Letters to the editor September 11

Sotloff’s Sacrifice

As I read and learn more about the extraordinary, slain freelance journalist and member of our faith Steven Sotloff (“Islamic State beheads again,” Sept. 4), what I find most remarkable is what he did during a Yom Kippur in which he was held captive by savages. It has been reported that he declined to consume food, telling his jailers that he was not hungry. Through this brave act, he not only demonstrated a continuing and strong Jewish faith at a dark hour in which many would have felt abandoned by God, but that his faith was so important to him that he would risk tipping off those who would likely have displayed additional zeal to make him suffer and die had they known he was a Jew.

This good man died in the pursuit of his passion, journalism, and he was willing to take the risks that he knew were inherent in reporting from a most dangerous part of the world. May those who reveled in this evil handiwork be captured and swiftly and severely punished, and may the memory of Steven Sotloff be an eternal blessing to his family and friends.

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Oren Spiegler

Upper Saint Clair