Fears confirmed
The Sept. 22 letter regarding Tawonga’s peace conference confirmed my fear that Jews well versed in all Israel’s faults would be our sole representatives facing Arabs who are well versed in all Israel’s faults.
I’m wondering if any of these “right-wing” facts emerged:
• U.N. Resolution 181 recognized Israel, and five Arab armies went to war to eliminate her.
• The Palestine Liberation Organization, which tried to liberate all Israel, formed in 1964 — three years before the “occupation.”
• Jerusalem is mentioned in the Torah over 600 times vs. not once in the Koran.
• A million Jewish refugees were persecuted, robbed and expelled from 10 Muslim lands (1948-1970) — they have never been compensated.
• A million Muslim citizens have civil rights equal to Jews in Israel vs. ethnic cleansing of Jews from Gaza and the West Bank.
• Arab-Muslim national homes number 22 vs. one Jewish national home the size of New Jersey.
• Israel is outnumbered in the United Nations by the Muslim nation voting bloc 57-1, explaining the lopsided resolutions against Israel and the lack of action against Muslim perpetrated atrocities such as Somalia and Darfur.
I believe a discussion of Jewish biblical history would be of interest to pious Muslims as well.
Sheree Roth | Palo Alto
Only a myth?
Regretfully, in his Sept. 22 review of Kevin Haworth’s novel “The Discontinuity of Small Things,” correspondent Marek Breiger neglected a bit of rudimentary research. He states that “history teaches us that … the king of Denmark … appeared on the streets of Copenhagen regularly wearing the yellow Star of David in solidarity with Jewish fellow citizens.”
This is a lovely myth that has endured in spite of repeated denials by eyewitnesses who observed and cheered the king on his frequent horseback rides through the city during the German occupation. (Many Danes concede, however, that King Christian XI undoubtedly would have worn the star if the Jews had been required to do so, but unlike all other occupied countries, it was never mandated.)
Righteous Gentile Knud Dyby, currently a Novato resident, has been honored with a plaque at Yad Vashem for his role as one of the heroic leaders of the underground who helped organize the flotilla of boats that rescued thousands of Danish Jews just prior to their ordered roundup and deportation in October 1943. His story and the account of the rescue is told in my own 1999 non-fiction book, “Boats in the Night.”
Martha Loefflee | Modesto
Prefer poverty?
After criticizing FLAME for lack of evidence, letter-writer Joel Rubinstein asserts in the Sept. 22 j., with no evidence whatsoever, that for most Muslims “concerns about Israel are just not very important compared to working to provide food, clothing, shelter, education, and hopes for a better future for their children.”
How does he reconcile this with a recent poll showing that the vast majority of Palestinians prefer that Hamas not recognize Israel even though this stance helps keep their children in poverty?
Dan Fendel | Piedmont
‘Lucky campers’
Thanks for that great description in Joanne Catz Hartman’s recent column celebrating Shabbat out in the woods. I was a camper, staffer and then parent at Camp Gold, Lair of the Bear. It is one of those places that has a special place in my heart. When I went there, there was none of what she wrote about.
But I can picture the scene — the slightly sloping area down near the stream near the 30 tents (if memory serves), with several rows of benches and a “pulpit” lectern, where Sunday non-denominational services were held. As staffers we had the responsibility of providing a sermon each Sunday, and I imagine that still happens.
The addition of challah baked in the Lair kitchen and a special siddur (by the brother of Cantor Barry Reich of Peninsula Temple Sholom, where we were members) certainly adds to the whole picture. Lucky Jewish Cal campers.
Newt Harband, M.D. | Tiburon
Napa history
The recent article on the Napa Jewish vintners’ event was significant; however, clarification is needed: There is a place to learn about the history of Napa’s Jews, and that is the Napa Valley Museum located at 55 President’s Circle, adjacent to Domaine Chandon near the California Veteran’s Home in Yountville.
Last year our organization presented an addition to the museum’s permanent exhibition, “The Land and People of Napa Valley,” titled “The Jews of the Napa Valley.”
The case — curated by Sue Morris and designed by Dan Wodarcyk — focuses on the community, commitment and commerce of Jewish settlers from 1848 through the1930s as an integral part of the development of Napa Valley.
Jewish vintners have been in Napa since the 1800s but really soared in the 1970s when Al and Boots Brounstein, the honorees of the vintners weekend, established Diamond Creek. Other pioneers in that decade were the Finkelstein/Steen families of the original Whitehall Lane (now producing under Judd’s Hill), Michael and Arlene Bernstein of Mt. Veeder Winery and Ernie Weir’s Hagafen Winery which is offering award-winning kosher wines of all varieties. Claude Rouas of Auberge du Soleil and Piatti fame led the renaissance of fine foods.
Donna Mendelsohn | Napa
co-chair, Jewish Historical Society of Napa Valley
A good investment
On behalf of Kehillah Jewish High School, I want to thank you for your recent editorial in support of Jewish day school education on the secondary level, and for your coverage of our first graduation ceremony in that issue.
Jewish high schools across the country are training the future leadership of the Jewish community. The San Francisco Bay Area, home to a thriving and growing Jewish community, now hosts two young community high schools. As your editorial states correctly, a Jewish high school education is a birthright, and we will need new and continued support to make sure it remains so in this region.
Twenty-two students graduated last June. Hundreds more will graduate in years to come. This fall, these 22 will make their mark as Jewish leaders — first at the finest colleges and universities in the United States, and then, in Jewish communities around the world. The Jewish community’s investment in its future is surely paying off.
Rabbi Reuven S. Greenvald | Palo Alto
head of school, Kehillah Jewish High School
Racism in Russia
I really want to talk about your recent article about the 500 signatures in Russia. Those who signed that petition discriminate against Jews.
It isn’t only discrimination against Jews but discrimination against humanity.
The signers ask Russian government to cancel Judaism as a religion and close the Jewish community centers and the federation everywhere in Russia.
Russia got democracy after the Soviet Union collapsed, but not enough. Russia need to get a democracy for Jews, too.
Jews don’t have freedom in Russia even today. Now is the time for everybody to tell President Vladimir Putin to stop anti-Semitism and racism in Russia.
Paul Shkuratov | San Francisco
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California