The rabbi’s recommendations are delusional. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Are they his best shot? He proposes that a peace agreement (including, of course, withdrawal to the indefensible 1967 borders!) will result in a Middle East anti-Iran alliance, which will counter Iran’s power. Really? With Iran having nuclear weapons?
Rabbi Levin’s adherence to the doctrines of J Street and Ameinu are well known. Both are extremist, ultra left-wing entities consisting of pro-Palestinian Jews who support every Arab demand. I have heard the rabbi speak, and this is true. J Street and Ameinu are now exhorting leftist rabbis to use their pulpits to desecrate the coming High Holidays by preaching their doctrine of appeasement, a la Neville Chamberlain in 1938. We all know how that turned out.
We now know that a previously secret deal is in place whereby Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors at the secret Parching nuclear site, with the IAEA excluded. Knowing this, can anyone still support the Iran deal? Can Rabbi Levin?
There is one absolutely persuasive argument on this issue that trumps all others. Polls show that 85 percent of Israelis having an opinion are convinced that this Iran deal imperils their country. It is the Israelis that are under the gun. It is the Israelis who have a firm, clear-sighted understanding of the nuances of the situation, and its dangers. J Street types, and Ameinu adherents, sitting smug and safe here in America, counsel appeasing the ayatollahs and throwing Israel under the bus. The Israelis reject this suicidal advice, and so should we.
Lee Levin
Overland Park, Kansas
(Editor’s note: Though the names are the same, there is no relation between Lee Levin and Rabbi Mark Levin.)
Conversion class is insightful
Thank you to the Kansas City Rabbinical Association for the outstanding 36 weeks of conversion classes my husband, Scott, and I attended. If anyone had told me I would one day take a conversion class on my own religion, I never would have believed them. As a member of this community, the knowledge, expertise and depth of insight I gained from this was amazing. I can’t thank the rabbis, hazzans, educators and community leaders enough for sharing this past year with us. The sharing of our history, ideology and traditions was insightful and relevant.
The participants of our class opened their hearts and shared their goal of becoming Jewish. Several cried with an internal passion of wanting to be Jewish and for whom this program was really a dream come true. This is something that I have taken for granted since the day I was born. It was exciting to hear rabbis from all branches of Judaism share their views in a way that was open and welcoming. There were panel discussions, Shabbat dinners, as well as coming together to learn about Sukkot, Havdallah and Hanukah. We toured the mikvah and many of the synagogues in our community.
A special thanks to our teacher, Aaron Nielsenshultz, who has moved away and is sadly missed. Also, thanks to Annette Fish for coordinating our weekly classes and hosting our journey to learn more about Judaism.
I am proud to be part of a community that has come together to offer this incredible, life changing educational experience.
Thank you for all that I have learned.
Stacy Winkler
Overland Park, Kansas
Center’s new branding unnecessary
For what it’s worth — and don’t tell me — the effort to rename the Jewish Community Center with the decidedly unattractive and inappropriate letter “J” is not what will demonstrate that the Center is now “with it.”
The Center’s management seems to have it running just fine and it does not need a sexy new moniker. On the contrary, reducing the name to a single letter diminishes the very complete services and facilities into an attempt at “branding” to compete with everything that has caved in to the mania for expeditiousness. Are we all so busy that pronouncing two syllables will cause us to forget where we are or what we were going to say?
What impresses me are the many enhancements to the facilities and the caliber of and the genuine warmth shown by the staff. The Center is a bustling place which has become a very complete exercise facility and a place to relax and “schmooz” with other “exercise fanatics.” It really is a center providing a real sense of belonging ... community.
I’m not advocating organized opposition to short hand but expressing my intention to apply a little dignity to a central fixture of our community … the Center.
Steve Sherry
Kansas City, Missouri{/mprestriction}
