compromise its principles. The new US law is a relic of ancient Sodom, which ultimately was destroyed.Ya’alon’s duty is to defend Israel and the people living in it. How contradictory that on the one hand he defends, and on the other he would bring about its destruction.Furthermore, our defense minister stated: “Every person has the right to marry and have children regardless of their sexual orientation.” Please, Mr. Ya’alon, tell me how homosexual couples have children. Is there a military secret we don’t know about? Don’t you realize that if the homosexual community thrives, eventually there won’t be anybody left for you to defend? URI HIRSCH Netanya Your June 28 cartoon of the US Supreme Court’s three Jewish justices, who all voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, makes a serious error: Voting for single-sex marriage is not tikkun olam, the Jewish belief in the need to repair the world.We Jews are mandated to be a “light upon the nations” by God, but that means showing the world how to live a just and moral life, where morality is based on His commandments and not on the prevailing social winds.Going to Nepal, Haiti or anywhere a natural disaster hits to aid in saving lives is tikkun olam.Being an example for other nations on how to react in such a crisis, behaving like caring human beings, is our way. Taking in Syrian wounded, people who otherwise would be regarded as enemies, is our way.Teaching agricultural techniques to poor farmers in poor countries in order to improve their harvests is tikkun olam.Sharing our technological prowess with other nations for good is, too.Granting legality to behaviors that God has clearly prohibited is definitely not.BATYA BERLINGER JerusalemHe is indeed BDS With regard to “Is Thurston Moore opposed to Israel’s existence?” (Comment & Features, June 29), the British musician canceled his performance in Israel in support of the BDS movement.We agree he is BDS: Brain-dead and stupid!SANDY REICHMAN MADALYN SCHAEFFER JerusalemDe facto occupiersRuthie Blum (“A damning indictment of the Jewish state,” Right from Wrong, June 29) must know she is guilty of a logical fallacy.That the authors of the UN Human Rights Council’s report on the Gaza war are probably anti-Semitic, and that they chose a nasty comparison between the Wehrmacht and the IDF, have no bearing on their argument that Israel is an occupying power in Gaza.When we can deny the Gazans air and seaports, control the legal entry of goods, fully control their skies and retaliate with massive force (all of which I support), we are, de facto, occupiers.AMIEL SCHOTZ MeitarMisleading headlinesAll those who care for the Jewish people would be happy to know that all is well in the world of Jewish demography and that the recently proclaimed recovery of the Jewish population is correct (“World’s Jewish population nears pre-Shoah numbers,” June 28). Unfortunately, though, the headline is more spin than reality.On the eve of the second world war there were 16.6 million Jews in the world. Today, according to this report, there are 14.2 million Jews. Many of these Jews would not have met the test for being Jewish in the pre-war counting. Nearly two million are immigrants to Israel who are not halachically Jewish or, in the Diaspora, the children of one Jewish parent who might not even think themselves as being Jewish at all.Perhaps even more important is the basic truth that outside Israel, the Jewish population is declining due to intermarriage and low birth rates. And while Israel is the great shining light and exception in Jewish demography, a closer analysis would reveal that there are many problems here, too.So while it is heartening to know that the Jewish people is still here and growing, a people that before the Shoah constituted nearly one percent of humanity and now consists in less than two-tenths of a percent is no reason for complacent satisfaction.SHALOM FREEDMAN JerusalemWith “Lutheran pastor says Jews to blame for destroying Christian values after US approves gay marriage” (June 28), The Jerusalem Post website made a poor choice for a headline.The item was about anti-Semitic statements made by Mark Dankof, a fringe political candidate who claims to hold a theology degree. However, there is no mention of genuine church leadership on his website and related blog, which are full of disjointed ravings about Zionist conspiracies and his friendship with former Ku Klux Klan chieftain David Duke.With its pleasant ovine associations, the word “pastor” implies a standing of leadership in a credible body of Christian worship, especially when tied to such a mainstream collection of thought as Lutheranism. It appears that Dankof has no legitimate church.It is dismaying that the Post should elevate his profile with a sacred title and lend the impression that his beliefs are shared by anything more than a tiny fraction of deluded souls.TOM ZOELLNER Los AngelesWhat a shameWith regard to “Woes of Arad” (Letters, June 25), certainly the mayor of that southern town needs to do more. The shopping center does have a lot to offer, but the place needs the cooperation of others outside.I have passed through Arad, twice in the past year, but each time the driver of the bus taking me and fellow passengers to the Dead Sea chose to make his major “pit stop” on the highway and gave just five minutes to Arad – which certainly has more to offer in shopping than the highway.I heard other passengers say what a shame.GLORIA MOUND NetanyaHaving to payHow disappointed I was to see that the top-seeded matches at Wimbledon are being broadcast on Channel 58, which is a forpay channel.It’s bad enough that the matches are not on the regular sports channel, Channel 51, as Eurosport does not have the franchise. But one will actually have to pay to watch the top players’ matches! Who are the powers that be that organize the coverage of Wimbledon?SALLY SHAW Kfar Saba
Letters to the Editor: Same-sex marriage
While I do not think that gays should be abused or deprived of their human rights, to override the word of God and allow them to be married is something Israel should not be involved in.
