To the Editor:

Re: “The Wrong to Remain Silent by Ariela Rutkin-Becker,” Opinion, Jan. 27

Although we can empathize with the inanity of the modern synagogue and its pernicious mailing list, we take offense at Ariella Rutkin-Becker’s assertion that observant Jews “concern themselves more with laws of kashrut … than with laws that deal with our own humankind.”

A fundamental tenet of humankind and of Jewish law is the right to self defense. Indeed, the Talmud says that one is allowed (and obligated) to kill someone threatening the life of another. When a country is threatened by rockets that are very real (not “psychological,” as you put it) it owes it to its citizens to respond sufficiently. President Obama acknowledged as much. When asked for his thoughts on the situation in Southern Israel, he replied that “the first job of any nation state is to protect its citizens. If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing".

Obviously, in any war there will be civilian causalities, especially when one side uses its own people as human shields. Israel, however, took incredible pains to minimize the damage by sending text messages to Gazan citizens, warning them to leave their houses if they had weapons stashed inside. Can you imagine Hamas texting Israeli schoolchildren about the Kassam rockets about to land on their school? If how Hamas treats their own children is any indication, then the answer is a resounding “no.” We know there were multiple instances where Hamas hid in civilian buildings and used children as human shields.

Blaming American and Israeli Jews for Hamas’ inhumanity is both intellectually dishonest and incredibly narrow-minded. This article deserves no L’chaims.

Judah Bellin ’12

Josh Mitrani ’12