Our campus community is undergoing a much-needed period of healing. Racial protests, discriminatory bias and a toxic atmosphere of disunity have torn apart the fraternity of our school, threatening the core values upon which the University of Missouri were founded.
(Editor’s note: This was written July 3 and posted on Facebook, the day following Elie Wiesel’s death on July 2.)
A response to T’ruah director
Jill Jacobs (no relation), executive director of T’ruah, recently wrote an op-ed in The Chronicle entitled “Anti BDS law can’t be pro-Israel if it tramples on free speech” (June 30).
"Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict Over Israel,”
by Dov Waxman, Princeton University Press (April 12, 2016)
The period from the 1967 war to the first Lebanon War in the early 1980s can fairly be said to have been a halcyon era in the American Jewish community’s relationship with Israel.
Appalling letter
Having studied with Rabbi Mark Levin for several years I am appalled that The Chronicle would publish such an ignorant, juvenile, mean-spirited attack on his integrity such as the one by John Weed in your June 30 letters column.
Thrown together by the circumstances of place and time, both Jewish and non-Jewish colonists showed solidarity in breaking with the British. Their impassioned goal for a free nation was advanced by unmitigated commitment and bold actions.
(Editor's Note: With the major expansion and repositioning project at Village Shalom currently projected to begin in early spring of 2017, the daughter of one of the original residents of The Villas feels her mother will be negatively impacted by the construction and urges Village Shalom to change its plans in the letter below. Village Shalom maintains its plan is to the benefit of all the residents.)
Imagine building a perfect retirement home on a beautiful sunny corner lot. You selected this lot for its peaceful view of nature. You spend your days gardening and growing English roses. Time passes and your health declines. At age 87, you are now confined to your home, unable to go out into the sun due to a chronic illness. However, you are still able to enjoy the view from your sunroom window — watching the seasons change as you gaze at grassy berms and trees in the distance.
Village Shalom is sympathetic to the needs of a longtime resident who has raised concerns about our expansion plans, as we place great priority on considering the desires of all residents in our community.
Leviticus 18:22
In my naiveté I always equated “rabbi” with “Torah-observant.” After reading “Please, be yourself” (letter to the editor, June 23) I ask whether Rabbi Levin rejects Leviticus 18:22.
Please, be yourself
I want to see more same-sex couples kissing in public.
