June 10, 2005
Paper’s Refusal of Ad Upholds Torah Values
One wonders if a Jewish newspaper that decided not to accept ads for non-kosher restaurants or for Sabbath bingos would ever find itself the target of outraged criticism (“Buffalo Synagogue Boycotts a Paper for Nixing Gay Ad,” May 27). Yet the owners of the Buffalo Jewish Review, Rita and Arnold Weiss, are being taken to task and boycotted by a local Reform synagogue for having the courage of their convictions and refusing an ad that they reasonably perceived as promoting the acceptance of homosexual activity. While some in the Jewish community pretend otherwise, such activity is expressly and strongly forbidden by the Torah.
The Weisses’ idealism must be particularly upsetting to the miffed synagogue leaders. The Weisses are clearly not good targets for the standard accusation used against those who unabashedly embrace the Torah’s moral code; they are as far from “gay bashers” or “haters” as can be imagined. Rita Weiss benevolently noted that Orthodox rabbis “exhort all of us to deepest compassion for those who cannot seek opposite-gender partners”; her stance was one of principle, not animus.
May the courage that she and her husband have demonstrated serve to spur Jews of all levels of observance, whatever their orientations, to consider — seriously and without prejudice born of contemporary values — the meaning of the Jewish religious mandate, whose anniversary, Shavuot, we soon will be celebrating.
Rabbi Avi Shafran
Director of Public Affairs
Agudath Israel of America
New York, N.Y.
I would like to address the alarming ignorance regarding the transmission of HIV demonstrated by Buffalo Jewish Review co-owner Rita Weiss in attempting to justify her rejection of an advertisement for a concert featuring a gay chorus. She termed the gay lifestyle “life threatening” and stated that it could increase the chances of young people getting AIDS.
The HIV virus can be spread by unprotected sex, either heterosexual or homosexual. Rates of infection, in fact, are rising more rapidly among heterosexuals, with heterosexual women being the fastest-growing group of those infected. If a person “chooses” a heterosexual lifestyle, it certainly does not protect against HIV — just as “choosing” a gay lifestyle does not place one at greater risk as long as appropriate precautions are taken.
This is a disease that is completely preventable, regardless of sexual preference. It is unfortunate that Weiss’s homophobia has led her to use misinformation about AIDS as a rationale for her actions.
Dr. Leonard Berkowitz
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases
The Brooklyn Hospital Center
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Rethink Grant Making
As both a professor of philanthropy and an adviser to families and foundation States, I couldn’t agree more with the opinion writer Susan Grinel’s advocacy for philanthropic education for younger funders (“Teach Children Nonprofit Literacy,” May 20).
There are two points that must be made in response.
One might assume in reading Grinel’s article that older generations have been trained in philanthropy. In fact, very few funders — whether mega-philanthropists or contributors of more modest means — have ever been trained to think strategically about their philanthropy. Much of the charitable impulse is still driven by tax considerations or by traditional “feel good” peer giving.
While there is nothing wrong with those two motivations, they don’t maximize the impact or the values of the donors. And many are stymied by the challenge to give wisely and not only generously. Among both my private clients and my students, there is a hunger to improve the skills and artistry of grant making. Knowledgeable parents and grandparents will profoundly enhance the effectiveness of the many young-funder efforts around the country.
The other comment has to do with the funders role given the profound cutbacks in social services. There is much to be said and written about this topic beyond the space available here. Suffice to say that Grinel understates the role of advocacy that thoughtful funders can play — both directly and through their philanthropy.
Philanthropy, after all, can and must reflect a vision of a larger society within which our giving plays a role. Philanthropy cannot and should not be expected to replace the role of government to provide for a civil and just society. Only through appropriate advocacy can the balance be maintained.
Richard Marker
Senior Fellow, George Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy
New York University
New York, N.Y.
Finkelstein Book Deal Canceled by Author
Alan Dershowitz is wrong in claiming that The New Press canceled its contract for Norman Finkelstein’s forthcoming book, “Beyond Chutzpah” after concluding that it contained defamatory material (“Dershowitz Fires Back at His Critics,” May 20). In fact, the contract was canceled by the author, not by us.
After receiving a series of very aggressive letters from Dershowitz, a number of which were mailed directly to the homes of our board members, we decided it was wise to wait for delivery of a finished manuscript before cataloging the book, in order to make sure that we were fully prepared for any brouhaha that might follow its public announcement. This required a delay of a couple of months in publication.
Finkelstein was unhappy with such a delay, and subsequently, to our regret, decided to take the book elsewhere.
Colin Robinson
Publisher
The New Press
New York, N.Y.
Technology No Cure-all For Health Care System
Opinion writers Newt Gingrich and David Merritt claim that a giant, expensive dose of information technology would “save the lives of tens of thousands of Americans” by preventing medical errors (“Rx for America: A Healthy Dose of Information Technology,” June 3).
However, adding technology to an error-prone environment does not remove the source of the errors. Doctors and medical staff that ignore obvious problems — like sending a pacemaker-equipped patient for an MRI scan, to use Gingrich and Merritt’s example — without computers will make similar errors with computers. Quality of care could even decline as more medical data gets computerized: The tendency to “trust the computer” means that errors which creep into a patient’s medical record will be harder to catch and less likely to be questioned.
And let’s not forget that computers aren’t perfect. The humans who build them can make programming or design errors, sometimes with disastrous consequences.
I’d rather have doctors, nurses and medical technicians who have read their paperwork and have had the time to properly interview patients, and whose skills in their fields are up to date. I’d rather have a medical system that didn’t emphasize cutting costs and bean counting over patient care. None of these problems will be addressed by throwing more computers and databases into hospitals and doctor’s offices.
Ed Ravin
Bronx, N.Y.
Speak Up Now for NPR
Opinion writer Samuel Freedman wrote so eloquently about the manipulation of American Jews to help carry out President Bush’s agenda of emasculating any semblance of an independent press that I felt compelled to write a letter in his support (“From ‘Balance’ to Censorship: Bush’s Cynical Plan for NPR,” May 27). I am sure he will get plenty of knee-jerk reactions condemning him as a pro-Palestinian member of the liberal media. He is, instead, a voice of reason.
I hope that his clarion call does not fall on deaf ears. As Pastor Martin Niemöller wrote in his allegory of people failing to stand up when others were being taken away, when we finally lose the press to a devilishly clever manipulation appealing to our fear, there will be nobody to speak up at all.
And to think, it could start with Jews leading the way.
Stephen Berr
Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Disrespect for Rituals
Fast Forward writer Leah Hochbaum’s oversexed May 27 article about contemporary tzitzit-wearing habits is a classic example of “menuval bereshut haTorah” — of acting in a disgusting manner while cloaked in Torah terminology (“Tzitzit: A Look at Life on the Fringe”). If Hochbaum chooses to titillate her readers with teasing innuendoes about male body parts, that is her choice. It is the Forward’s choice whether to be a forum for insulting articles about Judaism’s venerated rituals.
David Jacobowitz
Teaneck, N.J.
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