October 5, 2006
The Pearls’ bittersweet symphonies; Who shall die; An evangelical Yom Kippur
...and the continuing saga of Democrats vs. Republicans, plus 'you won't print this one!'
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Dick McDonald
Chatsworth
Enough from leftist Jews who remain uninterested in the truth about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
First, when AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and the RJC [Republican Jewish Coalition] and the mainstream Jewish community supported congressional legislation to oppose U.S. funding of Hamas, Americans for Peace Now and other groups whose policies have long been discredited, lobbied for funding Hamas, confusing lawmakers.
Next, while The Jewish Federation and American Jewish Committee and StandWithUs and a host of Jewish activists opposed the L.A. County Human Relations Commission Award to Dr. Maher Hathout, who has labeled Israel an apartheid state full of butchers, the Progressive Jewish Alliance supported this disgrace. Finally, we cannot open up The Jewish Journal without reading letters bashing Christians. We know all about the Inquisition and Crusades of centuries ago in Europe. We also know America's Christians today are a tremendous supporter in keeping Israel safe from Radical Islam, European boycott, the nefarious International Court of Justice, and a hate filled United Nations General Assembly.
Our non-Jewish neighbors shake their head in disbelief at the stubborn attitudes of aging Jewish liberals.
Norman Epstein
Thousand Oaks
Each week The Jewish Journal is straddled with letters on which of the two "old line" parties represents the best interests of American Jewry. May I offer the obvious thought that neither of them, Democrats or Republicans, are anything to "write home about" and we'd all do well to be rid of both corporate parties! Neither party has done much of anything to provide meaningful health insurance for all Americans, turn around the terrible state of affairs whereby less than 30 percent of innercity African American males even bother to graduate high school these days, or reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil.
If we really want the United States to be strong enough to continue to be the one true friend the Jewish State can count on American Jews would abandon the both the Democrats and Republicans and work for a real alignment in U.S. politics.
David L. Blatt
Chicago, Ill.
Let me see if I have this correct:
The Democrats litigate an election (2000), filibuster and demagogue quite decent judicial nominations (Justices Roberts and Alito), obstruct any reform and electioneer by fear (social security), lie about the budget deficit and threaten impeachment if they take the House.
Democrats also call the president a loser (Sen. Harry Reid), Republicans a party of white Christians who do not work for a living (Chairman Harry Dean), Iraq a mistake (ask Israelis if they are glad Saddam is gone) and refuse to co-sponsor the vote for Israel at war (Rep. Nancy Pelosi).
Then, when the Republican Jewish Coalition raises concerns about the declining support on issues important to Jews and Israel by the Democrat party, which hosted Arafat at the White House 23 times (President Clinton), they call the GOP partisan.
The Jewish Journal then prints mean-spirited letters attacking the RJC. I wonder if you will dare print mine.
Richard Goodman
Newport Beach
Barney Ross
Your Sept. 22 book review noted that during the late 1940s, my uncle, boxing champion Barney Ross, "ran guns to Israel and tried to set up a Jewish-American brigade to fight in the Middle East at the time of Israel's War of Independence" ("In the Ring, at the Front, Boxer Barney Ross Packed a Punch").
But that was not all that Barney did for the Jewish people. Thanks to research by the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, we know that several years earlier, during the Holocaust, Uncle Barney was active in the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, also known as the Bergson group. These activists used full-page newspaper ads, public rallies, and Capitol Hill lobbying to pressure the Roosevelt administration to rescue Jews from Hitler.
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In fact, one of the first things Barney did after returning to the U.S. from his military service (where he was decorated with the Silver Star for rescuing wounded comrades from the battlefield at Guadalcanal) was to donate his mustering-out pay to purchase tickets for 150 U.S. soldiers to attend a fundraising event that the Emergency Committee held at Madison Square Garden in early 1944.
My uncle's accomplishments outside the ring were as important as the boxing skills that won him the junior welterweight, welterweight, and lightweight championships in the 1930s.
Barney Ross fought the good fight, inside and outside the ring. He fought for America in World War II, and he fought for the Jewish people in his efforts on behalf of Holocaust rescue and Jewish statehood. That is a powerful and inspiring example for today's Jewish athletes to follow.
Audrey Cantor
Director
Holocaust Community Services
Skokie, Ill.
Cost of Judaism
Being a Jew, not spiritually rather monetarily, is costly! The Jewish religion dictates that not one should ever be turned down or sent away if one arrives to the "House of God" to say a prayer.
However, during High Holidays, most of the "prestigious" synagogues turn down and send away Jews who come to say High Holiday prayer but do not hold a ticket. Not everyone can afford having a membership in a synagogue or the least a ticket to High Holiday services.
Since when did God demand one must buy a ticket to allow one to participate in a prayer at his home?
I do not know any church that will turn a believer coming to pray on Christmas Day. Do you?
We all understand that the upkeep of a synagogue is high. However, did any rabbi or Jewish leader ever give a moment of thought that the more people they turn down or send away on High Holidays, the more risk they take in losing more Jews who simply try to belong? And we complain about assimilation?
The Jewish leaders, and the bureaucrats who manage synagogues, are the cause for our diminishing numbers.
