FORUM

FORUM Readers React Leading off... A Clever Reversal How refreshing to read Hershel Shanks's perspective ("Nuff Said," October 2001), which noted that there is something to offend everyone in...

...You owe an apology to your Christian readers...
...the Reform movement ("Reform's Cowardice," October 2001...
...For decades our community has put its resources elsewhere...
...Unknown to most readers, newspapers and magazines provide their own titles to articles (unlike books, which are titled by the author...
...Rather, it was a culturally accurate reflection of the intensity of the rhetoric in the intramural debate among Jews that was "typical of the time...
...Rabbi Amy Scheinerman Taylorsville, Md...
...Allen Richmond, Va...
...My synagogue in Lexington, Mass., one of the most liberal communities in America, elected a libertarian conservative, me, as its president, and it often lets me speak...
...In this case, MOMENT made an unfortunate choice...
...Numbers 11:1...
...My dictionary defines cowardice as "lacking courage to face danger," not "lacking the will to put other people's children in danger...
...We berate them and complain incessandy...
...This is a clever reversal: There is also something to please everyone...
...If Christians are to continue to rely on the New Testament for guidance and religious inspiration, they need to understand it better...
...Above all, we are to love God with all of ourselves, and to love our neighbors as ourselves...
...As a former Southern Baptist pastor and a convert to Judaism, I can say unequivocally that the New Testament is anti-Semitic...
...The Palestinians were shot because they were attacking the soldiers...
...At various times in my life, I've been both Berkeh (who chose convention, community, and marriage) and Shlomo (who chose his own desire over community expectations...
...His mother asked: "Was the ocean wet...
...Second, rubbing salt into Israel's wounds, the Reform movement then passed resolutions demanding that Israel "employ reasonable restraint" in response to the massacres of its citizens...
...Feldman's evenhanded analysis concluded that the New Testament is not anti-Semitic...
...The Shame is Pogrebin's I am the son of a Holocaust survivor and a sabra...
...the Conservative movement ("The Conservative Lie," February 2001...
...To my knowledge, none...
...I take pride in Israeli mothers who send their children into harm's way to defend us—and that includes American Jews...
...Can Christianity be purged of anti- Semitism without changing the Gospels...
...As Christians grapple with these complexities, Jews need to remind them that these problems persist and will not simply disappear...
...the gentiles ("A Legacy of Blood," October 2001...
...Maybe it should lock up all its children in bomb shelters right now...
...Since that time, others have borrowed New Testament words for their own anti-Semitic purposes...
...Duane Oftedahl Sun City, Ariz...
...Audra Russell Neconset, N.Y...
...Most Christian leaders will never admit to the New Testament's anti-Semitic nature and thus they will not change the text...
...First of all, Pogrebin asserts that Israel's "occupation" of Judea and Samaria is "illegal under international law...
...What happened to pikuach nefesh (saving a life)—the highest value in Jewish belief, so much so it must be pursued relentlessly...
...Reform's Facts on the Ground Prager's malignant attack on the Reform movement is a shameful piece of selfrighteous, judgmental journalism...
...Michael W. Steinberg Bethesda, Md Publish More Fiction What a delight to read quality Jewish fiction in MOMENT ("Berkeh's Story," October 2001...
...The strength of Leah Lax's characterization is that both Berkeh and Shlomo must deny part of who they are in making their choices...
...Where are all the Palestinian human rights and peace groups...
...Has Prager ever praised the Reform movement for sending more kids to Israel than any other single movement over the many years of the North American Federation of Temple Youth programs...
...Rabbi Sim Glaser Minneapolis, Minn...
...Deborah Marlowe Liberty, Maine Arabs and Jews Pogrebin's Distortions Letty Cottin Pogrebin's column ("How Could a J ew Do That...
...Not that anything should be immune from criticism...
...The blood dripping from a Bible was offensive to me and to the Bible...
...Prager is right: This is cowardly...
...Larry Melsky Scottsdale, Ariz...
...Pogrebin cites B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, to support her case of Israeli cruelty against Palestinians...
...I distribute MOMENT through the rabbinic study program, but I am apologizing when I give this one out...
...Contrary to Prager's assertion that Israelis were "stunned" by the decision to cancel, many Israelis understood it...
...I share Prager's impatience with the left-wing politics that often color Reform thinking, but I cannot share his disdain for the movement...
...But I cannot in good conscience give them out to anyone who happens to walk through our temple doors...
...MOMENT is a much-needed vehicle for contemporary Jewish fiction...
...I take pride in Jews who do not wait around to become victims...
...Second, Pogrebin writes that "unarmed" Palestinians were killed by rubber bullets fired from 50 feet away...
...We want the best, but we are loathe to expend the resources so that the best can do their jobs effectively...
...and even the Torah ("Did the Exodus Really Happen...
...To suggest that Christians must reinterpret the New Testament in order to destroy anti-Semitism is ridiculous...
...that Christians are not to physically hurt any other human being on account of the Bible...
...A Legacy of Blood" is a wonderful and insightful article about a very difficult issue...
...Teach Our Children Well I am tired of hearing Rabbi Eric Yoffie criticized for his decision to cancel trips to Israel...
...Worldview of Authors Important Louis Feldman did a far superior job discussing the charge of anti-Semitic language in the New Testament in a previous MOMENT ("IS the New Testament Anti-Semitic...
...Berkeh's story is my story, too...
...Prager Responds: Brenner reacted to the headline of my column, "Reform's Cowardice," but I did not write that headline and it did not reflect anything I wrote...
...It is often easier to repair a character flaw than to repair a broken moral compass...
...Please continue publishing it, and also continue the short story contest...
...Rabbi Debra Hachen Congregation B'nai Shalom Westborough, Mass...
...October 2001) was a remarkable mixture of unsupported statements and half truths...
...In the last year alone, MOMENT has enthusiastically critiqued: the Israeli government ("Assassination...
...Bebe Lavin Columbus, Ohio Moment's Litany of Critique Shanks's recent statement of MOMENT'S creed—"all responsible views on the issues that divide us as Jews"—got me thinking...
...such that we cannot put them out in our synagogue lobby...
...Is this what you think it takes to sell magazines to an intelligent Jewish audience...
...Our pioneering work to remove anti- Judaism from Christianity must continue...
...The Reform movement has been, and continues to be, a staunch supporter of Israel, as is evidenced by facts on the ground: the Hebrew Union College and Bet Shmuel Cultural and Education Centre in Jerusalem, the Israel Religious Action Center, which is deeply involved in improving the fabric of life in Israel, three kibbutzim and numerous synagogues throughout the country, the Association of Reform Zionists of America and the International Federation of Reform and Progressive Religious Zionists, and the Leo Baeck Education Centre in Haifa...
...Israeli families were holding back sending their kids on visible bus trips around the country last summer for similar reasons...
...We expect long hours for inadequate pay...
...Irvin J. Borowsky Founder, American interfaith Institute Philadelphia Christians Need to Understand Bravo...
...Since its publication in 1984, hate has been removed and anti- Judaism has been defused...
...Cowardice...
...The Holy Bible dripping with blood...
...For decades now we have sent tens of thousands of young people to Israel on a variety of summer programs, consistently assuring their parents that we could guarantee their safety...
...Perhaps Pogrebin can find a better outlet for her own shame...
...They are getting more and more tabloid-like, and the one of the Bible oozing blood was shockingly tasteless...
...Though you may not hold the Bible to be holy, millions do...
...Seth Ginsburg Piano, Texas Where are the Palestinian Rights Croups...
...Rather, I believe, as Brenner notes, that there is a connection between Reform's cancellation of its youth trips to Israel and the leftist political/social views and humanistic understanding ofTorah that dominate contemporary Reform Judaism...
...If a Christian magazine showed a Torah dripping in blood there would be a hue and cry raised across this land...
...Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan San Antonio, Texas Not For the Unwashed Your covers are often (always...
...Charlie Brenner Lexington, Mass...
...Rabbi Aaron Spiegel Indianapolis, Ind...
...Yes, of course...
...11, will the Reform movement cancel its trips to New York City or Washington, D.C...
...I can only hope the problem of New Testament anti- Semitism gets the attention it deserves at seminaries and churches...
...See, for example, Exodus 32:9-10...
...Thomas Roper Virginia Beach, Va...
...So just where are the closed minds that he imagines must exist in the Reform synagogues...
...Do we value the lives of our children less...
...Until then, these facts remain: First, Reform Judaism abandoned Israel in a very public and damaging way when Israel most needed American Jewish support...
...14:11-12...
...Yoffie did the right thing...
...I could list at least 100 passages to prove it...
...Is the New Testament Anti-Semitic...
...Third, Reform Judaism has been fighting the Boy Scouts of American with far greater vigor than it has been fighting those who wish to destroy Israel...
...Reform's Painful Choice Re: "Reform's Cowardice": The Reform movement's decision not to send kids to Israel this summer was a painful one...
...But what has MOMENT found that is positive, uplifting, or inspiring in Jewish life today...
...Love Thy Neighbor Re: "A Legacy of Blood" (October 2001): The New Testament commands that Christians are to love others, even our enemies...
...If Brenner has better explanations than these to explain why Reform Judaism canceled its youth trips and Orthodox Judaism did not, I would like to hear them...
...Nancy Demeter Jackson, Mich...
...In what court has this matter been adjudicated...
...Articles like this one are very helpful...
...It bothers Pogrebin that Palestinians are subjected to a great deal of cruelty by Israeli forces...
...Evil people like Hider, and sometimes godly people who perform evil acts like King David, need no so-called anti-Semitism from the New Testament to justify their anti-Semitic actions...
...December 1990...
...It does not really matter that Biblical writers were trying to curry favor with the Romans, or that they realized they were in a clear-cut split with Judaism...
...Help Wanted Disgraceful Treatment It is hardly surprising that there is a dearth of "new blood" for Jewish education and community institutions ("Help Wanted," October 2001...
...Michael Robinaugh Grand Rapids, Mich...
...The AHB continues to encourage and expand religious dialogue, understanding, and historical truth throughout the world...
...It is a shanda (disgrace) that our young Jewish professionals must work under such conditions...
...How could this be acceptable to anyone who has respect for anything holy...
...George Robacker Oak Park, Mich Defusing Anti-Judaism In the aftermath of Sept...
...Prager admits it's the same in the Reform shul where he worships...
...Let's set an example for our children: They are loved and valued over all...
...Prager Is Right In the aftermath of Sept...
...Berkeh's choice is not dishonorable, as long as he can sustain it...
...Empathizing With Berken I was deeply moved by "Berkeh's Story...
...Readers can empathize with each young man...
...Ellen Green San Diego Reform And Israel Not a Question of Courage Dennis Prager posits a connection between Reform's political liberalism and its decision to cancel the teenagers' trip to Israel last summer ("Reform's Cowardice," October 2001...
...And what's that got to do with courage, anyway...
...We don't appreciate our professionals' talents and efforts...
...Have they been in hiding for the last 50 years...
...Rabbi Israel al-Nakawa says that if you teach your children well, you will not have to worry about their forming habits contrary to the well-being of society...
...The New Testament needs to be read with an appreciation for the Jewishness of the authors and their worldview...
...And in light of current events, I dare say there is more anti-Semitism outside of Christianity than within...
...Tuvya Zaretsky Los Angeles Is the Ocean Wet...
...Anti-Semitism comes not from a correct interpretation of God's word in the New Testament, but from the hearts of evil men...
...A Magazine, With an Apology Please rethink your covers...
...The Hearts o f Evil Men With all due respect to the "scholars" quoted in "Legacy of Blood," Jesus Christ is not the source of anti-Semitism...
...The American Holy Bible sets the example...
...Jesus castigated the religious leaders of his day not because they were Semitic but because they were wrong...
...I wish the issue were cowardice...
...and that Christians are to be peacemakers and live in peace with others...
...The original, however, was not spoken against but among Jews...
...It is ridiculous and anti-Jewish that anyone would put the support of Israel over the safety and security of our children...
...11, the significance of the American Holy Bible (AHB) is especially profound...
...If the rioters were standing 100 feet away singing "We Shall Overcome," they would not have been killed...
...It's almost enough to make one renew a subscription...
...Irvin Borowsky's "next necessary step"—chopping up and revising the New Testament in his so-called American Holy Bible—will compel him sooner or later to do the same thing to the Old Testament to eliminate its "anti-Jewish passages...
...I will continue to read MOMENT and use pieces like these in educational and leadership settings to spur further thought...
...They can use the Tanakh (Old Testament) as well...
...Thanks in part to the AHB, Christian leaders throughout the world are now aware that Jesus lived and died as a J ew and that his disciples were Jewish...
...reminded me of the story of the Kansas family which went to visit the ocean for the first time...
...Apparently rocks and gasoline bombs don't count as weapons...
...When Israelis can be relatively certain that Arab cars do not contain bombs or people with machine guns hoping to kill as many Jews as possible, I'm sure the Israelis will be much more friendly...
...After a young son went into the water he came back very excited...
...And the recent pieces and articles critical of Reform Judaism are such that I do not want to distribute them generally...
...The New Testament Christian Bible is Holy, Too I couldn't believe the cover of the October 2001 MOMENT ("Is the New Testament Anti-Semitic...
...A Clever Reversal How refreshing to read Hershel Shanks's perspective ("Nuff Said," October 2001), which noted that there is something to offend everyone in each issue of MOMENT...
...To do so would admit its fallibility, and this they will not do...
...No one familiar with the Reform movement could doubt its dedication and loyalty to Israel...
...And perhaps, instead of propaganda, she can in future articles suggest solutions...
...FORUM Readers React Leading off...
...Joe Porzuckt Los Angeles...

Vol. 27 • February 2002 • No. 1


 
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