 |
|
|
(JWR) ---- (http://www.jewishworldreview.com)
INDICATIONS THAT DYLAN KLEBOLD, one of two teenagers
responsible for shootings at Columbine High School, has a Jewish
ancestry surfaced in press reports, adding a grim Jewish dimension
to an already horrific story.
But Denver's Intermountain Jewish News has learned that according to
Halachah, or Jewish law, neither Dylan Klebold, nor his mother Susan Klebold,
are Jewish.
Reports of the Klebold family’s Jewish ancestry first appeared on
April 23 in the Columbus Dispatch of Columbus, Ohio, where Dylan Klebold’s
maternal great-grandfather, the late Leo Yassenoff, was a respected Jewish
community leader and philanthropist.
Also known as an outstanding football player for the Ohio State Buckeyes in
his youth, Yassenoff’s influence was so lasting in the Columbus Jewish
community that the city’s Jewish community center still bears his name.
The elder Yassenoff and his son, Milton Yassenoff, were members of
the Columbus Reform congregation, Temple Israel, the Dispatch reported.
Milton’s daughter, Susan Yassenoff – now Susan Klebold, the mother of Dylan
Klebold -- was also active in the temple during her youth. Susan Klebold grew
up in the Bexley district of the Columbus metropolitan area.
But The IJN spoke this week with a prominent member of the Columbus
Jewish community, a longtime resident and leader of that city who has known
members of the Yassenoff family. According to this source, Leo Yassenoff’s
son Milton was an adopted child.
Another source reports that Milton Yassenoff was a Jewish orphan,
legally adopted, who maintained a level of Jewish involvement during his life.
Milton Yassenoff married a non-Jewish woman, the former Charlotte Hough of
Ohio. Their daughter, Susan, could therefore not be considered halachically
Jewish since her mother was not Jewish.
The Yassenoff family in Columbus has apparently followed a general
pattern of disaffiliation, says the original source. To this person’s
knowledge, only one member of the extended family retains any affiliation or
activity with the Columbus Jewish community. No others are known to be active.
Signals about the family’s religious practice grew even more mixed
when it was reported that Dylan Klebold was buried Saturday in a Lutheran
funeral. Skip Yassenoff also noted last week that Susan and Thomas Klebold
had been members of Littleton’s St. Philip Lutheran Church.
The pastor of that church, Rev. Don Marxhausen, has told local
reporters that he has been consoling the Klebolds since last week’s tragedy.
Telephone calls from the IJN to Marxhausen were not returned.
However, Marxhausen did speak to the New York Times this week, and
told its reporters that the Klebold family held a Passover seder in its home
this year. Dylan Klebold "asked the traditional four questions," the Times
reported.
It remained unclear at press time whether what forms of Judaism or
Christianity – or what combination of the two – was practiced in the Klebold
home. Except for issuing a statement expressing sorrow at their son’s actions
last week, the Klebolds have refused all media requests for comments or
interviews.
This was only intensified when the Denver Rocky Mountain
News ran an interview with Judy Brown, a neighbor and acquaintance of the
Klebolds. In the article by Lynn Bartels, Brown spoke of Susan Klebold’s
reaction to her son’s crimes.
"Brown said her friend is stung that the world perceives her as a
rich, Jewish woman who failed as a parent. `She is not at all like that. She
doesn’t even wear makeup,’" Brown said. "`This is a woman that is totally
unaware of the other side of her son. This is now the son she knew."
Regional Jews have asked why such stereotypical remarks were
published in Denver’s largest daily, and why Klebold’s Jewishness has become
such a big story, especially since Harris’ background has hardly been
mentioned in the media.
Rabbi Raymond Zwerin of Denver’s Temple Sinai might have been
speaking on behalf of many area Jews when he questioned the apparent media
fascination with the issue.
"I wouldn’t consider him to be Jewish in any way or form," Rabbi
Zwerin said of Klebold. "He wasn’t raised Jewish. I don’t see anyone making a
big deal about the fact that Harris was Catholic. Let’s not blame religion
for this. This has nothing to do with religion or the failure of religion."
As for Klebold’s Jewish forebears, the rabbi said simply: "I’m sure
the grandfather and great-grandfather are twisting in their
Jewish World Review May 11, 1999 / 25 Iyar, 5759
Who is NOT a Jew?
Dylan Klebold was a lot of things, but
contrary to media reports, the one thing he was not, was Jewish. Irresponsible reporting has caused anguish to Jews in Colorado and hate-filled messages on the 'net. Will the international media now spread this information with the same zeal they spread their lies?
By Chris Leppek
Klebold, along with classmate Eric Harris, killed 12 fellow students and one
teacher on April 20 before both apparently committed suicide. Both students
were juniors at the Littleton high school, apparently members of a shadowy
student group known as the Trenchcoat Mafia.
B’nai Chaim, the Jewish congregation nearest to where the Klebolds
reside in Littleton, has apparently never had contact with the family
members. This was emphasized both by the congregation’s former spiritual
leader, Rabbi Judith Beiner, now of Overland Park, Kan., and its current
president, Daniel Rothschild, in comments to the IJN.
Denver-area Jews, meanwhile, have expressed discomfort at the
emphasis being paid to Klebold’s alleged Jewishness. Several phone callers to
the IJN have complained that the media coverage betrays an anti-Semitic bias.
Chris Leppek is assistant editor of the Intermountain Jewish News.
