‘Jews and Money’ series a bad idea
I can understand reacting to the killing of a young Jew, Ilan Halimi, in France, by a gang believing that any Jew has a bag of money (“Jews and money: the stereotype, the history, the reality,” April 13).
But I can’t, for the life of me, fathom how leaders of the San Francisco Jewish community have come up with a “series of events” on a subject “Jews and Money” — not “Jews and Science,” not “Jews and Medicine,” not “Jews and Art,” mind you, but simply “Jews and Money.”
Don’t they realize that each side will find in the presentations something to re-enforce its long-held views? The Jews will say: “See, historically we were forced to practice commerce. And, as always, being good students, we have succeeded in this field, too.” And the anti-Semites will say: “Now you know who are the fat cats. We were right all along.”
But although the idea looks somewhat balanced, there is one very important circumstance that makes a dreadful difference. The anti-Semites, being notoriously unsavory and boisterous, will carry the day, while the Jews will be left to their habitual role of talking to deaf listeners. The JCCSF should scrap the whole self-flagellation idea of “Jews and Money” before it is too late.
Vladimir Kaplan | San Mateo
‘A playground for our enemies’
Molly Freeman wrote in her letter (“What did you do to create Palestine?” April 5) that we would reflect in 2023 asking what we did to create Palestine. I read it first with shock, then with complete emptiness.
She writes about freedom for the Palestinians as if Israel was its captive. She attempts to draw a conclusion that we are enslaving those who actually have risen up to destroy us!
When an enemy rises up to destroy us we now have a means to fight back. But when a person purporting to be a lover of Zion rises to destroy us, there are no words. Just shock and emptiness and shame. Unfortunately, it is true that in every generation there have been well-intentioned people creating a playground for our enemies.
Dennis Wolf | Los Gatos
Story of survival
Regarding the movie “No Place on Earth,” my family is elated that you brought attention to this remarkable story of survival (“In docudrama, resourceful Ukrainian Jews hide in caves, outlast Nazis,” April 12).
The documentary is about the brother of my husband’s grandmother. The name is Stermer, which was his grandmother’s maiden name.
My husband, Kenneth, and I are former residents of San Mateo. Thank you bringing attention to this documentary so we never forget.
Susan Brettschneider | Mt.Kisco, N.Y.
Watching hoops, keeping kosher
I am pleased to report that finally, on April 9, kosher knishes and hot dogs were sold at a Golden State Warriors game at Oracle Arena.
They were prepared by Oakland Kosher Foods under the supervision of Vaad Hakashrus (Sunrise Kosher).
This availability at the Warriors’ Jewish heritage game marked significant progress in our efforts of the past two years to bring kosher options to fans attending Bay Area sports events.
Rabbi Simcha Green | Berkeley
Bus ads were needed
Pamela Geller’s goal in the San Francisco bus ads was to counter a charm offensive by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is attempting to dupe the public that “jihad” refers only to an inner personal struggle.
CAIR has an advertising campaign equating jihad solely with wholesome, everyday activities such as “stay fit despite my busy schedule,” “build friendships across the aisle” and “not judge people by their cover.”
Geller adroitly refocuses on “jihad” as being far more destructive and terrifying, as anyone remembering 9/11 will recall vividly, or as the terrorist organization (so designated by the U.S. State Department) Palestinian Islamic Jihad proudly boasts in its name.
Geller’s ads are most definitely not “anti-Muslim” or “branding the whole group by association,” as Corey Weinstein incorrectly asserted in his letter (“Bus ads’ wrong message,” April 12). None of Geller’s words remotely support such accusations.
It is baffling what the rationale can be for
Mr. Weinstein to resort to such unwarranted stereotyping, and then attempting to project this attitude onto Geller.
Larry Yelowitz | Sunnyvale
Don’t give short shrift to anti-Semitism
The article “House subcommittee sets hearing on ‘worsening’ anti-Semitism” (March 1) disturbed me greatly. It was so brief and I felt the issue deserved much more attention. As a pro-Israel Jewish magazine, I feel it is important to fully educate your readers on issues of growing anti-Semitism. We need to properly educate ourselves as a community in order to end this sickening issue.
Hannah Wren | Burlingame
Concern for inmates is important
I appreciated reading the op-ed “Fighting injustice of solitary confinement is a Jewish value” in the March 29 issue of j.
I am an inmate at San Quentin State Prison. Our conditions have similarities to solitary confinement, such as having no communication outside our cell. J. is my only news source currently, so I devour each article every week.
Thanks in part to past activism, inmates of CDCR, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, are able to receive insights from a rabbi and observe our traditions while correcting our behavior patterns. This provides an essential focus on rehabilitation to help determine a successful future when we are able to return to society.
I am grateful that people outside of prison demonstrate concern for the well being of inmates.
“Mack” | Inmate at San Quentin State Prison