Thanks to Sue Barnett
I just read in the Your Sunday J. newsletter that Sue Barnett will be retiring. Let me add to the many voices who are sorry that she is leaving, but I am also happy for her that she will be entering the next stage of her life!
As a columnist for J. for more than a decade, I have been able to share stories and medical wisdom from my career, which would not have been possible without the J.
I am enormously grateful to Sue, Natalie Weinstein and all the great staff at J. to have given me this opportunity.
Thank you for all you have done to make the Bulletin (and J.) the wonderful publication it has become.
Dr. Jerry Saliman | Hillsborough
J. feeds my craving for Jewishness
There’s always something of interest in J., hungry as I am for what my Jewishness craves: my people, my interests, my cooking, etc. So the April 17 issue did not disappoint.
What a fabulous contribution from Rahel Knight: “Autism awareness has never been higher, but understanding lags.” I think of myself as well-versed with a general understanding of autism, but Rahel educated me further. In fact, as she described her particular form of autism, along with her talents and communication preferences, I thought to myself, “What else don’t I know?”
So thanks for featuring that on your opinion page.
I also want to comment on the April 17 letter “Jewish isn’t an ethnicity,” disclaiming Jewish as an ethnicity. My response to that article was just the opposite; I said “Finally!” On many government forms, Jews, Ashkenazi Jews in particular, must list our ethnicity as white. And while it’s important that we understand that we are white in this culture, and have a great deal of white privilege, our Jewish ethnicity targets us for antisemitism. We are white and we are “other.” We are an ethnicity because of our shared cultural heritage, ancestry and history.
Dr. Laurie Lippin | Guerneville
Jews are one ethnicity
Actually, Jewish is an ethnicity. Ethnicity consists of shared cultural, linguistic and historical experiences. Jews come from only one ethnicity, no matter where they reside.
Nationality indicates country of citizenship and legal standing, which may differ from one’s ethnic group. A German citizen can have and enjoy specific aspects of Turkish ethnicity, Jewish ethnicity or Italian ethnicity.
Jews share a common history, ancestry and homeland. Whatever their nationalities, even secular Jews are one ethnicity.
Julia Lutch | Davis
Yom HaZikaron interrupters
The obstreperous protesters expressing their dismay at Israeli Consul General Marco Sermoneta’s Yom HaZikaron speech should have followed their own advice regarding how best to express dignity in the face of Jewish loss and sacrifice (“Memorial event in Palo Alto turns political as crowd jeers at Israeli consul general,” April 26).
Freedom of speech doesn’t necessarily mean freedom to loudly interrupt a scheduled speaker, especially an Israeli official whose job is to reflect the views of his nation’s government.
The real “busha” (shame) is on the audience members who sullied an otherwise solemn and serious occasion. The story is unclear about why Palo Alto JCC CEO Zack Bodner issued an apology. I hope he was apologizing for the unruly and disrespectful audience that marred this important event.
Jeff Morgan | Berkeley
It’s a slippery slope to Jew hatred
The April 22 article “East Bay school ends relationship with Tawonga over its ties to Israel” is on a continuum with the old quotas that kept Jews out of American universities.
Such hatred begins in dribs and drabs: Jews and Israelis are denied the right to defend themselves against genocidal, religious fanatics; people are told not to buy at stores selling Jewish and Israeli items; then it’s “don’t patronize stores owned by Jews or Israelis,” regardless of what’s sold; now it’s “don’t affiliate with Jewish summer camps.”
There’s negligible concern about Hamas summer camps in Gaza where children dress in military fatigues and fire live rounds to inure them to murdering civilians. Meanwhile, the news media tell us that everybody, except Jews and Israelis, want peace.
There is no compromise with fascist ideologies intolerant of all others. If we are not willing to fight for the Judeo-Christian values that made our nation great, it shall not survive.
Fred Korr | Oakland