It is time that we American Jewish liberals who have been left leaning about our politics regarding Israel begin to review the support we give to the organizations that have been leading us. They are proving themselves obsolete, outdated and out-of-touch.
Gary Wexler levels the charges that Americans for Peace Now (APN), along with other organizations associated with American Jewish liberals, are obsolete. He writes that
we are ignoring the \”real\” threats facing Israel such as those emanating from Syria and Iran, that we are out of touch with the mainstream for questioning the efficacy of Israel\’s current military actions in Lebanon and Gaza, that we are wrong to believe a peace partner exists on the other side and that our \”knee-jerk\” reactions and inability to recognize and react to the redefining of American Jewish support for Israel will prove to be our ultimate downfall.
Letters to the editor: Bush administration\’s failure to deal with violence in the Middle East; maintaining Jewish unity instead of deference to the Jewish Left; Torah portion by Rabbi Lisa Edwards on Leviticus; response to Michael Steinhardt on Jewish philanthropy; and more.
At the risk of sounding like a cranky old-timer, the Jewish festivals of yore — the \’70s and \’80s — had a distinctive communitywide feel to them. The festival that was once held in Rancho Park drew thousands of people from across the communal spectrum — young, old, Orthodox, Reform, Israeli, American, rich, poor.\n\nPart of the celebration was a morning march through the city, the marchers waving flags and accruing donations for Israeli charities for each mile they walked. The booths reflected the entire spectrum of Jewish involvement, and the entertainment — David Broza, Theodore Bikel — had a multigenerational, cross-cultural appeal.\n\n\”It was amazing,\” said Temple Aliyah\’s Rabbi Stuart Vogel of the Rancho Park Jewish Festival — affirming my nostalgia. \”The whole Jewish community turned out.\”
While I appreciate The Journal\’s attempt at Purim humor, as a long time and very proud shtreimel wearer, I was saddened by your cover of Michael Jackson, currently under indictment and on trial for [alleged] child molestation (Purim Cover, March 25).
Local and national Jewish organizations have mobilized to help tsunami victims and invite the community to participate, as well.\n\n
Increased pressure from officials of American Jewish organizations is driving preliminary talks on a new deal to bring thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel before famine takes a heavy toll on the community remaining in Ethiopia.
Coming on the eve of a federation-sponsored trip to Ethiopia, federation leaders, advocates for Ethiopian Jews, representatives of Jewish humanitarian groups and Israeli government officials met recently in Jerusalem to discuss new ways of expediting the emigration process for thousands of Falash Mura left in Ethiopia. The Falash Mura are Ethiopians whose Jewish ancestors converted to Christianity, often under social pressure, but who have resumed practicing Judaism and whose Jewishness is accepted by all three major Jewish religious denominations, including Israel\’s chief rabbinate.
The Federation is committed to a strong and vibrant JCRC.
Engaging residents of our community to impact the \”urban agenda\” is the objective. But the agenda of the organized Jewish community must be redefined in a thoughtful, targeted and strategic way to successfully mobilize human resources beyond the core of active, identified Jews.
It took me 15 years of living on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley to find what I was looking for — a Jewish lifestyle in Los Angeles fit for my family.
Eat-4-Israel was the brainchild of Monique Grunberger, a high school senior at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, who developed the idea with two local Yeshiva University of Los Angeles students, Yitz Novak and Zvi Smith.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.