I feel that the headline, “Debate Over ‘Schnorring’ For Fire Trucks” (Dec. 10), and the article, were an insult to your readers. In answer to the question posed as to “why Jews in the Diaspora should absorb the firefighting costs…” the answer is in one word — tzedakah. Jews help Jews in time of need.
We are very fortunate that we live in country where we do not worry daily about whether a rocket will explode in our midst, or that Iran will decide to test a nuclear bomb over one of our cities. It is easy to criticize a government in hindsight, but unfortunately it sometimes takes a major disaster to move an issue to a higher priority.
Did The Jewish Week criticize its readers when they were asked to support New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, when it was evident that the city did not adequately prepare itself?
Did The Jewish Week criticize its readers when they were asked to support New York City after 9/11 when it again became apparent that our government did not adequately prepare itself to handle such a terrorist event?
An article more befitting of The Jewish Week would have congratulated its readers for the quick and generous support that they made in support of Israel in its time of need.
Forest Hills, Queens
Editor’s Note: The above letter implies that The Jewish Week criticized those of its readers who gave money to the Carmel Fire relief effort. We did not. We reported on a debate that had broken out in the aftermath of the fire about the role of Jewish philanthropy in a crisis such as this.
