Toys Without Frills
I always enjoy Arnold Fine’s I Remember When column and this past week was no exception.
When Mr. Fine described the homemade items kids used for toys way back when, I was reminded of stories my father told me of playing with bottle corks and caps.
It got me thinking of all the money we spend on toys for children and grandchildren these days. Those thoughts were fresh in my mind as I went to my grandchildren for Shabbos. My young great-grandson Yehuda proudly escorted me to his room where I would be sleeping, and there on the floor stood a huge bottle filled with corks.
Surprised, I asked him about it. “I collect them and we play with them,” was his answer. I guess the saying that everything eventually comes back in style has truth to it –which certainly is good news because we have grown far too materialistic.
Nechama Meyerson
(Via E-Mail)
Glimpse Into Barbarity
I was fascinated by Ed Lion’s front-page essay (“Kristallnacht – A Family Recollection,” Nov. 8). He captured the sense of utter helplessness of the Jews in Germany and how evil can quickly destroy the achievements of a lifetime.
The story of the unspeakable horrors the German barbarians inflicted on the Jews in the concentration camps is only part of the story. The thugs masquerading as cultured gentlemen who made war against the robust, family-oriented and tradition-laden Jews of Germany is another.
I tried to see myself in the circumstances Mr. Lion eloquently described and I literally had to gasp for air. “Never Again” is not just a slogan, it is an indictment of the German soul from whence such inhuman brutality could arise.
David Ackerman
(Via E-Mail)
That De Blasio Endorsement
I think readers Sara Springer, Michael Ackerman and Allan Friedberg got it all wrong in criticizing The Jewish Press for endorsing Bill de Blasio (Letters, Nov. 8).
Bill de Blasio was always close to the Jewish community, as a councilman and as public advocate. He has many Jewish advisers and has always stood with us. Moreover, many Jewish religious leaders supported him in this election, though I suspect that they, along with The Jewish Press, don’t agree with him on all issues.
Also, as your endorsement noted, Joe Lhota himself said in his ads that his positions on core issues affecting us as a community were not all that different from those of de Blasio.
Arlene Brecher
(Via E-Mail)
Jewish Assets And Iraq
I am really surprised that you advocate rejecting Iraq’s call for the return of certain items U.S. troops took from Iraqi buildings during the U.S. invasion in 2003, even though they belonged to Iraqi Jews who were forced to leave Iraq and seized by Saddam Hussein (“Sending Jewish Assets to Iraq,” editorial, November 8).
Personally, I would like to see such things in the possession of the successors or heirs of the original Jewish owners. But how can you legitimate invading soldiers seizing the property of a sovereign country, in violation of international law?
What would your position be had Saddam Hussein formally expropriated, through taxation or otherwise, those same assets from the Jews who remained in Iraq?
Menashe Fried
Jerusalem
Gratitude To Pastor Hagee
I read Steve Walz’s interview with Pastor John Hagee with great interest (Nov. 8, “Where Are Israel’s Enemies of Centuries Past?”).
I feel a sincere obligation to express appreciation and thanks to Pastor Hagee for his dedication to and support of Israel. He enjoys a reputation for integrity and he delivers his pro-Israel message to a large audience of followers. I hope the interview with Mr. Walz generates an appreciative response from many others in our Jewish community.
Norman Shine
Brooklyn, NY
Baseball Book Should Become Standard Text
The monthly Baseball Insider column by Irwin Cohen, which covers so many aspects of baseball, is to be highly praised.
I just read his recently published book Jewish History In the Time of Baseball’s Jews and recommend that it become a standard text in our Jewish day schools. Our children need to be educated about the period of the Second World War in a manner that will be most meaningful to them.
Irwin Cohen’s book will surely serve that purpose.