Religious Freedom at Stake in Ground Zero Mosque Controversy
Given that Christians and Jews are expected to serve on the board of Park51, which will be welcoming to people of all faiths; given also that among the center’s most fervent supporters are its potential Christian neighbors, we are at a loss to understand why support for Park51 would be read as a sign of “hostility” to Christianity or any other religion (“A Question for ‘Progressive’ Jews Who Support the Ground Zero Mosque,” Sept. 10). To the contrary, we are not motivated by hostility, but by loyalty. We are loyal to the American principles of mutual respect and religious freedom. As Jews, we are certainly concerned when those principles come under attack as we believe they have, because of the anti-Muslim hatred inflamed by this controversy.
Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak
via e-mail
Race References Should Be Used Carefully
I was deeply disturbed by your columnist Raphael Sonenshein’s description of Glenn Beck’s rally as a “White People’s March on Washington” (“It’s Corporate Power vs. Government Oversight in November Election,” Sept. 10). It has taken me a few days to be able to understand what is offensive about it, but the reason is that it implies that Beck and the people who thronged to the event must be white racists. Could not the same be said of this Journal? Is it not a “white people’s journal” and therefore racist and therefore suspect? The truth is that there were far more people of color at that rally than read this Journal, and that we Jews and our brothers in Israel also are accused, unjustly in all cases in my opinion, of being racists, of supporting an apartheid state.
Carolyn Kunin
Pasadena
What Is Islam?
Another column by Mona Eltahawy that I find unbelievable and very annoying (“America, a Mosque and Me,” Sept. 10). In last week’s issue, Eltahawy labeled Newt Gingrich and John Bolton, among others, as bigots, for attending a “Stop Islamization of America” rally. The implication is that if one is against treating women as third-class citizens, stoning to death women for perceived adultery, decapitating kidnap victims and filming the atrocity, raising children from the time they are born to be suicide bombers for the glory of Islam, maintaining a universal hatred of Israel and America, and celebrating by laughing, dancing, singing and firing weapons in the air at the exact moment citizens of America were cowardly being attacked on 9/11, then one must be a bigot. If that is the case, I would imagine that I and a vast majority of Americans are bigots.
Michael Gesas
Beverly Hills
Kudos to Gruenbaum Fax
Julie Gruenbaum Fax has written many inspiring articles during the past 10 years. But her two recent writings on “True Paths to Teshuvah” and “The Nature of Forgiveness” (Sept. 10) were her best ever. The heart-opening true stories, the diverse spiritual teachings from all branches of Judaism and the practical steps described in these two articles were extremely well-researched and well-written. Maybe in the new year there will still be good journalism even as many other papers implode or go negative in their reporting. If you happened to miss these two articles, please go back and read them. They can be life-changing.
Leonard Felder
West Los Angeles
Kosher Taco Truck Not the First
What is going on here? I was surprised to read Edmon J. Rodman’s article “Kosher Tacos Rolling to a Street Near You” (Sept. 10). How can he write that “this kosher taco truck is the first of its kind in Los Angeles, and perhaps even the United States”? My family and I have enjoyed eating kosher tacos and burritos for the past four years at Tacos Ala Carte in and around Los Angeles. In addition, Tacos Ala Carte has even advertised in The Jewish Journal.
Cari Hanelin
via e-mail
Editor’s note: Tacos Ala Carte is a cart, while Takosher is a full-size truck.
Keep the Paper on Paper!
So I am relaxing in my easy chair after a day of Rosh Hashanah services, delighted that the day’s mail has brought my copy of The Jewish Journal, for which I gladly pay $148 per year to have it mailed to my home in Newport Beach. I read The Jewish Journal cover to cover as soon as I receive it.
Then I open to page 9 of the Sept. 10 issue and see the dreaded headline “Jewish Journal Reorganizes for Media’s Digital Age.” “Oh, no!” I shriek! “Don’t ruin The Jewish Journal.”
Now, as a journalist myself, I understand what is happening to print media and the need to move into other methods of delivery. But The Jewish Journal always seemed to me to be insulated from this threat. It is a vital part of the Southern California Jewish community and an excellent publication.
But so many of the publications I receive have gone digital, and instead of sitting back and reading them, I tend to push “delete” on my ever-growing e-mail index.
Do what you have to do to enter the digital age, but please don’t destroy The Jewish Journal in print.
Martin A. Brower
Newport Beach
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