Letters to editor: Extreme views, Harvey response

Have a letter you want to write to the editor? Email Sharon Wisch-Ray at sharon@tjpnews.com.

Extreme religious views should not be part of TJP’s coverage

I’m writing concerning Rabbi Fried’s column in the Aug. 31 issue of the TJP. In this column, he is asked about the Hebrew alphabet.
Instead of enlightening readers by citing well-known facts that the original Hebrew script was developed in Canaan during the first millennium BCE, a fact that is well-documented by modern scholars and supported by multiple archeological evidence (especially the Zait Stone), he claims that Hebrew is fundamentally different from other languages because both Hebrew letters and words were created by God.
I recognize the fact that there are various streams of Orthodoxy which believe in the supernatural origin of Hebrew. But Rabbi Fried represents the most extreme wing, which does not allow even the slightest acknowledgment of scientific facts.
As a great God-believing scientist once said: “All truth is God’s truth, and therefore God can hardly be threatened by scientific discoveries.” Obviously Rabbi Fried represents the most extreme position.
The most terrifying part of this story is that apart from his dismissal of modern science, he is poisoning curious minds by imposing his medieval philosophy.
The role of the Texas Jewish Post is to inform about events in the Dallas/Fort Worth Jewish Community and not to represent the narrow views of an extreme minority.
— Julian Borejdo, Dallas

Harvey brought out best in our community

The tragedy of Hurricane Harvey specifically targeted our Jewish neighbors and neighborhoods in Houston. Almost overnight, our Dallas community responded with the most amazing love, support and of course with food. We perhaps now hold some type of “world record for kosher Meals on Wheels during a hurricane.”
With the help of our local kosher caterers, synagogues and with funds provided from the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, our community delivered thousands (that’s a lot of chicken) of kosher meals in time for Shabbos just days after the hurricane nearly destroyed a community.
Kosher meals provided continued well after Shabbat as it took many days for families to be able to return to their homes. In addition, leaders from the community drove not one but two large trucks full of nearly 16,000 needed items into the Jewish Community Center of Houston, where their tennis courts quickly became a staging ground for distribution.
In this time of crisis I was so proud of our Dallas Jewish community.
From strength to strength.
— Mark Kreditor, Board Chair Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas

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