Jewish Life March-April 1970 by Jewish Action

A N N U A L N ATIO N AL D IN N ER of the

UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CO NG REG ATIO NS OF A M E R IC A

SU N DAY EVENING, M A Y 17,1970 - 11 IYAR, 5730 at the

NEW Y O R K HILTON

Guest of Honor and Recipient of the UOJCA KETHER SHEM TOV Award JOSEPH KARASICK

Recipients of the 1970 U O JC A Presidents Award: Leslie Hirtz

Leon Albin

Louis Landesman

Harry W. Bäumgarten

Dan Levine

Bernard Brownstein

Gustave G. Rosenberg

Harry Epstein

Harry Schneider

Harry Feigenbaum

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JERUSALEM wines and liquors are available in many liquor stores. If your neighborhood liquor dealer doesn’t carry it yet, please ask him to get it. We are trying hard to get JERUSALEM wines and liquors on the shelves of all liquor stores and we are sorry if you have difficulty in finding it at your store. With your asking for JERUSALEM wines and liquors and refusing any substitutes you help us and you help the religious Yishuv in Eretz Yisroel. For distributors and for all information concerning all “Jerusalem” products call Mr. Charles Richter, Jerusalem Imports Ltd, 745 Fifth Avenue, N.Y.C, PL 3*3396_____ M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

While campuses the country wide resound to shrill echoes of student revolt, two proofs of Kohelleth’s observation that “words of the wise are heard in quiet” are herein presented. EZRA FLEISCHMANN and JONATHAN KELLERMAN live and study a continent apart, but their voices harmonize in reflecting mutual deep concern for peers and progeny of all stages of commitment. Mr. Fleischmann lives in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, and studies at the Beth Hamedrash Yeshurun of Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch. He graduated last month from City College of New York as a political science major, and is now pursuing a master’s degree in that field at New York University. Mr. Kellerman, who appeared in the poetry section of JEWISH LIFE in April, 1969 while a student at Yeshivath Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel, lives in Los Angeles, California and is a senior at UCLA majoring in psychology. He writes of the enclosed that it is “a sort of essay on a topic that I find very distressing, the com munications gap as it pertains to our own orthodox community. The language may be a bit sharp, but the problem is pressing, and ammonia cleans better than whipped cream.” . . . . DR. RONALD I. RUBIN, Associate Professor of Social Science at Manhattan Community College and editor of the anthology “The Unredeemed: Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union,” appeared in these pages in May-June 1969 in an article examining American propaganda in Israel. In this issue, he turns the coin in a study carried out under a Summer Research Grant of the City University of New Y o rk .. . . In April, 1951, JEWISH LIFE published the first of a sequence of studies of Latin American and Caribbean Jewish communities by journalist-traveller JACOB BELLER. Now, many nations and twenty articles later, Mr. Beller treats of the land of his domicile.. . . The pensive atmosphere surrounding a Hillel director on the campus of the University of Buffalo in New York allows for reflection on issues both classic and contemporary. DR. JUSTIN HOFMANN does just that and has shared with our readers his insights on topics as far-ranging as the Ecumenical Council, juvenile delin quency, theology of social service, and educational synthesis...». The move to Jerusalem from Staten Island, New York has brought REUBEN E. GROSS, attorney and former Editorial Associate of our magazine, closer to the landmarks of our history. Herein he focuses his jurisprudential eye to identify some revelations in familiar passages.

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Vol. X X X V II, No. 4 / March-April 1970 / Nisan-Iyar 5730

le w isli

J Life

THE ED ITO R'S VIEW

CONFRONTATION WITH THE KREMLIN........4

A R T IC LES Saul Bernstein, Editor Paul H. Baris Libby Klaperm an N athan Lewin Rabbi Solom on J. Sharfm an Editorial Associates E lkanah Schw artz Assistant Editor JEWISH LIFE is published bi-monthly. Subscription two years $5.00, three years $6.50, four years $8.00. Foreign: Add 40 cents per year. Editorial and Publication Office: 84 Fifth Avenue New York 10011, N. Y. (212) ALgonquin 5-4100 Published by U nion of O rthodox J ewish C ongregations of A merica J oseph K arasick

President H arold M. J acobs

Chairman of the Board

ISRAEL’S PROPAGANDA WAR / Ronald I. R ubin............... 8 THE JEWISH CONCEPTION OF HISTORY / Justin Hofmann.............................................19 A COLLEGE STUDENT EVALUATES HIS PROFESSORS /E zra Fleischmann......... ..25 STRIVING FOR RELEVANCE / Jonathan Kellerman............

..31

PHARAOH AS CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCH / Reuben E. Gross........................................... 35 CANADIAN JEWRY IN PERSPECTIVE / Jacob Beller................................................... 38

BOOK REVIEW S GUIDE FOR THE BEREAVED / Benjamin Blech............................................ 53 OVERSHOOTING THE TARGET / Bernard Merling............................................ 56 THE ORTHODOX JEWISH SCIENTIST SPEAKS/ Philip Zimmerman........................................59

DEPARTM EN TS FROM HERE AND TH ERE................................63

Benjamin Koenigsberg, Nathan K. Gross, David Politi, Dr. Bernard Lander, Harold H. Boxer, Lawrence A. Kobrin, Vice Presidents; Morris L. Green, Treasurer; Emanuel Neustadtej, Secretary; Julius Berman, Financial Secretary

AMONG OUR CONTRIBUTORS...........................2

Dr. Samson R. Weiss Executive Vice President Saul Bernstein, Administrator

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR............................... 69

Cover by Naama Kitov Inside drawings by David Adler

Second Class Postage paid at New York, N, Y.

M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

th e EDITOR'S V IEW

CONFRONTATION WITH THE K REM LIN O V IE T R U S S IA 'S "Jews of Silence" are now speaking out loud. In the past months, even while Soviet anti-Jewish propaganda has become ever more virulent, the long-stilled voice

of Soviet Jewry has made itself heard in open challenge to terror. Groups and individuals in several parts of the Soviet domain have confronted the Kremlin with demands for their rights and have found means to make their messages known beyond as well as within the Iron Curtain. History offers no more daring an example of imprisoned right pitted against overwhelming might. Morally calloused as is today's world, the public conscience is bound to be moved by the lofty courage of these calls for justice. Notable among them is the recent manifesto addressed to the Soviet Government by thirty-nine Jews of Moscow. The thirty-nine — each of whom affixed his name and address to the document — proclaim their right to be Jews, to live as Jews, and to educate their children as Jews. A s in the case of preceding communications and of a subsequent letter to the Soviet Govern ment signed by twenty-five Jews of Riga, they call too for fulfill ment of their right to emigrate to Israel. Never since Russia came under Communist rule have Jews so openly and deliberately

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The Jewish Will

offered challenge to Kremlin repression. The signatories to these avowals could not fail to realize what was entailed in braving totalitarian terror. Their action indicates the spirit stirring Soviet Jewry. Cut off from the Jewish word and the Jewish world for over half a century, caught in dark toils, the Soviet Union's three million Jews and more have seemed doomed to extinction as bearers of Jewish identity. Yet, miracu lously, there has arisen among them a surging will to embrace Jewish identity and to fulfill their lives as Jews. Under the condi tions in which they dwell, the expression of this will is sternly interdicted. Despite this, it has proven irrepressible. On one occa sion each year the affirmation of Jewishness pours forth out of the subterranean depths, so irresistibly that the Kremlin with all the power at its command must back away from the challenge. Significantly, it is Simchath Torah that Soviet Jewry has spon taneously chosen as its annual day of affirmation. The mass gatherings in and around Moscow's Central Synagogue each Simchath Torah have evoked the world's astonished wonder.

HE proclamation of the thirty-nine brings to wider public knowledge another illuminating manifestation of Soviet

Jewry's will to Jewish life. N o less than 80,000 families, the statement tells, have dared to apply for emigration to Israel since 1968. It is certain that very many more cherish the same goal, but are not yet ready to risk the consequences of applying. Needless to say, but a token handful were permitted to leave, the remain der suffering loss of livelihood or other penalty. A n example

“Like Tears in the Sands”

which has come to light is the case of a woman of the Riga group who wrote that upon submitting her application there ensued a systematic persecution culminating in a "hun-like" trial at her place of work and dismissal from her job. A variation of this technique was applied to a group of eighteen deeply religious families of Soviet Georgia who found means to transmit their appeal to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. These were ensnared into giving up their jobs and disposing of their property on the promise that their request for permission to leave for Israel would be granted. "B u t long months have gone by . . . we have sent hundreds of letters and telegrams. They have vanished like tears in the sands of the desert. All we hear is one-syllable oral refusals . . . "

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A s is to be expected, some figures of Soviet Jewry shrink from open resistance, continuing to urge submission. Whatever the actual inner feelings of those in such sensitive positions as Moscow's Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin, there can be no ignoring the weight of terror that can be unleased to crush resistance to Soviet anti-Jewish policy. "Steel yourselves to the force of circum stances, hang on, and hope for a better day," the counsel of prudence, too demands courage and determination. But it is evident now that the temper of much of Soviet Jewry, and especially — and most remarkable — of a growing segment of its younger generation, is less and less attuned to passive stoicism. When the will to live becomes dynamic, the will to battle for life, even at moral risk, takes command. The resolve of the activists is likely to* be strengthened rather than weakened by the Kremlin's attempts to discredit them. Clear indication that the regime feels the impact of world awareness of its anti-Jewish course is to be seen in the prolifera tion of widely advertised press conferences and statements of purportedly representative Jews obediently echoing the official On

line. It is patent that those thus paraded are mostly either kept

Parade creatures of the regime or - as with a cited "1 0 2 religious Jews of Kiev" have been subjected to coercion or worse. It may also be inferred that while seeking to intimidate the resistance, Kremlin sensitivity to the onus of antisemitism inhibits unsparing use of the bludgeon. A ripe instance of the Kremlin's groping with dilemma was a recent much publicized press conference putting on exhibit a number of Jews well placed in Soviet society. The group duly declared their unqualified devotion to the Communist order, denied charge of persecution and suppression of national rights and religious liberty, asserted that most Russian Jews share their view of the Soviet Union as their only "m otherland," and offered the expected condemnation of Israel as an "imperialist aggres sor." The most interesting aspect of this bit of theater was the fact that such masters of propaganda as Russia's rulers were impelled to resort to so seemingly crude a device. It is well enough known that with full two generations reared under Communist atheism, many of Jewish birth in the Soviet Union are completely divorced from Jewish attachment and seek only complete absorption in the Russian people. But a governmentJEWISH LIF E

ordered show of samples of this type would hardly seem a con vincing demonstration of the characteristics of the masses of Russian Jews. Was it, in fact, designed to serve its ostensible purpose, or was it rather intended to show just what it did show — that the Kremlin intends not to be deterred from bending Jews to its will? H E R E is no room for illusion as to the objective o f Russia's rulers concerning the Jews in their grip. The intent to destroy Jewish life remains a constant of Soviet policy, today as in Stalin's time. Nor, despite what is so thrillingly signified by the proclamation of the thirty-nine, can there be illusion as to the

Reality power which the Kremlin can bring to bear to effectuate its black Versus purpose. Yet, after so many long years of intent and attempt to Reality extinguish Jewish life, there emerges with burning force the rerewed will to Jewish life. A generation or more ago, even a decade ago or less, this, and surely its expression through fearless voices, would have seemed an impossiblity. Today it is a reality that pierces the Kremlin's mighty walls. A new chapter has opened in the saga of Soviet Jewry. It is being written by Russia's Jews themselves. Free men throughout the world are duty-bound to see to it that the pen is not stricken from these heroic hands.

-S.B .

M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

Israel’s Propaganda War by RO NALD I. RUBIN the only country lacking a ^ ■ sin g le dependable ally, Israel knows better than to expect the world’s popularity. Extremes are the lot of Israel in international affairs, and, as Abba Eban put it, “The only sentiment not aroused by Israel since its establishm ent is a feeling of apathy.” While m ost Americans, and probably most West Europeans, still tend to look upon Israel more favor ably than upon the Arabs, Israel’s support in the West has nonetheless eroded considerably since the June, 1967 war. Many explanations are possible for this, not the least of which is the upgrading of Arab propaganda over the last two and a half years. The time has passed when Israelis could quip that their best propagandists were the Arabs. At home, Nasser may still use Radio Cairo to whip up internal hysteria against Israel, but abroad the

Arab approach has become cooler and more rational. As Arab arguments begin to develop a measure of seeming plausibility, certain academic and ch u rch g ro u p s, some disaffected blacks, the selective humanitarians of the New Left, and the subterranean antisemites of the old right have found less embarassment in rallying to their support. Despite Israel’s being small and diplomatically without strong allies, since her 1967 victory Israel is no longer seen as the underdog. In an age of political anti-heroes it is unadmirable to win wars; plaudits are the lot of losers. More than magnanimity in victory, according to this notion, is expected from Israel even though it would leave her exposed to a fourth round of war. Particularly in certain in te lle c tu a l circles which hold a romantic affection for simple peas antry, Israel is looked upon as culpable

JEWISH LIFE

for her technical prowess in defeating the Arabs. Moreover, the plight of Arab refugees, it must be granted, lends it self to exploitation. Yesterday’s reali ties such as Arab expectations before the war to drive the Jews into the sea invariably are forgotten in the shuffle of present tragedy. Israelis are not surprised with the new Arab selfrighteousness, turning the refugee issue to maximum political advantage. As an Army press spokesman has noted: “Refugees always get rachmanuth.” U n re m ittin g one-sided UN c o n d e m n a tio n of Israel has also dam aged Israel’s image in certain circles which regard the world organi zation as a sort of universal con science. Under UN bloc politics, the automatic* majority of Communists, Moslems, and “revolutionary” AfroAsian states' brands Israel as an inter national outlaw. Israel’s public resents th is intrusion which so invariably works against her; as one Foreign Ministry official put it, “There’s a debate here about what’s the lowest point on earth — the Dead Sea or the UN.” Finally, Israel suffers from a growing trend in the mass media, which, in the interest of audience building, stresses sensationalism and p o litic a l aberrations. Numerically small Arab terrorist organizations are represented as mass movements. While there are as many definitions of news as there are newsmen, basic to most views is the element of conflict. Just as trends of racial progress in the United States often go unmentioned in favor of those of racial discord, so too Israel falls victim to press dramatization.

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Instances of Israel-Arab cooperation since the war, especially in East Jeru salem, receive slight attention while a demonstration staged by thirty girls in Nablus is news everywhere. Likewise, th is d ram atization works against Israel’s injage in retaliatory raids on Arabs. Because foreign policy news suffers space limitations, the press cites the military facts of the raid while eclipsing the Arab terror build up that had caused such a response. Thus the inverted image of a merciless c o l o s s u s p r o j e c t e d by Arab propaganda. ITH fairly defensible borders for the first time in her history, why should Israel worry about unfavorable news abroad? As one Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman put it, “It’s naive to sit from the Golan Heights to the Suez Canal and try for a good image abroad, especially if but two years ago you were the underdog and twenty years ago the victim of the world.” But the fact is that, even if Israel decides it is not worth her while to portray herself in the best light, what she is will not remain a mystery, because the twentieth century com munications revolution makes possible the dissemination by others of infor mation about her. It is possible to project serious problems for Israel should hostile foreign opinion rise. This development could reinforce Arab militants bent on d estro y in g h er; discourage Arab moderates and, not least of all, streng then the hand of those Soviet politi cians willing to gamble on Nasser in their bid for mastery of the Middle East. Heightened anti-Israel sentiment

will result in more pressure for inter national penalties, especially support of Soviet-backed Arab demands voiced at the UN for economic sanctions and arms embargo. Admittedly, Israel contends with excessively hostile forces in her image campaign. The level of attack against this small state rivals those directed only against major powers. Thus, for Israel, wandering words are no less dangerous than wandering mirages. Actually, a failure to clarify objectives is perhaps more keenly felt in the information realm than in other areas of foreign policy, such as interstate relations, where governments know ingly deal with each other in halftruths and concealed facts. An information program must be sharply targeted because it is direc ted at an increasingly skeptical public. It was only at the end of 1969, how ever, that Prime Minister Golda Meir announced that her new government would for the first time include a Minister of Information. Previously, the Israeli Information Ministry was not administratively autonomous but was attached to the Prime Minister’s Office. The Minister of Information, Israel G alili (commander of the Haganah during the British Mandate), was one of three Cabinet Ministers without portfolio. It is expected that Galili will head the new independent Information Ministry. f T remains to be seen, however, | to what extent the other units of Israel’s disorganized persuasion appara tus will be included under the new ministry. Additional official voices em erging from Israel include the

following: the Information Division and the Culture and Scientific Division of the Foreign Ministry (Abba Eban has in the past opposed the transfer ence of Foreign Ministry- units to an independent Information Ministry); the overseas service of Kol Israel, the state radio; the Army Spokesman, reporting on specific military inci dents; the Defense Ministry, reporting on background security policy; and the Tourist Ministry, courting foreign visitors. Also heard is the voice of the Jewish Agency, promoting immigra tion and serving as liaison with foreign Jewish communities. (This is not to cite the multitude of unofficial voices emerging from Israel as a result of free speech and competition among politi cal parties.) Since no overall direction of Israeli propaganda existed in the past, the results of these independent opera tions appeared as multiple shots in the dark. Accordingly, in fund raising appeals, Jewish organizations abroad would stress Israel’s heroic “365-daysa-year war,”- but the Tourist Ministry would portray Israel as an ideal vaca tion spot. Both of the above objectives have their moment and they represent divergent rather than contradictory goals. When lacking overall coordina tion, however, the specific dissemina tions of Israel-sponsored voices could work counter to her broad foreign policy, leaving foreign observers con fused as to what Israel really wants. Worse than a propaganda pro gram with diffuse objectives is one with misdirected goals. Israel sees its program to influence foreign opinion as Hasbarah (stemming from the Hebrew verb V h a sb irto explain), a

JEWISH L IF E

An agricultural fair was held in Bethlehem by the Ministry of Agriculture for the Arabs of Judea and Samaria.

A doctor from Tel Hashomer government hospital treats an Arab girl at El Arish Hospital in Said.

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d isp a ssio n a te , perhaps academic, communications style. Israel deliber ately avoids “ propaganda” which stands for a more aggressive approach. In times of peace, where favorable foreign opinion is a luxury, a Hasbara h -ty p e explanation program is perhaps justifiable. But when con fronted by an aggressive foe on the battlefield and in public relations, Hasbarah misses the point. Hasbarah stems from the belief that it is possible to fight a propaganda war without propagandists. It is too early to tell how the new Information Ministry will conceptually treat the notion of Hasbarah, but up to the beginning of 1970 foreign communica tions were only small departments in each ministry. Instead of developing specialists, Hasbarah was seen as a temporary stopover in the course of a career. Deprecation of propaganda’s worth naturally works against training specialists in foreign opinion. Cultural or information diplomacy calls for liaison abroad with educators, stu dents, interest groups, literary outlets, and, in Israel’s case, a given country’s Jewish community. HILE the task of staffing some n in e ty m issions in seventy countries obviously strains Israel’s manpower, communications represen tation is especially neglected. Only a few major missions have full-time diplomats in communications work. Even then, the information officer’s tenure is often a hit-and-miss affair. This is because he has not been trained by the Foreign Ministry (which does train commercial attaches) in special ized areas such as the psychological

and sociological bases of communica tions, how ideas and myths are genera te d , and the interaction between domestic and international policy. In dealing with the press, the information officer’s inadequate preparation also contributes to what James Reston has called the natural and historic conflict between the men who make the news and the men who write the news. Sound press relations rests not simply on speed in distributing a statement, but rather on knowledge as to how a story is written and how journalistic layout and language work. For certain key posts (such as Washington, New York, Bonn, Paris, and London), Israel’s Foreign Ministry hires Israeli journalists on a contract basis to serve as press officers. Al though this arrangement dpes away with insensitivity to needs of the press corps, it raises other problems. In addition to the hardship of drawing strong personal loyalties to an organi zation on the strength of a short-term contract, skilled dealing with a foreign press demands more than journalistic knowhow. In the absence of diplo matic experience, this press officer will be unable to relate domestic trends in his country of assignment to Middle E ast problem s. Inexperience also p re v en ts sound contributions to policy-planning decisions in his own mission. Years of service alone do not make for expertise, but they are in tegral to perfecting diplomatic skill — chiefly an art rather than a science. The Hasbarah policy fails to realize that effective foreign communi cations must be geared not only to governments and an educated elite, b u t to th e m ass public. Char-

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acteristically, following each major raid into Arab territory, the Foreign Ministry’s Information Division puts out a heavily documented list of alleged Arab guerrilla incidents which provoked the Israeli response. This tack may be ideal for persuading diplo matic historians, but such material is usually inaccessible and uninteresting to laymen. A targeted program must focus on specific groups of opinion makers who are determined by a given country’s political-social culture. It is not simply a question of providing more money for such activity, for more propaganda does not always mean better propaganda. Appropriate strategy based on research weighing the psychological requirements must be determined. According to these results, a country plan is laid out, spelling out objectives, designating target groups, exploiting media. Thus, in certain Latin American c o u n trie s la b o r unions represent democratic forces and Israel’s commu nications should be geared to what such working men can readily under stand (for example, a film on Hist adru th , Israel’s national union). In A frican countries where organized labor is not a major force, Israel must focus on university populations (using m edia showing Israel’s educational program for students from underde veloped nations). In certain under dev elo p ed nations, a fast-moving soccer team may have sharper impact than a score of Hebrew University lecturers. To be sure, the notion of country plans is followed by the Tour ist Ministry, showing that when Israel sees tangible results in store, such as foreign currency of visitors, she could

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meet the challenge. JSRAEL must change the imple-

I mentation of her communica tio n s machinery; the after-the-fact nature of Hasbarah prevents it from reacting speedily to the sudden chal lenges of guerrilla warfare. Hasbarah is keyed to the slow media of periodical publications rather than fast media associated with daily deadlines and immediacy such as photo journalism, radio, and TV. Thus, Israeli decision makers overlooked the value of photos when they destroyed Egyptian installa tions in 1969 in order to show the la tte r ’s vulnerability should Egypt continue firing across the Suez cease fire line. Only in the wake of Egyptian denials was the order given to the air force to return to provide photo graphic evidence of the sabotage. Widespread illiteracy in the under developed world also makes the publi cations orientation of Hasbarah partic ularly misguided. Thus, funds were unwisely suspended for Kol Israel’s only radio program to West Africa although the program drew thousands of favorable letters. ksBARAH ignores the fact that Israel’s strategic position in 1970 is not what it was before the June war. Earlier, the world saw Israel as a brave little country resisting efforts to destroy her by the surrounding Arab nations with many times her popula tion and material resources and with mountains of Soviet arms at their disposal. New circumstances have made Israel a conqueror, and in this role she cannot use the same themes she did as victim. In a strange victory

which, as C.L. Sulzberger put it, the victor is prevented from “either de stroying an enemy or dictating sur render terms,” propaganda must be particularly attuned to delicate shifts in the international climate. Is ra e l’s new themes should depict both positive aspects of her national fiber and the benefits which her victory has brought the .Arabs. Subjects which lend themselves to this presentation include: the physical renewal of East Jerusalem since the war; unhindered access to the holy sites by people of all faiths; Jew and Arab living and working harmoniously in united Jerusalem; the Israeli civilian soldier; the pursuit of religious study and of art and culture in border settle ments in the line of Arab guns. Since world opinion is invariably m ore critical of victor than van quished, Israel needs to create favor able propaganda situations (“propa ganda of the deed”). Photos of soldiers on a mission into Jordan evacuating civilians .(in stark contrast with Arab murdering of Israeli civilians) show a sensitive and humanitarian army. Rather than merely blowing up Arab homes adjacent to the Western Wall, believed to harbor terrorists, skilled propaganda would ceremoniously have relocated the evicted Arabs. Instead, Israel plays the new game by dated rules, with propaganda striving to paint the Arabs darkly. The Foreign Ministry’s Information Divi sion publishes detailed analyses of Nasser’s speeches in order to point out blatant lies; it releases a booklet of anti-Israel and antisemitic cartoons culled from the Arab press; it challen ges El Fatah’s professed revolutionary

commitment by showing the guerillas’ connection with Arab monarchies. Nowhere does the failure to stress the positive emerge as poig nantly as in accounts of Israeli retalia tory raids into Arab territory. Since Israel generally aims in her one raid to compensate for a series of guerrilla attacks, the danger in terms of foreign opinion is in the image of overreaction and brutality. Also there is the mili tary’s fear that in the interest of public relations security may be undermined; the price of failure being so obvious no modern army is more security-minded than is Israel’s. (They joke in Israel about the Army officer so secretive that he refused to tell his taxi driver where to take him.) Often information justifying Israel’s military activity is classified as secret. Censorship by the Army stirs resentment in the foreign press corps. Censorship is now a moot issue because any correspondent may telephone his paper directly abroad. Israel is thus the double loser: censor ship is circumvented, and the corres pondent soured. Emphasis on immediate military success, however, has elbowed out presenting military matters in terms the world understands. Ironically, the after-the-fact nature of Hasbarah is most suitable (of all of Israel’s infor mation services) to the Army where preliminary public relations attacks from this source are thought to tip off potential targets. But so literally does th e A rm y take the after-the-fact nature of Hasbarah that only afterthe-fact does it prepare explanations. Thus, the raid on Beirut airport in December, 1968 found necessary to force the Lebanese government to

JEWISH LIF E

Anti-air raid trenches in Kfar Rupin on the Jordanian border in Beit She’an Valley*

At Moshav Givat Yoav on the Golan Heights, a shepherdess carries a gun for defense.

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drive out the terrorists they have harbored, put Israel in the position of attacking a country seemingly unin volved in the Middle East dispute. No supporting material was drawn up in advance on the principle of freedom of the skies and the Arab criminal viola tion thereof. No photos were taken during the incident to publicize the brave and dangerous evacuation of civilians by Israelis. No statistics were prepared on the importance of El Al airlines to Israel’s economy, the attack on whose passengers and planes im pelled the Israeli response. No attempt was made, either before or after the raid, to penetrate Lebanon’s image as an aloof spectator in the Middle East dispute (preoccupied with commerce, to be sure) by citing its record as a haven for international antisemitic front groups. In response to foreign criticism, Israel in dribs and drabs argued her case, but there is no evi dence of her having drawn up in advance contingency plans which need not have divulged secrets nor jeopordized military security. EFORE Israeli foreign propa ganda is to succeed, it must be seriously at home. Taking propa ganda serio u sly means becoming sensitized to the psychological dimen sion of foreign policy. Politically, foreign reaction must be anticipated before decision-making. Somehow, the notion persists among Israeli official dom that, as a result of the travel abroad by officials (most of whose time is spent with Jewish communi ties,.? to boot), each such official is qualified to predict foreign opinion. What this amounts toff however, is

substituting hunches for the work of sp ec ia lists who carefully monitor editorial trends and statements of interest groups and politicians. Scien tific surveys of possible foreign reac tio n need not change the actual decision. But they could affect the timing, implementation of decisions, and, ultimately, how they are revealed abroad. To take propaganda seriously from an organizational standpoint means abandoning a patchwork of information divisions within ministries for the centralized structure created by Prime Minister Meir. In such a propaganda ministry, various depart ments should be responsible for the public relations areas of every ministry and governmental agency, rather than at present where each ministry (such as the Foreign Ministry) deals with its propaganda individually. Thus, propa ganda loses its role as a secondary force in a ministry devoted chiefly to other needs and becomes a full-fledged operation. This change frees the other ministries to concentrate on substan tive issues directly relevant to their fields. It also ends existing problems stemming from the loose, informal coordination among ministries in the area of foreign communications. As a result of this reordering, program o u tp u t in th e new propaganda ministry will undoubtedly be marked by increased flexibility, initiative, and responsiveness. Assigning this new organization ministerial rank will make easier its job of advising the Prime Minister and other agencies on foreign public attitudes for present and con templated Israeli policies, programs, and official statements.

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But despite these merits, diffi culties could loom for this new struc ture; the Army, suspicious of civilian agencies, may be unwilling to coordi nate its work with an agency not primarily concerned with security. In view of Israel’s disappointing experience with her foreign propa ganda since the Six-Day War, certain responsible voices in Israel have been raised for change. Israel has gone so far as to engage the New York public rela tions firm of Ruder & Finn, indicating increased sensitivity to the needs of a scientific approach to propaganda. However, in principle, the contribu tions of outsiders to improving Israel’s image must be limited; as Abba Eban w arn ed , “ O ur special experience cannot be presented by one who has not lived it, by one who was capable y esterday and will be competent tomorrow of representing, with unpro fessional concern, our opponents and the advantages of tooth-paste or a better or worse cigarette.” Bureau cratically* the advice of commercial firms half-way across the world will have slight impact on the day-to-day work of Israelis in the foreign com munications area. But neither more administrative recognition nor more money assure b e tte r propaganda. Conceptually, Israel’s propagandists must drop their commitment to Hasbarah. Admittedly, Hasbarah is an approach appealing to certain strains in the Israeli character: it is independent, direct, proud. It smacks of the stubborn Sabra who insists Israel’s case is so clearly in the right it needs no sophisticated presen tation, and it lends itself to arguments of black and white, right and wrong,

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rather than the nuances of gray which are the cornerstone of diplomacy. Shifting the concept of Israel’s foreign communications will be pos sible under the new ministry, cited above. Training will not be along limited terms as at present. Personnel will learn the wider concepts of propa ganda ,'P|' factors affecting receptivity of ideas, who are the molders and propagators of opinion. Such training produces specialists who not only “ create” propaganda, but are alert to exploiting existing situations which lend themselves to building a favorable foreign image. *^V e SPITE problems of misdirected objectives and sporadic coordi nation in Israel’s foreign communi cations program, it must be conceded that on the great issues of her security and well-being, Israel’s motives, values, and position are supported by very many people beyond her borders. On the strategic issues in the wake of the Six-Day War, there is wide acceptance abroad of her fundamental claim that without peace Israel cannot be ex pected to change her cease-fire lines. However, this success is due to Israel’s having hammered away at this theme consistently, proof that if she wants something badly enough her propa ganda will meet the test. Wide accept ance of the invalidity of the fourpower peace talks (or other inter mediaries), as opposed to Israel’s in sistence upon face-to-face negotiations with the Arabs, reflects the fruits of Israel’s propaganda. As for daily events, notwith standing UN Security Council disap proval, the world seems to have grown

accustomed to the inevitability of Israeli reprisals* Finally, the image of Israel ■£- her energy, her social experi ments, her renewal of the soil and absorption of the dispossessed/^re mains what it is in spite of conflict. Now, she must reshape this image in light of the conflict, not by diffuse disseminations, but by propaganda for a propaganda war. How much this already favorable picture of Israel mirrors years of patient work by Jewish organizations outside Israel, or the impressions of visitors and the reports of correspondents, or the work

of Israel’s communications program, is arguable. The study of opinion forma tion is sufficiently complicated if we confine it to the domestic scene. When we turn our attention to mternational political communication where the “who” is a complicated persuasion audience in another culture, distinct limits on content analysis emerge. What is clear is that in building her case abroad, Israel must narrow the gap between her ultimate goal of foreign support and the everyday performance of her communications network.

Chaim Bear explaining to Jared Ragdi from Kenya, Smart Ikemba from Nigeria, and Ephraim Durie from Malawi the operation of a petrol engine, at the Ort School-Natanya. (Photos cour tesy of Israel Information Services)

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exvi*

once i

o f W\*\o*iu by JUSTIN HOFMANN OR a better understanding of as He rules nature. G-d did not simply Judaism, the posing of certain create the world and then withdraw questions is very helpful. The more from it to leave it to its own devices. basic the questions are, the greater is Rather, He continues to forward His bound to be their contribution to the Divine purpose in the world. Every attainment of this goal. Ideally, then, morning we praise Him to this effect one should compile a list of the most when we say: “Blessed art Thou, O fundamental questions — thé critical Lord our G-d, King of the universe, questions of Judaism 4 by means of who formest light and createst dark which its contours may be charted and ness, who makest peace and createst its essential nature be described. all things. Who in mercy givest light to Undoubtedly, near the very top of the earth and to them that dwell there such a list would have to be placed the on, and in Thy goodness renewest the question of history. What does Juda c re a tio n every day continually.’’ ism understand to be the nature of Similarly, He does not withdraw from history? Does history have a meaning the affairs of men to some Olympian or purpose? What are its determining height of isolation but on the con forces? What is man’s role in the trary, He guides history along His historical process? chosen path to its ultimate goal. From the first page of the Bible Just how basic this conception is to the last it is perfectly clear that G-d in the total structure of Jewish faith is not only “involved” in the historical may be gleaned from the fact that it is drama, He is its ultimate determinator. embodied in the first of the Ten In other words, G-d rules history just Commandments. At the outset of the

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Decalogue, G-d proclaims to Israel: “I am the Lord your G-d who took you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” G-d chose not to reveal Himself in this passage as the Eternal Being or the Creator of the universe which He certainly is. Instead, He chose to stress that He is the G-d of history; that the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian slavery was His doing and not the doing of men. Furthermore, this principle of Jew ish faith was given ^additional emphasis through its Halachic expres sion. The Mishnah (Berochoth, 1,5) states: “We must mention the Exodus from Egypt by night. Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said, I am like a man of seventy, yet I was unable to under stand the reason why the departure from Egypt should be read at night until ben Zoma deduced it from the verse, ‘That you may remember the day of your going out of Egypt all the days of your life.’ ‘The days of your life’ implies days only; ‘all the days of your life’ includes the nights also.” The traditional interpretation is that the Mishnah refers to the third para graph of the Shema, to the paroshah of Tzitzith. And since the command ment of the fringes applies only in the daytime, which the Rabbis deduced from the qualifying phrase ur'ithem otho, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah could n o t understand why this passage should be read at night. But, perhaps, an additional inter pretation may be suggested. Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah may have under stood the commandment of zechirath yetziath Mitzrayim as a commandment to remember an historical event. If so, he wondered, why should this event be

commemorated at night? After all, the E xodus to o k place in the day (Berochoth, 9a). Then came ben Zoma and explained that the commemora tion of Yetziath Mitzrayim. is ordained for “ko/ yemey chayecha,” For what is being commemorated is not merely an historical event, but a principle of faith 9 the principle of G-d’s role in history. A n o th e r h a lo c h a h through which this principle of faith is being “acted out” is the prohibition on Pesach of a mashehu. The prohibition against ‘eating Chometz g| leavened on Pesach extends to the most minute amount. The severity of this law is, indeed, puzzling. Even the transgres sion of the prohibition against eating on Yom Kippur is not punishable until a certain minimum amount of food is consumed. How can one then explain the extraordinary severity of the Issur of Chometz? Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch interprets Matzah as the sym bolic affirmation of the belief that it was G-d Who took the Israelites out of Egypt. The eating of Matzah is the n o n -v erb al proclamation that the Exodus from Egypt was not the work of men. For had it been that, provi sions for food would certainly have been made. No leader planning the journey of an entire people through the desert would have failed to provide for food as part of his preparation. Chometz, on the other hand, symbo lizes human preparation and planning. The eating of Chometz is a symbolic denial of G-d’s role in the Exodus from Egypt. The prohibition against eating even the most minute amount of Chometz may then serve to under score how fundamental a principle of

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faith this principle of G-d’s involve ment in history is in the Jewish tradition. # T is precisely in this that our

I conception differs from other philosophies of history. While Judaism insists that, history, like all other aspects of existence, is determined a spiritual reahty, the best known conceptions of history in Western culture take a naturalistic position. They look to natural rather than to spiritual causes for an explanation of historical events. History, according to these views, is determined by psycho logical, political, or economic forces. Thus, Thomas Carlyle asserted that /‘Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at the bottom the History of Great Men who have worked here. They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the models, patterns, and in a wide sense, creators of whatever the general m^ss of men contrived to do or attain; all things that we see standing accomplished in the world are properly the material result, the practi cal realization and embodiment, of Thoughts that dwelt in the Great Men sent into the world.” In short, accord ing to Carlyle, the history of the world is the biography of great men. The Eighteenth Century German romanticist J.G. Herder developed a conception of “national character” to account for the course of history. The “ n atio n a l character,” he asserted, influences all the history of a nation. It is “unequivocally displayed in all their operations on earth.” The devel opment of this “national character” is influenced, but not completely con

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trolled, by such things as climate and physical environment, Herder believed. While it is not completely clear whether or not “national character” is the sole determining force of history, one thing is certain: according to Herder, “the whole history of man kind is a pure natural history of human powers, actions and propensi ties, modified by time and place.” In short, “every phenomenon in history is a natural production.” Because of the popularity of “Radical Theology” , in recent years, the name of Friedrich Nietzsche, the Nineteenth Century German philoso pher, has become well known among contemporary scholars. Nietzsche may be cited here as an example of psycho logical reductionism. According to him, all reahty is to be explained by the “Will to Power.” T h u sh isto ry becomes for Nietzsche a play of the lust for power. In the process, the weak will give way to a new human being, the Superman. This Superman will rejoice in the possession and exhi bition of strength in ah its forms — physical, mental, and moral. Nietzsche is, in effect, advocating the develop ment of a man who is completely selfsufficient and self-reliant. It is the very opposite of a religious conception. Whah interests us here, however, is not Nietzsche’s atheism and Superman cult, but his explanation of history in terms of psychological forces. Perhaps the most influential conception of history in modern times is that of Karl Marx. His view may be characterized as an economic reduc tionism : everything is reduced to economic forces. According to Marx, “the modes of production of the needs

freedom to make decisions. He is free to respond to G-d’s demands made upon him. This is known as the prin ciple of Bechirah. But a point may be reached at which human actions turn out to be so contrary to G-d’s purpose, that G-d decides to intervene. This point was reached at the time of the Egyptian bondage and G-d decided to “ h ard en th e heart” of Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s freedom of action had, in G-d’s judgment, reached its Emit and Divine intervention was required in order to ensure the reaEzation of G-d’s purpose in history. What many people are tempted to do, however, is to presume to know when Divine inter vention is called for. This is a human weakness to which we must not permit ourselves to succumb. Only G-d possesses this knowledge. Man cannot predict with any degree of certainty if and when such intervention will occur. At best, he can bear witness to its occurrence. He may be cognizant of it while it is occurring or after it has taken place. But even this kind of a posteriori knowledge is not always uncontested. Differences of opinion may arise as to whether or not a certain turn of events may be attributed to Divine interven tion. The man of faith may discern the “hand of G-d” in the situation, wEEe L /U T does this Divine controlling the one lacking in such faith may fail action not do violence to human to do so. This is, perhaps, what was so freedom? In what sense can man be unique about the Exodus from Egypt. considered free, as our tradition main There, G-d’s presence was apparent to tains he is, if historical events are everyone. “This is my G-d,” they sang, guided by G-d? The truth is that there And Rashi comments: “In His majesty are Emits to human freedom. Human He was revealed to them and they freedom is not absolute. Everything in pointed at Him with their finger. A this world is ultimately subject to the maid-servant at the Red Sea saw what w ill o f G-d. Man was given the the prophets did not see.” Not only

of the material life condition the so cial, political, and the spiritual course of life generally.” And his collaborator and friend, Frederick Engels, wrote: “A fundamental condi tion of all history is the production to satisfy physical needs and it is a neces sity of any theory of history to ob serve all the significance and implica tions of this fact.” For both Marx and Engels, ‘"the key to the understanding of the whole history of society lies in the historical development of labor.” In other words, history is the history of the class struggle. In sharp contrast to all these formulations is the Jewish view which seeks the explanation of history not in natural forces, be they psychological, political, or economic, but rather in an u ltim a te supernatural cause. The Midrosh (Yalkut Shim onifi Shemoth 396) tells: “The Emperor Hadrian asked Rabbi Yehoshuaf* ‘Does the world have a master?’ To which the latter replied, ‘Is it then an ownerless world?? ” The answer is given in the form of a rhetorical question. The Rabbis held that the world is not hefker. It is not “ownerless” M f r e e from control from above and left to its own devices. History is directed by G-d along a course chosen by Him.

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those few individuals of extraordinary faith who may be found in a given generation, but even the thousands with more skeptical minds and limited spiritual sensitivity experienced the Divine Presence in the drama of Yetziath Mitzrayim. G-d’s involvement in the Exodus from Egypt entailed not only His moving the human actors according to His purpose in history, but also His intervening with the very processes of nature. This too was necessary for His plan to prevail. Similar such instances are recorded time and again in thé Bible. But even so, they represent the exception rather than the rule of the method by which G-d expresses His will in history. OREO VER, it should be emphasized that G-d’s active interven tion with the human participants in historical events is almost equally rare. Normally, He works through natural events as well as through the free decisions of people. It is not difficult to see how nature with its great number and variety of resources can serve the realization of G-d’s purpose in history. The heat of the sun, the tide of the sea, and the icy winds of winter have frustrated the designs of a hostile army more than once. The fertility of the earth and the preva lence of treasures beneath it have profoundly affected the course of history of many a people. How differ ent would history have been if not for the oil of Arabia or the iron and coal of the Ruhr valley! But no less impor tant in this regard are the free moral decisions of men responding to the Divine claims embodied in the Tprah.

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Who can doubt that by living up to the demands of the Torah, mankind would further the achievement of the goal of history? The free decision of men fo ra moral life supplies history with the dynamics to move toward its ap pointed end. The two ways in which G-d may be said to guide the course of history appear to be alluded to in the Talmud (Sanhedrin, • 98a): “Rabbi Yochanan said, ‘The Son of David will come only in a g e n e ra tio n that is entirely righteous or entirely wicked.’ ” As proof text for the former is cited the verse, “Thy people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever. . .” (Isaiah, 60:21). The proof text for the latter is, “And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no inter cessor. . .” (Isaiah, 59:16) and “For My own sake, for My own sake, will I do i t . , . (Isaiah, 48:11). If the people are righteous, then the goal of history will be reached through their moral actions. G-d will not need to intervene. But if the generation is a wicked one, G-d will have to ensure the achievement of the goal of history by bringing the Messiah as a result of His own intervention. The goal of history in the Jewish view thus appears to be the Messianic Age. It entails the achievement of universal peace. In the words of Isaiah, “And they shall beat their swords into plow shears, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall th ey learn war anymore.” Rabbi Isidore Epstein writes: “The ideals of Justice, Righteousness, and Love shall dominate the affairs of men . . . Gone

too will then be the present state of society, in which lust, greed, violence, p assion assail every righteous en deavour, giving place to a new order which will physically be full of vital satisfaction, because there will be no waste of resources, no enemy to combat, no victor and no vanquished.” In short, the goal is the achievement of an e a rth ly state of moral living coupled with an exalted spiritual attainment^- the universal recognition of One G-d. In the words of Zechariah, it will be the time when “the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall the Lord be One, and His name One.”

| HE Jewish conception of history | is not merely an inert principle of Jewish faith. It influenced Jewish life in some very practical ways. Thus, the ability of the Jew to endure all the adversity of his past P persecution, pogrom ^econom ic disabilities, and infraction of political rights — is in no small measure due to his conviction that historical events follow a Divine plan. It was this conviction that

enabled him to accept whatever befell him with the words, “gam zu letovah” Moreover, it was this conception of h isto ry which engendered the optimism that is so indispensible to active participation in the building of a better world. The decision to work for^ social causes, it seems, is predicated on the conviction that this work has the possibility of success. Work doomed to failure from the outset is not likely to be undertaken. It was the Jewish conception of history that provided Jews with a kind of guarantee that progress is not only possible, but even highly probable. Possessing this faith in the ultimate outcome of history, they felt that they could commit themselves to doing the world’s work. It is thus no coincidence that Jews have often been found in the forefront of many a worthwhile cause and many a noble social endeavor. Imbued with the optimism that springs from the Jewish conception of history and inspired with the social idealism that is such an integral part of the Jewish tradition, their involvement in these social projects was almost a foregone conclusion.

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college student evaluates his professors by EZRA FLEISCHMANN ITTING in a college classroom one often wonders about the man who is lecturing to you. A parti cular question that often comes to mind is: Is he really as removed from the faith to which he was bom as the subject material he is teaching? Pon dering this, I decided to conduct a survey among Jewish social science professors at the City College of New York. I have interviewed sixteen pro fessors. These findings are of course not to be taken as fully representative of all Jewish professors, but I believe that they offer a good indication of the practices and beliefs characteristic among them. Inquiry as to background among the interviewees disclosed that the amount of Jewish education among them varied, but mostly within a mini mal range, One professor had a yeshivah background and another had attended a yeshivah for a brief period,

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but the rest had received only one or two years of private or Hebrew school equivalent education or no Jewish education at all. Almost all had marked their Bar Mitzvah occasion. With one exception, they were all acquainted with Tefillin and almost all had put them on at least once. When asked if they would be interested in putting them on today, only the one who did not know about them said he would be interested in putting them on. Significantly, the parents of almost all these academicians had practiced what one young lecturer had called “phony Reform Judaism” for “their children’s sake.!” This would generally include going to Temple on High Holy Days, giving their children Chanukah presents,, and sometimes having a Seder on Pesach. This young professor, though denouncing his parents for practicing for children’s sake, said he would also “expose” his children to

religion and take them to services even though he ordinarily does not attend any service. Besides the two professors who attended yeshivah, only two others had received Jewish schooling of some extent. One of these, who came from an orthodox home and still is obser vant, had had several years of private Jewish instruction. The other went to Hebrew school and then to Hebrew high school, but he was never .ortho dox in belief or practice. The two professors who did go to yeshivah are today not observant. One of the two came from Eastern Europe and had an e x tre m e ly religious family back ground. He admitted to having studied Chumosh, Mishnah, Gemorah, etc. Yet today his observance is nil. He said he would even teach on Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur if CCNY were open on these holidays. He is extremely permissive in his views on intermar riage and would not object to his children marrying non-Jews. When asked to explain why he had made such a radical change, he stated two basic reasons: 1) the events of World War II; and 2) his conversion to science and materialism. The other young professor who went to yeshivah attended only three months. He came from a family which observed Shabboth and Kashruth, but he only went to Sunday school for most of his youth. His background was n o t conducive to Orthodoxy. His parents did not live in New York City and today he associates religion with hindering and stifling oneself. Today the young professor still observes some of the holidays. He attends services on Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur, fasts

on Yom K ip p u r, and observes Chanukah and Passover in a secular manner. He is quite skeptical about intermarriage and believes th^t this may cause problems for himself. Howeverj for his children, he would be more tolerant. He would let them observe as much as they wish and he would not be disturbed if his child married a Protestant but would object more if he would marry a Catholic. He feels that Catholics are more religious and there would be too many prob lems involved. The one professor who is obser vant is a nephew of a leading Conserva tive minister. His parents were very observant and he also today keeps Shabboth and Kashruth, and davens three times a day. He would never teach on any Jewish holiday. He does however consider himself ideologically a Conservative Jew. He attends a Conservative synagogue and is very active in Jewish affairs. He is strongly opposed to intermarriage and when asked about his children intermarry ing, responded with “G-d forbid!” The only other professor to have an exten sive Jewish education is today the editor of a leading Jewish magazine. He com es from a home where K a sh ru th was observed but not Shabboth. He took courses in college in Jewish history and spent a number of months studying in Israel. As a child he attended services every Shabboth but today he only attends five or six times a year in addition to the High Holy Days. He still goes to shool on Purim and Simchath Torah. He and the one previously mentioned are the only ones of those interviewed who put Tefillin on at all during the

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year. This young professor only put it on twice a year (on his parent’s yahrzeit and on the date of his Bar Mitzvah). He is well versed in Jewish affairs and is a member of three differ ent synagogues. He would never teach on Rosh Hashonah or Yom Kippur and is strongly opposed to intermar riage. He can read and speak Hebrew fluently. This is in marked contrast to another interviewee who is an atheist and cannot read or write Hebrew ^ and who will be teaching a course on the government of Israel!

opposed to religion and not only would teach on the High Holy Days but is strongly opposed to CCNY closing on Jewish holidays. This well known academician feels that most students are not religious and the college should not close for them. He is not opposed, however, to CCNY closing on Christmas since that is “a national holiday.” He is in favor of Israel for democratic reasons but is strongly opposed to the present type of government because under Israel’s laws he would not be permitted to marry a non-Jew. F the sixteen professors I have The flame of Jewishness in these interviewed, there were three two professors is nearly extinct and it who stated that they not only are would take a near miracle to revive it. unopposed to intermarriage but have A near miracle has taken place, themselves intermarried. The Jewish though, in the case of the third profes education of all three is very weak. sor who had intermarried. He comes For two of the three their only con from a Germ an-Je wish background. ta c t with Judaism was their Bar His observance as a child was nil. He Mitzvah ceremony. One stated that he did not “have a Bar Mitzvah” and had had never belonged to a synagogue and absolutely no Jewish education. His the only Jewish organization of which parents had some religious feeling, but he had ever been a member was a it was more towards Christianity, to Jewish scout club. His grandparents which his mother had briefly con were religious but his parents observed verted. Today this intermarried profes nothing; he is married to the daughter sor is studying Hebrew, goes to shool, of a Protestant minister. The only and fasts on Yom Kippur. He is contact his child has with the Jewish strongly interested in bringing up his faith is her interest in Jewish jokes. He child as a Jew and believes that his is one of the few professors who is not observance will increase as his child strongly in favor of Israel but he is becomes older. He is aware of the fact somewhat sympathetic. Another of that according to Jewish law, his child the three, a leading professor, stunned is not Jewish. He claims not to believe me when he told me that his wife is in the biological basis for identity and not Jewish. He had practically no does not know how to resolve this Jewish education, and his parents had dilemma. I spent quite a while with maintained hardly a vestige of Jewish him attempting to find the reason for o b servance. He considers himself his sudden interest in Judaism. He today of Yiddish culture, but not of stated that the Jewish people had the th e Jew ish faith. He is strongly o ld est h isto ric a l ro o ts and his

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experiences under Nazis greatly influ enced him. The most important reason still seems to be that he wants to give his child some cultural and religious training. One prominent sociologist re sented having been required as a child to attend synagogue every Shabboth. His parents themselves did not kee£ Shabboth and did not go to shool but they insisted that he attend. Violently opposed to attending services, he had rebelled constantly. He has strongly denounced this hypocrisy and even read to me a quote from the Talmud which denounced coercion. Today he is non-observant, but still considers himself Jewish. He is a strong suppor ter of Israel and stated that he was deeply moved by the Six-Day War. He is not opposed to intermarriage and will certainly not encourage his child to marry a Jew. He made it a point, however, to stress his view that the meaning of the Holocaust should be given far more importance in Jewish religious life. ^ ^ 9 h E Jews of Spain in 1492 were £ giyen the choice to either apostasize to Christianity or leave the country. When I asked the professors as to their respective decisions if they were given that choice today, only one out of the sixteen replied that he would become a Christian. Some of th e others said they would leave because of the political system this type of society would impose. But all the rest opposed being forced to re nounce their faith. The one professor who said he would submit to baptism if placed in this situation was of West-European

background. He is an elderly professor who had a measure of Jewish educa tion because, where he lived as a child, it was required by law. He is non observant but occasionally attends services, he said, only for the sake of his child. He knew what Tefillin arer but never wore them and had no inter est in doing so. He felt that if CCNY were open on Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur, he would teach, as a matter of personal obligation. Another professor of similar background felt that the major fault of Judaism today was that it was not in the Twentieth Century and its, future rests on this rather than on increased observance. Of all th e Jewish holidays, Chanukah and Pesach are the best observed by these academicians. Many professors, out of respect or for other reasons, would not teach on Rosh Hashonah or Yom Kippur, and five of the sixteen said that they fast on Yom Kippur. Only six are members of a synagogue. Even on Rosh Hashonah, only six attend services and only the one orthodox professor attends regu larly during the year. HE situation sounds quite bleak £ but the flame of Jewishness is not yet extinct. There is one bright light in this picture of darkness, and that is the impact of the State of Israel. All sixteen professors declared their strong support for the Jewish state. Even those who are totally nonobservant and assimilated are very much in favor of Israel. I was unable to find any support for the New-Left’s anti-Israel position among these pro fessors. At least two are active Zionists and almost all the others have some

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connection with Israel. One professor did tell me, however, that he found much apathy when he attempted to organize the faculty in support of Israel. This professor, who had little Jewish education, has a map of Israel hanging in his office and is a life-long Zionist. His wife comes from an ortho dox family and observes the Sabbath. He cooperates with his wife in her maintenance of a religious home, and himself does not travel on Shabboth. Violently opposed to intermarriage, he wants his child to have a good Jewish education and is even thinking of sending his child to a day school. He is unhappy about the apathy most Jewish professors have towards their faith. The establishment of the Jewish state also helped to bring back another professor who came from an assimila ted background. This young professor, who had had but one or two years of Hebrew school and no Bar Mitzvah, considers himself a Jewish nationalist and sees his attachment to the Jewish faith in nationalistic terms. He is o p p o sed to intermarriage and is determined to bring up his children as loyal Jews. The Six-Day War of June, 1967, brought a temporary revival of Jewish ness amongst many of the professors. Thé flame of Jewishness flickered briefly but did not bring about any permanent change. For most, it served to reaffirm their belief in the impor tance of the State of Israel. I found very little dichotomy between the younger and the middleaged professors. If there was any dichotomy, it was that the middleaged professors made Reform-mode gestures toward Judaism “for the sake

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of the children P The young professors who did not have children are gener ally non-observant but they too, when becoming parents, will undoubtedly be practicing with their children the same religious pretence which their parents practiced with them. HE lessons that can be learned from this study are obvious. C o ercio n , hypocrisy, and Reform ersatz will not make one Jewish. A minimal education, no observance, and complete apathy will lead only to com plete assimilation and loss of Jewish identity. The parents of the professors who did not intermarry were stro n g ly opposed to inter marriage even though they were not religious. These professors themselves for the most part are not opposed to intermarriage* For all the obvious limits of a study of a single group of professors on a single campus, it points, at least from the student vantage point, to characteristics prevailing among many Jewish professors on many campuses and among the students no less. And beyond this, I feel that my study re flects conditions among a great pro portion of American Jewry at large. The inescapable conclusion is that assim ilation and intermarriage are bound to wreak further havoc unless strong and immediate action be taken. Plainly, what is called for is a united and total effort by Torah forces to win back our non-religious breth ren. There are hundreds of thousands of Jewish students studying at differ en t college campuses through the United States and Canada. Programs

must be set up, of a scope and depth young people, to draw them closer to scaled to the vast task, to educate in their Jewish heritage. An organized Jewishness these students^- and their and coordinated program must be set professors who, as my survey shows, up by all yeshivoth to educate those are so tragically estranged from the who come from a non-observant back faith of our people. And we must ground. The Jewish fund federations reach out to youth before they get to have at long last promised to give aid the campus as well as while there. All to Jewish education. To finance such religious youth organizations must, programs would be the necessary evi open their doors to non-religious dence that they intended to keep their promise.

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O O

by JONATHAN KELLERM A N HE past few years have seen the constructing an elaborate associational w ord “communication” worn bridge between this and the race problem, the Viet Nam War, and drug ana whittled down to a frazzled cliche. If is unfortunate, because communica addiction. Those in the audience who tion still poses a major problem to have had some experience with drugs contemporary society, specifically to know he doesn’t know much of what he’s talking about, those who haven’t American Jewish society. A good many orthodox rabbis don’t care anyway. Nobody seems to are striving for relevance, as they see care what the rabbi is so sincerely it, in order that they may be able to putting forth. Why? He is trying to be communicate more fully with “the relevant. He is trying to apply the younger generation.” It is a noble tefillah to contemporary issues and intention, but like too many other p r o b l e m s . W hy is th e r e no noble intentions, this effort to uncover communication? Scene 2: This scene could be relevant pathways of communication has often taken on Quixotic propor anywhere in dozens of synagogues around the country. It is time for the tions. Here’s why: Scene 1: It is Erev Rosh rabbi’s Shabboth sermon. The rabbi Hashonah. I sit, along with other talks about the parshah for a few brief orthodox college students, between moments, then quickly and surely he Minchah and Maariv, and listen as a is off on some pet political peeve, young rabbi tries to relate to us. He which he has somehow managed to starts off with a quote from the daven- connect to the parshah. If he is a dove, ing but loses no time in somehow it might be peace in Viet Nam, if (and

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this is more likely) he is a hawk, he will adroitly prove from the parshah that United States commitments in Southeast Asia are noble and justified. Or the rabbi might choose to discuss hippies^* and o th e r long-haired “freaks.” The few long-haired young sters in the shool might shift in their seats uncomfortably ; for the most part th e congregation remains listless, except to laugh at the rabbi’s wellrehearsed jokes. The rabbi can’t understand why young people’s attendance at his shool is not increasing. He is trying to be relevant. What is he doing wrong? A lot. The fact is, that these attempts at relevance show a profound ignorance of what the younger generation is really like. m can only speak for myself, and a I few friends, but I will say that when I come into a shool, I don’t want to hear political proposals, or sancti monious warblings about drugs. I read magazines, and I go to college. I get my gut full of politics and contempo rary problems every day. When I come into a shool, I want a bit of ruchniuth, a bit of spirituality; more specifically, a bit of Torah. Those who have learned enough to receive Semichah should realize that the Torah is vast and rich enough of itself to provide spiritual fulfillment for any genera tion. There is no need to go searching in the backroads of current events, and then, almost dutifully and absurdly, connect this with the current sidrah. The sidrah has it in itself. I can get my politics from better informed sources than the rabbi. Indeed, it is a strange sort of

thing that a rabbi feels obligated to use his pulpit as a political dais. If I may be permitted to say so, it is rather chutzpadik to get up before the Aron Hakodesh and spout personal political views as if they were the Almighty’s given law. Recently, in a synagogue that I am familiar with, a young man under the auspices of a Jewish college organi zation delivered a Shabboth sermon calling for support for the Black Panthers. Needless to say, the sermon, because of its unusual and radical content, outraged a good many of the worshipers, and rightly so. One of the older men complained to me, possibly because I was the nearest college age person around: “Why does he talk about this in the shool?” he asked. “What should he talk about?” I asked. “Why, a D’var Torah, of course!” he answered. I smiled. “Does the rabbi?” Immediately his expression froze, and he realized the point. It was ridiculous to condemn the expression of political views on Shabboth in a shool where precedent, though maybe wrongly, has been set for such expression. The pathetic thing is that this younger generation is a hungry and thirsty generation crying out for spirit uality — a spirituality that isn’t being fulfilled. Their actions the on slaughts of popularity for such quasi religious experiences as transcendental meditation, yoga, classical Buddhism, hallucinogenic drugs, and supernatural cultism —‘ are living striking proofs of this.

I NY sincere and believing ortho[dox Jew has got to believe that Judaism has the spiritual content and

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impact to satisfy this need. Otherwise pathetic attempts of Reform to em why be a Jew? Anyone who has given brace American secularism and inte his religion thought beyond the lip grate it into what they conceive as service stage and has stayed with it has Judaism. Where are they now, the obviously found spiritual satisfaction Reform Jews? Assimilated, intermar with it. So why throw rational secular ried, having to hold Friday night ism in the faces of these groping young coffee klatches in a futile attempt to people? Why the barrage of facts and bring the youth into the temple. political issues for people who want to A friend of mine reports an reach G-d, and who will keep on trying event that if not for its tragic impact, if they can’t find it in conventional would be hilarious. He was at a non ways, possibly in drugs? observant Jewish college youth Friday The older generation has no night service. What was the service? right to complain about drug abuse Everyone sat on the floor, in a circle, among youth. The older generation, in an attempt to emulate the now with its desertion of traditional values popular T-group sensitivity sessions, H- religious values —in order to climb and talked about what was Shabboth. the totem pole of upward socio-eco One read some Yiddish jokes, another nomic mobility, has left its children played the flute, and so on. Then one gasping and drowning in a sea of y o u n g m an got up and said, rational secularism that threatens to “Shabboth is when I hear the birds destroy whole segments of our popula sing beneath my window.” A few days tion. I repeat, and it cannot be over later, my friend ran into this last emphasized, the youth of today is young man, and behind his back imi searching for spirituality^B for reli tated a bird’s chirping (a particular gion. L, as an orthodox Jew, see no talent of his). The young man turned better vehicle of spirituality than my around in bafflement. “What are you own religion. It is a magnificent, doing?” he asked ¿V‘Is it Shabboth?” durable religion that shines above all my friend asked. others. We all know Judaism will not This is typical of what is going be left, along with yesterday’s head on in many Reform and Conservative lines, with all the pseudo-religious fads communities. Here on the West Coast that youth seems so apt to embrace. especially, which is well noted for its So why don’t we give it to them? The radicalism, I constantly read articles answ er doesn’t he in generalized about new radical attempts to make double-talk propositions about estab religion relevant. This includes Friday lishing more college youth organiza night cabarets, religion without G-d, tions. The answer lies in a shakedown etc. All this, of course, to bring the of the orthodox synagogue. youth into the temple. How pathetic. My next statement may come as U n fo rtu n ately , we orthodox a shocker. We are being protestantized. Jews can no longer sit back smugly American society is a powerful one, and smile at the ignorant bumblings of and it has even penetrated into our our less^ observant fellow Jews. Even synagogues. We all know about the our o rth o d o x establishments are

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becoming secularized. Indeed, today many orthodox shools are so inun dated with the trappings of American religion — sisterhoods and men’s clubs (noble organizations to be sure, in their proper perspective), brunches and lunches, banquets and movies, and discussions, at the expense of religion itself — that the Jewish character is being taken out of them. In some of th em , more and more English is brought into the service under the reasoning that it will help those who do not understand Hebrew. This is patently absurd, as most English trans lations are so flowery and unnatural that they are equally, if not more,

difficult to understand. And of course the rabbi’s sermon has changed from the D’var Torah it should be into a weekly exercise in logical acrobatics which attempt to flimsily tie together the rich tapestries of the Torah with the shallow goings-on in the world of politics.

ELEVANCE will not be found by reiterating current events or criticizing drug use and long hair. Relevance will be found in the words and pages of our own Torah. Torah is relevance. No artificial sweeteners, please.

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Pharaoh as Constitutional Monarch

by REUBEN E. GROSS / I RCHAEOLOGISTS would prize as a great find the unearthing of a tablet containing some of the laws of ancient Egypt, inasmuch as no code of Egyptian laws has come down to us. On the basis of some discovered trivia, scientists have often theorized in other field s and developed elaborate hypotheses ^ with disastrously erro neous results in some instances. Yet, we do have in the Ghumosh some accurate reflections of the system of jurisprudence extant in ancient Egypt, in a living setting, pregnant with signif icance as to their system of law. But the Chumosh must be read carefully. Although the Chumosh does not directly describe proceedings before a form al tribunal in the matter of PotipharY wife charging Joseph with attempted rape, such a proceeding is implied in the story. It may have been a summary proceeding before the jail warden to whom Potiphar brought

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Yoseph. That such a court existed and that it protected the rights of the accused is inferrable from the fact that Joseph was not lynched or summarily executed by Potiphar. Even in the Southern United States until about forty years ago, it was fortunate for a d e fe n d a n t, charged with rape or attempted rape across racial and class barriers, to be brought before a court and to suffer nothing more than a jail penalty. Considering that Joseph was a friendless slave of foreign extraction and that his purported victim was a lady of high-born rank, it speaks well for the standards of law and order then prevailing in Egypt that Joseph suffered no greater miscarriage of justice than the recorded jail sentence. Potiphar is reported to have been ex ceedingly angry at the presumed disgrace. It would seem, therefore, that he did not possess summary power of life and death over his slaves

as did his counterparts in the Persian, Greek, or Roman worlds of later date. Indeed, even Pharaoh did not disregard the rules of due process. He did not summarily execute those who threat ened his own life, his cupbearer and baker, until the matter had been duly investigated. Any lawyer will readily note that in a few words, Potiphar’s wife succinctly pleaded all the necessary elements of this alleged crime: recent outcry, corroboration, and conscious ness of guilt, when she said: “And when he heard that I lifted up my voice, and cried out, he left his gar ment with me and fled outside.’* ^ In jail Yoseph met two prisoners charged with the most heinous form of offense imaginable in an Oriental monarchy: a threat against the life of the king, high treason. In our own era, in many of the People’s Republics, susp icio n s of such involvements against the dictator’s life have brought thousands to involuntary suicide or summary execution. Yet in ancient Egypt one of these two suspected persons was ultimately acquitted with full restoration of his civil rights, and the other prisoner was not executed until after three days, presumably until after his file (or papyrus roll) had wended its way through the .red tape of Pharaonic bureaucracy and was finally stamped or sealed with the hieroglyphics symbolizing “guilty.” no time during the entire sojourn in Egypt by the Children of Israel is there evidence of a com plete disregard for the sanctity of human life comparable in any way to the free-wheeling and dealing of an

Achashverosh, for example, who was ready to consign a whole people to death for no reason other than that they were different and that he stood to net ten thousand talents out of the deal. Nothing comparable to the cyni cism of the final solution of the Third Reich is even suggested. The Ramban and other commentators have pointed out that the subjection of the Jews was a gradual process. At the outset we hear Pharaoh saying to his closest advisers, “Let us deal cleverly with them.*’ The question that immediately suggests itself is, why should guile have been necessary? Who stood above Pharaoh that he had to proceed by indirection? Did the Jews have foreign allies whose influence niight have induced caution in Pharaoh’s heart? The only conceivable answer is that Egypt was a constitutional monarchy wherein the king, too, respected the law. That there existed constitutional provisions which Pharaoh respected is expressly set forth in Bereshith 46:22 where it is related that Yoseph did not acquire the land of the priests for Pharaoh although he had acquired all other lands, “Because there was a chuk to the priests from Pharaoh and they ate their chuk that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.” Onkelos and Rashi, based on Pcsachim 172> translate chuk as a food allot ment. Yonathan ben Uziel refers to it as “right.’® Chuk also means “en graved*’ and “fixed statute,” The underlying thought seems to be that constitutional laws were engraved on steles or monuments, and the priests, in this instance, could point to such a law as their guarantee of support,

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which Pharaoh had to respect. Thus, a certain form of freedom of religion was part of the basic struc ture of government. The rights of subject minorities, having faiths other than the established religion, to enjoy freedom of worship, was also respec ted. When Mosheh requested a holiday for a feast in the wilderness to the Lord of Yisroel, Pharaoh asks, “Who is the Lord . . . .” (Shemoth V,2), i.e., “Is your religion a recognized cult?” Freedom of worship and a due regard for the holy days of subject minorities seems to have been tacitly recognized by both Moses and Pharaoh in this exchange. Mosheh’s difficulty appears to have been that he could not estab lish eligibility to this freedom, inas much as the Jews could point to no national shrine nor could they cite a previously established cult. For when Mosheh follows up and says, “The G-d of the Ivrim has called upon us, let us take a three-day journey in the wilderness and offer a sacrifice to the Lord our G-d . . . the Ivrim, unlike YisroellE being a recognized people in Egypt — he apparently scored his point. Pharaoh then does not deny the justice of his claim but seeks to parry it with the wistful plea, “Mosheh and Aharon, why do you disturb the people at their work!” T*HE above allusion to the estab■ l i s h e d a llo tm e n t fo r th e Egyptian priests is mentioned in the Chum osh in connection with the acquisition by Joseph of all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh as a result of the famine, his wholesale transfer of the population to the cities, and his plac

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ing them back on the land under terms whereby they paid a 20% tax on their produce for the privilege of using the land. A momentous social and eco nomic transformation is hinted at therein, bearing rich jurisprudential and constitutional implications. One indication is that there was a change from allodial tenure of land to a form of feudal tenure. But the Chumosh is not a text book on Egyptian history; so we are left in fascinated wonder with nothing more than hints of some of the complex legal problems that beset a nation with a sudden revolu tion of its basic laws. Not only land lawSj but the laws of persons and their relationship to their sovereign were com pletely transformed. We read, “Yoseph said to the people ¿¿I have acquired you this day, as well as your land, for Pharaoh.” Interestingly, the new basis of government established by Yoseph was by “Social Contract,” not by status, although it was under duress that they gave their consent to the new arrangements. The justifica tion for the 20% income tax estab lished by Joseph was the consent of the governed! Considering that Egypt was the greatest civilization of that era and one of the greatest of all time, it is fair to assume that she possessed a sophisti cated system of jurisprudence. Management of her vast resources of materials and labor would have been impossible without such a system. But the unmistakable sense of due process, freedom, and the supremacy of the law, which is projected from between lines of the Chumosh, has a distinctly modern flavor, inviting further investi gation into this field along more conventional lines. 37

CANADIAN JEWRY IN PERSPECTIVE by JACOB BELLER m J^ANADA with its rich and broad sweep that extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and north to the Arctic, contains within itself a mixture of diverse peoples ^ a mosaic of many ethnic groupings. Its peoples are as diversified as its landscape and climates. Similarly her outward form, her building style, is made up of many forms, from the very newest architec tural technique to those that recall ancient traditions. In recent years Canada has sur prised the world with her tempo of growth and her great forward stride. Her economic rise has assumed an extraordinary pace. Oil, zinc, gold, silver, lead, copper, and dozens of other minerals have been uncovered and tapped in the remote areas of Canada where for generations they lay buried in the depths of the wide stretches of uninhabited waste land. Industry has forged ahead at a great

pace, expanding twenty-fold. The contrast of the large cities of Canada’s industrial East with the remote farming villages of the prairies *or the mining towns of the North is so great that it is hard to believe they all exist in the same country. To really know Canada, it must be crossed in its length and its breadth, and one must see th e magnificent everchanging scenery and the ways of life, the tradi tions, and the characteristics of her mixed population. UEBEC CITY, with its oldfashioned architecture of the ancien regime, is a piece of old France. The fishing villages of the Maritime provinces are reminiscent of Holland with their daybreaks and sunsets. If you look at the small settlements of the West, you see before you quiet, dreamy villages enveloped by vast piercing mountain peaks and breath-

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taking panoramas which remind you of the fjords of Norway. Come to Banff which is near Calgary and, looking at the magnifi cent villas, you feel you must be in Switzerland, somewhere near Lucerne, at the foot of the mountain range which circles the canton. Here the tempo is more restrained, the nervous pace vanishes entirely, and you see before you quite a different Canada. From the urban centers to the farm belt, which begins just beyond Lake of the Woods and extends deep into the prairies, is a tremendous dis tance. Here you see immediately the difference & the whole pace of life is more relaxed, the intense drive and pressure is lifted, and you see before you a totally different Canada. T hen you enter the mining centers, the backward areas which have now experienced a rebirth be cause of the natural resources that have been uncovered. Every day, minerals that have lain in the sod since the Six Days of Creation are being removed. Your nostrils are as sailed by the smells of gas and oil and your eyes by the brilliance of gold, silver, zinc, lead, copper, and other minerals. Throughout its entire length from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Canada shares a border with its rich neighbor, the United States. If you

come from New York to Toronto, the difference between the national envi ronments is hardly noticeable. You have the feeling that you have left New York for a provincial American city . If you travel from Western Canada to the adjacent part of the U.S.A., you also see little change — ex cep t th a t on th e train from Winnipeg to Minneapolis you hear half a dozen languages spoken. Winnipeg is the gateway to the West. It has a greater admixture of ethnic groups than any other city in Canada. If you come from New York to Montreal, the difference is quite sharp. Suddenly you have entered quite a different country. The sound of the French language greets you at the border. True, if you explain that you don’t speak French, you are addressed in English, but it is an English with a distinct French aroma and, along with the whole new atmosphere that now surrounds you, you are quite sure you are in a different country. Montreal is a city that is a fusion of two cultures — both Canadian, but both clearly distinct from each other. In appearance it is also different from other centers. Not only is it bi-cultural in language but it is in its structure, in the layout of its streets, in its architec ture, that the influence of two civiliza tions is revealed — that Of France and that of England.

CAN AD IA N JEWRY ASSERTS ITS INDEPENDENCE HE Canadian Jewish community § was for many years a sort of annex to, or subsidiary of, the much larger Jewry of the adjacent U.S.A. until Canada began to shake off her

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swaddling clothes. T h e C a n a d i a n J e w is h community passed the quarter-of-amillion figure some years back and its achievement of self-sufficiency has

been a successful experiment. It now has its own multi-branched structure for cultural and philanthropic work; and activities in all areas are central ized in the Canadian Jewish Congress, the roof organization under which all shades and nuances of Jewish life are embraced, with the exception of the Communists —an isolated insignificant group in the Jewish complex. V arious n a tio n a l groupings, which for years were a part of the national organizations in the U.S.A., such as B’nai B’rith and the Labor Zionist movement, now have separate Canadian structures. Hadassah and the Zionist Organization were Canadian from their inception. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America has units for Eastern Canada and Central Canada. It should be borne in mind that the Canadian Jewish community is much younger than its neighbor to the south and that the Canadian Jews differ measurably from the American Jews. This is due not only to the gap in communal age but to other circum stances as well. The threat of assimila tion g though it cannot be dismissed lightly — is by and large not as great. The best evidence is that, of the 250 congregations which exist in Canadian Jewry, only nine are Reform and twenty-five are Conservative (of the latter, some are close to Orthodoxy). The rest are orthodox congregations. The failure of the Reform move ment to sink deep roots in Canada may be attributed to the difference in the way the community began; from th e beginning, it was a different community from that of the United S ta te s. Only vestigial traces have

survived of the Sephardic Jews who came with the British Conquest. There was little of the Reform-bearing German Jewish immigration which, in the mid-19th Century, so deeply af fected the religious climate of the U.S. community. The factual builders of the Canadian Jewish community were the East European Jews who came to C anada b efo re Baron de Hirsch planned his Jewish farm colonies in the West in the 1890’s. Winnipeg, the third largest city of Canada, was then the center of the smaller Jewish settle ments in Western Canada where the first Jewish colonists settled. F rom W estern C anada the immigrants dispersed over all parts of the country and it was they who ex erted an influence in the development of Jewish life and were the guides for the trend it took. This was in contrast to the United States where the Russian and Polish “Yidden” found an establ i s h e d co m m u n ity o f G erm an “ Y a h u d im ” who dominated the Jewish scene and who were the spokes men and leaders prior to the mass immigration from Eastern Europe. HE beginning o f the East E uropean Jewish community took the same form as in the United States. Secularist, radical Jews seized leadership and set the tone. They put the emphasis on the Yiddish language sans Yiddishkeit. Before long, how ever, the orthodox element began to outnumber the others and the Yiddish language minus Jewishness did not appeal to them. The folk tradition they had brought over from their home was that Yiddish and Yiddish keit are inseparable and must go

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together. The Jewish folksmentsh, who in his East European home was tied by many threads to synagogue and reli gious life, did not care for this kind of truncated Yiddishism without Jewish content and he made his choice — it was for the synagogue. This process eventually succeeded in returning a large number of the former radicals to the synagogue. It should be no surprise to come across the sons and daughters of the former ardent advocates of radicalism not only as attendants and members of synagogues, but as syna gogue presidents, even as rabbis or wives of rabbis. Whereas Orthodoxy has made advances in the last generation, the Yiddish language has undergone a decline. The decline of Yiddish can be attributed to those who placed the emphasis on Yiddish without Jewish content. The downward trend of the language is evident from the census figures. While in 1931, 95.4% of Canadian Jews gave Yiddish as their mother tongue, in 1941 the figure was 76.2%, in 1951 it was 50.6%, and in 1961 only 29.6%. If a count were to be taken this year, the figure would be still lower. It should be borne in mind that the first Yiddish secularist schools in North America were established in Canada. Of Canada’s three Yiddish dailies, what have survived are three rather meager weeklies which only appear thanks to the initiative and efforts of individuals. In the last few years, religious schools have grown on a rather large scale ,?\not only in impressive and modem edifices but also impressive in terms of results. Montreal possesses a

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number of important yeshivoth and T orah ce n te rs. The Lubavitcher Yeshivah, which was founded twentyfive years ago, has today become an established center for Torah studies. The Merkaz Hatorah Yeshiva, founded at the same time, has produced twenty alumni who occupy positions as spir itual leaders in various Canadian cities and even in the U.S.A. There is also the Meor Hagolah Yeshiva — an insti tution modelled on those in the old country. There is a Yeshiva Gedolah for young men who take night courses at the universities, and a yeshivah of the Rebbe of Tasch in Ste. Therese, which has received a Canadian govern ment loan of half-a-million-dollars on easy repayment, 'and which has be come an entire community of its own. Toronto has a Ner Israel Yeshiva, a b ra n ch o f th e sim ilarly named Baltimore institution. To supplement these, Beth Rivka and Beth Jacob schools for girls have been established in Montreal and Toronto respectively. Jew ish edu catio n has been centralized in both cities. Toronto has a Board of Jewish Education to which all Jew ish schools are affiliated. M ontreal has the United Talmud Torahs as its central institution. There are about 100 educational institutions across the land. While many of the schools designated “Talmud Torah” in T o r o n t o ^ M o n treal, W innipeg, H a m ilto n , O ttaw a, JCalgary, and Edmonton are all-day schools, giving combined religious and general educa tion, the rest are, in the main, supple m en tary afternoon schools. It is estimated that more than 100,000 children receive some form of Jewish education in Canada. The only pro-

vince without a Jewish school is Prince E dw ard Island, which is virtually devoid of any Jewish population (there were eleven Jews there in 1961). R e c e n tly M ontreal’s United Talmud Torahs celebrated its seven tieth anniversary. From a cramped little room in a poverty-stricken slum with no more than twenty pupils it has grown to a modern educational com plex w hich trains children from kindergarten to the end of high school, with a teaching staff of 130, and housed in well-equipped modern build ings. However, the rise of Jewish edu cation in Montreal was achieved with much difficulty. It was thanks to dedicated and far-seeing workers who realized that the foundation of a people and its future is its youth that effort and perseverance brought the p re sen t reward. Today there are numbers of community leaders who are products of these schools and who also are involved in the administration and support of their own former schools. The Montreal Jewish community is the largest in Canada. Located as it is in the province of Quebec, with its distinctive bi-lingual, bi-cultural prob lems, the Jews are subject to competi ng pressures. Thus, Ben Beutel, long time president of the United Talmud Torahs, at the seventieth anniversary occasion said: Jews can only survive in two c u ltu re s by preserving thenheritage. The lure of the sur rounding culture is most attrac tive and powerful. No ghetto life will be re-imposed nor tolerated by modern Jews. The fences we

erect are those of Jewish teach ings in a wide world. If we do this we can live successfully in two cultures. If we fail to do thisthe dangers of assimilation will be real. Talmud Torah is, there fore, the foundation of that fence. In its present fund campaign, the United Talmud Torahs has proclaimed a goal of over a million dollars. When one adds to this the appeals for the yeshivoth and other educational insti tutions, the total budget for Jewish schooling amounts to about two million dollars. The activity of the Canadian Jewish Congress in the Jewish educa tion field includes establishment of a teachers seminar and a coordinating committee on Jewish education. The Allied Jewish Community Services too has recently shown interest in Jewish education. At its initiative McGill U niversity and the University of Montreal have introduced courses in Judaica. McGill has three such courses, one in philosophy and two in Yiddish literature, of which one is given in English and the other in Yiddish. T h e V a ’ad H a’ir (Jew ish Community Council) of Montreal has a well organized structure to protect Kashruth. This agency, now in its 47th year of existence and to which are affiliated various groups and agencies, exercises control over Kashruth in the province and has succeeded in gaining wide acceptance. Several leading hotels have, on the initiative of the Va’ad Ha’ir, installed kosher kitchens and arranged for supervision for their Jewish functions. Most Jewish summer camps in the area observe Kashruth

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and are under the supervision of the Va’ad. Recently the Montreal YMHA accepted the Va’ad’s Kashruth supervi sion for its kitchen. The Montreal Va’ad Ha’ir has its own organ in English, Yiddish, and French, “The Voice of the Va’ad,” which does not confine itself to Kashruth but makes an effort to win over the youth to the Jewish cause and to Torah Judaism through its “Torah Youth Council.” In T o ro n to , th e C anadian Jew ish Congress has a Kashruth department of some scope.

congregant figure of the Region amounts to well over 40,000. Through the synagogues we are in close Contact with both parents and children, working in close cooperation with the Rabbinical Council of Canada. We maintain liaison with the Vaad Ha’ir and other communal bodies, and help strengthen the ties between the synagogues and th e ed u catio n al institutions, particularly the Talmud Torahs and yeshivoth. Through the junior congregations, boys and CONTRIBUTION of growing girls have become part of NCSY, importance to the advancement youth arm of UOJCA, and main of Orthodoxy in Canada is being made tain a vibrant program. by the Union of Orthodox Jewish The in flu en c e of Women’s Congregations of America through its Branch of the Union is also apparent. Eastern Canada, Central Canada, and At the last conference of the Montreal Northwest regions, established within Chapter of Women’s Branch which was the past few years. In a conversation held in Beth Zion Synagogue at Cote with Hyman Baum, president of the St. Luc, three generations were visible Eastern Canada Region, at its head among the hundreds who attended. A quarters on Victoria Street in the substantial proportion were younger c e n te r of Montreal’s new Jewish women of a type that spoke well for district, he told me: th e present character and future Apart from our tasks in bringing potential of the orthodox sisterhood. unified effort and spokesmanAll listened intently to a symposium ship to orthodox synagogue on “The Modern Woman and Her forces, our key goal is to carry Home” given by Stanley Cohen, assist on the traditions of our glorious ant editor of the Montreal Star, Rabbi heritage with our face directed Sydney Shoham, president of the to the younger generation. There Rabbinical Council and spiritual leader are dangers lurking for our chil of the B’nai Zion Congregation, and dren these days and we are Mrs. Irene Gordon, mental health forwarding a positive program to consultant. The ensuing question-andhead th em off. Twenty-two answer period gave further evidence of synagogues in Montreal and its the caliber of the audience. And when suburbs and in Ottawa are in the chapter president, Mrs. Herman cluded in the Eastern Canada Davis, delivered her annual report and Region of the UOJCA. This is a ' each sisterhood thereafter reported on substantial source of strength. It its activities, the range of active pro can be assumed that the total je c ts disclosed fwas striking. The

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listener could not fail to realize that the woman is still the foundation of th e Jewish home, and that these

women bring the family closer to the synagogue and bring the synagogue closer to the family.

THE ROLE OF NORTH A F R IC A N JEWISH IM M IG RA N TS E IG H T E E N TH O U SA N D F ren c h -sp eak in g S ep h ard ic Jew ish immigrants have come to Canada in recent years; of these, 10.000 are from North Africa and 8.000 from France and Belgium. These figures were made known at a recent conference of the Montreal Va’ad Ha’ir. Most of them have settled in Montreal and constitute an important addition to Canada’s Jewish popula tion and one of great significance. There are reasons why most of these arrivals have concentrated in Montreal, the metropolis of French Canada — and there are also results which may flow from this. Not only have they exerted an influence on the existing Jewish community, but they are marked for a special mission in the future in relation to the lines of com m unication between Jew and French Canadian in Quebec. T he 1 8 ,0 0 0 French-speaking Jews have by now shaken off the immigrant dust from their feet and consider themselves established resi dents. They have created a number of synagogues and organizations B- so far eight in number: Anshe Castilla, Beth Jo sep h Congregation, Congregation Sefardi de Langue Française, Syna gogue Portugaise-Espagnol, Union Federation Juif Française, a B’nai B’rith Lodge, Association Sepharade Francophone, and a youth group with m ore th a n 200 members which arranges cultural events.

In T o r o n t o , a g roup of Sephardic Jews, mainly from Tangiers, has established a synagogue and acquired its own building. Another group, including men and women from Casablanca, other parts of formerly French Morocco, Gibraltar and Qther centers, have established a Sephardic association which is affiliated with the Farband Labour Zionist Order and under the name of Magen David C o n g r e g a t i o n fu n c tio n s as a synagogue. The Province of Quebec has been carrying on a stubborn struggle for French language and culture since the British Conquest more than 200 years ago. At the time of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, it looked for certain as if the then 60,000 French peasants, cut off from their mother land, would be swallowed up and merge with the dominating English majority of the continent. Today, vastly multiplied in number, the French Canadians have developed an in te n se nationalism and zealously n u rtu re their heritage of French culture. This explains the friendly recep tion given to French-speaking Jewish newcomers and why Quebec is pleased to have these new “Francophones” who are met with open arms. Some have even been given government positions as teachers and instructors in various schools. In this way it is possible that they will serve to cement

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Chief Rabbi Isaac Nissim of Israel, the Rishon L’Tzion, on a visit to Montreal in May, 1968 under the auspices of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Escorting him are: (I. to r.) Dr. Melvyn Schwartzben, then President of the UOJCA Eastern Canada Region; Rabbi Sidney Shoham, spiritual leader of Beth Zion Congregation in Cote St. Luc; the Chief Rabbi; Dr. Meir Benayahu, Director of the Ben Zvi Institute of the Hebrew University, and son of the Chief Rabbi; and Dr. Samson R. Weiss, UOJCA Executive Vice President.

Gerald N.F. Charness (1.) and David Rotenberg (r.), both orthodox Jews, were recently elected respectively to the posts of Deputy Mayor in Canada’s two largest cities, Mr. Charness in Montreal and Mr. Rotenberg in Toronto.

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good relations between the Jewish community and the French majority in Quebec. In the past, the latter element has often complained that the various national groups which come from abroad have tended to integrate to the “Anglophones” despite the French-speaking majority in Quebec. And so it is now that the newly-, arrived 18,000 Jewish immigrants have made a contribution, in the short period they have been here, to Jewish and to Canadian life in general and promise to play an even more vital role in the rapprochement between the Jew and the French Canadian. T IS important to stress that the u n i o n o f S ep h ard im and Ashkenazim — a process that has been going on for years in the Latin American lands where large numbers of Sephardim settled fairly early —is being achieved in Canada in a fairly straightforward manner. The most effective non-partisan platform that unites both elements is the synagogue, despite the difference in language. It can best be seen in the religious sectors of both groups. Among those of the Sephardim who are of a less religious bent, the process is not as easy. Among those, lacking firm religious orientation, uprooted from their tradi tional life pattern, and socially and linguistically exposed to assimilative currents, the danger of intermarriage is great. The religious Sephardim have organized a group called Le Mouvem en t R eligieux Sepharade which conducts a certain education program and plan. The girls study with the Ashkenazi girls at the Beth Rivka

school, the boys at the Lubavitcher Yeshiva. Religious studies are taken together. General studies are given in French for the Sephardim and* in English for the Ashkenazim. The most recent development — and a remarkable one in the thorny history of the Jewish e.ducational problem in Quebec is that the Catholic School Commission of the Province of Quebec has set up a school for Jewish Francophones which will be completely autonomous, administered by a Jewish principal,, provide Jewish re lig io u s instruction and & most important of all - totally financed by the Catholic School Commission. It is located on the premises of St. Antonin S chool and is know n as Ecole Maimonide. This is the first time such a develo p m en t has taken place in Quebec — or for that matter in all Canada, i.e., the total financing by government of a Jewish school. The key, of course, is that it will be a French-language institution. m ost recent changes in £ C an ad a’s immigration rulings ana the political upheavals of a few years ago in Hungary have brought to Canadian shores a number of Jews from those parts of Hungary whose Jew ish populace has always been strongly pious. These extremely reli gious immigrants have perceptibly altered the old Jewish quarter in Montreal. In the earlier years of Jewish immigrant influx, the Jews crowded about the Park Avenue section in Montreal just as in New York they concentrated on the East Side. When they “worked their way up” they

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moved to wealthier sections in the suburbs. Now their old district has been taken over by the new orthodox immigrant and its entire face has been changed. It has taken on the appear ance of a Williamsburg, Montreal style, resembling closely an East European shtetl of old with chadorim, yeshivoth, restaurants maintaining strictest Kashruth, little Battey Medrosh, shtibelech, and kloizn of Chassidic disciples of certain rebbeyim. On a Friday evening the Jewish ness of the area is so dense and so tangible you feel you can almost touch it with your hand. An era of the past comes alive again as you see Jews strid ing out of the doors of their syna gogues amidst a sea of broad-rimmed sable shtreimlech and satin full-length kappotas accompanied by delightful little Shloimelech and Moishelech. You hear the twang of a hearty, solid Yiddish coursing through the air echo ing and re-echoing: Gut shabbes! When a Chassidic Rebbe comes to spend Shabboth in Montreal, the colorful images of a by-gone day come to life again. Hundreds of Chassidim await the rebbe in throngs at the rail way station or airport. Arms entwined, they sing Chassidic melodies, welcom ing the revered leader with a mass “Sholom Aleichem.” This was the picture that greeted the observer when the Bobover Rebbe came to Montreal. He was greeted by an honorary body guard of police led by Samuel Moscovitchj Q.C., the Jewish mayor of Chomedy. They escorted the rebbe in a convoy into the city accompanied by th e melodies of his hundreds of Chassidim.

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HE Jew ish contribution to Canada is visible in many fields and Jews have had a share in its eco nomic advance. Jews occupy a posi tion in finance, industry, and the free professions; they developed the furni ture industry. Textiles and furs are factually Jewish enterprises, beginning with the fur trade with the Eskimos in Canada’s ice-capped North and ending ip the fur-processing plants in Toronto and Montreal where there exist special areas devoted to this. Jews take a special p a rt in construction in Montreal. In Toronto and Winnipeg, Jewish construction firms have built up entire city districts with ultra modern structures. The same applies to supermarkets which have grown and spread across the land. In this field, Jews have been the pioneers. The two Jewish firms, Steinberg’s and Food City, in addition to Leblaws (now under a Jewish president), are ac counted among the country’s largest chains. Canadian Jewish communities have built up a model philanthropic apparatus by means of which assist ance and needs of local and overseas Jewish agencies and Israel are pro vided. In Montreal it is called the Allied Jewish Community Services, in Toronto it is the United Jewish Wel fare Fund, and in Winnipeg it is the Jewish Welfare Fund. The smaller communities in the provinces are similarly organized. An entire series of philanthropic and cultural institutions has grown up, ranging from children’s camps to homes for the aged: hospitals which cost millions of dollars, conva lescent homes, YMHA’s and youth

centers — all on a broad and large of the Canadian Jewish Congress. In scale. Montreal was recently enriched proportion, Canada’s Jews have ex with the Sadye Bronfman Cultural pended more for local needs and for Centre which cost a million dollars and Israel than their larger neighbor to the was erected at the initiative of the so u th . The annual United Jewish Bronfman family. A building costing a Appeal campaigns have raised a total million dollars is now being con of 120 million dollars in Canada over structed as the national headquarters the past ten years.

WITH JEWS IN THE CAN A D IA N WEST N Canada, each ethnic group and all the way to Vancouver. tends to live within the cultural Jews have constructed splendid traditions of its European antecedents. centers in all these cities where they This is particularly noticeable in the assemble for spiritual nourishment as West. You come across towns with Jews. such names as: Esterhazy, Estavan The Jewish storekeeper in the (Hungarian), Munchendorf (German), re m o te districts of Manitoba and Sobiesky (Polish), and the towns of Saskatchewan played an important Hirsch and Hoffer-stations on the role in some areas in the early immi Canadian Pacific Railway line which grant years, a role he still fulfills are related to the pioneers of Jewish today. The immigrants of that day farm colonization in the West. An came for the most part from Central overnight trip from Winnipeg and you and Eastern Europe and knew no are in the heart of the Canadian English. The Jewish immigrant quickly prairies. In winter, as far as you can picked up a few words of English with see, there is shining, silvery snow which to function and in this way dazzling to the eye. The temperature became the intermediary between the in winter is as low as 40 degrees below Ukrainian and Polish immigrants and zero. On these prairies are found the Canadian government official. He Jewish communities with synagogues set up a retail store where the immi and schools, many of them conducted g ran t could buy clothing, shoes, by sons and grandsons of the pioneer draperies, and médical supplies which Jewish farm colonists. the storekeeper had acquired from his Near the Jewish Center is an co-religionists in the city. In return, he image that becomes engraved in your bought the immigrant’s farm products. memory: Jewish children wrapped in F rom his little establishment de thick furs, ? with fur caps on then- veloped th e general store which heads, jumping up gaily from sleds became the meeting-point for the new1 which havQ, brought them to the comers. The Ukrainian farmers came Talmud Torah, to study amidst the to the Jewish storekeeper to seek greatest frosts and blizzards in the advice on various problems, when they fa rth e s t places: Regina, Calgary, had to bring their families to Canada, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Edmonton, or had to put some request to the 48

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government. He had their full confi dence and still does. ^^EW ISH settlement in Canada is closely bound up with the final battle between the French General Montcalm and the English General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham (1759), where the French army was defeated. Not only is the name of the battlefield symbolic of Jewish interest in that historic event, but the children of Abraham were involved directly and indirectly on both sides. (Incidentally, the battle marked the end of the edict which banned Jews from living in New France.) On the English side we have exact data and names. On the French side we must be content with ambigu ities and presumptions. Aaron Hart was an officer on the staff of General A m herst, who captured Montreal. There was a number of other Jewish veterans of the Indian wars who had joined the British military expedition in Canada to fight the French. Among th em were Emanuel de Cordova, Hananiel Garcia, Isaac Miranda, and S am u el Jac o b s. Sir A lex an d er Schomberg was the commander of the British battleship which took Quebec and helped repel a French attempt to recapture it. This group, then, constituted the first formal Jewish community in Canada. Much earlier, however, indi vidual Jews had come to Canada in various guises and capacities. Accord ing to a decree of Louis XIV in 1685, Jews and Huguenots were forbidden to settle in French colonies, including, of course, New France. A French Jew named Abraham Gradis organized a shipping connec M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

tion between France and Quebec in 1749; his boats transported food and munition to assist^ the French colonies in their struggle against the English. David Gradis, his son, recruited 400 v o lu n teers and brought them to Quebec to fight the English. It may be th at among these volunteers were other Jews. It is characteristic that G radis’ vessels bore such Hebraic names as Angel Michael, King David, and Abraham. From this undertaking there arose the France-Canada Society. Before 1759j Jews had also penetrated those parts of Canada previously held by the English, i.e., the Maritimes, Hudson’s Bay, and the West. King William III of England granted the peninsula of Labrador to Joseph de la Penha in 1697 as a reward for having rescued King William from a shipwreck in mid-ocean. The same Joseph de la Penha had discovered this peninsula twenty years before, and it thereby became the property of the British Crown. In Halifax, which has the oldest Jewish cemetery in Canada, there were English Jews as early as 1750 carrying on trade connections with England. In 1732, Ferdinand Jacobs was a manager of a Hudson’s Bay post in the remote area of Port Prince of Wales. Even as far away as British Columbia there were individual Jews. Am ong th e first ones who settled in Canada, many bore Sephardi names, among them Uriel Moresco, M anuel G om ez, Joseph Bindana, Emanuel de Cordova, Fernadez da Fonsecâ, Hananiel Garcia, Jacob de Morero, and others. They Were among the first Jews to settle in the St. Lawrence area, from 1750 to 1763. For the most part they were former 49

officers in the British army who rem ain ed in C anada. In 1786, Montreal’s first minyon was held, in rented . quarters. In 1777, the first synagogue was founded, Shearith Israel; it was the fourth to be estab lished on the North American conti nent, after New York’s Shearith Israel, Newport’s Touro Synagogue, and the synagogue in C harleston, South Carolina. A year later, the Montreal co n g reg atio n brought over from England the Rev. Jacob Raphael, who b ecame shochet-teacher-cantor-Torah reader. This first synagogue still exists in Montreal and is called the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. In 1800, Aaron Hart, who had settled in Three Rivers, donated land for a Jewish cemetery. He died the same year and was buried there. Eight years later something happened in Three Rivers which in time brought full emancipation for Canadian Jews. Ezekiel Hart, Aaron’s son, was elected to the Legislative Assembly, but upon assuming his seat, instead of swearing by the Christian Gospel as all deputies did, he swore by the Hebrew Bible and with a covered head. The other repre sentatives would not let him take his seat. The electors of Three Rivers thereupon elected him a second time and again a third time, but he was still n o t permitted to take his place. Instead, the deputies brought in a bill d ire c tly forbidding a Jew from Parliament. The struggle went on until the Governor dissolved the assembly. Twenty-four years later Canada’s Jews were given full civil rights, including election to Parliamentary bodies. By 1833, the number of Jews apparently had increased, and the Montreal community decided to build

a larger synagogue. It was completed in 1838. Two years later the Rev. David Peixotto came from London and to o k over the functions; of chazzon-m ohel-shochet. In 1847, Abraham de Sola became minister of the congregation; his son Meldola de Sola, born in 1853, was the first i native-born Jew to officiate in a Canadian synagogue. About this time, Toronto is first m en tio n ed as a Jew ish center. A braham N o rd h e im e r, a music teacher, moved to Toronto in 1842. Seven years later, the number of Jews in all Canada totalled 351. In 1856, the first formal Jewish worship was organized in Toronto. The synagogue (soon to be known as Holy Blossom) was orthodox, but many years later — in 1920 j^SSit affiliated with the Reform movement. Earlier, Abraham Nordheimer had purchased property for a Jewish cemetery, which is still existing today. In October 1969, Holy Blossom Temple marked its ‘120th anniversary, dating its birth from the purchase of the burial ground. An interesting picture of Toronto Jewry appeared in the Mail and Empire in 1897. The writer indicated that there were at that time 2,500 Jews in the c ity , o f w hom three-fifths were Russian and Polish; the others were of G erm an and English origin. The journalist wrote about their economic and spiritual state, their professions and trades, about Kashruth, Sabbath ob serv an ce, th e Yiddish theatre, participation in trade unions, the community’s feeling for self-help, and the absence of any criminal elements in its ranks. The anonymous writer of the article was the late William Lyon Mackenzie, later Prime Minister.

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the nineteenth century rolled on, names of East European jews began to appear, while the names of the Spanish Jews gradually dis appeared. The names of the first Sephardim were still mentioned in connection with certain governmental posts, such as Mdses Judah Hayes, who in 1845 was named Chief of Police in Montreal.In 1846, the first Ashkenazic Congregation (Shaar Hashamayim) in Montreal was founded by English and Polish Jews. In 1857, a group of Jew ish immigrants from Lithuania appeared. By the beginning of its second century, Canadian Jewry was still progressing at a snail’s pace, despite the fact that communities had been established as far away as Vancouver Island (in 1859). It was not until 1881, when the pogroms broke out in Czarist Russia, that the community began to grow at a more rapid tempo. A few thousand fugitives from th o se pogrom s came to Canada, followed by many others. The govern ment offered free soil to farmers, and th e Russian Jewish committee in London made the first attempt to settle Jews on land in the vicinity of what later became Saskatchewan. The experiment was no great success. It was not until 1890 that Baron de Hirsch began to interest himself in Jewish farming in Canada. The condi tio n s w ere favorable and several colonies were founded in Western Canada. J^ E W S have held an important f place in the country’s political life, and continue to do so. David Croll serves in the Senate as did, until his

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retirement, Lazarus Phillips. There are at present eight Jewish MP’s in Parlia ment, the largest number yet. The post of Governor of the Bank of Canada, the highest financial post in the country, is held by Louis Rasminsky, a son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Simon Reisman is Deputy-Minister of Finance. David Golden, a Rhodes scholar, and Allan G ottlieb/“both Winnipeggers by origin and both conscious and conscientious Jews, hold senior positions in Canada’s civil service. Jacob Finkelman is chief tro u b le -s h o o te r in civil service employee relations. Carl Goldenberg is a respected advisor in many matters. Two Jewish women, economist Sylvia Ostry and social worker Sylva Gelber, hold key posts. The latter was trained in Palestine in the Mandate period, though a native Canadian. One minister in the Ontario p ro v in cial ca b in e t and three in Manitoba’s are Jews. Toronto, the second largest city in Canada, has had two Jewish mayors, one of whom was mayor for the longest term in the city’s history. Also, many cities in Western Canada and some in the Maritimes have had Jewish mayors. Until recently, the largest state pro ject, the St. Lawrence Seaway, was directed by a Jew. The country’s out standing law school, that of McGill University, is headed by a Jewish dean, Maxwell Cohen. The superior courts of Manitoba, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec have Jewish judges on the ben ch and one of them, Samuel Freedman, was named Chancellor of Manitoba University. Lately, five Jews were ele c te d to th e M anitoba legislature.

The most recent and perhaps most important development is the long-awaited appointment of a Jewish member to the federal cabinet. The minister in question (without portfolio as y e t) is y o u th fu l, 38-year-old Herbert Gray of Windsor, Ontario, who is himself a younger cousin to a v eteran parliam entarian, the late Morris Gray (Moishe Gurarie), a Labor Zionist folksmentsh who sat in the Manitoba legislature for twenty years.

yeshivoth and other institutions of religious learning, it can be said of the orthodox they have had better fortune in this respect than others. Thus, when recently three rabbis of the most prominent and oldest synagogues in Montreal left to settle in Israel, they were immediately replaced by young North American-born rabbis who are graduates of American yeshivoth. The same p ro cess is taking place in Toronto and Winnipeg, where most o rth o d o x congregations now have HE Canadian Jewish community young rabbis who have been bom or is beginning to change its image, trained in Canada or the U.S.A. The though the process is a gradual one. ability to nurture a committed new The generation born in Canada is generation is the key to the continuity taking over leadership, a process taking of any community. The core com place in various areas and groupings. ponent of Canadian Jewry is demon However not all groups have succeeded strating its capacity to generate Jewish in raising a generation that can assume life and in this lies the promise of the the legacy. Thanks to the growth of Canadian community.

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Booh

GUIDE FOR THE BEREAVED by BENJAMIN BLECH THE JEWISH WAY IN DEATH AND MOURNING, by Maurice Lamm; New York: Jonathan David, 1969, 247 pps. $5.95. EATH, contemporary sociologists tell us, has become the great “unmention able” of the twentieth century. In a curious reversal of Victorianism, we have become utterly permissive about procreation while drawing a self-imposed curtain of censorship over what Geoffrey Gores pointedly calls the prevailing attitude of “the pornography of dying.’’ The forbidden subject is no longer sex. Our cultural “hang-up” is death. That, as Peter Berger made brilliantly clear in a recent article, explains our con stant preoccupation with the “euphemisms of bereavement.” People no longer die; they “pass on.” They are not referred to as “deceased” ; their correct title is “loved ones.” They are not buried in cemeteries; they “rest” in “memorial gardens.” The highly refined skills of the modern cosmeti cian and the Forest Lawn type gimmicks of current funeral practices combine to create RABBI BLECH is spiritual leader of the Young Israel of Oceanside (New York) and faculty member of Yeshiva University.

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the conspiracy of deception which marks our society’s attempt to deny the reality of life’s unavoidable ending. In this climate of morbid prudishness, it becomes possible to grasp a most unusual literary anomaly: while Kohelleth’s admoni tion concerning the overabundance of books has never been more valid, we have wit nessed a virtual dearth of significant volumes available dealing with death from a religious perspective. Where we might have expected surplus, up until now in the main there has been silence -glwhich I believe makes so highly important the recent publi cation of a new work by a Rabbinic colleague. “ The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning” is an attempt not simply to convey information but to cope with a problem. Rabbi Maurice Lamm, spiritual leader of the Hebrew Institute of University H eights and Dean of Akiba Hebrew Academy, was painfully aware that due to the abysmal ignorance of the average lay man, the final arbiter of burial practices is all too often the funeral director. Embalm ing, choice of coffin, Taharah, viewing and the new “custom” of the Jewish “wake,” ’ the K’riah ribbon |Hthese are but a few of the critical areas whose standards are unfor-

tunately established by the commercially cal case of Eglah Arufah who symbolically motivated. The moment of tragedy forces had to proclaim their innocence, even in countless immediate decisions. And because most indirect manner, for the death of a so little attention is paid to preparing for human being; covering mirrors in the house this universally relevant circumstance, death of Shiva — to forsake self-concern and is desecrated and demeaned by those un emphasize withdrawal from society (and, in a most interesting commentary cited by aware of the dictates of Jewish tradition. Lamm’s book, however, is much more Lamm, the modern equivalent of Kfi’ath than an Halachic manual. Step by step, from Hamitah) —these are but some of the excel the instant of expiration to the post-mourn lent Ta’amey Hamitzvoth which help make ing period, he guides the reader through the the strictness of law appear imminently rituals as well as 'the rationales of proper palatable to modems. For all this we ought certainly be religious procedure. Not only is there a concise summary of the laws concerning grateful to our author |S j j in spite of a “Kosher” caskets, but a clear explanation of number of flaws which cannot go unmen the “why” - as well as the very interesting tioned. illustrations of the last wishes of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (that “the casket ^ p ^ V E R since Maimonides chose the be of absolute simplicity, dark wood, that ^^ ^H alach ic method of statement —outthe body be not embalmed, or hermetical of-context rather than source —the problem ly-sealed, and that the grave be not lined of Mokor has plagued us. Whilst the with brick, cement, or stones”) and Presi Rambam had the benefit of his considerable dent John F. Kennedy (who was removed stature, and the Shulchan Omch his prelim from a bronze coffin into which he was inary discussions in Keseph Mishnah and placed before final arrangements were made Beth Yoseph, it is unfortunate that Lamm and interred in a wooden casket). Not only leaves us in the dark as to the basis for a is the orthodox Jewish objection to viewing number of quite controversial pronounce ments. Orchoth Chayyim (Simon 668) as of the remains unequivocally stated, but in one of the finest passages of the book — well as the Kitzur (relying on Kerem the psychological as well as theological Sh’lomoh) and a host of other commenta grounds are made explicit. (As the author tors disallow Yizkor in the first year after correctly points out, this is but another death, with good reasons offered. On what instance of how our failure to come to grips grounds does Lamm call it “an unfounded with the reality of death prevents us from belief which may well be discarded” (p. overcoming the trauma of death.) Lengthy 199)? Flow ers at funerals have been Halachically labelled Chukath Ha-goy (v. lists of ritual requirements for mourners arranged in remarkably logical order I j are Minchath El’ozor). What is Lamm’s better interspersed with explanatory digressions for displaying them “if the sender is so which convey the profound insights of sensitive and the relationship so delicate Jewish law into the mechanics of meeting that he will be offended” (p. 18)? Why does and mastering grief. The cathartic quality of he tell us K’riah for other relatives “may be K’riah; the significance of the “filling-in” done by others, not necessarily by the hand ceremony at gravesite, rather than the of the mourner himself” (p. 43) when deception of the green plastic grass mat, ideally it should be done in this manner (cf. helping the mourner to dispel the illusion Pithchey T’shuvah, 340:1)? Why does he that his loved one still lives; the washing of ignore the ruling of Rabbi Mosheh Feinstein the hands upon returning from the cemetery (Ig’roth Mosheh, Y.D. 25 3) — in fact not - not as a superstitious custom, but perhaps even allude to a divergent point of view or to parallel the act of the elders in the Bibli suggest consultation with a Rabbi, as he

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does in other significant problem areas — and decree: “One who learned by telephone or telegram of the death of a relative, but lives too great a distance to attend the funeral, should begin Aveluth at the approx imate time of burial,” (p. 91) rather than immediately? On what authority does he postulate Kaddish for relatives other than parents for a 30-day period (p. 163)? And on whom does he rely to condemn as utterly worthless (“there is, in sum, nothing reli gious about the whole matter* \f lp . 167) the practice of hiring someone for the reci tation of Kaddish B a procedure obviously far from ideal but nonetheless rooted in decisions of the Gedolim (cf. Darkey Mosheh, 376; also, Pithchey T’shuvah in name of T’shuvah He-ahavah; as well as Mattey Efroyim and Chotham Sofer)? To suggest, as he does in his introduc tion, that there are no footnotes because the book was written for the layman, is to beg the real issue. It is also in a sense to under rate the potential of the work as a quick reference source — whose very popularity would mandate ready confirmation. For this reason too it would have served the author well to refrain from cate goric statements whose acceptance is far from universal. Yes, there is good reason to erect the monument as soon after Shiva as possible. But is Lamm really fair in rejecting out of hand entirely the twelve-month wait ing period (p. 190) ignoring both a Minhag and an excellent explanation of the Mattey Efroyim? And should the distinction which exists for many Achronim concerning the observance of Yortzeit in the first year on the day of burial rather than death if several days intervened between expiration and interm ent be unquestionably and completely discarded (p. 204)? I cannot help but fear the mocking voices of “edu cated” laymen who will gleefully point out their own Rabbi’s “errors” when their spiritual leaders choose to differ with what are here made to appear as unquestionable rulings.

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ERHAPS one should not harp on faults when the over-all judgment is favorable. I do not believe, however, it would be proper to pass over in silence two serious errors which beg for correction. “To pray to the deceased,” the author says with assurance, “or to speak directly to him in the form of prayer, borders on blasphem y. It is sheer necromancy, outlawed by the Bible along with sorcerers, soothsayers, and enchanters. Not all the good intentions in the world can justify praying to the dead as intermediaries” (Italics mine; p. 194). Going back to Biblical days and the famous story of Caleb who separated him self from the spies, prostrated himself upon th e burial places of the patriarchs in Hebron, and “said to them : ‘Seek mercy for me that I be saved from the counsel of my companions,’ ” Halochah has clearly distin guished between praying to or through the deceased, (v. Talmud, Sotah 34b and Tosafoth quoting Pirkey D’Chassidim; cf. the story in Ta’anith 23b: “R. Mani pros trated himself on the grave of his father and exclaimed, ‘Father, father’ . . ; ” cf. Ta’anith 16A: “Why do they go to the cemetery? In order that the dead should intercede for mercy on our behalf”) The Zohar (Parshath Acharey) presents the objection of Doresh El Ha-Methim and convincingly rebuts it, validating the age-old custom of our people to pour our hearts out in prayer to our beloved departed. Let the final words be those of the Bach (very end of Yoreh De’ah, 217): “This custom (of turning to the deceased fathers to intercede on our behalf) has already become firmly established, with o u t contradiction;. . . and no religious authority ought negate or prevent this Minhag.” Even more pertinent and inexplicable is the author’s discussion of K’riah, in which he suggests the vest for rending and appears to be satisfied even with the choice of a tie — completely ignoring the fact that for mother and father the law is not that a

■

garment be cut but that all outer garments be rent (see Yoreh De’ah 340:9). Finding a less expensive object to wear in additon to one’s suit for the sake of fulfilling K’riah is an all too common error which for parents is patently meaningless. ET criticisrps not make us lose sight of our total perspective: for the first time,* an English work dares to deal with a subject universally dreaded and studiously avoided. If there be truth in the Rabbinic

bon-mot that American religious life centers around the two rites of passage of Maftir and Niftor, it bespeaks the spiritual poverty of our age that the major powers in charge of these moments are the caterer and the funeral director. At least the latter will now have to contend with the sage voice of a readily available digest of Jewish law and tradition concerning “The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning” for which Rabbi Maurice Lamm deserves our unstinting grati tude.

*Our reviewer’s point must be qualified by reference to the brochure “Towards an Under standing of Jewish Funeral and Mourning Practices,” by Rabbi Marvin Pachino, published by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. — E ditor

OVERSHOOTING THE TARGET by B ER N A R D M ERLIN G THE PROMISE, by Chaim Potok; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969, 359 p., $6.95. # J^ H A IM POTOK’S second novel is a tableau of ideas. Whereas his first, “The Chosen” (to which the present volume is a sequel) dealt with its major characters as people - albeit mightily influenced by the ideologies they were bom into g | and their interrelationships, “The Promise” deals with them primarily as protagonists for various ideological positions. And, therefore, while “The Chosen” could have been appreciated —or dismissed —as a more or less successful work of fictional art,* this book must be viewed as a polemical work sharply touching *1 have already expressed my comments on this aspect of “The Chosen” in a review in the January-February 1968 issue of JEWISH LIFE. _____________ , RABBI MERLING of Kew Gardens, N.Y., graduate of Mesivta Torah Vodaath and of Brooklyn College, is currently in the adver tising business.

the orthbdox Jewish community. At this late stage (several months after publication), it can be assumed that the story has become widely known, so that the briefest suminary should suffice. Reuven Malter, a gentle scholar’s son who is study ing for his semichah, is confronted and challenged by a great but embittered teacher, Rav Kalman, who defends tradi tional Orthodoxy with the same unbending firmness which helped him survive the Nazi Holocaust. At the same time, Reuven meets and becomes intimately involved. with Pro fessor Abraham Gordon, a leading philoso p her of th e Conservative movement. Reuven’s closest friend, Danny Saunders, who rejected his destiny as spiritual heir of his father’s Chassidic dynasty, becomes a clinical psychologist. His friendship with R euven leads him to treat Abraham G ordon’s psychologically disturbed son, Michael, and —wonder of wonders —marry Gordon’s “conservative” niece, Rachel, who presumably accepts Danny’s strictly ortho dox way of life. As this barest outline of the plot

JEWISH L IF E

suggests, there are enough unlikelihoods and dramatic turns to make “The Promise” an appealing and best-selling novel. It is wellwritten and sufficiently fascinating to please a wide popular audience, Jewish and nonJew ish alike. On a literary level, and especially compared to so much of the trash currently available, it probably deserves the success it is sure to achieve. Which is not to say that it is without its flaws. For one thing, Potok strains the reader’s credulity. For example: Reuven, Rachel, and Michael visit a county fair/ carnival. Michael is almost hypnotically attracted to a game of chance, run by a shill, in which the prize is an AM-FM short-wave radio and an increasing amount of cash — the catch being that he must bet an everincreasing amount with each throw of the balls. It is hard to believe (1) that both Reuven and Rachel cannot tear Michael away from this gambling situation, which they abhor, and (2) that these not-wealthy youngsters, none of whom earns any money, have $57.50 to fritter away (Reuven alone, apparently the poorest of the lot, spends $39.75) on this lunacy, and in the early 1950’s, no less, when a dollar was harder to come by. It just doesn’t seem to fit in with the character and situation of these young people. The author would also have us believe, to cite another example, that a competent clinical psychologist, supervising Danny Saunders’ field work toward his doctorate, would permit him to utilize the agonizing and untried F —treatment of utter silence on a boy as sick as Michael. Brilliant as Danny might be, it is hard to believe that any responsible authority would allow him to experiment in such a dangerous fashion just because Danny’s father had raised him in silence. Indeed, the author himself admits that “Hasidim don’t raise their children in silence. It’s something that’s done by only a very few Hasidic families and then only in extraordinary circumstances.” Then why make it such a crucial element in the novel? Potok is also guilty of setting up a

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“straw man” to destroy Jlj Rav Kalman. Anyone who has learned and lived in the w orld of yeshivoth will recognize the various types of schools, roshey yeshivah, and teachers the author portrays. But I seriously doubt whether anyone has come across someone quite like Rav Kalman. Portrayed as a great talmid chochom and lamdan, Rav Kalman teaches the highest sheur in one of the major traditional yeshi voth. He is firm and intractable in defense of not only every orthodox Halachic posi tio n , b u t also o f the to-be-expected yeshivah-hashkofah that Torah-study is the ultimate and only legitimate goal. But to present him as bitterly sarcastic; insulting, conniving — that is as unreal as it is unfair. Potok has Rav Kalman publicly embarrass, in grand wipe-the-floor style, a student who comes to class unprepared. Potok has Rav Kalman sarcastically refer Reuven to a remote medieval commentary instead of giving him a direct answer to an apparent Talmudic contradiction that Reuven raises. Potok has Rav Kalman seek Reuven’s help in understanding the elder Matter’s book on Talmudic emendationsH- only to use that understanding to write a vicious article attacking MatterV work. Potok has Rav Kalman engage in a public shouting match with another rosh yeshivah in the school’s corridors about destroying Torah with “frum keit!” Apparently the author felt that, even if a Rav Kalman did not exist, he would have to invent him, because Potok has a statement to make or, in cruder language, an axe to grind. In Potok’s scheme of things, Rav Kalman represents the post-World War II influence of the “oppressive Eastern European ghetto atmosphere” and the “fanatic zeal for Torah” in our traditional yeshivoth. “ The world of Rav Kalman was too musty now with the odors of old books and dead ideas of Eastern European zealous ness.” How then can Potok portray him sympathetically? Rav Kalman must be an ogre, or else it wouldn’t seem right to destroy him.

S im ilarly, th é a u th o r (through Reuven, with whom he identifies most closely) observes the Chassidim in Williams burg: “I listened to their Hungarian Yiddish and they seemed strange to m e . . . I thought how these remnants of the concen tration camps had changed the face of things. And now everything traditional was being drawn toward that zealousness.- At another point, Reuven/Potok, dancing at Danny’s wedding, feels: “How strange to be dancing with Hasidim, whose way of life I disliked.” P o to k , then, is not an unbiased observer. He seems to forget, or to ignore, the fact that it is this very infusion of zealousness that invigorated Jewish life in America in recent years. And were it not for the stiff-neckedness ^ call it “fanaticism” if you will — of the traditionalists, we never would have survived as a people and Potok would have had nothing to write about. On the other hand, while presenting Gordon’s Conservatism in a sympathetic light (at least to the “modern” American Jew), Potok does know the score. For example, he says that Gordon “can’t under stand a G-d who worries about every human being, every creature. Evolutionary theory, astro n o m y * : physics, biblical criticism* archaeology, and anthropology present us with facts.” To admit that Conservatism denies Hashgochah and prefers the conjec tural factualism of evolutionary theory, Biblical criticism, and archaeology over the eye-witness factualism of Revelation is damaging enough. To have Gordon further explain that Rav Kalman, after what he experienced in the concentration camps, can no longer believe in man, only in G-d, but that he (Gordon) has no one else but man to believe in, totally destroys any pretense that Conservatism is a system of religious faith. R euvenf then, to Potok represents the middle ground, the up-dating of Orthodoxy . Yeshivah Orthodoxy is stifling, says Potok, and Chassidic Orthodoxy cannot work here. Seizing upon the technique of Talmudical emendation H based on variant readings in

different editions, positing scribal errors, and “new” grammatical constructions — to “correct” Rabbinic Judaism, Reuven/Potok looks forward to the development of a new, modern Orthodoxy to suit the needs of the times. HIS is the challenge flung at us by M “The Promise.” It is not new, having been made by critics of Orthodoxy (both from without and within) for many years, but never in such a novel form and with such popular appeal. How should Orthodoxy respond to the very first sentence in Potok’s book: “All around us everything was chang ing in the order of things we had fashioned for ourselves.” No one would deny that times and conditions are changing with dizzying rapidity; the mode of traditional orthodox Judaism seems to be ill-suited to contemporary society. Must Orthodoxy change in order to survive? There are many within the orthodox camp who would answer in the affirmative. The technique of Talmudical emendation, for example, is already beginning to take root in certain orthodox yeshivah circles. A number of young orthodox rabbis, of the “New Left” you might say, are calling for “Halachic adaptation” to solve contempo rary problems. To which the traditionalists reply, with varying degrees of vehemence and distrust, that “chodo.sk. osur min haTorah” — anything new is forbidden by the Torah. To which the Young Turks respond that Torah itself enjoins us to abide by the decisions of the “judge that shall be in those days” (Devorim 17:9), that each generation is empowered to make its own rulings in accordance with its own needs. To this writer, at least, the resistance to change is understandable. The very essence of any religion is its Divine origin, that it is not man-made, and hence, not subject to man-made alterations. The bed rock of Judaism is its unchangingness* its eternal validity. To permit periodic revi sions, no matter how minimal, is to open the floodgates not only to the restructuring

JEWISH L IF E

of Halachic law, which is either illegal or dangerous, but also to tampering with the Tanach itself, which is unthinkable. Does this mean that we are at an impasse, that Orthodoxy is ossified and petrified, destined forever to retain a form that was cast in a time that has little or no relevance to the conditions of our own day and age? Not necessarily. While Orthodoxy cannot change, it can “face” in a different direction. The direction and “face” of Ortho doxy must be determined by the Gedoley Ha-Torah (usually the Roshey Ha-Yeshivoth) who are the acknowledged “ special ists” in treating all problems facing Judaism. The young rabbis of the “New Left” cannot possibly accomplish anything; for one thing, their motives are subject to question; for another, they lack the weighty scholarship that could give their suggestions authority and validity. Only the Roshey Ha-Yeshivoth have the breadth and depth of learning that could make any movement meaningful. T is to them that the modern ortho1 dox Jew must make his appeal: “Why must you always ‘face’ backward? Why must you cast Orthodoxy in the mold that happened to prevail 100 or 150 years ago? What is so sacred about a black hat and a

black coat and an untrimmed beard? Why do you set an example of total, almost monastic, withdrawal from the contempo rary world? Why don’t you ever address yourselves — publicly, not in some remote beth hamidrosh, which can accommodate little more than .0001% of American ortho dox Jewry - to some of the real problems that face us every day in a very real - and very harsh - world? Why don’t you turn your face toward us, talk to us, explain to us, in terms relevant to us, how and why we must conduct ourselves as orthodox Jews? You don’t have to change anything; not the Torah, not the Talmud, not the Poskim, nothing. Just communicate with us in ways that are meaningful to us. And then you can lead us, and we will follow!” No, Orthodoxy cannot change its substance; but it can and must - change its style. Too many orthodox laymen are “put o ff’ by the remoteness of our Gedoley Ha-Torah. Unfortunately, more and more of our yeshivah students, the only guarantors of orthodox continuity, are also finding it mom difficult to communicate with our appropriate leaders. Potok’s “The Promise” only confirms j|Jand popularizes —what the more informed and concerned observers already know. It is up to us to seek some kind of solution.

THE ORTHODOX JEWISH SCIENTIST SPEAKS by PHILIP ZIM M ERM AN PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSOCIATIONS OF ORTHODOX JEWISH SCIENTISTS; New York: Volume I, 1966; Volume 2, 1969.

indeed “Orthodox” and “Jewish” and composed of “Scientists.” This group of dedicated individuals is steadily growing in number and influence in the U.S. and Canada, with affiliate groups in Israel, HE most pointed thing to be said Britain, and Australia. AOJS has several vital about the Association of Orthodox functions. It is cited from pulpits all over Jewish Scientists is that it exists andthe is world to show that one can be an ortho RABBI ZIMMERMAN, a former chaplain in dox Jew and a scientist. Members of the the U.S. Army, .is a chemist in New York organization are active in reaching college City. students with its message. The Association

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tionists postulate as the age of the earth. Professor Simon does not rant against the disbelievers — he sets forth a strictly scien tific analysis which those in the field must consider. No doubt he has a religious motive - of late, scholars have been studying the personal factor which may be found in almost all scientific research. But Simon’s work shows how much the religiously oriented scientist has to contribute on a strictly scientific basis. 2) The descriptive studies are excel le n t. A.M. Hasofer of the Australian National University has shown many ex amples of probability theory in our tradi tio n . This fine study correlates much m a terial from Biblical and Talmudic sources, and indicates the deep understand ing of this field by our Sages. Two notable omissions from this comprehensive study are the choosing of seventy members of the first Sanhedrin by Moses from the twelve tribes accomplished by the drawing of 72 tokens (two of which were blank), and the casting of lots in the story of Jonah. 3) In the area of philosophy of science, th e article s by Dr. Alvin Radkowsky, Chief Scientist of the U.S. Office of Naval Reactors, are especially enlightening. In this general field, more emphasis should be given to the inherent limitations of the scientific method. 4) The scope of the organization has recently been enlarged to cover the “be havioral sciences.” While no great innova tions are found in this area, the well-bal anced approach of the authors is praise worthy. 5) The area of polemics is touched upon in several of the articles. Professor N the course of a short review, only Cyril Domb of the University of London has advocated that the scientists should become some points from each area can be involved in promoting the system of noted. Talmudic education which was suggested by 1) In the strictly scientific area, the Maharal among many other great Professor E.H. Simon has presented an scholars. Prof. Domb admits that this excellent paper which indicates the impossystem, based on the famous Mishnah in siblity of gene creation as a chance process, Ovoth, has been “rejected almost comeven granting the time period which evolu

also provides an intellectual forum for the ideas of its members. We now have before us Volumes One and Two of the Proceedings of AOJS. Let it be clearly stated — these are important works and will stand as milestones to all who deal with various phases of the ques tion of “Science and the Jewish Religion.” Over twenty articles are included and this reviewer proposes the following classifica tion (in decreasing order of what is felt to be the unique function of this group, al tho u g h none is out of its legitimate bounds): 1) Strictly scientific and technical articles, e.g., on the creation of genes from smaller units. 2) Descriptive studies relating scien tific methodology to some aspect of Torah, e.g., on the prevelance of trefoth in various slaughter houses in different countries and seasons. 3) The philosophy of science as it relates to Judaism. 4) Researches in psychology. 5) Polemics for or against some theory or viewpoint. 6) General philosophical problems, e.g., the problem of Evil in the world. 7) Strictly Judaic studies. The articles are almost all on a high level and require serious reading. Anyone confronted with problem? in these fields will find benefit in observing how intellec tual problems can be met and overcome. This is especially so in regard to college students, and wise is the parent who will make these volumes available to his children of college age.

JEW ISH LIFE

pletely by the Torah world.” He has pre sented many sources for his proposal which the present reviewer has always felt was the ideal system of Torah education. However, it seems most doubtful if Torah educators will accept from scientists a system they have not accepted from the luminaries cited by Prof. Domb. Part of Domb’s argument is based on the hypothesis that children are being taught Talmud before they can com prehend the concepts involved. This hypo thesis presents a more modest and practical area for investigation. A valid contribution would be the creation of tests which would indicate if our yeshivah children are really grasping the admittedly difficult concepts being taught them. Perhaps Prof. Domb has som ew hat u n d errated the intellectual capacity of our youth. There are, inciden tally, many fine educational suggestions in Prof. Domb’s article. 6) T h e general p h ilo so p h ical problems treated are those endless questions of Good and Evil which have been dealt with for centuries. The reviewer does not sense the specific connection between these well-written articles and the scientific ap proach of the Association. 7) The strictly Jewish studies (some of them in Hebrew) feature some works of

recognized Torah greats, such as an impor tant responsum on secular studies by the late Rabbi A.Y. Bloch, z7, of the Telz Yeshivah. Some articles in this area are also contributed by members of the organiza tion, and these, while not to be equated with the work of Gedolim, are generally on a high level. However, in this area, what seems most important is the discovery of more authentic sources from our tradition which bear on scientific questions, although some of these are presented. To cite one example, the topic of conservation is at pre sent quite prominent. There is a wealth of material in our sources on this topic (the prohibition of destroying fruit trees even in war time, etc.) and it should be brought to bear on current problems, NE can only wish continued success to th e Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists —an organization which if it did not exist would most certainly have to be created. These scientists are helping to bring to reality the ardent wish that Rav Kuk, z 1y once expressed to a famous non religious Jewish physician who was attend ing him® that he prayed for the day when Jews who were great in some area would also become great Jews.

The A m erican Jewish Historical Society urges the readers of JEWISH LIFE to aid us in the collection of materials relating to the history of orthodox Judaism in America. Especially useful would be records pertaining to orthodox Jewish organizations, such as the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America or the National Council of Young Israel, most of the papers of which have been dispersed or lost. Please send any materials you have to Robert Goldman, Assistant Librarian, American Jewish Historical Society, Two Thornton Road, Waltham, Mass. 02154. Historically valuable contributions are tax deductible.

M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

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The question o f Israel has become a serious problem since June 1967'. Leftist circles see the occupation o f territories on the West Bank, in Sinai and the Golan Heights only in terms o f colonialism and imperialism The problem is made more acute by the emergence o f the Palestinians as a national entity. This has become a keynote in the campaign o f revolutionary students against im perialism and in support o f national liberation movements, with El Fatah being compared to the Vietcong. The New L eft believes that El Fatah is going to bring about the socialist revolution in the Middle East. The problem o f Vietnam is receding, and this new concept o f Palestine, *as opposed to ‘Israel,7will take its place in the foreground as the main issue for the revolutionary students. A n even more dangerous feature o f El Fatah originates from Israel. It is known as ‘M atspen9(compass). This is a small group o f Israelis, living ‘in exile9in London, spreading anti-Israel propaganda among the students, claiming to represent the Israeli New L eft which had to flee the country in order to preserve its ideological identity. To quote just one o f their letters to the Press (The Times, 29.1.69): “The Middle East conflict is not one between Israel and the Arab States but between the Zionist colonisatory enterprise and the indigenous Palestinian people who are its main victims ”. . . Matspen differs from Fatah on one single point: while the Palestinians are incited towards a total destruction o f the Jewish state, this so-called ‘Israeli Socialist Organization9asks fo r the right to self-determination o f the Israelis to be recognised... In a recent seminar held by the World Union o f Jewish Students on Israel and the New Left, the most outspoken and violent New Leftists opposed to Israel were sons o f emigres from Israel, mainly those who returned to Germany in the fifties. I t is unfortunate that, as always, there are left-wing Jews who help to crystallise this anti-semitic, anti-Israeli policy. — from an article by Doron Horowitz in World Jewry

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PROSPECTS FOR THE SEVENTIES In the Seventies, development should be seen primarily as a process of training and educating more and more people to play a constructive and selffulfilling role in our society. Such a definition challenges modern man in all countries to take down the barriers with which he has surrounded his works and which say “The Uneducated or the Unqualified Need Not Apply.” These barriers, so often erected only in fear, cannot protect the leaders of any nation today from the would-be intruders at their doors. If there is no room for new entrants at the bottom of modem, technical society and no provision for upward mobility, there can be no security at the top. Defining development in terms of education and jobs fits the realities of the Seventies as we can perceive them now. In the poor countries, we are likely to see the population problem primarily in these terms, especially if the green revolution spreads as rapidly as it has been spreading. While some problems of malnutrition and hunger persist, we are likely to be less concerned with feeding babies and more concerned with preparing qualified people for the opportunities that will exist. The green revolution creates new possibilities for development, not the actuality; the possibilities ahead are enormously greater than they were ten years ago, thanks to what was actually achieved in the Development Decade. However, if education and jobs — and the investments needed to create those jobs - are not forthcoming, these possibilities will be dissipated in chaos and anarchy by those who have seen the promise of modem, technical society, but lack the qualifications to take advantage of their opportunities. — from an address by David Rockefeller at the International Industrial Conference, San Francisco, California

"A S T A T E L IK E A N Y O T H E R S T A T E " ?

Mr. S. Arnoni has said recently, "The Middle East controversy is capable o f affecting the American L eft more than the American L eft is capable o f affecting the future o f the Middle East. ” Whether or not this is exactly correct quantitatively, the fact is that radical movements in the past have been de stroyed by their yielding to the temptations o f conformism , when the need for expressing their unity in accepted formulas subdued the zest for truth. Over a year ago, the New L eft in America seemed to be young , fresh , undogma tic, pluralistic, and apparently in direct contact with human need and human pain. That it was anti-intellectual seemed to have at least the advantage o f saving it from being pseudo-intellectual. That it was ahistorical seemed to make its per-

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ceptions o f the immediate more keen and relevant. What has happened? For one thing, the L eft has its writers and they have to write. When the crisis developed in May-June 1967, they were unprepared. The issues o f the Middle East cannot be perceived with the naked eye as can thè living conditions o f the migrant workers o f New Jersey; they involve a knowledge o f history, and it is no dishonor to these writers to say that most o f them were largely ignorant o f Middle Eastern history. Understandably, they took their clues from what they considered to be trustworthy international sources, and all this took place at a time when the American L eft was beginning to take satisfaction in its new connections with new friends abroad. — from an article by Joseph Neyer in New Politics

THE PROBLEM OF IN T E R M A R R IA G E One of the most vexing questions facing the Beth Din today is the applica tion for acceptance into Judaism for the purpose of marriage. Conversion from purely religious conviction is provided for in Jewish Law. Occasionally, the Beth Din would come across “Righteous Proselytes,” men or women whose sole motivation for conversion to, Judaism is a discovered religious insight into the truths o f the Jewish Faith and the Torah, which transforms the person in convic tion and in the mode o f living. We know also of cases where the pledges under taken at the time of Acceptance are meticulously observed with sincerity and joy, thus helping to build a Jewish home which would secure the natural and consistent Jewish upbringing of the children and the harmony of the family. But such proselytes are very rare. In the majority of cases there is more than a lingering doubt that conversion is a convenience lacking depth and sincerity. Often the difference in background comes to the fore very soon, causing dissen sion and unhappiness, and also problems for the children. Often the Rabbis would be pressurised by humane arguments into adopting a lenient attitude towards conversion — almost all cases are faits accomplis — but the religious aspect and the preservation of the community must be the supreme considera tion. The Rabbis are conscious that the total refusal of conversion would not necessarily eliminate all mixed marriages, especially in religiously weak com munities such as Australia; neither are they oblivious of the human aspects of the partnerships. Yet, it is undeniable, that a profusion of conversion would endanger the very survival of the community. In this problem we do hot stand alone. It affects Klal Yisroel, and it is the concern of all Israel. — from the Rabbi’s column in the Great Synagogue Journal, Sydney, Australia

M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

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Letters to the Editor ‘HEART TRANSPLANTS’ Monsey, New York Dr. Fred Rosner’s article on heart tra n sp la n ts (September-October 1969) reviews a great deal of material; yet unfor tunately it is likely to leave the uninformed reader confused on an issue too important to permit such treatment. Dr. Rosner correctly states that the overriding issue in heart transplants is “the establishment of the death of the donor.” He stresses that “on the assumption that the donor is absolutely and positively dead, many Rabbinic authorities permit heart tra n sp la n ts . . . Even Rabbis Mosheh Feinstein and Yitzchok Yakov Weiss, who voice the most stringent opposition, might also agree under these conditions.” Such statements beg the question and can therefore only mislead the reader who fails to realize that, as things stand pres ently, clinical death cannot be accepted as Halachic death, and the unquestionable establishment of Halachic death requires conditions that would make the donor’s heart useless for transplant purposes. (A full discussion of the problems involved can be found in an article, not quoted by Dr. Rosner, that appeared in Noam, vol, 12, from the pen of Dr. Jacob Levi.) Until this problem is resolved —and it may never be jB Rabbi Feinstein’s issur on heart transplants will stand. It should be noted that in the published text of this issur Rabbi Feinstein refuses to give his reasoning lest discussion pro and con lead to

M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

confusion on a subject in which no confu sion can be tolerated. Rabbi Joseph Elias

DR. ROSNER REPLIES: I cannot agree that the “unquestion able establishment of Halachic death re quires conditions that would make the donor’s heart useless for transplant pur poses.” The Halachic definition of death has been discussed and published by me in an article in the Fall 1969 issue of Tradition (Vol. 10, No. 4, p. 33ff). For Rabbi Elias to state that the problem may never be solved is to take a very fatalistic approach. To leave such an urgent question in a state of suspension is unrealistic. It is indeed heartening to see that many of our Rabbinic scholars have, in a short time, published Responsa on the subject of heart transplants. The article by Dr. Jacob Levi that Rabbi Elias states I omitted from my discussion had not yet been published at the time my article was written but I am indebted to him for pointing it out to me. Another recent article dealing with heart transplants is that of Rabbi Shlomo Goren in the Marcheshvan 5730 (No. 122) issue of Machanayim, journal of the Israeli armed forces.

n n s ' pi s

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‘JUDAISM AND PSYCHOLOGY’ Brooklyn, N.Y. I read in your November-December issue Dr. S. Weiss’ response to my comments on his review of my book “Judaism and Psychology.’; Like Mr. Morris Smith and Miss Zaltzman et. al.,; several of my col leagues expressed surprise at his negative attitude. After studying the letters from four other scholars that, to say the least, recog nize a significant contribution in this book, Dr. Weiss might have been a little more cautious with his extreme judgments. There have appeared at least seven other reviews in the Jewish-Yiddish press (i.e., Journal of Jewish Communal Service, Jewish Observer, Jewish Parent, Jewish Day Journal, Jewish Press, and Dos Yiddish Vort), all by eminent scholars, all recognizing the positive contri bution of this book. Does it not then seem absurd to deny that the book makes at least some contribution? For these reasons I feel I should “not” respond to the questions raised by Dr. Weiss at length. I wish to assure the readers, how ever, that in my view he has not presented a

valid contrary view o f free will in Judaism at all, and that perfectly solid answers are available to “all” his questions. I stated in “Judaism and Psychology” that I have merely presented the “skeleton” of the Jewish approach to psychology. It seems that, with the help of G-d, I shall have to take on the challenge of filling the body as well. Lastly, in order to present your readers with a true picture of the state of affairs in the field of psychology, I refer them to an article that appeared in The American Journal, of Psychiatry in Feb ruary, 1963 by Milton H. Miller and Seymour L. Halleck, two distinguished p sy c h iatrists from the University of Wisconsin, entitled: “The Critics of Psychi atry: A Review of Contemporary Critical

M A R C H -A P R IL 1970

Attitudes.” In the article the grave question is raised: “How do men of learning and high intelligence come to accept and hold with such stout faith beliefs for which there is so little demonstrable evidence?” I trust that my brevity will not again be misinterpreted as naivete and super ficiality. With this I would like to close this controversy. Abraham Amsel

Editor’s Note: The controversy is closed. Brooklyn, N.Y. Dr. Weiss in his evaluation of Rabbi Abraham Amsel’s book, “Judaism and Psychology,” gives the impression of being erudite and logical. However, these attri butes are deceptively impressive. After a display of erudition whereby he referred to many of the age-old questions regarding reward and punishment, and marshalled Talmudic support challenging Rabbi Amsel’s contention that Judaism emphasizes “free will” in the moral realm (in contrast to the deterministic philosophy of psychoanalysis), what are Dr. Weiss’ conclusions? That the concept of free will may be valid for “normal” people, but does not hold true for “symptom-crushed” patients? How is his view different from Rabbi Amsel’s? Accord ing to Rabbi Amsel’s interpretation of the Judaic view, the will is not totally free in cases of organic mental illness, e.g., brain damage, also in extreme cases of emotional disturbance of a functional nature, or where a person has become a “slave” to habit. However, except in such extreme cases, human beings, including some neurotics and functional psychotics, are morally respon sible for the way they run their lives. While there has been much debate philosophically on the question of free will, and while Judaism does not subscribe completely to either extreme, yet the emphasis seems to be on the side of free will

salutary effect. Guilt of this nature might in the moral sphere. The concept of free will and moral stimulate him to change and improve his responsibility places a burden of guilt on the way of life. Since Dr. Weiss thinks of “guilt” in person who has misbehaved or “sinned.” It is on this question of guilt that Dr. Weiss the psychoanalytic context, he views as and Rabbi Amsel differ sharply. Dr. Weiss dangerous Rabbi Amsel’s statement that apparently associates the word “guilt” with many neurotics and psychotics are respon the concept of “neurotic guilt” considered sible for their condition. On the other hand, by psychoanalysts to be a prime factor in Rabbi Amsel sees as dangerous the attitude neurosis, e.g., a person would develop some of many psychologists and sociologists of neurotic symptom as unconscious self-pun our day who view behavior as determined ishment because of guilt feelings due to psychically, or by social conditions, or both aggressive or sexual wishes or feelings which I which relieves the individual of respon were in conflict with the demands of his sibility, whether it be for immorality, superego or conscience and which he could criminal acts, or, less spectacularly, but not repress successfully. The traditional role more insidiously, for feelings of hopeless of the psychoanalyst has been to relieve the ness and despair. Rabbi Amsel feels, too, that the role patient of such guilt feelings, which are destructive. Rabbi Amsel, on the other of guilt as a factor in mental illness has been hand, presents the view that some neurotics overplayed. We are living in a brash, arro and psychotics are guilty in a real sense in gant age, and Rabbi Amsel’s emphasis on the area of “Middoth” - moral standards IS the Judaic stress of free will and responsi having actually indulged in excesses, devel bility, humility, atonement for one’s mis oped bad habits, and negative attitudes. deeds, and development of good habits and Helping such a person face himself, see his values is timely, positive, and heartening. role, and realize to what extent he has him Rose Zaltsman self created his problems, could have a very

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