Purely Cowmen tary a
By — Philip Convicted Israeli
SIOMOVitZ D.A. Abandons Plans
to Ask for Clemency
whether it is intended to lead Jews unto the Christian end
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, September 14, 1962
Dore Schary's Credo . . .
Cn od n vH e s t t D
o eCaadthEonldic iBsm
ridge
Dore Schary vs. Theodore Roosevelt—on 'Hyphenism'
It will be recalled that Theodore Roosevelt, in the course
of a campaign for Americanism, during the First World War,
invented the term "hyphenated Americanism," and railed
vehemently against the use of the hyphen by various nationality
groups in this Country. Those who might have called themselves
Jewish-American or Irish-American often cringed under the lash
of the former President's attacks.
There are different interpretations today. Once again many
are beginning to accept the value of our imbibing the best in
the cultures of all peoples. There is therefore a reawakened reali-
zation that what we acquire from a hyphen is more often a gain
rather than a loss.
Thus, Dore Schary, the playwright and director, in an article
he had written for the ADL under the title "What 'Freedom for
All' Means," declares it to be an affirmation as well as a faith,
the taking of risks, the granting even to the extremist of the
right to express himself, and primarily "talking and fighting
back." In the course of his article he had this to say:
"We must challenge - ill-conceived fears. We must bring
reason into the arena of public discussion. We must use the
leisure time, of which we have so much, to enlist in the fight
against prejudices and hate and the spreading of lies.
"We must remember that a man is not an island. We
stand for ourown rights by standing for the rights of all men.
Any man kept off a bus or out of a- restaurant keeps us out.
When a Catholic is slandered by bigotry we are slandered too.
But while we fight for the rights of all men, it is good for all
men to retain their special individuality and background.
"The American population is formed of hyphens: Jewish-
American, Irish-American, Italian-American, German-American,
Polish-American. This does not dismay me. I believe that if
the hyphens drop away we are liable to remain with a bland
standardized American. I believe that the descendents of our
hyphenated ancestors should cherish the diversity of our na-
tional background.
"As a Jew, I advocate that Jewish-Americans continue
their identification, their traditions. I am disquieted at anti-
septic religious services, Bar Mitzvahs presided over by pro-
fessionals who are hired to make the event an entertainment,
black-tie Seders. Judaism is a unique faith because it is essen-
tially an abstract and intellectual and ethical faith that requires
will and discipline and celebration. But it cannot exist unless
it is taught. I believe that the concept of active and devoted
monotheism which is the Jewish contribution to the faith of
man can stay alive only if the Jew helps keep it alive. He can
do that only by working at it. I believe that every home, every
nation, is better protected by a faith that is nourished and
cultured and protected. And our homes, our nation, our world,
need protection.
"In the Jewish life I knew as a young boy, there was a
trinity to whom we appealed in times of trouble. A small acci-
dent would evoke Mommenyu, a large mishap would bring
forth Tottenyu, and a shock would provoke Gottenyu. A dis-
aster would cause a recitation of all three.
"In the fantastic world in which we live, in the dangerous
world in which we live, we have made such great strides that
we wonder what to do with our leisure. Some observers suggest
that our future leisure time may be spent in bomb shelters
where we will be able to listen, via radio, to the details of
the extermination of two-thirds of the world's population. It is
a leisure occupation in which I choose not to participate. Per-
haps none of us will have to participate if we use the leisure
time we have now in developing man's relationship to man.
"We are our brother's keeper. We mean something to each
other. We must maintain our individual identification and the
individual identifications of all men. If we should ever lose
our devotion, if we should ever cease the struggles against the
problems that beset us--Mommenyu, Tottenyu, Gottenyu."
An interesting credo has thus been enunciated by Dore
Schary. There are great lessons in what he has written.
What intrigues us especially. however, is his appeal for the
retention of the hyphen by nationality groups in this country.
Theodore Roosevelt would have called Schary disloyal during
World War I. Would his attitude have changed now? We believe
it would, else he would have had to join the Birchers.
Only a couple of weeks ago, David Ben-Gurion, during the
controversial "Dialogue" that he conducted in Jerusalem with
American Jews, expressed doubt whether American Judaism can
survive in a unitary state into which he believes the United
States will evolve in a decade or two. Comes Dore Schary and
propogates adherence to the hyphen. In the Schary way, America
once again would be enriched by the various cultures that make
up our population. The Schary theory might demolish Ben-
Gurion's pessimism.
In an era in which a Jewish spokesman can argue for
Jewish-American values there is greater hope for American
Jewry's survival than even a Ben-Gurion jeremiad envisions.
(See Review of Dore Schary's book "For All Occasions"
on Editorial Page.)
'The Bridge' Between Jews and Christians:
Must It Lead to Proselytization Among Jews?
or
of the bridge and to expect them to remain there.
The current volume of "The Bridge" may prove revealing in
many aspects of the Judaeo-Christian approach. There is such a
variety of subjects relating to Jews, the Talmud and Jewish tra-
ditions; and to the Vatican's attitudes, that Msgr. Oesterreicher'E
aims and ambitions provide interesting studies.
Perhaps the major search for impartiality of bridge-crossing
is in one of the book's essays, "The Tragedy of the Spanish In-
quisition," by Prof. Paul van K. Thomson of Columbia University.
The title itself sounds like an expression of regret for the inquis-
itory horrors. It offers a most interesting approach to the "tragedy"
which has left so many scars on Jewry and mankind. Yet, while
calling it "tragedy," the author's all-too-kind treatment of Tor-
quemada leaves us with a sense of regret that he was not more
decisive in his criticisms of the inquisition.
This explanatory note by Dr. Thomson is of interest: "The ec-
clesiastical — episcopal, legatine, and monastic — was primarily
that of heresies springing up within the Church; occasionally of-
fenses, such as sodomy, necromancy, and the bearing of false
witness, were under consideration, too. The medieval inquisitors
were ecclesiastical officials concerned with the administration of
Church discipline and the failure of baptized persons to abide by
their obligations."
Dr. Thomson quotes Lord Acton who stated that the measure
proved in its results injurious to the Church, pernicious to the
state, and was the real cause of the establishment of the
Inquisition, and of the consequences which ensued. "All Jews
who did not consent to baptism were ordered to leave the coun-
try," Dr. Thomson adds.
There set in the, period of "cruel passions and bitter penalties"
imposed upon heretics. Dr. Thomson states that "the Spanish In-
quisition, primarily directed against Jews and Moors who had ac-
cepted baptism and who were thought to have secretly reverted
to their former beliefs and practices, was the outcome of a situa-
tion peculiar to the Iberian peninsula. "The Moors and Jews who
adopted Christianity were known as moriscos and conversos. Be-
cause Jews and conversos were unpopularly employed as tax col-
lectors, hatred was unleashed against them during the ensuing
civil war. The New Christians flourished and the charge was that
they preserved a love for Judaism and secretly observed Jewish
customs. Loans for the defense of the frontier during the war with
the Saracens caused "all anger to turn against" the conversos. Dr.
Thomson thus explains the background of the situation that grew
in fierceness. It developed into a struggle between the ruling mon-
archs and the Pope: "The Holy See was given early proofs that
even Queen Isabella, intensely Catholic as she was, could put her
own authority above that of the Pope . . . The Pope seems to
have suspected that the conversos were being plundered and that,
because war with the Moors had been renewed, measures taken
against them were made harsher . . . In 1483 he sent a ten-page bill
declaring that he was displeased with the weakness of the papal
court of appeals . . . "
"However, one may judge the motives and vacillations of
Pope Sixtus IV," we have the affirmation from Prof. Thomson, "the
fact is that he eventually yielded to the pressures of the Spanish
Crown. Torquemada, whose devotion to the Spanish monarchy
fostered a kind of caesaropapism, convinced - -Isabella and Ferd-
inand that all the powers of the Inquisition should, under their
joint direction, be centralized in him." Torquemada was named
Inquisitor-General with supreme powers. The author, who quotes
the belief that Torquemada was partly of Jewish descent, con-
cedes that the chief inquisitor "brought untold suffering on both
Jews and conversos." Nevertheless, he tells us: "Still, the popular
image of Torquemada as a monster of cruelty and viciousness is
but a caricature of the misdirected and lamentable part he act-
ually played." We are told he was before else a Spaniard who
sought his country's unification "with which was unhappily com-
bined the destruction of the Jews and Moors and the integration of
religion."
While more blame is placed upon the Spanish Crown than
upon papal authority for the Inquisition, and Torquemada's role is
somewhat minimized, the explanations given in this essay are
not too convincing to the Jewish reader. The fact remains that
the Inquisition was imposed upon the sufferers by the church; that
the Jews, who had given so much to Spain, were expelled from
Spain, and since the Inquisition church leaders have defended
the institution that was marked by so many horrors. The admis-
sion by Dr. Thomson that the Inquisition was a "tragedy" mitigates
the situation only to a small degree. It was a tragedy for the
church whose record remains soiled by what had happened to
the oppressed in Spain and to the descendants of the Marranos
in many other lands, who, even on this continent, were pursued
wherever they were by agents of the Inquisition.
Other essays in "The Bridge" also point to a Catholic tinge
and to a partisanship. Even an essay like "Love of God in the
Talmud," which might have suggested a , Jewish partisanship,
concludes with a Christological aura.
Describing "Franz Werfel's Great Dilemma," there is pro-
Christian ammunition for the analyst who reaches the conclusion:
"Werfel leaves no doubt concerning his profound conviction that
the Christian way is indespensable if this world, spiritually be-
wildered and therefore dislocated, is to be restored." A three-
fold reason is ascribed to Werfel "for the need of the present
age to return to the Christian way."
There is nothing wrong with this or any other factual obser-
vation or interpretation, but when it is used interminably in a
proferred "Bridge," it assumes the character of one-sidedness
with a recognition of the validity of Judaism as the mother
religion and the assumption as well as the conclusion that the
fullfillment is in Christianity.
Unquestionably, there is a genuine scholarship in many of
the essays in "The Bridge." Msgr. Oesterreicher's "The Swastika
Reappears" is an excoriation of Nazism, and a paean of praise
for the Vatican's friendship for Israel. There are some very re-
vealing articles on Catholic attitudes, like the one describing
St. Ignatius- Loyola's love for the Jews. But even here St. Ignatius
is revealed as showing his affection for the Jewish people "with
his Pauline eagerness to bring them to the knowledge of Christ."
Monsignor John M. Oesterreicher was born a Jew and be-
came an eminent Catholic dignitary. He is, at present, the direc-
tor of the Institute of Judaeo-Christian studies at Seton Hall
University and Counsellor to one of the preparatory commissions
for the Second Vatican Council. He is the editor of a series of
most interesting books, appearing under the title "The Bridge,"
the fourth volume having recently been published by Pantheon
Books (22 E. 51st St., N.Y. 22). It is the Judaeo-Christian Studies'
yearbook.
As the title implies, Msgr. Oesterreicher aims to establish
a bridge between Jews and Christians. There is no doubt that
he sincerely aspires to assure amicable relations between the two
faiths. The question that must be posed, however, is whether
the intention is to create a bridge that is two-avenued in nature,
For Jews, therefore, "The Bridge" is a work of proselytization.
so that the movements back and forth may be of equal merit,
in reading and understand ing among different faiths, It is a missionaries' textbook.
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
TEL AVIV—Yaacov Barbor,
former district attorney and
Irosecution aide in the Adolf
Wichmann trial who was sen-
enced to three months impris-
rnment for posing as a qualified
ittorney, a b and one d plans
Wednesday to ask President
3en-Zvi for clemency. He will
Mart to serve his term on Mon-
1 ay.
Declaring "I have to take my
unishment for what I have
lone," he said he would ask the
)resident for clemency after he
completes his term which he
will serve as a worker in a po-
'ice department.
If the clemency plea is ap-
proved he would be permitted
to continue his legal profession.
He pleaded guilty last week to
charges of having obtained an
attorney's license under false
pretenses and to having re-
ceived seniority and profes-
sional allowances payable to
qualified members of the bar in
civil service.
He indicated he hoped to
achieve the required qualifica-
tions before seeking to resume
law practice.
-
Israel Government
Approves Paid
Teachers Sabbaticals
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Pro-
visions for paid sabbatical years
for Israel's secondary school
teachers were a p p r o v e d in
agreements between the govern-
ment's Education Department
and local councils and the
Teachers Union.
Teachers with 15 or more
years of tenure will be the first
to be eligible for the sabbatical
year refresher studies starting
in 1964. Teachers with eight
years' experience will next be
eligible. Those taking the sab-
batical year will draw 80 per
cent of their regular salaries
from a fund to which they will,
starting this month, contribute
two-and-a-half per cent of their
pay.
The agreement spurred activ-
ity by elementary and kinder-
garten teachers to achieve simi-
lar agreements. It was expected
that the Education Ministry
would yield to the strong teach-
ers lobby and agree. There are
some 2,100 kindergartens in Is-
rael, 1,200 primary schools and
some 140 secondary schools. In
addition, t her e a r e special
schools operated for the handi-
capped and working youth.
Charge Miami Judge
Uttered Anti-Jewish
Remark in Courtroom
MIAMI, (JTA) — A local
judge accused of malfeasance
in office through the voicing
of an anti-Semitic remark in
his court will receive a public
hearing here, it was announced
by County Attorney Darrey
Davis.
The accused is Judge Edwin
Strickland. He had been charged
with anti-Semitism in a letter
to the Jewish Floridian last
June by Marvin I. Cohen, a
high school teacher. According
to Cohen, Judge Strickland,
who was trying alleged traffic
law offenders last June 8, told
the teacher as the latter pleaded
innocence to a charge before
the court: "You Jews are the
same; 90 per cent plead not
guilty."
Since the Cohen charge was
printed in the Floridian, Davis
has been investigating the case,
having interrogated the high
school teacher, the judge and
nine witnesses. The public hear-
ing has been set by the county
attorney for Sept. 26. Judge
Strickland, whom the County
Commission appointed to a six-
year term of office in 1958,
could be dismissed by the com-
mission if found guilty of mal-
feasance.