O pinion
Letter from the Editor
Putting Things Into Perspective
BY LIZ SPIKOL
PEOPLE TALK A LOT these
days about pandemic silver
linings — the unexpected
good that’s come from a very
dark time. Then there’s the
silver-linings guilt: How can I
possibly celebrate the fact that
I now bake kickass sourdough
bread when people are sick and
dying? My silver-linings guilt
started early, as I experienced
lockdown as the fulfillment of
my every fantasy. As a true
introvert, I always dreamed
of staying inside and working
from home without any social
obligations. But real life always
demanded something different,
so I scurried to catch trains
and planes, always running
five minutes late and feeling
stressed and exhausted. I used
to fantasize about a giant pause
button I could press to stop
the world for just a couple of
days. Then the pandemic hit
the pause button for all of us.

At the beginning of this
year, in the wake of that pause,
I reassessed my priorities —
informed not only by a year
of pandemic but also by what
I considered to be a disas-
trous authoritarian presidency
and a much-needed national
reckoning with racial inequity.

And I realized it was time to
make some changes in my life.

After five years in the Jewish
media space, I am moving on
to work in the nonprofit sector.

I’ll be joining an organiza-
tion, Mighty Writers, that has
been teaching kids to think
clearly and write with clarity
since 2009, a mission close to
my heart. In response to the
pandemic, Mighty Writers
has added food distribution to
its services, and continues to
expand its charge in order to
keep kids safe. I’m excited to be
a part of that very worthwhile
effort. In my two years as editor-
in-chief, I did not plant a
huge stake in the ground of
Jewish journalism. That was
deliberate. Past editors have
had rather distinct editorial
personalities and political
viewpoints, and I wanted to
stay away from that — perhaps
revealing my introversion more
than I intended. But I didn’t
want the paper to be about me
— I wanted it to be about you,
even as I attempted to expand
the idea of what “you” meant.

Under my watch, I have
tried to make sure the Jewish
Exponent represented the truly
multifaceted nature of the
Greater Philadelphia Jewish
community, including LGBTQ
Jews, Jews of color, affiliated
and unaffiliated Jews, Jews by
choice, Jews from different
denominational backgrounds
and Jews from disparate
countries of origin. I wanted
to ensure that women and
non-binary voices were heard
more often in the opinion
section, and that sources for
stories were diverse. The effort
to portray a full spectrum
of Jewish identity has paid
dividends for the publication
and for its growing readership.

Such a broad approach is
essential to the survival of the
Jewish press, so I’m glad that
the new editor of the Jewish
Exponent, Gabe Kahn, has so
much experience in dealing
with these issues. Formerly
editor-in-chief of the New
Jersey Jewish News, Gabe was
brought in last year by the
Jewish newspaper The Boston
Advocate to oversee their
final months. A graduate of
Columbia’s journalism school
and Brandeis before that,
Kahn, a husband and father
of two (well, three — a boy, a
girl and one pandemic puppy),
has contributed widely to both
Jewish and secular media. He’s
a smart editor, a friendly guy
and an all-around great pick
for this job, even if he does root
for Boston sports teams, which
is obviously a huge personality
flaw that readers will have to
overlook. I have no doubt I’m
leaving the paper in capable
hands — another pandemic
silver lining, you could say.

As for me, I will keep in
touch, probably by sending
Gabe little notes about AP
Style arcana and submitting
strident op-eds about the
wonders of working from
home. I am grateful to have
had the opportunity to spend
some time with such a devoted
and passionate readership. I’m
sure it has been the high point
of my journalism career.

I wish you all a lovely Pesach
and the best in the future.

Stay safe. l
Raising Asian Jewish Kids in the U.S. Has Never Been More Scary
BY MELODY MUHLRAD
LAST WEEK, eight people
were killed — including six
women of Asian descent —
at three massage parlors in
the Atlanta area. This horri-
fying shooting came at a
time of alarming xenophobia
and bigotry against Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders
in the United States amid the
18 MARCH 25, 2021
COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the start of the
pandemic, anti-Asian hate
crimes have increased by
1,900% in the United States,
with women reporting 2.3
times more hate incidents than
men. Experts have blamed this
troubling uptick in Asian hate
crimes, in part, on Donald
Trump’s dangerous rhetoric,
with the former president
using damaging terms such as
“China virus” and “kung flu” to
refer to COVID-19. The details
surrounding this tragedy are
continuing to develop, as more
information regarding the
victims and gunman are being
released. Despite the fact that
the majority of the victims were
Asian women, the motivation
behind the gunman’s massacre
is still to be determined.

I am an Asian American
Jewish woman living in
Los Angeles. My parents
immigrated from Taiwan in
the 1970s, and my twin sister
and I were born in Los Angeles
in the 1980s. I converted to
Judaism three years ago, before
my second child was born, a
decision that was many years
in the making. My husband
and I are currently raising our
two Asian American Jewish
preschool-aged children in
Los Angeles.

News reports surrounding
the violence in Atlanta have
been very careful in how they
describe the shootings and the
gunman’s motivations. The
media has carefully parsed
details of the victims, empha-
sizing that six of the eight
victims were Asian (two were
JEWISH EXPONENT
white) and seven of the victims
were women (one was male). It
is as if the fact that not all the
victims were Asian, and not all
were female — even though the
overwhelming majority were
Asian females — should make
the situation any less alarming.

Even if this tragedy does not
end up being classified as a
hate crime, it is undoubtedly a
hate-filled, violent attack aimed
squarely at Asian women. The
media’s couched and carefully
chosen statements do a disser-
vice to how horrific the crime
is that was committed.

When I first heard of the
shootings, I had just finished
putting my two energetic young
children to bed. As parents
of young children know, my
day had been jam-packed with
preschool dropoff and pickup,
meals, bath, bedtime and so
on, all amid the backdrop of
the pandemic. The moments of
quiet after my kids fall asleep
each day are precious to me —
a reprieve from the chaos that
riddles my days.

I finally sat down to rest
when I noticed I had missed a
text message from my husband,
who was still finishing up
his work. He had sent me a
Twitter link accompanied by
the comment, “So scary, 8
Asian women murdered in
ATL.” I stopped in my tracks.

In complete disbelief, I had to
read his description twice. I
quickly forwarded the link to
my sister, who had not heard
the news yet, and she wrote
back sharing my shock and
horror. As a mother of half-Asian
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



O pinion
Jewish children, the tragedy
in Atlanta led me to fear for
the safety of my children. It’s
the kind of fear that you not
only comprehend in your head,
but one that you physically feel
course through your veins.

My children will grow up in a
society where some people may
hate them because of the color
of their skin and others may
hate them for the faith that
they believe in (and, of course,
there are plenty who would
hate them for both reasons). As
a mother, I was left with two
big questions. How do I keep
my children safe from the hate
that Asians and Jewish people
experience on a daily basis in
the United States? And how
do I best educate my children
on a society where people are
hated or victimized for their
race and/or their religion?
I’m embarrassed to admit
this, but my first reaction when
thinking about how to best
protect my children from the
Asian and Jewish hate that they
may experience was to flee. After
my initial shock over the Atlanta
shootings, I found myself
dramatically proclaiming to my
husband that I didn’t think that
the United States was a safe place
for our family anymore. Sure, it
was an extreme reaction to what
had happened, but perhaps it
was the “fight or flight” reaction
to fear that led me to choose
“flight.” In the past, my husband and
I have talked about moving to
a different country — particu-
larly to China or Taiwan, given
that I still have many extended
family members there. It’s an
idea we’ve addressed with more
seriousness in the last year as
COVID-19 has created more
remote work environments.

Now that anti-Semitism has
hit an all-time high and Asian
hate crimes are increasing in
the United States, perhaps it is
time to make this move?
And yet, upon further
reflection, I recognized that
fleeing the country is not the
answer. In this dark time, I
am reminded of the Jewish
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM principle of tikkun olam, or
repairing the world — the idea
being that although the world
is a good place, God left us
room to make improvements.

I realized that the way to keep
my children safe is to do my
best to make the world a safer
place for them. I’m still figuring
out what this means for me,
and I know that this will be
a lifelong process. But some
ideas I have are continuing to
give tzedakah to charities that
are doing important work to
fight anti-Semitism and Asian
hate, bringing awareness to
these important issues, and
continuing to stand up against
hateful rhetoric.

daughter, Ruth, is named after
her great-grandmother, Ruth.

In the bible, Ruth was a widow
who loyally remained with her
husband’s mother, even after
her husband’s death, choosing
to accept a life of poverty among
people she admired. Ruth —
who is famous for being the first
woman in the bible to convert
to Judaism — the utters the
famous words, “Where you go I
will go; where you lodge, I will
lodge; your people shall be my
people, and your God my God”
(Ruth 1:16). Ruth is an example
of loyalty and devotion, and
true friendship.

Our 2-year-old son, Micah,
was named after his great-
KVETCH ’N’ KVELL
Evangelicals Misunderstood by Letter Writer
I AM DISAPPOINTED and concerned at the limited under-
standing of evangelical Christians expressed in a recent letter
to the Exponent (“Jews a Means to an End for Evangelicals,”
March 18). I want to set the record straight based on my 25
years’ experience dialoguing and interacting with the Bucks
County Christian Coalition as a member of the American Jewish
Committee. Evangelicals are passionate in their support of the state of
Israel as a Jewish homeland and actively oppose those who would
try to undermine Israel. In addition, they politically lobby against
anti-Semitism in the United States and throughout the world.

The members of the Bucks County Christian Coalition have
always recognized and respected the differences in our belief
systems and have never sought to convert the Jewish members,
although I am certain they would be gratified if we did.

Evangelicals support Israel. They do so with strong beliefs
that differ from ours. However, they are often more vigorous
and politically active in their support of Israel than some of our
fellow religionists. To reject the support of evangelicals for the
My hope is that my husband and I can teach our state of Israel would be, in my mind, an active of narrow minded-
ness, bigotry and lack of proportion on our part.

children to be loyal to each part of their mixed
I feel that the rejection of this wonderful and supportive group
of Christians, based upon the insensitivity of one of its members,
identities. is excessive and unwarranted. I invite the writer to join with us
at our next AJC-BCCC dialogue. This may be a life-changing
For my children, I know it grandfather, Martin. In experience for the writer as it has been for all of us participants.

Dr. Leon S. Malmud | Rydal
will be important to educate the bible, Micah fearlessly
them on their dual Asian and denounced the evils that had
Jewish identities in order to filled his beloved land. As a No Mention of NY Triangle Shirtwaist Fire?
allow them to fully embrace prophet, he elaborates on what
the multi-faceted identities God expects from Israel: “He “Women’s History Month: Remembering the Philadelphia
that they hold. Our family has has told thee, man, what is good, Shirtwaist Strike of 1909” (March 18) was incomplete.

There absolutely should have been a mention at some point —
discussed the importance of and what God requires of thee:
visiting China and Israel (when only to do justly, and to love perhaps at the end — of the New York Triangle shirtwaist fire on
it is safe to travel again) in kindness, and to walk humbly March 25, 1911, in which 146 workers died; some jumped to their
order to help teach them about with thy God.” Micah is an deaths. This was only 13 months after the Philadelphia strike
the history of both of their example of humility, kindness, ended in February 1910.

In particular, the Exponent story had a tragic connection with
cultures, as well as to meet and standing up against evil.

These are all qualities that the sentence, “Fire escapes were locked ... ” That was a major
others that are both similar
and different from them. My we aim to impart on our reason for the New York deaths. l
Dr. Frederick J. Goldstein | Meadowbrook
husband and I hope to raise children. My hope is that my
them to be open-minded and husband and I can teach our
STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER
to love who they are — and to children to be loyal to each
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and let-
also appreciate the differences part of their mixed identities,
ters to the editor published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do
of others. I only hope that this to be kind and humble towards
not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing
Group, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia or the Jewish Exponent. Send
continual lifelong education others, to enjoy friendship with
letters to letters@jewishexponent.com or fax to 215-569-3389. Letters should be a
will help them stand against those that are different from
maximum of 200 words and may be edited for clarity and brevity. Unsigned letters will not be
the Asian and Jewish hate that them, and to have courage to
published. they may encounter in their stand up against any evil that
they will encounter. l
lifetimes. When reflecting on raising
children amid this tragedy Melody Muhlrad is a freelance
and rising hate crimes, I also writer and stay-at-home mother
found myself thinking about of two preschool-aged kids in Los
Tell us what you’re thinking
the names that my husband Angeles. She has a Juris Doctor
and interact with the community
and I had chosen for my from UCLA Law and a master’s in
at jewishexponent.com
children, and the hopes that public health from Yale University.

we had for them when they This piece was originally published
Connect with us on
were born. Our 4-year-old on Kveller.

Join the conversation!
JEWISH EXPONENT
MARCH 25, 2021
19