Use Bush Audience To Push Communal Needs I was among the rabbis who met with President Bush on September 29, and feel that I must respond to the unfortunate spin that the Forward gave the meeting in an October 3 news article and an accompanying editorial (“Rabbi Presses the President On Rise in American Poverty”;…
Communal Celebration Not Just a Private Party I am grateful to Karla Goldman for her thoughtful September 19 opinion article on the planning conference convened by Celebrate 350 (“Throw an Open Party for U.S. Jewry’s 350th”). Goldman recognizes the historic significance of the celebration to be launched officially in September 2004, 350 years after the…
Survey Affects People Lost in the criticism of the fraudulent intermarriage number is a fuller understanding of its impact on people’s lives (“The 52% Fraud,” September 12). The 1990 population survey affected the emotional lives of individuals and families. Having declared a crisis, many in the organized Jewish community accused those Jews who fell in…
The finding of the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey that 52% of Jews who married from 1985 to 1990 had married non-Jews was nothing less than a clarion call to action for organized Jewry (“The 52% Fraud,” September 12). Jewish continuity commissions were formed in many Jewish communities. Birthright Israel was established. A foundation for…
Lithuanians Celebrate Common Litvak History The government of Lithuania takes exception to the tone of the September 5 “Letter From Vilnius” and the perception it gives Forward readers on the relationship between Lithuanian Jews and non-Jews (“A Litvak-less Birthday Bash”). The Lithuanian and Jewish peoples have much in common. Our history is marked by a…
Burg: Voice of Reason, Or Defeatist Leader? Opinion writer Avraham Burg’s words are a sign that there remains in Israel a voice of reason and justice (“A Failed Israeli Society Collapses While Its Leaders Remain Silent,” August 29). As a Greek citizen, I could never envision Izmir (Smyrna) and Istanbul (Konstantinoupoli) ever belonging to any…
Impassioned Warning Or Confused Criticism? Former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg’s scathing critique of the present state of Zionism is as painful as it is true (“A Failed Israeli Society Collapses While Its Leaders Remain Silent,” August 29). Burg discloses what seems so obvious yet so unspoken in the Jewish media — that we are committing…
United on Immigration The Forward does a grave disservice to its readers in its story “Groups Rebuking Feds’ Move on Asylum” (August 22) in citing Stephen Steinlight of the Center for Immigration Studies. He has been used as a source for several stories relating to immigration — always as the opposing voice when covering this…
Stand Up for the Roma I read with great interest George Soros’s article on the situation of the Roma in Europe (“In Ever-Richer European Union, Roma Still Live in Abject Poverty,” August 15). While this issue is not widely known in the United States, it remains a difficult challenge for European society. Even the dark…
Film Festival Promoted By Top-Notch Publicists As one of the publicists for the Israel Film Festival in Chicago, this year and last, I would like to extend an invitation to Forward film critic Daphne Merkin to call us anytime (“Exporting Homegrown Culture: Can Israeli Cinema Go Global?”, August 8). I am sorry she had a…
Specter: Mideast, Court Stances Stand on Facts I was surprised to read in a July 18 article a Democratic activist quoted as saying that, “Specter says [to the Jewish community], ‘I’m Jewish. Vote for me’” (“Specter Squeezed from Left, Right”). I have never and would never take such a presumptuous position. With some familiarity with…
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