Dear Hadassah Magazine reader, we want to hear from you! Please email letters to the editor to letters@hadassah.org. 

From Cover to Feature to Travel 

I had to share my thoughts on such an amazing issue (May/June 2024). Noa Tishby was a great choice for the cover. I saw her speak during a Zoom presentation with the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte. I remember thinking, “Who is she?” Turns out, she was captivating in her courage, knowledge and beauty—inside and out. I bought her book Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Understood Country on Earth and put it on the shelf.

Come October 7, I pulled it out and read it. It is so informative. Being raised in New York and New Jersey, I didn’t know the history of the Middle East as I wish I had. Her book is thorough and has made me more knowledgeable. I have recommended it many times now and have sent it to friends struggling with the adequate knowledge to support Israel and the Jewish faith. I look forward to reading Tishby’s new book and continuing to follow her on Instagram.

The story “One Beautiful Egg: The First Gestational Surrogacy” resonated with me, too. The will to have a child is probably one of the strongest. At 39, I was so sick of dating and inquired about intrauterine insemination. I always knew I wanted to be a mother. Within several months, I was pregnant. Eleven years later, I have the most amazing, well-rounded son who will soon start learning for his bar mitzvah. The best decision I ever made. And Provence—featured in “A Sojourn in Jewish Provence”—is my favorite place, rich with colors and history. I didn’t know about the synagogues there, so thank you!

Tara Price
Charlotte, N.C.

Clueless Stereotype

I love Hadassah Magazine. I love crossword puzzles. And I have a great sense of humor. But the May/June puzzle, “Jewish Mothers Past, Present and Biblical,” should not have included clues for the answers “nag,” “guilt” and “smothering” that perpetuate unfair stereotypes of Jewish women. Especially in a puzzle that elsewhere highlighted some great Jewish women.

Ruth Tepper
Newton, Mass. 

Memories of Service

Thank you for the arts story “They Also Served” by Adrienne Wigdortz Anderson (May/June issue) about the National Museum of American Jewish Military History in Washington, D.C., and the Jewish men and women who have and are serving in the armed forces.  

My husband was an officer in the Medical Service Corps from 1979 to 1994. Our family was stationed in Naples, Italy, during the Gulf War. Our little Jewish community did not have a dedicated rabbi—he was stationed aboard a ship—but I will never forget our wartime Passover seder. We hosted reservists, and our rabbi’s wife defrosted 300 kosher chicken breasts in her bathtub. She certainly knew how to improvise!

Annette Gross
Carmel, Ind.

Noa Feldman’s Latest

To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People by Noah Feldman, skillfully reviewed by Martin Raffel in the May/June issue, suggests to this reader that the author has put Jewish life on a psychiatrist’s couch for a going over, a reboot. Descriptions of Jewish denominations in today’s world as we understand them are given different designations, or different names, by the author. But redefinitions and name changes do not alter the culture or beliefs of each group, and the author comes to the end of his thesis with the generally accepted conclusion that the Jewish people, with all our differences, are ultimately one big diverse and connected happy—or not so happy—family.

I admit not having read the book, but Raffel’s review aroused my interest and now I’m off to find a copy.

Eleanor Rubin
Tinton Falls, N.J.

When Shabbat Was Something Special

I read “For Jews Over 55, ‘Feeling Part of Something’ on Friday Nights” (March/April 2024) while remembering my own long-ago experiences of Shabbat. For over 25 years, our circle got together every Friday night. We were a group of 14 (we started at 4) called TGIF, and we would meet for dessert at someone’s house. The group consisted of three past or current synagogue presidents and one rabbi, among many other notables. All the women were Hadassah life members and all the men were Associates.  

We would discuss the happenings of the week, sports and sometimes gossip. We all had synagogue and Hadassah in common. It was rare that anyone missed the get-togethers, and I shall never forget the friendships that existed and the feeling that Shabbat was something special.                                   

Marilyn Getzoff
Boynton Beach, Fla.

Which Side of History?

In “Henrietta Szold’s Gifts” (March/April), biographer Francine Klagsbrun characterizes Szold’s support for a binationalist state, a position she shared with Martin Buber, as placing her on “the wrong side of history.” True, she and Buber lost out to the dominant Zionist vision that brought about a Jewish state, one that had dominated the Palestinians. The phrase “the right side of history” generally means a result that leads to greater justice and equity. Given the wars and suffering that continue to afflict both Jews and Palestinians in the Jewish state, it is time to work for a binationalist state and an outcome that might well place the founder of Hadassah on “the right side of history.” 

Rabbi Sheila Weinberg and Maynard Seider
Philadelphia, Pa.