Community Magazine January 2014

LETTERS SECULAR COLLEGE Your recent article, entitled “What Every Parent Needs to Know Before Sending Their Kids to College” [in the December 2013 issue], was a very serious and thought- provoking article, and everyone in our community should be aware of its revelations. Yet, despite its indisputable and urgent message, I think this article ultimately is incomplete. First, if the situation is as horrific as the article makes it out to be, then how is it that 75 percent of Jews maintain their religiousness? I don’t dispute the facts, per se, but either the circumstances described by the collective facts are not well-balanced in painting a more complete picture (which they don’t seem to me to be), and thus exaggerate the danger, or else something is inaccurate with that statistic. Another bizarre aspect of this is the “logic” presented at the end. Just because many graduates don’t immediately find jobs, the article casually dismisses the advantage and importance of a college degree (as is evident by the fact that two of the four “solutions” suggest foregoing any college degree altogether in favor of apprenticeships or vocational school). Finally, there is an entire, obvious solution that was left out: enroll in a secular college close enough to home so that living away from home is unnecessary (and, thus, the “home influence” can continue). It’s what I did, and it’s what a substantial segment of this community did, as well. Of course, YU and Touro are clear options, but might not be for everyone and, thankfully, we are surrounded by many other secular alternatives that wouldn’t necessarily present the sort of environmental influence and indoctrination that an “away college” would present. This option is, in my opinion, a glaring omission. P. Arking I attended secular college and although I did witness Jewish students that went off the derech [path of religious observance], I strongly feel that many of those people had already made the decision to go off the derech (whether subconsciously or consciously) before going to college. There is, without a doubt, a predisposition among people who tend to gravitate toward different environments. That does not give people permission in any way to place themselves in a bad environment. The bottom line is that parents must know their children and students must be honest with themselves. If parents give their child a solid foundation, and I don’t just mean a child who knows a lot of Torah, but a child who has a proper perspective on Jewish life, therewould be a lot less to be concerned about. Unfortunately, our yeshivot alone are not able to instill the proper values in students without help from the parents. It is the parents that need to teach their children moral and spiritual ethics from a very early age. There is not a lot a yeshiva can do if the same ethics and principles are not practiced and taught at home. Simply put, if by the age of 17, one has not developed an inbuilt sense of right and wrong, what is “ tumah ” and what is “ tahor ,” in its broadest sense, there’s not a lot a yeshiva can do to stop one from “going off the derech .” K. Dweck ALTERNATIVEMEDICINE Most of the health problems present today are because we caused themviaour habits and/or excessive use of pharmaceutical medications. My family and I have used natural medicine for over a decade, and I can attest to the effectiveness and success of alternative medicine. Having said that, I must say that I was a little disturbed by the article titled, “Alternative Medicine” that appeared in last month’s issue. I found the following lines from the article very misleading: “ Traditional medical doctors are not only trained, they’re licensed. But that’s not the case with CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) practitioners .” These sentences are implying that Alternative practitioners and their therapies are not safe and cannot be trusted. The common complaint against alternative medicine is that their practices are not based on evidence. Well, I have news for you – alternative therapy has a higher percentage of efficacy data than conventional medicine! Many people are unaware that the therapies provided by Alternative practitioners are “evidence supported” 33 percent of the time. Now at first that may sound like a low percentage, but the medicine provided by conventional doctors are only 20-25 percent supported by evidence! Based on my experiences, I would strongly recommend to everyone natural medicine over using pharmaceuticals. Jessie B. DECEMBER ISSUE In my opinion, the December issue of Community magazine was the best yet. Thank you for uncovering some of the pitfalls of higher education. Why would any parent take so many reckless risks with their most prized possessions, their children? Furthermore, the problems with live organ donation are so important to know; forget about those associated with organ donation after death. And lastly, and once again, in the article about bacteria you’ve shown how our hachamim knew all the ins and outs of science before the rest of the world through the power of our Torah. Hazak U’Baruch! D. Tawil TELL US WHAT YOU REALLY THINK! WRITE US A LETTER MOBILE: Scan the Quick Response (QR) code here with your tablet, smart phone or other mobile device. EMAIL: letters@Community M .com WEB: www. Community M .com FAX: 718-504-4246 POST: Community Magazine 1616 Ocean Pkwy Brooklyn, NY 11223 14 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE