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Friday June 1, 2007

Letters

Their daily bread

The May 25 “Israel in the Gardens” supplement article about Angel’s Bakery in Jerusalem brought back memories of when our daughter, Rochelle, was spending her junior year at the Hebrew University in 1973 on a U.C. program abroad.

Classes were disbanded due to the Yom Kippur War, and the students were encouraged to volunteer to take on various jobs.

Rochelle joined a group which was brought to Angel’s Bakery at 4:30 a.m. to help take out freshly baked breads and load up baskets to be delivered to the troops and local markets.

The students were compensated with a loaf of bread daily.

Mildred Kluger | San Franciso

A viable option?

Since Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Palestinian terrorists have fired more than 1,300 rockets into Israel. On a recent Tuesday alone, 24 rockets hit Israel, wounding 30 people. Two women were killed during the past week.

Now we hear that about 40 percent of the purportedly moderate Abbas-controlled militia has defected to Hamas. They took with them the weaponry given to them by Israel and the United States. This effectively disembowels Abbas’ military option. Expect more suicide attacks on both Israeli and U.S. personnel.

I have always wondered how to resolve the paradox between the repugnance Islam holds for the defiling of women while simultaneously promising 72 virgins to people who blow themselves up in order to kill civilians indiscriminately. Why doesn’t anyone care about the virgins?

Seems to me that jihadist Islam is not religion but an illness. When pathology becomes murder, a win-win situation could be to proactively grant the jihadist death wish for unlimited sex. That way, we stop them from killing more innocents. Sounds like a viable option to me.

Will all the jihadists please step forward for instant gratification? Alternatively, will the moderate Islamists please control your own people?

Desmond Tuck | Palo Alto

‘A life of service’

Thank you for the kind article in the May 25 j. about my father, Chaim H. Friend, alav hashalom.

While he indeed considered his family “the true symbols of a life well-lived,” it’s also worth noting his lifelong dedication to serving Jewish communal organizations, including as a fundraiser for the United Jewish Appeal, and as development director for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations/Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion, B’nai B’rith, the West Point Jewish Chapel Fund and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and as a member of the boards of directors of the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center, Jewish Family and Children’s Service of the East Bay and the Interfaith Council of Rossmoor.

Thank you for bringing his life of service to the attention of your readers, and the many people who loved him.

A memorial service is being planned for July.

Gil Friend | Berkeley

‘From one God’

Sha’ar Zahav is a good congregation for an LGBT assembly. I went to there and saw that its homosexual members are working hard to support their beautiful community. That is wonderful.

I’m glad that homosexual Jews and non-Jews have rights in this congregation. That should be absolutely normal and acceptable in our community.

I’m glad that Irene Ogus has become a good member in that synagogue (May 11 j.). I feel very bad that her Orthodox family once she came out as a lesbian didn’t want to recognize her.

We all have to accept that fact that we are all people from one God, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and straights.

Rabbi Camille Shira Angel and her congregation are doing wonderful work to keep that community alive.

Paul Shkuratov | San Francisco

‘A start’

I read Joanne Hartman’s recent column and direct her to a new Web site, www.JewcyWrap.com. While it is not specifically for scrapbooking, the gift wraps can easily be cut and used for Jewish occasions in scrapbooking.

We are actually considering putting scrapbooking items on the site in the future, but this is a start, and the designs are a blast. We will be adding more papers over the summer.

Daphne Yousem | Oak Park

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