Letter
LETTERS A Closer Look At Princesses To the Editor: I found Jeffrey Salkin's defense of the poor, oppressed JAP ("Shylock in Drag?" March 1983) an empty exercise in rehearsing the superficial...
...Only signed letters with a complete return address can be considered...
...The photograph was sent to us by Sotheby's, and that particular spice tower was sold by Sotheby's at an auction of works of Judaica in November...
...In their fervent prayers, they add frequent clapping of the hands, and their movements of legs and arms approximate interpretive dance...
...Richard H. Schwartz Staten Island, New York Editor's Note: The writer is author of Judaism and Vegetarianism...
...According to tradition, this prayer was written by the great statesman—Rabbi Simeon ben Shatach of the Maccabean dynasty—whose name appears as an acrostic in the prayer...
...Should not moment also bear some responsibility for telling the truth...
...I was naive in presuming he would field questions in a responsible manner while presenting the government's position...
...After all, there is a viewpoint at variance with moment's...
...There is no set pattern for these movements, the whole thing being spontaneous and deeply personal...
...3.b...
...Rabbi Jack Goldman Metropolitan Kashrut Council West Bloomfield, Michigan Erratum The photograph of the spice box that appeared on page 8 of the JanuaryFebruary 1983 issue of moment was improperly credited to the Israel Museum...
...He told the questioners, including myself, that we were "illinformed," "lacking in facts...
...Just three days before the March issue of moment arrived, the Israeli Consul to Philadelphia was a guest speaker at my congregation...
...I know of no Israeli women who genuinely qualify as JAPs, despite the materialist, consumption-minded orientation now rampant in most circles of Israeli society...
...Stanley Stevens Orlando, Florida Reconsidering What We Eat To the Editor: Peter Lovenheim is to be commended for advocating an end to shackling and hoisting animals prior to their slaughter (January-February 1983), a practice which is clearly contrary to the Jewish concept of tsa'ar ba'alei chaim, the prevention of cruelty to animals...
...King David, known for the emotional fervor with which he offered his praises to the Almighty, embraced the idea poetically in Psalms 35:10 where he says, "All my bones shall say, O Lord, what is like unto thee...
...During the match, after tolerating for as long as she could Richards' constant whining about having the flu, Billy Jean turned to the crowd and exclaimed: "This is the last time I'm ever playing with a Jewish-American Princess...
...Considering that in its emphasis upon education, stress upon the importance of the family unit and overt degree of ethnocentricity, the one ethnic group most closely resembling Jews is the Chinese, the relationship between JAP-hood/ABCdom and these cultural factors in the American setting is a topic worthy of closer investigation...
...From birth, food animals are raised under extremely cruel conditions today...
...Today we are discovering that this is not true...
...It has been—at least in part—"co-opted...
...He jumped down the throat of one woman who suggested that the disciplinary action against Sharon was inadequate...
...Every organ joins in, in what is dubbed, in Yiddish, shucklen...
...It may not be necessary to be Jewish to be a JAP, but it is necessary to be American...
...It reminded one of the statement by Tyrone Guthrie: "Everyone is entitled to his opinion but not to have it taken seriously...
...4. As for "believing that the only American Princesses are Jewish" (p...
...The consumption of meat is inconsistent with other basic Jewish values: While Judaism stresses that we be diligent in preserving our health, flesh-centered diets have been linked to heart disease, several forms of cancer and other illnesses...
...It can only be called a consensus...
...Therefore, the organs with which Thou has graced us, the spirit and the soul which Thou hast breathed into us, the tongue which Thou hast placed into our mouths: these organs—both male and female—shall thank, bless, praise, glorify, extol, revere, sanctify and crown Thy name, O King...
...The concept of involving the entire body in prayer is beautifully developed by the author of "Nishmas," a prayer chanted in the morning service for Sabbath and Festivals...
...Chassidim have developed shucklen to the point where it becomes almost an art...
...I Cecilia J. Lakin i West Bloomneld, Michigan I To the Editor: Since you asked about "shuckling" during Jewish prayer...
...The Consul saw any questioning of Israeli policies as a direct attack against Israel, not the Begin government...
...Thus, the vocal organs articulate the liturgy, the eyes read the sacred text, the ears hear the prayers chanted, but what of the arms, the legs, the torso, the whole body...
...i I have heard that view expressed before, but I believe it originates with the uneducated masses, and I suspect it to be derisive...
...When honest, and at times critical, comments are made regarding Israeli policies, within the Jewish community, people may feel relieved that they are not alone in their thinking, that they can doubt and still support Israel...
...But Mr...
...Leonard Fein and his chosen panelists were all agreed in advance how the occupied territories should be handled: some debate...
...Why consider only the final moments of the animal's life...
...This was their way of getting even, as Jews were not allowed to ride camels because it would make their heads higher than a Moslem's...
...He presented the argument that "until you risk your flesh and blood for Israel you don't have the right to dissent," implying that American Jews cannot push for truth or morality unless they are willing to don the khaki green of Tzahal...
...I know Jewesses ranging in age from their 20s to their 50s who almost regard the term as endearing: to wit, the cutesy toddler t-shirts sold in many synagogue Judaica shops containing some variant of the stencil "Jewish-American Princess" (including one which simply reads "Princess," albeit with the dot for the i' in Princess being in the shape of the star of David...
...I am not a Shelinik...
...2. It is not necessary to be Jewish to be a true JAP, but it helps...
...Lovenheim does not go far enough...
...Considering the above, should not every Jew who takes our tradition seriously abstain from and protest against a diet which violates so many basic Jewish values...
...every knee shall bend unto Thee, and whatsoever is lofty shall prostrate itself before Thee...
...And from what the press tells us—ours as well as the Israeli press—the Israeli government does enjoy a majority approval...
...The puerility and sterility of the remarks offered hit a new low with those of Balfour Brickner...
...Item: Billy Jean King and Renee Richards were once teamed as partners in a doubles match...
...he did not respond to questions in a responsible manner...
...I do think that, more than any other single ethnic or religious grouping, Jews, as a whole, do spoil their children...
...It is time that the Jewish community confront this great moral issue...
...5. Last but certainly not least, although it helps to be Jewish and is necessary to be an American to be a JAP, it is not necessary to be born female to be one...
...Perhaps this is because— whatever else may be said that is problematic or even negative about the role accorded women in Orthodoxy— one personal quality that an authentic halachic life does ingrain is tzniyut (modesty) and non-self-centeredness...
...Shuckling Right Along To the Editor: Concerning your query about "shuckling" in the March "Spice Box": I have run across the camel story once before, in Leon Uris's Exodus, book 3, chapter 2. In the book, character David Ben Ami has taken Kitty Fremont, a non-Jew, on a Sabbath tour of Mea Shearim, and explains to her: "Some of the Yemenites pray with a swaying motion as though they were riding a camel...
...I do not protest what I believe to be the mistaken policies of the Begin government in a public forum...
...Perhaps the oldest reference to shucklen is made in "Aleinu," a prayer traditionally ascribed to Joshua when he conquered the city of Jericho...
...By "genuinely Orthodox" I refer to those who are religiously Orthodox rather than Orthodox simply as a function of their neighborhood surroundings or social network...
...Uris...
...Rabbi Salkin's analysis overlooks the following points: 1. JAP is no longer necessarily a derogatory term...
...every tongue shall swear allegiance to Thee...
...We reserve the right to edit for publication...
...Mr...
...If these Israeli functionaries continue to parade about as know-it-alls, with all of the answers, they will tum off the very people they seek to turn on...
...For many years, any questioning of Israel was equated with anti-Zionism...
...my translation) Thus shucklen is a well-developed tradition among Jews, probably as old as Jewish prayer itself...
...I would like to suggest that if moment wants to have some credibility as a journal reflecting Jewish thought and opinion, then it must present both sides of a question, particularly when the question is fraught with so much consequence and when it reflects ultimately on outside interference with the governance of another nation...
...I am not a leftist...
...March 1983) an empty exercise in rehearsing the superficial and the trendy...
...For every mouth shall praise Thee...
...Stan Cohen Baltimore, Maryland Truth-telling To the Editor: It was with great interest that I read "Truth-telling and Leadership Responsibility in American Jewish Life" (March 1983...
...Actually, the custom of swaying to and fro during Jewish prayer arises out of the need to involve the entire body in the worship of the Lord...
...What a shame that Leonard Fein disapproves...
...Hungarian Chassidim outdo them all, by shucklen not only to and fro, but from side to side as well...
...While Judaism mandates that we share our bread with hungry people, over 80 percent of grains grown in the United States is fed to animals desfined for slaughter, as millions die annually due to hunger and its effects...
...It is thought that if an election were held right now the Begin government would enjoy an even larger majority...
...To act consistently with "the righteous person regards the life of his beast" (Proverbs 12:10), we must protest against every aspect of how food animals are treated today...
...This follows the rabbinic dictum (in the name of Rabbi Simlai, Makkot 23b) that the number of commandments in the Torah parallels the number of organs in the human body...
...As Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik once told me: "Religion to the Jew is the objective performance, but a subjective experience...
...every heart shall fear Thee, and all our innards and our kidneys shall join in singing praises to Thy Holy Name...
...Rabbi Simeon burst forth in praise of the Almighty with these words: "If our mouths were filled with song as the sea, and our tongues could resound with the furor of mighty waves, and if our lips could praise Thee as do the endless skies, if our eyes shone like the sun and the moon, if our arms could spread like the wings of eagles, and our legs were swift as deer, we could not offer enough praise...
...Blaming JAP jokes on "kosher sexism" at the hands of chauvinist Jewish males explicates nothing...
...People in the publishing business and your participants, too, should use words with more precision...
...If only they could understand that we may be diverse in our political thinking while we remain unified in our support for the State of Israel...
...Life in Israel today is just too difficult and too demanding to suffer a JAP life-style...
...While Judaism teaches that "the earth is the Lord's" and we are partners with God in preserving the world and seeing that the earth's resources are properly used, flesh-centered diets waste food and other resources, and result in extensive air, land and water pollution...
...It was neither a debate nor a symposium...
...The bottom line in any definition of JAP is that of someone who is spoiled...
...Letters to the Editor moment welcomes letters from readers...
...The custom, which is rather universal among Orthodox Jews (both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, among Chassidim as well as among Misnagdim), but probably rare among j Conservative Jews, and I would think bizarre among Reform Jews, is in no way connected with camel-jockeying...
...Otherwise, moment should bill itself as the official journal of opposition to the Israeli leadership...
...But I do...
...All letters should be typed, double-spaced, and sent to the moment Editorial Office, 462 Boylston Street, Suite 301, Boston, MA 02116...
...However, one category of American Jewesses that seems immune to the JAP syndrome is the genuinely Orthodox...
...It certainly predates any period of Moslem oppression of Jews, and any reaction to a prohibition against Jewish camelriding...
...They are confined in crowded cells, denied fresh air, exercise and emotional stimulation and fed a preprogrammed unnatural diet, including antibiotics and other chemicals...
...In this moving liturgy which concludes every Jewish prayer service, the author says, "And we bend our knees, bow our heads, and prostrate ourselves before the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He...
...the ethnotherapy research findings cited by Salkin on p. 38: "Jewish men perceive Jewish women as devouring, aggressive and self-destructive, and the women see the men as boring, dependent, selfish and egocentric") 3.a...
...37), let me point out that notorious among both Taiwanese and American Chinese males is the ABC—The American-Aorn Chinese woman— whose personality type closely resembles that of the JAP...
...Rabbi Andrew M. Sacks Penn Valley, Pennsylvania To the Editor: The March 1983 issue carries an article badly mistitled: "Truth-telling and Leadership Responsibility," in which the word "debate" is employed at least five times...
...He objected to my use of "West Bank" rather than "Judea and Samaria," claiming that "West Bank" was a newly invented Arab term...
...He did present the government line...
...One difference that has always struck me is that while spoiled Jewish girls may grow up to be assertive, manipulative and overbearing, spoiled Jewish boys turn out wimpy...
...The Consul told me that he was afraid of my speaking to my congregation as I did to him...
...A community cannot remain united in a free world, where we are exposed to news and commentary, if we must keep silent when our conscience calls upon us to speak out...
Vol. 8 • May 1983 • No. 5
