November 30, 2006
Letters to the Editor
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The Jewish people have helped make America a great country. But, in most cases, the Jewish people have not asked the government to step in and blur this important First Amendment guarantee, which is the framework to keeping all religions on an equal basis in the United States.Unless there is an outrageous problem, the government can not be party to promoting internal religious needs, which are not required for the preservation of that religion.
Bob Kholos
Los Angeles
Venice gets an Eruv. Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen teaches us that "tzedek" is the Divine plan that entitles each creature to receive what it needs in order to fulfill its purpose within creation. Those nesting birds, which Tom Tugend mentioned in a dismissive manner, are the endangered least terns, which nest on the beach. Hopefully no bird will die because of the strong fishing wire, metallic streamers or not.
Saran Kirschbaum
Los Angeles
Borat
Before making any comment about how easy it was for Sacha Baron Cohen to get Americans to reveal anti-Semitism, there is one important piece of information missing ("Borat, Seriously," Nov. 24).
How many gun dealers, bar patrons and other Americans did Cohen try his deceptions on and fail? He and the producers will probably never reveal this.
Marshall Giller
Winnetka
The disturbing anti-Semitism in "Borat" ruins any comedic impact ("Borat, Seriously, Nov. 24). It doesn't matter that the writer-star is Jewish.
The "running of the Jew" and the scene with the kind, elderly Jewish couple who show hospitality, among other things, really disgusts anyone with a sense of history. It is sad that the writer's taking advantage of good-hearted people could actually backfire into the anti-Semtism of the "cunning Jew".
Where are we as a society that a film with such awful anti-Semitism breaks all kinds of box-office records? When people say, "It's a farce," they don't realize that comedy always has underlying messages.
The worst thing is that a Jewish actor would do such a terrible disservice to his people with such a sickening, hate-filled film.
Joshua Spiegelman
Los Angeles
Significant B'nai Mitzvah
This is an excellent article from an outstanding communicator. As I was reading, I couldn't help relate to my boys' b'nai mitzvah nearly one year ago ("How Kosher Was Christy's Bat Mitzvah," Nov. 17). As the boys are growing older and wiser, I notice them further sensing the significance of their accomplishment. It has more meaning to them now than ever before. It truly was a pivot point in their lives.
It has been a true blessing having associated with Cantor Ron Li-Paz over this past year and want you to know that we respect and love him as a mentor and friend. All the best to him and his beautiful family!
Scott, Wendy, Ty and Troy Zaslove
Westlake Village
King/Drew Closing
Your article begins to put the reality to the MetroCare Plan, which was created by the DHS with minimal to no community stakeholder input ("King/Drew Closing Spotlights Health Care Crisis," Nov. 17). That being said, a critical element in reaching a sustainable health care facility in South Los Angeles must be the creation of a black-Latino coaltion. The efforts by a third party, such as our Jewish brothers and sisters to make this happen and expand it to a larger multiethnic coalition would be highly desirable.
There is strength in a united, diverse ethnic group of health professionals and community stakeholders that will [use] the new foundation for the MLK/Harbor Community Hospital as a starting point. Once in place, then the process to grow from a community hospital to a much needed minority academic medical center can be accomplished and sustained.
I applaud your efforts and those of our Coalition for Health and Justice that works toward finding the right solutions to ensure quality health care for all residents of South Los Angeles.
Dr. Robert A. Beltran
President
Latino Med Policy Institute
I'm a registered nurse that works at King/Drew Medical Center in pediatrics. This department is closing as I speak. The new MetroCare model that is being implemented dismisses the need for health care for women and children in that area.
It was promised that Harbor and other surrounding hospitals would take up the slack for these departments. This closure of pediatrics is already causing the children to wait many hours in our emergency room, waiting for a bed.
Harbor hospital has refused to take our children for a number of reasons, and these children are being diverted elsewhere. This means that the families will have difficulty seeing their child, because they may not have the transportation to see them. I feel the need to share this with the readers, as there will be no more witnesses to this crisis, as all the pediatric nurses will be assigned to other facilities.
This cascading of patients will soon be felt by all of us as we all scramble for any available patient beds left. It is the responsibility of our Board of Supervisors to maintain the availability of health care for all of the people of Los Angeles as it was originally intended.
They should not close these very needed units with an assumption that others will take up the slack. This hospital was created to fill the need of a community that required a full-service hospital. This is clearly reflected in the most dire of health statistics from this area.
As health care becomes the new agenda, I certainly hope that for sake of all of us, we insist that in the future, that statistics should be the guidelines for maintaining a minimun of health care access for the most neediest of Angelenos.
