Goodbye, Bob and Bob
I am so sorry that Bob and Bob is closing (“After 26-year run, South Bay Judaica store closing its doors,” Jan. 16). They are a major source of Judaica in the Bay Area. I was a customer until opening Dayenu in San Francisco. Both Ellen and Shirley were very gracious and helpful, with advice and good wishes to a new competitor.
We would also be in dire straights were it not for our wonderful location within the JCCSF. The constant and varied events bring in so many who might otherwise not think of us.
Shopping locally helps the local economy on many levels: locally owned businesses remain in business, sales taxes support the local schools and pave roads. Prices may sometimes be lower online, not always. If we don’t patronize our local vendors, more and more of them/us will have to close.
The Jewish community will miss Bob and Bob, and I encourage everyone to go there and say thank you and goodbye, and to buy. What a great idea they had — to purchase an item to donate to JFCS or Shalom Bayit for a family in need! What a lovely way to say farewell.
Thank you Ellen and Shirley for years of service to the Bay Area Jewish community!
Eva-Lynne Leibman | San Francisco
Owner, Dayenu
Tax increase a bad idea
In a profile of California state Senate president pro-tem Darryl Steinberg (“Power broker,” Jan. 23), j. quotes Steinberg as saying: “My Jewish upbringing has helped inform my values and a lot of what I stand for.”
The article quotes Steinberg again: “Certainly the belief that the main responsibility in this sort of job is to stand up for the underdog, the person without a voice.”
If Sen. Steinberg really wants to support disadvantaged people, he should withdraw his support of the plan to increase the California state sales tax by 1.5 percent.
If this tax increase goes into effect, the sales tax in San Francisco will go from 8.5 percent to 10 percent. In Alameda County, the sales tax will go to 10.25 percent.
Sales taxes are extremely regressive, bearing down most heavily on poor people and on senior citizens living on fixed incomes. For example, the sales tax on a $30,000 automobile would go up by $450 if Steinberg’s tax plan were adopted.
If Steinberg were really concerned about people without a voice, he would abandon his plan to increase the sales tax.
Richard S. Colman | Orinda
A welcome new face
What a pleasant surprise to see Gabi Moskowitz as the new columnist for the cooking column in j. (“For a lifelong love of food, start with one terrible apple pie,” Jan. 23). The first time I met Gabi was at a Camp Tawonga spring family camp when she was an adorable, affable 2-year-old. I’ve watched this cute little girl blossom into a vibrant, effervescent young woman.
I recall having a conversation with Gabi during which she told me that she was teaching cooking to young people. Having removed the obligatory home economics curriculum from the California public schools, my children were denied the cooking classes that I took back in New Jersey in the late ’60s. I found these classes to be some of the most practical classes I took in school. Although I think I did a pretty good job raising my children, I did fall short in teaching them how to cook. That’s where Gabi comes in. I asked her if she would give my then 14-year-old daughter cooking lessons. She became very excited with an emphatic yes!
As my daughter is about to turn 17, I’ve yet to make that call. Well, Gabi, expect to get a call from me this week!
Felicia Kramarz | Larkspur
Stand up to anti-Semitism
Nina Grotch raises important points about how the increasing prevalence of anti-Semitism can affect our children in school (“In a storm of anti-Semitism, listen carefully, be prepared,” Jan. 23). Of course, the anti-Semitic myths and stereotypes currently used to criticize Israel should be off-limits not only in schools, but in any civilized society.
However, as we have seen over the past month, the line between legitimate criticism of Israel and overt anti-Semitism has been completely obliterated by anti-Israel groups such as International ANSWER. Anti-Israel rallies in San Francisco featured overtly anti-Semitic signs; there were chants of “Heil Hitler” in Los Angeles and “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas” in Europe. The hate experienced by our children in the schools is just the trickle-down effect of the brazen anti-Semitism displayed in the public square.
If we don’t stand up against this ourselves, nobody will do it for us. Our community institutions, such as the ADL, can’t do it alone. Where anti-Semitism is displayed in public, join groups such as San Francisco Voice for Israel in standing up against it. Because history has taught us the truth of Hillel’s words: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”
Michael Harris | San Rafael
No partner for Israel
Why not give peace a chance? Indeed!
Yes, we should keep talking and hope for the best, but those who “support Israel” but “deplore the violence” may not be old enough to have lived the history, but at least they should read about it.
Did diplomacy work in 1948? In ‘56? In ‘67? In ‘73?
Read the charter of Hamas and Fatah, which advocate the killing not just of Israelis but all Jews (including those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause), and tell me where is the partner on the Arab side with whom Israel can talk?
To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, Israel should talk softly and carry a big stick (and know when to use it).
Marvin L. Engel | Piedmont
‘Real facts’ on conflict
Letter writer Alfred Lerner (Jan. 23) cites “historic context” as important to the Israel-Arab narrative but fails himself to present that historic context. He lists all the Palestinian complaints without noting any real facts.
1. “Moderate” Abbas is not so moderate. Under his leadership hate education is still prevalent in Palestinian state-controlled media, mosques and education. The PLO charter still calls for the destruction of Israel. As recently as November, Abbas was photographed in his office with the full map of Israel topped by a Palestinian flag.
2. “Occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza is not the problem. The “occupation” began in 1967 after Israel won a defensive war against her. The Palestinian Liberation Organization formed in 1964 to liberate all of Israel from Jews. Besides, since Israel is home to over 1 million Muslim Arab Israeli citizens (1/5 of the population), why do the Palestinians deserve a country that is ethnically cleansed of Jews?
3. After Israel left Gaza, she kept control of the borders due to the steady stream of Palestinian suicide bombers that had made their way into Israel to blow up men, women and children in buses, discos and cafes.
Sheree Roth | Palo Alto