When I first read Mr. O’Kelly’s letter on the Ills of globalism, I thought that this was a typical outlier which would be buried in obscurity.
As a flurry of responses followed, some critical and others supportive of Mr. O’Kelly, I soon realized that this saga was nothing more than a sanitized diatribe that had little to do with politics.
When I read Mr. Wiesenfield’s recent letter supporting Mr. O’Kelly, I couldn’t help myself from stepping into the ring.
The original letter by Mr. O’Kelly referred to an international banking conspiracy headed by hedge fund manager, George Soros and the Rothschild bankers who allegedly undermine democratic institutions in the Free World.
Incidentally, I’m a Rothschild, too, but bear no relation to the bankers.
Mr. O’Kelly mentioned the Rothschild name several times in his letter (emphasis added).
While he is clearly entitled to his opinion, I found the tone of his letter to be indicative of an ethnic smear.
We are not dealing with mere words and name calling. The wounds of the Holocaust lie several generations deep and we have recently witnessed hate crimes on Long Island that include other races and ethnicities.
Properties are being defaced and people have been physically injured.
Some of these actions are inspired by rhetoric.
Mr. Wiesenfield: Attacking Rabbi Michael White for addressing political issues in his sermons ignores a long tradition among the clergy of all faiths, who appeal to congregants’ moral standing.
Reform and conservative rabbis, minister and priests marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and were instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement.
I proudly joined Rabbi White and other members of Temple Sinai to “break bread” with my fellow Islanders at the Islamic Center in Westbury and to welcome them at our Interfaith Service at Temple Sinai in Roslyn.
I can only imagine how they feel when their children are taunted in schools due to their faith.
How quickly some people forget that this is a game of musical chairs, switching ethnicities with old conspiracy theories in a subsequent century.
It was not long ago when many towns on Long Island, including Roslyn, had covenants in the deeds precluding the sale of homes to Jews.
The German-American Bund, professing Aryan superiority, had a major presence in Yaphank with street names planned for Hitler, Goebbels and Goering.
To see this debate resurface in Long Island opens old wounds.
One can only hope that the current generation chooses to judge each individual by their own actions and ideas rather than paint them with a fresh coat of ignorance.
Perhaps this printed dialogue will enable us to pause, reflect and collectively attempt to bury the hate and separate fact from injurious fiction.
Jonathan Rothschild
Roslyn
