Research shows that even when children are taught about gun dangers, they have limited ability to understand the consequences of their actions. We also know that teens may act impulsively when depressed, angry or under the influence of substances. If a gun is available to them, a whopping 90 percent of suicide attempts are lethal, as opposed to 5 percent involving drugs.

As members of the Arizona Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics (AzAAP), we are saddened that members of the United States Senate failed to pass a package of common sense gun safety bills that would have helped protect children from gun violence. In 2011 alone, 23 firearm-related child deaths occurred in Arizona. According to Arizona’s 2011 Child Fatality Report, in almost 25 percent of these cases the gun was owned by a parent. AzAAP supports recommendations such as implementing a strong, effective assault weapon ban, mandatory background checks and waiting periods before all firearm purchases. More mental health services for our children also play a crucial role in addressing this public health crisis. Our approach to policy and laws must be thoughtful to help keep our children safe.

—Mary Rimsza, M.D., Phoenix, and Eve Shapiro, M.D., Tucson

Yafit put on a solo, autobiographical show during which I laughed and cried with her, as she tried to identify who she is: Is she an Israeli who was born and raised in Israel, or an American who has studied and lived here for many years?

Being an Israeli-American, I can identify with her and her dilemma, as do most Israelis living in the United States. One always asks oneself, who am I? Moreover, an Israeli-American is always a puzzle to others who are curious about us but cannot understand completely who we are.

Yafit cowrote the play with Suzanne Bressler. She travels with her father, who is her producer, and sometimes her mother, who gives out schnitzel to the audience.

The play was enjoyed by all, as evidenced by the enthusiastic applause and many questions asked of Yafit. I was only sorry that the JCC auditorium was not packed, as I feel this play would appeal to all who love Israel.

I am looking forward to a comedy Yafit is writing about her own December wedding that took place in Israel. She is Sephardic and her husband is Ashkenazi; the wedding gave her plenty of material and food for thought.

—Yael B. Neuman, Ph.D

The fallacy of his argument is that when the Second Temple was in place there was a unified approach to Judaism that mirrors the practices of Orthodox Jews today.  Indeed, if we were to return to the practices during Second Tempe times Jews would not be praying in the manner that Rabbi Shafran describes, but rather bringing animals and grains to the priests for sacrifice.  Indeed during Second Temple times there was, as today, many different approaches to Judaism, and great debate about which was the most proper practice.  Judaism has survived, in great part, as a result of our ability to adapt to the times and the situations that Jews have faced throughout our history.

I do agree with Rabbi Shafron that the Kotel is an important artifact of our great Jewish heritage.  I further suggest it is one that should be inclusive to the wide ranging ideas of modern Judaism.

–Rabbi Jack Silver, Tempe, Ariz.

In a single sentence in his commentary, he manages to reveal his ignorance of Jewish tradition and religious practice, and, possibly, his attempt to commit fraud. According to Shafran, “The Kosel is a remnant of the courtyard wall of the Second Holy Temple, where ‘Orthodox’ services were the only ones there were.” Indeed, every Sunday school kid knows that priests — and not rabbis — held sway in the Temple; and that their service was built on animal sacrifice and not prayer. The Rabbinic period was to follow several hundred years later, but Orthodox rabbis and the Orthodox order of service didn’t appear until the 18th-19th century, approximately 1,600 years later.

So what is the Shafran article about? Whatever else it may be, it must be seen as R. Shafran’s illegitimate claim to authority over Jewish tradition at HaKotel Ma’aravi. Further, it must be seen as an unacceptable attempt to change Jewish tradition by exploiting, intimidating and dividing the Jewish people. We must resist wrong and wrong-headed efforts to divide us and to drive Jews out of our historic family.

—Joel Novak

The article neglects to mention that Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed Natan Sharansky to come up with a plan for equality at the Wall, in response to the all male Orthodox Committee overseeing the Wall (see related story, page 11).

“The prime minister thinks the Western Wall has to be a site that expresses the unity of the Jewish people, both inside Israel and outside the state of Israel,” Ron Dermer, Mr. Netanyahu’s senior adviser stated to the New York Times (12/25/12 ).

A main argument could easily be rectified: If there were specific times for women to pray at the wall as they see fit, men who don’t want to hear women’s voices could choose not to go to the Wall at such times.

—Emily Danies

The trees will be planted in five locations meaningful to her, as a blessing to her and the community, in efforts to “bring a total and complete healing to her body, mind and soul.” We encourage her friends and family, and those inspired by her journey and “Annatude,” to sponsor a tree for planting.

Trees will be planted at the Tucson Hebrew Academy (18), Congregation Anshei Israel (9), Chofetz Chayim (36), St. Joseph’s Hospital (18), Menlo College (18) and at her house (1). Each of the four Tucson groves will represent a layer of Anna’s healing — physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. The grove at Menlo will represent the integration of it all. All trees will be planted together, by Anna’s community of family and friends, as a way of offering physical prayers of healing and blessing to Anna.

Trees may be sponsored for $54 (three times 18 — chai) online at www.EarthWalkUnited.Org/TreesForAnna.

As we approach the Jewish New Year for the Trees — Tu B’Shevat — join Anna and her family in a powerful journey of healing for the soul. The words of Abraham Joshua Heschel capture the essence of what can happen when we take our deepest prayers and ground them in action. He wrote, “When I walked through the streets of Selma, Alabama, next to Martin Luther King, I felt as if my feet were praying.” Please contact the family with any questions, or a desire to get involved with your hands and feet, at TreesForAnna@EarthWalkUnited.Org.

—Tzadik S. Rosenberg-Greenberg

escalation of rocket attacks from Gaza — the Israeli Defense Forces initiated Operation Pillar of Defense. Since the launch, and the killing of Hamas commander and chief of staff Ahmed Jabari, Hamas has launched both a military and public relations campaign to destabilize and delegitimize the State of Israel.

Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, has worked tirelessly over 100 years to ensure the delivery of quality health and education services to the people of Israel. In doing so, we have created a bridge to peace by treating all people, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity, including large numbers from the Palestinian Authority.

It is essential that the world community understand the facts on the ground.

• Israel used enormous restraint amidst an intolerable barrage of attacks on its citizens.

• With the attacks intensifying, it became necessary to address Hamas’ terror campaign and reestablish greater security for the Israeli people by launching Operation Pillar of Defense.

• 4.5 million Israelis, over half of the Israeli population, are under threat of rocket attack.

• Over 1,000 rockets have been launched into Israel from Gaza this year.

• 360 rockets were launched in the 48 hours before Israel’s operation began.

• Numerous adult fatalities have occurred and 150 Israelis have been wounded, including two infants in serious condition, since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense.

• Hamas places its missile launchers in hospitals, schools and densely populated civilian sites, in effect using civilian shields to deter Israeli counterattacks.

• Israel makes great efforts to avoid civilian causalities in its efforts to neutralize the Hamas missile capability.

The United States government — from the president to the members of Congress — has committed its support for Israel’s right to self-defense. We look to the world community for its understanding and its support of peace for the people of Israel.

—Iris Sapovits, president, Hadassah Southern Arizona

When we provide billions in foreign assistance to Israel, for example, do we consider that a gift to Likud? Of course not; it’s government-to-government aid. What Brull and Ken Miller refer to is a loan to the government of Egypt — and it continues a decades-long, bipartisan tradition of providing assistance to Egypt as well as to Israel. To refer to these transfers as “gifts to the Muslim Brotherhood” from President Obama implies that Mr. Obama is supporting an Islamic fundamentalist agenda. This is a deliberately misleading assertion meant to alienate Jewish voters by portraying the president as a weak supporter of Israel.

— Robert Varady

He also states that Rachel took part in burning a U.S. flag and in demonstrations against the United States and Israel. As he indicates, she was aiding the International Solidarity Movement, a group known for assisting terrorists in weapons smuggling. In my opinion, the fact of her activism with the ISM made her a terrorist as well, since, as Mr. Gelbart undoubtedly knows, weapons of terror assassinated many innocent Israeli Rachels — including Rachel Thaler, 16, blown up in a pizzeria; Rachel Levi, 19, murdered while waiting for a bus; Rachel Levy, 17, blown up in a Jerusalem grocery store; Rachel Charhi, 36, blown up in a café, Rachel Gavish, 50, killed with her husband and son while at home; Rachel Kol, 53, murdered with her husband in a Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade drive-by shooting; Rachel Ben Abu, 16, killed by a suicide bomber in a shopping mall; and Rachel Shabo, 40, murdered with her three sons while at home.

Rachel Corrie was not an innocent teenager. She was an adult who made her choices willingly and acted in perfect knowledge of the consequences of her actions. I believe the household she grew up in was one that most likely instilled hatred of Israel and in addition, fostered anti-Semitism. I have seen a photo of her parents sitting with Yasser Arafat, displaying a picture of Rachel. Mr. Gelbart’s sympathies for her parents would ordinarily be in order, but in this case these same parents likely set the groundwork for their daughter to grow up in an atmosphere of hatred. When they were sitting with Arafat, did they care how many Israeli Rachels were murdered for the “crime” of being Israeli? Did they care about the mothers and fathers of those Israeli Rachels? I am horrified that Mr. Gelbart wrote about wanting to hug the Corries, the ones who probably poisoned their daughter’s mind, the ones who set the scene for her to waste her life in criminal actions and become a martyr for bloody deeds. Hug them? I think not, Mr. Gelbart.

— Olga Cohen

On a professional level, as a hazzan (“ordained cantor,” as you put it), and a member of the Conservative movement’s Cantors Assembly since 1987, a former chair of the Western Region of the Cantors Assembly, and a Jewish music professional since 1977, I must comment on your use of the term “cantorial soloist.” While the phrase is used broadly and has no fully accepted meaning in all movements, comparing the full-time work of Marjorie Hochberg at Temple Emanu-El the past 27 years (14 full-time), to the work that the others do is essentially unfair to Marjorie.

Cantorial soloist Marjorie Hochberg co-officiates every Shabbat evening and morning and throughout the High Holy Days, instructs B’nai Mitzvah in trope and service leadership, chants Torah and Haftarah, teaches Hebrew school, leads services in her own right, assists in conducting our teen and adult choirs on Shabbat and the High Holy Days, participates in choosing, preparing, and performing musical programs for Shabbat Shirah and concerts, teaches liturgy and Hebrew to adults, runs our Hebrew Marathon program, co-officiates at many life-cycle events, and is a full member of our clergy staff. She is a cantorial soloist. In general, the term used for what most of the other musical professionals you profiled do is simply soloist.

On a personal level, you note that there are two other professional cantors who work in Tucson. As I am the senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, and consequently the large body of cantorial work that I perform for our congregation and throughout the community and region is performed on a voluntary basis, I can understand your omission of my work in this area. But it might be of interest to your readers to know that much of the quality Jewish music that takes place in Tucson, from our extensive music (and recording) at Temple Emanu-El on the High Holy Days, all festivals and Shabbat, our Avanim Rock Band (now in its 11th year) as well as performances like the Bloch Sacred Service or the Tucson Chamber Artists Jewish Music series, the Mimuna Festival, our Temple Youth Choir, etc., all include my cantorial work. I invite you to attend our congregation, the largest in Tucson, so that you might experience the rich range of Jewish music available here and see how it is created.

As a lover of sacred song, I certainly look forward to more extensive coverage of Jewish music in Tucson in the future.

—Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon