An inspiration Sir, – Rabbi Gideon Sylvester's op-ed, “Religious peacemakers” (Opinion, December 5) shows that Israeli society would be a much better place if there were more people like the author, Rabbi Michael Melchior and others who share the true peacemaking mission. We need all Jews, Muslims and Christians, who believe in and are willing to work toward creating a society with respect and tolerance for all. Keep up the good work! You are an inspiration! JERI HAHN-MARKOWITZ Nirit Iffy advice Sir, – The advice for newlyweds in your November 28 Psychology column seems to be very one-sided (“Psychological tips for newlyweds: Dealing with the in-laws). Deference to the girl's parents was so obvious that one could assume the doctor had little experience dealing with this sensitive issue. I am quite certain that statistics would prove that the boy's parents are more often hurt by the hopefully unintentional insensitivity of the daughter-in-law and her parents. It behooves the doctor to rethink his “points of advice” to newlyweds. VICKI SCHREIBER Ma'aleh Adumim Holy works Sir, – The photo caption on page 43 for Levi Cooper's “Hassidic Torah?” (November 21) would have us believe that “with the exception of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev,” hassidic Torah scholars had their works “published posthumously.” This is erroneous. In 1796, two years before the Berditchever Rebbe, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe published his Tanya. In 1808, two years before he died, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov published the first edition of the Likutei Mohran. In 1780, the Toldot Yaakov Yosef was published in the lifetime of its author, Yaakov Yosef Katz of Polonya. There are additional exceptions. YISRAEL MEDAD Shiloh A different world Sir, – Daniel Gordis grew up in a different world than we have now (“Restoring a golden era, A Dose of Nuance, Opinion, November 28). He was able to see how Hitler was defeated; to see the State of Israel born even after the unbelievable horrors of the Holocaust; to imagine the West as Sir Galahad. However, the world has become completely evil, especially Western civilization. The West has joined Muslim nations, whose one and only vision of a world order is to destroy Israel. Their hope for the future is ultimately Shari'a law extended over the world and a system of dictatorship banning freedom of thought. People like Gordis can hope that someday there will be a definitive uprising against this kind of thinking. No one knows if this is ever going to be since the US, England, Germany, etc. are bound together in cowardice – except for a rare handful,they have joined the forces of evil. TOBY WILLIG Jerusalem Triggering memories Sir, – I read Yaakov Bar-On's article about the book of Hanna Szenes' letters (“Hanna's letters,” Cover, November 7) with great interest. He described her as a lovely, thoughtful lady and a hard-working member of a kibbutz. I did not personally know Hanna Szenes, but the article triggered my memory from when I was incarcerated in the Hungarian political prison in Budapest, then controlled by the German SS authorities. My story as it relates to Hanna began with my escape from Lvov, Poland, to Budapest, where I joined the underground. Eventually my leadership sent me to Arad, a border town between Hungary and Romania, to determine whether the border was safe to use as an escape route from the German occupation. It was not; I was arrested by the Hungarian gendarmes. After many interrogations at different jails, I was brought back to the Koci political prison. This is where I was exposed to Hanna. Early in October 1944, when I and my fellow inmates looked out the window to see that, across the courtyard, someone was waving a paper. On one sheet was written “Chana” (as I recall the spelling of it), and on another sheet was written Szenes. It seemed to be newspaper pages with black writing on them. Soon afterwards, I was transferred to Auschwitz. I did not know who Hanna was at the time, but since liberation, I have learned about her. She was a very resourceful person who was letting the world know that “I was here.” I can attest to that. WILLIAM LOEW Mount Airy, Maryland
