The power of Camp Tawonga
Camp Tawonga changed my life. The summer of 1970, my parents moved us from Palo Alto to San Francisco and we settled in the Marina District. Naturally, they assumed I would attend the nearby high school, Galileo.
They enrolled me at Camp Tawonga in hopes that I would meet some schoolmates so the first day of school wouldn’t be difficult and lonely. Little did they know that the new friends I made at camp (one being Judy Stern) would “inform” me that if you are Jewish, you “have to” apply to Lowell High School.
I did attend Lowell with my new Jewish friends, many of which are still a part of my life today. It was also an excellent decision education-wise.
I always planned to go back and work at Tawonga but was too busy with my education and career plans by then. Fast forward to the late ’90s: Both of my sons and all of their cousins attended Tawonga and had the best few summers of their lives. Some of them returned and worked there. We’ve attended family weekend and will always have a special place in our hearts for this magical place.
It’s so regretful that such a vibrant young lady lost her life there. My heart goes out to her family.
Amy E. Fink | San Bruno
Camp Swig not ‘defunct’
Nothing can address the loss of this wonderful member of the Tawonga family (“Tragedy at Camp Tawonga,” July 12), but the inaccurate comment about Camp Swig deserves a clarification.
Camp Swig is not the “now defunct Union for Reform Judaism camp in Saratoga.” Camp Swig merged with the new camp property of URJ Camp Newman in Santa Rosa and then officially became one camp on the Santa Rosa site, continuing all of those wonderful traditions that Jewish camping provides.
Ironically, one of the main reasons for the move was the challenge of providing camper safety, as the old camp was located on a problematic earthquake fault and the cost of rebuilding and seismically updating the camp to keep it safe was prohibitive.
URJ camping in the Bay Area is alive and well, creating lifelong, caring Jewish communities of support similar to the Tawonga community, that will step in and support everyone who is grieving over such a tragic loss.
Ricki Oleon | Orinda
Former Camp Swig-Newman camper/staffer/parent
ADL’s ‘dark moment’
In a letter in j. on June 21, the local ADL representative proudly refers to ADL’s long record in serving the Jewish community. Indeed, the ADL is doing a good job educating the public.
However, the ADL’s record is not without its dark moments. In the postwar period, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, together with Jewish War Veterans and the American Jewish Committee, offered their cooperation to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Only the Central Conference of American Rabbis, a Reform group, unanimously passed a resolution in 1954 denouncing Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
Rudy Budesky | El Cerrito
Honk for pro-Israel bus ads
I hope the Jewish community in San Francisco will support StandWithUs and its bus ads this month (“Bus ads wars continue in San Francisco,” July 12).
These ads are positive and educational. It’s unfortunate that the SWU response was necessary to counter false and bigoted ads put out by a Muslim organization dedicated to the elimination of the Jewish state.
It’s hard to say what the effects of the SWU ads will be, but not responding to the anti-Israel ads was not an option. Like the Bay Area, Israel is a diverse and open society and this is the message that needs to be communicated.
If you see the ads and appreciate the work that StandWithUs is doing here, please support them.
Gil Stein | Aptos
Ode to ‘Skipper Sedley’
Two years ago in Hong Kong, my husband and I had dinner with his friend since childhood, Bruce Sedley, then 84. A popular host of cartoon and “Three Stooges” shows on local television in the ’50s and ’60s, he was known as “Skipper Sedley” and then “Sir Sedley” to viewers of KRON and KTVU.
Bruce also made the talking story boxes at Children’s Fairyland (“Talking with … The queen of Oakland’s Fairyland,” July 12). You can still hear his sweet voice.
Bruce loved children and delighted them with his puppets, including King Fuddlez. As an adult, Bruce owned a lock company based in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, he died six months ago. May his memory be for a blessing.
Susan Kroll Diamond | Oakland
Privileges of power
When the U.S. is spying on its NATO allies in Europe, it’s minor spying on friends. When Jonathan Pollard passes U.S. information to Israel, it’s a high crime, and he is rotting in jail.
Sounds the same as when people in government or Congress get away with not paying their taxes, and/or inside trading, while we commoners pay dearly for the same action.
I guess power has its privileges.
Marc Mansour | Walnut Creek
A chance to tell the story
I read in j. about Shlomo Ronen, a Holocaust survivor living in Israel who contacted several high schools in Tel Aviv and asked if he could come and speak about his Holocaust experience (“Survivor wants to share his story before time runs out,” June 14). No school returned his call.
Mr. Ronen has two daughters who became very religious, and their rabbi forbids them and Ronen’s 13 grandchildren from speaking to him. I wonder what sin he committed except for being a survivor.
I am also a Holocaust survivor. Some other survivors and I are invited to synagogues, churches and schools to speak about the Holocaust. Some of the young people don’t know this history and are thankful to us. I wrote a book about my family before the Holocaust, how I survived and what kind of life I made for myself afterward. I wrote it especially for my dear family and friends here, so they would know where I came from. It was not an easy book to write.
Misia Nudler | Oakland