Sid Schwarz worries about the tragic loss of Jewish identity, acknowledging that commemoration of the Holocaust and pride in the State of Israel is simply not enough reason to get Jews serious about actually living a Jewish life (“Can Zionism Be The Answer?” Opinion, June 6).
One alternative suggested is to create a community devoted to Torah, Jewish learning, observance of mitzvot, prayer, God and matters of the spirit, acts of loving-kindness and a commitment to healing a broken world. But he writes, “Non-Orthodox Jews have yet to build that type of community, (and the Orthodox fare only slightly better).”
The “Orthodox fare only slightly better”? There are hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Jews around the world who have built solid, stable Torah-observant communities, with a deeply religious family life, based on a faith in God and observance of the commandments, where strong Jewish identities abound, where intermarriage is almost unheard of, and the vast majority live serious Jewish lives.
I wonder if Schwarz’s proposed brand of Zionism will keep Jews Jewish. He hopes so. I doubt it.
Teaneck, N.J.
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