Jesse Katz writes for Los Angeles magazine:
In his 32 years as director of the UCLA branch of Hillel, the global Jewish student fellowship, Chaim Seidler-Feller has never been just a rabbi. He is a pundit, a scholar, a mediator, a rainmaker, a Hollywood macher—the paragon of Westside liberalism in a city with the second-largest Jewish population in the nation. With his crescent of steel-wool hair and staccato Brooklyn accent, he presides over a 25,000- square-foot stone-and-glass cultural center, built in part with million-dollar donations from Steven Spielberg, Lew Wasserman, and Edgar M. Bronfman. A founding member of Americans for Peace Now, the leading voice for nonviolence in the Middle East, he preaches dialogue with Israel’s enemies and self-reflection for its defenders . He has officiated at the wedding of UCLA’s then-chancellor Albert Carnesale and, as the technical consultant on Yentl, guided Barbra Streisand through the intricacies of Talmudic law. “Chaim is the best of us,” says the Oscar-winning actor and Peace Now emissary Richard Dreyfuss. “He’s got an open mind, he’s got a sense of humor, he’s got a sense of proportion, and he’s civil. That sets him apart not only from other rabbis but from almost everyone I know.”
Rachel Neuwirth is his social and political inverse, a hawkish, often bellicose online columnist who believes Jews everywhere are imperiled. Born in Israel, where she served in the air force and played on the women’s national basketball team, Neuwirth is still fit and tenacious and convinced that survival depends on resolve, not wishful thinking. Her writing, usually unpaid commentaries, can be as unforgiving of her own people as of Islamic militants; jeremiads such as “Jewish Anti-Semitism” and “Beyond Self-Hating” condemn the Seidler-Fellers of the world as traitors, so concerned with making nice that they legitimize the forces that would do them harm. In progressive circles, Neuwirth is considered a zealot and a bully, obsessed with enforcing an extreme code of Jewish loyalty. To the pro-Israel lobby, she is nothing short of brave. “If I wanted to have a dinner party at my house, a polite gathering with couples, where there might be some political disagreement, would I invite Rachel? Probably not,” says her friend Gary Ratner, western region executive director of the American Jewish Congress. “But in a hostile environment, where we’re outnumbered and the tension is very real, you want Rachel next to you, covering your back. She is not going to be intimidated.”
Given these two personas—the peacenik and the nudnick, as the blogosphere has dubbed them—it is tempting to think there was a certain inevitability to what happened outside Royce Hall on October 21, 2003, that Seidler-Feller, who was 56 at the time, and Neuwirth, who was 53, were bound for a collision. But that hardly explains the intensity of the pressure to which the rabbi was subjected, or the ugliness of his eruption. In the dusk of early autumn, as the Santa Anas swirled, Seidler-Feller attacked Neuwirth, clawing, hitting, and kicking her until students pulled him away.
Leviah writes:
Rachel Neuwirth as you stated is a non professional commentator from Israel. This does not make her less deserving of respect and open minded approach from all of us. Her opinion might look to a hawkish to you. To the rest of us they sound sensible. HOWEVER!!! This is NOT the issue.
The issue is at hand is Chaim Seidler-Feller’s behavior. A community leader and a Hillel Rabbi, supposed to serve as role model. A man who professes to be a "peace lover" physically and violently attacked a woman. This is a major Shanda not to mention… a crime. He dose not need any mouth piece to clear him from these violations. Let me remind you that we are equal in the eyes of the law and we are instructed by our Torah: "Zedek Zedek Tirdof."
Steven Spielberg’s money nor Barbra Streisand’s money and the rest… is not going to distort the facts. It is hard to believe that Yentel would condone beating up a woman for having opposing political views. What became of us? Did Chaim Seidler-Feller, create a mini Tailbone enclave at UCLA? I think not!
By the way, Among all the praises to Chaim that you have dished out and the insults to Rachel, you neglected to mention one ‘tiny little’ fact that my shad a different light on Rachel (Zealous in your opinion). Rachel is a sister of a fallen soldier. The least we can do for her is to show our respect.
As an alumni of UCLA and a parent of two students currently enrolled at UCLA and as a Religious Feminist, I am calling for a change at Hillel UCLA. Enough is Enough! We tolerated Chaim’s point of view for two generations. Members of my family were force-fed his one sided propaganda during all that time. We need a well balanced Rabbi. The man is not well and not too young, as you said 57. Let the ‘Big wig friends’ he claims to have, take care of him NOT Hillel UCLA. He became a burden and a liability that we cannot afford.
This concussion — non of us cooked. It is all his own doing. Shame on you for the attempt to white wash it.
