Letters to the Editor

CAMPUS AS BATTLEGROUND

As an engaged alumna of Tufts, I was surprised to read in “Battling Antisemitism on Campus” (January/ February 2022 issue) that the university would be anything but fully supportive of its Jewish students. I credit Tufts with my love of Judaism that ultimately flowered into my second career as a rabbi. Tufts in the 1970s welcomed the Somerville Havurah to campus. I experienced the spirituality of the High Holidays in a way I had not done so before. Rabbi Arthur Green opened my eyes to the riches that Judaism had to offer, including the philosophy of Abraham Joshua Heschel and the world of Jewish mysticism. So did professor and former provost Sol Gittleman, whose long career at Tufts was built around teaching Yiddish culture, Eastern European Jewish life and the rise of Hitler and Nazism to undergraduates.

The findings of Tufts’ Ad Hoc Committee on Antisemitism, released last month, reassured me that the administration is acutely aware of the issue of antisemitism on campus and is actively working to keep Tufts a place where all students can flourish.

Jill Goldstein Hackell, M.D.

New City, N.Y.

While encouraging brave students to fight back and self-organize, these same students need strong, sustained external support. A largely heretofore untapped alumni cohort could be another potent counterforce. Alums for Campus Fairness, with some 50 chapters nationwide and growing, aims to fill that void by seeking to inform and involve alumni in fighting antisemitism and promoting a safe campus environment for all students.

Richard D. Wilkins

Syracuse, N.Y. When my son went to college 15 years ago, he also experienced antisemitism. His answer was to start a Jewish show on the college radio station. However, he realized that the answer to anti-Israel sentiment, for him, was to make aliyah. He now lives in Israel with his wife (a life member of Hadassah) and three children.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

We value your interest in Hadassah Magazine and welcome hearing from you about the content of the magazine. Please email letters to the editor to letters@hadassah.org. To read more letters, visit us online at hadassahmagazine.org.

HADASSAH MAGAZINE DIGITAL NEWS

If you’re not already receiving Hadassah’s digital newsletter,

sign up for the newly redesigned monthly email at hadassahmagazine.org/newsletter-signup. Now, we also are offering an online, flip-through version of the print issue. The March/April 2022 edition can be found at hadassahmagazine.org/ issue/march-april-2022.

Alan Levitt

Brooklyn, N.Y.

PRECIOUS FAMILY RECORDS

As a result of reading the item about the Arolsen Archives in the January/February issue (“Never Forget That #everynamecounts”), I went online to that database and was able to access my parents’ registration forms and marriage certificate, both issued in a displaced persons camp after World War II. I was born in that camp.

Since I was 11 when my mother died, I didn’t know enough to ask her for such records. As I have gotten older, any historical document that relates to my family has become dear to me.

Marcia Bodenstein

Brooklyn, N.Y.

ANTISEMITISM AS VIRUS

I would like to commend student Everett Rattray for her essay “Speaking Up Against Antisemitism and More” (January/February). Her advocacy and the work of other young people offer hope for increased awareness.

Also impressive was President Rhoda Smolow’s column, “Combating a Deadly Social Virus.” Her use of “virus” to represent the spread of antisemitism is especially topical. Two recent news items come to mind: the act of terror at the synagogue in Colleyville, Texas—a painful, and thank God not deadly, reminder of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh; and Senator Charles Schumer’s account of his January 6, 2021, experience inside the United States Capitol. Sen. Schumer has

reported that he was told that one of the insurrectionists had said, “There’s the big Jew, let’s get him.”

Like a virus, antisemitism can manifest itself in many insidious ways—and can also be deadly.

Jerry Miller

Jersey City, N.J.

VALUING CATHOLIC COLLEAGUES

Malka Simkovich, author of “ ‘We Are So Glad That You’re Here’ ” in the January/February issue, chose to bring her academic expertise to an institution that welcomed both her and Jewish studies. The fact that she is Jewish and working in a Catholic institution is a mitzvah. She joined a community of learners intent on opening their minds and hearts to the history of her religion and culture. Instead, she felt like an outsider and then rebuffed someone whose intention was to welcome her. I was one of five Jewish professors at the start of my lengthy tenure as an arts professor at an all-women’s Catholic college in New Jersey. When I initially joined the staff, I was ignorant about Catholicism. But from the first moment I spent with my department chair, a Sister of Mercy, I knew I belonged to a community committed to humanity, learning and teaching.

I heard myself referred to on occasion as “the Jewish girl,” just as I would interchangeably use the term “sister” when the nuns still wore habits and I found that I couldn’t always distinguish between them. We valued each other for our work with the students, our dedication to our academic areas and to the way we projected an enlightened establishment to the broader community.

At my mother’s funeral, the president of the college, the senior administration and the chair of the religious studies department, a Father Newman, were there to support me. I was part of that university family for 38 years.

Geraldine Khaner Velasquez, Ed.D.

Holly Springs, N.C.

A CENTENNIAL YEAR FOR THE BAT MITZVAH

To honor the 100th anniversary of the first bat mitzvah in

America—that of Judith Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, on March 18, 1922—Hadassah collected dozens of moving stories of members’ experiences of their milestone event. Some women recalled being the first in their synagogue to mark the occasion while others shared stories of becoming adult bat mitzvahs. To read several of these submissions, visit hadassahmagazine.org.

H H H H H

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, in association with Ken Davenport and Sandi Moran presents

Music by BARRY MANILOW

Book and Lyrics by BRUCE SUSSMAN

Directed and Choreographed by WARREN CARLYLE

Starring CHIP ZIEN

Featuring SEAN BELL, DANNY KORNFELD, ZAL OWEN, ERIC PETERS, BLAKE ROMAN, STEVEN TELSEY

and SIERRA BOGGESS

The true story of the Comedian Harmonists, six talented young men who came together in 1920’s Germany and took the world by storm. Together they sold millions of records, starred in a dozen films, and packed the houses of the most prestigious concert halls around the globe until the world they knew changed forever. 7 Weeks Only!

Performances begin March 23, 2022 Buy Tickets Now!

BOX-OFFICE 855-449-4658 www.nytf.org

Additional producers: Garry C. Kief, Amuse Inc., Susan DuBow, and Neil Gooding Productions. This presentation is being produced in association with Wilfried Rimensberger of Stiletto Entertainment. Barry Manilow is a registered trademark of Hastings, Clayton, & Tucker Inc

36 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10280 Administration: 212-213-2120