Dealing with Iran

As we remember the horrors of Auschwitz and the Shoah, one lesson stands out in dealing with today’s threats from Iran: if someone threatens to wipe you out, you need to believe that they mean it.

Hitler’s plan outlined in Mein Kampf, was published in 1922 and translated into many languages. World leaders ignored his threats through 1933 (when he was first elected, following the collapse of the Weimar Republic) and Neville Chamberlain’s infamous appeasement at Munich in 1938. It took Winston Churchill to wake the world up and deal with Hitler decisively.

Today, Iranian leaders routinely threaten to wipe Israel and the Jews “off the map.” In attempting to keep Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons, world leaders need to be tough with Iran. Sadly, there are no Churchills in Europe, the White House or anywhere in the world today – only Chamberlains. 

Steve Korolnek 
Montreal 

Domestic abuse and men 

I was disappointed to read the one-sided view of women being portrayed as victims and men as abusers when the understanding has advanced far past that social myth (“Domestic abuse is a Jewish issue, too,” Jan. 22). Men are equally likely to be battered and abused in the same and similar ways to women. Yet not a single sentence was devoted to advancing any real discussion, let alone solution, to the overall problem of domestic violence, which doesn’t discriminate on social, religious, financial, geographic or gender grounds. 

Thousands of men and their children suffer the pain of being abused by spouses or intimate partners. A general climate once existed for ignoring the sorry plight these men find themselves in. However, that has dramatically changed, and all shelters and women’s programs now at least acknowledge male victimhood and that there are large numbers of male victims, even if these agencies are unequipped or prepared to offer solutions or simply shelter. The fact that men and their children find no systemic safe haven is further cause to make their suffering better understood, not a reason to hide them.

Dave Cote
Toronto 

Welcoming the intermarried 

I am writing to express my dismay and disappointment at views expressed by some of our rabbis and spiritual leaders in the press, and from the bimah in the recent months, regarding interdating and intermarriage.

I am the trained keruv consultant for the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs in Ontario, and have served in this capacity since 2000. The Keruv program was proposed to recognize the issue of intermarriage and provide a “path forward” for those affected by it. I set up a monthly support group for families and friends struggling with their issues, facilitated by a qualified social scientist, and this effort was supported by many rabbis in Toronto.

Our kids meet others at school or at work, find common interests, and ultimately get together. 

Now, let’s understand: the Jewish kid is not abandoning his or her Judaism. In fact, they frequently would like their partner to join the “tribe.” If we push them away and ostracize them from our families, friends and communities, and worse, our houses of prayer, how likely is that to happen? It is distressing to hear of rabbis and/or synagogues denying memberships to even the Jewish partner in interfaith unions, as a consequence to the Jew “marrying out.” Is it any wonder that 70 per cent of the children of interfaith couples no longer remain Jewish. How and why can they stay Jewish if we bar them from our schools, synagogues and society? 

We must learn to accommodate our kids’ choices, not to encourage intermarriage, but to support the inevitable decisions our kids make and encourage them to remain faithful to the faith of our parents.

And what should we do about our Jewish  widows and widowers, who in their loneliness decide to acquire a new partner who is not Jewish? Do we now bar our doors to them and reject their new partners?

Our kids are not trying to test us when they interdate or intermarry. They are just trying to be happy. Let us not make that decision a curse for us all.

Moe Horenfeldt
Thornhill, Ont. 

Correction

A Jan. 29 letter incorrectly said Dachau was liberated by Soviet troops. It was liberated by the American forces.