A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
New York Times Letter

The name of only one Jblogger appears in today's New York Times. No, not Gil Student (at least, I don't think so). Not Elster, who would not take a few minutes to defend the honor of the New York Mets.

(UPDATE: MoC notes that he appears in today's Wall Street Journal. Well, congrats to him, but was it about a topic as important as the New York Mets?)

The edited, higher-brow version of my anti-David Brooks rant appears in today's Times as a letter to the editor. It reads:

Shortly before the start of the 2005 baseball season, after the New York Mets had endured three consecutive dismal seasons, David Brooks declared his readiness to “switch my allegiance from the beloved Mets to the new team of my adopted town.” He wrote, “I will become a fan of the Washington Nationals” (“Whose Team Am I On?,” column, March 29, 2005).

Now that the Nationals have completed an awful season and the Mets are in the playoffs, Mr. Brooks has thrown a changeup, writing of the tortured life of an angst-ridden Mets fan.

Mr. Brooks now writes of the “true Mets fan.” But he can’t be “a true Mets fan.” For true Mets fans, wherever we are in the world, and wherever the Mets are in the standings, during times of misery and times of euphoria, our allegiance is unconditional and eternal.

I don't mind the edit, except for the change from Brooks "is not a true Mets fan" to "he can't be a true Mets fan."

This is only the second time the Times has published a letter from me. The first was four years ago, when I was still living in the Upper West Side, and wrote in response to an article stating that Orthodox synagogues were becoming the majority in the outer boroughs, with only Manhattan remaining dominated by the non-Orthodox. That heavily edited letter appeared in the Times as follows:

Orthodox Judaism is flourishing not only in outer boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens ("Judaism Takes Different Turns," news article, Sept. 27), but very much also in Manhattan.

In particular, the Upper West Side includes modern Orthodox, "black hat" Orthodox and Hasidic synagogues, many with multiple services at which worshipers of all levels of religious observance are welcome.

Over the years, my letters have also appeared in The Jerusalem Post, The Sporting News, The New Republic, New York Magazine, and elsewhere. But my favorite letter appeared in 2002 in the Washington Post, in response to criticism of Israel supporters rallying on Capitol Hill. I wrote then:

"Thousands Rally for Israel" [front page, April 16] refers to "hostility" by participants in this week's pro-Israel rally in Washington in reaction to the speech by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz.

I was among the many who loudly chanted "No more Arafat" and "No double standard" during Mr. Wolfowitz's speech. Our intent was not to heckle him or to express hostility but rather to express a desperate and pained plea for the United States to support Israel's defensive war against terror.

We chanted similar slogans throughout the rally, including during the speeches by Natan Sharansky, Binyamin Netanyahu and William Bennett, but we were particularly passionate during Mr. Wolfowitz's speech because we knew that it would be the only opportunity for us to express our feelings directly to the Bush administration.

posted on 10/10/2006