Dancing in Marin
I was delighted to see your article about Israeli dance in the Bay Area (“Israeli folk dance draws lively crowd around Bay Area,” Nov. 4) — but surprised and disappointed that you left out the longstanding Israeli folk dance class at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael.
This class dates back to the 1970s, and currently is scheduled for Thursdays from 1:30 to 4 p.m. I took over as teacher about a year ago, following in the wonderful dancing footsteps of Ruth Gundelfinger. Newcomers, beginners and experienced dancers of all ages, and drop-ins, are always welcome. For more information, visit www.carolfriedmanfolkdance.blogspot.com or contact me at [email protected].
Folk dancing is great fun, great exercise and great community. Come dance!
Carol Friedman | Point Reyes Station
‘I treasure the dancers’
J. contributed an interesting article about Israeli dance in the Bay Area. I was delighted to read about all the different venues available, and that the attendance is so full. I’ve been dancing since the early ’90s and love it. I have made many close and special friends over the years, and I treasure the dancers as well as the dances.
My group has been dancing in Marin County since the ’70s, and I was disappointed that we weren’t included. Our group welcomes anyone interested in Israeli dancing. We meet on Thursday afternoons. For more information, please contact the Osher Marin JCC.
Ann Gessert | Inverness
Misguided Jewish spin
Protester Truth Berenson (“On the ground at Standing Rock: Bay Area Jews join pipeline fight,” Oct. 28) compared the Dakota Access Pipeline to the Holocaust.
This is overheated and misguided. On one hand, it makes sense for Jews to sympathize with another small people facing the desecration of its holy sites. On the other hand, activist Zelig Golden’s claim that the pipeline protest is “the most important thing going on in the world right now” is startlingly wrong.
In case you have forgotten, there is a civil war and attempted genocide going on in Syria and Iraq right now. Nobody is in danger of being killed at the protest camp. There is, however, a danger of devaluing the word “genocide” to the point of meaninglessness. I suggest that Ms. Berenson’s historical memory should lead her to worry about that first and foremost.
Ilya Gurin | Mountain View
Editor’s note: Berenson told J. she had a dream about the Holocaust, which prompted her to feel “the collective trauma of genocide” and begin thinking about the pipeline situation in a Jewish context.
New York Times misfires in Israel editorial
On Oct. 7, the New York Times editorial “At the boiling point with Israel” excoriated Israel for a plan to relocate Jews from an illegal West Bank settlement to another West Bank location.
I support a two-state solution — anyone who suggests there’s another option is delusional. However, condemning Israel for adding 98 homes for Jews to an existing West Bank settlement (especially considering that Israel has nearly 2 million Arab citizens), while ignoring Palestinian intransigence, intolerance, hate incitement and terror, cannot be justified.
The Palestinians, after all, balked at Israeli peace proposals in 2000, 2001 and 2008, and responded by bombing Israeli children in schools, buses, discos, malls and pizzerias, killing 1,000 Israelis. In March 2010, during a visit by Vice President Joseph Biden, the Palestinians named a public square near Ramallah in honor of a Palestinian terrorist who led the massacre of a U.S. photojournalist and 38 Israelis, including 13 children.
Last year, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas praised “every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem” and denounced Jews visiting the Temple Mount because “they have no right to defile it with their filthy feet,” inciting a terror wave that has killed dozens of Israelis, including children.
This year, echoing a medieval blood libel, Abbas falsely accused Jews of poisoning Palestinian wells. In 2013, top Abbas adviser Jibril Rajoub told a Lebanese television station, “I swear that if we had a nuke, we’d have used it this very morning” against Israel. This year, Abbas adviser Sultan Abu al-Einein declared, “Wherever you see an Israeli, slit his throat.” Finally, the PA has persuaded UNESCO to adopt three resolutions denying the Jewish historical connection to the Temple Mount, and by extension, Jewish history itself.
When will the Times reach “the boiling point” with the Palestinians?
Stephen A. Silver | San Francisco
What chutzpah, J Street
After Andy David expressed indignation over being slighted by J Street (“J Street, Israeli consul general at odds over public appearance,” Oct. 21), several readers wrote to J. to say that the World Affairs-sponsored conversation between Jeremy Ben-Ami and Maen Rashid Areikat was extremely productive and to take umbrage with David for not being willing to sit in the audience to hear it.
Is no one struck by the absurdity of this situation? An American Jew and a Palestinian Arab government official sit on a stage and discuss Israeli-Palestinian relations, and no one invites an Israeli? The Israeli government official is relegated to the second-class position of audience member.
How is it that American Jews, living in safety and affluence, think they know what is best for Israelis? How is it that J Street feels it can make decisions that Israelis have to live by — while bypassing the Israelis? What chutzpah! American Jews would do well to have more humility and respect for the Jews who are actually on the front lines in Israel.
Malka Weitman | Berkeley
‘A spirit of rebellion’
The Women of the Wall believe that since they disagree with the laws governing prayer at the Kotel, they have no need to obey those laws (“Violence greets Torah scrolls at women’s section of Wall,” Nov. 4).
They appear to be driven by a spirit of rebellion rather than reconciliation, and their goals seem more political than religious. Their main argument is that it’s unfair for halachic authorities to decide how prayer should be conducted at the Wall because all Jews are equally holy and everyone should be able to pray however they please.
This is reminiscent of Korah’s rebellion in the Book of Numbers. Korah, a cousin of Moses, was aggrieved when Moses’ brother Aaron was named high priest, while he, Korah, was given a lesser job. So he organized a revolt against Moses. His main argument was that it was unfair for Aaron to be the only one allowed to lead the sacred service, because all the Israelites were equally holy. God answered him by opening the ground beneath his feet and swallowing him and his cohorts alive into the Earth.
I’m not suggesting that the Women of the Wall deserve to have the ground swallow them up. But the idea that Judaism has no fixed rules and can be anything that anyone wants it to be — depending on their “feelings” — is deeply alien to the spirit of our faith, and when Jews follow this erroneous path, it usually ends badly for all concerned.
Martin Wasserman | Palo Alto
Broil those livers!
Josie Shapiro’s very creative recipe for chopped chicken liver, regrettably, is not kosher (“Bringing a bissel of Jewish flavor to Thanksgiving,” Nov. 4). The livers must be broiled in order to be a kosher dish.
Marvin Yudenfreund | Richmond
‘Uber-liberal’ J. redeems itself with cover story
I stopped reading J. because I just got so disgusted with the uber-liberal platform. The only redeeming item was the letters to the editor, the majority of which took issue with J.’s subject matter and perspective. Thank goodness there are some people in the S.F.-Bay Area who hold the line in terms of our traditional values, ethics and practices.
But I stopped in my shoes when I saw the recent front page featuring the impact of Chabad on Jewish slightly-to-unaffiliated college students (“Does Chabad make students more Jewish?” Oct. 7). That I had to read! And I felt redeemed.
As you reported, a very significant percent of those students who have chosen to be actively involved with Chabad have significantly reoriented themselves to Judaism, avoiding intermarriage and incorporating Jewish ritual into their lives. I am not a Chabadnick (though I support them), but this article goes to show that there is interest and appeal to traditional Judaism. Let’s see J. start to promote that!
Roni Silverberg | San Francisco
Shoot the message, not the messenger
I am not friend of David Horowitz’s, but I don’t find his posters offensive (“Jewish groups slam ‘pro-Israel’ poster campaign no campus,” Oct. 21). What I find offensive is the response by Jewish organizations that prefer to shoot the messenger and ignore the message.
San Francisco State still is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. President Leslie Wong’s police department stood by when anti-Israel students shouted down the mayor of Jerusalem so he could not give his talk. No students were disciplined. Wong ordered an investigation, which minimized the threats to Jewish students. SFSU’s affiliation with a terrorist-based university is consistent with its tradition. The pro-Palestinian group GUPS has made it clear it does not want dialogue and wants the end of the Jewish state.
The Jewish establishment’s siding with Israel’s enemies is also sadly a tradition in the Bay Area.
Ironically, in the same issue was the news about J Street and the New Israel Fund snubbing the Israeli consul general. Anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide and pro-Palestinian organizations like J Street and NIF have contributed to this, as they find it more acceptable to side with Israel’s enemies than to fight for the security of the Jewish state.
Gil Stein | Aptos
Great opportunity for Urban Adamah to end slaughters
As Urban Adamah moves into its new home, with plans for more chickens and goats, perhaps the leadership can expand themselves ethically as well.
At their previous location, Urban Adamah staff killed the chickens in their care. How is this behavior consistent with the Jewish prohibition against causing suffering to living creatures — tza’ar ba’alei chayim? There is no ethical or humane way to care for chickens or goats when they are commodified, and exploited, for their eggs, milk or flesh by breeding, confining and slaughtering them.
Now that major health organizations have confirmed a plant-based diet is superior to an animal-based diet, why would we harm animals when our well-being does not depend in any way on eating their body parts or their secretions (eggs, milk, etc.)?
Adam Berman, Urban Adamah’s executive director, states he hopes to “do the kind of programming that really moves the spirit and the heart.” This could be accomplished beautifully if part of the new location was dedicated to give sanctuary to chickens and goats who need homes after having been rescued from the horrors of breeding, confinement and slaughter.
What an opportunity that would be to teach about one of our core Jewish values: to sanctify life by seeing the “nefesh chaya” (the living soul) in all living beings, as well as the precious Jewish imperative for tikkun olam, while practicing mercy and compassion.
Miriam Wald | Santa Rosa