DEAR ABBY: I know you receive thousands of letters, while selecting few for publication.
I am distressed that you saw fit to publish a letter that has anti-Semitic overtones. It pertained to the inquiry made by "Confused in Canada's Capital," regarding a person who used a death in the family for self-serving purposes to create an educational fund for his daughter, when he was "easily able to pay for his daughter's education." The writer then queried, "Is this a Jewish custom?"
Your response, "No, it's not a Jewish custom" could have easily been enclosed in an envelope and sent to the inquirer. To have exposed your millions of readers to a false stereotypic characterization of the Jew was an unfortunate error on your part. It was not simply an innocent request for information, and in my estimation you unwittingly became a "partner in crime" by publishing this nonsense.
The Jewish community is owed an apology. -- DR. STANLEY M. WAGNER, RABBI, DENVER
DEAR RABBI WAGNER: I am Jewish and I disagree. I give the overwhelming majority of my readers credit for not adhering to false stereotypes. The son-in-law's behavior wasn't typical of all Jewish people. To quote an old Yiddish proverb: "Every village has its village idiot" -- even ours. Read on:
DEAR ABBY: Regarding the letter from "Confused in Canada" about the son-in-law who placed a solicitation for money for his daughter's education in his father-in-law's obituary: No, it's not a Jewish custom. It's a shanda (disgrace)! -- LOYAL READER IN PALM SPRINGS
DEAR LOYAL READER: Right. As I said in my original answer -- that letter was a first!