A Need for Compassion

In the April 28 edition of The Journal, Jerry Burg [in a letter] writes to speak of his anger over the decision of the Central Conference of American Rabbis to support those rabbis who will officiate at commitment ceremonies for Jewish gay and lesbian couples. He claims that I would not understand his anger and that of the Orthodox community about a decision that brings justice and healing to so many in our Jewish community.

Perhaps when he is finished letting his prejudices and emotions cloud his thinking, he might examine the many ways that the Jewish community and in particular the Orthodox community have been complicit in the hurtful ways that gays and lesbians have been treated and continue to be treated.

I have served as a rabbi in the gay and lesbian community for a dozen years here in Los Angeles. Not once in all that time has an Orthodox rabbi or community member come to learn and study with me about the real lives of Jewish gay and lesbian people. I have counseled numerous Orthodox Jews through their struggles to come out of the closet and the pain that their families have put them through by being unwilling to listen and learn.

It seems Jerry Burg has selective memory when it comes to the Jewish experience. The gay and lesbian Jewish community's memory and experience s must also be valued. Then perhaps he might learn the concept of rachmanut, compassion and caring. In his letter he forgot that important Jewish value.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger

West Hollywood

What's "All-American"?

Tom Tugend, in his review of the play "The Man Who Had All the Luck" (April 28), says, "In the title role, Paul Gutrecht, with his open-faced, all-American-boy looks and demeanor, leads a cast of talented professionals."

It would be interesting to ask Mr. Tugend what "all-American-boy looks and demeanor" means. I am aware of the fact that this expression was used at a time when we were not very tactful in this country in terms of races other than Caucasian. But this is the year 2000, Mr. Tugend! What are "all-American-boy looks and demeanor"?

And what makes this comment even more out of place nowadays is the fact that the actor in question in an all-Jewish boy who was born in Argentina.

J. Albertella

Palos Verdes Estates

Don't Sacrifice Children

How sad when children pay the price for the follies of adult gullibility and greed! The article "Oil Site Wars" (April 21) ended with a quote from Hal Washburn, co-founder of Breitburn, that "this project is about improving the environment and improving the community." Research conducted by the volunteer grass-roots organization Neighbors for a Safe Environment (NASE) indicates that the reverse is true. The real aim of the project is to increase profits for Breitburn.

We were very disappointed with the article; it did not give enough weight to NASE's concerns, and more importantly, it contained errors and omissions in the reporting of the conditions in the Zoning Administrator's Approval Document.

Not one of the conditions calls for testing of all air emissions at the site, a requirement NASE believes must be met. There is no mention of enforcement, although the ZA admitted this was her primary concern. When asked last week which city agency should be called to report impacts, Councilman Feuer's deputy admitted the office had no phone number. There has never been an agency with jurisdiction, and one has not been created with this approval.

Critical analysis of documents is essential to determine not only what is there but what is not there. The community deserves to know that the City of Los Angeles' conditions for approval of the Breitburn drill site do not ensure that this expanded facility will be safe. NASE is concerned with possible health risks to the community (especially the many vulnerable young and elderly residents and the children who attend Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy, the Chabad schools, and a nursery school, all within a two-block radius from the site).

We are appealing the city's decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals at a hearing on Tuesday, May 23. If we are not successful at the administrative level, we will go into court. As the health of our children is dependent upon our efforts, we urge the community to attend the hearing and to join us.

Rochelle Feldman, M.D.

Rae Drazin, Ph.D.

Neighbors for a Safe Environment

Los Angeles

More Than Chabad

An important, well-written piece on the growing Jewish community in the Conejo Valley, Charlotte Hildebrand Harjo's article "Valley of Dreams" (April 21) leaves the distinct impression that the only vibrant activity in the Conejo Valley emanates from Chabad. In fact, the entire community has benefited educationally and spiritually from the work, individually and collectively, of all the synagogues, preschools, religious schools and other Jewish institutions in the Conejo Valley.

Our own Congregation Or Ami straddles the Conejo and West San Fernando valleys. With offices in Agoura Hills, Shabbat services in Calabasas and our Religious School on the border of both, our Reform Jewish congregation is perfectly suited to serve both populations. Only three years old, Congregation Or Ami boasts a membership of 146 families (a 40 percent increase over the previous year), with 148 children in our kindergarten through 12th grade religious school, an engaging adult studies program and a new toddler program for our member children.

The music of our cantor, Doug Cotler, transforms Shabbat worship into just the kind of spiritual experience for which Jews are searching. The Torah teaching and storytelling of Rabbi Paul Kipnes engages young and old alike, helping Jews of all backgrounds return to a vibrant and engaging Judaism.

Together with other synagogues and institutions in the Conejo Valley, Congregation Or Ami is proud of the work we all do to bring Jews back to a spiritually fulfilling Jewish life.

Arthur and Sherri Coren,

co-presidents

Anne Altman

DeDe Dryer

Marla Greenman

Olivia Cohen-Cutler

Jonathon Wolfson

Congregation Or Ami

Agoura Hills

Three Cheers for OC

I want to thank you very much for now publishing an Orange County edition. I already had subscribed to The Jewish Journal because I wanted some Jewish news each week. Now the Orange County edition makes it even better. Please keep up the edition.

I know my grandmother loves to read The Journal (she lives here in OC also), as I give her my copies each week, and it reduces her loneliness. My mother also loves to read it. Keep bringing it to OC.

Also, please keep the Torah column. The more Judaism you can get into The Journal, the better. Thank you for your great work.

Mark Cohen

Huntington Beach

Closing Was Inevitable

In response to Avi Engel's letter about Gateways Hospital's closing of our Westside Center (April 28) and his remarks about our board's "unwillingness to build support more actively in the community," I would remind your readers that for the past 13 years we have provided more than $2 million in support of Gateways Beit T'Shuvah and for many years also supported a clinic in the Valley that required us to provide in excess of $100,000 a year in supplemental funds. We were also forced to close our psychiatric consultation service at the Jewish Home for the Aging because of inadequate government funding for these services.

Finally, for the past 79 years, we have underwritten the cost of social workers that visit incarcerated Jews as a part of the work of the Jewish Committee for Personal Service. I am sure your readers can see that there is no reasonable way that an agency can raise in excess of $400,000 annually for programs that many individuals regard as the financial responsibility of the government.

I agree with Mr. Engel about the excellent work of our staff. They are a committed group of professionals that did make a great difference to hundreds of individuals and their families. We regret that this decision had to be made.

Saul Goldfarb

President and CEO

Gateways Hospital

and Mental Health Center

Do the Math

We should have math-checkers to go with our spell-checkers. The 1,000 Jews in Wichita, Kan., are one-third (.33) of 1 percent of the Wichita population of 300,000, not .03 percent at Marlene Adler Marks suggests ("Lone Prairie," April 14).

Max Strauss

Corrections

David Notowitz was incorrectly credited as being the filmmaker behind the award-winning documentary film, "Carpati: 50 Miles, 50 Years." While Notowitz edited, photographed and produced the film with Yale Strom, Strom was the film's director, writer and producer, as well as composer of its score.