Defining Jewish topics to cover in NJJN
Jews comprise about 2 percent of the population of the United States and a minuscule fraction, only about two-tenths of 1 percent of the world’s population. Over the millennia, Jews have been the most persecuted, reviled, and massacred people on the face of the earth. In biblical times it was Amalek and Haman, in medieval times it was the Crusades and the Inquisition, in modern times it was pogroms and the Holocaust. In recent history we have been driven out of every Arab and Muslim state in the Mideast and our very existence is again endangered in Europe. Israel is constantly under physical threat from Arab and Muslim countries and also under attack by the United Nations, European countries, and worldwide-BDS movements, and there is also campus anti-Semitism in the U.S. Our tiny Jewish minority, with its limited resources, certainly has enough on its plate having to wage wars on so many fronts.
I would reasonably expect Jewish newspapers to reflect the adversities that our people are now facing. However, after reading NJJN I find an entirely different set of concerns. In looking at three recent issues I see the following: In March 21 the three front-page stories are about Kabbalah, the passing of Norman Reitman, and Jerry Izenberg’s new book about sports reporting. In the March 7 issue, the three front-page stories are reflections on refugees by passengers on the St. Louis, a Purim costume lending program, and solidarity between Jews and our newfound allies, the Muslim community. In the Feb. 7 issue, the cover stories are about Pres. Trump and Sen. Menendez, Pres. Trump and the “refugee problem”[quotations added], and a Holocaust remembrance program.
To be fair, these are legitimate pieces and there are also some articles about security concerns, anti-Semitism, and Israel. However, there is probably more space given to the refugee problem, women’s lib issues, the environment, and outreach to the Muslim community than to hard-core Jewish and Israeli problems.
While the above list includes topics that many Jews are interested in, my question is whether the limited resources of the Jewish community should be used to promote issues that are also in the domain of the other 98 to 99.98 percent of the U.S. and world populations or should the only Jewish newspaper in our area concentrate more on our own dire situation, which is in large part caused by much of the same 98 percent of the population?
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park
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