"Let me be struck dumb"

...Then she blurted helplessy, "I'm not Jewish! Or my children--they're not Jewish either." And added, "They are racially pure. They speak German." Finally she announced, "I'm a Christian. I'm a devout Catholic." ........

........She sensed from his manner, his gaze--the new look in his eye of luminous intensity--that everything she was saying, far from helping her, from protecting her, was leading somehow to her swift undoing. She thought: Let me be struck dumb. .....


This is from the book, "Sophie's Choice" written by William Styron, where the Nazi Doktor tells Sophie she must give up one of her children.

I believe it is a quote that should be put on one of those little laminated cards and carried by every Jew that lives. Especially those who believe that by distancing themselves from other Jews, who are being targeted in one way or another, will make them in some way more invisible or at least liked. Whether it's a Jew such as Adam Shapiro with his anti-Israel "International Solidarity Movement", Israel Shamir and his anti-Zionist rants or a few in the local Jewish community here in Anchorage just recently.

"Let me be struck dumb." Has there ever been a time in your life that thought or at least something like it has entered your mind, mostly after the first few stupid words came rolling out of your mouth? Just the idea that it's better to stop while you are ahead of the game?
It's an idea that would have worked well for some Jews who found it necessary to beat their drum by writing letters or articles printed in the Anchorage Daily News just recently concerning a local land swap between the Anchorage Municipality and the Lubavitch Congregation.

Am I suggesting they have no right to speak up? Do I believe if one Jew doesn't agree with another they have no right to voice their opinions? Not in the least bit! I do believe there are times announcing your disagreement on the basis that "I am a Jew" therefore suggesting your argument is the safe and correct one seems some how twisted and sad. Not to mention you sound like a Jewish suck up to those who don't give a rat's behind who or what you are. At least not at that moment. More on that later though.......

What is this land swap argument about you say? Well, it's like this, the Lubavitch have been raising money for some time now to build a Jewish museum and a Synagogue here in town. The space they occupy at this moment is very limited and after years of being in Alaska they decided it was time to expand. Why not?
The Reform did the same thing not that many years ago and no one argued against where they built.
So the ideal place was decided on, no one seemed to mind and an offer was made. It was land next to where the Lubavitch had built a Mikvah, something the Jewish Community was lacking for a number of years. Sounds like a sensible plan to me!

Well it was until a few so called concerned citizens stuck their finger into the pot and started screaming about "parkland", drainage, crime, traffic jams and separation of church and state.


The first argument of course is parkland.Now to understand how insane this argument is a person must consider the geographics of Alaska. We are the largest state in the USA (sorry Texas) and our population as of the 2005 Census is 663,661. As a matter of fact Alaska land mass is just about the same size of the continuous 48 states from sea to shining sea. So the problem isn't plenty of parkland or wilderness area to roam and explore. It's not the problem of children having to play in the streets or never see wild creatures. We have them roaming around our neighborhoods, something a number of "concerned" parents are always screeching about, we don't want little Suzy or Johnny getting stepped on by a moose or heaven forbid stepping in goose poop. As a matter of fact Anchorage and surrounding areas are notorious for spending hefty sums on bike/ski trails, playgrounds and such to help keep the area from becoming wall to wall cement and black top.

As for these so called drainage problems, we have them every year at what we call "break-up" the rest of the country refers to it as springtime.
Face it most places here in Anchorage are built on land that is made up of less then perfect ground. It snows, the snow doesn't melt like in some places so by springtime it's a pretty messy, muddy, mucky place. One more building isn't going to cause the next great flood and if a person's basement or crawl space here in town floods you should have checked into that before you bought or built on that ground or at least invest in a better sump pump. Stop whining though because it's just annoying!

Next we have the awful crime rate that comes with building a synagogue and museum! Crime? Are they worried someone will go berserk and start pelting people with matzoh balls? Maybe the local Jew haters will start circling the neighborhood burning down buildings? In that case why aren't these closed mouthed, concerned citizens speaking up about those fears now? Crime? Please explain the crimes that would have come with this project!

Oh and don't forget the major traffic jams that was coming after this project was complete! Traffic jams? Has anyone ever seen a traffic jam at a Lubavitch Synagogue on Shabbat? Even for the amount of businesses that sit around this area including hospitals, hotels, medical offices and the University of Alaska the traffic coming off on to this street from the Lubavitch is never going to cause extreme traffic problems.
The only problem in this town when it comes to traffic is the huge number of people who just plain can't drive!

Last but not least is the rant over Separation of Church and State, that bogus argument used constantly by the mostly anti-religion crowd. Yes, the ACLU is going to sue if the Lubavitch would get a grant to help finance the museum! Give me a break! Help close down some child molesting or racists groups on the Internet and do some good for a change, ACLU!
So the argument over some local parkland in exchange for land to build an Alaska Jewish Museum and Synagogue is about the most underhanded piece of work as I have ever seen in the last 24 years I've lived in this state! The so called concerned citizens did a good job shutting it down though and those that voiced their opinions and had to throw in their "Jewishness" did what to distance themselves from the Lubavitch? You are still Jews and no matter what, those that hate you will never see any difference between you and the Lubavitch. So what good did you do?

Did you appease this man, Carl Loerbs and his local Jew hating friends?

Did Beate Frankel Zinck? "The writer of this opinion piece is Jewish."

Did Marla Greenstein? "Most people in Anchorage do not realize that we have more than one synagogue and more than one rabbi here."

Did Michael Bleicher? "Bleicher identified himself as a Jew while stating his objection to the project."

Did any of the Jews who were so concerned about distancing themselves from the Lubavitch appease anyone or score points. I highly doubt it and maybe next time someone like Carl Loerbs runs for School Board or the Anchorage Assembly you can support him in his endeavors.

Although he might want to march you off to some canyon like a scene from a book he is always quoting from called "The Turner Diaries" and the ";Day of the Rope" BUT at least you will have distanced yourself from those Jews that are being attacked else where!

Did lambasting and distancing yourself from the Lubavitch stop Carl Loerbs' kind from lumping all Jews together?
No, you just made yourself look like the Adam Shapiros and Israel Shamirs of the world that figure if they attack other Jews it will keep them on some terrorist's, racist's or just plain Jew haters good side. Yeah, that is the side I want to be on! NOT!

So you need to re-think your ideas next time and hopefully be struck dumb!