Jews And Obama (I)

I was astonished to read last week's front-page story about the poll showing that 92 percent of Jewish Democrats approve of President Obama's overall job performance. I would have thought his unrelenting savaging of Israel would finally make my fellow Jews reconsider their overwhelming support for Obama in the November 2008 election.

What is even more perplexing is the poll's finding that just 18 percent said the president was being "too tough on Israel" while 55 percent said he was not.

I wonder at this point whether our community even has the capacity to wake up and recognize the calamity that seems to be fast developing.

Marc Fischer

New York, NY

Jews And Obama (II)

I found last week's news story "Jewish Groups Remain Supportive of Obama Health Plan" very intriguing, since support for the president's plan seems to be tanking across the country.

Certainly the views of the Jewish community don't always dovetail with those of our fellow citizens. However, I wonder whether the Jewish groups that took certain positions actually polled their members before doing so. Or were the decisions primarily reflective of the views of the leadership and not the members?

Shari Rosov

(Via E-Mail)

Hikind And Lander (I)

Given The Jewish Press's continuing complaints about President Obama, I found last week's short report of Assemblyman Dov Hikind's endorsement of Brad Lander for New York City Council dripping with unintended irony.

According to Hikind, Lander "is a longtime leader in preserving and creating affordable housing, supporting small businesses, advocating for social services for people in need, and protecting the quality of life of neighborhoods. We don't agree on every issue - but on issues that matter to our neighborhoods, he is the best choice for City Council."

Hello. Brad Lander has gone on the public record in recent years attacking Israel for its "occupation" of Palestinian territories, the Orthodox control over life cycle events in Israel, halachic definitions as to who is a Jew. He was also a contributor to Wrestling With Zion, a notorious anthology of outrageous Israel-bashing edited by the outspokenly anti-Israel playwright Tony Kushner. In that anthology, Lander described Israel as a "militarized state" and sympathized with the "so many people it oppresses daily."

Just recently The Jewish Press criticized President Obama for giving America's highest civilian award to Mary Robinson, a notorious critic of Israel who never seemed to find any redeeming value in the Jewish state. The president didn't deny her anti-Israel credentials but said that notwithstanding all that, she did much in other areas of human rights.

Hikind's carefully parsed words of support for Brad Lander are just as shameful. I wonder whether The Jewish Press will be criticizing him too. By the way, isn't this the same Dov Hikind who goes on the ramparts whenever even a hint of anti-Israel animus surfaces?

Roberta Klein

(Via E-Mail)

Hikind And Lander (II)

I don't know what political deals were involved or what benefits will flow from them, and I really don't really care. For me, Dov Hikind's endorsement of Brad Lander for City Council smacks of the most egregious kind of political opportunism. Lander's public statements put him on the wrong side of just about every issue our community considers important.

It would be merely troublesome if Hikind failed to oppose a vociferous critic of Israel and an outspoken opponent of Orthodox religious practice. That he has actually endorsed such a person is beyond belief.

Stuart Blumenthal

(Via E-Mail)

Livia Bitton-Jackson (I)

Re "From The Snare of Death To a Full Life: Re-reading the Memoirs of Livia Bitton-Jackson" (Aug. 14):

I've always loved Professor Bitton-Jackson's columns in The Jewish Press and Shoshana Greenwald's article about Prof. Jackson's life experiences really made me feel as if I know her personally.

Anne Fleischman

(Via E-Mail)

Livia Bitton-Jackson (II)

I just completed Professor Livia Bitton-Jackson's book Saving What Remains. It was without question one of the more vivid recollections I've read of a time not so long ago yet distant to many people today.

I respectfully extend my sincere apologies for what she and the other young ladies suffered at the hands of the seminarians from the Svoradov Catholic Seminary; she can rest assured that this Catholic convert from Methodism regularly speaks out about the horrors of the Holocaust and the oppression of Jewish people.

Professor Bitton-Jackson is a fabulous person.

Mike Nunnery

O'Fallon, MO

Fat And Fit

Many thanks for Cheryl Kupfer's wonderful Aug. 14 column, "Shuckeling While Davening: The Only Kosher Exercise?"

For too long our community has not placed a high priority on physical fitness, as is evidenced by the large number of health problems we have that stem from lack of exercise. I would, however, like to address the misimpression that every heavy person is not physically fit.

I belong to a group of large-sized fitness aficionados called "Fat and Fit." We consist of runners, cyclists, joggers, strength trainers, etc., who happen to enjoy working out. There is a stereotype that all thin people are fit and all fat people are not. While most fat people are no doubt not physically active, some of us are. I know a woman who is very thin, a size 2 - yet she maintains that weight by living on coffee and cigarettes. Is she "physically fit"? No - but she is thin.

About nine years ago I was out of shape - a size 28. From 2001 to 2002, I lost the equivalent of eight dress sizes, just by permanently adopting a healthy diet and taking on the habit of daily exercise.

I have been a size 14 ever since 2002, and no more weight has come off. Yet I continue to eat right and exercise for an hour five days each week. You can't always judge a book by its cover, and this is never truer than with the issue of size.

Chana Rovinsky

Philadelphia, PA

Kids And Shul (I)

Daniel Shertok, responding to the Aug. 7 op-ed "Don't Bring the Kids" writes (Letters, Aug. 21 ): "Shul is meant to be, and historically has been, a lively, boisterous, warm and noisy environment where adults and their children spend a good portion of their day connecting to Hashem."

The Kol Bo, a Rishon, writes very strongly against this opinion and is quoted almost verbatim by the Elya Rabba (Orach Chaim 124,7). It is worth noting his words:

"Woe to those who indulge in idle chatter or levity during the times of davening, and prevent their children from acquiring eternal life, since we ought to learn a fortiori that this applies to those of us [adults] who stand before [Hashem] for we have seen, because of our sins, many shuls destroyed because people behaved frivolously in them and were changed into temples of idolatry."

Martin D. Stern

Salford, UK

Kids And Shul (II)

Re "Don't Bring the Kids": My children have all been going to shul with me - to the hashkama minyan - on Shabbat since each was about one-and-a-half to two years old. While it sometimes does have a downside, the routine of bringing them every week settles into a normal way of spending Shabbat morning. Does it affect others? Hard to say, given how loud an Orthodox shul can be, but why is it fine to speak with your buddies yet horrible if a child talks a little too loudly?

My children literally jump at the chance to go to shul with me on Shabbat for many reasons - our talks while we're walking about the parsha and about life in general; the treats they get from the "candy people" in shul; and, of course, Kiddush. And over time they daven, learn what it means to answer amen, stand for the Torah, etc.

Why should I not do that which the Torah requires of me - to teach my children? If I cannot or do not teach my kids how to be respectful in shul, who will - and when?

Keith Brooks

Boca Raton, FL

Read Comments (1)

Children Seen But Not Heard?
Date 05:08, 08-31, 09

It is certainly wonderful for parents to sit with their children in shul, praying and learning together.

Spending time together in a house of worship is definitely a wholesome and desirable activity.

Nobody would object to such a noble and uplifting undertaking.

Difficulties arise, however, when children cause disruptions. As a result, the sanctity and decorum required during a prayer service are adversely affected. (Nothing is to be gained from such discord.)

Such negative outcomes might be due to the immaturity of the children resulting from their young age and lack of training. (Parents should not be upset with their kids should they fail to sit still or "daven" like angels. Remember there are many grownups who cannot always "daven" meticulously like cherubs. In fact, I have observed some adult worshipers chatting with their neighbors instead of concentrating on their prayers.)

Common sense should not be discarded. If a child is not ready to attend a service, one cannot expect compliance. (It is not a good idea to conduct a training session during a service when other folks are trying to meditate and pray. It's not the child's fault.)

In classic Hebrew, prayer is indeed designated "Avodah", which literally means "work". In the context of a synagogue, it denotes "service" or a meditative "labor".

Thus, success in this endeavor presupposes appropriate preparation and education. Consequently, we cannot always expect our kids to get it right immediately. (A lot of big people do not get it right immediately.)

Therefore, if the child is not ready to behave, the parent should definitely take the kid out of the sanctuary. (Next time the kid might be better. Of course he should be trained beforehand. Attempts should be made to get the child used to the new environment gradually. The kid doesn't have to stay there for the entire service. Start slowly: first five minutes, then ten minutes, fifteen
minutes---according to the child's ability.)

Arnold Berger