The Problem With ‘Feel-Good’ Orthodox Media
I would like to commend The Jewish Press for publishing “Rendering Women Invisible Is Not Good for Any of Us” (op-ed, Sept. 8) and Rabbi Jonathan Schick for writing it.
Given all the issues we as a community are dealing with, publishing appropriately tznius pictures of women we and our children can look up to should not be one of them. It should not even be a discussion. It should be a no-brainer.
It seems that a large portion of Orthodox Jewish media try to control our ideas and what and how we read. I know this from personal experience. I regularly write articles about special-needs children and their families. This is a subject my family and I live with every day, as do thousands of other families in our community.
I recently wrote one such article that in my opinion had an important message to deliver. The article was submitted for publication to a major haredi newspaper after I’d discussed the topic with some people there. The response I received was that the article would not be published because their readers are looking for happy endings.
I was shocked. They are feeding their readership “feel good” material to provide some kind of false sense of security as to where our community is and where it is going.
Real problems and real issues need to be disused openly and properly if we want to grow and succeed. Only The Jewish Press understands that and does that.
Chaim Spero
(Via E-Mail)
Editor’s Note: Mr. Spero maintains a blog at www.wordsandwonders.org.
Thanks For The Reminder
Re The Jewish Press’s editorial statement last week on the New York City mayoral primary:
I am in agreement with your sentiment regarding Mayor de Blasio’s record. But why the disappointment? Based on his record and positions before he ran for mayor and his statements and positions during his first campaign, it was obvious that this is the way he would do business – and yet you endorsed his candidacy four years ago.
Alan Fenster
(Via E-Mail)
Johnson’s Public Transportation Revolution
Re “Who Was the First Genuinely Pro-Israel U.S. President?” (front-page essay, Sept. 1):
Many remember Lyndon Johnson for succeeding President John F. Kennedy after his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Others remember Johnson for his domestic Great Society programs including Medicare and Medicaid; for his commitment to the Civil Rights Movement; for his support of Israel.
Of course, on a negative note, many if not most Americans remember him for the Vietnam War.
Few remember his other landmark legislation: Last month marked the 53rd anniversary of the federal government’s support for public transportation.
The success of public transportation can be traced back to one of Johnson’s greatest accomplishments, one that continues to benefit many Americans today. On July 9, 1964 he signed the Urban Mass Transportation Act into law. This has resulted in the investment of several hundred billion dollars into public transportation.
Millions of Americans, including many residing in New York City and the surrounding suburbs, utilize on a daily basis various public transportation alternatives. These include local and express buses, ferry, jitney, light rail, subway, and commuter rail services.
All those systems use less fuel and move far more people than conventional single occupancy vehicles – and most of these systems are funded with your tax dollars thanks to President Johnson.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, NY
Editor’s Note: Mr. Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the United States Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office.
It Feels So Wrong
When President Trump had the attorney general announce that DACA would be rescinded, he knew it would adversely affect some 800,000 children. Let all the politicos and pundits weigh in on this issue, but I just want to add four words: It feels so wrong.
Maybe these children shouldn’t have been given the DACA protections in the first place. Maybe DACA was beyond President Obama’s reach to implement. Maybe America has to focus more on helping Americans who are here legally.
But the point is, these children are here, they grew up here, a number of them serve in our nation’s military, and they were under the impression that they were protected. And then with one announcement that protection was taken away from them. This is cruel and heartless.
Better to have let Congress work out an improved plan first. Better to have put aside the letter of the law (which is debatable) and put front and center the hopes and aspirations of more than three quarters of a million children.
America needs to rein in, at times, some of its good intentions. But let this reining in be done wisely, not coldly. That’s what has made America great.
Alan Howard
(Via E-Mail)
Open Letter To President Trump
Mr. President, you’re outnumbered, outgunned. It’s you against the Government Establishment, the Big Business Establishment, the Cultural Establishment, and the Imperial Judiciary.
The Fake News Media are unrelenting. Attack after attack, inventing vicious lies and hurling devilish accusations against you on a daily – even an hourly – basis.
How do you win? Here’s the secret.
Follow God’s Universal Rule: The law of reciprocity – ultimate leverage. As you do unto others, so shall be done unto you. Every action triggers a similar reaction.
Direct your attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to research and find at least ten Federal prisoners who have been cruelly and unjustly accused and imprisoned – and set them free immediately.
You know very well how unjust and abusive the justice system can be, since you have personally experienced – and are still experiencing – that abuse yourself.
(I am personally familiar with the case of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, whose disgraceful prosecution and wrongful imprisonment for 27 years was a classic example of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct – a “hit” job, very similar to what was done to Sheriff Arpaio.)
I wish you a great New Year and berachah vehatzlacha in your overwhelmingly difficult task of Making America Great Again.
Rabbi William Handler
(Via E-Mail)