Valuable Lesson From Jews
Your cover stories about the history of Iranian Jews were eye-opening and inspiring (“A History of Iranian Jews,” Oct. 12). Although I am not Jewish, I have had many Jewish friends over the years tell me stories of great religious traditions and faith mixed with the anguish of hatred, unjust prosecution and persecution that came with being Jewish.
No matter if it meant hiding phylacteries under headdresses in Iran or praying in the confines of Auschwitz, Dachau or other concentration camps, nothing could ever stop the faith of the Jewish people.
If we non-Jews could look more closely at why the Jewish people have endured over time and how faith can overcome anything, then maybe we all could take the first real steps toward true world peace.
George Vreeland Hill
Beverly Hills
A Personalized Treasure
We thank Rob Eshman for making a purchase from our NCJW/LA Council Thrift booth at the Celebrate Israel Festival in April and thoroughly enjoyed his narrative of the journey that the painting took him on (“The Appraisal,” Sept. 28). Although we can’t promise that every item in our Council Thrift Shops turns out to be a work of art from a pedigreed artist, we can promise that many of our items are treasures to the people who purchase them.
We feel privileged to be able to help someone afford to buy that first menorah or first pair of Shabbat candlesticks. And for that matter, it is a privilege to bring second life to gently used furniture and clothing. We know that these kinds of treasures are going to someone’s first new apartment or an important job interview.
But the real treasure that these purchases and Eshman’s painting help us provide is the plethora of amazing services to women, children and families throughout our city. Can you imagine how many books we were able to purchase for an underfunded elementary school library with the proceeds of a painting that had been neglected and forgotten?
We encourage everyone to give a second life to those things that they no longer need by donating to our Council Thrift Shops. Who knows what adventure awaits the next owner!
Amy Straus, Board President
Hillary Selvin, Executive Director
National Council of Jewish Women/
Los Angeles
When Conflict’s Fuse Was Lit
Rob Eshman is right about one thing: The Middle East conflict involving Palestinians and Israelis has been going on for decades, and can be compared to a “ticking bomb” (“Netanyahu’s Other Bomb,” Oct. 5). I disagree with him when he claims, “That fuse has been lit since June 1967, when Israel captured Palestinian territories during the Six-Day War.”
Not exactly. In 1967, Israel captured Jordanian territories that would have been Palestinian, but the Arabs rejected the Partition Plan proposed by the United Nations in 1947. That is when the “fuse” was lit.
One idea to defuse the “ticking bomb” is the two-state solution. But a two-state solution will be viable only when Palestinians cease hostilities against the Jewish state and are ready to negotiate in good faith.
Jay Zingmond
Tustin
Ruth’s Conversion
Louis Richter is mistaken in identifying Ruth’s marriage to Boaz as “intermarriage” (Letters, Oct. 12). Ruth was clearly already a convert to Judaism. When she insisted on following Naomi back to the land of Judah, Ruth famously said, “Whither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16). A clearer declaration of conversion to Judaism would be hard to construct.
Solomon W. Golomb
Distinguished University Professor
University of Southern California
The New-Look Journal
Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t help and wonder why on Earth the Jewish Journal decided to put the name of columnists at the top of an article, in some character size that seems to beat out 24 or 36 [point]. As I’m skimming through my Jewish Journal, I’m actually searching for the title of articles. Maybe you gentlemen thought that putting the title in parenthesis will help us readers identity the subject that much easier.
I just want to say: It hasn’t been working for me.
Kinga Dobos
via e-mail
Corrections
An article about Fairfax High School and musician Herb Alpert (Alumni Celebrate Fairfax High’s Rich Legacy,” Oct. 5) misidentified the instruments played by two members of the Colonial Trio, the band Alpert played with in high school. Norm Shapiro played drums, and Fred Santos played piano.
An essay on writing about the local Iranian-Jewish community, “A Journalist’s Perspective” (Oct. 12), included an incorrect byline. The writer is Karmel Melamed.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.