Even More Positive
Charlotte Freedberg’s article “A Taste of Israel Accentuates the Positive” (May 4) described the Bender JCC’s celebration of Israel’s birthday on April 30. My family and I attended the celebration.
On a rainy Sunday morning, over 1,000 people came to the Bender JCC, and they were happy. The Bender JCC deserves credit for organizing an event that attracted Jews of all ages and from every Jewish movement. The celebration was attended by a huge, joyous crowd. It brought our local Jewish community happily together.
John Schmelzer, Potomac
Jewish Americans Need a Month
Jonathan Tobin appears to be out of touch with why Jewish American Heritage Month should be important (“Jews Don’t Need a Heritage Month,” Opinion, May 11). It is as if he views it like an affirmative action program. Tobin does not see how it is part of the culture war being waged by the antisemitic Christian far right.To quote the Charlottesville white supremacists, “Jews will not replace us.” It is a fact that the majority of the nation’s population was, and still is, composed of white Christians. However, they perceive demographic challenges from other groups as an existential threat.
Books about the Holocaust, such as Anne Frank’s Diary and Maus, were recently banned in the state of Tennessee. Given the fact that a significant percentage of the U.S. population does not have knowledge that the Holocaust happened, there is no shame in claiming “victim” status.
Barry Dwork, Alexandria
