Way, April 7, 7944

THE JEWISH MEWS

The 14th Century
JewishCommunity

The English-Jewish Press

(-Continued from Page 24)

By BERNARD POSTAL
National Director of Bnai Brith InfIormation

No agency in American Jewish won grudging recognition as a
Moreover, even men whose scho- life has had more brickbats toss-
larship was rather "thin" claimed ed at it than the Anglo-Jewish vital community force, sporadic
this privilege. We read, there- press. And, strange to say, the efforts have been made to or-
ganize the Anglo-Jewish publish-
fore, of attempts to curb the Anglo-Jewish press has taken
ers in a body whose aim would
power of the scholar in this re- them all without a word of re-
be to educate the American Jew-
spect. Thus in Perpignan there ply. The time has come for the
was a haskamah that no one was Anglo-Jewish press itself to ish community to the real place
of the Anglo-Jewish press. Such
to employ the ban without the speak out in its own behalf, to an organization is to come into
sanction of the neemanim. Perfet make itself heard and felt as the
being as a result of meeting to
asserted, however, that this has- important force that it is in the be held in Indianapolis on April
kamah applied only to a ban American Jewish community.
29 and 30.
pronounced by a lay individual
Too long now has Jewish lead-
This meeting is a landmark in
or even by a scholar who would ership, nationally and locally,
resort to it to punish an insult with a few notable exceptions, the history of Anglo-Jewish jour-
to his person; that it did not treated the Anglo-Jewish press nalism. It affords the Anglo-
contemplate depriving a duly as a stepchild when that very Jewish press a unique opportu-
nity to present its case to the
constituted bet din of the right
leadership would have to create
to lay the ban upon those who the Anglo-Jewish press if it American Jewish community,
forthrightly and unequivocally.
refused to abide by its decisions. didn't already exist. Too long
This meeting should be an occa-
It was also within the province now has the Anglo-Jewish press
sion for frank self appraisal, for
of the rabbi to pronounce the been sneered
at, patronized, ne- straight speaking and clear
ban for any offense punishable glected and subordinated to the
thinking. No false sense of self-
by excommunication; but while role of an inferior.
righteous nor self-pity should
neither in the case of personal
deter the publishers from adopt-
No Pushing Around
insult, nor in the case of disre-
And too long has the Anglo- ing a common course of action
gard of Jewish law, was the
Jewish
press suffered itself to be which may well mark the com-
right of the rabbi to employ the
ing of age of Anglo-Jewish jour-
ban questioned, it was necessary pushed around without taking up
nalism in this country.
to obtain the consent of the the cudgels in its own defense.
An Important Step
mukdamim or the berurim to
As one who has been associ-
The Anglo-Jewish press, which
make public proclamation of the ated will all aspects of Anglo-
ban, without which no niddui or Jewish journalism for nearly 20 has helped publicize every other
herem was operative. We also years—as writer, syndicate edi- agency in Jewish life, is now
learn that in Aragon the rabbi, tor, publisher and information ready to do a public relations lob
before invoking the ban, had to director—I say that the Ameri- on itself. If the Indianapolis
receive permission from • the can Jewish community has in meeting succeeds in initiating
civil powers to do so; that the , great measure failed to under- such an effort it will be impor-
excommunicated person could stand the major role which the tant not only to the Anglo-Jew
apply to the secular authorities Anglo-Jewish paper plays as a ish press but to the Jewish com-
for an injunction restraining the medium of communication with munity itself. Today, more than
rabbi or hakam from putting the the vast complex we call Jewish ever, the Jewish community
herein into' effect.
life. There are few more effec- needs a vigorous: up-standing
and ably - edited Anglo - Jewish
Perfet exercised this preroga- tive means for reaching large press. It can have the kind of
tive of the hakam on the follow- segments of the Jewish commu-
nity than through the Anglo- press it wants and will support.
ing occasions:
1. In 1368, while still in Barce- Jewish press. Without the Anglo-
lona, he invoked the niddui upon Jewish press the election of dele-
gates to the American-Jewish
Ferrer Avangena, who had in-
Conference in most communities
sulted him. So far as we know,
might have been an insuperable Regarding Promotion
this is the only instance in his
of Postal Employes
task.
career in which Perfet used the-
Editor, The Jewish News:
Vital Community Force
ban to uphold his honor. Years
In the past decade, when the
I was pleased and interested to
later, when the community of
Anglo-Jewish press has slowly read in your paper that two of
Algiers wished, in consonance
the Post Office employes had fi-
with Jewish law, to impose the
nally been promoted to supervi-
tions
for
the
ceremony
were
in
sentence o f excommunication
sory positions. Although the
upon one who had grossly in- progress, it was learned that the
number is small, it is a begin-
sulted him, he intervened and man had a wife in Bersac. He
ning, and that in itself is en-
persistently withheld his per- was financially unable to sup-
couraging.
mission.
port two wives, but pleaded the
I hope you will print from time
sterility
of
his
first
wife
as
justi-
2. While in Saragossa he ex-
16 time similar news items, en-
communicated a man who, on fication for marrying another. couraging or otherwise. A great
marrying his wife, had taken an Perfet would not permit him to number of people want to know
oath, on pain of excommunica- do so until he obligated himself about existing conditions, and the
tion, not to have extra-marital by kerchief (kinyan) and under work being done by the Commu-
relations, but had later grossly pain of niddui to divorce his nity Council.
and flagrantly violated his oath. first wife, provided that she con-
Sincerely yours,
3. He issued a herem against sented. It seems that the man
RACHEL CORN.
did
grant
her
a
divorce,
but
that
those who had exerted their en-
deavors to effect deportation of later he revoked it or called its
the hapless and helpless Mar- legality into question. Perfet
ranos seeking refuge in North hurled the niddui against him
and did not lift it until the man
Africa.
4. He put , a ban upon a man had bound himself, under penal-
who had taken advantage of the ties of excommunication and a
wife he had divorced. The cir- heavy fine, to make good his
cumstances under which it was original promise.
Dr. Hershman's b o o k is
pronounced seem to be as fol-
lows: A resident of Bersac came
available at the Shaarey Zedek
to Algiers for the purpose of
and at the J. L. Hudson Co.
Book Department.
marrying a niece. While prepara-

Our Letter Box -

Page Twenty-nine

Freehof Hits
Texas Group

Says Houston Congregation
Reworked Platform of
Reform Judaism

PITTSBURGH (JPS)—Speak-
ing, in the name of the Central
Conference of American Rabbis,
representing the Reform Rab-
binate in the U. S., its presi-
dent Rabbi Solomon B. Freehof
charged that Congregation Beth
Israel of Houston, Tex., h a d
"reworked the Pittsburgh Plat-
form of 1885." His statement
was in reply to charges by the
congregation that the CCAR has
deviated from the "classic pat-
tern" of Reform Judaism as laid
down in the Pittsburgh Platform.
Writing to Leopold L. Meyer,
president of the Houston con-
gregation, which has barred
from voting membership all who
observe kashruth a n d profess
Zionism, Rabbi Freehof says:
"I note that you , have . re-
worked the Pittsburgh Platform.
You speak . . . of the Mission
of Israel, but you avoid t h e
Platform's great phrase: 'Jewish
People' and • 'priesthood.' You
also omit from your program
Part 8 of the Pittsburgh Plat-
form, namely that: 'In accord-
ance with the spirit of Mosaic

-legislation, we deem it our duty
to participate in the great task
of modern times, to solve on the
basis of justice and^ righteous-
ness the problems presented by
the contrasts and evils of the
present organization of society.' "
Rabbi Freehof points out that
Reform Judaism "is a liberal
Judaism," and t h at "it pro-
claims the right of each genera-
tion to change customs and
rituals and even restate doc-
trines, provided the essential
principles of Judaism are pre-
served and strengthened by such
changes."
To the 'charge that "the Cen-
tral Conference has become
Zionistic," Rabbi Freehof replies
that " "the Conference has not
become Zionistic. It has, how-
ever, ceased to be anti2-Zion-
istic." In the past the Confer-
ence h a s expressed its anti-
Zionism, he says, but now the
rabbis "do not find their Reform
Judaism and their Zionism mu-
tually incompatible."

4

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