Letters to the Editor | Nov. 10, 2022

Recent antisemitic comments by NBA star Kyrie Irving and the rapper Ye challenged my assumptions about Black-Jewish relations. As an American historian and the leader of the nation’s oldest independent Jewish college, I cannot stress enough that the Black and Jewish communities need to obtain a better handle on the important histories of these two marginalized groups, and how each was, in relative terms, kept on the fringes of American life. Of course, the extent of antisemitism in the U.S. has never reached the horrors of racism. Yet, a nuanced view has much to offer about the complexities of “whiteness” in determining access to the American mainstream. There’s also much to say about how Jews and African Americans worked together, and how civil rights issues such as affirmative action compelled them to work apart.

That said, learning “about” hate is insufficient so long as Jews, African Americans, or any other groups believe that remedying injustice is a zero-sum game; that, somehow, too much emphasis on one group will detract from the available time and energy available for the other.

Reaching further back into history, this was Isaac Leeser’s fear in the 1860s. Leeser, one of Philadelphia’s ranking Jewish leaders, worried that abolitionists’ success on behalf of enslaved Black Americans might sink Jews to the bottom of the societal totem pole. We need to debunk this long-standing zero-sum assumption — within both the Jewish and black communities — and consider how groups can learn “from” one another to cultivate mutual support.

Zev Eleff, president, Gratz College

More than 100 cities and towns in the U.S. now prohibit or limit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. Can we please do that in Pennsylvania? It’s become the sound of autumn — not the migrating geese, not the falling leaves (which nourish the ground, by the way) — but a hellish cacophony all through the neighborhood. All day. Every day. Until every last leaf has been blown into submission. Banning blower use is an important step to help the environment and preserve our sanity. Want it done quickly and quietly? Use a damn rake.

Sharon Eisenhour, Wayne

The Republican National Committee sued Pennsylvania to prevent county election officials from counting mail-in ballots from voters who do not have a handwritten date on the outer envelope, even though the ballot was received on time. If the individual met all the other requirements of a mail-in ballot, including delivering it on time, why does the handwritten date matter to the RNC? It also sued in Monroe County to keep election officials from contacting voters so they can “cure” a technically incorrect ballot. Why? It appears to me that the RNC’s actions are intended to create distrust in the system in case it loses elections.

Bill Maginnis, North Wales

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