Not All Aspiring Rabbis Can Study Full Time As an older rabbinical student, I appreciated a September 14 article on professionals who are enrolling in rabbinical school (“Growing Number of Professionals Turning to a More Holy Pursuit”). I would have wished, however, that the article had included some of the rabbinical programs geared toward older…
Israel’s Debt to Sudan The suggestion by opinion writers Stephen Solarz and Rafael Medoff that Israel should welcome Darfur refugees for humanitarian reasons is a good one (“Create a Temporary Israeli Haven for Darfur Refugees,” September 7). I would suggest, however, that apart from humanitarian considerations, this would allow Israel to recognize its 25-year-old debt…
American Jewry Is At a Crossroads Asking whether Conservative Judaism suffers from malaise may be addressing the wrong issue (“Conservative Judaism at a Crossroads,” August 31). I believe a compelling argument can be made that what we are really witnessing is a realignment of the American Jewish community — to which the old categories of…
Double Standard Applied To Armenian Massacre I might be able to buy into the realpolitik argument that suggests we ought to be more concerned with Turkey as Israel’s ally than with a theoretical and extremely retrospective condemnation of the Armenian deaths as genocide (“Of Genocide and Morality,” August 31). But in that case, how can…
College Played Vital Role I enjoyed reading Jeri Zeder’s August 10 article on the National Yiddish Book Center and its founder Aaron Lansky (“Book Center Turns New Page”). However, I was astonished that no mention was made of its location on the campus of Hampshire College, or of the role that Hampshire and many members…
ADL Has Never Denied The Armenian Massacre In an August 17 opinion column, Leonard Fein appears to be misinformed on the Anti-Defamation League’s position, as he seemingly relies only on what has been said and written in the news media and the blogosphere (“On Armenian Genocide, Politics Trumps Truth”). As a result, his contribution is…
Keep Debate Over Shul Renovation Civil As president of the board of directors of Holy Blossom Temple, I write this letter to let readers know that the board firmly supports our senior rabbi, John Moscowitz, and the role he has played thus far in our renewal process (“Renovation of Storied Toronto Synagogue Opens Cracks in…
Union Leadership Did Not Support a Boycott Two motions were tabled to Unison’s national delegate conference in June which addressed Israel and Palestine (“U.S. Unions Organize Against British Boycott,” July 27). Both motions were tabled by individual Unison local branches, as is their democratic right. They were not tabled by myself — as Unison’s deputy…
Jews Live in Deadwood Fast Forward writer Andrew Muchin asserts that “no Jews are known to live in Deadwood today” (“Pioneers in the Black Hills,” July 20). Not being completely sure if that was the case, I decided to dig a little deeper. I called David Lusk of AllMedia, Inc., a purveyor of Jewish mailing…
Circumcision Offers Many Health Benefits A July 20 article incorrectly reports that the current rate of circumcision in the United States is 57% (“Activists Up Efforts To Cut Circumcision Out of Bris Ritual”). Data released in 2006 by the Center for Disease Control showed that 80% of American males are circumcised; for non-Hispanic whites, the…
Group’s Finances Clear A July 13 article fails to mention that all financial information about the Claims Conference is on the organization’s Web site (“Accounting Shift at Claims Conference”). In addition, the Claims Conference Web site lists every single allocation made by the organization, a level of transparency few Jewish organizations can match. The change…
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