HER STORY

Kometani says: “And this David Goodman, saying that I wrote that Judaism is responsible for Nazism, colonialism and proselytizing--I never said that.” The passage in question appears on pages 155-156 of Kometani’s book: “The people sitting here (around the seder table) are wondering why I don’t convert to Judaism like Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor. Other religions don’t exist for them. Christianity and Islam inherited this intolerance from Judaism, and they all ended up killing each other. That’s the meddling West, that won’t leave people and their beliefs alone! That’s colonialism, (Christian) missionizing, and Nazism.”

This is a sweeping indictment in which the author holds Judaism responsible for all the evils of Western civilization. Kometani cannot simply deny what she has written.

DAVID G. GOODMAN

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, JAPANESE AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN