LETTERS TO EDITOR
May 11, 2012
Support Obama?
After four years of the worst economy since the Great Depression and, just as important to the 61 percent who would vote to re-elect President Barack Obama, a person who was mentored by a renowned ultra anti-Semite (the Rev. J. Wright), how could any clear-thinking Jew who was part of the†78 percent do the same thing as he or she did in 2008 (“Obama’s Jewish Support Rises”)?
David Harris, the American Jewish Committee national director, said, “Obama will have to emphasize the pro-Israel aspects of his†record.” There was no pro-Israel aspects of his record. After what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had to put up with (retreat to the ‘67 borders, etc.) from this guy, I think the 61 percent better rethink their opinion.
Norman Wolfe
Pikesville
May 11, 2012
Great Israel Event
Thank you for the coverage of this year’s Israel Independence Day celebration, the first such community wide program held in many years (“Celebrating Israel,” May 4). As chairs of the new Baltimore Israel Coalition (baltglobalimpact.org), we want to share more about the excitement and success of the day. More than 1,000 people turned out for the event, which included more than 20 interactive children’s activities, around one dozen Israeli artists and vendors, as well as performances by local school and synagogue choirs.
Even more remarkable was that the event was sponsored, planned and implemented by more than 40 organizations. The Baltimore Israel Coalition is a consortium of local organizations, working to support Israel through education, entertainment, advocacy, and community-building. All who contributed should be very proud!
And this is only the beginning. We plan to put on an even more impressive celebration for Israel’s 65th birthday next year and to work together throughout the year to raise greater awareness about Israel and programming available to keep Baltimoreans informed and inspired.
If you have not seen the glorious pictures from this year’s celebration, visit our website listed above and click on the Israel Independence Day button.
Ellen Lightman, Brian Sacks and Josh Weintraub
Baltimore Israel Coalition Co-chairs
May 11, 2012
Temple Emanuel’s Music
Thanks to Alan Feiler for his article about concerts at Beth Am’s Eutaw Place. Ellen Kahan Zager notes that “for a synagogue, this is unprecedented” and theirs “was a more appropriate venue for this type of music series than its suburban counterparts.”
We at Temple Emanuel of Baltimore, in suburban Reisterstown, have been hosting concerts for years and have recently been promoting three to four per year. In 2008, we hosted Klezmer Meets Bluegrass (featured in a JEWISH TIMES article in October 2008). In December, we presented local folk singer Karen Goldberg, and just last month, we hosted curators of the Shenandoah Music Trail Martha Hills and Don DePoy with special guest musicians including a local Grammy Award-winner. We look forward to hosting locally based and internationally renowned musicians Ken and Brad Kolodner on June 3 at our outdoor sanctuary.
We know that we are not alone out here in suburbia creating welcoming and comfortable places to hear music and enjoy the community of others. Thanks for your article, but such musical venues can be successful both in the city and county!
Cliff Essman and Terry Mandell
TESCA Concerts, Temple Emanuel
May 11, 2012
No Wonder
Years ago the police department decreased its force and told the neighborhood to develop their own crime patrols to help them fight crime. We all did that. We still have thefts too frequently. We still get alerts (emails) from the police to be sure to lock all doors and windows, even when in the yard. Our cars are still broken into. Our porch furniture is still stolen (we now chain ours to the porch railing).
Where are the parents of these children?
We now know that this child [in the Shomrim trial] was suspended from school. Why weren’t the parents/guardians called to school to determine the problem, escort the child home and taken responsibility for his behavior? Why was he allowed to leave school in search of “mischief in the neighboring area”? How come the school and the parents aren’t on trial for neglecting their responsibilities?
Shomrim is doing its job, as requested by the police department. Should the teen have hit Eli with the board of nails first? Should he have broken someone’s window and taken something that wasn’t his? Broken someone’s car lock or window and taken something he didn’t own? Keyed someone’s car? Stolen someone’s porch/lawn furniture? Then what? The courts would have just slapped his hand and told him not to do it again.
Let’s get our legalities in order here! It’s no wonder Baltimore City Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld is retiring. No wonder this city is in such a mess. It’s not a racial situation, it’s a doing what’s right and doing what’s wrong situation regardless of race or nationality. It’s the American Way of living together.
Arlene R. Kurland
Pikesville
May 11, 2012
Eutaw Place
Many thanks to Alan Feiler for his terrific coverage of Eutaw Place (“Music To Our Ears,” April 27). We’re pleased to report that the debut concert was a sellout and everyone from featured artist Ari Hest to building custodian Warren MacFarlane had a great time.
We’re excited to announce that Jonah Smith, another great Brooklyn talent, will be performing on May 31 at 8 p.m. Tickets are now on sale at eutawplace.org. (And for those who are concerned, parking’s a breeze in our lot right around the corner!)
Ellen Kahan Zager
Producer, Eutaw Place
May 11, 2012
Supreme Court Silliness
How odd it is for Kenneth Lasson to again return to his major issue of Jonathan J. Pollard. Yes, he also likes to lambast President Obama as well. As Humphrey Bogart said in the famed movie “Casablanca,” “Play it again, Sam.” Lasson continues his remedial constitutional analysis of the American polity. He blames President Obama because the president has a different view regarding the role of the heretofore hallowed Supreme Court. To Lasson, it seems the Supreme Court is beyond reproach. Really?
There has been a cottage industry criticizing the court and its rulings for nearly 200 years. When the former Chief Justice John Marshall issued a ruling that President Andrew Jackson opposed, Jackson stated “Marshall made his ruling, now let him enforce it.”
We have a long history of dumb Supreme Court decisions. We have two very significant and stupid ones that deal with the issue of race. In 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney of Maryland issued his numbskull unanimous Dred Scott decision. His “pious” constitution logic stated that no African-American possessed any right that “this court was obligated to respect.”
And about 50 years later, the Supreme Court in 1896 issued the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. That case delineated the separate but equal doctrine that codified segregation and Jim Crow for more than 60 years of federal jurisprudence.
And, but by no means least, we have the 2000 Supreme Court decision of Bush v. Gore. Have not all of us suffered from the perfidy of that decision?
Joe Marcus
Baltimore
May 11, 2012
Fail To Understand
What message am I to take from last week’s cover story “A Man Of Unusual Tastes” about Andrew Zimmern, a Jew who makes his living by writing about the pleasures of eating virtually anything (“A Man Of Unusual Tastes”)? While it can be argued that it is not the mission of the Baltimore Jewish Times to increase the level of local kashrut observance, I fail to understand why you would go out of your way to celebrate the accomplishments of a Jewish man who essentially advocates for violating Torah Law.
Louis A. Baer
Pikesville
May 11, 2012
Shomrim Trial Lessons
Regarding the “Shomrim trial,” first, this incident was precipitated because the Werdesheims, in violation of sound neighborhood watch principles, got out of the car and approached this kid (“Split Decision In Werdesheim Trial,” on jewishtimes.com). Twice. Neighborhood watch volunteers are to stay in the vehicle at all times. If they see something suspicious, they are to call the police.
Two, the Werdesheims did not call the police for assistance. Instead they called Shomrim for backup. Shomrim is not a police force; it is a neighborhood watch group. Shomrim should not have sent backup; it should have advised the Werdesheims to call the police.
Third, neighborhood watch patrols need to be certified and trained by local police forces. The training should include methods of dealing with encounters with pedestrians that de-escalate the chance of conflict.
And fourth, neighborhood watch groups in racially and ethnically mixed neighborhoods should not be certified unless they are racially and ethnically mixed. An all-Jewish (or all-black) neighborhood watch group in a mixed neighborhood increases the chances for misunderstandings and fosters an “us versus them” mentality.
I hope the judge sentences Eliyahu to community service with the NAACP or some other black civil rights organization. What is desperately needed now is increased understanding between the communities and Eliyahu may turn out to be the catalyst for that reconciliation and understanding.
Sheldon H. Laskin
Baltimore
May 4, 2012
Good Work!
My wife, Elaine, is a native of Baltimore and each week here in Boynton Beach, Fla., we await the arrival of the JT. We were so upset when we learned months ago about the problems with the JT. We worried about our tie to her native city.
Earlier this fall we hosted [former JT editor] Phil Jacobs here for the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival and discussed the future of the JT. He just about assured us that it would continue on. Well the change happened and so far I can only say: Keep up the good work! For those separated from the Baltimore area, you are a beacon of the past and hopefully the future. New owners, but still the same (maybe better) JT. We can still look forward to its delivery.
Joe and Elaine Levy
Boynton Beach, Fla.
May 4, 2012
Welcome Muslims
Last week’s article “A Mosque for Pikesville” identified Dr. Agha Khan as leader of the group that purchased Slade Mansion for the Ahmaddiya Muslim community. Several years ago, Dr. Khan operated on me at Sinai Hospital for a subdural hematoma. His skill very likely was the reason I did not have any lasting stroke symptoms. I wholeheartedly welcome his group into our community and fully expect that they will be good neighbors.
Melvin Rubin
Pikesville
May 4, 2012
Wasted Money
Regarding the story at jewishtimes.com “Obama overrides Congress and Releases $147M in Aid to Palestinians,” this is another example how our tax money is being wasted and squandered by the present administration.
President Obama will now restore development programs for Palestinians after he ended a six-month funding freeze that shut down this project. An official with the U.S. Agency for International Development confirmed that $147 million, which pays for infrastructure, education, humanitarian aid and health projects, had been restored..
Only last October, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., froze $192 million earmarked for assistance to Palestinians as a penalty for their United Nations membership bid in September.
Obama announced Wednesday he would override Congress and waive restrictions on all the remaining funds. He then explained the move as in the “national security interests of the United States.” There is just no end to Obama tax and giveaway programs. Palestinians do not deserve this aid and this giveaway should be stopped now.
Al Eisner
Silver Spring
May 4, 2012
Muslim Response
Thanks for an excellent introduction about the Ahmaddiya Muslim community in “A Mosque For Pikesville.” I believe that cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity always enriches a neighborhood.
Here are some of the commandments of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) regarding good neighborliness:
• It is reported, on the authority of Ayesha (R.A.) and Ibn Umar (R.A.) that the messenger of Allah (PBUH) said “The Angel Jibra’il (A.S.) counseled me so frequently regarding the rights of the neighbor that I feared he, too, would be declared an heir.”
• It is narrated by Abu Shurayh (R.A.) that the Prophet (S.A.W.) said “Whoever believes in Allah and the final day (Day of Judgment) it is essential that he does not harm his neighbors and whoever believes in Allah and the final Day it is essential for him to entertain his guest with kindness and generosity and whoever believes in Allah and the Final Day it is essential that he speak what is good or otherwise remain silent.”
• In another Hadith related by Abu Hurairah (R.A.) the Prophet (PBUH) said: “By Allah, he is not a true believer, By Allah, he is not a true believer, By Allah, he is not a true believer (three times). He was asked ëWho?” Upon which he replied, “The one whose neighbors do not feel secure from his mischief and evil.
• In yet another Hadith, related by Anas (R.A.), the Prophet (PBUH) said: “He has not affirmed faith in me (i.e., he is not a true follower) who eats to his satisfaction and sleeps comfortably at night while his neighbor goes hungry — and he is aware of it.”
Farid Ahmad
Baltimore
May 4, 2012
Living Together
The Werdesheim affair about beating a young boy leaves me at a loss. I think beating someone is wrong, like the white man who was just beaten for the shooting of a young man in Florida by a black man and his son, or the beating of three young white girls on a bus by black girls, or that of a transvestite in a restaurant by a black girl while people looked on.
Not long ago the Baltimore Sun published a study done by the Justice Department, covering a period from 2001 through 2003, of over 790,000 documented cases. It covered race-related cases between blacks and whites. It stated 85 percent of attacks were by blacks against whites; 15 percent were by whites against blacks. I deplore both instances.
I cannot understand why the news media does not react to this. I feel for the mother in Florida who lost her son, and I hope the shooter will pay the full penalty for his crime.
I pray that all people work together in alleviating hunger, poverty and illness. I love my black neighbors with all my heart; they have always shown me only love, warmth and kindness.
Why can’t we all try living like that?
Irv Distenfeld
Pikesville
May 4, 2012
Paul Schneider
Thanks for the excellent April 20 cover story about Dr. Paul Schneider (“A Real Class Act”) and his pending transition from his leadership of the Krieger Schechter Day School.
As a past president of Chizuk Amuno, as well as a parent of two KSDS alumni, I have had the privilege of interacting with Paul on a regular basis. The author captured him as he is: intelligent, warm and caring, a master of his craft.
One enduring image of Paul to all KSDS parents, current and former, is his presence every day outside the school entrance welcoming students (and parents) to a wonderful day of learning. He has been there every day come rain or shine, often with his cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. What a warm and welcoming site!
Gary Attman
Pikesville
May 4, 2012
Who Suffers?
Toby Mower should do his homework before espousing views on charitable giving (“One-Sided View,” April 27). As a current or former board member of the Maryland Association of Nonprofits and Health Care for the Homeless and chair of their Public Policy Committees as well as a board member of the AJC, I applaud the administration’s efforts to level the amount of charitable deduction to a uniform 26 percent so that millionaires don’t receive a greater writeoff than ordinary charitable citizens. No, I don’t think any charities will suffer.
Jack Kinstlinger
Pikesville
May 4, 2012
Full Speed
Thank you so much for writing a wonderful piece about my band. Just one bit of clarification for the April 27 “Disappearing Act.” It is the final concert for Cindy’s involvement, but the disappear fear show will go on full speed ahead with SONiA.
Sonia Rutstein
Baltimore
May 4, 2012
Grateful Honor
I want to commend the Associated and the Baltimore Jewish Council for having the most meaningful commemoration for Holocaust Remembrance (“Generational Obligation,” April 27). The survivors, government officials, and all who attended had the privilege to hear Menachem Rosensaft speak for the survivors and the second generation — to recall and to remind us of the scope of atrocities that happened just a few years ago, still in our lifetimes.
The survivors do not forget. They are still here with us. They will never forget. With dignified commemorations of the scope that the Associated honored Baltimore with, we can be sure history will not forget. Thank you for honoring us and Baltimore this way.
Frania Kryszpel Block
Bethesda
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