To the Editor:
Sorry to say, Israel, but you reacted to our American Jewish anger by wimping out. Yes, you portrayed us as ignorant and foolish. You suggested that we have no ties to our homeland and that our children are growing up in a desert wasteland. No, it was not very nice; in fact it was rather insensitive.
So why, as I watched each video expecting the anger to continue to boil up, did I instead find tears rolling down my face? Because you touched a sensitive nerve. How can we realize that it is Yom Hazikaron when we walk the streets of New York? How can we not realize that Christmas is just around the corner when Santa is in every shopping mall?
Your videos made us feel guilty and forced us to confront what we hate to confront — that being a Jew in America is easy and maybe, just maybe, a copout.
Israel, thank you for acknowledging that the videos were distasteful and insulting — but this is not the time to be bashful. Push the button and start the conversation we need to have.
Amy Skopp Cooper
South Orange, N.J.
