A heroine in Santa Cruz
Huzzahs! And congratulations to j. for recognizing the Joan of Arc of the Jewish community in the South Bay, Tammi Rossman-Benjamin. (“Standing tall in Santa Cruz,” Nov. 4)
She and her husband have been dogged, persistent clarions dedicated to exposing the unfortunately all too frequent episodes of anti-Semitism on the U.C. Santa Cruz campus, as well as in her community of Santa Cruz.
She is unrelenting in her efforts to illuminate/eliminate the sources of this vicious, hateful rhetoric and behavior. She strived to address these insulting desecrations, without fear of personal retribution, by appealing to those governmental agencies, community leaders and school administrators to rally to her cause.
She is a credit to her community and to her faith. Your story covered her struggles excellently — and I know she will continue her valiant heroic work.
Dave Sauberman | Martinez
Fundraising takes a turn — for the better?
The Nov. 18 issue included an article detailing a new approach by federations to the funding of programs (“Jewish Agency no fan of federations’ new plan”). Federations are now going to favor “designated giving” where the federation or individual donors designate recipient organizations in Israel.
Jennifer Gorovitz, the director of the S.F.-based federation, seems to strongly favor this approach. Actually, she ought to be worrying, based on local experience.
Every major San Francisco Jewish agency has its own fundraising staff and many (or most?) now raise more money directly from donors than they receive from federation. And, not surprisingly, the federation donor base continues to shrink.
Israeli organizations already have sizeable fundraising staff in San Francisco. The federations’ embrace of “donor designation” is apt to increase this presence. Israeli agencies will seek to persuade us to direct our federation gifts to them and eventually to give that gift directly to them.
In a time of unemployment this will create more local fundraising jobs. Whether it will be “good for the Jews” remains to be seen.
Mel Mogulof | Berkeley
Editorial was off the mark
Your Nov. 11 editorial (“See our pride: Forward honors five young Jews from Bay Area”) was nothing to be proud of. The young people you praised are involved in projects helping people in Haiti and Africa. Unlike a few of the other five young people lauded nationally by the Forward, none of the Bay Area honorees seem to be involved in assisting needy Jews either in the U.S., or heaven forbid, Israel.
Ignoring the first part of Hillel’s famous injunction, “If I am not for myself, who will be?” is not sound religiously, intellectually, socially, morally or psychologically.
In San Francisco, I have met many needy Jews, particularly the elderly, who receive no assistance from the Jewish community. I lived in Israel for years and saw many social problems there. Why are the youth in the Bay Area uninterested in these? Not trendy enough?
Those few young people working on campuses and in the streets to prevent a holocaust in the Middle East are those who are most deserving of praise and encouragement. Clearly, most adult Jews here have not been working to create a generation of proud, authentic Jews. n
Stephen Karetzky | San Francisco