Letters: Broidy, Gingers, Education

Throwing Stones

Rob Eshman recently scolded local Jewish leaders for not publicly rebuking a Los Angeles philanthropist who pled guilty to rewarding a public servant for official misconduct. He says he “understands” why no leader of the institutions to which the philanthropist donated money has thus far gone on record castigating him, implying said leaders do not want to jeopardize the financial gain their institutions have made as a result of this man’s generosity. I am one of those leaders and Mr. Eshman’s implication is not only insulting but utterly wrong.  I have remained silent because it is the Jewish and decent thing to do. 

Jewish law forbids us to say negative things about another person in public, even if those negative things are true. Consider two verses in the Torah. The first, “Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people,” (Leviticus 19:16). And the second, “You shall not wrong one another,” (Leviticus 25:17), which according to tradition refers to wronging a person with words. The gravest of all sins regarding tale-bearing is lashon harah — or gossip. Any knowledgeable Jew knows the sages go so far as to equate gossip with murder.

Eshman himself points out that this story has been all over the Internet. I read it in at least half a dozen printed publications as well.  What has our community gained from Eshman’s regurgitation without a single new fact?  Furthermore, does he think we are of such meager moral fiber that we need to be told by our communal leaders and by him in an editorial that a person who pleads guilty to bribing a state official of course has done something contrary to Jewish values?

Most people think that death by stoning during the time of the Talmud involved throwing stones. Actually, stoning involved pushing someone off a high ledge and then dropping a large boulder onto him.  If he did not die from the fall or from the crushing of the large boulder, then people in the surrounding area killed him with whatever rocks they could find. The boulder of public approbation has already been sufficiently hurled upon a man who is suffering terribly, is being punished by our legal system and most importantly has begun his teshuvah [repentance]. Eshman’s editorial added nothing to the story.  What he did add to was the shame and pain of an innocent wife and three young children.  While he was at it, he insulted others for not doing the same.

I am not suggesting there is nothing to learn from this story. How about a feature that asks several rabbis what specific steps toward teshuvah he or she would recommend to a person that has committed a similar crime? Why not an examination of what Jewish sources have to say about tainted money both before and after that money has been spent for holy purposes? There is no doubt this story could have been used to enlighten us. How unfortunate that we were subjected instead to nothing more than mean-spirited gossip and the ignorant chastisement of those who rightfully refuse to join in the sickening piling on of stones. 

Rabbi Steven Z. Leder
Wilshire Boulevard Temple
via e-mail

Rob Eshman responds:

Rabbi Leder infers that I questioned his motives in protecting his congregant: I did no such thing. I believe Rabbi Leder sincerely holds to his interpretation that Jewish law strictly “forbids us to say negative things about another person in public.” But the rabbi also knows that his is but one interpretation. Many rabbis from across the denominational spectrum publicly condemned Bernard Madoff, the Spinka rabbis, the rabbis in Deal, N.J., and any number of other Jews who broke the law. These rabbis chose to speak out because Jews who flout the law while polishing their reputation against the good name of Jewish institutions promote what the ancient sages called a chillul Hashem, a desecration of God’s name.

In any case, the rabbi knows better than me that he quoted Leviticus incompletely. “Thou shalt not go as a tale-bearer among thy people” is followed in the very next verse with, “You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him.” Simply put, we Jews have a positive moral obligation to speak up in the face of wrongdoing. As Abraham Joshua Heschel said, in a free society, some are guilty; all are responsible.

To hurl scurrilous invective at a productive and philanthropic person, whether the accusations be true or not, reflects directly on the source. In this case, the source, Mr. Eshman, takes on the appearance not of an investigative reporter, but as one of the rabble, clawing at the opportunity to shame someone. Whatever his faults, however egregious, Mr. Broidy does not deserve to be assessed or judged by the likes of an op-ed writer.

Gary Schiller
via e-mail

There were numerous others involved in the “pay-to-play” demand of the corrupt officials running N.Y. pension plans who received only monetary fines and no felony indictment or threat of jail. This is no way exonerates Mr. Broidy for his terrible judgment and mistake in doing the same. However, because Cuomo is running as a Democrat for governor, he made a poster boy of Mr. Broidy because of his high profile as a leading Jewish Republican. Mr. Broidy confessed his crime, paid the penalty in the classic sense of Jewish teshuvah and, of course, you must know that in such a case the Jewish community must forgive and welcome back the sinner rather than hold him and his beautiful young family up for public disgrace and castigation as you have in this week’s Jewish Journal. Mr. Broidy is a good man who has a long and proud history of support for our community and Israel and we should be showing some compassion and love when he is in trouble rather than the condemnation you are obviously so unsuccessfully trying to stir up. I am ashamed for The Journal.

Rosalie Zalis
via e-mail

Rob Eshman’s courageous call to “out” Jewish criminals and publicly denounce their behavior has been a long time in coming. I say we start using a broader use of Jewish terminology. Keeping kosher should mean keeping a law-abiding lifestyle in addition to just what we eat. An observant Jew should be a person that observes not only the laws of the Torah but also the laws of morality, the laws of the land, and holds himself up to be an ohr le’goyim, a light unto nations.

Tamar Andrews
via e-mail

Kudos to Rob Eshman on his article. It’s time someone denounced donations made by dishonest entrepreneurs who hide behind charity organizations, synagogues and other Jewish causes.

In the spirit of the Talmud, which recognizes that not overy Jew is kosher to be a witness in a Jewish court, Eshman’s idea to “ask donors first if the funds were made ligitimately” and if the answer is no, “the next six words spoken should be: Then we don’t want your money” is commendable and should be considered by Jewish leaders.

Danny Bental
Tarzana

The reason the entire Jewish community has been supportive of Mr. Broidy EXCEPT you is perhaps they recognize that this fiasco that has befallen Mr. Broidy is political (“Bad Behavior,” Dec. 11). I am a dyed-in-the wool Democrat but I have not failed to notice that the Democrats involved in a similar scenario have been treated much differently. See page C-3 of today’s Wall Street Journal.

Stephanie Bronson
Via e-mail

Silver Screen Anti-Semitism

To The Jewish Journal, thank you for bringing up the debate on “An Education” (“British Film Gives ‘An Education’ in Anti-Semitism,” Dec. 4). May I compliment Irina Bragin and Harvey Schechter of the ADL for their vigilance in reviewing this throwback to 1939.

May I ask Evelyne Reiss a question. Give me a name of a movie released in the United States portraying a true story of an ethnic minority in a negatively, stereotypically descriptive manner but without redeeming values by the character at the end of the movie or without an actor of the same ethnicity dramatizing opposing positive saving values. If this movie described an ethnic minority in this manner, the reaction to this act of racism would thunder its way to Washington.

Earl Roth
Oak Park

What Goes Around Comes Around

I have been listening to a few of the above-mentioned demagogues (“Lord of the Gingers,” Dec. 4) he [Marty Kaplan] mentions and I have heard them criticize the actions and the policies of President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Party and left-leaning individuals on a daily basis. As a Democrat, some of this criticism hurt on a personal level, but they still do not demonize anyone. The most embarrassing thing about their outspoken and loud criticism is that it has more then a little truth to it. Now, I remember us Democrats using these same epitaphs throughout President Bush’s eight years in office and claiming it was legitimate to do so as he was ruining our country and committing unimaginable war crimes.

Erella Teitler
via e-mail

It seems that no matter what happens, from a soup being served with a fly in it, to a wrong weather report, according to Marty Kaplan it’s all Glenn Beck’s fault (“Lord of the Gingers,” Dec. 4). When I was personally told about the “Kick a Ginger Day” incident in Calabasas the day it happened, it never even occurred to me to connect it with Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh.

I don’t see either one of them as demagogues whose mission in life is to demonize the liberals. Glenn Beck is after President George Bush as much as he is after Nancy Pelosi or President Barack Obama. He’s simply telling the truth the way he sees it, as does Marty Kaplan in his own way. That’s what democracy is all about. We don’t necessarily have to agree with each other, but we must learn to live side-by-side accepting our differences, be it politically or religiously, rather than assign derogatory labels to those we don’t agree with.

Interestingly enough, so far no one in the White House ever countered any of Glenn Beck’s assertions. To belittle Beck for speaking his mind on events that most major radio or television stations would rather sweep under the carpet is not the answer.

I would like to challenge Mr. Kaplan to take any of Beck’s assertions and prove him wrong. 

Danny Bental
Tarzana

Feeling Good About LimmudLA

I recently read the article in The Jewish Journal about LimmudLA (“How to Draw More Jews,” Nov. 27) and think that it really missed the “feeling” of what LimmudLA truly is. While the word “conference” or “Jewish learning weekend” might make LimmudLA seem like it’s a one-shot deal, a quick weekend learning experience, in reality it is building a grass-roots community, right in our living rooms, our local Coffee Beans, and yes, once a year in a hotel in Costa Mesa.

Secular, Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, “just Jewish,” gay, straight, black, white, Asian, Latino … everyone has a place at LimmudLA. I am a (almost) native to Los Angeles, immigrating here with my family from the Soviet Union in 1990, and I have been (on and off) a part of countless Jewish communities around our great city for 20 years now. Reform and Conservative temples, Orthodox Sephardic and “community” day schools, Hebrew schools, youth groups, minyanim, you name it, I’ve tried it. LimmudLA is the first place I have truly felt like I can not only express exactly who I am Jewishly without putting a label on it, but also find others that I would have never met otherwise to learn from, to teach, and to build this unique community with.

Valerie Berkovich
via e-mail

Public School Advocates

As a K-12 graduate of the day school system, I was surprised to see the amount of contention raised by The Journal’s cover story, “Healing the World, One School at a Time” (Nov. 27). If I learned anything from 12 years of Jewish education, it is our tradition’s central emphasis on tikkun olam and investing deeply in the welfare of our community. Whether we send our children to day school, public school or secular private school, Jewish Angelenos cannot divest from addressing the critical state of Los Angeles public schools. Temple Isaiah’s work exemplifies one of the most important strains of our tradition, and is a conscious effort to address the changing economic reality of so many congregants. Initiatives like these are exactly what I learned to do with my Jewish education.

We are so proud of Rabbi Dara Frimmer, PJA Regional Council member, for her brave leadership on this issue.

Jaime Rapaport
Southern CA Regional Director
Progressive Jewish Alliance

Rachel Heller’s in-depth and thoughtful story on the current advocacy effort being undertaken on behalf of public education should not be interpreted as confrontational with the Jewish day school movement. There is room for both in our large and very diverse community. Nonetheless, our American history and our Jewish experience have taught us that tikkun olam, the repair of the world, requires more than just our lip service. Additionally, we know that our integration and participation with public education works for the betterment of Jews and non-Jews alike.

The Jewish community, whether their children attend public schools or not, must rally behind a strong and healthy public education system for all children. It is in our best interests and those of the larger society in which we all live.

Michael Hirschfeld
Los Angeles  

The government-run schools are definitely bad for the Jewish people (“Healing the World, One School at a Time,” Nov. 27). They encourage intermarriage and assimilation by having social contact with non-Jews from early ages.

Furthermore, they push left/liberal social mores that discourage marriage and having children and encourage apostasy due to the self-centered, anti-male, anti-religion and anti-tradition character.

A better bet is public education via vouchers, or at least tax deduction for school tuition, which would not only avoid these problems but provide a better quality education than the long failed government schools.

Richard Sol
Via e-mail

The Arabs of Israel

David Suissa’s article on the hope-for-peace message delivered by the Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh (“Peace in Arabic,” Nov. 20) is about the only bright spot we have received at all from the Arab side in the 60-year war imposed on Israel by the Arabs.

However, as to his suggestion that the Arab citizen of Israel “holds the key to eventual peace,” I have some serious reservations. Polls taken of these people show that they do not favor the existence of a Jewish state in Israel.

As Toameh acknowledges, the Arab citizens of Israel “have it better in Israel than anywhere else in the Middle East.” Why, therefore, would they not accept the long-held objective and dream of the Jewish people, whose very society is the only one which provides them with a life superior to the life provided by Arab and Muslim nations to their Arab brothers? If the Palestinian Arabs set up a freedom-loving, peace-loving nation like the nation of Israel, these Arab citizens of Israel can then leave Israel for an Arab nation that is free of the “burden” of living in a Jewish nation.

Leon Perlsweig
Woodland Hills

Applauding Airline Policy

Gina Nahai’s opinion piece about an injured American soldier back from Iraq, seeking special allowances at the airport, was enlightening (“An Airport, a Vet and a Catch-22,” Dec. 4) as one who always believed that Iraq being a threat to the United States was, to put it bluntly, a joke. My joke being, does Iraq even have an airline flying to and from the U.S.?

As far as volunteering to fight, yes these are mostly kids who signed up. None of them were drafted. If they signed up once Iraq became the focus, they made a very poor decision in my opinion.

I find it most prescient that Delta-Northwest Airlines have taken this stand. It would have been a better story if Ms. Nahai had investigated how Delta-Northwest came to make this decision regarding Iraq War vets. My suspicion is that due to the large gay contingent amongst airline stewards possibly they influenced this decision. The armed forces claim to be fighting to protect our freedom. However openly gay persons are not free to serve in the armed forces. This young man and the thousands of other volunteer soldiers and mercenaries who may think they’ll be considered heroes need to think again.

Bravo to Delta-Northwest for having the courage to take such a bold, controversial and politically incorrect stand. Bravo.

Richard Levik
Los Angeles

Politics, Asthma, Vegans and The Journal

I have a great idea for The Journal. Send Marty Kaplan (“Lord of the Gingers,” Dec. 4) to the new Tribe Magazine and get a REAL journalist who writes about Jewish issues in a fair, non-biased way. Someone who doesn’t blame Republicans for the smog, traffic, heat, cold, asthma, swine flu, etc. P.S. Regarding your special section of The Journal (“Holiday Preview, Dec. 2009), isn’t it interesting how some “actress” reads one book, and immediately becomes a “vegan” and compares animal killing (for meat consumption) to Treblinka (“Vegan Adventures With Alicia Silverstone,” Dec. 4). Only in Hollywood? And to think, the rest of us lay people have no “common sense” and “wisdom.” Only they are the “enlightened ones.”

Richard Levine
Via e-mail

Seeing the Light, For What it Is

On the title page of The Jewish Journal you prominently proclaim the celebration of the miracle of light. In fact, all Jewish children either know or should know that the lighting of the candles is used to publicize the great miracle of redemption when the Maccabees defeated the Helenists and re-established the public practice of Torah. The light is not the focus, but rather we celebrate G-d’s miraculous intervention on behalf of the Jewish people, otherwise known as “pirsoomey neesso.”

Bernard Lindner
Los Angeles

Switching Teams

After reading [Marty] Kaplan’s articles all these months about how conservatives like [Rush] Limbaugh, [Sean] Hannity and [Glenn] Beck are so terrible, un-American, dis-unifying, are responsible for all the bad things in our country, I have decided to join all those beautiful, patriotic, unifying, compassionate, loyal, America-loving, thankful of living in America groups like MoveOn.org and the Daily Kos, watch MSNBC, worship America lovers like George Soros, Michael Moore, Ed Schultz, Jeanne Garbagealo, etc., etc. Geez, I guess I already should have known that????

Richard Levine
Via e-mail

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