In another embarrassing moment for Israel, Shas has issued a “fatwah” of sorts against a well-meaning, peace-loving individual who happens to disagree on how the “haredi problem should be approached (“Expelled From Shas, And Preaching Tolerance,” Between the Lines, Jan. 14).
It seems that when some Jewish organizations start to lose their relevance they become hostile. We have seen in the last few months the outright callousness towards the Jewish community when it comes to medical issues (end-of-life decisions), neighbors (renting to non-Jews) and conversion (disregarding Israeli military conversions).
Rabbi Chaim Amsellem is not alone to have a death threat made against him. Jeremiah the Prophet was threatened by his own people when he warned of the coming destruction of the Temple.
The Second Temple was destroyed, the rabbis tell us, because of the infighting in the Jewish community and corruption by the High Priest. These events happened thousands of years ago. And really, not much has changed since then.
Jamaica Estates, Queens
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