On the July/August issue:

Jews and Race

To the Editor:
I enjoyed Liel Leibovitz’s “No, Jews Aren’t White” (July/August). Those Jews who believe that social justice is the essence of Judaism—and this includes most of my neighbors and local conservative rabbis—place whiteness above Jewishness. They are frequently embarrassed about Israel and consider Republicans abominations.
Adrian Morchower
Chevy Chase, Maryland

To the Editor:
For some reason, some Jews think that if they are “good” and assimilate, they will be liked. Such is our unconscious and historical desire to be accepted. When I was growing up in Beverly Hills, I considered it a compliment when told I didn’t look Jewish. Blond and blue-eyed, I learned that being a Gentile was preferable. 

Why do I share this personal information? Because for 70 years I didn’t know or care what it meant to be a Jew or understand the importance of Israel. It was only when I learned more about the Shoah and all the history I didn’t know that things changed for me. Most people, Jews and non-Jews, don’t know about or understand the slow process of lies and propaganda that led to the annihilation of so many European Jews. If they did, they would fight with every fiber of their beings whenever they read or hear the abominable lies of the Squad and BLM. They might even proudly stand up for what is right.
Linda Nacif
Los Angeles, California

The Bibi Way

To the Editor:
Bret Stephens wrote an impressively detailed article about Benjamin Netanyahu (“The Paradoxes of Benjamin Netanyahu,” July/August). But there’s another angle worth considering in the story of Bibi and Israel. Many analysts tend to magnify the role of leaders in the affairs of state. When looking at Israel, they easily underestimate the Jewish people themselves: enormously competitive and capable. Israel’s success as a start-up nation can be credited to those qualities more than to Netanyahu. Bibi rode this wave and enriched himself in the process. Similarly, the Abraham Accords were in the works in the Israeli foreign ministry before Bibi’s involvement. He reacted to events as they unfolded. 
Jonathan Cohen
Albany, New York

The Greenblatt Way

To the Editor:
It’s about time a strong Jewish voice has called out the ADL and Jonathan Greenblatt for driving a wedge between right-leaning and left-leaning Jews (“Jews Who Are Complicit in Jew-Hatred,” July/August). At a time when Jewish solidarity is most needed, Greenblatt’s behavior is simply repulsive. He purposely weakens American support for the only place in the world where Jews can consider themselves safe from murderous political ideologies.

Words of appreciation to Commentary and Seth Mandel are insufficient thanks for finally standing up to the haters in our midst. They must be opposed by all who cherish freedom and Israel’s right to defend itself.
Mark E. Helbraun
Closter, New Jersey

To the Editor:
Thank you for this important report on trends in American and American Jewish politics. This article crystallized what has been merely a collection of shocking news bits and shudder-inducing impressions that I’ve tried to share with other Israelis who, like me, grew up in a very different America.

From this side of the ocean, the collapse of American Jewish organizations into Israel-bashing in an attempt to find favor is reminiscent of the early-20th-century Jewish intelligentsia’s attempts to embrace their European-ness. What is most disturbing is that many Israelis are willing to import to Israel these “progressive” American Jewish values, which are based on principles that deny Jewish history, the validity of Jewish identity and Jewish culture, and the legitimacy of the Jewish nation-state. The political importation of these fundamentally suicidal principles to serve shortsighted coalition-building bodes ill for the future of Israel, just as the new legitimacy given to this and other anti-Zionist “movements” by anti-Semitic American politicians bodes ill for the future of the Jewish community in the United States.
Naomi Linder Kahn
Givat Zeev, Israel

To the Editor:
Thank you for Seth Mandel’s article on the problem with Jewish organizations and anti-Se-mitism. It is an excellent piece and starts a difficult but necessary conversation that the Jewish American community must have. Such a discussion is long overdue.
Laura Kessler
Dayton, Ohio

To the Editor:
I could not agree more with Seth Mandel.  We need to amplify and expand this message.  We need to counter and call out the perfidy of the ADL and expose the Protocols of the Elders of Zion rhetoric of the Squad and their allies in the press, pop culture, and media.  The Jewish community needs to see exactly what the purportedly Jewish anti-Israel/anti-Zionist groups really are: enablers of the worst kinds of haters. Please continue to shine a light on this darkness in the Jewish community.
Rabbi Moshe Rudin
West Orange, New Jersey

Crossing the Pond

To the Editor:
‘An American Trapped in an Englishman’s Body,” by Roger Bennett, was touching and amusing (July/August). My father and grandfather (naturalized Americans from Britain) also loved Alistair Cooke’s America.  It was a wonderful memoir of what it is like to live the “inside/outside” existence of a Jew in England, to be unable to completely assimilate yet longing for a place in the English-speaking world. 

Bennett is right, of course, as was his grandfather. The best place for a Jew (setting Israel aside) has got to be the United States. Despite every calumny and lie, assimilation in America is not forced. In America, there is a pull into the “melting pot,” but there’s also a great respect for private life and private community. I have no doubt that there will be Hebrew studies and Hassidic communities in America 50 or 100 years from now.  The religious pluralism of the U.S. offers great hope that a vital part of Jewish life will always endure as a strong example of faith and family tradition.  
Richard K. Munro
Bakersfield, California

To the Editor:
Roger Bennett has written a very evocative article on growing up in Liverpool. I had a conference in Liverpool a year or two before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I visited the Princes Road Synagogue. It was closed, but I convinced the receptionist to let me in since I had only  a few hours free and was in Liverpool for only two days. The shul was beautiful, and I made sure to purchase the authorized Siddur.
Ben Z. Katz
Chicago, Illinois

Roger Bennett writes:
Ben Katz’s reflection about Princes Road shul is correct. I grew up going there as a kid. With its lavish Moorish Revival style, it is one of Europe’s most beautiful houses of worship. A true secret gem that has been called “the jewel in the crown” of Liverpool’s architecture. Funny thing is, the Liverpool Jewish community is just 3,000 strong, but growing up, I thought it was enormous until I met Americans and they told me stories about New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami’s communities. We all take for granted what we have here. But the American Jewish story is a genuine achievement of wonder—not just in the present day, but when judged against the entire flow of Jewish history.