As the Cheek Turns
In his February 26 column “Un-Righteous Indignation,” Jay Michaelson writes: “‘Turn the other cheek’ is Christianity, not Judaism.”
I beg to differ. Lamentations 3:30 reads: “Let him give his check to him that smiteth him.”
Many persons, both Christians and Jews, believe that statements in the New Testament are unique to Jesus, when in fact they are merely Jesus’ recitation of statements in the Hebrew Bible, with which he, as a Jew, was very familiar.
Harry Cohn
Richmond, Va.
There is an unfortunate Freudian slip: "check" instead of "cheek". Yes, Jews have done better at paying off enemies rather than fighting them off.
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UPDATE:
The Forward's opinion editor writes to note that he inserted the error when transcribing the letter.
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2 comments:
It might not be Freudian but rather the doings of an antisemitic spellchecker.
Hi Yisrael,
The "check"/"cheek" slip was a transcription error on my part (not a Freudian error on the part of the letter-writer). The letter was sent via snail mail.
Can you please make that notation on your blog post so that it's clear the error was mine? I'd be appreciative.
Perhaps something along the lines of the following:
"UPDATE: The Forward's opinion editor writes to note that he inserted the error when transcribing the letter."
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