Letters
LETTERS Frustration To the Editor: I was gratified to see that your fine magazine was willing and able to bring the plight of the Glasser family to the attention of the public. As the person who...
...if United Synagogue's regulations do not permit any interference in the congregation affairs, could not these rabbis have spoken out for themselves...
...In conclusion, we would like the Glasser family to know we are 100 percent behind them and we hope that Nicki had a very enjoyable bat mitzvah...
...My work is challenging and meaningful...
...Boston...
...Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...We do not have a hierarchy in the United Synagogue among Conservative Congregations and that is probably right On the other hand, why do I pay dues to United Synagogue if all the response one gets is "this does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Committee," or, "United Synagogue or the Rabbinical Assembly has no jurisdiction over the internal congregational affair or the administration of rabbi, synagogue or its school...
...Suffolk County...
...Harry Hyman Sarasota, Florida To the Editor: Shocked, stupefied, stunned, saddened...
...Moral leadership requires moral courage and as I read between the lines of Rabbis Weiner and Kreitman's letters, I am struck by deep sadness...
...If two rabbis do not understand their function, then the Board of Directors of United Synagogue, indeed all United Synagogue Congregations must insist, and if necessary, force an investigation of the Glasser affair...
...Our congregation has been a United Synagogue affiliate for well over 50 years, and is one of its largest affiliates...
...Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...My sincere thanks to moment for its dedication to Judaism and for its courage in exposing one of the charlatans masquerading in a rabbi's robe...
...Apart from sparing their rabbi the condemnation he so richly deserves, you place the burden of disclaimer upon all others...
...18.215...
...15.079: Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...Suffolk County...
...6. Publisher: Leonard Fein...
...It was obvious to all of us that the board members and specifically the rabbi were more concerned with rules and regulations than with Nicki's love and feeling for Judaism...
...Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months...
...More important, the Board must analyze policies, methods and directions of the employed staff of United Synagogue...
...We must, as individuals and as affiliated congregations, question the United Synagogue of America as a parent organization and seek their statement of policy and response...
...I fully sympathize with the Glassers, and hope their allegiance to their Jewish heritage will strengthen in order to combat the indifference of the United Synagogue...
...A number of significant issues are involved...
...But why blot out the identity of the Conservative Synagogue in Connecticut...
...All of us read the test, and even though we are in our seventh and eighth years of Hebrew school, we would have failed so we cannot expect a 12-year-old to pass the test...
...462 Boylston Street...
...4. Location of Known Office of Publication: 462 Boylston Street...
...of Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months...
...B. Paid Circulation (1) Sales Through Dealers and Carriers...
...The Glasser's incident indicates there has been no change in the United Synagogue's attitude towards its congregations...
...15.679: Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...As a result of my involvement with the United Synagogue to improve our congregation's precarious situation, I was read out of the Conservative movement and told that I was not worthy of being a Jew...
...C. Total Paid WCirculation: Average No...
...Managing Editor: Carol Kur...
...During that time I was approached by the education director of the school and asked whether I would be willing to tutor Nicki Glasser, whose education had surpassed the level of the students in the school...
...2.463...
...1970: Section 3685...
...14.477...
...My respect and admiration for the Glasser family, who in today's world of minimum commitment to Judaism are following the dictates of their conviction and dedication to being Jewish...
...Massachusetts 02116...
...This letter is not to deny the existence of a small but noisy Neturei Karta but rather to assure that the entire Chassidic community is not tainted through a potentially misleading article...
...Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...We were all very upset over this issue...
...For being too serious about the goals of Jewish education...
...Mortgages, or Other Securities: none...
...One final point I feel compelled to make is that I saw the test given to Nicki and it was both my opinion and those of my colleagues-fellow educators—that the test was grossly unfair for any child of...
...of Copies During Preceding 12 Months...
...462 Boylston Street Boston...
...I embarked on a curriculum of Chumash with Rashi, laws and customs, morals and ethics, all strictly taught in lashon hakodesh Hebrew...
...Thank you for making us aware of this injustice (and others of which we are unaware...
...Half Full Half Empty...
...A. Total No...
...of Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months...
...If you are in doubt, I belong to a congregation, am presently on my congregation's Board of Directors, and have served several years on the Religious School Board...
...It should and must, however, find courage and leadership, and if that is not available, then in concert with other congregations and other organizations, it should look at itself...
...All the students in our class have been bar or bat mitzvah and we know the special feelings for Judaism we got on this special day...
...17.340.1 certify that the statements made by me are correct and complete...
...MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (Act of August 12...
...Arlene Kligfeld Bala-Cynwyd, Pennsylvania Education To the Editor: As two North American adults, about to enter the field of Jewish Education, we take offense at your comments regarding our Israeli colleagues...
...Only in a magazine which is willing to probe, inquire, and test the institutions of the American Jewish community can such articles appear...
...I cannot conceive that the entire congregation is with the rabbi and his administration and that not a single voice was raised against the treatment accorded the Glasser family...
...For four years I was treated as a pariah, paid subsistence wages, and forced to beg for the opportunity to do what a major Jewish institution of higher learning prepared me to do—educate Jewish children...
...Boston...
...their only interest is that of being a training ground for rabbis and a union to represent them...
...Marc Yellin Sunnyvale, California Neturei Karta To the Editor: Referring to your article on the Neturei Karta (October 1978): As an Orthodox non-Chassidic, life-long resident of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, I would like to set the record straight about the Chassidic (Satmar included) attitude towards Zionism and Israel...
...Could they not have commented that the "test" should not have been given to a 12-year-old...
...Those of us who participate as donors or as fund raisers for the United Synagogue must use that leverage to seek an improvement in that organization...
...Paul Segal, our Civics teacher, read to us an article in your magazine concerning the Glasser family and, primarily, Nicki Glasser...
...D. Free Distribution by Mail...
...Massachusetts 02116...
...Average No...
...Our recent weeks of student observation at seven Jewish Day Schools in Montreal have given us the opportunity to observe many talented American and Israeli-born teachers...
...B. J. Kass Highland Park, Illinois To the Editor: Congratulations are in order to moment for exposing the events outlined in the article entitled "One Family's Frustration" and commendations are in order to the chosen family for their willingness to trade privacy for truth...
...Leo Gross Minneapolis, Minnesota To the Editor: Regarding your story about Nicki: and we ask ourselves why we lose our children to the cults, to Christianity and to the agnostics...
...We are surprised that such onesided generalizations are still being promulgated...
...462 Boylston Street...
...At the end of the two year period I spent just one lesson reviewing Nicki's bat mitzvah service, which she learned on Shabbat at her synagogue, and I found her to be proficient in the blessings and can-tillations of her bat mitzvah service...
...poorly trained and inadequately motivated...
...It was suggested by one student that since the test supposedly contained everything that was taught in the temple's Hebrew School over a period of five years, Nicki's classmates should be forced to take this test, and if they failed, they should not be able to be bar or bat mitzvah...
...United States Code) 1. Date of Filing: September 29...
...We agreed that not allowing Nicki to be bat mitzvah was, bluntly, a stupid and ridiculous act...
...Lack of moral leadership certainly is not confined to the staff of United Synagogue...
...of Copies During Preceding 12 Months...
...2) Returns from News Agents: Average No...
...Title 39...
...This is a ridiculous idea, just as ridiculous as the test itself...
...in Jewish education, I discovered that my qualifications did not meet the requirements of any job...
...While a small core of Neturei Karta types do exist, the general attitude would be described as absolute concern for the lives of the Jews of Eretz Israel and a recognition that there exists inseparable links between Klal Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael no matter what the political picture may be...
...Boston...
...Massachusetts 02116...
...14.277...
...of Copies During Preceding 12 Months...
...18.215...
...If we sit back and do not actively 6/Moment confront and test the bureaucracy in our American Jewish institutions, we and our children will receive the type of Jewish life we deserve...
...To begin with, I was employed by the Glasser's congregation for the 1976-77 teaching the seventh grade class...
...Extent and Nature of Circulation...
...As the person who tutored Nicki for two years, I would like to register my support for their position and set the record straight on a number of matters...
...Unaccounted, Spoiled After Printing: Average No...
...Is it conceivable that there were not 10 persons who spoke up...
...1,800: Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...2,136...
...Mortgages, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding ]% or More of Total Amount of Bonds...
...of Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months...
...Copies During Preceding 12 Months...
...I have returned to my engineering career...
...I think I must have been out of my mind...
...Massachusetts 02116...
...The hypocrisy of our rabbinate will soon have us all leaving...
...One needs only observe the alienation of our youth, the strident growth of Jews for Jesus and whatever other abominations exist, to recognize that somewhere, somehow we are failing as the Connecticut congregation failed Nicki Glasser...
...Are their jobs, the status quo, the fear of "rocking the boat" so pervasive that they could not have said, at least—"let us investigate this matter...
...of Copies Printed: Average No...
...G. Total...
...Street Vendors and Counter Sales: Average No...
...12.477...
...12, regardless of her educational background...
...Carrier, or Other Means: Average No...
...They do not engage in significant public criticism of Israel...
...My conclusion then was that they are interested only in a narrow and limited involvement of maintaining rabbis' tenure and increasing their salaries...
...New York, New York 10025...
...I have recently had the opportunity to reflect on my experiences, and have reached a tentative answer to the question "why be a Jewish educator...
...1,800, (2) Mail Subscriptions: Average No...
...In addition, during my tenure at the school I was never asked to teach nor did I teach material that would have equipped a child to answer those questions...
...Editor: Leonard Fein...
...E. Total Distribution: Average No...
...Frequency of Issue: Monthly except January-February and July-August, when bi-monthly...
...In addition to the outcries (and presupposing that the United Synagogue of America is offered equal time and space to respond and further presupposing that their response does not alter the conclusions one reaches after reading this article), I would offer the following suggestions: Those of us in the lay community who are affiliated with Conservative synagogues must raise this issue with our Boards of Directors...
...2. Title of Publication: MOMENT.'3...
...I am treated with respect, and am paid more than double the best salary I could ever have hoped for in Jewish education...
...David R. Kotok Vineland, New Jersey To the Editor: On Sunday, October 29, Mr...
...Massachusetts 02116...
...Oh yes, I am still dedicated to Jewish education—but strictly as an avocation...
...David Edelstein Brooklyn, New York STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP...
...My professional talents are courted...
...The least the congregation in Connecticut must do, with the help of United Synagogue, is to request an investigation by independent persons, into the situation described in the October issue...
...5. Location of the Headquarters or General Business Offices of the Publisher: 462 Boylston Street...
...We were also disappointed with Rabbi Marvin Wiener's and Rabbi Kreitman's response to Mrs...
...523 West 113 Street...
...Name withheld To the Editor: The article on Nicki Glasser cries out for comment...
...Those of us who have been involved in efforts to create or sustain Solomon Schechter Day Schools must now seriously question the commitment of this parent organization to that philosophy which they are so quick to espouse on behalf of the Solomon Schechter Day School program...
...The future will only be brighter yet if we and our Israeli colleagues are encouraged to learn from one what the other lacks...
...We feel that they did not exercise their leadership in the Conservative movement...
...Boston...
...Very well...
...I was condemned for being too highly trained...
...The next issue pertains to the congregation in Connecticut...
...Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months...
...7. Owner: Jewish Educational Ventures...
...At that time, I undertook to tutor Nicki and met with her almost weekly in a convenient community center—a place of my choosing...
...For being too religious...
...Is it conceivable that there was not one person to have raised a voice against this apparent outrage...
...No concern of theirs is the satisfaction of the congregation's needs or desires...
...Consequently, the average Satmar Chassid walks with his ear glued to a transistor radio in time of crisis, anxious for every bit of news about the welfare of Israel and its people, to urge their government representatives to support arms to Israel...
...George O. Shecter Encino, California To the Editor: Your story of the frustration, disappointment and disillusionment of the Glasser family brings back memories of my experience a few years ago with the United Synagogue hierarchy...
...F. Copies Not Distributed: (1) Office Use...
...We met at times convenient to me...
...We know, as well as anyone else, that Jewish education is steadily improving...
...600: Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...17.340...
...The lassitude and inertia of Rabbi Wiener and Rabbi Kreit-man would justify a complete overhaul of the United Synagogue and the Rabbinical Assembly...
...Pamela Gerstein for Paul Segal's Jewish Civics class Warwick-Cranston Hebrew High School Warwick, Rhode Island To the Editor: I have great admiration and a deep respect for Benis Glasser, who displays that indomitable spirit which assures the survival of Judaism...
...1978...
...Congregations' needs become an interference and unnecessary detail to United Synagogue officials...
...Four years ago I gave up a lucrative career in engineering to dedicate myself to Jewish education...
...Furthermore, I failed to find more than two or three Jewish educational institutions in this country which met my requirements—where I would enjoy contributing my time...
...8. Known Bondholders...
...In our opinion, the rabbi and the board did everything in their power, whether consciously or unconsciously, to turn Nicki away from Judaism...
...Left-Over...
...I am proud that people like the Glassers are still with us...
...Single Issue Nearest to Filing Date...
...Leonard Fein...
...Yes, upon receiving my M.A...
...Publisher...
...Glasser's letter concerning her dilemma...
...13.279...
...Sincerely, Sholom Eisenstadt Lawrence Burden Montreal, Canada To the Editor: moment's recent feature on Jewish education brought back memories of some of the most unpleasant experiences of my life...
...Only in a magazine which is not controlled or funded by one of those institutions or organizations, can editorial comments or articles occur which hopefully will stimulate improvements in American Jewish life...
...First and foremost, the response from United Synagogue points out the lack of moral leadership, the failure of Rabbis Kreitman and Weiner to understand their function, which is not the protection of the status quo, which is not "passing the buck...
...A Report on American Jewish Education," October 1978...
...yet our needs were of little concern to them...
...only the continued placement and improvement of their positions...
Vol. 4 • December 1978 • No. 2
