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Letters
The Right Tilt
Two recent JN pieces tried to leave
readers with the impression that
the University of Michigan is not a
friendly place for Jewish students.
Perry Teicher, chair of the U-M
Hillel Governing Board and Lorne
Zalesin, a former chair, debunked
this message in a Dec. 15 letter
("Hillel In Touch," page 6), but
many members of the Metro
Detroit Jewish community still call
for a concerted effort to change the
climate at the university — a
move that will only make the lead-
ership of the Jewish community
look out of touch, not only to
members of other communities,
but also to Jewish college students
as \veil.
The claim that Jewish students
are under assault at a university
that is increasingly becoming an
international leader in Judaic stud-
ies, where many of its significant
buildings are named after Jewish
alums and where Jews make up
almost 20 percent of the entire stu-
dent body (according to the U-M
Hillel) is hard to swallow.
Students Jennifer Gonik and
Jessica Risch even write that the
Michigan Daily has helped pro-
mote anti-Israel sentiment
through articles and letters ("We
Need Community Support;' Dec. 1,
page 56). Three of the paper's last
four editors-in-chief are Jewish.
The president of the university's
student body, his predecessor and
the president of U-M's largest col-
lege student government are
Jewish. If the University of
Michigan is not a welcoming place
for Jews, then what is?
Two weeks after Gonik and
Risch's piece ran, Linda Stulberg
went even further than they did,
writing in a Community
Perspective about a ubiquitous
"Islamic buy-out" of academic
curricula that she claims influ-
Jewish.com
In Mideast Romeo and Juliet,
love overcomes all obstacles.
Read about it on Jewish.com .
6 January 5 . 2006
ences academia, the media,
Hollywood and even the U.S. gov-
ernment. This accusation reminds
me of classic anti-Semitic charges
that Jews have undue influence
over this nation's newspapers,
financial institutions and govern-
ment.
The recent criticism of the cli-
mate at the University of Michigan
is probably nothing more than a
thinly veiled attack on the U-M
Hillel's professional leadership for
its thoughtful, academic tilt and its
eschewal of dogma — exactly the
effective approach an institution at
a university should follow.
American Jews — especially
those of us on elite college cam-
puses — are not victims, and
most of us find claims that we are
to be nothing more than self-serv-
ing talking points.
Correction
The photo of Hanna Stein was inadvertently cropped out of the Contents page last week.
Jason Pesick
Ann Arbor
The writer is a U-M senior and
editor-in-chief of the Michigan Daily.
Hanna, 7, Mara, 11, and Shari Stein of West Bloomfield cheer the Detroit Pistons at the big game
and Chanukah celebration on Dec. 25 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Setting Example
Bingo! That was my response to
Jerome S. Kaufrnan's letter "Bush is
Right" (page 6) and Linda
Stulberg's Community Perspective
"Urging a Communal Response"
(page 52) on the Dec.15.
Would the Reform movement
have demanded we pull our troops
home when they learned of the
five Sullivan brothers killed on the
USS Juneau, or the 12,000 Marines
killed on Okinawa, or the 7,000 on
Iwo Jima, or the 19,000 at the bat-
tle of the Bulge or the 1500 dead
on D-day?
Here's what I recently sent the
president: "I'm a Jew who deplores
the Reform Jewish Movement's
position on the Iraq war. I support
your policies to keep us safe and
your war to defend us."
I suggest the movement heed
dotCOM SURVEY
Winston Churchill's May 13, 1940,
speech, his first as prime minister
(and, fortunately, President Bush's
policy): "You ask, what is our poli-
cy? I can say: It is to wage war, by
sea, land and air, with all our
might and with all the strength
that God can give us; to wage war
against a monstrous tyranny,
never surpassed in the dark, lam-
entable catalogue of human crime.
That is our policy. You ask, what is
our aim? I can answer in one
word: It is victory, victory at all
costs, victory in spite of all terror,
victory, however long and hard the
road may be; for without victory,
there is no survival."
Linda Stulberg was correct with
her excellent commentary begin-
ning with "Wake up, Jewish corn-
Last Week's Results
Should Israel prevent
Palestinians in Jerusalem from
voting in the Jan. 25 Palestinian
elections?
Last Week's Results
Do you see the U.S. economy
improving in 2006?
To vote, click on
JNonline.us/Opinion
29% said yes
71% said no
munity of Metropolitan Detroit!" -
- stating we are too busy build-
ing bridges and not, as a commu-
nity, confronting the Farrakhans
and his ilk. And again when she
noted "our community's failure to
combat anti-Israel bias infiltrating
our public schools" and protecting
our children from anti-Israel
onslaughts in our grade schools
and universities.
When are we individually and
collectively going to re-deploy our
resources as she suggests? Did our
community leaders immediately,
forcefully respond to the Detroit
mayor after he presented
Farrakhan with a key to the city?
No. It took the courageous editor
of this newspaper, Robert Sklar, to
lead that charge.
What excuses are you making
for not helping or doing your part?
Here are some excuses I've heard:
"The media are saturated, one
more letter won't matter; I don't
want to use my name because it
might hurt me professionally; I
don't have time ..." Folks, none of
these excuses is valid.
I applaud the Kaufmans,
Stulbergs and the Sklars. We
should learn and act from their
examples.
Ed Kohl
West Bloomfield
Letters on page 8
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