We stand by our video
Last month the Ruderman Family Foundation began a campaign aimed at uniting the American Jewish community with the Israeli people through a petition against the Polish Holocaust Law (“Ruderman foundation falters,” March 1). This campaign was meant to be controversial, using the term “Polish Holocaust” to point out the fallacy of attempting to legislate the truth of the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were murdered.
We know that the Holocaust was planned and mostly carried out by the Nazis, and that there are 6,700 Poles, more than any other nation, honored by Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum as Righteous Among the Nations for putting their lives at risk to save Jews during World War II. However, according to many historians led by Jan Grabowski, more than 200,000 Jews were killed directly or indirectly by Poles during the war; this was part of the Holocaust that happened in Poland and cannot be denied through ill-conceived legislation.
Our campaign was, indeed, hugely successful. We have created a change and generated an international conversation on the Polish law. It was seen by millions of people and our petition was signed by tens of thousands of people. We stand by the video and only pulled the video from our campaign after the pleas of Jewish leaders in Krakow, who were concerned for their safety based on growing anti-Semitism in Poland. Our concern first and foremost at that time was for the safety of our fellow Jews.
RUDERMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION
Boston, Mass.
More intergenerational Israeli dancing needed
The intergenerational dancing of the Israeli Dance Festival DC 2018 was truly inspirational and heartwarming (“Children pulling parents onto the floor for Israeli Dance Festival DC 2018,” March 15). The enthusiasm of both the dancers and the audience was magical, as was the choreography.
Hopefully, more synagogues will offer opportunities for their congregations and, especially for the children, to learn and enjoy Israeli folk dancing.
NAOMI PLATT
Silver Spring
If we’re not concerned about anti-Semitism, who will be?
Guila Franklin Siegel is right on target (“Condemning anti-Semitism should not be difficult for Women’s March leaders,” March 15). I continue to be confused by women, especially those who are Jewish, who back these “leaders” in spite of their support for the likes of Louis Farrakhan and other anti-Semites.
I abhor prejudice against women and minorities, but I would be a “useful idiot” if I put these issues ahead of my concerns about anti-Semitism. After all, “if I am not for myself, who will be for me.” I realize that this is only one of three admonitions by Hillel, but it’s the one that too many Jews seem to ignore.
At a discussion of the Charlottesville horrors last summer at my synagogue, one woman said, “I’m not concerned about anti-Semitism. I’m more concerned about racism and Islamophobia.”
It is time for Jews in general, and Jewish women in particular, to separate themselves from groups that embrace hatred of Jews.
PAUL CHANDLER
Falls Church, Va.
