‘May his memory be a revolution’
On Monday night, we began observing the first yahrzeit for Berkeley-born Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages murdered by Hamas in captivity one year ago.
On the podcast “Unholy: Two Jews on the News,” there is a moving interview from mid-July with Hersh’s mother, Rachel Goldberg, whose words revealed a hard truth: Of the 68 members of the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, only one took the time to reach out to her family after Hersh’s death.
One.
The other 67 showed exactly who they are: devoid of compassion, devoid of integrity, devoid of any moral compass.
Shame on them.
This is not an isolated failure. It reflects the government itself — a coalition so consumed with clinging to power and pandering to extremists that it has forfeited even the most basic acts of humanity.
At a time when Israelis are desperate for empathy, direction and moral clarity, the prime minister and his partners have offered nothing but silence, cynicism and a vacuum where human decency should be the standard.
This is not leadership. It is a stain on Israel’s soul.
In an Instagram post ahead of the yahrzeit, the family wrote:
“Please do something during those 24 hours to make our complicated world a bit better. It can be something big or small, quiet or loud, private or public. Do it in memory of the Beautiful Six, including our Hersh. May his memory be a revolution … for goodness.”
This reminds us that their memory demands more than words. It calls on us to fill the world with the decency that their murderers sought to extinguish.
May the memory of Hersh, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lubanov and Carmel Gat be a revolution for goodness, and endure as the blessing they were to their families, friends and Am Yisrael.
Rabbi Reuven Taff
Rabbi emeritus, Mosaic Law Congregation, Sacramento
Dangers at home and abroad
Something is happening in our world today that should disturb all people of conscience beyond words. The demonization of Jews and Israel is manifesting itself with continuing force.
I am writing this while we are traveling in Europe. The message from “across the pond” is even more vicious than the one heard in the United States. We must be alert to the clear and present danger that is growing every day. On radio, television, the internet and in our schools and universities, the messaging is clear. Jews represent a genuine threat and Israel is the misfortune of the world.
The evil being spread by Hamas is virtually ignored. The tragic realities manifested by the events of Oct. 7 and beyond are dismissed. The fault is placed squarely on Israel and the “original sin” of Zionism, manifested by the creation of the Jewish state. With all of the legitimate concerns about Gaza and the security of Israel, this genuine threat is not really being understood or confronted.
Let me be clear, I am not an alarmist. But I can see clearly the growing dangers that we face at home and abroad. Now is the time to raise our voices and respond as a community.
John Rothmann | San Francisco
AB 715 protects our students
At a time when Jewish students in California face real and growing threats, Rabbi Andrew Straus’ opposition to AB 715 doesn’t just miss the mark, it hands groups like CAIR and Jewish Voice for Peace exactly what they need to kill the only bill that would meaningfully protect Jewish students. (“AB 715 will do more harm than good in fight against antisemitism in schools,” Aug. 5 online)
Straus frames AB 715 as a threat to free speech. In reality, it bans discrimination, not debate. It doesn’t define antisemitism, adopt IHRA or ban criticism of Israel or discussion of Palestinian rights. It requires that controversial topics, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, be taught in a balanced, respectful way that doesn’t vilify or ostracize students based on religion, nationality, identity or connection to Israel. That’s not censorship, it’s basic educational integrity.
Antisemitism is being taught, tolerated and normalized in California schools now, from elementary classrooms to UC campuses, and has surged since Oct. 7. Students are hiding their Jewish identity, being told to remove Star of David necklaces and hearing anti-Israel rhetoric that crosses into clear antisemitism. This is not speculation. It is happening now.
Concerns about an “antisemitism czar” are absurd. We already have Title IX coordinators, racial equity officers and LGBTQ liaisons. Why is it unacceptable to create a role for a population facing a 600% increase in hate incidents?
What’s most infuriating is that in his opinion piece Straus acknowledges the harm, admits the system isn’t working and still argues for inaction. No ideas. No solutions. Just “don’t do this” based on vague speculation about hypothetical classroom scenarios.
It’s worth noting that no major Jewish organization, Reform or otherwise, has publicly opposed AB 715. Rabbi Straus’ column stands alone, and in doing so hands opponents of Jewish student protections arguments they could not have crafted better themselves.
Oren Rubinstein | Pacifica
Parroting Hamas propaganda
J. letters constantly berate Israel for Gazans’ suffering. Self-serving phrases like “as a Jew” or “as the child of Holocaust-survivors” impute undeserved understanding of events.
Singularly assigning Gazans’ misery to Israel requires that one’s only news sources are anti-Israel Western media, parroting Hamas propaganda as fact. Curiously forgotten are American and EU designations of Hamas as a terrorist organization and Hamas’ no-compromise charter goals: Wipe Israel off the map and murder every Jew on Earth.
Gaza food shortages result from actions of Hamas’ totalitarian government preventing distribution of thousands of Israeli truckloads of food — sitting idle, inside Gaza’s border. Hamas then blames Israel, and the news media unquestioningly quote Hamas. (Hamas leaders and combatants remain well-nourished.)
Fred Korr | Oakland
‘Apologists against Israel’
The Aug. 8 print edition of the J. “welcomed” multiple submissions to the Letters to the Editor, whereby Israel and its leaders are both criticized and humiliated, creating further divisions among ourselves.
These submissions did not appear to take into consideration the ongoing suffering of the Israelis living in Israel, who until now have had to undergo missile bombardments and warning sirens compelling them to run to shelters to save themselves and their loved ones from further harm.
It’s questionable whether this submission in favor of Israel will be published in J., given the tendency to be apologists against Israel rather than supportive of Israel.
Esther Salam | San Francisco
Protesting rabbis have no answers
I read with dismay the reportage on the protest at the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco on Aug. 11. (“Bay Area Jewish clergy protest at Israel Consulate, calling for end to war and suffering”)
I don’t know any Jews who are happy about the situation in Gaza at this time. Nor do I know any Jews who applaud the deaths of Palestinians anywhere. However, the well-meaning but misguided rabbis and Jewish professionals who call for the end of the war and the release of hostages don’t seem to have any better answers than anyone else regarding how best to do this.
Hamas will never release all the hostages, because the hostages are their ace in the hole to remain in power. And if they cared about their own people, they would have surrendered long ago. The starvation, if there is any in Gaza right now, is the direct result of Hamas’ ongoing theft and withholding of food that is shipped into Gaza by Israel.
When will progressive, woke Jews wake up to the fact that there is precious little dialogue possible with those who call for our death and destruction? And when will they realize that you can’t call for peace without a realistic call for action and a plan? I have seen none from them at this point.
Jeff Morgan | Berkeley
I applaud Khanna’s leadership
As a Jewish American, I am appalled by Israel’s actions in Gaza as well as the West Bank. I applaud Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) for leading the charge in Congress to recognize a Palestinian state. Recognition is long overdue. (“Rep. Ro Khanna’s leaked letter pushes for recognition of Palestinian state,” Aug. 5 online)
The Israeli government has erected endless obstacles to a two-state solution and has implemented policies to make Palestinian lives miserable. Worse, the Israeli government has clarified its intentions to push Palestinians out of Gaza and to take over the West Bank one settlement at a time. Sadly, the U.S. needs to exert more leverage upon Israeli decision-makers to change their policies and actions.
Recognition of a Palestinian state is perhaps the lowest of low-hanging fruit to exert this leverage. Should this not work, Congress should consider terminating the provision of offensive weapons to Israel. If that doesn’t work, the cessation of defensive weapons should be on the table as well.
How ironic it is that a people only two generations removed from the Holocaust should enact such heinous acts upon another people. That’s why I applaud bold leaders such as Rep. Khanna.
Joel Gerston | Los Altos
Declare a Palestinian state
I wanted to express my wholehearted support to Rep. Ro Khanna for his courageous letter calling for U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state. (“Rep. Ro Khanna’s leaked letter pushes for recognition of Palestinian state,” Aug. 5 online)
For too many decades, successive Israeli governments have avoided dealing with the central issue of the conflict — the fact that the only way for Israel to exist securely is for a Palestinian state to exist alongside it with equal rights. The only way to ensure Jews are secure is to ensure that Palestinians have full self-determination.
Israel was established through international intervention. The Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration in the 1910s laid the foundation for the State of Israel. It is now time for the international community, led by England, France, Canada and the United States, to do the same for a Palestinian state. Now 147 out of the 193 U.N. member states officially recognize a Palestinian state; it’s time for the world’s leading democracy to do the same.
Ben Linder | Palo Alto
Co-Chair, J Street Silicon Valley
Touched by moving column
Thank you, Janet Silver Ghent, for your moving column about Sarah Everard. (“We hoped to offer comfort after a daughter’s tragic and very public death,” Aug. 6 online). It’s such a tragedy, and I am so touched that you chose to use my music as a way to bring comfort to the parents and to memorialize their daughter.
Cantor Gerald Cohen | Yonkers, New York
Indoctrination shaping education
The United Educators of San Francisco teachers union has found time to develop a foreign policy, defined by pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activism, instead of focusing on the working conditions of its members. (“S.F. union fights Jewish teacher who won back his dues over its anti-Israel activity,” Aug. 7 online)
“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted,” attributed to Vladimir Lenin, requires taking over the educational system as a first step.
When we can no longer trust the teachers who are charged with “educating” our children, our entire society will be undermined. California schools rank only 40th in math and 37th in reading test scores, with an overall rank of 30th out of 50. (wallethub.com/edu/e/states).
If the union continues efforts to shape the political future of our country through teacher indoctrination, parents are giving their cherished children over to those whose motivations are unknown to most parents.
Julia Lutch | Davis
Israel has not gone far enough
Rabbi Doug Kahn (“As a Zionist and lifelong advocate, I believe Israel has gone too far,” July 21) and Jeff Saperstein (“Israel’s unintended consequences,” Letters, Aug. 11) wrote in J. that “Israel has gone too far.” These two distinguished Zionists, and others who have written letters to the editor based on their Jewish ethics and morals, have criticized Israel in an eloquent way.
However, they are wrong. Israel has not gone far enough, as long as Hamas still holds hostages and governs Gaza. The critics who have great compassion for the suffering of the Palestinians need to have commensurate empathy for the suffering of the Israelis.
Norman G. Licht | Palo Alto