Regarding “Alienation from Israel Hitting Liberal Seminaries” (editor’s column, May 6), I am sorry that the names of the students who are supporting/participating in anti-Israeli propaganda were not published.
These students may become the future leaders of Jewish communities in America and abroad, and I’d certainly like to know who they are. These students may become the teachers of my children and grandchildren, and I don’t want that to happen.
Never in my many years as an active Conservative congregant would I have ever thought the need to interrogate rabbinic applicants as to their opinions about Israel. Increasingly in American congregations the rabbi becomes the base for the congregation forming such opinions.
The rabbinic students’ opinion on Israel is just as important as their opinion about kashrut. While the presence of these students may reflect a failure of proper education in the seminaries (are there intense mandatory courses in modern Israeli history? Do they interact with Israeli students, or are they living in an idyllic dream world while in Israel?), their continued matriculation in the seminaries should be questioned.
New Rochelle, N.Y.
