A personal misson to combat antisemitism
Alan Friedlander a former member of the congregate with a family member buried in the cemetery walks through the vandalized headstones at the Am Echod Jewish Cemetery in Waukegan, Il., Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
I too feel the pain of the Waukegan community where Jewish graves were desecrated and the increasing intensity of antisemitic acts. The racial “holy war” that Larry Yellen fears has been going on for centuries and has not just gotten underway.
I am the son of a family full of Holocaust survivors who have now passed. My mom survived Auschwitz; her mother, my grandmother, was killed there. My father survived all kinds of horrors and betrayals by the gentile Poles. His sister and mother had horrific experiences as well.
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In the 1970s I was beaten twice for being Jewish in Rogers Park. That is why I am beginning a personal mission, telling my family story and accepting the responsibility of the “next generation” to educate the youth of today and hopefully combat antisemitism.
Thank you, Larry Yellen, for keeping this horrific continual racism on the pages of the newspaper..
Hatred is taught at home, so education is our hope.
Marty Zak, Glenview
Gaslighting in progress
Merriam-Webster has added the word ‘gaslighting’ to its dictionary.
One definition is ‘the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage.’ That’s exactly what the Republicans and Fox News have been doing to Republican voters for years now. They are in it for power and money. Nothing else.
Richard Keslinke, Algonquin
The benefits of paid sick leave
Sick people who come to work cost businesses an average of $255 per employee per year according to a 2004 Cornell University study. That amount is far more than the cost of giving people paid time off. Studies show that companies who provided paid sick leave to employees reported fewer occupational injuries. No surprise to anyone who has ever been sick, research indicates sick people perform more poorly. Even if they’re no longer contagious, sick employees are just not as productive.
Paid leave can also help prevent child abuse by increasing family stability and income, increasing maternal employment, improving caregiver’s ability to meet children’s basic needs and building opportunities for strong parent-child attachment.
The reality is that paid sick days are key to our long-term health, stability, and prosperity. Paid leave saves jobs and lives.
M.E. Johnson, Beverly