A slap in the face
As a Jewish millennial and Federation professional, I strongly disagree with David Hazony’s Nov. 12 op-ed, “American Jewish institutions have utterly failed young Jews when it comes to antisemitism,” Hazony contends that young Jewish voices are rising against antisemitism because Jewish institutions have abandoned them since Oct. 7, 2023.
I fear Hazony’s rhetoric could drive a wedge between these two groups at the exact moment we need them to ally more closely. Emerging voices and established institutions must (and do!) work hand in hand responding to this grave threat.
The surge in antisemitism following Oct. 7 is outside of our control. Calling today’s antisemitism a failure of Jewish institutions reads as victim-blaming and a slap in the face to every professional who has worked tirelessly to ensure a safe, resilient and thriving community.
Jewish life is evolving such that young adults need not only look to institutions for engagement. As a funder of young adults’ work, I see them firsthand creating homegrown experiences and doing Jewish in their dining rooms and backyards. This is not a failure of institutional work, but a complement to it.
Further, many of the young voices Hazony cites gained their skills, confidence and networks in the very organizations he criticizes. These leaders are doing what we trained them to do: using their tools and talents to address the world’s biggest challenges.
The Young Jewish Fund is a powerful example of what individuals and institutions can achieve together. Two young grassroots leaders approached the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund to help them run a giving circle. They activated their peers, raising and allocating more than $13,000 to fight antisemitism.
Our community’s future is in strong hands with these young leaders, and institutions like the Federation will empower them with every tool to succeed through partnership and trust. The only way we’ll fight this existential threat is together.
Amanda Cohen
Director of community partnerships and grantmaking,
Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund
CJM needs our help
Daniel Lurie, the 47-year-old philanthropist and son of Mimi Haas, has become San Francisco’s fourth Jewish mayor at a time when San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum will close for at least a year for financial reasons. It is ironic that the late Peter Haas, who Daniel’s mom remarried, was a noted philanthropist who donated to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum, where stories of local Jewish life are explored, has suffered as a result of rising instances of antisemitic speech and violence in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and of the Israel Defense Forces’ invasion of Gaza.
I hope that Jewish philanthropy will rally to support this important museum in its attempt to combat the avalanche of hatred. Will CJM once again become an important center of art appreciation in a city with a new mayor who will bring beauty and order back to San Francisco?
George Z. Banks
San Leandro
JCRC’s position on antisemitism
Many speakers at this year’s Z3 Conference stressed that Zionism is an integral part of Jewish identity. To be a Zionist means to support the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland.
By now everyone must realize that anti-Zionism is our generation’s manifestation of antisemitism. Criticizing their government has forever been a national sport for Israelis. But since Oct. 7, 2023, criticizing Israel for everything under the sun has become a universal sport.
Thank you to Marco Sermoneta, Israel’s consul general to the Pacific Northwest, for speaking at the Z3 Conference about the need for California to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. As the consul general said, it is time for the state of California to adopt IHRA’s definition.
Can we expect California to consider adopting the IHRA definition when the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area hasn’t done so? I respectfully urge our local JCRC to adopt the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism as soon as possible. It is a powerful educational tool to share with faith partners and school boards. And then, let’s work on California.
Sheree Roth
Palo Alto
Don’t remove your Star of David
I’ve read many ridiculous suggestions in my day, but Rhonda Findling’s Nov. 18 letter to the editor recommending that Jews show more sympathy for their Palestinian American neighbors by removing their Stars of David takes the cake.
The Star of David is a religious identification symbol and has nothing to do with support for the current Israeli government, the Gaza war that Hamas started or anything else — other identifying oneself as Jewish.
Findling doesn’t ask Palestinians and Hamas supporters to remove their kaffiyehs, face masks or red triangles, which are perceived as threatening by Jews and the many Christians who support Israel.
For centuries, Jews sought to “fit in” and “not offend their neighbors” by hiding their religion behind everything from “Hanukkah bushes” to not keeping kosher. History shows that none of this works.
Remember, the Nazis didn’t ask if you were religious or what political positions you supported. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the like won’t either.
Nathan Salant
Former Danville/Pleasanton resident
Hoover, Alabama
Trim that pastrami!
The pastrami in the photo of Bubbala’s reuben sandwich — tasty but non-kosher — looks too fatty (“‘It starts and ends with pastrami’: Bubbala’s Jewish deli finally opens in Marin,” Nov. 22). Had I ordered it, I would have asked that it be more closely trimmed.
Sue Grossman
Berkeley