Letters to the editor October 7

Jews vote many issues
A letter in the Sept. 23 edition of the Chronicle from two members of the Republican Jewish Coalition entitled “Sestak no friend of Israel” once again makes an assumption about Jewish voters that needs to be addressed: We are not one-issue voters.
I will not be voting for Congressman Sestak’s opponent based solely on whether he is more pro-Israel or tougher on Iran that Congressman Sestak. I will be voting for Congressman Sestak because as a Jew I also care about every American having enough to eat, a home to sleep in, a doctor they can afford to see when they are sick and an economic system that maintains equal opportunities for the poor and middle class to prosper as much as the rich.
After eight years of economic disparity, record deficit and wounded warriors not getting the full medical care they deserve coming home from the battlefield, I and a lot of other Jews voted for a president and a Congress that would work to bring our country back to a place that embraced the Jewish values of social and economic justice as well as a pursuit of peace. In the 18 short months since this Congress and president got to work, they have done much to get us moving in that direction. Have they got it all done yet? No. Have they made some errors? Sure. But it took eight years to make the economic mess we are raising our children in, and I for one am willing to give the party in power more time to fix the bolygon the other party left us all.
Jews are commanded to remember the stranger, pursue justice and make peace where there is strife along with protecting Israel, and we need to vote with all of those in mind and not just one of them.
Also, it is worth reminding those who are considering voting using only a who-is-better-for-Israel gauge that Congressman Sestak is a retired naval admiral. I believe that he will cast the right votes in the Senate on Israel and defense issues regardless of whom he gave a speech to, and with far more understanding of what he is voting for than most of our congressman on those issues.

Scott Aaron
Regent Square
Troubled by comments
I was surprised to read that Devra Davis, author of “Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It and How to Protect Your Family,” downplayed the possible health effects of the newly erected Clearwire cell tower on Community Day (“Schools, worship places hosting wireless network antennae,” Sept. 30).
In her book, Davis warns us to be wary of radiation emitted from wireless signals all around us that come from using cell phones as well as other wireless devices. If Clearwire is offering a 4G data network that is, according to a Post-Gazette article “10 times faster than current 3G services,” how can that powerful wireless energy not potentially have any negative health effects on those who fall within a half-mile radius of the cell tower?
It is also disturbing to read of the sparse attendance at the Community Day parent meeting to discuss this issue. Are wireless services so ubiquitous that we have stopped noticing them? That could be at our own peril.
I urge your readers to read “Disconnect” by Devra Davis. It is an enlightening, alarming and exceedingly important book.

Sydelle Pearl
Squirrel Hill