Not mourning Scalia
As a proud American Jew, I do not mourn the passing of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia (“How Justice Scalia’s death impacts 5 cases that matter to Jews,” “Large shoes to fill,” WJW, Feb. 18).
Contra Sen. Ted Cruz (Facebook posting), Justice Scalia was anything but “an unrelenting defender of religious liberty.” His contempt and disdain for our Jewish faith is a matter of public record.
As an individual, the justice was entitled, of course, to hold any religious beliefs he chose; but was not entitled to exploit his exalted federal platform to enshrine those beliefs in U.S. jurisprudence.
Parade example: In the Mojave Desert Cross case (Salazar v. Buono), under Scalia’s tutelage, the Supreme Court effectively ruled that the Christian cross was a universal symbol and therefore appropriate to adorn a memorial for fallen soldiers, including Jews. Yes, the same cross under whose aegis the Crusaders massacred Jews throughout Europe.
A towering figure with towering prejudices, he combined Trump-like bluster with Georgetown social circuit bonhomie, charm and wit. Pundits may have extolled his intellect, but being smart is only half the job. For a good Catholic, why did he so reek of hubris and sparkle with such swaggering self-righteousness?
The authentic, Torah-true response to the death of this jurist is first of all, to extend condolences to his family, and then, in consideration of his professional legacy, to rejoice that he is no longer around to weave his bonfire invective and obstreperous bigotry into the fabric of American jurisprudence.
RACHMIEL GOTTLIEB
Pikesville
Polarized politics
What a mess.
Your editorial “Large shoes to fill,” WJW, Feb. 18, correctly pointed out that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia demonstrated his trust in the rule of law throughout his life and would have been horrified at the ridiculous statement of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, that President Barack Obama should not nominate a successor for the Supreme Court.
However, the recommendation that “both sides work quickly to appoint Scalia’s replacement” equally falls into the realm of the laughable.
We have a divided nation in which the polarization of the two parties makes any form of compromise extremely unlikely. Obama has established a precedent with his executive orders that suggests he will not nominate a person who will be acceptable to a Republican-controlled Senate. Equally, the foolhardy statement by McConnell has made it clear that the Republicans are equally not looking for a way to work with the president.
The forthcoming election was always judged to be extremely important in determining the direction the country would take. Now, the stakes have become even higher.
Those of us who are unaffiliated with either party look with horror at the possible choice of candidates and recognize that the future looks even bleaker today than it did yesterday.
It is sad that this once great nation has declined to such an extent.
STANLEY ORMAN
Rockville
Make banner all blue
The Washington Jewish Week banner would look so much more modern and flow much better to the reader’s eye if the word “Jewish” was also in blue instead of black.
The black reminds us of the darker times of Jewish history and our people, and in my opinion, is old-fashioned for 2016 in the context of the use of so much color in the editions.
I sent this suggestion two years ago to no avail, and I would appreciate your consideration and at least a trial use of all blue in that particular place.
Also, the last page, “You Should Know,” should be placed before the classifieds. Many readers may not continue past the classifieds, and since you are featuring these wonderful young people and their careers and connections to their Jewishness, they should get the respect of being part of the paper, and not — as it seems — an afterthought.
Under the new management, WJW continues to be a great source of information and discussion for its readers.
Thank you.
HARRIET TUDOR PLATT
Rockville
Presumably for lack of space, the full text of my original letter was abridged. Here it is.
As a proud American Jew, I do not mourn the passing of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
Contra Sen. Ted Cruz (Facebook posting), Justice Scalia was anything but “an unrelenting defender of religious liberty.” His contempt and disdain for our Jewish faith is a matter of public record.
As an individual, the Justice was entitled, of course, to hold any religious beliefs he chose; but was NOT entitled to exploit his exalted federal platform to enshrine them in U.S. jurisprudence.
Parade example: in the Mojave Desert Cross case (Salazar v. Buono), under Scalia’s tutelage, the Supreme Court effectively ruled that the Christian cross was a universal symbol and therefore appropriate to adorn the gravestones of all deceased U.S. soldiers – including Jews! Yes, the same cross under whose aegis the Crusaders massacred Jews throughout Europe.
Justice Scalia was no barefoot hick; quite the contrary: the son of a college professor, he was an extremely cosmopolitan and well-read individual. And – like Mel Gibson! -a devout, old-style, Latin Mass Catholic who was opposed to Vatican II (Washington POST, Feb. 15). Which is to say, he subscribed to an “originalist,” supersessionist and deicide view of Judaism. That explains and accounts for the Salazar v. Buono decision.
Given such blithe dismissal of the validity and theological bona fides of the Jewish religion, it is not all that surprising that Justice Scalia was also a Holocaust trivializer: to wit, in an address in 2013 before the Utah Bar, he compared judges he disagreed with to the judges who presided over the Holocaust, arguing that the Holocaust was partially brought about by judicial activism.
Lastly, he has also lumped polygamy together with murder and homosexuality, thereby defaming Jewish Biblical luminaries such as Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon.
Conclusion: for Justice Scalia, clearly, justice = “just us” Christians. And when you add to that his opposition to legislation remedying discrimination against minorities and women, justice = just us white (straight) male Christians.
I have no doubt, as the classic saying goes, that some of Justice Scalia’s “(best) friends are Jews.” In particular (see Lewin reference, above), Orthodox Jews, with whose authoritarian and theocratic bent- not to mention belief in government financing of religious institutions and insistence upon a Y-chromosome-only clergy- he felt enormously at home. Let us recall that Richard Nixon, as we know from the Oval office tapes, was the most anti-Semitic U.S. President of the 20th century. Among his numerous Jewish supporters while in office, his biggest booster in the American Jewish community was an Orthodox rabbi, Baruch Korff- who even came to be known as “Nixon’s rabbi.”
A towering figure with towering prejudices, Justice Scalia combined Trump-like bluster with Mengele-caliber super-intelligence and Georgetown social circuit bonhomie, charm and wit. Pundits may have extolled his intellect, but being smart is only half the job. For a good Catholic, why did he so reek of hubris and sparkle with such swaggering self-certainty and self-righteousness?
The authentic, Torah-true response to the death of this Holocaust-insensitive, Bambi-killing (he loved hunting) jurist, is: first of all, to extend condolences to his family; and then, in consideration of his professional legacy, to rejoice that he is no longer around to weave his bonfire invective and obstreperous bigotry into the fabric of American jurisprudence.