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Abramoff, not Dreyfus

Journalist Philip Fradkin's claim that San Francisco's turn-of-the-century political boss Abe Ruef was "equivalent" to Dreyfus is ludicrous. So I was sorry to see it quoted as fact in Gail Todd's April 28 letter.

Dreyfus, convicted of treason by a secret military tribunal, was completely innocent. Ruef, on the other hand, indisputably extorted a fortune from numerous businessmen seeking favors from the city. Moreover, the Dreyfus Affair unleashed a lethal wave of Judeophobia while the conviction of Ruef led to little more than a few scattered slurs in the press.

Ruef may be compared with another famous Jewish defendant, however — Jack Abramoff. Simply because many Jews have been framed by anti-Semites throughout the centuries doesn't mean there aren't others who are guilty as charged.

Fred Rosenbaum | Berkeley
founding director, Lehrhaus Judaica

Auschwitz and Darfur

James Besser (April 14) notes that just as "there are seemingly rational reasons why the United Nations can't do anything" to stop the genocide in Sudan, "there were 'logical' reasons not to bomb the rail lines to Auschwitz ... "

When Jewish groups in 1944 asked the Roosevelt administration to bomb Auschwitz or the railway lines leading to it, U.S. officials gave three reasons why not. First, such bombings were impractical because they would require "diversion of considerable air support essential to the success of our forces" elsewhere. In fact, however, Allied planes were already nearby — they repeatedly bombed German oil factories within a few miles of the Auschwitz gas chambers.

Second, the administration claimed it had done "a study" and found the bombing wouldn't work. In fact, no evidence of such a study has ever been found.

Third, U.S. officials claimed bombing the gas chambers "might provoke even more vindictive action by the Germans." It is hard to imagine what could have been "more vindictive" than what the Germans were already doing in Auschwitz .

Then, as now, if the international community had the will, it could find a way to stop the mass murder.

Rafael Medoff | Melrose Park, Pa.
director, David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies

Advertising status?

I was bothered to see in the April 28 j. that the Hebrew Academy felt the need to list their graduating seniors in an order that presumed the importance, or status, of the schools to which they have been accepted.

An alphabetical listing of the students would have been much more appropriate, and much more respectful.

To the graduating seniors: mazel tov to all of you on your accomplishments, and good luck to you in your chosen endeavors.

Kenneth Altman | San Francisco




Jews on strike

The massive, multi-city protests by Latinos and others to gain respect for their work and presence in America suggest that Jews might want to try something similar.

America's five to six million Jews are greatly outnumbered by the 12 million undocumented workers already living here. This disparity may make some Jews nervous.

Jews, for the purpose of gaining more respect, might want to engage in a one-day work stoppage.

By withholding their labor, Jews might be able to demonstrate their value to those American power centers that employ significant numbers of Jews.

Examples of such power centers are: Wall Street, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Madison Avenue, university faculties and the media.

Remember: It's America. Everyone has a right to protest.

Richard Colman | Orinda




Law of the land

Rabbi Michael Lerner is quoted in the April 21 article "Lerner talks religion on 'Meet the Press'" as saying, "The Bible also calls for redistribution of wealth every 50 years. Where is the religious right on that?"

Lerner is mistaken. Every 50 years, the jubilee year, land not wealth, is to be returned to the original owner of the land (Leviticus 25).

There is a big difference between land and wealth. Land is not produced by human labor. It is given by God (or nature, if you will) as a gift to all the people. Its bounty is to be enjoyed by all, not a few monopolists. Wealth, by economic definition, is material things produced by human labor, physical and mental, which satisfies normal desires and has exchange value. Since wealth is produced by human labor, it should be owned, consumed, enjoyed or given away by its producers.

The best way in present times for all to share in the benefits of land is to tax the unearned income from rising land values.

Edward Tamler | San Mateo

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