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`Commonweal. Defends Rights of Minority
Protest to School-Prayer Issue in Supreme
Court; Rejects 'America's. Editorial Views
NEW YORK, (JTA) — The
right of the American Jew to
resort to Supreme Court action
in objections against official
prayers in public schools, with-
out being labeled "secularist" or
atheistic, was forcefully upheld
by Commonweal, a Catholic
weekly edited by laymen.
In a special, 16-page issue, de-
voted entirely to "The Jew in
American Society,•'Commonweal
pointed up its rejection of view-
points previously expressed by
"America," a Jesuit weekly.
The latter periodical, in an
editorial in its Sept. 1 issue, had
taken sharp issue with the board
endorsement voiced by the
American J e w i.s h community
after the Supreme Court ruled,
last June, that officially pre-
scribed religious prayers in the
public schools are unconstitu-
tional. Equating such Jews with
"secularists" and atheists, "Amer-
ica" had warned that Jews tak-
ing sides with the 6-to-1 opinion
of the Supreme Court were pos-
sibly encouraging an increase in
anti-Semitism. In its Sept. 15
issue, "America" denied it had
intended to raise the bugaboo
of anti-Semitism, but maintained
its previous position on the en-
tire controversy.
Commonweal, releasing -t h e
contents of its special edition,
dated Sept. 28, explained that
the issue was motivated by "un-
fortunate or muddled" thinking
about the role of the Jews in
American society. To help clar-
ify matters, Commonweal de-
clared, it obtained contributions
from four prominent Jews and
one Catholic scholar whose arti-
cles are included in the special
issue.
The contributors are: Rabbi
Arthur Hertzberg, chairman of
the Social Action Commission of
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Larry Paul
the Synagogue Council of Amer-
ica, which represents rabbinical
and congregational organizations
of the Reform, Conservative and
Orthodox movements in the
United States; Rabbi Menachem
M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher
Rebbe, leader of the Lubavit-
cher Hassidic movement; David
Danzig, program director of the
American Jewish Committee;
'Michael D. Zeik, professor of his-
tory at Marymount College, a
Catholic institution; and Arthur
A. Cohen, author and director
of the religious department of
the publishing firm of Holt, Rine-
hart and Winston.
The Commonweal symposium
concludes with a statement en-
titled "A Word to Catholics," by
the weekly's managing editor,
James O'Gara, who asserted:
"The Jew has to be perfectly
free to argue for this or that
constitutional or political posi-
tion to his heart's content, wheth-
er we agree or not. For the sake
of discussion, say that every Jew
in the country wants prayer
eliminated from the public
school. It is their right to argue
their convictions, and I can see
no justification for suggesting
that the Jews will thereby 'paint
themselves into a corner of so-
cial and cultural alienation,' as
`America' thought might be the
case."
Lubavitcher Rebbe Backs
Aid for Parochial Schools
Rabbi Hertzberg, referring to
the 22-word New York Regents
prayer which was banned by the
Supreme Court ruling of last
June, questioned whether the
"present anger in some Catholic
quarters about the Supreme
Court decision is really occa-
sioned by a short prayer of little,
if any, religious significance."
"What stands behind the con-
cern," he stated, "is the great
problem of the future financing
of the parochial schools, in which
Federal money seems more re-
mote."
The Lubavitcher Rebbe's ar-
ticle, entitled "An Orthodox
Rabbi's Plea for Parochial
School Aid," was reprinted by
Commonweal from "The Jew-
ish Forum." It did not allude
at all to the controversy re-
volving around the Supreme
Court's prayer ruling, nor
around the opposing views of
Commonweal and "America,"
but constituted a plea for Fed-
eral aid to parochial schools.
Contending that such aid would
Waisberg Named
Named Judge in York County, Ont.
T O R O N T 0, Ont., (JTA) — ago. Waisberg is a member of
Harry Waisberg, a prominent at- the Joint Community Relations
torney and active Jewish commu- Committee of the Canadian Jew-
ish Congress and he has served
nal lea de r, was appointed a on committees of the Zionist Or-
not violate the principles of sepa- judge of the County of York. He ganization of Canada and had
ration of church and state, the succeeds the late Judge Samuel held office in the B'nai B'rith
Hassidic leader noted that prece- Factor, who died several weeks here.
dents already exist in Federal
and state aid for free transpor-
tation to parochial school pupils,
the provision of food surpluses to
such schools, and other assist-
ance. He declared that Released
Time programs have been suc-
cessful, have demonstrated no
governmental interference with
religious education, and have re-
sulted in returning thousands of
Jewish children "to their fold."
Schools that fear governmental
interference need not accept
such aid, he held.
Danzig stated that the entire
controversy regarding the Su-
preme Court's decision on offi-
cial prayer in public schools has
caused American Jews to ask
•TOPS IN
themselves "whether they will be
permitted to participate in the
PERFORMANCE!
cooperations and competitions of
American pluralism on the same
•TOPS IN
basis and with the same rights as
VALUE!
Protestants and Catholics." He
asked further: "G r anted that
prudence is a virtue and that all
MANUFACTURED BY
groups should be prudent, must
SOBERMAN & MILGROM CO.
Jews alone be guided exclusively
by considerations of prudence?"
7741 LYNDON AVENUE
Danzig alluded to the fact that,
DETROIT 38, MICHIGAN
this summer, pressure by Catho-
lics in Massachusetts had result-
ed in that State Legislature's re-
versal on adoption of an amend
ment to the Sunday Blue Laws,
which would have permitted Sab-
batarians to keep their businesses
open on Sundays if they close
Saturdays. The Catholics, in this
instance, he noted, used legisla-
tive pressure instead of the juri-
dicial process.
Cohen asserted that "the Jew
cannot be effectively 'political'
if to be politically realistic
means accommodating to a poli-
tics which is Christian or to a
society whose ethos, principles
and conduct are Christian. If,
then, the Jew must choose be-
tween a society which is Christian
and one which is religiously neu-
tral, he will obviously prefer the
latter. The Jewish community —
in all its sinfulness, trust and
May the New Year bring joy to you and your
devotion — wishes only to in-.
loved ones, peace to Israel and all mankind.
sure that, if American society be-
comes religious, it shall still
have access to it."
The other article by Professor
Downtown Office: 42 Broadway
Zeik is a review of writings by
New York 4, N. Y. • DI 4-7600
Catholic scholars who hold that
07A.. Chicago Office: 327 S. LaSalle St.
Christian-Jewish relations in u s t
427-7482
be based on principles bridging
the theological gulf between the
two religions.
--
ropC 41,713
Wetimrbstakte&
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