Your Letters

Terror on Campus

Was the Hebrew University bombing not an attack against the United States and its citizens (“Terror on Campus,” Aug. 2)? How is this any different than the USS Cole, or the Marine barracks explosion in Lebanon? I find it tragic that the U.S. government chooses to answer an attack on our citizens with endless rhetoric rather than an active defense.

Eric Podell,Los Angeles

God Laughs?

As I read the latest twist in Marlene Adler Marks’ battle with cancer (“God Laughs?” July 26), my heart went out to this courageous and generous woman. Marlene has grown into a role model for me, not only through her display of strength and vulnerability, her acceptance of a frightening reality and her faith, but also because she has not allowed her disease to tear her away from the world at large.

Cathy Engel-Marder,Los Angeles

Meeting Dr. Soulmate

I always enjoy reading Teresa Strasser’s column, but today, she really outdid herself (“Meeting Dr. Soulmate,” Aug. 2). I am the primary caregiver for my husband. We have five animals, and I’m sorry to say, but there are some days when the most fun in the whole world I have is picking up dog doo. In one of my rare free moments I came upon Strasser’s column and after one reading, I just about plotzted, I could immediately feel that all stress hormones had been zapped. Also, my favorite color is now puce.

Name withheld by request

LAX Victims Mourned

Here’s the dilemma and irony: There was little surprise that so few attended the July 21 commemoration to honor recent victims of terror, particularly two people killed at LAX on July 4, Victoria Hen and Yaakov Aminov.

As reported by The Journal,”more than 200 people” (“LAX Victims Mourned,” July 26) were present to share in what the hosts called “an expression of grief and commitment to a better tomorrow.” One day, hopefully sooner than later, the community will break its bad habit of not showing up at rallies, vigils and celebrations of unity and solidarity.

Chuck Levin,Los Angeles

Be Careful With ‘Terrorism’

A careful reading of Salam Al-Marayati’s commentary yields serious flaws and biased analysis (“Be Careful With Terrorism,” Aug. 2). Whether the murders of Victoria Hen and Yaakov Aminov were part of a larger criminal conspiracy has yet to be determined by the authorities. But to follow the writer’s suggestion that, if so, we should “accept it and move on,” would be to buy into the moral relativism, which dismisses the unique threat terrorism poses to the present global society.

Even in the absence of a documented conspiracy behind the airport killings, the shooting spree perpetrated at El Al on July 4 by an Egyptian émigré cannot be disconnected from the larger political context of anti-Israel, anti-Western violence, as with the murder of Daniel Pearl. Perhaps we should read in Al-Marayati’s words an expression of what the late Rabbi A.J. Heschel diagnosed as the deepest human need: self-deception.

Rabbi Jeffrey N. Ronald,Chatsworth

Support From Evangelicals

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s reasoning is truly frightening (“Jews Should Welcome Evangelical Support,” July 26). While the right-wing evangelists may support Israel, they also support the abolition of a woman’s right to choose; they advocate the breakdown of the critical wall separating church and state; they refuse to acknowledge any concept of gay rights; and their concept of free speech seems to be limited to speech with which they agree. How much of our Constitution are we willing to give up for their “support?”

Ken Goldman,Beverly Hills

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In reading Arlene Stein’s “Affair With the Christian Right Misguided” (July 26), I learned a great deal more about the author’s liberal agenda than I did about the relationship between the Christian right and the Jewish American. Too many Jews today do not practice Judaism. They practice liberalism, which in its new definition is rarely reflected in the teachings of the Torah. The author is an accurate barometer on the agenda of the left, not the spirit of the new Christian-Jewish friendship and support.

Le Roy R. Rosen,Tarzana

Kudos to Readers

The Southern California Council for Soviet Jews thanks all the readers of The Jewish Journal who wrote or phoned the makers of the Stalin sausage to express their indignation (“Honor Thy Butcher,” July 26). The M&I Foods company has just announced that they will discontinue the production of the Stalinskaya brand sausage.

Si Frumkin Chairman SCCSJ

Correction

In the article, “Mourners Get Help in Cyberspace”(Aug. 2), the writer inadvertently switched the names of the two Web site creators. Whenever Amy Berkowitz was mentioned, it should have said Michele Prince. The Journal apologizes for any hurt that this caused the families.