As Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz beautifully elucidates (“Who is your bad Jew?” The CJN, Aug. 15), Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin establishes an obligation to maintain inter-communal unity among all Jews. To that effect, it is interesting to note how Rabbi Berlin’s response continues that the purpose of such inter-communal unity is to build a system of education that follows the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch, and where all the academic studies (including secular subjects) are taught by scholars who fear Heaven.
In my opinion, this caveat of Rabbi Berlin means that his unity prescription parallels the unity prescription of Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, the latter envisaging inter-communal alliances on matters of klapei chutz (external social efforts to benefit humanity), while maintaining Orthodox independence on matters of klapei pnim (internal halachic matters). Inspired by Rabbi Berlin and Rabbi Soloveitchik’s message – particularly as elaborated by Rabbi Steinmetz – we can indeed achieve Jewish unity, thereby enriching our common destiny.
Shalom Spira
Montreal
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It’s truth, not jingoism
The writer of the letter “Columnist too jingoistic” (The CJN, Aug. 29) is as wrong and confused about Cuba as he is about Israel. The Stalinists in Cuba have executed 15,000 to 17,000 people and currently have thousands of political prisoners. The writer calls truth “jingoism” when the facts about Israel, or facts presented about abusive leftist regimes, do not coincide with, or somehow impinge on, his own hard-wired false beliefs.
Many modern Jew haters now use “Zionist” as a weasel substitute for “Jews” to hide from the fact that anti-Zionism is indeed anti-Semitism. Left-wing Jews are becoming more vocal, more one-sided against Israel, less willing to listen to the truth and wholly open and receptive to the lies – lies from Jewish Jew-haters, Islamist groups sponsored by terrorists, leftist professors and “religious” leaders who blame all the ills of the world on Israel.
I hope that our mainstream Jewish groups will one day stand up to equivocators and propagandists who have turned the pride of Israel into incessant rage against a country and a people. Some people are bent on shrinking or destroying Israel for the sake of Arab dictators and Islamic terrorists so that they can grab the one country in the region that has evaded their conquest.
Gary Gerofsky
Dundas, Ont.
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Michaels is fair and even-handed
Letter writer Ben Barkow goes overboard when he claims that CJN columnist Paul Michaels is “too jingoistic” in his writing (“Columnist too jingoistic” The CJN, Aug. 29). The letter writer recommends that your newspaper stop carrying his columns.
I have been reading Michaels’ columns for a number of years now, and I have always found his writing to be lucid, informative and even-handed. He manages to take a cutting-edge issue – e.g., Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons – and treat the issue fairly, in the context of reviewing the coverage from major news outlets. The fact his column represents a good “news watch” feature (something not-too-common in Canadian journalism) adds to what makes it interesting.
I disagree with the ugly tone of Barkow’s letter. He says that Michaels’ writing caters to a “small, nasty segment of your readership.” Michaels’ point-of-view differs little from that of most of the other opinion writers in The CJN.
David Murrell
Fredericton
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Community divided by JCC closure
The UJA campaign launch begs to be congratulated for its success (“UJA campaign off to record start,” The CJN, Aug. 29). However, your article stated that UJA Federation of Greater Toronto unifies the community. I beg to differ. The Jewish community centre on Bathurst Street was torn down, dispersing its members to other centres, including more than 200 members to the Columbus Centre. The result was not unifying. Instead, it separated the community. Here we are, three years later, and we still don’t have a JCC to act as a second home to seniors, Holocaust survivors, and squash, racquetball and tennis players.
Perhaps because those decision-makers were so shortsighted, we are no longer the unified community we once were.
Murray Rich
Toronto
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Who is accommodating whom?
I was born in Montreal. I am a tri-lingual Quebecer. I pay taxes, employ people who are both French- and English-speaking, and have contributed more than my fair share to this wonderful city, province and country. I don’t need to be accommodated in my own home.
It is the fine citizens of Quebec and Canada who accommodate Pauline Marois and her political party. I’m not sure for how long. However, her brand of politics is an old game that attempts to instil fear into its constituents and further tries to “divide and conquer.” This is quite transparent and those of us who are prepared to fight for our future in Quebec, be they Francophones, allophones, or any other open-minded Québécois, will not cower in fear of the proposed bills or ordinances the party plans to introduce.
I urge Marois to put her precious time to good use by addressing the issues most important to Quebecers, to enrich our lives and make Quebec a place of which to be proud – not a Third-World dictatorship that preaches racist and fascist values.
Dave Klauber
Montreal