Letters, the week of November 5, 2015

I am writing this email as an individual who is a long-term personal friend of the Beck family.

It is even more of a disgrace that you fail to have a grasp of the Jewish community in this area (Election Special, Oct. 29). The Beck family represents one of the most distinguished and yet modest Jewish families in America. This is not hyperbole.

Senior Judge Phyllis Beck is the first women appellate court Judge in Pennsylvania. Her husband, Dr. Aaron Beck, is recognized as the founder of cognitive therapy. He is an author of over 30 books, a longtime professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a winner of numerous awards and generally known as having made the greatest contribution to psychiatry since Sigmund Freud.

Their daughter, Judge Alice Beck Dubow, is recognized as one of the finest members of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia.

Not to even mention her name in a story about the election in Pennsylvania represents a vast misunderstanding of the Jewish community in Philadelphia. Moreover, Judge Alice Dubow has been active in the Jewish Community for decades.

Something should be done to correct this glaring error.

An open question to all the Conservative rabbis who endorsed the open letter on interfaith marriage: How do I answer my granddaughters who say to me, if the rabbi said it’s OK to marry a non-Jew, why are you against it?

Maurice Feldman’s letter (Republicans, Jews and Israel, Oct. 1) condemned the Republican Jewish Coalition based on Anne Coulter’s offensive text about Jews.

I don’t belong to the RJC and I didn’t like Coulter’s remark either — though I believe frustration with the debate caused her glib retort.  Feldman’s conclusions however, that she hates Jews, wants them in Israel so Messiah can come, etc., is strictly conjecture. It is not true and all Republicans should not be painted with that brush.

As an ardent supporter of Israel and lifelong Democrat, I voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary. I feared an Obama presidency, knowing that he was raised in Indonesia for his first 10 years. His father, stepfather, sister, teachers, friends — all Muslim — would have instilled in him an allegiance and advocacy for Islam.

Obama got the majority of the Jewish vote, traditionally Democratic and fearful of “right-wing Republicans.” But Obama’s pattern proves that Jews should not automatically vote Democratic and sneer at those who don’t. Take a hard look at Obama and his administration. Unending anti-Israel policies, consistent fault-finding, ignoring Arab aggression, weakening support, endangering the Jewish State.

The disgraceful snubs and insults to Netanyahu also send a message to the world that the U.S. is no longer Israel’s ally. Netanyahu spoke to Congress and Obama boycotted him, Netanyahu spoke to the UN, and Obama scheduled a “video-conference” for that hour. That’s not “having Israel’s back” when no high-level U.S. representatives attend. It’s the opposite.

Vote for the best candidate — no matter which Party.