My heart aches for Rabbi Rosenberg, as I read his letter to the editor that appeared right after Yom Kippur and the day that his choice for president threw the Kurds to the savage attack of Turkey. The day, our holiest day, when we ask for atonement.
How can a rabbi feel good after this blatant abandonment of a people whose lives and lands are now under attack from Turkey? How can a rabbi support a president who seems unconcerned about ethnic cleansing? Who seems unconcerned about leaving an ally open to massacre? It is not that the Turkish government wants to kill the Kurds and drive them out; it wants dominion over the Kurds’ homeland.
And where does that leave Israel, with Turkey right there in northern Syria?
Even Netanyahu is stunned and condemns the Turkish invasion of Syrian Kurdistan. According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu has warned Turkey against ethnic cleansing. All this after the U.S. president paved the way for this savage bombing of civilians. Not to mention the now numerous ISIS fighters who are escaping.
I am sorry. I love Israel. I have a daughter who made Aliyah seven years ago. She and my son-in-law live there. I want Israel to survive. But supporting a president who abandons our allies and says the Kurds did not support us in Normandy is not someone who will support Israel if it does not help his financial or political needs.
Rabbi Rosenberg has blinders on his eyes. I hope he is making atonement right now, because he is supporting a president who would let genocide occur.
Ellen Portnoy
Overland Park, Kansas
