Kotel, conversions

With regard to “American Jewish converts ‘hurt’ and ‘humiliated’ by frozen conversion bill” (July 7), the ultra-Orthodox are disloyal not only to the State of Israel (they won’t support it as long they are not in charge), but to the Jewish people.

They want to drastically reduce the number of people who can be called Jews; they want to define the “Jewish people” to mean only those who practice Judaism as they do – and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allows them to impose their will on the State of Israel. Netanyahu has to go. BARRY WERNER Netanya

Many Diaspora Jews want to change Jewish law in Israel. They start off wanting to challenge the way we pray at the Western Wall. They have the idea that praying here should be done their way. Believe me, this is only the beginning.

If they get their way, it will lead to a lot of changes, such as samesex marriage, intermarriage without proper conversion, Shabbat as a regular day where everything is open, and many non-kosher restaurants. Should they succeed, Israel will cease to be a Jewish state.

These people can live the way they want in any other country. I pray that the prime minister and the government of Israel do not give in to this domino destruction that will destroy what we have been fortunate enough to build. SYLVIA WEISSMANN Jerusalem

At the Kotel, it is quite easy to see all kinds of people praying. They are from many different countries and many different cultural and religious backgrounds. No one is bothered as long as they don’t bother others or make a lot of noise.

It is a lie – an absolute lie – that certain people cannot pray there. At any rate, those people have no interest in praying. They simply want to make trouble, undermine the unity of the Jewish people and vilify Israel.

If we give in to all these demands, we will soon be hearing from other “special-needs groups” like nudists and those who cannot pray without their favorite pet next to them.

It is impossible to accommodate all the people who are obsessed with the idiotic belief that they are incapable of prayer unless their personal demands are met. MIRIAM ADAHAN Jerusalem

In light of the brouhaha concerning Reform Judaism, I would like to offer the following comments.

The late Yitzhak Herzog, Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, said that Reform Judaism was “a new Christianity.” The late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik of Boston, a leader of Orthodoxy in America, stated that Reform Judaism was mainly responsible for what he called a “spiritual holocaust” there.

Of course, individual members of the Reform movement are Jews if their mother is or was Jewish. What they are practicing, however, is not Judaism.

Reform Judaism denies a fundamental belief that the Torah is Divine. It believes the Torah is man-made and can therefore be changed to adapt to the times. Therefore, it is not Judaism but a new religion, and the name “Reform Judaism” is a misnomer. EPHRAIM STEIN

Jerusalem