January 14, 2005/Tevet 4 5765, Vol. 57, No. 20
Letters to the EditorJanuary 14, 2005
Support Arizona Jewish theaterEditor:On Dec. 12, the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company presented "Dreams in the Golden Country" our touring show about the Jewish immigrant experience, in Sun City. I received the following letter from the actress playing the lead role of Zippy, Leah Long, who is Jewish. Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how meaningful the Sun City show was for me. I know there were people there who remembered situations like those in the play from their own childhoods, who saw Mama or Zippy as their own mothers or themselves back then. They laughed and sighed and gasped in sympathy and understanding and in remembrance, throughout the play. And when they gave us their standing ovation, they were not standing out of pure admiration, as they would after seeing some Broadway-quality production of "Phantom of the Opera" or "Les MisĒrables." They were standing to say, "Thank you, actors, writers and AJTC, for realizing how important our story is, and for commemorating it in this play" ... I was moved to tears by their reactions - I felt so privileged to be able to keep this story, this heritage, alive. Thank you for the opportunity to perform in this wonderful play. When I received this letter from Leah, it was a wonderful reminder of why we do what we do. Another performance of "Dreams in the Golden Country" will be on Sunday, Jan. 16, at the New School for the Arts in Tempe. The event is sponsored by the East Valley JCC and Or Adam Congregation. Tickets are available at 480-483-7121. We hope the community will come out to see this wonderful show, and that they will consider a contribution to help us continue the work we do. Janet Arnold Producing Director Arizona Jewish Theatre Company Bigotry is bigotryEditor:The section on celebrating 350 years of Jews in North America (Jewish News, Jan. 7) was informative and meaningful to me. Peter Stuyvesant, the anti-Jewish governor of New Amsterdam (later New York), is quoted as saying that "the disinclination and unwillingness" of local residents to serve as "fellow soldiers" with the Jewish "nation" is the reason given as to why Jews were forbidden to serve in the colony guard. Similar sentiments were voiced during the Second World War when efforts were initiated to integrate African-American soldiers and sailors into military units together with Caucasians. It was said it would destroy the fighting cohesion of our military. There is also a clear connection to the current controversy about accepting homosexuals in the armed forces. It is reiterated that such a policy would affect the fighting ability of our military. Bigotry is bigotry, no matter the reasons given. Jews have faced discrimination since Abraham. It is more than important that we, who know discrimination intimately, stand on the side of inclusion when it comes to matters of race, religion, gender and sexual preference. We need to speak out for the rights of other minorities as well as for ourselves. Irv Fellner Mesa
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