Your Letters

Silverlake JCC

I always assumed that a healthy part of our donations to TheFederation went to support our local JCCs and support Jewish education(“Members Rally to Save Centers,” March 26).

Now The Federation’s commitment seems to be to building someflashy building in an area with competing programs already offered by megashulsand abandoning core known provable assets in an area with few alternatives.Without the “kid” all would be lost. Without the Silverlake JCC much of theJewish youth on the Eastside will have no exposure to Jewish culture and belost. Now is the time to negotiate so the Silverlake Independent JCC cancontinue to offer its many programs and expand in a community that has shownits support for it. I urge whoever is responsible within The Federation andJCCGLA to sit and talk with the community now instead of destroying thebuilding so a developer could build a strip mall.

Jeff Rosen, Silverlake

I am writing as a long time participant in JCC activitiesand a deeply concerned grandparent to urge you to do whatever is necessary tokeep the Silverlake Independent JCC alive as the vibrant, necessary center itis — in its present building.

I teach an undergraduate course in ethics at the UCLA Schoolof Engineering and Applied Science. One of the strong points I make is thatsometimes ethics simply trumps economics. This is one of those times. Evictingthese parents and children from their center to make up for past mistakes ofothers is an unethical and un-Jewish response.

If the Silverlake Independent JCC is closed and its schooland other worthwhile activities disbanded, which they undoubtedly will be, thiswill indeed be a black day in the history of Jewish affairs in Los Angeles. Atrue shanda.

Gershon Weltman, Sherman Oaks

Missing Mojo

Teresa Strasser missing her mojo? (“Missing: My Mojo,” March19).

Pullleeezzze! That strikes me about as sincere as RodStewart singing “Some Guys Have All The Luck.” Teresa, let me see if Iunderstand this correctly (since I have read numerous articles of yourslamenting that guys don’t call you back, you stay home alone a lot, etc).

You are great looking, sexy, smart, funny, “hip” andcharismatic. (I stopped watching “While You Were Out” once you were out.) Youare the poster child for what every single, bachelor guy out there is hoping tofind (Jews and non-Jews alike). Austin Powers I can buy losing his mojo, butyou? No way!

So come on. It is OK to write about all the guys that thinkyou are great, awesome, a goddess etc. … and would call you back!

Dan Rosman, Redondo Beach

Bush or Kerry?

I read with interest Joel Kotkin’s “Bush or Kerry?” piece(March 26). In it Kotkin alleged that Teresa Heinz Kerry had supported theTides Foundation which in turn had supported causes Kotkin alleged were “jihadists.”This assertion is flagrantly untrue and to my mind is evidence of true malicetoward Kerry. The Howard Heinz Endowment, which she chairs, gives grants to thebenefit of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Likewise, the Vira I. HeinzEndowment, where she serves as a director, gives almost all of its support tobenefit the Pittsburgh region.

To ensure that the Heinz philanthropic interest inPennsylvania was respected, Heinz and many other Pittsburgh foundationsinsisted that Tides [Center] create a separate Pennsylvania subsidiary. All ofthe Heinz money goes to this subsidiary and the funds may only be used inPennsylvania. None of the causes Mr. Kotkin cited receive any money from theTides Center of Pennsylvania, nor do they receive a nickel from the HeinzEndowments.

Kotkin is entitled to his own opinion, but not his ownfacts. Teresa Heinz Kerry’s strong support for the state of Israel is awell-known fact.

Andrew McElwaine, President Pennsylvania EnvironmentalCouncil Pittsburgh

I was appalled not so much by what Joel Kotkin said, butwhat he left out in his “Bush or Kerry?” piece (March 26). Whether or not youagree that John Kerry’s “wobbliness” on the war against terror is cause forconcern — and I don’t — Kotkin fails to give any attention Bush’s actions — orI should say, overreactions — since Sept. 11, which to me seem far morealarming.

What about this administration’s rush to war against Iraq onthe pretext that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which all evidence nowshows were nonexistent? What about the testimony this week from Bush’s formercounter-terrorism chief, Richard Clarke, that Bush & Co. largely ignoredthe threat from Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11 attacks?

I too love Israel, but I don’t understand why we have tothrow all morality aside on the world stage in our eagerness to support ourgovernment’s rush to war based on a completely phony pretext — all because wethink it’s good for Israel. I’d prefer a bit of wobbling from my candidate tothe outright lies that have been put forth by this administration under theguise of fighting terrorism and avenging Sept. 11.

Ruth Stroud, Redondo Beach