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Religion of peace?

Twin bus bombings in Israel kill 16 civilians. Moscow suicide bombing kills nine. Beheading and murder of 12 Nepalese. Two Russian planes brought down by suicide bombers. French hostages about to be beheaded in demand for lifting of head scarf ban. All by Muslim extremists.

Muslims are involved in 25 of some 30 conflicts going on in the world:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Macedonia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Russia-Chechnya, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan.

The only Jewish country in the world is expected to give birth to a new Muslim country while the world is already blessed with 22 corrupt Arab or Muslim countries.

The Arab League votes to give the Islamic government of Sudan more time before imposing sanctions for the murder of at least 50,000 blacks by Arab militias.

There are no U.N. resolutions against Islamic terrorism.

Why is it getting harder to believe that Islam is a religion of peace?

Sheree Roth | Palo Alto




Sept. 11 times 20

After this week's double bombing in Beersheva, Israel's death toll is well over 1,000 in the last four years of Palestinian terror. Proportionate to population, this would be like America suffering over 20 Sept. 11s. How would we react?

Robert Katz | Cupertino




'A direct assault'

Reading the Aug. 27 j. review of Arthur Hertzberg's latest book, I was amazed to hear he is regarded as a "definer of Zionism." His vision of two secular states, living peacefully within mutually agreed boundaries, is the least likely of all scenarios.

His call to sideline "religious extremists," by which he apparently means any Torah-observant Jew, is a direct assault on Judaism itself. His suggestion that the international community dictate Israel's boundaries by force is equivalent to calling for a foreign conquest of Israel, a strange position for a Zionist.

Here is a more likely scenario: Israel, under constant attack by unappeasable enemies, and realizing the failure of theories such as socialism and humanism to bring salvation, finally acknowledges the sovereignty of God, and begins to live up to the terms of the Covenant.

The Almighty responds with mercy, fills Jews with His spirit and removes their fearfulness.

Israel asserts its claim to the entire Holy Land, and quickly drives out all hostile foreigners, never forgetting that its success depends on its faithfulness to HaShem.

When the nations see that God is with Israel, their fear of Israel exceeds their hatred, and Israel finally has peace.

Martin Wasserman | Sunnyvale




Barney Ross revisited

Your Aug. 13 editorial referred to 1930s boxing champion Barney Ross as a Jewish athlete whom "time has forgotten." But his exploits have begun to garner more attention.

Ross' niece, Audrey Cantor, was a featured speaker at a recent event in Chicago, organized by the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, celebrating the naming of a street after Ben Hecht, Hollywood screenwriter and Jewish activist. 

Cantor recalled how her uncle worked with Hecht in the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, which held rallies and lobbied Congress for action to rescue Jews from Hitler.

She also described how, after the war, Ross became active in a related committee, the American League for a Free Palestine, which sought U.S. support for the creation of a Jewish state.

Ross also chaired the league's George Washington Legion, which recruited American volunteers for the Jewish forces fighting to oust the British from Mandatory Palestine.

In an era when celebrities shied away from controversial political causes, Ross boldly spoke out for his people. One hopes that will never be forgotten.

Rafael Medoff | Melrose Park, Penn.
director, The David S. Wyman Institute

'Antidote to prejudice'

Thank you for focusing attention on the Jewish population in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union (Aug. 20 opinion and editorial).

I have been living and working in Kiev, Ukraine, for the past 18 months as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. The existence of modern Jewish life here is of immeasurable importance. Living, knowledgeable, practicing Jews are the best positive antidote to the ignorance and prejudice that leads to hatred of Jews and violence against Jewish communities. 

Anti-Semitism is not limited to this part of the world, and shrinking the geographical area where Jews live is not going to help us as a global community live in harmony with our neighbors, whoever they are.

Peace Corps volunteers integrate into communities and educate one Ukrainian at a time through face-to-face interactions that all Americans are not like the "America" represented on the news or in stereotypes. 

Jews (including me) living in this part of the world serve the same function for average Ukrainians, Moldavians or Poles. I hope that Jewish life will continue to flourish here, and I suspect that there will always be donors willing to respond to the need.

Delilah Raybee | Kiev




'Unprecedented challenge'

In reference to your sensitively written Aug. 27 editorial, we're facing an unprecedented challenge in Poland and surrounding countries.

Most Jews born after World War II didn't even know they had Jewish roots, many discovering this Madeline Albright-like secret only in the past few years (since the collapse of the communist system).

I've had the privilege to work with such Jews over the past 14 years — Jews who were denied by their country, society and parents to access and information about our people and traditions.

Since 1989, we, the Jews of the West, have had the opportunity to rectify this situation. Our first challenge is not where these Jews live but if they'll be Jews.

We need to provide the spectrum of Jewish life and education to them, to encourage and empower them. This must be done where they now live.

Once they're Jewishly educated, each will be free to decide where they want to live, just as we have been blessed by this option here in the United States.

We cannot change what happened 60 years ago. But we can welcome back the lost remnants of our people while the opportunity still exists. History will be our judge.

Michael Schudrich
rabbi, Jewish community of Warsaw and Lodz

'No need to move'

As a young American Jew living in Krakow, I can vouch for the fact that Jews living in Eastern Europe today are not part of a "hated minority," and that there is no need for them to move to Israel in order to remain living and thriving as Jews (Aug. 27 editorial).

Compared with Western Europe, Poland has been successfully grappling with its past, and approaching its Jewish history with respect and curiosity.

In Krakow and throughout the country, Poles with Jewish roots are returning to their religion to learn and practice, and through the efforts of Tad Taube, Rabbi Michael Schudrich and others, they are taking steps to bring a living Judaism back into a country where it flourished for a millennium.

Jewish communities in Poland and the former Soviet Union struggle financially in comparison to many American Jews, because their countries struggle, but there is no need for multimillion-dollar facilities for them to embrace the practices and culture of Judaism in their lives.

That is an American bias that Polish Jews don't have; instead, they have honest hearts open to their religious and cultural past.

Carolyn Slutsky | Krakow




A rebuttal

The Dovetail Institute for Interfaith Family Resources objects to certain statements in the Local Voice article by Anna Marx published in the Aug. 13 j. The Dovetail Institute believes these statements misrepresent the work of the institute and mischaracterize its fourth national conference.

I invite j. readers to look at the article written by Maran Gluckstein in response (page 38 in this issue). Gluckstein is a Jewish educator, a member of the institute's board of directors and was a presenter at the conference.

If you wish to see the entire conference program, along with the biographies of the presenters, you may do so at the Dovetail Institute's Web site, http://www.dovetailinstitute.org.

You will see reflected in both the workshop topics and presenters the special effort made by the institute to provide a forum where the work of Jewish outreach in the San Francisco area and nationally could be presented on its own terms.

Interested readers will soon be able to purchase tape recordings of conference workshops from the Dovetail Institute.

Oscar A. Rosenbloom | Palo Alto




Politically correct?

Jewish institutions and organizations in the United States are concerned about Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo and the plight of people in Sudan. I am also concerned about these issues.

But where is the concern of those institutions for the millions of Jews and Jewish children already dead 65 years? Their remains are desecrated and exploited.

Is the Sudan more important because it is politically correct?

Israel Turk | Los Angeles




letters policy

j. the Jewish news weekly welcomes letters to the editor, preferably typewritten. Letters must not exceed 200 words and must be dated and signed with current address and daytime telephone number. j. also reserves the right to edit letters. The deadline is noon Monday for any given week's publication. Letters should be sent by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by mail to j., 225 Bush St., Suite 1480, San Francisco, CA 94104.

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