I don’t know what Disneyland my esteemed Lantsman L. Oberstein grew up in, but he surely must remember the Shul in Montgomery that was bombed. I know that I remember, as a 5-year old, my older brother coming home early from Hebrew School one afternoon because of the bomb found outside of our Shul. Not to mention the ever presnt Ku Klux Klan who hated Jews almost as much as they hated Blacks. But perhaps I only noticed these things because of the “pathology” of my “trauma as (a) second generation survivor”.

Gad Frenkel

From my own experience, I believe it also comes from the pain of deep wounds and hurts that have not yet healed and continue to throb and distort our perceptions ….. until God changes it. For me, forgiveness was the beginning of sanity and through that long and painful process, I realized broken people – those who carry their own unconfessed sin and the sin of others upon them – hurt other people. Those who are hurt in a particular way are vulnerable and more sensitive to a repeat performance. Triggers remind us of that hurt just as if it just happened. Those who hurt are those who have been hurt – a perverse way of creating other images of their pain. The story of Joseph was for me a beautiful picture of my journey from betrayal to wholeness. Years later, a Passover seder revealed to me in a night of revelation and awe that a victim only comes out of their suffering when God comes down, becomes an active player and redeems and delivers them according to his plan. God’s healing brings us back to being human created in His image with His ability to forgive and love those who hurt us. Forgiveness removes the pain and the stain/picture loses its power to hurt. Hurt people are not far from God’s mercy and grace and His willingness to heal them…..if and when we are willing.

- I am amazed that we can make this sort of statement so soon after Auschwitz. I can;t imagine a children of survivors or gradchildren of non-survivors could ever say this

Montgomery has a lovely Jewish community. There is a great difference between very small towns in the South (and I think elsewhere) and larger cities. I have had the curse, and blessing, of experiencing both.

Clarksdale, MS, in the 60’s and 70’s, at the height of the Civil Rights movement, which had heavy Jewish involvement, was hell on earth; that is, unless you were like most of the Jews who saw nothing wrong with belonging to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and tried to assimilate as much as possible. The local reform Rabbi was even involved with the John Birch Society, which always associated Jews with various communist conspiracy theories.

Memphis, TN, 76 miles north,was the exact opposite. There was, and is, a strong Jewish community. We had the largest Orthodox synagogue in the US. All types of Jews would attend the 3, later 2, synagogues. Some were completely frum; some were no different than reform in observance. Everybody got along.

The 10,000 Jews were so tight, and there was such a sense of community, that Jews really didn’t socialize with non-Jews that much.

I would strongly suspect that the 2 politicians that misspoke came from the 1st type of community.

It’s not always possible, for a variety of reasons, for people to pick up and move to a larger community. And, I can assure you, bad words can lead to even worse physical abuse.

Sometimes Jews, like Rabbi Shafran and my neighbors in NY and NJ, need to understand that there are still Jews who do not live in large population centers. A little rachmanut, and some understanding, might provide more encouragement for these people to stay Jewish, rather than to run away to avoid the scorn of the majority.

Rabbi Shafran, there is such wisdom in your choice of words. How we react to harsh words and deeds can make a situation better or worse but your words: kindness, encouragement, comfort, patience speaks of love not revenge. In studying Genesis this year, my Bible Study group just this week read of Abram rescuing Lot. I saw that Abram was a righteous man and a wealthy man – attributed to God’s blessing. When I read that his neighbors, the Amorites, were allied with him , I pondered what did Abram say and do to them that would promote such loyalty.

I believe you answered my question. Abram had to have been a blessing to them. He gave out of his heart, “diamonds” to his neighbors …… over and over and over again.

Initially, on first reading your article, I thought you were being far too kind. Yet, when I got to the end of the article and read your next to last lines, I remembered Abram. On reflection about my initial thoughts, I realized that I thought as I did because too often , my choice of response to hurtful things is to offer shards of glass when I could have offered showers of diamonds.

Thank you for being Abram to me.

Chicago: To contemplate that the politicians who made the comment were being complementary is a display of naivette.

I think you’re both onto something.

But after the public apology, I think it’s time to accept.

I once heard that’s the meaning in “gam Charvona zachur latov” (Charvona should be remembered for good, the last line in a prayer on Purim). Charvona was originally on Haman’s side, yet he spoke up to offer Haman’s gallows when Achashverosh had turned against Haman. So we accept his change of heart, however self-serving.

Because if we never accept the apologies, they’ll just stop apologizing.

The ADL works day and night to prevent Anti-Semitic comments no matter how insignificant from continuing. They know full well that a small ssemingly innocuous comment is merely a trial balloon to see how far they can push the envelope. It is healthier for Anti-Semites to blog or talk in McDonalds about Jews, than for them to express it in public.

ADL is simply seeing the future and is reacting appropriately despite the pettiness of the issue. To contemplate that the politicians who made the comment were being complementary is a display of naivette.

I suppose all the fuss is about the inference of that comment that ‘Jews are cheap’. That is an old negative stereotype about us I suppose but I do not see their comment in any way meaning this. Nor do I think non Jews even think that anymore.

In fact their apology was unnecessary and – that they made it at all is due only to a hyper-sensitivity to political correctness.

In my view this fellow from the ADL really ought to get a life. If this is the best they can come up with then I question the very existence of the ADL.

As such I – for one – apologize to these two South Carolina Republican Party chairmen for being unfairly criticized in the first place.

Continually, we see people being accused of anti-semitic sentiments or expressions when clearly there’s simply nothing there. It’s very admirable that the ADL is so firmly committed to klal yisrael and is willing to take on prominent voices from all sides, but at a certain point, it starts to look like a witch hunt