Letters

Shock and anger

As a member of a merged Conservative-Reform synagogue, I was first disappointed, then shocked, and finally angry because of the Reform movement' s resolutions on Iraq and Samuel Alito.

The Iraq resolution shows gross ignorance of military operations and the risk incurred by military in the field and civilians at home. It's a resolution that comes directly from the playbook of the extremely aggressive left wing of socialism.

Regarding Alito, I believe the Constitution only becomes a living document when we undertake to change it through the existing established process that has already brought us 27 amendments. Radical liberals want to apply a method used in modifying Jewish law and philosophy to suit modern convenience and attitudes through a process of midrash, in which interpretation morphs into post-biblical halachah.

During the many years I have observed changes in modern Jewish approaches to secular lifestyles, I was happy that Judaism was not really a political movement. I thought that if that is what it would become, perhaps I might not want to remain a part of it. Reform Judaism should be cautious in its effort to politicize the movement as the membership is certainly not monolithic in support of such actions.

Charles Drucker | Pacifica




A 'Tookie' solution?

Putting aside — however difficult that may be — Dec. 2 op-ed writer Ken Kramarz's evoking the death of Rabbi Akiva to support his opposition to the execution of a brutal killer of four innocents, I'd like to propose a solution.

Let the governor pardon Stanley "Tookie" Williams and sentence him to live in Ken Kramarz's house.

Kramarz will taste fear daily and perhaps develop some empathy for the victims. And, of course, Tookie will experience, day after day, Ken Kramarz "morality."

We might actually end up with two new advocates for the death penalty.

Dr. Fred Kotkin | Seattle




'She was lied to'

I read Rachel Sarah's Dec. 2 column with great pain. I feel sorry for her that she was misled her whole life into thinking she was Jewish.

It must be hard to accept that she was lied to. Reform Judaism is basically a fraud. Reform Judaism ignores the three most basic tenets of Judaism, namely kashrut, mikvah and Shabbat. Their leaders encourage intermarriage, which is strictly forbidden in Judaism, and then lie to the children of such marriages, telling them they are Jewish when they are not.

If I were in Sarah's situation, I would be angry at the movement that deceived her, not at the laws of the Torah, which are eternal.

Orah Amira | Safed, Israel




Who is a Jew?

Rachel Sarah (Dec. 2 column) is indeed a Jewish woman. In the secular movement, we hold, with David Ben-Gurion, that a Jew is someone who says s/he is.

Our statement on "Who is a Jew" concludes, "A Jew is a person of Jewish descent, or any person who declares himself or herself to be a Jew and who identifies with the history, ethical values, culture, civilization, community and fate of the Jewish people"

Rabbi Judith Seid | Pleasanton




The inner realm

Rachel Sarah, in her search for answers regarding patrilineal descent (Dec. 2 column), phoned a professor who explained to her that matrilineal descent is "nasty" and rooted in "arrogance." His understanding is that the source for the halachah is the Roman empire's custom of identifying people as Roman citizens based on a mother's citizenship.

The traditional source for the halachah finds its roots in the Talmud, in Kiddushin 68b, which bases itself on Deuteronomy.

Furthermore, the mystical realm of Judaism has long identified the feminine with the inner realm and the masculine with the outer, public realm.

There is a longstanding kabbalistic tradition that explains that one's Jewish identity is identified with one's inner soul and as such follows one's mother, reflecting the feminine, inner side.

On the other hand, one's tribal affiliation, determining, for example if one is a Kohen, Levite or Israelite, relates to one's public role in society and is thus determined by the father, symbolizing the public realm.

We live in a greater community that is diverse in many ways. Instead of imagining what others may think of our beliefs and practices, let us try instead to focus on being comfortable with who we are.

Naomi Dardik | Oakland




One-sided exhibit

In her Dec. 2 letter, Berkeley Art Center Director Robbin Henderson defends the BAC's current Palestinian exhibit and wonders "how many critics of the exhibition actually saw it."

Well, I did. It's simply propaganda, co-sponsored by and for the Middle East Children's Alliance, an anti-Israel organization.

Pictures of a fat, big-nosed, pasty-faced man luxuriating opposite a tortured Palestinian and written descriptions of "sustained Colonial violence" and "Palestinians ... denied justice" cannot be honestly justified as being "out of context." The exhibit's films are more al Jazeera news footage than art.

Henderson disingenuously advocates the need "to provide an opportunity to hear the Palestinian story, because it's rarely heard here." To the contrary, in Berkeley it's generally the only side presented.

Berkeley gives Henderson a building and $50,000 per year. The issue isn't artistic freedom (which must be preserved) but the city's unbalanced, uninformed political posture.

After Henderson exhibits Israel as the sole tolerant pluralistic democracy in the region, portraying the suffering of Jewish mothers and children exploded by terrorists in buses and restaurants, I'll believe her value is justice; until then, the motive is clearly political not artistic, oriented toward result not truth — a tragic, parochial misuse of public funds.

Mark Schickman | San Francisco




'Extremist, racist'

I was very disturbed to read Cinnamon Stillwell's Nov. 18 op-ed in support of the Jewish Defense League. The JDL is nothing but a domestic terrorist group worthy only of condemnation. From its founding by the rabidly racist Meir Kahane up until now, JDL's extremist and racist views are rightly deplored by almost everyone.

One wonders what JDL Stillwell is looking at when she writes that the "JDL's real crime has always been standing up unequivocally for the Jewish people."

Is plotting to bomb a mosque and the office of Rep. Darrell Issa "standing up for the Jewish people"? Is murdering Alex Odeh of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee "self-defense"?

I am very disappointed to see j. give a platform to those who support terrorism.

Scott Campbell | Oakland




'Reprehensible' acts

Attempting to bomb a place of worship or a congressman's office cannot be legitimately considered "defense." Nor is it a display of strength. If the Jewish Defense League is sufficiently disorganized that its bombing attempts were unsuccessful, that is the only good thing in the whole story.

It is reprehensible to bomb people's mosques, temples, churches, schools, offices or anywhere else. Unsuccessful bombers are to be condemned for their intent. It seems very strange to me that j. should print such a column (Nov. 18), however opinionated, which argues otherwise.

Cinnamon Stillwell's piece calls for a thorough investigation of Earl Krugel's death. That is a reasonable demand, which should be accompanied with a description of the investigation as it has proceeded so far and statements by prison authorities.

If they are inadequate, that can be pointed out. The entire community, Jewish and otherwise, is not served by the murder of prisoners. I share my concern in the hopes that you will not interpret it as an attack on First Amendment liberties or as evidence of anti-Semitism.

Carolyn S. Scarr | Berkeley




If walls could talk

I was looking through the Dec. 2 j. when I came across the article of the brothers who own a building in Vienna, Austria.

The story sounded familiar and then, when I saw the address, Schmidgasse 14, I knew why. I had spent some four years there, from 1954 to 1958, as an employee of the U.S. Information Service.

There had been rumors to the effect that somebody had committed suicide, and the name Furth floated around, but I never heard that the building might actually belong to Americans.

If that building could talk it could relate stories of Richard Nixon and other important visitors but also of the medical activities that took place there before the Germans took it over.

To me, the most exciting part was the time after Oct. 26, 1956, the Hungarian Uprising, when many refugees found their way to the building to tell of their experiences.

Gerry Gert | Napa




Cinematic catharsis

Not only to the Jews from the former Soviet Union but to those who remember that their great-grandparents immigrated from Europe to the United States — the movie "Everything is Illuminated" will surely bring the catharsis.

Even with its shortcomings, this movie after a journey of hysterical laughter will bring you a very serious philosophical message: A Jew who became an anti-Semite, Torquemada, persecutor of Israel, would find his only contentment returning back to his people, even in death.

A must-see movie for American (used to be Jewish) professors who built their careers on inciting anti-Israeli hatred on university campuses.

Tatiana Menaker | San Francisco




Wasting time on pot

Arthur Zeidman (Nov. 18 letters) wants my profession to continue to chase pot users. As a retired police officer, I know this prohibition reduces public safety.

Cops should be focusing on drunk drivers, child molesters, etc. Zeidman should know that bribes or campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies ensure that marijuana will never be tested to prove it is an effective medicine.

Drug companies do not want you to grow your own medicine for free. There is not one study on earth that has shown marijuana not to be effective as a medicine.

Howard J. Wooldridge | Washington, D.C.