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Sassoons are not Sacklers

I was interested in Deborah Prager Burstyn’s letter about the Sassoons (“Sassoon family’s full story,” June 9). She mentions the brother and sister, Philip and Sybil Sassoon, and the need to know more about them. So I will take the liberty of mentioning my book about them: “Sassoon: The Worlds of Philip and Sybil.”

I think it’s a little misleading to compare the Sassoons to the Sacklers. The Sassoons made a lot of money before being involved with selling opium to China, which did, however, make them much richer. But until this became illegal in 1919, it is important to remember that the British government — not to its credit — was in charge of the cultivation of opium in India, not to be consumed there but to be sold to China.

Peter Stansky
Emeritus professor of history, Stanford University

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Proud of Mayor Breed

As the chair of the delegation and one of the primary organizers of the trip celebrating the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco-Haifa sister city relationship, and as a fifth-generation San Francisco resident, I 100% disagree with the assumptions in the letter from Joel Wagonfeld criticizing the trip (“Mayor Breed’s priorities,” June 9).

Sister city relationships have the potential to be very beneficial for our home. The relationship with Haifa has nothing to do with building international relationships and everything to do with sharing best practices with other cities, and finding opportunities to promote our city.

Yes, our city has significant challenges at this moment, but five days meeting with various communities to find opportunities for San Francisco is not only an important responsibility of our mayor, but I would argue central to her job.

We met with universities with exciting ideas about urban renewal and business growth. We met with businesses that have a presence in San Francisco and others we hope will come here. And we met with communities that are facing challenges not unlike those we have at home, and offered ideas on how to solve them.

It was far from a “largely celebratory and ceremonial visit,” and while it will take time to see if the relationships we built will bear fruit, I am extremely proud of Mayor Breed for making this journey and championing our city. And I am proud of our community for all the support it gave to make this trip so successful.

Sam Lauter
San Francisco

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The perils of adulation

Regarding “Planned screening of ‘Soul Doctor’ film about Shlomo Carlebach sparks outrage” (June 9), the movie should be shown with a discussion after the screening, if at all possible.

We find many “heroes” of the last century now caught by the #MeToo movement — and rightly so. A movie and discussion would increase awareness for all of us, especially the young and vulnerable, to the perils of adulation of the famous and charismatic.

I attended the House of Love and Prayer (an actual house on Arguello Street in San Francisco). As an adult now, I can imagine inappropriate behavior occurring in the shadowy rooms of that old house, on college campuses and in other situations. Rabbi Carlebach was an adult. I am disappointed and shocked by his actions. I joyfully sang his beautiful music for many years, though I am glad that my congregation no longer uses his tunes.

Karen Levi
Potomac, Maryland

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These students show us the way

Kudos to the three Jewish students honored for their courageous challenging of anti-Israel agitation now surging throughout North American elite college campuses. (“In Tel Aviv, Berkeley Law students cheered for fighting antisemitism,” June 13). Pervasive toxic rhetoric is now even infecting what should be celebratory commencement addresses, for example, at El Camino Community College and the City University of New York.

The scorn and ostracism directed at Jewish students, faculty and administrators are indefensible as “free speech.” Taxpayer-supported public colleges ought especially to be held to account for allowing such practices. Student organizations’ exclusionary bylaws that ban “Zionist” speakers … ought to find no home at any self-respecting university.

These three students have shown the way for others to follow. There is safety in numbers. If enough others take up this noble struggle, perhaps our campuses can slowly begin to heal.

Richard D. Wilkins
Syracuse, New York

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Weaponizing the Holocaust

Bruce Farrell Rosen’s hyperbolic attack on Gov. Ron DeSantis due to the Florida Department of Education’s rejection of two Holocaust-related history texts is, at best, a selective filtering of facts to pursue a political agenda (“Erasing history in Florida,” May 25).

In 2020, Gov. DeSantis signed into law the requirement for school districts to certify that the history of the Holocaust is being taught. His signature was hardly an act of Holocaust denial.

But Rosen writes, “We are watching the emergence of Ron DeSantis and the spreading of the banality of evil.” This last phrase is a cryptic comparison to Adolf Eichmann from Hannah Arendt’s “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.” Extreme rhetoric, such as Rosen’s, can only further poison our public discourse and make civil exchange on sensitive topics all the more difficult.

The weaponization of the Shoah for political purposes suggests that a review of how we deal with this vital topic might well be in order. Let’s try to conduct our discussions and disagreements with a civil exchange of ideas rather than overheated rhetorical excess. We can all benefit from respectful dialogue.

Steve Astrachan
Pleasant Hill