POSTVILLE HERALD-LEADER • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 • PAGE 7
Opinion www.postvillenewspaper.com
Letter to the Editor:
Re: Agriprocessors
It is absolutely frightening
to me that those who tortured
animals and abused people at
the Postville “kosher” slaugh-terhouse
raise the specter that
those who don’t like this are
anti-Semitic.
Conversely, it is state-ments
like this that cause
anti-Semitism, as these hor-rid
people try and make the
general populace believe that
this is behavior that Jewish
people sanction.
Nothing could be further
from the truth.
Jews are at the forefront
of all humane movements,
be it rights for children, or
for animals. Read the names
of all those who rush to the
aid of the oppressed and you
will arguably always fi nd a
disproportionate number of
Jewish names.
We Jews around the globe
are truly and deeply mortifi ed
that people would abuse peo-ple
and animals in our name.
My family also escaped
from he pogroms of Russia.
My own blue-eyed great,
great uncle infi ltrated, and ran
with, a mob of “Jew-killers”,
running into Jewish people’s
homes fi lled with cowering
children, running out shout-ing:
“No Jews here”.
So I don’t think that any
of these animal torturers can
claim a closer tie to losing
family members to Russian
anti-Semites than can I; but
growing up with the knowl-edge
that there are people in
this world who can do these
kind of things to others has
made the rest of the Jewish
people more empathetic to-wards
others, not less. as the
owners of this slaughterhouse
are sadly trying to make the
world believe.
Jayn Brotman
Cincinnati, Ohio
513 961-5555
Dear Letters Editor:
The continuing widely-reported
stories about your
local Postville, Iowa “kosher”
slaughterhouse, Agriproces-sors,
may give people a false
impression about Jewish law
regarding treatment of work-ers
and animals.
The commandment to
avoid cruelty to animals (the
requirement “to prevent the
suffering of living creatures”)
is one of the most important
codes of Jewish law, which
also requires fair treatment of
workers.
Indeed, the Jews pio-neered
the concept of kind-ness
to animals some 3,500
years ago, and it is mandated
throughout the Bible and Jew-ish
law. Even the holiest of
our laws, the Ten Command-ments,
requires that farmed
animals be allowed to enjoy a
day of rest on the Sabbath. So
the Almighty must have felt
that kindness to animals was
not a trivial matter.
Signifi cantly, the fi rst
commandments given by
the Lord (Genesis 1:22-28)
concern the welfare and sur-vival
of animals, and human
responsibilities toward them.
God’s very fi rst command-ment
(Genesis 1:22) was to
the birds, whales, fi sh and
other creatures to “be fruitful
and multiply” and fi ll the seas
and the skies. His fi rst com-mandment
to humans (Gen-esis
1:28) was to “replenish
the earth...and have domin-ion”
[stewardship] over other
creatures.
Jews are not allowed to
pass by an animal in distress
or to ignore animals being
mistreated, even on the Sab-bath.
Yet this is exactly what
we do when we certify as ko-sher
products from animals
that are treated cruelly.
It is truly a “shanda,” a
shameful thing, that a kosher
label can appear on products
resulting from the massive
abuse and suffering of bil-lions
of factory farmed crea-tures,
many of which spend
their entire lives in misery,
fear, and anguish, in addition
to the often painful way they
are killed.
Some rabbis and Jewish
leaders have even character-ized
this as a “chillul Hash-em,”
a desecration of the
name of the Lord.
As an editorial in the Jew-ish
newspaper “The Forward”
observed on 13 November,
“The behavior attributed to
Agriprocessors...ought to dis-qualify
its products from re-ceiving
religious certifi cation
by any standard worthy of the
name.”
It is hard to imagine that
abuse of animals would be
pleasing to a merciful God.
Can this truly be the will of
the Lord, whose fi rst com-mandments
concerned ani-mals,
who called each animal
He created “good” and the
Creation itself “very good,”
who instructed us in the Bible
to allow our animals an entire
day of rest on the Sabbath, to
leave some crops in the fi elds
for the wildlife, to allow oxen
to eat while working, and who
repeatedly prohibited cruelty
to animals ?
As Proverbs 10:12 tell us,
“A righteous man has regard
for the life of his beast.”
Thank you for taking the
time to consider this mes-sage.
Sincerely yours,
Lewis Regenstein
Atlanta, GA 404-814-
1371
The writer is the author
of “Replenish the Earth: The
Teachings of the world’s Re-ligions
on Protecting Animals
and Nature,” and president
of The Interfaith Council for
the Protection of Animals and
Nature <icpanonline.org>.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa
-- This year’s college-bound
Iowa high school seniors
will be the fi rst who can gain
guaranteed admission to the
University of Northern Iowa,
Iowa State University and the
College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences at The University
of Iowa with the new Regent
Admission Index (RAI) for
the fall 2009 semester.
The RAI, a calculated
score for students from Iowa
high schools, combines four
factors that strongly predict
success at Regent universi-ties:
ACT or SAT test score,
high-school rank, high-school
cumulative GPA and the
number of high-school core
courses. Students can calcu-late
their RAI at http://www.
uni.edu/admissions/fresh-men/
requirements.html.
A score of 245 or higher
qualifi es a student for auto-matic
admission to the three
Board of Regents, State of
Iowa, universities, provided
College Bound: Iowa’s new admissions requirement
affects today’s high school seniors
they meet each university’s
minimum high school course
requirements. Students with
an RAI score below 245, those
whose schools don’t provide
class rank, and out-of-state
students will be evaluated in-dividually
by the universities
to which they apply.
“What Iowa students who
want to attend college must
remember is that a score low-er
than 245 or missing a re-quirement
does not rule them
out. Their applications will
be reviewed and considered
on an individual basis,” said
Phil Patton, registrar at UNI.
“High-school students can
apply as early as the summer
before their senior year, and
although there isn’t a hard-and-
fast deadline, there are
certain advantages to apply-ing
early, such as early hous-ing
and registration options.”
This change in freshman
admission requirements to
the Regent universities en-courages
high school students
to continue taking core cours-es
in English, math, science,
social studies and foreign
language through the end of
their senior year. The RAI is
calculated at the time of ap-plication
to a university, with
students projecting which
classes they’ll take through-
BUSINESS LISTING DIRECTORY
YOUR GUIDE TO AREA BUSINESS SERVICES
Northeast Iowa Gutters
John Roe or Darwin Frana
Over 12 Years Experience
John: (563)568-2406; Cell (563)568-1870
Darwin: (563)380-8411
• Seamless Gutters 5”& 6” & Gutter Covers
• Siding & Windows
• Soffit & Fascia
• Interior & Exterior Remodeling
FREE ESTIMATES
C LEANING
N EW I NSTALLATION
& R EPAIR
C OLORS &
C OLOR M ATCHING
S ATISFYING
A LL Y OUR
C ONSTRUCTION
N EEDS
Owners:
Brian Bohr & Ken Klepper
285 E. Greene St.
Postville, IA
(563) 864-3332
B & K Heating & Plumbing Inc.
Girl Friday
Clerical Services
Color Copying, Typing, Labeling, Letters, Cards, Data Entry,
Lamination, Family History Books, Class Reunion,
Cook Books, Photo Transfers, Business Cards, Invitations
No Job is Too Small for Girl Friday!
Jo Suckow • Postville • Phone 563-864-7557
• Septic Tanks • Car Washes • Pits
Jeff Sommer, Owner
Cell: (563) 568-9004
Home: (563) 568-4412
24 Hours
Service
Sommer Pumper LLC
Septic Service
New patients welcome!
101 Franklin
Monona, IA 52159
563-539-4651
Mark
Fohey
D.D.S.
Family Dentistry
Associates of Monona
Auto. Home. Life...
Linda
Carstens
D.D.S.
• Septic Pumping
• Porta-Potty Rentals
Ness Pumping Service Inc.
(for all your special occasions or building sites)
563-568-4212 or 563-568-1379
John Hartley
Postville
864-3720
Wiring Maintenance • Residential • Farm
HARTLEY
ELECTRIC
THIS SPACE IS AVAILABLE!
Call Sara at the Postville
Herald-Leader to place your
business in our directory!
Ph. 563-864-3333
28, 2009
10pm)
the “Exciting and
classes are “FREE.”
career in the Casino
extra money, the
to be!
days
sign up,
6302
Resources Office at
McGregor, IA
until 5pm.
DEALER
position is a
tipped position!
offer fl exible
scheduling, a friendly and
environment, and
the best benefi ts
packages in the area.
January 5, 2009 – January 28, 2009
(Mon, Tue, and Wed from 6pm-10pm)
This is your opportunity to learn how to deal the
“Exciting and Fun” game of Blackjack…
and the classes are “FREE.”
Whether you are looking to start a new career in the
Casino Industry or if you simply want to earn some extra
money, the Marquette Lady Luck is the place to be!
Full-time benefi ts after 90 days
For more information and to sign up,
please call 563-873-6302
or stop by the Human Resources Office at
1118 W. Main Street, McGregor, IA
Monday through Friday 8am until 5pm.
EOE
Free
BLACKJACK DEALER
School
This position is a
highly tipped
position!
We offer fl exible
scheduling, a
friendly and fun
work environment,
and one of the best
benefi ts packages
in the area.
Northeast Iowa
Taxidermy
Quality Workmanship &
Reasonably Priced
Phone (563) 568-2794 Cell (563) 568-7342
405 8th St. SW
Waukon, IA 52172
Carl Stevenson
C REEKSIDE S TITCHERY
Sharon K. White
474 Forest Mills Road, Postville
Phone: 563-864-3135
Email: skmwhite@netins.net
Sewing, Alterations & Mending Subscribe
today!
We want to be
your source for
news, sports,
more