Submitted Comments RSS Feed Comments by Len Katzman
Posted in: In Beit Shemesh, residents struggle to counter violent religious coercion
William Jones: If you think the dress of the Jewish woman is "wistfully beautiful", then you are missing the point as to why the picture is being displayed with this particular article. The picture ceases to convey any sense of beauty when you realize it is style of dress that has been forced upon a woman by threat of violence. Go back and read the article about the fact that a "woman and a male soldier who tried to protect her were beaten when the woman refused to move to the back of a public bus." So now women must sit in the back of the bus? With their faces covered in full-body scarves no doubt? Otherwise the Jewish self-appointed religion police will beat you? Not very beautiful a picture to me, wistful or otherwise. A pox on ALL fundamentalists!
Posted in: Op-Ed: Palestinians' plight, Holocaust are not analogous
Ari H: Excellent points all. Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that I agree with Cheryl that the "comparison and linkage is intellectually false and offensive." My response would be, "So what?" Fine, be offended and call the falsehood out as you wish. Good! Now that we have disposed with this affront, Cheryl, can we get on with discussion of the present issue which is the treatment those Palestinians who are non-terrorist non-violent civilians. I don't need analogies to historical events, whether accurate or false, to see that there is a problem today that must be addressed.
Posted in: Appeals court tosses Jerusalem passport case
Dear Victor: No president can tell the courts to "shove it", not even a hypothetical President Huckabee. Further, we would not want them to. The United States is a nation of laws. If you do not like the law, you don't have the right to tell congress or the president or the courts to "shove it". That's anarchy. That said, it isn't the courts who are the source of your concern in this case. As reported, "The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld a lower court decision that the judiciary did not have jurisdiction in the case because the Constitution exclusively grants the power to set foreign policy and recognize foreign governments to the executive branch." There you have it! The power of the executive (President Obama) is being respected by the courts. If you want to change the law on this specific issue, then you should advocate for Obama to issue an executive order to the State Department to implement that 2002 law without the carve-out that his predecessor Mr. Bush put in.
Posted in: Jewish leaders share praise, concerns with Obama
Shaul Levy stated, "Israel needs MORE land not less. and if Israel does not get the land it needs it will destroy the persian gulf oil fields and the world will suffer!" And this is why we should all be thankful Shaul Levy is not in charge of anything important.
Posted in: Appeals court tosses Jerusalem passport case
Dear Shaul: Yes, I still believe America does not hate Jews. What I also believe (still) is that former president George W. Bush violated the Constitution of the United States by the manner in which he employed his ridiculous "signing statements" that on the one hand purported to enact legislation into law but on the other hand prevented the actual enactment of the law. This passport case is an example of that constitutional abuse which happens to involve a Jew. Hundreds of other cases exist that have nothing to do with Jews per se.
Posted in: New rules have Diaspora converts waiting on Israel
I am a natural born Jew, not a convert, so this does not effect me personally. But, I agree with Shaul Farber who states in the article that this "ought to have the American Jewish community in an uproar.” Uproar indeed. The Chief Rabbinate brings shame upon itself. I have a simple solution. Until the State of Israel recognizes as Jewish all persons that I, a member of the Union for Reform Judaism, recognize as Jewish, I will reserve my money and my political support. Further, until then, I will not visit Israel but shall continue to live in the United States where no one ever will question my religion, or that of my fellow Jews be they converts or not.
Posted in: N.Y. lawmaker says Holocaust memorial only for Jews
Hikind's belief on this issue is racist and abhorrent. The comment by James Jones would have us just accept that Jehovah’s Witnesses aren't really human enough to acknowledge their murder by the nazis. Pierre Goldshmid seems to think only devout Jews count for anything, So by his logic we should only have a Holocaust Memorial for devout Jews and the secular ones need not be remembered. "Never Forget" is not a zero sum game. If people other than Jews are remembered too, that does not diminish what the Holocaust was for the Jewish people, rather it amplifies it and makes Jews, Gypsies, Poles -- all of the slaughtered -- more unified in our vigilance to make sure, "Never Again."
Posted in: Militant anti-gay church turns its sights on Jews
Let's Leave aside just for the moment the complete lack of factual basis for the assertion, "The Jews Killed Jesus." I understand christian theology to be based on the fundamental premise that Jesus die for the sins of Mankind and if you believe that you will be absolved of your sins. So -- the best response to the statement, "The Jews killed Jesus" is: You're welcome. Or perhaps smugness isn't the best response? Perhaps the best response to these lunatics is not to give them the attention that keeps them alive. The article notes the church leader saying that "church members have been “testifying” to gentiles for 19 years that “America is doomed” and they haven't gotten the message." Maybe us Jews can get them to move on in half that time by just ignoring them.
Posted in: Op-Ed: Bernie, Sully and me
Mr. Shafran poses the unsupported assertion that, "Madoff likely began his crime spree in the hope of rewarding, not swindling, investors." Wrong! Madoff made the MORAL DECISION to steal one's money to pay the false promise made to another. His crime was a MORAL CRIME and Shafran's intellectually vacuous attempt to redeem Madoff because he said he was sorry after he got caught is disgraceful. This article proves nothing, except that Mr. Shafran (I don't recognize his rabbinical credentials) has no intent in writing this garbage other than to inure in his readers a sense of outrage against Mr. Shafran.
RSS Feed Breaking News
Updated 02/09/12 @ 05:54PM EST
- A poll showed that nearly half of likely voters believed the United States should use military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
- Rabbi Gunther Plaut, a major figure in Reform Judaism, died in Toronto.
- The application for a proposed Hebrew-language charter school was accepted by the District of Columbia Public Charter School board.
- A truck driving calves from Eilat to the Golan Heights was hijacked into the West Bank.
- U.S. Rep. Howard Berman introduced legislation that would allow eligible Israeli nationals to receive non-immigrant investor visas in the United States.
- Poll: Half of U.S. voters back strike on nuclear Iran
- Reform leader Rabbi Gunther Plaut dies
- D.C. Hebrew-language charter school accepted for review
- Op-Ed: Kick the reaction addiction on campus
- Berman moves to grant investor visas to Israelis
- Holy cow! Calves hijacked into Palestinian territory
- Report: Israeli journalist also works for prime minister
- Larry Greenfield tapped to lead JINSA
Posted in: Motives unclear in Tel Aviv attack
08/05/09 03:55 PM
Dear Will Edwards: You hope that "G-d rids Israel of homosexuals", but that is not likely because it is G-d who created homosexuals. Historical evidence shows that gay men and women have been part of humankind since the earliest records we have. G-d, therefore, has had thousands of years of recorded history and likely tens of thousands of years of prehistory within which to "rid" our species of homosexuality. He has not. I do not know how genuine, or disingenuous, you are in condemning these murders. But, statements like yours, calling gays "heinous" and praying for gays to be gotten "rid" of, encourage the mentally unstable to commit these acts of violence -- in my opinion the blood is on your hands. On the point of hate crimes, the term "hate crime" is merely a recent and fashionable phrase to describe an element of a crime that is not at all new to our legal systems. Courts have long taken into account the intent of the perpetrator in meting out punishments. A criminal's intent is all that separates first degree murder from involuntary manslaughter. Understood in the proper legal context, a "hate crime" is nothing new. In the commission of a true hate crime the "victim" is more than just the individual person attacked. For example, in the American Jim Crow south, when a cross was burned on the front lawn of a black family, or a black man was lynched, the "victim" was more than just the direct individuals. The whole community of black people were the intended victims and the intent was to scare them and intimidate them and get them to leave. This makes the crime worse than a simple manslaughter, and the punishment should match. So too with the Tel Aviv murders, the intended victims were the gay community, not just the two unfortunate souls who were killed. Finally, you pose the question, "just how sick in the head do you have to be?" My answer: A person must be pretty sick indeed to hate and fear gay people so much that they would justify killing innocents.