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JN Terrorism Essay
Was Inflammatory
Contributing Editor Robert Sklar's
essay "Dark Doctrine" (Dec. 11, page
56) makes an incredibly inflamma-
tory allusion that the Islamic faith is
based on intolerance, dating back to
the inception of the religion in the
seventh century.
As Muhammad was considered by
many during this time to be a proph-
et, Jews rejected this notion, which
in fact prompted minor bitterness by
Muslims; however, the Koran does
not promote an "intolerant ideology"
against the Jewish people or faith.
Muhammad's conflicts with Jews
were completely insignificant, and it
should also be noted that Muhammad
interacted with many Jews in an
amicable manner. Overall, the Koran
promotes acceptance and tolerance, as
does the Torah.
For this, I criticize the belief that
Muslims are inherently anti-Semitic
by their religious convictions, as such
a perspective implies that all Muslims
practice an anti-Semitic religion,
which further implies that all Muslims
are anti-Semitic. If such were true, it
would be impossible for the article
"Warm-Hearted: Jews and Muslims
join together on a cold day to clean up
in Hamtramck neighborhood," print-
ed in the same edition as this essay, to
exist (Dec. 11, page 20).
Throughout my life, both in and
out of Jewish settings, I have come
to the sentiment that some "radical"
Zionists' respective ideology is based
on bigoted and racist anti-Muslim and
anti-Arab convictions, the same con-
victions in which they hold a double
standard of Muslims and Arabs con-
Ask Attorney
Ken Gross
about...
Your Legal
Issues
tending of Jews and Israel, in their
opinion.
Essentially, such bigoted remarks
impede any peace process from
occurring, as bigotry and peace are
incompatible with one another. The
current political and cultural condi-
tion of the Israel region is merely
compounding such injustice from
both sides, and thereby obstructing
peace. From this, neither Judaism nor
Islam promotes intolerance, but rather
people themselves.
Levi Teitel
West Bloomfield
Editor's Note: The essay in question
refers specifically to "Arab/Muslim
terrorists," not Arabs or Muslims in
general.
What is the plan
for 2015?
To preserve future income for
retirement - and to take the steps
that are necessary to shed high
interest credit card debt. It's
this simple. If you have $30,000
of Credit Card debt at 20% interest, how
ZOA Presses Publisher
Over Exclusion Of Israel
Scholastic Inc., reportedly the world's
largest publisher and distributor of
children's books, published and dis-
tributed a children's book containing
a map of the Middle East that omitted
Israel.
The book, titled Thea Stilton and the
Blue Scarab Hunt, is part of the chil-
dren's Geronimo Stilton series. It was
initially published in Italy and trans-
lated into English by Scholastic.
On Scholastic's blog, the company's
senior vice president for corporate
communications and media relations
characterized the omission of Israel as
"inadvertent; but did not elaborate.
Scholastic also confirmed that it would
immediately stop shipment of the
offending book, revise the map and
reprint it.
In a letter to Scholastic, the Zionist
Organization of America (ZOA) urged
that additional steps be taken, includ-
ing:
• investigate how this omission
occurred and why;
• once the investigation is com-
pleted, terminate relations with those
responsible for omitting Israel from
the map;
• ensure that Scholastic's editors and
proofreaders will prevent future simi-
lar errors and omissions;
• issue accurate replacements;
• review Scholastic's other books;
• issue a public apology and state-
ment reflecting all the steps that
Scholastic will be taking to remedy the
incident and prevent it from recurring.
The ZOA suggests parents check
their children's books for anti-Semitic
and anti-Israel content, including
errors and omissions, and report
them to the ZOA. If a company like
Scholastic can make this kind of mis-
take, any children's book company is
capable of it.
Hillel Day School Seeks
Distinguished Alumni
Nominations are now open for the
second annual Hillel Day School
Distinguished Alumni Award, show-
casing the achievements of alumni
who are outstanding role models for
our students and our community.
Nominees must be Hillel Day School
graduates who exhibit achievements
or distinction in one or more of the
following areas: leadership, service,
career, humanitarianism, creativity
and courage. The recipients will be
selected by a committee of the Hillel
Day School community.
The alumni selected will be invited
back to school to honor their success
and to share their achievements with
the student body, staff and community.
The honorees will also be guests at the
Hillel Day School Annual Dinner on
Sunday, May 17.
Go to bit.ly/lvAxj8Y to download
the nomination form and return it to
Amy Schlussel, director of advance-
ment, no later than Jan. 16. The award
recipients will be notified on Feb. 2.
Karen Propis, David Groner and
Hazzan David Propis
CSZ Empty Nesters
Flock Together
The Empty Nesters Group of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek kicked
off its inaugural event Oct. 19 at the
home of Hazzan David Propis and
Karen Siegel Propis. The capacity crowd
enjoyed a delicious dinner catered by
AnnabelCooks and entertainment pro-
vided by Steve Fishman and Hazzan
Propis. The Nesters wined, dined and
sang songs from the 1960s and '70s and
relived fun Motown memories. The
congenial atmosphere enabled members
to rekindle friendships and spark new
ones. The group welcomes all empty
nesters.
Future plans include a dance program
with instruction, a group film outing
and bowling. A special TGIS (Thank
God It's Shabbat) service, Chanukah and
All That Jazz! will take place at 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 19, at Shaarey Zedek, with
dinner following. There will be reserved
tables for Empty Nesters. To register and
request Empty Nester seating, contact
Tobye Bello at tbello@shaareyzedek.org .
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should do? The Answer is YOU NEED TO
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$8,571 goes to pre-tax retirement savings
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the $8,571 will be in 15 years? The Answer
is $226,405. If you would rather have the
$226,405 than pay the credit card debt, do
you know what to do? The Answer - Call
Thav Gross - we do many things - but there
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December 18 • 2014 5