To the Editor:

Re: “The Wrong to Remain Silent by Ariela Rutkin-Becker,” Opinion, Jan. 27

Although we can empathize with the inanity of the modern synagogue and its pernicious mailing list, we take offense at Ariella Rutkin-Becker’s assertion that observant Jews “concern themselves more with laws of kashrut … than with laws that deal with our own humankind.”

I wasn’t lucky enough to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington, but that didn’t make the moment any less memorable. I traded a sea of admirers surrounded by neoclassical monuments for a cozy corner of Collegetown Bagels, where my eyes could wander from the television screen to the swirling snow beyond the café’s broad windows.

What I liked most about the inauguration was that it distracted me, if only for a moment, from thoughts of the thousand-plus Gazans killed since late December.

One of the most inspiring moments of the speech came when Obama spoke to the Muslim world, claiming that “we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” Nuance was finally back in Washington, and she looked sexy.

Note: Yesterday I received a letter from my hometown temple, notifying me that as part of the “Sisterhood” College Connection program that I’m signed up for, a donation was made in my name to a village helping to relocate Israeli youth “away from the stress of the situation.” Receiving notification that my name was so perfunctorily assigned — that my beliefs were assumed based on my affiliation with a congregation — to a unilateral cause which I never would have personally supported, re-ignited a fire of anger that persisted throughout all of winter break. Interspersed in this column are actual quotes that I received in my present yesterday from Mr. Isaac Herzog, Israel’s minister of welfare and social services (believe me, I could not have dreamed this title up.)

Of the many historic firsts marked by Tuesday’s inauguration, one of the least compelling is the fact that we now have a Crackberry addict as our commander-in-chief. Shameless e-mail checkers and headline watchers around the country were validated as Obama’s assumption of the highest position in the land signaled the official enshrinement of the Web-and-media culture that defines so many Americans.

Several issues drive the media debate about the situation in Gaza and Israel. The primary one is inevitable, created by the competing narratives of history that have shaped the conflict since its beginnings. The “Palestine Solidarity” community and their “We Stand With Israel” opponents will always quarrel about who started the violence. They argue further over which side has followed international law, which side is the victim, which side is the aggressor and who lays claim to the land.

Though both Israel and Hamas have agreed to stop firing at one another, the war that lasted for three weeks between the two groups in the Gaza Strip has profoundly affected the lives of millions, including some members of the Cornell community.

Many Cornell students and staff members, especially those who were born in Israel, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, have close ties to the region. They have endured weeks of restlessness and concern for family members who still live in the war-torn state.

Think back to seventh grade when you and your friends attended bar-mitzvahs every weekend. You all felt like you should be dancing, but couldn’t be the first one to start it. So instead, you and everyone else just kind of stood there bopping your head awkwardly.

Now imagine that one of those bar-mitzvahs was in Noyes, with a bunch of Cornellians in attendance and a really awesome Israeli band playing. That is what the Hadag Nachash concert felt like last Thursday night.

Hadag Nachash (“Snake Fish” in Hebrew) is one of Israel’s most famous hip-hop bands — and beloved the world over, by Hebrew speakers and non-Hebrew speakers alike. Sun News Editor Jasmine Marcus ’10 called up Sha’anan Streett, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, and spoke to him about their tour, politics and why even non-Hebrew speakers can “get down to the groove”.

The Sun: How’s your tour been going so far?

Sha’anan Streett: It’s been going great. Right now we’re in Los Angeles. We were in San Francisco, D.C., Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City and we’re going to hit Cornell tomorrow!

Sun: And what are your plans for after the tour?

S.S.: We’re gonna go back to Israel and rest a little. Then we’ll start rehearsal and writing for the new album.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Cabinet on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved an emotionally charged deal to trade a Lebanese militant convicted of killing three people for two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas and believed to be dead.

The swap is due to take place on Wednesday under U.N. supervision at a seaside border crossing.

Hezbollah has given no evidence that Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are alive, and has not allowed the Red Cross to see them since they were captured in a July 2006 cross-border raid. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet last month that Israel believes the men did not survive.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants on Tuesday fired three homemade rockets into southern Israel, the first such attack since a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza militants took effect last week.

Israel condemned the attack as a "gross violation" of the truce, but did not say whether it would retaliate.

The barrage wounded two people and capped a day of violence that presented the truce with its first serious test.

Just before midnight, Palestinian militants fired a mortar shell into an empty area in southern Israel. And in a pre-dawn raid, Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus.