Your Letters

Religion and the IRS

In Wendy Madnick’s article, (“Court Writes Off Deductions,” Feb. 8) the predominant issue is that Michael Sklar was requesting equal treatment by the IRS regarding deductible payments for “qualified religious services.”

Qualified religious services, as defined by the IRS in its 1993 agreement with the Church of Scientology, include those appearing on the “Scientology Classification, Gradation, and Awareness chart.” The courses listed there not only included courses on auditing but also courses on the general and specific theology of the Church of Scientology. The 9th District Court had no problem with Sklar’s thinking.

The problem the court had was with the thinking of the IRS. Ruling for Sklar would have corrected an inequality in tax enforcement, but as the court stated, in its opinion, righting one wrong with another wrong is not correct.

If Larry Clumeck had done his homework, he would not have dismissed Sklar’s case so quickly and cavalierly. I believe this issue has not been settled and that there will be future challenges to this inequitable enforcement of tax law by the IRS.

Stuart Zimmermann, Valley Village

We should not hope for Jews to receive the same constitutionally suspect tax break as the Scientologists. Rather, we should stand firmly for the principle of church-state separation. We should be encouraged that the three judges on the panel strongly condemned the IRS’ wrong-headed policy; they also suggested that a new lawsuit challenging this policy as a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause would likely succeed.

The separation of church and state has always been the greatest guarantor of our religious freedom. That, more than any tax deduction, is what is good for Jews, for Scientologists and for America.

Daniel Sokatch, Executive Director, Progressive Jewish Alliance

I wanted to commend Michael Sklar’s efforts (“Court Writes Off Deductions,” Feb. 8) on behalf of the whole Jewish community. As we say in Hebrew, “Kol Hakavod.” I encourage him to appeal the court’s decision and I am sure he will come out a winner.

Name Withheld by Request

Saving the JCCs

I must dispute the assertion, attributed to Silver Lakers Shulman, Weltman and Thomas in Michael Aushenker’s article, “Ray of Hope,” (Jan. 18) that the local JCC is “the sole Jewish representation in their neighborhood.”

Temple Knesset Israel, near the corner of Vermont and Fountain, is less than a half-mile away and has been serving the local community for over 75 years. We have reached out to our displaced friends from the JCC and are currently hosting their Children’s Jewish Learning Center and the Children’s Theater Group, which has already held auditions here and soon begins rehearsals for its April production.

Now, as always, we’re here to serve the local Jewish community to the best of our ability. I invite any displaced Silver Lakers to drop by.

Harvey Shield, President Temple Knesset Israel

The news that The Jewish Federation has exceeded its funding goals for last year and the JCCs have enough momentum to last another year is due in no small part to Rob Eshman’s effective use of his bully pulpit to focus the community on immediate local needs. His active leadership in writing editorials and assigning reporters to cover the story, helped spur the community to achieve what just months ago was impossible. Eshman helped the community find the other alternative.

Nathan D. Wirtschafter, Valley Village

Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles (JCCGLA) seems astounded that membership has dropped from 250 families to 200 at NVJCC, but when programming is cut, staff cut, and decision-making power taken away from the JCCs themselves, what do you expect? The JCCs could be saved with imaginative programming and organized fundraising by JCCGLA to save all of the JCCs.

Bill Bender, Granada Hills

Don’t Ignore the Past

I respectfully disagree with a statement ascribed to my good and admired friend, UJ President Rabbi Robert Wexler, in responding to the outrage of those who believe the UJ is distancing itself from the Conservative movement. He is quoted as believing that critics are nostalgic for a type of institution that never really existed (“The New Face of the UJ,” Nov. 30, 2001).

The fact is that the UJ for years, before some of its leaders were even born, was even truer to the hopes of Dr. Louis Finkelstein for a Conservative stronghold in the West and of Dr. Mordecai Kaplan for a multiinterest school.

As its first registrar and director of its department of continuing education, I have figures recording thousands of student hours from the beginning. We had a thriving theater arts department, a gorgeous museum, a degree-granting graduate school, visiting professors, a choral group, graphic arts and dance instruction, introduction to Judaism for converts, a huge library and a department of ethics dedicated by Chief Justice Earl Warren. It was the central spiritual and social home of the Conservative movement. Our pride swelled as its current campus was dedicated, and its classrooms and halls filled with students.

The Conservative movement is also known as the Historical Movement of Judaism. I plead with the UJ not to ignore nor despise history.

Rabbi Jacob Pressman, Emeritus, Temple Beth Am

Lehrer’s Firing

Outrageous! Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) terminated David Lehrer without cause and without consultation with the ADL board in Los Angeles.

As non-Jewish administrators in the LAUSD, we have brought into our schools, two ADL programs created by Lehrer. The “World of Difference” program has educated many teachers on multicultural topics and the “Children of the Dream” program has given young people a real opportunity to meet and speak with others from various backgrounds.

Now, Foxman, who will speak for tolerance in Los Angeles?

Teresa and Ron Riddle, Los Angeles