RESPECTFULLY RELIGIOUS

I was very offended by the allegations and insinuations in “Compromise” (Letters, February 1), which referred to the article titled “The haredi community steps out” (January 25) and portrayed this community in a very negative light.

As a haredi attorney having studied/worked in the secular, Modern Orthodox/haredi and non-Jewish worlds – both in America and in Israel – I want to point out some of the inaccuracies mentioned.

Instructors do not have to be of the same gender as their students. Many, if not most of my teachers were male, and I, a female, also taught business law to haredi males. Some of my female friends are nurses, and they do not hesitate to attend to a haredi male. In fact, two of my children were delivered by a haredi obstetrician, and my family doctors in Israel and America are haredi males. My husband’s dermatologist in Israel is a haredi woman, and the haredi male Hatzalah responders do not hesitate to treat women.

When I worked with nonJews, I would often eat my kosher lunch sitting next to someone eating their lunch; whether it was kosher or not did not concern me! We were very respectful of other’s religions requirements and tried to accommodate one another. My office would give me money to buy kosher food for the December “holiday party,” whose name was changed to cover all of the religions in the office. When I was hired, my supervisor let all the males in the office know that I do not shake hands with men, and I never had a minute of trouble because of my religious requirements. I worked longer hours from Monday through Thursday so that I would not come in on an erev Shabbat or yom tov.

I think we would all be better off if we showed more sensitivity and knowledge in our representations of those who differ from us. TIRTZA JOTKOWITZ Jerusalem