From the rather abbreviated reference to Agudath Israel in your article about the planning for the Washington rally in support of Israel, readers might well have concluded that our organization was somehow dismissive or critical of the gathering (“Israel Presses Terror War,” April 12). Agudath Israel has a longstanding policy prohibiting us from formally lending our organization’s name to any public rally whose format or content may not be in accordance with certain deeply held principles of our movement. Thus, as much as we respect and work with the organizers of the rally, and as much as we embrace the objective of demonstrating across-the-Jewish-board support for the people of Israel, we were unable to co-sponsor the event.
At the same time, it would be sheer madness (or worse) to think that our leaders and supporters — whose children comprise the majority of American students in Israeli yeshivas and seminaries, and who travel to Israel in unparalleled numbers even today — are somehow less than solid in our support of our fellow Jews in Israel.
While our organizational policy remains in place, we certainly did not in any way discourage any of the many Jews who contacted us from attending the rally. Indeed, rabbis at a number of Agudath Israel-affiliated shuls affirmatively encouraged their congregants to participate, with some even organizing buses to the event.
It is of utmost importance at this trying time to not allow the evil of ill will to infect the Jewish community. All Jews must recognize the dedication of one another to our brothers and sisters in Israel, no matter how each of us chooses to express that dedication.
Rabbi Avi Shafran, Director of Public Affairs, Agudath Israel of America, New York, N.Y.
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