Shame on WJW for its May 8 editorial (“Referendum on the Presidents’ Conference”) and the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Rick Jacobs “Conference’s rejection of J Street a shanda,” WJW, May 8), for questioning the integrity of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and its democratic voting process.
The Conference of Presidents has sent a clear message by refusing to accept J Street as a member. The message: J Street is unworthy of being considered part of the pro-Israel Jewish community. Instead of accepting that message, WJW and Jacobs prefer to attack the messenger, the highly respected Presidents’ Conference.
WJW’s position is all the more reprehensible because it sows confusion and dissension in the American Jewish community at a time when unity is most needed to support Israel against its many detractors.
It goes without saying that J Street is an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist organization,
its protestations to the contrary notwithstanding. Every one of its major policy
positions and activities has been designed to defame Israel’s democratically elected government and denounce Israel’s ethically, morally, and legally sound policies.
Jacobs makes the risible claim that J Street’s constituency would be an asset because it “is young, energetic, fast-growing and activism-oriented.” In reality, J Street’s campus arm, J Street U, corrupts gullible, uninformed college students with lies, half-truths, and anti-Zionist propaganda. As a wolf in sheep’s clothing, J Street would do even more harm to the unity of the Jewish community if it ever were given the chance to enter the Conference of Presidents’ big tent.
MARC CAROFF
President, Louis D. Brandeis Chapter Zionist Organization of America
Silver Spring
The statement by Hon. Mr. Caroff, on behalf of ZOA, trashing J Street and J Street U is distorted and rage-ridden and, with respect, entirely ignorant. He wrote “[i]n reality, J Street’s campus arm, J Street U, corrupts gullible, uniformed college students with lies, half-truths, and anti-Zionist propaganda.” Let me offer the profile of a kid very active in J Street U, my son, Asher, who is a junior at Dartmouth College. Asher attended JDS for 13 years, in high school was active in USY, is fluent in Hebrew, davens perfectly, leyns Torah fluidly (with only 20 minutes advance notice), was VP-Religion for his campus Hillel, and then was twice-elected President of Hillel, keeps Kosher (vegetarian), has been to Israel half-a-dozen times, and has family with whom he is close in Israel. He and I plan to go to Israel (again) this summer. While one does not want to kvell unduly about the nachas one’s children provide, my son is exactly the kind of committed Jew and Zionist on which the future of any non-Orthodox-only American Jewish Community — and strong state of Israel as the Jewish homeland — depends. Maybe Judge Caroff should have facts before him and weigh the evidence before pronouncing sentence.