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December 20, 2002/Tevet 15 5763, Vol. 55, No. 17
Letters to the EditorDecember 20, 2002
NCCJ meets diverse needsEditor:Regarding your article "Multicultural event lacks Jewish element" (Jewish News, Dec. 13), it is important to understand that the National Conference for Community and Justice is an organization whose mission is to promote inclusiveness. In dealing with many faith and ethnic groups, the NCCJ has made a commitment to alternate their Walk as One between Saturday and Sunday each year so that no group is excluded. Last year, it was on a Sunday. As the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, I appreciate their commitment to all faith groups and look forward to participating next year. Cathy Wolf JCRC director Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix Scottsdale Jewish community can grow in desertEditor:Your Article, "Population booms" (Jewish News, Dec. 6) confirms what my grandfather told me years ago: "Arizona is a crossroads of talent and capital, but you have to grow roots to stay." Our ranching family settled during the Spanish colonial period along the Santa Cruz River, lived through the Apache wars, Mexican Independence and relocated to the Gila River in 1885, prior to statehood. Eventually, we came to the Salt River, so the Sonoran Desert is in our blood. The study conducted by Ukeles Associates and managed by the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix is especially relevant because it provides a snapshot of family perspectives, values and economic realities. Jewish leaders are stepping forward to implement strategies to strengthen, stabilize and stimulate religious life for the benefit of the entire community. It is clear that the federation initiative and the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, together with the information provided by Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, are enormous strides forward. Arizona has always been filled with challenges and acclimatization distress, but we can flourish in the desert. David Ortega Scottsdale Vice Mayor 'Chanukah,' not HanukkahEditor:The front page of the holiday edition of your newspaper reads "Happy Hanukkah 5763." About this time of the year, every year, I have to come to grips with the pronunciation and the spelling of the word "Hanukkah." Most of us know the correct spelling of the holiday is Chanukah and is pronounced with a guttural "Ch" sound. One might claim that the "Ch" sound is foreign to most Americans. I say, we owe it to the memories of our forebears who, 2,000 years ago, defeated the Syrians and proclaimed themselves free men. Those warriors would squirm in their graves if they knew how their victory has been altered in spelling and pronunciation to accommodate Americans. What can we do? First, let's get back to our roots. Your paper might start by printing the name of the holiday as it was originally designated: Chanukah. Second, let's work with our children, our Jewish and non-Jewish friends and teach them the correct pronunciation and spelling of the holiday. Tell them the word is pronounced the way they would expel that tiny piece of phlegm that is lodged in the back of their throat and that they're dying to get rid of. All together now: Have a happy Chanukah! Leo Biglaiser Phoenix Rushkoff misses the pointEditor:Although Professor Douglass Rushkoff's focus on Judaism ("Don't judge Judaism by the numbers," Jewish News, Dec. 6) as a spiritual path (as opposed to an ethnic "race") presents a refreshing face on our religion, his premise has little to do with his conclusion: He argues that the twin crises of intermarriage and assimilation really aren't that bad because the Jewish people are not a "race to be preserved" but rather that Judaism is more a "set of ideas to be shared." The professor misses the point. The reason that intermarriage corrodes Judaism's future does not depend on the race vs. religion debate. If Jews fail to cultivate Jewish homes by marrying fellow Jews and raising Jewish families, the religion will wither because there simply will be too few Jews left. Even if Judaism is perceived solely as a religious path, no amount of focus on spirituality can undo the permanent damage borne by intermarriage's permanent abduction of the future generation of Jews. Mitigating this pending catastrophe demands our immediate attention. Aaron J. Moskowitz Phoenix
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