‘Shame’ on federation
No need for a long letter. The failure of the board of the federation to accept the resolution to disassociate itself from those who bash Israel is nothing more than a shanda. Busha v’cherpa — shame on you!
For those of you who don’t understand those words, you might just reconnect a little with your Jewish roots!
Marvin L. Engel | Piedmont
Hearing all Jewish voices
I, for one, am very happy to hear that the federation has voted not to adopt the resolution recently proposed in an ad in j. (Nov. 13).
As an active member of the Jewish community in San Francisco, I applaud the federation for taking an open and carefully considered approach. I, along with many of my friends, would have felt silenced. We are the young Jews everyone keeps looking for — we are active, we are engaged, and we are concerned about the future. But we also question and don’t necessarily endorse every action of the Israeli government.
We are pleased that the federation has decided to remain open to all Jewish organizations.
Elaine Tatz | San Francisco
‘Immoral’ stance
At its most recent meeting, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation once again refused to distance itself totally from those who advocate boycotts, sanctions and divestiture from Israel.
The federation could not muster the simple courage to say that it would no longer partner with those whose agenda is the destruction of the Jewish state. Instead, at the last minute, it embraced a shameless, self-congratulatory resolution extolling its past support of Israel, while steadfastly refusing to confront the continually festering crisis stemming from the S.F. Jewish Film Festival.
It is immoral for Jews to contribute to the destruction of the Jewish state. Until such time as the federation can take a principled stand defending Israel from those who would destroy it, we should send our charitable contributions elsewhere. We should not be helping the federation purchase the rope with which to hang our brethren.
Abraham H. Miller | Walnut Creek
Censorship not the answer
Congratulations to the federation board for standing on principle by not passing the resolution that would blacklist organizations that “demonize or defame Israel” as well as those that “partner in their events with individuals or groups that call for boycotts, divestment or sanctions (BDS) against Israel.”
Critical thinking, dialogue and debate are central to Jewish tradition. Censorship is not. It is this simple fact that, in large measure, explains our uniqueness and resiliency as a people.
Thanks to the JCF for recognizing and affirming the essential Jewish principle of free speech.
William Roberts | Redwood City
No support for groups that hurt Israel
In the 1980s and 1990s I was a financial supporter of JCF. More recently I decided to give my charitable donations to institutions directly and bypass the federation. My reasons for going this route were many, including the method of choosing the board members of the federation, which is obviously not a democratic process, but one of being appointed.
I support the attempt to get the federation to adopt a resolution on how to handle the various destructive groups that want to punish Israel because of political and other issues. The action taken by the board at the last meeting was outrageous. I don’t get it — what is the problem? We can criticize Israel all we want, support various political parties in Israel to get what we want, but not financially support groups that want to hurt Israel.
I was very optimistic that the federation was going to adopt “our” resolution and if it did so I was going to become a donor again. Well, that didn’t happen, and my gift giving will go to other agencies than the federation.
Sam Tramiel | Palo Alto
A strong stand
I strongly support the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation’s recent decisions — taking a strong stand against the BDS movement, while at the same time specifically avoiding overly simplistic and unenforceable resolutions. Federation remains committed to working in the best interests of our diverse community. This is not always easy as the issues relating to Israel programming are complex and deserve serious and thoughtful consideration. The one thing that is very clear however is that through the Federation, this community has provided 100 years of dedication to the Jewish people. Having been on several Federation trips to Israel and spoken directly with the recipients of our support, there can be no dispute that Federation’s commitment to Israel is unwavering.
Let’s stop the name calling, vicious personal attacks and public calls to boycott our very own communal organizations. This behavior ultimately will only result in tearing our Jewish Community apart not making it stronger. Israel and the Jewish People are relying on us! We should instead, get back to working together thoughtfully with the duty of care to which we as leaders have an obligation to uphold.
David Agger | San Francisco
Member of the board of directors of SFJCF
Mideast Catch-22
I just read j. and found myself quoted in Sue Fishkoff’s article (“Middle East memoirs,” Nov. 13). It’s wonderful to be represented and to add to the reality of the muliticulturalism of Jews — my story, born in India to parents who had to leave Iraq and Egypt.
However, we were not expelled from India. My father left India after independence because it became hard for non-Indian nationals to be in the import-export business. He found possibility in Japan and traveled to Japan on his still active Egyptian passport in 1949. We became stateless in Japan when his passport expired shortly after his arrival. The problem for my mother and myself was that we were stuck in India for an entire year, unable to follow him as planned since the Egyptian consulate said Wahba is “no longer an Egyptian, he is a Jew.”
No agency would give us a visa until the Red Cross finally issued us papers a year later. We lived stateless in Japan for the next 18 years until America opened its doors to us.
We were in the quintessential Jewish catch-22 — the country of origin dismissed us, and there was no other place to go.
Rachel Wahba | San Rafael
Grateful for the Dead
I just read your piece about the Shabbat service with a Grateful Dead twist (“At a Grateful Dead Shabbat, Yah’s got everything I need,” Nov. 13). I wish I had known about this. I’m Jewish and currently teaching history at the Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy in San Francisco.
The first time I saw the Grateful Dead was in Oakland in 1979 —Keith and Donna’s last show with the band. I went on from there and saw maybe 60 or 70 shows until we lost Jerry in 1995. I’ve never stopped going to surviving members’ concerts — I saw Bob Weir and Ratdog in NYC a few Saturdays ago at the Beacon Theater. I was even lucky enough to be a correspondent on Grateful Dead TV in the late 1980s-early 1990s!
Murray Cahen | San Francisco
Jewish boxer is a knockout
What a walloping lift to the spirit once again to read about a Jewish boxing champion (“Jewish boxer wins world title ‘for Israel and Brooklyn,’ ” Nov. 20).
The decades have flown into history’s mists since American Jews were prominent among the sports’ championship ranks. For someone who remembers those years as vividly as I cherish today’s moments, Yuri Foreman’s super welterweight crown (in the midst of his rabbinical studies yet), nourishes our hearts. It is a treasure particularly for those of us who remember and honor every title in every sport won by a Jewish man or woman as a triumph that endures infinitely beyond the victorious moment.
Ernest H. Weiner | Berkeley
Executive Committee, Northern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame