Carol Brady
12-21-2003, 02:55 AM
This happens every year. The obnoxious goys are too damn neurotic and meddlesome to let the jews celebrate their holiday in peace. They always have to start bawling and complaining and demanding then they do everything they can to spoil the harmless fun.
I wish the guy would have had enough intestinal fortitude to simply remove the vile trash and not start groveling and apologizing.
Removal of Hanukkah Banners Protested
A Newbury Park homeowners' board says the consequences are 'unintended.'
By Gregory W. Griggs
Times Staff Writer
December 20, 2003
A homeowners' association in an upscale Thousand Oaks neighborhood has disappointed some of its Jewish members after removing banners commemorating Hanukkah, which will be celebrated over the next seven nights.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, the Dos Vientos Ranch East Homeowners Assn. decorated the well-manicured neighborhood in Newbury Park with traditional holiday touches — garland and red ribbon on subdivision signs and with holiday messages hung from light posts.
Among the decorations displayed for the first time were blue banners featuring a silver menorah and small dreidels with the words "Happy Hanukkah."
"We don't see very many Hanukkah decorations around. So we thought it was pretty great that we would take the lead in doing something for once," resident Melody Rafelson said. Less than two weeks later, without explanation, the Hanukkah banners were replaced by white banners with images of three stylized presents — green, red and blue boxes wrapped in gold ribbon.
But association board member Kevin Corbett said several residents complained about using association funds to pay for banners that fostered any religious message. "All members of the board feel very badly [sic] that anybody in the community was offended by the actions of the board in this matter," he said. "The consequences were unintended and they certainly were not directed at the Jewish community."
Rafelson, who works as part-time office manager for Chabad Jewish Center of Thousand Oaks, said it was her 3-year-old daughter who first pointed out the switch. "She noticed right away, and asked, 'Mommy, where's the menorah?' " Rafelson said. "What do you say to your kid? It broke my heart."
"That's what really hurts," said Rabbi Chaim Bryski, director of Chabad Thousand Oaks. "To a kid it's almost like, 'They're stealing our holiday.' That's where the real anger comes from."
Rafelson said she at first believed the association was beginning to acknowledge the growing ethnic variety in the community.
"This area is a lot more diverse than people realize," she said. "Just on our street we have three Jewish families, a family from Taiwan, a black family and several Armenian families."
Corbett, a lawyer in Los Angeles, said the board was trying to stay away from any religion. "Many holidays have both a religious and a social context and it's the social context that the board feels is appropriate to publicly acknowledge," Corbett said. "The religious component is something that members of the community should celebrate in their own way."
The board returned the Hanukkah banners to the supplier, which exchanged them for the wordless generic banners at no cost.
Corbett said the board's policy is not specific to any particular religion.
"If we had banners that said, 'Unto us a child is born,' we would have removed them just as quickly," he said. "Any suggestion that this was done as a deliberate affront to the Jewish community is completely incorrect."
But resident Mark Alyn believes the remaining banners symbolize Christmas, with their candy canes and red ribbons. "While this isn't blatant anti-Semitism and discrimination, it's intolerable," said Alyn, who is Jewish. "Why can't we celebrate the holidays together and appreciate our differences?"
The television and radio producer wrote a letter to the homeowners' association board earlier this week accusing it of poor judgment and urging the immediate return of the Hanukkah banners.
He suggested that current board members consider stepping down "so we can have representation for all residents."
Bryski, whose organization is staging a Hanukkah family festival at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, suggests Jewish residents of Dos Vientos join their homeowners' association committee and push to include Hanukkah in future holiday celebrations.
"My personal opinion, as a religious leader, is as many religions that can be represented the better," he said.
Here (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banners20dec20,1,1647619.story?coll=la-headlines-california)
I wish the guy would have had enough intestinal fortitude to simply remove the vile trash and not start groveling and apologizing.
Removal of Hanukkah Banners Protested
A Newbury Park homeowners' board says the consequences are 'unintended.'
By Gregory W. Griggs
Times Staff Writer
December 20, 2003
A homeowners' association in an upscale Thousand Oaks neighborhood has disappointed some of its Jewish members after removing banners commemorating Hanukkah, which will be celebrated over the next seven nights.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, the Dos Vientos Ranch East Homeowners Assn. decorated the well-manicured neighborhood in Newbury Park with traditional holiday touches — garland and red ribbon on subdivision signs and with holiday messages hung from light posts.
Among the decorations displayed for the first time were blue banners featuring a silver menorah and small dreidels with the words "Happy Hanukkah."
"We don't see very many Hanukkah decorations around. So we thought it was pretty great that we would take the lead in doing something for once," resident Melody Rafelson said. Less than two weeks later, without explanation, the Hanukkah banners were replaced by white banners with images of three stylized presents — green, red and blue boxes wrapped in gold ribbon.
But association board member Kevin Corbett said several residents complained about using association funds to pay for banners that fostered any religious message. "All members of the board feel very badly [sic] that anybody in the community was offended by the actions of the board in this matter," he said. "The consequences were unintended and they certainly were not directed at the Jewish community."
Rafelson, who works as part-time office manager for Chabad Jewish Center of Thousand Oaks, said it was her 3-year-old daughter who first pointed out the switch. "She noticed right away, and asked, 'Mommy, where's the menorah?' " Rafelson said. "What do you say to your kid? It broke my heart."
"That's what really hurts," said Rabbi Chaim Bryski, director of Chabad Thousand Oaks. "To a kid it's almost like, 'They're stealing our holiday.' That's where the real anger comes from."
Rafelson said she at first believed the association was beginning to acknowledge the growing ethnic variety in the community.
"This area is a lot more diverse than people realize," she said. "Just on our street we have three Jewish families, a family from Taiwan, a black family and several Armenian families."
Corbett, a lawyer in Los Angeles, said the board was trying to stay away from any religion. "Many holidays have both a religious and a social context and it's the social context that the board feels is appropriate to publicly acknowledge," Corbett said. "The religious component is something that members of the community should celebrate in their own way."
The board returned the Hanukkah banners to the supplier, which exchanged them for the wordless generic banners at no cost.
Corbett said the board's policy is not specific to any particular religion.
"If we had banners that said, 'Unto us a child is born,' we would have removed them just as quickly," he said. "Any suggestion that this was done as a deliberate affront to the Jewish community is completely incorrect."
But resident Mark Alyn believes the remaining banners symbolize Christmas, with their candy canes and red ribbons. "While this isn't blatant anti-Semitism and discrimination, it's intolerable," said Alyn, who is Jewish. "Why can't we celebrate the holidays together and appreciate our differences?"
The television and radio producer wrote a letter to the homeowners' association board earlier this week accusing it of poor judgment and urging the immediate return of the Hanukkah banners.
He suggested that current board members consider stepping down "so we can have representation for all residents."
Bryski, whose organization is staging a Hanukkah family festival at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, suggests Jewish residents of Dos Vientos join their homeowners' association committee and push to include Hanukkah in future holiday celebrations.
"My personal opinion, as a religious leader, is as many religions that can be represented the better," he said.
Here (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banners20dec20,1,1647619.story?coll=la-headlines-california)