Letters to the editor

A new home for the JCC at #6 School

To the Editor:

After reading article after article in the local papers about the JCC’s attempt to purchase the #6 School from District 15, I feel it is time to set the record straight.

On November 1, 2011, the JCC of the Greater Five Towns submitted a bid to purchase the school for $7.750 million. On February 8, 2012 we increased our bid to $9.1 million, each time submitting all the necessary paperwork and financial documents. We had hoped the school board would consider all that a full-service community center brings to the entire community and not just the actual purchase price. Again, on May 4, 2012 the JCC increased their offer to $10.1 million and then again on June 1, 2012. Our offer to purchase the #6 School now stands at $10.5 million.

We were requested to provide the school board with a one million dollar deposit as a show of good faith, which we did in the form of a certified check, and recently the one million dollars was returned to us.  We were told that the school board was putting the sale on hold for the time being.

A full-service community center would enhance the lives of the residents of the Five Towns and surrounding communities by allowing the JCC to expand their much needed programs and services, bringing additional jobs into the neighborhood, housing many local organizations all under one roof, and act as a central meeting place for large scale events or celebrations.

 We met during July with the real estate committee of the School District 15 School Board and had fruitful discussions.

 It is our hope that a final decision will be forthcoming in the near future.

Dr. Kenneth L. Berman

Lawrence

Immediate Past President and Current Chairman of the Board

JCC of the Greater Five Towns

Questioning Dunetz

To the Editor:

In the 60’s, objectors to the Vietnam war were told “America: love it or leave it.” It was sad to see Jeff Dunetz utilizing the same line of logic in his opinion piece from last week (“Why does President Obama have anti-Israel activists”).

The Jewish tradition has long understood that criticism is not in conflict with loving my neighbor, it’s an expression of it. If I love my neighbor, I want the best for them, including for them to be the best person they can be.

Jewish Voices for Peace is an understandable response to AIPAC’s long standing attitude that our obligation as international Jews is to support Israel’s existence, not to criticize her policies. AIPAC’s neutral approach left many feeling that their voice was not expressed, and wanting an organization that would support Israel’s safety and existence while also supporting the right of Palestinians to live in safety and dignity.

You might disagree with JVP’s stances (frankly, I disagree with them, too), but that does not make them anti-Israel. I know Lynn Gottlieb, I know Lynda Holtzman, I know Arthur Waskow, and I can tell you, they are not anti-Israel. They love Israel, and they want her to live up to the values preached by our Jewish tradition.

I was troubled by Mr. Dunetz’s ignorant critique of Rabbis for Human Rights. Take a look at their annual human rights report. RHR conducts balanced inquiries into events and assigns blame with a level hand to Israelis and Palestinians alike. They do not shy away from criticizing Hamas for firing rockets at Israeli civilian areas, or from using their own citizens as human shields. In terms of “investigating” a barrage of 5,000 rockets, there’s not much to investigate, but it was condemned by RHR along with all human rights violations from both sides.

Mr. Dunetz quotes a passage in which Rabbi Brant Rosen questions Israel’s massive reaction to the barrage of rockets from Gaza. Mr. Dunetz doesn’t even bother commenting on the passage, as if questioning Israel’s motives is obviously anti-Israeli. Is someone anti-American who questions George Bush’s motives for invading Iraq, or for opposing the war in the first place? Is someone anti-American who disagrees with Obama’s health-care legislation (as I would guess Mr. Dunetz does)? Is it really a matter of “Israel: love it or leave it?”

I was also troubled by Mr. Dunetz’s off-topic, ad hominum attack on Rabbi Waskow. The fact that Mr. Dunetz does not know the name of the Hasidic rabbi who ordained Rabbi Waskow does not make him an ‘unnamed’ rabbi, or inherently put Rabbi Waskow’s credentials into doubt such that his is merely a “Rabbi” with quotes. If you want to know who the “unnamed Hassidic rabbi” is, just ask him! (FYI, It is Zalman Schachter Shalomi, who has Chabad smicha) Many rabbis, especially Orthodox ones, have smicha conferred on them privately. Does Mr. Dunetz also question the legitimacy of all those “rabbis”?

Mr. Dunetz in the next breath disparages Rabbi Waskow’s work as “unusual.” Were Martin Luther King and Mohatma Ghandi illegitimate because their work was unusual? Should all rabbis just say the same thing, do the same thing, wave flags nicely at Israel rallies and strive to be ‘usual’? How about David Saperstein at the RAC, or Ari Weiss at Uri L’Tzedek, or David Rosenn, the founder of Avodah—should they try to just fit in instead, pursue a more normal rabbinate? The Jewish world would be much poorer without trail-blazers like Rabbi Waskow.

The truth is, if you asked the right questions, you would find that most American Jews support the same things as Rabbis for Human Rights. Do you think Palestinians should fire rockets at Jewish civilians? No. Do you think innocent Palestinians should be tortured or unjustly detained, or prevented from accessing their fields to pick tomatoes? No. Is it worth investigating alleged human rights violations to protect the human rights of all citizens of Israel and make sure she lives up to our tradition’s values? Yes. Oh, sorry, was I being anti-Israel?

Rabbi David B. Siff

Flatbush Jewish Center

Brooklyn