Opinions

Stand up to Jew hatred

I grew up in Kansas City and on my trips to friends in various cities in different states, I always wore a skullcap. Strangers would look at me as if I had horns under my cap. These people probably had never met an Orthodox Jew, or any Jew, so they gave me those disapproving looks. Please note my parents were Orthodox before the Shoah, but not afterward. As I grew up I was influenced by my rabbis and Synagogue Youth Organization (SYO), which merged with NCSY in 1958. My parents were very supportive.

I enjoyed Rabbi Levin’s remembrance of architect Mel Solomon in last week’s Chronicle. The beautiful shul he designed for Beth Torah lives on as a testament to Mel, who was a real mensch, devoted Kansas Citian and a great guy to be around. The photograph of his smiling face that accompanied the story said it all.

Since the spread of COVID-19, we have seen an explosion of creativity in the Jewish world so that we can connect with each other, connect with Torah, and connect with the Jewish people. Much of this has focused on Zoom, Facebook and other computer-based technologies. This time, though, can also be an opportunity to focus on physical Jewish connection that can be home-based rather than synagogue-based. After all, a synagogue is called a “beit kenesset” — a “home of assembly”; a Jewish school is a “beit midrash” — a home of study. Now, we have the opportunity to turn our family homes into a beit kenesset (synagogue) and a beit midrash (house of study). Below are a few suggestions of home-based rituals that can add new energy to your home-based Jewish life.

Often, I write about the uniqueness of the Holocaust and how it is completely different from other genocides. There are those who believe that the only way to preserve the memory of the Holocaust is by making it a universal lesson regarding the traumas and tribulations other peoples and nations have suffered.

Several years ago, a comedy album appeared by the title “When You’re in Love, the Whole World is Jewish.” Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg’s letter in your April 23 issue, in which he attempts to find specific Jewish meaning in “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” represents the sort of thinking referred to ironically in the title of the album.

The Tuesday morning before the first seder cars, a pick-up truck and volunteers waited outside of Torah Learning Center for meals to be brought out in huge boxes. All were in masks and gloves, waiting to load the meals that would soon be delivered by volunteers to people all over the greater KC area (some even outside the area).

Fact Check said my article was wrong when I said there was a connection to the Holocaust. Guess what — they were wrong.

At the 2014 Oscars, they celebrated the 75th anniversary of the release of the “Wizard of Oz” by having Pink sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” with highlights from the film in the background. But what few people realized, while listening to that incredible performer singing that unforgettable song, is that the music is deeply embedded in the Jewish experience.

To: Sol Koenigsberg

As a Jewish educator I am aware of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and your “letter” that appeared in the April 2nd issue of the Jewish Chronicle provided a number of details related to it.  However, the conflict is much more complicated and one mistake Jewish educators (and others) make is that they don’t tell the entire story and focus on the mistakes that leaders (usually Arab and Palestinian) made and not the impact that those decisions had on the average Israeli and Palestinian. This often creates confusion and anxiety for members of our community, particularly Jewish students on university campuses, when they are confronted with the situation on the ground in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and don’t know how to respond. 

Advice from a rabbi

Anyone who does not have a rabbi or spiritual leader is welcome to reach out to me for help, advice or just a hug. We are all seeking answers and never believed this virus might occur. Love ones are dying and we are helpless.