No pervert
I appreciate j. publishing Cindy Naas’ very tragic Oct. 5 article about the inexcusable discrimination she and her family continues to suffer, and the events leading up to it.
Some of my friends and I (who grew up modern Orthodox, a bit more liberal than Naas) have wondered if there is a higher incidence of homosexuality and gender-related confusion in Orthodox communities than in the general population simply because they choose not to deal with it.
Even the Talmud speaks of being gay, as being innate.
When I attended Yeshiva University, some rabbinical students came out and shared with us they were gay. Some in the undergrad were openly gay and lesbian, others remained in the closet, maybe fearing being rejected as Naas family was.
It is almost criminal that Naas was given such horrible advice from someone working as a rabbi. In these closed communities, tragically, you can rarely get any empathy or pragmatic advice.
Her husband was not a pervert and had the courage to come out. It is a huge sin to judge people as Naas and her family were.
Mordechai Pelta | San Francisco
‘Above the radar’
Thanks for listing JGate in the resource box that went with your Sept. 28 cover story about children of interfaith marriages. We have a lot of people come to JGate who are in this category, many of whom are not comfortable in the more obvious entries into Jewish life.
I’m glad you’re helping this enormous group of Jews and potential Jews to rise above the radar.
Rabbi Bridget Wynne | El Cerrito
Empowering
Thank you for your Oct. 5 cover article on the emergence of teen philanthropy in the Bay Area. Since the article seemed to focus on the Peninsula teen foundation, we want to make sure your readers know that the East Bay has been and is a hotbed for teen philanthropy.
The East Bay Jewish Community Teen Foundation (EBJCTF) was established in spring 2004. The program has empowered over 100 East Bay teens to give tzedakah through Jewish communal grantmaking.
To date, our East Bay teen foundation has granted $134,000 to over 40 nonprofit organizations, both Jewish and secular. Some of the funding areas have been in Darfur assistance, rebuilding Israel’s north, human rights and improving the environment.
In the process, our teens have learned how to fundraise, lead a meeting, build consensus and other life long leadership skills.
We are proud to be gearing up for our fifth class this fall, who will hail from El Cerrito to Pleasanton to Alamo and everywhere in between.
Amy Friedkin | Oakland
Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay
chair, EBJCTF advisory committee
Lisa Tabak, executive director, JCTF
Boycott urged
Ann Coulter recently appeared on the Donny Deustch show, “The Big Idea.” She was promoting her new book.
During the course of the show Ms. Coulter stated that “Jews need to perfect themselves by becoming Christian.”
I find this kind of statement extremely offensive and intolerable. Ms. Coulter is no better than the terrorists who believe their ideology is the correct one. Her statement is reminiscent of so many similar statements/viewpoints in Jewish history. We as a Jewish community cannot allow this type of hatred to go unchecked.
My view is that a boycott of Ms. Coulter’s book and all of her public appearances should be encouraged.
Nancy Berger-Granet
Redwood City
JCF changes
It was a pleasure to read in the Oct. 5 j. article about the Strategic Funding Initiative at the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation (JCF).
There was one factual error we would like to correct. The article stated: “Up until now, the federation divided its service area into three regions — San Francisco, the Peninsula and Marin. Now, say hello to Sonoma and South Peninsula.”
In fact, JCF already had regional offices in four of these five regions. Now San Francisco will be classified as a region as well.
In contrast to the article’s statement, Sonoma and the South Peninsula have had regional councils in the past. New councils are forming in San Francisco, North Peninsula, and Marin.
In addition, all five regional councils will see changes in their structure and charter, intended to give the regions a greater role in the federation’s planning, priority-setting and grant-making. For example, each regional council president will now have a designated seat on the JCF Board and Executive Committee.
Thank you for taking the time to cover these exciting developments.
Karen S. Bluestone
San Francisco
chief planning & program officer, JCF
Problematic texts
Dan Calic’s Sept. 28 letter tackles inaccuracies and biases in social studies textbooks. To address that, the Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS): National Resource Center for Accurate Jewish Content in Schools was launched in 2005.
ICS is a national project of the San Francisco-based JCRC and the national Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Four priorities guide our mission of promoting accurate, unbiased instructional materials on Jews, Judaism and Israel:
n ICS works with publishers to improve content for textbooks being developed or revised.
n ICS assists local JCRCs and other Jewish agencies nationwide on public school curricular issues.
n ICS communicates with government education officials who select schools’ instructional materials.
n ICS develops curriculum materials and provides teacher training.
The seventh-grade text cited by Calic, “Across the Centuries,” isn’t listed on the California Department of Education Web site as one adopted in the most recent social studies textbook adoption of 2005. However, some schools may be using it until they purchase new books.
If parents find problematic materials in their schools, ICS would like to be informed. As Calic noted, it is important for parents to be aware of what their children are learning in the public schools.
Aliza Craimer | San Francisco
coordinator, ICS
Canard echoed?
I attended the recent Berkeley stop of the Walt/ Mearshimer book tour. Despite the fact that it was sponsored by Tikkun, several well-known local anti-Zionist activists were present, one of them handing out postcards advertising a protest at the December AIPAC dinner in Oakland.
Supporters of Israel need to take Walt and Mearshimer seriously. They try to pre-empt charges of anti-Semitism by claiming that any opponents of the Lobby are tarred with that brush, and by claiming to support Israel as a Jewish state. However, their arguments echo the canard of “Jews control the media and Congress,” with the substitution of “Israel lobby” for “Jews.”
Their argument that bin Laden is motivated by the Palestinian issue falls flat on its face since his “messages” to the American people have barely mentioned the Palestinians, but if the argument is repeated enough, imagine the backlash should there be another terror attack on American soil.
I wonder what these authors think about the irony that while they insist that they are neither anti-Israel nor anti-Semitic, many of their biggest fans are. Stand outside the Oakland AIPAC dinner in December, see the rally which was promoted at this talk, and look for yourself.
Michael Harris | San Rafael
Floral thank-you
On behalf of the residents of Chai House, we wish to say thank you to the anonymous family who recently donated two large containers of white roses and other flowers from a wedding.
The flowers lasted more than a week, and brought much joy to all of us. No name or address was given to Cappy, our lady at the desk, so we were unable to write and say thank you. If the donor reads this letter, we wish you mazel tov on the happy occasion, and thank you.
Estella Abrams | San Jose
Immediate perils
Richard Schwartz’s Sept. 7 letter continues the theme of an earlier letter of his — that is, we are placing our humanity and planet in jeopardy by our neglect of environmental danger, especially global warming.
I appreciate his sensitivity but wish to point out that there are more imminent catastrophes facing us. There are a million people dying from malaria each year (the use of DDT would cut this number significantly). There are a billion people today on this planet, especially children, who suffer severely and often die from lack of clean water.
There is nothing wrong with fighting global warming, using recycled paper, eating less meat and using less fuel. But shouldn’t the more immediate and more deadly catastrophes receive our concentrated attention first?
Edward Tamler | San Mateo
No conclusions
I read with interest the recent JTA story “Why be Jewish, anyway?” in j. but was disappointed that the article only described the event and not any of the ideas, discussions or conclusions that came out of the Utah conference sponsored by the Samuel Bronfman Foundation.
Joyce Gandelman | Modesto
letters policy
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