LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (11/30/97)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Thank you for column on "Mama's song"

Dear Editor:

When I read the column "Mamyna pisnia - Mama's song" by Orysia Paszczak Tracz, I cried. My family has always sung Ukrainian folk songs, religious hymns and songs my father wrote.

My father was born in Ukraine, attended a conservatory of music and left our family with a cherished legacy of music and singing. My biggest regret is not having his recordings on tape or in any written format. With his passing and my mother's passing, all of the beautiful lyrics and melodies will never be heard by my grandchildren.

Fortunately our family has a wonderful and spirited 80-year-old uncle who was born in Pennsylvania. Peter Mazurkevich has been singing in church choirs since early youth and remembers the Ukrainian songs in Ukrainian and in English. We are trying to persuade him to not only record these songs but have a family member record him singing on videotape. What a legacy that will be for his grandchildren!

I encourage all Ukrainian families to record on audio and video, or just write down lyrics and music to preserve our heritage - your legacy from your loved ones. It would be a tragedy to lose all of those lovely tunes knowing they could be preserved today.

Mrs. Tracz mentions in her column that non-Ukrainian friends are amazed at our ability to sing as a "choir" when we gather. It amazes my friends as well. Singing in harmony was taught at our parents' knee - what a gift! My father used to say "when you sing in church, you pray and worship twice."

Thank you so much for publishing Mrs. Tracz's column. Maybe reading her column will give Uncle Pete the courage he needs to record all of the beautiful Ukrainian folk songs that he loves so much.

Mary Orlyk Rakay
Detroit

An answer to letter on "nationalism"

Dear Editor:

In disbelief I read Andrew F. Estocin's letter of October 26 responding to my letter published in the October 5 issue of The Ukrainian Weekly.

In his first sentence he accused me of calling "... for an uncanonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church centered on Ukrainian nationalism" and ascertained that I do not know the tradition of Orthodox Christianity.

How Mr. Estocin arrived at such a conclusion is beyond me. In my short letter I expressed my anger at two patriarchs who met in Ukraine not for "Christian witness," but to establish limits on their respective spheres of influence and agreed - according to the reports - that Ukraine should remain in the Russian sphere of influence.

If my human reaction of anger directed at those making decisions regarding our destiny without us is nationalism, so be it. I do not consider the word "nationalism" to be a bad word; in my vocabulary "imperialism" has that distinction.

As to my knowledge of Orthodox Christian tradition, I can only say that Orthodoxy is my way of life. All my ancestors were Orthodox Christians and lived in accordance with the teachings of the Orthodox Church. I was raised and I brought up my children in a similar way. If that does not give me some knowledge of the tradition of Orthodox Christianity, then I would like to know Mr. Estocin's definition of the term.

I suspect that my letter was used by Mr. Estocin as a convenient way to promote his own agenda. He tries to vindicate those Ukrainians who belong to non-Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. He proposes for us "to focus on many faces of Ukrainian Orthodoxy ... that encompass many jurisdictions in America."

I am baffled by such a statement. Exactly what Churches are encompassed by Ukrainian Orthodoxy?

In the very next sentence Mr. Estocin states that "many Ukrainian Orthodox are in the care of the Orthodox Church of America (formerly Russian Orthodox Church) and the Patriarchate of Antioch" (Syrian Church). Do these Churches represent "many faces of Ukrainian Orthodoxy" because some Ukrainians are members of these Churches?

I don't think so. If some Ukrainians chose to be members of non-Ukrainian Churches, it is their decision. But they do not contribute anything to Ukrainian Orthodox life, as Mr. Estocin suggests. They only strengthen the non-Ukrainian Orthodox Churches.

I respect all ethnic Orthodox Churches, because we are all united by one Orthodox faith. But I do not wish to be "in the care" of any foreign Church. I do not consider myself or the Ukrainian people to be less intelligent than others, and that we have to be taken care of by anyone. Least of all by Metropolitans Theodosius of the Orthodox Church of America, Volodymyr of Kyiv or their boss - Aleksei II, patriarch of Moscow.

I would not have commented on Mr. Estocin's letter had it not been for a footnote to it informing readers that his column appears in the Ukrainian Orthodox World, the official magazine of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. Such information implies that the opinion expressed in his letter is the official position of the Church.

That is not the case.

Alla Lehka Heretz
Rutherford, N.J.

Not a 'preoccupation,' but reflection of reality

Dear Editor:

Roman Koropeckyj is disturbed by Myron Kuropas' "preoccupation with Jews." He shouldn't be. Dr. Kuropas is only one contributor to The Ukrainian Weekly, and The Weekly certainly does not give more space to Jewish-related material than is allotted to it by the mainstream North American media. If some Ukrainians seem to be "preoccupied with Jews," they only reflect the general environment in which they live.

There is yet another, and a more important, reason why Ukrainians maintain interest in Jewish affairs. It has to do with the Ukrainian image that remains closely linked to the way the mainstream media presents Ukrainian-Jewish relations, both historical and present, in Ukraine and in the diaspora. Whether Ukrainians like it or not, it is not yet time for them to become disinterested in Jewish affairs.

Dr. Koropeckyj is free to disagree with what Dr. Kuropas writes, but then wouldn't it be more constructive (not to say scholarly) to criticize the author for his ideas rather than to attack him for his choice of subject?

Roman Serbyn
Montreal

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