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In our studies at Beth Chayim Chadashim\'s (BCC) Queer Jewish Think Tank, we are not throwing out the halacha, nor are we bending and twisting the texts to suit our own devices (\"A Conservative Challenge,\" Jan. 17).
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January 23, 2003

A Conservative Challenge

In our studies at Beth Chayim Chadashim’s (BCC) Queer JewishThink Tank, we are not throwing out the halacha, nor are we bending andtwisting the texts to suit our own devices (“A Conservative Challenge,” Jan.17).

BCC and Rabbi Lisa Edwards are at the forefront of thisexploration and are 100 percent committed to the full integration and acceptanceof gay Jews within Judaism.

To relegate a Reform synagogue to the sidelines in thisglobally impacting discussion and to discount the essential importance of BCC,a 30-year-old gay synagogue, by not consulting them for your “Out of theCloset” issue, is shortsighted at the very least. 

There is a danger in leaving the entire halachic, Talmudicand Tanachic “playing-field” to those who dwell “inside the box.” Other voicesmust be listened to and those other voices do have a great deal to say.

Melanie Henderson, Los Angeles

Thank you for your excellent article covering thecontroversy within the Conservative movement about the inclusion of gay,lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. However, I wish to take strongexception to the comments of Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, the chancellor of the JewishTheological Seminary, who said that ordaining gays and performing commitmentceremonies for us would fracture the movement.

The movement is already fractured. I was raised in aConservative home, and my grandfather was one of the founders of the movementin Chicago.

As a gay man I am a second-class citizen, my relationship of20 years unrecognized, my learning unimportant. In many Conservative shuls, Iam not welcome in positions of leadership or for honors on the bimah.

Like so many other gay folk, I have joined the Reformmovement where I am much more welcome, although my practice and beliefs aremore in line with Conservative ideology. I guess I just don’t count when itcomes to assessing what is happening in the Conservative movement.

It’s already fractured, rabbi. Open your eyes and watch thepeople leave that you have driven out.

Avram Chill, Silver Lake

Plant a Tree, Save a Car

Rob Eshman’s logic on oil is a little slippery (“Plant aTree, Save a Car,” Jan. 17). If it is in the Jewish interest to reducedependence on Arab oil, then why not support tapping into domestic sources ofenergy as well as conservation?

Environmentalists, who seem to oppose all oil drillinganywhere in America, share the blame with SUV owners for fattening the Saudibank accounts that find their way to terrorist groups.

Conservation and new technologies are important, but like itor not the U.S. economy is going to need a lot of oil for many years to come.

The United States (and Jewish interests) cannot afford todeclare these energy sources off-limits due to the childish, fanatical mindsetof many environmentalists.

Frederick Singer, Huntington Beach

Send Troops

In reading Rob Eshman’s article, “Send Troops” (Jan. 10), Iam greatly disappointed in his apparent lack of understanding of the realitiesof the world situation. The worst idea that could be proposed is for the United States to send troops to Israel to serve as a buffer. I shudder to think ofwhat the fallout would be from U.S. troops killing Israelis trying to break upa firefight between Israel and the Palestinians, especially if it was perceivedas intentional.  And if U.S. troops, acting as buffers, don’t try to intercede,why would Israel need a buffer force?

Emanuel R. Baker, Los Angeles

From L.A. to Tel Aviv

In David Margolis’ story about The Federation’s Tel Aviv-LosAngeles Partnership (“From L.A. to Tel Aviv — A Partnership That Works,” Jan.3) he did not distinguish between projects, which are conceived, developed andexecuted by the Partnership’s staff and lay committees, and those in which thePartnership is a partial source of funding for implementing projects ofindependent institutions with goals that complement and reinforce those of thePartnership. The Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity is one suchindependent institution.

One example of the center’s recent work is “The Dybbuk”project, a two-year-old, ongoing three-way collaborative effort among the TelAviv University and UCLA theater departments and the Center, with eachinstitution providing the talents of its respective artists in the creation ofa pioneering world-class contemporary dramatic musical work based on a Jewishclassic.

Despite the article’s unfortunate omission of the Center, welook forward to continue sharing the Center’s accumulated experience andexpertise in developing and strengthening Israeli-Diaspora relations throughJewish culture in the communities of Tel Aviv and Los Angeles, and to involvingthe Partnership in future Center initiatives directed toward shared goals.

John H. Rauch, President Center for Jewish Culture andCreativity

David Margolis’ otherwise comprehensive article missed oneof the more ambitious projects which is currently being explored by the TelAviv-Los Angeles Partnership of The Jewish Federation. That is, the attempt tocreate in Tel Aviv a legal services agency modeled after Bet Tzedek LegalServices. Bet Tzedek is the only Jewish organization in the country that isdedicated to providing free legal services to the poor, elderly and disabledmembers of the community, covering a wide variety of legal areas. Further, itis the only organization to provide free assistance to, and representation of,Holocaust survivors in applying for reparations and other available programs.

Tel Aviv has a significant indigent population who havevirtually no access to the legal system and is very much in need of anorganization like Bet Tzedek. We hope this project will take root and come tofruition during the coming year.

Stanley Kandel, President , Board of Directors Bet TzedekLegal Services

Second Generation

I would like to thank Rachel Brand for the thoughtful andcomprehensive article about the Second Generation (“Support Group Helps SecondGeneration,” Dec. 27). In addition, I would like to clarify a few minor points.Many Second Generation individuals have achieved fully actualized lives,successfully incorporating the lessons learned at home to become some of themost productive members of our community.

The goals of our organization now are to provide asupportive environment where those who share our legacy can exchange ideas andfeelings about their heritage. We promote Holocaust education and memorialization,foster an understanding of the implications of the lessons of the Holocaust onsociety and support both the State of Israel and the Los Angeles Museum of theHolocaust.

Dr. Morry Waskberg, Vice President

I wanted to thank you for writing such a sensitive andcaring article about the noble organization Second Generation and survivors ofthe Holocaust, especially now when so many people that I know and work with tryand say that the Holocaust never existed and that it’s only a big lie createdby Jews.

Some day, people like the doctor you interviewed won’t be around totell their story or their parents’ story. And the people who say the Holocaust wasa lie and that Jews were never singled out and murdered will win the publicover with their lies.

Name Withheld by Request, Los Angeles

Lowering the Bar

Thank you Gary Wexler (“A Plea to Lower the Bar on BarMitzvahs,” Jan. 10) for openly saying what too many of us do not have thecourage to say when it comes to extravagant, vulgar, inappropriate, hedonistic,tasteless parties that have come to define the terms bar mitzvah and batmitzvah all too often.

Wexler’s article should be required reading for every Jewishparent of children 10 and older. It should be sent by synagogues and rabbis toparents and children. It should be given to every parent when the bar mitzvahdate is given. I hate to use the term “silent majority,” but I hope there isone, and that more parents develop the character to do the right thing and notsuccumb to peer pressure, social pressure or their children’s whiney demands.

Howard M. Fields, Hidden Hills

Shalom Center

My response to the Shalom Center ad (Jan. 17) and to Rob Eshman’srecent plea to be allowed to present all points of view is this: Auschwitz isthe lesson to Jewry from those who refused to stand up and fight Hitler. Thedestruction of Israel by nuclear-tipped scuds will result from Shalom Center”peaceniks” sitting comfortably in the Diaspora while urging other Jews to dolikewise rather than confront the Iraqi enemy.

Peaceniks, among other appeasers, pushed Israel down theprimrose path to Oslo and toward today’s Palestinian suicide bombing turkeyshoot. The Shalom Center purposefully ignores the lesson of WWII and the gravesof 6 million Jews. We who fought Nazism in the military vow “never again.” Jewsmust ignore the peacenik guilt trip and rise to the needs of Israel’s survivalshould the hostile Arab world get nuclear weapons.

Jerry Green, Los Angeles

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