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6 March 30 • 2017 jn 6 March 30 • 2017 jn Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@thejewishnews.com Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin@sbcglobal.net Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us Contributing Writers: Ruthan Brodsky, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. 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OUR JN MISSION 1942 - 2017 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week jn views commentary The JCCs And The Perp: Is It The Worst Of News? I remember my second reaction when JFK was assassinated. It was shared by most Jews throughout the world. My first was, of course, total and complete shut down of my ability to think and func- tion, in a state of incredulity. I was a big fan of the president. I used to listen to his press confer- ences. I still believe he was the most charming and witty president, cer- tainly of my lifetime. How this could have happened was truly inconceiv- able. That was my first reaction. My second was, naturally, I hope and pray the assassin was not a Jew. I think all of us born Jews felt that way. Not that we were threatened or that we thought pogroms would come to New Jersey and elsewhere, if the killer had been a Jew. It was just a gut reaction. It's probably genetic. I love and welcome converts, but I doubt they suffer from this pervasive Jewish paranoia. I'll have to ask my rabbi who is one of the best Jews I know, a born Christian. So, today, a couple of hours before we leave for our local JCC to attend the Jewish Film Festival, I heard the beeps on the radio that announce a big bulletin. Not that I'm not accustomed to hearing those beeps often these days, but they always grab my attention. As did this one, announcing the arrest, in Jerusalem, of an 18-year-old Israeli-American accused of making the many bomb threats to JCCs across the U.S. and elsewhere. I, myself, am an Israeli-American, or an American-Israeli, take your pick. I know a lot of that particular breed, and they usually share char- acteristics that I, at least, find admi- rable. They're proud Jews. They're willing to send their sons and daughters to fight in a very active and often dangerous military. They often give up greater financial secu- rity, and they're the most idealistic people I know. Not all of them. Just most of them. So, today's news was a kick in the stomach for me. How did this ter- rible travesty happen? It reminds me of Dr. Baruch Goldstein, who mas- sacred innocent Arabs in a mosque. And some others who I shall not name. Jews so filled with hatred that the nature of being Jewish has been destroyed within their souls. What was this boy/man thinking? Was this a foolish (stupid!) attempt to arouse sympathy for the Jews? Thankfully, we Jews do not need sympathy in America or in Israel! Maybe he was really trying to harm the Jews because of some slight or notion that we're not religious enough or that we're too religious. Who knows? Who can see into the mind of such a disturbed person? Should I feel compassion and love for him? Should we all? Do we say he's sick and needs help? Let's not condemn him before we understand him? There will be many of our brethren who will feel compassion. Not me! I will think of the children who were frightened and had to evacu- ate their nursery school classrooms. I will think of the senior citizens using the JCC pools who had to drag aching bones out of the water and quickly throw on a towel and escape into the frigid winter air. I will think of the parents who dropped off chil- dren who were appearing in a play, doubting their decision to carry on, wondering if they might be harming the children they cherished. I will think of Jewish America, fearing that our country was sprout- ing the seeds of anti-Semitism with a renewed vengeance. A topic of dis- cussion wherever Jews congregated. So, no. This old great-grandmoth- er, who has seen many decades of insanity in this world, from the Holocaust to A-bombs to terrorism and vicious attacks against Israel, both in words and deeds, does not forgive so fast. Not so fast! Yes. I hope this boy/man will get help. But right now I am in an unfor- giving mood. I'm off to the JCC. • Rosanne Skopp is a wife, mother of four, grandmother of 14 and great-grandmother of one. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and travels back and forth between homes in New Jersey and Israel. Rosanne Skopp Times of Israel Jewish leaders meet March 3 with FBI Director James Comey and other federal officials to discuss the ongoing wave of anti-Semitic threats and attacks in the U.S. CONFERENCE OF THE PRESIDENTS OF MAJOR AMERICAN JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS.