JCF misunderstanding
The San Francisco-based federation would like to clear up any misunderstandings that may have arisen from the letter written to j. by Mr. Irving Zale, headlined “JCF Aids Pakistan,” (Feb. 16 j.). Mr. Zale, a contributor to the Federation’s annual campaign, incorrectly received a letter thanking him for his contribution to victims of the Pakistani earthquake.
Because of our established credibility, our Federation along with numerous others offered a valuable service to community members that enabled them to send donations to Pakistani earthquake victims in October 2005 through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. This was the same service that we provided for the Tsunami in Southeast Asia, of December 2004 and Hurricane Katrina, of August 2005. Our Federation and 154 Federations across North America are overall humanitarian organizations based on Jewish values, and we feel compassion has no boundaries.
Mr. Zale has been provided with a full explanation of his particular situation clarifying that Annual Campaign donations were not used to support this fund. We have taken measures to prevent this type of misunderstanding in the future.
We thank the community for their continued support.
Thomas A. Dine | San Francisco
chief executive officer, JCF
One-sided view
Steven Cohen’s assertion (Feb. 16 j.) that intermarriage is “frightening” and weakens Jewish identity demonstrates a conventional one-sided view of intermarriage that ignores institutional impact on intermarriage success and continues to relegate intermarried families to the back of the Jewish bus.
We need to stop blaming interfaith families for weakened Jewish continuity. Until recently, there was no institutional support for these families. Interfaith families were denounced regularly during the High Holy Days and ignored the rest of the year.
My choice as a child of intermarriage to raise my children Jewish was certainly in spite of Jewish institutions. As an interfaith family, our choice to join a synagogue and support Jewish causes even more so.
One can only speculate how many more intermarried generations would have been inspired to continue their ties with Judaism if they had been given even slight support for their decisions to remain inside the Jewish tent, instead of the messages, explicit and indirect, that they did not, and would never, belong there.
Without support for these families, how can we be surprised when their children turn their backs on Judaism?
Jennifer Kahsen Pearce | Pleasanton
‘Sad day in Berkeley’
Pidyon Shvuyim — redeeming the captives — is an important mitzvah in Jewish society. Yet the days have lapsed into months since the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
On Feb. 4, I set up a table outside the Berkeley Jewish Community Center with stamped postcards reminding our politicians of the importance of remembering these men. Inside the JCC was a fundraiser for Rabbis for Human Rights, sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace and Women in Black. Dozens of cards were signed by attendees of the fundraiser.
However, I was extremely disheartened when a JCC employee came out and told me that the organizers of the fundraiser wanted me to leave. Are the divisions within our community so insurmountable that we can’t agree that the mitzvah of freeing the captives is relevant to us all?
Perhaps the progressives who have expressed concern about the silencing of voices in the Jewish community should look no further than among their own ranks. It’s a sad day in Berkeley when someone asking for support for kidnapped IDF soldiers has her free speech muzzled. Why are these groups so afraid of any expression of support for Israel?
Faith Meltzer | El Cerrito
Support health care
Your article “Beyond prayer” (Feb. 16 j.) was great except for the first sentence, which implied that the elected officials at the meeting were not in sympathy with the 500 in the audience. I have known the three Assembly members and the county supervisor for a long time and know that all four of them have been concerned not only about health care but about the needs of all our children. When it comes to the health care issues, they will need our support. I hope those who attended the Feb. 12 meeting will rally behind our caring legislators.
I have appreciated your articles about Homewood Terrace and have wanted to tell you how much as a child I loved visiting there. In my home, we never had a seder as we always went to the Homewood building where my aunt and uncle were the “parents.” We loved the children there and the spirit of celebrating with them year after year.
Barbara Bine Emerich | Los Altos
Free Jonathan Pollard
I just finished reading Mr. David Hotzel’s letter regarding Jonathan Pollard — and agree.
I have a “Free Jonathan Pollard” button, which I wish I could reproduce and send it to those with a short memory.
I would recommend that we should free Pollard — and send Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Libby to prison.
Dr. Alvin Z. Tucker | Walnut Creek
Listening breeds dialogue
More and more, we need to respect multiple Jewish points of view toward solution of Israeli-Palestinian statehood issues. Only by listening to one another may light instead of heat finally emanate from our dialogue. Community, in the largest sense, means respect for diversity among Jews. Too often, only the nay-sayers get our attention.
J.’s letters to the editor tend to provide more examples of lock-step support of Israel, no matter what circumstances are being examined, than honest criticism. Is it because supporters of Israel speak the loudest? Is J. trying to promote a monolithic view toward Israel’s policies that every Jew is being prodded to accept?
Marian Blanton | San Rafael
Not apartheid
The following facts give the lie to Jimmy Carter’s labeling of Israel as an apartheid state in his controversial book.
Israel awarded its top literary prize to an Arab, encourages its Hebrew-speaking schoolchildren to learn Arabic, has road signs appearing throughout the land in both Hebrew and Arabic, ran a newspaper article about why Zionism is a failure on Israel Independence Day, has the most free Arabic press in the Middle East, airlifted tens of thousands of black Africans from Ethiopia and granted them instant full citizenship, gives its Arab citizens full political and civil rights, including the right to vote and be elected to parliament, and even recently included an Arab as a minister in the present government.
I know what apartheid is, because I was born and raised in South Africa during the creation and reign of apartheid. I lived apartheid.
Like all other democracies, Israel does not have a perfect human rights record. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries in the Middle East deny equal rights to women, Christians, Jews, Hindus and others.
That, my friends, is apartheid.
Desmond Tuck | Palo Alto
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