Community Magazine November 2003

14 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE s ” xc Dear Community, I read with interest Victoria Matalon’s well written article “Not Back to School” in the September issue of the Community Magazine. At one point she states: “It’s not only about money.” It may not be only about money, but it has a lot to do about money. For years I have been urging members of our community to stop spending so lavishly when building new syna- gogues and use the money to build new schools. I am aware of a mitzvah “Veshinantam Lebanecha Vedibarta Bam”. We should educate our children, but I am not aware of a mitzvah to spend so lavishly on synagogues. A synagogue can be any room or house and does not have to be surrounded by luxury. In this respect we should imitate some of our Ashkenazic brethren. The number of Sephardic schools is woefully inadequate for the growing number of Sephardic children “Ken Yirubu” and we are forced to send them to Ashkenazic schools where they learn Torah, but do not learn our “Minhagim” and pro- nunciation of the Hebrew language. Her sugges- tion of an “education planning board” is a very good one. S INCERELY , Y OSEF S. Y EDID Dear Editor, Your story in last month’s issue by Rabbi David Sutton about Hacham Ezra Attia was especially close to my heart. Hacham Ezra was instrumental in helping my father resolve a very difficult business matter within our family. His wisdom, compassion and patience kept my family from splintering apart at a very difficult time and ultimately led me to find my Naseeb [predestined mate]. It is commendable that your publication takes the time to pay homage to such an outstanding soul. R ACHEL L EVY Dear Editor, I enjoy your magazine. I was wondering whether I could get a copy of the article “The Truth about Science” from your Tishrei issue as a computer file. I’ve been having a long email dia- logue with someone in Israel about science and Torah and thought it was great hashgacha pratis that I noticed the science cover story in a store. T HANKS , M RS . H OMNICK Editor’s reply: We were happy to fulfill your request. Dear Editor, Rabbi Mansour’s powerful article “The Truth About Science” illuminated some of the incred- ible knowledge that our sages had access to thousands of years ago. But people should not , misconstrue the Torah view on scientific pur- suits. Every new invention is part of Hashem’s plan for the world. Jewish philosophy advocates investigating the world around us in order to learn more and improve the way we live. So while the Torah will always be leaps and bounds ahead of any of man’s discoveries, we must nev- ertheless attempt to seek out these discoveries empirically. M ORRIS S UTTON SEND YOUR LETTERS TO: Mail: Community Magazine 1616 Ocean Pkwy Brooklyn, NY 11223 Fax: 718-504-4246 email: letters@communitym.com Letters submitted become the property of Community Magazine and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Letters may be edited and revised for length, style and grammar before publication. L E T T E R S David J. Matalon & Associates KINGSBROOK BROKERAGE SERVICE, INC Insurance Specialists S PECIALIZING IN THE A PPAREL & R EAL E STATE I NDUSTRIES Brokers Consultants 160 Broadway, New York, NY 10038 (212) 513-1600 (212)227-5444 Fax (212)233-3950