Your Letters

Support From Evangelicals

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein is right on (“Jews Should Welcome Evangelical Support,” July 26.) We should be thanking the evangelical Christian community for their great support of Israel. Jews don’t have tons of friends around the world. We should be thankful for the ones we do have. For those still not convinced, please overcome your fears of Christians and thank them for their support. This Jew says thank you to Gary Bauer, Ralph Reed, James Dobson and the many other evangelical Christians who are doing what is right by supporting Israel.

Mark Cohen, Huntington Beach

Victims of Terror

In “Program Remembers Victims of Terror” (July 19) it stated that “on July 21 at Stephen S. Wise Temple, the Jewish community will commemorate the lives and deaths of more than 500 victims of terror, including two Angelenos shot on July 4 at LAX.” In “LAX Victims Mourned” (Community Briefs, July 26), your reporter stated that the service was for Victoria Hen and Yaakov Aminov who were murdered at LAX.

How the reporter could have missed the display board in front of the bimah with the hundreds of pictures of Israeli victims, the 500 name cards with stones on top at two tables flanking the bimah and the comments of all the speakers that dwelt on the Israeli dead, as well as the two local victims, is mystifying.

Bernard Weisberg, Commemoration Chair

The Reason Why

I would like to thank Vic Cohen for his insightful story of his divorce, and the fact that divorce doesn’t mean the two people now hate each other (“The Reason Why,” July 19). I was divorced seven years ago after a five-year marriage (no children). At the end of the get (Jewish divorce) ceremony, we hugged each other and cried, then took a walk together before we parted. The following few years were painful for me, but after that, I contacted my ex, as my father had died and I wanted to share the news with him. Since then, we have had a nice, supportive relationship, like family.

I think it would be sad if the two of us, who loved each other so much, couldn’t remain in each other’s lives as family. All right, so we couldn’t live together. But I’ve got lots of relatives that I couldn’t possibly live with. Still, I love them, am interested in what happens to them, am happy to keep in touch and even go out to dinner with them from time to time. Why should this be different?

Marian L. Grant, Northridge

Alert the Media

Rob Eshman seemed to suggest that CNN’s recent attempts to “personalize” the violence against Israel represents an improvement in their Mideast coverage (“Alert the Media,” July 19). The problem is not how they personalize or sensationalize violence and discord, but their willingness to be used for the propagation of dangerous distortions of reality and outright lies, and their failure to consider or investigate obvious issues.

A clear example is U.N. Resolution 242. Pro-Arab commentators cite that resolution as a proof text for the term “occupied territories.” Yet CNN has never offered the full text of that resolution, or any legal commentary on it. Instead we are left with a one-sided, untrue defamation of Israel.

Ken Blaker, Irvine

Secession and Public Safety

Among the many arguments against San Fernando Valley secession, none is more arrogant and patronizing than Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss’ politics of fear (“Secession: Rolling the Dice With Public Safety,” July 19). To argue that the creation of an independent Valley city is “irresponsible from a public safety perspective,” is to ignore the positive experience of many other independent cities within Los Angeles County, including West Hollywood, which contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, or the Burbank Police Department.

Mike Zugsmith, Studio City

Schools Attuned

“Schools Attuned” and Dr. Mel Levine are no help for children diagnosed with severe learning disabilities (“Mainstreaming Makes a Difference,” July 19). Since there is currently no organization in the Los Angeles area helping our severely learning disabled children receive the crucial one-on-one intensive educational therapy by providing the necessary funding assistance, I propose setting up a scholarship fund exclusively to pay for one-on-one educational therapy, at least 40 hours a month. Who will step forward and help?

Rabbi Aryeh Laskey Limude Kodesh Rebbe, Netan Eli Hebrew Academy

John Wallach

Many thanks for an ever-improving Jewish Journal. In reference to the death of John Wallach, founder of “Seeds of Peace,” I want to express my sorrow (“Seeds of Peace Founder Dies at 59,” July 19). Wallach was an inspired human being who practiced what he preached: we can all learn to live together by learning to trust one another. One of the ways to achieve that is by working together on meaningful projects, thereby getting to know and accept each other’s beliefs and values.

E. Ehrenreich, Torrance

Ed. note: For more on Wallach, see page 19.