Letters to the editor: April 5, 2019

Letter to the editor:

I thought Eugen Schoenfeld’s recent article on hope was one of the most thoughtful, insightful and inspiring I have read in a long time.

Hope is important for all people, but especially important for us Jews. Without hope and vision, we would have perished long ago. I believe the concept of hope is one of the great gifts to humanity from Jewish people.

Surprising that two Holocaust survivors, Schoenfeld and Norbert Friedman, have had similar thoughts:

• Always have hope even in the darkest of circumstances.

• Look for rays of sunshine.

• There is some good in all people; we should look for that good.

Hope leads to passion, which leads to commitment and perseverance. These qualities lead to success and accomplishment.

While Eugen’s heart may be physically weak, it is spiritually very strong.

My hope and my prayers are that Eugen is with us for many, many years to share his wisdom and insight.

Al Shams, Atlanta

Letter to the editor:

Young Israel Disagreement

Kudos to Rabbi Starr for defending his synagogue’s ecumenical stance and refusal to be bullied by national Young Israel leadership.

I am saddened to see the Kahane movement and its right-wing racism being condoned by the Young Israel movement. Of course, with the fact that Meir Kahane’s brother preaches racism towards Arabs from the pulpit of a Young Israel in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City (which I have experienced) it should come as no surprise that the acceptance of Kahanists by the Knesset and national YI would occur.

All this comes in a week when the vice mayor of Jerusalem refused to speak at a Conservative Yeshiva and a female rabbi of Women of the Wall was attacked and beaten by Charedi teens at the Kotel.

Unfortunately, Israel appears to be turning away from modern Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Jews in the U.S. Young Israel nationally has unfortunately joined in that schism.

Leon A. Van Gelderen, Atlanta

Letter to the editor:

Ilhan Omar has gone from Somalia to the halls of Congress. Sounds like a dream come true. Astonishingly, her painful background was offered as an excuse for her demonstrated inability to function without recurrent displays of age-old anti-Semitic bigotry.

In 2014, the president of Smith College was pressured into apologizing for saying that all lives matter because this was seen as being incompatible with the idea that Black lives matter. However, a generalized condemnation of hatred is apparently sufficient if the vilification is directed at Israel or at Americans who support our dependable ally.

Many Americans admire Israel’s high moral standards in the face of the unrelenting genocidal hatred directed against her by her neighbors. It is a most unnerving truth that bigotry exists among many Muslims. Look at the situation of Jews in Europe now that Muslims have a significant presence there.

Ms. Omar’s kind of ugliness hasn’t been popular in American politics in the past, but this does not mean it will not make headway now.

Julia Lutch, Davis, Calif.