RABBI HIER
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Your profile of Rabbi Hier incorrectly stated that no leaders of the Jewish community publicly opposed the California Legislature’s $5-million appropriation to the center’s Museum of Tolerance in 1985.
In fact, the American Jewish Congress testified in Sacramento against this grant. AJC believed that such a gift of public funds violated the constitutional principles of church / state separation and, equally important, represented bad public policy. We also found this legislative request hypocritical, since the Wiesenthal Center had previously assured potential donors that it had never and would never seek government money.
After Gov. George Deukmejian approved this $5-million appropriation, two prominent leaders of Los Angeles’ Jewish community, David and Rosetta Cohen, filed a lawsuit against the center challenging this grant’s constitutionality. That suit resulted in an out-of-court settlement.
DOUGLAS E. MIRELL PRESIDENT,
AMERICAN JEWISH CONGRESS,
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION
Los Angeles
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