1. 4/25/2016 Newton TAB: Letters - Opinion - Newton TAB - Newton, MA
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Newton TAB: Letters
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Posted Apr. 24, 2016 at 2:30 PM
NEWTON
State shouldn’t cut funding for the arts
Arts and cultural funding is truly a metric of quality of life,. Thanks in no small part to consistent
state support of local arts organizations, Newton enjoys a high quality of life. The current budget
proposal from the House Committee on Ways and Means cuts 28 percent — $4 million — from arts
and cultural spending through the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and represents an ill­conceived
short sell on this vital state investment.
I urge Newton’s state representatives to continue to make funding the MCC a priority in order to
maintain the high quality of arts and culture, and thus high quality of life, enjoyed by your
constituents and the arts and cultural organizations that make their home here. As the state
agency tasked with improving the quality of life for all residents of Massachusetts through
promoting access to culture and arts, MCC funding has a very real impact on nonprofit cultural
organizations, local cultural councils, educational opportunities for youth, and fellowship
opportunities for artists. These activities are more than deserving of our sustained support. Many
local arts organizations, for example, depend on funding from the MCC’s Cultural Investment
Portfolio program; without the MCC and efforts like the CIP, these cultural leaders will not be able
to survive, and Newton’s quality of life will suffer as a result.
Please contact your state representatives and tell them to restore arts and cultural funding to the
state budget. — Richard Barrett, Suzuki School of Newton
Rabbis saddened by protestors
In response to a series of hateful, anti­Semitic and racist acts in the Newton schools that came to
the public’s attention within the last month, Mayor Setti Warren convened a community gathering
at City Hall on April 7. At the City Hall gathering Mayor Warren spoke about how to best achieve
the fullest expression of our shared ideals: a community rooted in fairness and equal opportunity,
acceptance and compassion, understanding and accountability.
These ideals are the foundation of both ancient and modern Jewish life and values. They deserved
the respect of serious engagement. Sadly and discouragingly, some members of our Jewish
community refused to participate constructively in the discussion, which could have been a starting
point to heal recent wounds and a process for a collaborative and constructive communal response.
In an apparent effort to lift up the legitimate concerns of the Jewish community, they disregarded
the very real and painful experiences of others in our community, instead working to obstruct the
free and respectful exchange of ideas. We are saddened and embarrassed by this response from
members of our community.
These activists preached a narrow concern regarding hateful acts against the Jewish community, at
this very time on the Jewish calendar when we are explicitly required to keep in mind the suffering
of others. In a few nights Jews around the world will sit as families and communities for our
Passover Seders. At the Seder we recount the story of our people’s suffering and oppression,
liberation and freedom. Our observance of Passover carries a spiritual and ethical mandate:
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