Letters to the Editor

NICOLA PHOTO

Disputing the antifa’s claims

The moral confusion that infuses the minds and words of the young Jews in the article “Anti-fascist and anti-Israel?” (Nov. 23) is extremely troubling.

These self-identified members of the far-left “antifa” movement tout a self-righteous logic that could, and should, be ripped to shreds on multiple points. For brevity, I’ll focus on just one: they claim to be anti-racist but also proudly anti-Zionist.

This is an oxymoron and fraudulent. For instance, if they proclaimed their “non-racism” against First Nations people, but simultaneously characterized any exertion of aboriginal sovereignty on their ancestral lands as fascist, we’d all see their racism and hypocrisy clearly and call them on it.

Why don’t we call them out when they spew racism and lies against Jews, who are, by indisputable historical record, the aboriginals of the Land of Israel?

Steve Mitchell
Toronto


No U.S. Thanksgiving for us

The article by Sara Horowitz (“Let’s adopt American Thanksgiving,” Nov. 23) shows a lack of understanding about Canada and is insulting to this country.

Canadian Thanksgiving did not catch on because, unlike its American counterpart, it is a Christian religious holiday.

It was also insulting to the people who left the United States to form Canada. Many of the people who left America did so because they did not want to be part of the United States.

Adam Berel Wetstein
Toronto


Day school is essential

I was saddened to read the two letters to the editor published in your Nov. 23 issue which argued against the importance of our Jewish day school system.

Yes, after-school programs, camps and Israel trips all have their place, but it is our diverse and, until recently, well-attended day schools that have been the cornerstone for our being one of the world’s most vibrant Jewish communities.

Instead of resigning ourselves to the current funding and enrolment challenges, it is time to renew our attempts to obtain the Ontario government funding to which we are fairly entitled. And it is time to consider all options to cut costs and raise more community funding so that the current tuition levels can be reduced.

Several groups in our community are working hard to confront the current challenges of our Jewish day school system. May their efforts be redoubled and may we all bring forward our ideas to
assist them.

Israel Mida
Toronto


An unforgettable moment

I would like to share one of my unforgettable moments. It was early April 1944, the third year of the Romanian death camps. The town was called Shargorod.

We were emaciated, starving and sick. Our only hope was to be liberated by the Russian army before the Nazis killed us all. Suddenly one morning, the Russian army appeared. As weak as we were, my brother and I wanted to know what was happening at army headquarters one kilometre away.

As we approached, we saw many people waiting to hear a general speak. A platform was erected and, within half an hour, a tall, powerful man dressed in a military uniform started to speak. In perfect Yiddish he said that in most of the territory that his army liberated there were very few Jewish survivors. He knew that in our area there were survivors.

Still in Yiddish, he said that the heroic Red Army will eradicate the Nazi beast from the face of the earth.

My brother and I were so overcome with emotion that we both cried uncontrollably. The tears would not stop. We rushed to return and tell our parents and other survivors what we saw and what we heard.

This is one of my unforgettable moments. I would encourage others to write about their unforgettable moments.

Lou Hoffer
Toronto