Turning on to Shabbat
I loved your cover article, “Disconnect to reconnect” (April 30). After the opportunity to live in Israel and experience the incomparable Shabbats there, I sought to create a symbolic “day of rest” for Shabbat here in San Francisco.
Over a decade ago, I began to put my computer to sleep from Friday night to Saturday night. To me, this honored tradition and my Reform Jewish lifestyle. It feels great, and has enriched my feeling of and for Shabbat.
I’m in the “boomer” demographic, and I posit that all “Google generation” ages can benefit from whatever feels right of the technology components and more of the new Shabbat Manifesto initiative.
Marsha B. Felton | San Francisco
Keep government out
Arizona’s new immigration law is an example of government at its worst (“Jewish groups unite to oppose Arizona immigration law,” April 30). Government must not have the power to ask people, especially American citizens, to produce identity papers. If government has the power to ask for identity papers, then government has the power to require every American Jew to wear a yellow star with the word “Jude” on it. Over thousands of years governments, especially in European and Arab countries, have caused tremendous harm to Jews. Government must stay out of people’s lives if liberty is to thrive.
Richard S. Colman (via web) | Orinda
Palestinian dream must change
Having traveled to Israel more than 30 times in the past 20 years, I have learned that there is one salient point that overshadows all others: If the Palestinians laid down their arms tomorrow, they would, in short order, have everything they profess to desire: peace, a state of their own, a future for their children, some form of compensation for their troubles, and I daresay even a share of Jerusalem as their capital. If, on the other hand, Israel were to lay down her arms tomorrow, she would be wiped out before the following Shabbat. Anyone who denies this is simply unfamiliar with the realities on the ground.
Peace in this troubled land cannot exist until the
Palestinians dream more fervently of their own state than for the destruction of the Jewish state.
In the meantime, BDS pressure on Israel only serves to keep the Palestinians’ fonder hopes alive.
Curt Schacker | Piedmont
Not solvable, but manageable
No significant settlement of meaningful issues between Israel and the Palestinian Authority can occur until the disputes over Jerusalem are resolved. Negotiations between the two parties are costly, time-consuming, expensive and ultimately futile while both sides are totally intransigent concerning their positions regarding the city. Not all problems are solvable but an attempt to manage them is possible. One requests an editorial, both supporting and refuting this statement and suggestions about management of the situation.
David Fisher | San Francisco
Let the Arabs have east Jerusalem
Jews in Israel and the world over are in disagreement if all of Jerusalem should remain Israeli or be the capital of the Jewish state without east Jerusalem.
This reminds me of a story. Two Jews came to the rabbi to argue their opposite views of the same situation. The first one had his say and the rabbi said you are right. Than the second one stated his case and the rabbi said you are right, too. They asked the rabbi how could both of us be right. And the rabbi said, you are right again.
The dilemma seemed unsolvable until I read Guy Bechor’s op-ed about giving up East Jerusalem (“It’s time to say goodbye, cut off east Jerusalem Arabs,” April 23). His op-ed convinced me that to give up the eastern part of the city would greatly benefit Israel financially and in other respects.
And let me add my humble opinion to this matter, and I know that I will be hated for it by some of my co-religionists. I shall get personal satisfaction if this deal becomes reality. The Arab Jerusalemites will find out that the change of their citizenship and life under Palestinian rule has brought them little gratification.
Gershon Evan | San Francisco
Reduce support for film fest
I was very surprised recently to learn that the 2009 Federation allocation to the SFJFF was $81,900 rather than the widely circulated figure of $31,500.
The source for this revelation was Jennifer Gorovitz, acting CEO of the Federation, who was kind enough to provide the accurate figure from her staff. The $81,900 includes “support” of $31,900 together with two other programs, Young Adult Outreach allocation is $30,000 and $20,000 for
film development in the 2009 total of allocations, not related to the Endowment.
I also understand that SFJFF has decided to apply for 2010 funding this month under the recently announced guidelines. We urge the Federation to substantially reduce this support because of the egregious behavior of SFJFF in the “Rachel controversy,” which brought our community international notoriety.
The excuses that the guidelines were enacted after the event or that the allocation is for a future time are unworthy avoidances for the Federation to use for this moral outrage. They would never be understood or accepted.
Larry Goldberg | Tiburon
Don’t tolerate intolerance
Recently I wrote in j. about the threats of violence posed by self-appointed “supporters” of Israel who are intolerant of criticism of Israel, especially by fellow Jews (“Right wing’s road to ruin on Israel,” April 23). Now comes news that the home of Rabbi Michael Lerner, the editor of Tikkun, was defaced by vandals who left posters and graffiti attacking “liberals and progressives as being supporters of terrorism and ‘Islamo-fascism.’ ”
At the same time there have been anti-Semitic events: rocks thrown through Jewish/Israeli-identified shops in Oakland and swastikas defacing dorms at U.C. Berkeley. These events seem related to the debate around the “divest from Israel” campaign at UCB. Rabbi Menachem Creditor, who spoke against divestment, told me that some divestment supporters also made anti-Semitic comments to him, and that he felt unsafe.
The perpetrators of violence and hatred expressed in both these situations share a mistaken view that all Jews support (or should support) all Israeli government policy; they merely disagree as to whether Israel’s actions are good or bad. Here the “Jew haters” and the “other Jew haters” reinforce each other and find common cause in their mutual intolerance. We must condemn the violence in both instances, and be intolerant of one thing: intolerance.
Ron Feldman | Berkeley