Hasidim in Iowa Town
* Re “Iowa Town Facing a Diversity Dilemma,” Feb. 1: The comment by the supposedly enlightened, non-anti-Semitic Iowan is very telling. “It’s not an issue of whether [Aaron Goldsmith] is Jewish or Mexican or American. It’s just that we feel we should be able to elect our council members,” said Sandra Helgerson.
The comment highlights the feeling of many Christian Americans that to be Jewish excludes you from being an American. I don’t know the Jewish people who moved to Iowa, but I do know that Jews have been living in America since it began to be settled by Europeans. Being Jewish is a religious trait, not an ethnic one, so therefore one can just as easily be an American and a Jew as one can be an American and a Christian.
JORDAN CASSEL
Los Angeles
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