Your Letters

Mideast Peace

There is a 900-pound gorilla in almost every Jewish living room (. Requiem for a Dream?. May 18). It. s the troubling lack of Jewish ability to be truly self-critical when it comes to the State of Israel. Israel. s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, its settlements are illegal, its treatment of the Palestinians is deplorable. Too many American Jews are afraid to dissent from the party line…. There is no humane occupation. Israel has committed too many violations of human rights over the past several years for American Jews . normally so concerned about international law and justice . to turn a blind eye. Furthermore, I absolutely reject the insipid suggestion leveled by your reporter that those of us working in the trenches . don. t have all the answers.. We do have a few compelling answers about how to stop the violence: Treat the Palestinians with dignity, give them the same rights Jews demand the world over. Honor your agreements. Stop destroying their homes, confiscating their land, and bombing their cities and towns. Stop collective punishment, including curfews and arrest without due process. Abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention . to which Israel and the United States are signatories. You want peace? Seek justice. You want peace? Make room for Palestine; it. s long overdue.

Jordan Elgrably, Co-Director Open Tent Middle East Coalition

I highly resent Rob Eshman linking the murder of Yaakov Nathan Mandell and Yosef Ishran with the tragedy of little Iman Hejjo. (A Bloody Wait. May 11).

Combining the unfortunate deaths of those three innocent children is not equal. What happened to Mandell and Ishran was nothing more than pure unadulterated murder. It was human brutality at its worst. Those boys. only crime was that they were Jews. They had done nothing wrong except cut school to go on a nature hike. Hardly a reason to murder them in that way.

What happened to Hejjo was a tragedy. However, the Israelis were only responding to an attack on their own people. Her death was not murder.

Several weeks ago a Jewish baby was murdered in her stroller while her mother pushed her for an afternoon walk. There is no justification for violence of this nature. The Arab that fired that shot was not aiming at Israeli soldiers. His intent was to kill Jewish children. The evidence is clear on this point.

Our children are our most precious commodity. It is far easier for the Palestinian Authority to prevent any more Hejjos than it is for Israel to prevent the brutal murder of their children.

Larry Hart,Reseda

Russian Vote

Fantasy should not be presented as fact. This is what Marlene Adler Marks did when she stated that the recent primary election had . one surprising wrinkle: the appeal of the Latino candidate to Russian Jewish voters.. (. How Jewish Voters Still Count,. April 13).

I know and respect the attorney Boris Gorbis, who is quoted as the sole source of this belief. I don. t doubt that Gorbis thinks Villaraigosa to be . wonderful in person, genuine, honest,. and he is entitled to his belief. He is, however, practically alone in this belief since the overwhelming majority of Russian Jewish voters went for Soboroff.

Soboroff was . and still is . the only candidate who reached out to the Russian-speaking community by appearing at meetings, on Russian TV and radio, and placing ads in the Russian-language media.

Soboroff raised a great deal of money from the professionals and businessmen within our community who enthusiastically opened their wallets to support a man whom they considered to be one of their own and representing their interests. This has not happened in the past and is not likely to happen to Villaraigosa.

It is a pity that Marks doesn. t speak Russian . she would have heard a different message than the one she got from Gorbis.

Si Frumkin, Chairman, Southern California Council for Soviet Jews

Exodus Controversy

Prof. David Myers. views on dealing with such controversies as whether the Exodus ever . really happened. (. Finding the Golden Mean,. May 18) represent an essentially outdated approach to dealing with the perennial problem of science vs. religion.

There has long been a consensus among social psychologists and anthropologists that social cohesion of every human society is rooted in mythic archetypes. Furthermore, social cohesion requires that these archetypes be implanted during childhood in order to be have lasting and intuitive influence into adult life.

There is no longer any real controversy over whether our behavior should be rooted in mythic archetypes; there is only controversy over which mythic archetypes should be fostered to foster group identity and socially responsible behavior.

Ultimately we must accept the doctrine of the . two levels of truth,. whereby young people are taught mythic archetypes and later develop insight into the underlying social truth of these archetypes. This is not . compartmentalizing,. despite Dr. Myers. assertion that it is. It is just the developing of an awareness that social truth may be presented to children as literal truth in order to provide them primal feelings of group identity and civic responsibility that persist into their adult lives.

Larry Selk, Los Angeles

Marlene Adler Marks. column really identified the cause of the so-called Wolpe controversy (. Jewish Big Time,. May 4). It. s not so much what he said, but that it was reported in the Los Angeles Times. Her insight that we Jews obtain the sense of ourselves from others clearly seems to be a major contributor to all the furor. That scholars believe the Bible to be multiauthored is old news. That the biblical account of creation lacks scientific validity was argued in the last century. That Wolpe affirms his belief in God notwithstanding should, in fact, be the story. Somehow that wasn. t of interest to the Los Angeles Times, so we Jews don. t have to attend to that aspect of this discussion.

Dr. Sidney Friedman, Los Angeles

Kudos to Lainer

A few weeks ago I read in The Jewish Journal of the appointment of Mark Lainer to chair the Jewish Community Foundation (. Circuit,. April 13). I couldn. t help but think how fortunate this community is to have a leader of this caliber who is still excited about the future of Jewish life in Los Angeles and who has the sensitivity and vision to see the . large picture.. If the current trend towards this kind of enlightened leadership is a measure, perhaps we are truly maturing as a community.

Ron Solomon, Executive Director, West Coast Friends of Bar-Ilan University

Jewish Meditation

I was pleased to see the articles on Jewish healing and meditation (. Healthy Dose of Judaism. and . Exercising the Mind,. May 4).

It used to be considered weird that Makom Ohr Shalom. s rabbis would include silence, chanting and guided meditation at our Shabbat services. Some people questioned the value of healing services held on Shabbat, Yom Kippur and occasionally at the homes and hospital beds of our members.

I know that for me these practices bring me peace, joy and a love of the Jewish tradition. I am pleased to see that these practices are more widespread. Now more Jewish people can also receive these deep and timeless spiritual messages and methods that some of us never got in Hebrew school.

Jennifer Weinstein, Shroner, Makom Ohr Shalom