Newspaper Article

Letters

Kahn, James, Greenfield, Murray, Rosovsky, Murray, Dreyer, Leonard, Meyer, David, Sadava, Stan, Bitnun, Shimshon, Blass, L

2010

Overview

Sir, - David Forman may be correct when he writes that a \"most reliable Peace Now\" report figured out that if the funds used to sustain settler communities were applied to domestic needs (settlers' needs are not domestic needs?) such as free college tuition, the standard of Israeli life would rise (\"Justice - an overworked concept,\" January 1). The point he misses is that without the support of the settlements, there would be no Israeli colleges to go to nor other myriad services which exist only by virtue of the settlers' presence. Sir,- I read with dismay [Daniel Gordis]'s disparagement of the classic film Exodus. While it is true that the film is somewhat dated, so are classics such as Casablanca and It's a Wonderful Life to name just two. It remains among my all-time favorites and one of the few DVDs I own. Some of the scenes such as the Acre prison break remain excellent and moving. Of course I might be prejudiced as I was living in Haifa as a student in 1959/60 and witnessed some of the scenes being shot. What most people don't know or remember is that the crowd scene during the declaration of the state was populated by the holding of a special Mifal Hapayis lottery that awarded the winners a train ticket to Jerusalem and a position as an \"extra\" in the crowd. Those were simpler times and the film should not be judged by today's SMS values. Sir, - I read with interest the piece by Daniel Gordis about the declining sense of peoplehood among American Jews (\"A requiem for peoplehood,\" November 27). I am not an American Jew but I think I understand where it's coming from and I must take issue with his interpretation. He sees the problem in \"liberal\" Judaism, and adoption of the model of American Protestantism.

• Publisher: The Jerusalem Post Ltd
• Subject: Aharonovich, Ike / Gordis, Daniel