A Letter to the Editor from an Erudite Rebbe

Rabbi Scott Sperling, Associate Rabbi,
Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Seattle and Bellevue, Washington.

. . . I take great pride in the fact that I read, on a regular basis, a host of publications that hold opinions and attitudes radically different than mine. I have always believed that doing so is the mark of an educated and open-minded individual. However, I also insist on reading and listening to pundits, authors and journalists who even if they have a 50 year writing career, adhere to what I believe are basic standards of journalist ethics. For me, ad hominem attacks, such as referring to someone as a "pandering pygmy" disqualifies your publication from being within such bounds. . . .

Rabbi Scott Sperling

Editor's Response

Sperling typifies leaders who claim "education" and "open-mindedness" then use politically correct strategies. They identify with caricatures then feel guilty. They focus on genre not issues then attack the satirist. They use kill-the-messenger techniques and pander to the established oligarchy like pygmies. They twist meaning to weasel out of their responsibility to those whom they serve. Magnanimously, I will advance Sperling's education. Ad hominem consists of invective without logic or reason. Invective that has a definite purpose grounded in logic and reason defines as iconoclasm. I write iconoclastically.

Nmesis.