September 15, 2006
Jewish Life Booming In ‘Exurb’ of Irvine
An August 25 article on Jewish life in suburban satellites of cities is quite deficient in regard to Irvine, Calif. (“‘Boom Burbs’ Filling Up on People, But Jewish Life Is Slow To Follow”). We’re proud to be one of the 10 fastest growing American cities, but we’re no longer just an “exurb” of Los Angeles. We’re part of a dynamic, constantly growing, metropolitan area of 3 million people in Orange County.
We have many fine synagogues in Irvine. The Forward mentioned Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and even Messianic, but neglected us.
Our Reconstructionist congregation, University Synagogue, is the largest synagogue in Irvine, with more than 600 households. We have various distinctions, including being the second largest Reconstructionist congregation in the country, and the recipient of one of the first 12 national Synaplex grants three years ago. University Synagogue is also the largest donor to Mazon: A Jewish Response To Hunger, of which I am chair, of any congregation, of any size, from any movement in the country.
In addition, the Merage Jewish Community Center of Orange County, located in Irvine, is hosting the Maccabiah next summer. Tarbut V’Torah Day School, located next door, has more than 500 students on its state-of-the-art campus. And the University of California, Irvine, has a significant Jewish faculty and a chair in Jewish history.
Orange County’s Jewish community is composed of 80,000-100,000 Jews, and Irvine is at the center of its Jewish life. And by the way, the present mayor and her predecessor are both Jewish.
Rabbi Arnold Rachlis University Synagogue Irvine, Calif.
I served as an American diplomat in Israel for two years, and represent a church with no history of antisemitism and the longest history of continuous support for the Jewish people and Israel — 176 years and counting. In that spirit, I have two comments on an August 25 article on exurbs and Jews.
The Forward reports that a mother of three in Gilbert, Ariz., “noted that proselytization by Mormon neighbors is the most common religious experience in Gilbert. Her 8-year-old son was recently told on the playground, by a Christian playmate, that he would be going to hell.”
The juxtaposition of the statements is too close for comfort and could mislead readers. Mormon theology does not support, and has never supported, the mistaken belief that non-Christians, including Jews, will be condemned to hell. We do not appreciate being included with those who do.
In this case, readers might suppose that the child was told by a Mormon playmate that he was going to hell — after all, Mormons are Christians, too — when I am sure that the other child was a Christian of another denomination. A Mormon child would never be taught such nonsense.
In order to avoid misunderstanding, it would be helpful to the Jewish reader to specify which “Christian” is being discussed. If an Evangelical or Fundamentalist is being interviewed, then that qualifying adjective should be attached to the general noun “Christian.”
Otherwise, as in the example above, we don’t know for sure whether the offending child was Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian, Evangelical or of another denomination. They’re all “Christians,” and should be identified more specifically in articles like this.
Mark Paredes Director, Jewish Relations Committee Southern California Public Affairs Council Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Los Angeles, Calif.
Rabbis’ Role Irrelevant In Drug Bust at Plant
The Forward appears to be falling all over itself in reporting about the recent drug bust outside G&G, a kosher poultry plant (“Pot Bust, Meat Scam Hit Kosher Companies,” September 8).
In comparing it to an incident in Monsey, N.Y., where a vendor apparently intentionally passed off non-kosher food as kosher, the Forward reports: “In both of the current cases, the transgressions appear to have slipped by the rabbis who are supposed to keep careful watch over the kosher production process, which demands strict quality control.”
Even a basic reading of the events surrounding the G&G story — where a trailer containing drugs was brought into the plant’s parking lot at night, while the plant was closed, and where there is no allegation that anything from the trailer made its way into the plant — makes it apparent that the kosher supervision process was not only not compromised, but that it was never involved in the first place.
One would have to be delusional to believe that rabbinic supervision implies certification that all’s fine in the production facility’s neighborhood, that all the employees are fine, upstanding citizens, and that no unauthorized trucks are parked outside. As for the Monsey story, presenting the problem as involving distributors not having supervision is a gross misrepresentation. Shevach was also a retail butcher, and many of those in Monsey who were affected were individuals who used Shevach as their butcher.
There was a certain level of supervision over the facility. What occurred was that a person thought to be trustworthy was maleficent — a situation that can happen anywhere, in any industry. Witness the Heathrow Airport guard with “all-areas” security clearance who was arrested as part of the group implicated in plotting a terrorist attack on airlines.
Arthur Bader Via email
The Fiddler’s Messiah
I enjoyed Alisa Solomon’s September 1 arts article on the history of “Fiddler on the Roof” (“How ‘Fiddler’ Became Folklore”). There was an interesting sidelight concerning the “Jewishness” of the play.
In one draft, the writers had included a song “When Messiah Comes,” which included lines like, “When Messiah comes, he will say to us, I apologize that I took so long.” The song was cut, according to Sheldon Harnick, because it did not fit the mood of the scene, but I wonder if comedian Avi Hoffman was closer to the truth when he speculated that the song was “too Jewish.”
Perhaps the writers did not want to alienate non-Jewish audiences by reminding them of the key doctrinal difference between Judaism and Christianity: the question of whether the Messiah has indeed appeared on earth.
S. A. Lewis Prairie Village, Kan.
Columnist Underplays Islamofascist Threat
In a September 8 opinion column on Islamofascism, Leonard Fein seriously underplays an ideology that threatens the United States and Israel (“Of Islamofascist Appeasers”). He also accuses the government of deception and using the issue to win votes in the upcoming election.
Not all of us are Bush-haters, and not all of us think that negotiation with the mullahs in Iran will accomplish anything. I particularly find the article in bad taste given that we just had the 5th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Certainly we can argue about the merits of the war in Iraq — its wisdom, its progress and its direction.
However, Bush has been very forthright in his support of Israel and in his opposition to, yes, Islamofascism. I think that the Forward should occasionally acknowledge these facts.
While there has been much to criticize in the current administration, there has been plenty that is deserving of our support.
Joseph Mishell Northbrook, Ill.
Opinion columnist Leonard Fein is correct to reject the word “Islamofascism.”
It would make much more sense to talk of a Marxist-Islamic alliance. Russia and China have rejected socialism, but both countries oppose freedom and side with Iran against the United States, just as they did when they were completely devoted to Marxist theory. And leftist groups around the world who subscribe in varying degrees to Marxism theory have voted to divest from Israel, but not from Sudan or North Korea.
For such leftists, anti-Zionism seems to be the issue that takes precedence over all others. They are, for example, in favor of women’s rights. Women are subject to honor murders in Islamic countries. Israel, on the other hand, elected Golda Meir to be its prime minister. She was the first female head of government in human history who was neither the widow nor the daughter of a previous head of government. Nevertheless, leftists who buy into Marxist theory oppose Israel and support its enemies.
The same can be said for gay rights. Israel has an annual gay-rights parade. Openly gay men and women have been drafted into the Israeli army since the first day of its existence. In Islamic countries, meanwhile, gays are imprisoned or even executed. Marxist-oriented leftists, however, don’t care. They oppose Israel no matter how much Israeli policies coincide with their own.
George Jochnowitz Professor Emeritus of Linguistics College of Staten Island, CUNY New York, N.Y.
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