Let’s Be Honest About Neighborhood
I was delighted to know that the Short Hills Deli in New Jersey has reopened and look forward to returning there (“It Took a Long Time, but Short Hills Deli’s Finally Back,” June 22). Owner Jerry Kaplan did an outstanding renovation job and he is to be commended. It is an excellent deli; there aren’t many left.
Comparatively, the Northeast is in a state of change and perhaps decline, and several delis have closed in the past few years, as have other businesses and synagogues (or they have merged with other synagogues). Clearly, things here are shifting.
The Northeast is not the same as I remember it when I was younger, and Kaplan is not an elitist for stating the truth.
Arlene Steinberg | Northeast Philadelphia
No Fan of the Hyphen
Contained within the excellent Independence Day article by Joshua Runyan is a sentence, “In 1865 residents of Pennsylvania thought of themselves as Pennsylvanians first and Americans second” (“Celebrating the Fourth Means Celebrating Each Other,” June 29). I wonder how many Jews think of themselves as Jewish Americans rather than American Jews.
Until we place the hyphen where it belongs, we will not truly achieve one nation under God. There should be no African Americans but Americans whose roots were African, just as there should be no Irish, fill in the blank, Americans but Americans who trace their ancestry to Ireland. This in no way denigrates their history.
It is time to eliminate the hyphen.
Ralph D. Bloch | Rydal
Falling Short When it Comes to Highlighting Israel
Shameful! Disgraceful! The Jewish community, by and large, has let down its youth (“Support for Israel Among U.S. Jewish College Students Declines 27 Percent,” June 29).
Uninformed and uneducated about Israel’s truths, many Jewish students are ill-prepared and vulnerable to anti-Israel lies. Convincing many students of their slanderous claims, Palestinian Arab assertions are largely the prevailing beliefs.
This should ring alarms in every Jewish sphere of influence.
Israel is a gem among nations — one of the very best. The fact that too many don’t know this truth is a tragedy. Few major Jewish groups push back enough.
Here’s some of Israel’s record: more than 1,000 wounded Syrians cared for in Israeli hospitals; hundreds from many nations travelling to Israel to learn its innovative techniques in medical care, water reclamation and drip irrigation.
There is so much to admire about Israel and to be proud of.
Roberta E. Dzubow | Plymouth Meeting
