Loss of Jewish Centers Harmful to Community

The plan to close five of the seven Los Angeles-area Jewish Community Centers (“Jewish Centers’ Financial Woes Anger Community,” Dec. 5) is a shocking example of moral bankruptcy. As the president of an organization that is a paying tenant of the Westside Jewish Community Center, I have seen firsthand the wide-ranging diversity of people served by the JCC--senior citizens, preschool children, working parents, summer campers, Israeli dancers, teenage basketball players, adolescent swimmers and other recreational enthusiasts. I have seen firsthand how the JCC brings together Jews from across our religion’s many denominational and ethnic lines and how these centers reach out generously to the non-Jewish residents of the surrounding communities.

If we have to move, our organization will surely find another home. But the same cannot be said for the many poor, working and middle-class residents for whom the JCC is an indispensable and irreplaceable oasis and lifeline.

The root of the Hebrew word for charity (tzedakah) is tzedek--justice. Even if charitable fund-raising is suffering, it is unforgivable that the JCCs and the functions they uniquely perform are not at the very top of the communal funding agenda.

Douglas E. Mirell

President, Progressive Jewish

Alliance, Los Angeles