Orthodox Community Valued

To the editors:

The headline "Orthodox Jews Violate Campus Policy With Posters" (News, Feb. 19) is troubling. While Rosalind Helderman's piece is accurate and well-written, its infelicitous head-line fosters misperceptions. The headline, which implies a connection between the actions of several non-students with those of the undergraduate Orthodox community, creates an imprecise image of Orthodox Jewish life at Harvard. The undergraduate Orthodox Jewish community comprises a vibrant group of upstanding, creative and open-minded students. It constitutes a valuable subset of the wider Jewish community and is intimately involved in Hillel's activities and broad goals.

While at some point in the future the Jewish community of undergrads, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, may consider associating with Chabad, at present no such affiliation exists. And while Hillel values outreach as an important objective, neither Orthodox undergrads nor individuals in the Jewish community as a whole would violate University policy to achieve that goal. MICHAEL M. ROSEN '99-'98   Chair, Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel   Feb. 19, 1998