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Friday February 29, 2008

Letters

Vibrant singles

Your Feb. 8 article announcing the disbanding of the East Bay Jewish Singles 55+ group made me wonder why you would focus on the loss of a group instead of highlighting the vibrant groups that still exist!

In addition to the sources you list at the end of the article for Jewish singles’ activities, please note that Temple Isaiah in Lafayette sponsors Yachad, a group for Jewish singles 42+ that meets monthly on Sundays for a program and potluck at the temple and is open to the whole community.

Our events are usually posted in the Singles calendar in your newspaper and are also available on our Web site: www.temple-isaiah.org/adults. I hope that in the future you will run a story on the groups that do exist for older singles. We are so lucky in the Bay Area to have such a variety of activities to offer to everyone who wants to connect to our vibrant Jewish communities.

Mary Anne Winig | Adult Program Coordinator, Temple Isaiah, Lafayette

Let the games begin

We were thrilled with j.’s wonderful feature article on the 2009 JCC Maccabi Games in the Feb. 22 issue. The Games will bring exciting opportunities not only for teens, but for the entire community.

I am writing to clarify two points.

First, as you stated, Richard N. Goldman has contributed $750,000, and the Jewish Community Endowment Fund has pledged $500,000 for this event.

However, the contribution from the Taube and Koret foundations is a combined gift of $500,000. We are deeply grateful to each of our partners, as well as to all of our other generous supporters.

Second, while comparisons with the Olympics are perhaps inevitable, we avoid referring to the JCC Maccabi Games as the “Jewish Olympics.” The JCC Maccabi Games have their own unique history and purpose, and we are proud that we now have the opportunity to host them in San Francisco for the first time.

We know your readers will be enthusiastic to learn more about the 2009 JCC Maccabi Games in San Francisco, and we encourage them to visit our special

Web site dedicated to this event: www.jccmaccabisf.org.

Sandee Blechman | Executive Director, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Susie Crumpler | Director of Marketing and Communications, JCC of S.F.

Stop savaging Savage

An article and editorial about Michael Savage appeared in the Feb. 15 issue of j. He is worthy of more space in this publication. On his weekday radio broadcasts “The Savage Nation” and on his Web site he strongly defends Israel and the United States against our common enemy — radical Islam. If his language is a bit rough from time to time — well, our enemy is rougher with their suicide bombers murdering children in Israel, and airplane attacks against citizens here at home.

The editorial described Michael Savage as “self-serving.” He is not. To date more than 58 million people have visited his Web site and voted he should run for the U.S. presidency. (A person can vote only once.) More than $4 billion could quickly be raised for his cause.

Unfortunately, he has chosen not to run. His political views are correct and patriotic. He speaks not political-correctly but plainly and with passion defending our borders, language and culture. He has no sympathy for politically suicidal Jews. His stand against the abuse of prescription drugs, especially among children, is admirable.

Michael Savage is an asset to our community!

David Browda | Lodi

Women enrich Judaism

In contrast to Richard Becker’s Feb. 15 letter to the editor (“Don’t displace men”), I wish to note that I see women’s recent embrace of those rituals historically reserved for men as a blessing for Klal Yisrael, the Jewish collective. That movement does not usurp the male role, but complements it.

Though men may require new avenues to affirm their masculinity, women’s assumption of traditionally male rituals in no way displaces men. Shame on the man who elevates his selfish desire for a masculine monopoly-hegemony over God’s command, shirking mitzvahs simply because women seek ritual parity. To blame a half-century of women’s increased observance for the 200-year decline of men’s participation is absurd.

Let me paint an alternate picture: My wife and I feel that our religious practices are enriched by one another’s participation, in the realms of daily prayer, tefillin, mikvah, Torah study and far beyond. We pray that our children will be inspired by our commitments. As we read in Ecclesiastes 4:9, two are better than one.

Rabbi Adam Rosenthal | Foster City

Time for accountability

Thanks for the op-ed by Neal Sher, “U.N. commissioner targets Israel again” (Feb. 15). Most responsible for the animosity toward Israel is the Organization of the Islamic Conference — a group made up of 57 Muslim nations that vote as a bloc against Israel and the U.S. in the U.N. Of these countries, 22 are members of the Arab League.

In 1949, the Arab League passed three resolutions. The first prohibited Arab governments granting citizenship to Palestinian Arabs. The second established a boycott of Israel and the third mandated the facilitation of Arab countries to expel the nearly 1 million Jews inhabiting Arab countries. Most of these Jews fled to Israel and have never been compensated.

Please call your congressional representatives often to back Resolution 185. This resolution asks the president to ensure that in all international forums, when the issue of “Middle East refugees” is discussed, U.S. representatives will ensure that any explicit reference to Palestinian refugees is matched by a similar explicit reference to Jewish and other refugees, as a matter of law and equity. It’s time to hold the OIC and the Arab League and the U.N. accountable for their part in the Israel-Arab conflict and conflicts the world over.

Sheree Roth | Palo Alto

Forgotten issues

It was with great interest and mild nausea that I read Diane Scott’s “Hopes for peace” letter in the Feb. 15 j. The Workman’s Circle/Arbiter Ring of Northern California agenda for peace neglected such “trivial” issues such as the shelling of Sderot, suicide bombers, recognition by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas of the Jewish state of Israel and compensation for the Jews who were expelled from Arab countries.

Perhaps the WC/AR feels that progress can be made by dealing with only half the issues.

Jerry Bentkowsky | Los Altos

Holocaust irony?

It is profoundly ironic that Kathy Guillermo, a member of PETA, in the Feb. 15 letters, commends Holocaust survivor Rep. Tom Lantos for working to end suffering of animals, while she says nothing about the statement some years ago from the president of PETA saying that there is no difference between the Nazis killing 6 million Jews and the roasting of 6 million chickens.

Edward Tamler | San Mateo

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