The American Jewish Congress and Us As a former executive director of the American Jewish Congress (1971-1978), I was saddened by the news that it has suspended its operations. Jerome Chanes’s July 23 essay on the unique contributions of the AJCongress was a moving tribute to the many innovative actions that are part of the…
Wedding Erodes Intermarriage Taboo Like it or not, the media-hyped Clinton-Mezvinsky intermarriage, discussed in your August 6 editorial, “When Marc Weds Chelsea,” will make religiously based Jewish opposition to such matches in our society more difficult. (I’m the groom’s uncle, although I wasn’t present at the ceremony.) Chelsea did not and will not convert to…
How Big of a Tent? In his July 9 article “Peoplehood vs. Israel,” Jay Michaelson presents us with a stark choice. He states: “if we want a community that stands for something — for example, support for the existence of the State of Israel — then we are by definition excluding those who do not…
Outreach Is More Than Hugs and Smiles It is absurd to characterize the basis of the Jewish Outreach Institute’s work — or any Jewish outreach — as an “assumption that all that’s needed is open arms,” as your article put it (“New Study Finds That It’s Not a Lack of Welcome That’s Keeping the Intermarrieds…
Exchange Promotes Understanding Anita Epstein’s June 9 article “Why I Cannot Forgive Germany” (online-exclusive) relates a very tragic past. She feels the way she feels and, as far as I am concerned, that closes the book on her personal experience during the Holocaust. One cannot argue nor should one even comment on it. It is…
Wyatt Earp’s Jewish Burial It is truly ironic that in your June 18 issue, which features a cover story about the controversy over burying non-Jewish spouses in Jewish cemeteries (“Cemeteries Are Becoming New Challenge for Interfaith Families”), there is an unrelated article which mentions that “O.K. Corral gunfighter Wyatt Earp is buried in a Jewish…
We Are Not One, Genetically As a Reform rabbi serving a 500-family congregation, but who has no “Jewish genetic markers” from my ancestors, I am deeply offended by your June 11 editorial “We Are One, Genetically.” The editorial asked whether, as “genetic distinctions fade away,” our sense of peoplehood will remain intact. I was shocked…
Specter’s Legacy Sits In Judgment The end of Arlen Specter’s career as a U.S. senator should be hailed by Jews as well as by all Americans (“End of Specter Era Brings New Race for Jewish Vote,” May 28). Why? Because of his key role in driving the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Specter’s…
Will Rubashkin’s Punishment Fit the Crime? Your May 14 article “Campaign for Rubashkin Paints Another View of Kosher Meat Scandal” paints an incomplete picture of the group of people who are protesting federal prosecutors’ efforts to have Sholom Rubashkin sentenced, initially, to a life sentence and now to a 25-year sentence. It is not only…
Government Shouldn’t Fund Discrimination Nathan Diament’s argument that religious freedom is jeopardized if the Supreme Court refuses to allow public funding of a Christian club at a public school is deeply flawed (“A Tale of Two Cases: Why A Christian Club Matters More Than a Desert Cross,” May 14). While Diament is right that people…
Opening Up Poland’s Jewish Community I read with great interest Konstanty Gebert’s April 23 article “Why Poland’s Jews Mourn Their President.” The Polish Jewish community shares a deep sense of loss over the deaths of President Lech Kaczynski, First Lady Maria Kaczynski and the 94 others who perished in that tragic plane crash near Smolensk…
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