Mr. Allen's Family Tree
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Regarding the Sept. 20 front-page article "Allen Says He Embraces His Jewish Ancestry":
There is nothing unusual in Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) not knowing about his Jewish ancestry or in his reaction to a question about it during his debate Monday with Democrat James Webb.
I did not learn until 10 years after my mother's death that the Morales side of my family is descended from Sephardim in Spain. After I confirmed this Jewish link, I found out that none of my mother's close relations knew of it; an aunt even reacted negatively to it. We all had been brought up Catholic, you see. Given this aunt's reaction, I waited for an opportune time to reveal my finding to my living siblings, but they all died before I got the chance. I have since explained everything to their children.
I am proud of my Jewish heritage, and I continue to learn more about Jewish history, Judaism and the Jewish roots of my Catholic religion. There is nothing sinister about Mr. Allen's mother not talking about her ancestry. She had her reasons for doing so, and she should be left alone.
CORAZÓN MORALES SIDDAYAO
Arlington
ยท
Sen. George Allen missed a golden opportunity to demonstrate the tolerance he professes to possess during his debate with his Democratic challenger, James Webb, in Tysons Corner. Instead, he put up a wall of anger and ran from the question.
As a natural follow-up to Mr. Allen's statement that his grandfather "was incarcerated by the Nazis in World War II," WUSA reporter Peggy Fox asked Mr. Allen if he had Jewish ancestors in the lineage of his Tunisian-born mother. Mr. Allen angrily suggested that Ms. Fox was casting "aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs." Was Mr. Allen suggesting that having a Jewish heritage is a bad thing?
Mr. Allen easily could have responded the way many of us do when asked about our heritage. We are primarily a nation of immigrants. He could have connected to the audience with an explanation of the diversity of his family.
GEORGE LAUMANN
Arlington
