April 19: Yankee chicken

Yankee chicken Sir, – Reader Burt Edelstein (“”Sherman’s sky,” Letters, April 17) is probably betraying American roots by complaining about columnist Martin Sherman’s reference to the story of “Chicken Licken” rather than “Chicken Little.” Licken is indeed the central character’s last name in the version usually told to children in Britain and some (but clearly not all) of its former colonies.DAVID LERER Beit Shemesh Sir, – I was preparing for Jerusalem Emunah’s B’simcha book swap and I happened upon a book titled Chicken Licken where, in fact, Chicken Licken, and not Chicken Little, is hit on the head with an acorn and proceeds to run around exclaiming, “The sky is falling!” Your proofreaders were right not to change the name.AMY BODNER Jerusalem Royal ‘mohel’Sir, – With regard to the letters published under “Atavistic ritual” (April 12), my son was born in London in 1965. He was circumcised by the Orthodox mohel (ritual circumciser), Rev. Jacob Snowman – mohel to the royal family.Surprised? Well, it’s true. It seems the royals knew what was good for them! My point is that the reverend used a pipette to draw out the blood, his mouth never coming closer to the foreskin than the top end of the pipette. That’s the way it was, and, in my opinion that’s the way it should be.The idea of a mohel drawing out blood with his mouth is disgusting and repugnant in modern times, and should be banned.MICHAEL SCHNEIDER Ra’anana Falsification Sir, – Further on the claim that US president Franklin D. Roosevelt did not send the Coast Guard to prevent the St. Louis from reaching America (“Holocaust survivors who were aboard ‘St.Louis’ fight against ‘revisionist history,’” April 9), Voyage of the Damned (Stein and Day, 1974), by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts, is a detailed, literally day-by-day account of the St. Louis saga, from initial preparations in Germany to the sad and bitter end.The US government’s dispatch of US Coast Guard cutter 244 to prevent the vessel’s passengers from disembarking is fully documented and recorded for posterity.The book also details much more disturbing facts about Roosevelt and his administration’s unequivocal and unrelenting refusal to allow the refugees to enter the US, culminating in an official statement by immigration inspector Walter Thomas of Miami: “The St. Louis will not be allowed to dock here, or at any US port” (p. 252, italics in original).The claim by Richard Breitman and Allan Lichtman that the Roosevelt administration did not send the Coast Guard cutter is worse than revisionist history – it is an outright falsification of the historical record.GERSHON HARRIS Hatzor Haglilit Sabbath city Sir, – There are many countries that are Christian or Muslim. There is only one country that is Jewish, so we need to nurture every aspect, large and small, of our Jewish heritage.Similarly, there is only one city that is known to represent the birth and life of religious Judaism – Jerusalem – and only religious Judaism has enabled us to be Jews today.One knows the saying: “More than the Jews have kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews.” So please, can’t we have one city that keeps Shabbat? To those whose needs for entertainment are very important to them, would it be possible for you to go elsewhere? There are many other places, so please look at the big Shabbat picture.Perhaps the city’s theaters could be opened for extended hours on Thursday nights.JOAN FISHER Jerusalem

April 19: Yankee chicken

I was preparing for Jerusalem Emunah’s B’simcha book swap and I happened upon a book titled Chicken Licken where, in fact, Chicken Licken, and not Chicken Little, is hit on the head with an acorn and proceeds to run around exclaiming, “The sky is falling!”

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