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Letters to the Editor

Republican Jewish Coalition Seeking to Defame Obama

The Republican Jewish Coalition is acting maliciously and shamelessly with this push poll that seeks to defame Barack Obama. These types of deceitful tactics fit perfectly with the swiftboat style Republican attacks we've seen throughout this campaign. John McCain needs to denounce this poll and distance himself from the lies and distortions that are being used to scare Jewish voters. Every day he fails to do so he just adds to the insult of his operatives trying to scare people into voting for him. Support for Israel needs to be a non-partisan issue. Senator Obama, throughout his political career, has a long record of steadfast support for the special relationship between the United States and Israel. It's bad enough that John McCain only offers four more years of George Bush's failed policies, but it is now apparent that is also offering four more years of George Bush's divisive politics.

Important Agriprocessors Update

Together, we have helped bring some tangible changes to the current workers at Agriprocessors' Postville plant. Our Lag B'omerville plant. Our Lag B'omer petition demanded that Agriprocessors create a department of compliance accountable to a reputable third party to ensure the company is following all law related to workers' rights, safety, and pay (see the original letter) Tzedek and Jim Martin, the Corporate Compliance Officer hired by Agriprocessors, we are not currently calling for the community to abstain from purchasing Agriprocessors' products. Please see the attached document for our full statement.

We want to see more changes, and we're going to monitor and urge for more developments in Postville, but in Uri L'Tzedek's quest to be responsible we believe it is important that we uphold our commitments and respond when we see encouraging steps towards justice.

Our work is just beginning. What has emerged in our collective efforts to pursue justice are even greateOur work is just beginning. What has emerged in our collective efforts to pursue justice are even greater problems that our community needs to address. A broken immigration policy. Child labor. Sexual abuse. Human trafficking. Affordable housing. Racism. The suffering of animals. And sadly, much, much more. By uniting the power of our community, our deep commitment to Torah and halachah , and our love for our fellow human beings made in the image of God, we will strive to "be the change we wish to see in the world."

Lo aleicha ha'melacha ligmor, - the work is not for us to complete, v'lo atah ben chorin l'hivatel mimenu - but neither are we free to desist from it.

In shared partnership for the creation of a more compassionate world,

-- Shmuly Yanklowitz, Tsufit Daniel, Aaron Finkelstein and Rabbi Ari Weiss and Ari Hart -- New York City, NY

The Philadelphia Jewish Voice welcomes the submission of articles and letters to the editor letters @ pjvoice.com. Please include name, address and phone number for identification purposes. We cannot publish every submission we receive. We also reserve the right to edit submissions for length, clarity, grammar, accuracy, and style, though we will never intentionally distort the author's intent.

Editor-in-chief Ben Burrows editor @ pjvoice.com.

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