Administration doesn’t embrace tikkun olam concept
By all means give Vice President Mike Pence credit for visiting a desecrated St. Louis Jewish cemetery and saying the right thing about hatred and violence (“Pence to the rescue,” Editorial, March 2). I would be less sanguine, however, since most of the messaging from this administration has come belatedly to this subject and carries and overtone of “us” and “them” intolerance that is unacceptable.
To state that the wave of anti-Semitism and outright xenophobia is somehow unrelated “to the inauguration of President Donald Trump” is either wishful thinking or naive.
I understand the desire to give this administration a “chance” (with Israel and Iran looming on the background); but surely there is room for calling out behavior that is incompatible with Judaic tradition and principle, whether it relates to the immigrant/refugee, the environment, etc. Trump and his circle have not embraced the concept of tikkun olam.
DR. RAYMOND COLEMAN
Potomac
There’s always space for LGBT coverage
I imagine there are many stories impacting Jews locally and nationally that you cannot print each week for lack of space. Yet, you always seem to find space for news on LGBT issues (“Amid mixed messages, LGBT community strains to grasp Trump’s views,” Feb. 23, among other articles).
I wonder if such coverage is proportionate to the LGBT share of the local Jewish population, or even Jews nationally. Even in New York City, only 3 percent of Jewish households contained LGBT individuals in 2011, according to a Federation survey, the latest data I could find. I suspect there are even fewer bisexual and transgender Jews. I doubt many Washington-area LGBT Jews read your newspaper anyway, favoring other media that cater to their community or other activities altogether. I imagine some readers feel such coverage helps expose local Jews to LGBT issues, but readers already get enough exposure from the secular media.
JESS SADICK
Silver Spring
