Purely Commentary Israel, U.S. Jewry Divided by Lack

By Philip Slomovitz

I Dialogue. Synagogue Unit Told

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)

:'he Unpleasant Issue of Religion in Politics

\\Then a Bronx rabbi ran for a legislative post against the presi-
dent of his congregation—he was licked badly, and perhaps deservedly!
It was our position that a clergyman has a right to enter the political
arena. provided he has a cause to defend and ideas to promulgate.
But when it is a selfish move, he earns rebuke much more than a
layman.
In the New York campaign for the mayoralty, the religious issue
vias injected to such a degree that the New York Times edititoralized
AS follows under the title "The Clergy and Politics":
It is the rule, rather than the exception, for religion to get
mixed up in election campaigns in New York City. This year is
running true to form, or more so. One such incident has one Roman
Catholic involved with another, each charging injection of religion
into the debate. Another finds a Baptist Negro minister—and Con-
gressman—saying, with the intended beneficiary at his side, that
"it is time for New York to prove we can elect a Jew as Mayor."
Though he remained silent at the time, this blessing was later de-
plored by its recipient, Abraham D. Beame, who soon found new
reason for indignation: The Presbyterian Church in New York de-
clared for a political "change" in the city—an idea he apparently
felt could not include him.
Should churches and clergymen stay out of politics? It is, of
course, an old question. New York, through the years, has benefited
greatly from some crusades by prominent clergymen. One flaming
example, back in the 1890's, was Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst, who used
in the pulpit some of the strongest language ever heard in denounc-
eing scandals of government.
John Haynes Holmes was another clergyman who did not
hesitate to play a political role. His successor as pastor of the Com-
munity Church, the Rev. Dr. Donald S. Harrington, recently told
his congregation that he was going to vote for Lindsay, because it
was time for citizens to "rise up and demand a decently governed
city." But he emphasized that he was not "asking" his parishioners
to vote as he would; he was only hoping they would.
When any church, as an organized body, goes into the endorse-
ment business—for a candidate, not a principle—trouble lies ahead
for church and state. New Yorkers have a pretty good record of not
voting, en bloc, for a man because he is a Catholic, a Jew, or a
Protestant. Most of us want to keep it that way.
America cherishes its principle of separation of church and
and state. It does not want church or synagogue to dictate to its
members on political matters or candidates, but if an individual
clergyman is moved to express a preference, he should not hesitate
to do what he regards as his social duty. He has not lost his rights
as citizen by taking to the cloth.
And a church that, in today's world, took no interest in or respon-
sibility for social conditions around it would be in an indefensible
position. How could churches, their leaders, their members honorably
stand aside from the civil rights struggle, for instance? If white
supremacists in public office loomed as the certain obstacle to
achievement of civil rights, how could churchmen effectively fight
the good fight unless they demanded removal of officials, who
stubbornly resisted those rights?
The principle holds true in the government of a city. If the
church—any church—believes that the social ills are such that
change in city administration is needed, we see no violation of the
principle of church-state separation for the church so to express
itself.
The Times overlooked the most important clergyman in politics—
the late Dr. Stephen S. Wise, who always fought, frequently side by
side with the late Dr. John Haynes Holmes, for human causes, for
justice in government. But that's beside the point.
Clergy have a responsibility, as much as the press, and in all in-
stances there should be a high level of debate when viewing public
issues, when judging personalities who are to be entrusted with public

duties. When both deviate from truth it becomes calamitous.
In the New York campaign there were many aspects of improp-
riety. Too much notoriety was given to charges and countercharges,
thus inspiring the continuation of such name-calling and attacks. And
perhaps the nastiest of them all was when John V. Lindsay charged
that Controller Abraham D. Beame, his opponent, "couldn't wait for
the passing of Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the late U.S. Senator
Herbert H. Lehman to "double-cross" the Democratic Reform Move-
ment. That was a bit too nasty.
Lindsay's backers went countrywide to appeal for funds, and many

members of our community sent him monetary gifts—one of them
told us "Lindsay may be a Presidential candidate—I'll back him."
That drew nationwide attention to the New York campaign. It made
it interesting, but one must ask wheher a local drive should be trans-
formed into a national crusade, as crusades go in our political games.
There were nasty things said in our local campaign, but that's
"normal" in politics. But what's normal sometimes becomes indecent
—and that's to be avoided.

*

Poland's Jewish Clubs and Lack of Jewish Students
Folkstimme, the Warsaw Yiddish newspaper, reported a short
time ago that 1,600 boys and girls are enrolled in 22 Jewish youth
clubs sponsored by the Jewish Cultural and Social Association. This
sole Yiddish newspaper published in Poland quoted club leaders as
explaining that the aim of the Jewish clubs is to implant in members
a love of Poland as well as a love of Jewishness.
So that our people should not be misled, let the facts be known:
Clubs in Polish Jewish comunities are popular because many of
the members receive camping privileges. We have no way of knowing
how effective the implementation of Jewishness is as a result of the
club's programs. But the fact is that Jewish schools in Poland are
practically denuded of students and are nearly bankrupt. Our report
on the 1962 visit in Poland indicated that there were then 12,000 Jews
in Warsaw and the community's religious school was attended by only
16 pupils.
Our report from Krakow, where there then were 2,000 surviving
Jews-1 : 300 of them 65 years of age and older—was that there were
only 10 pupils in the Jewish religious school.
What would be the attitude of our own community if we were
to report that our communal clubs had 5,000 or more youth members
and that there were only a few dozen youngsters in our Jewish re-
ligious schools? Would we view the situation as glorious, or would we
admit bankruptcy as a Jewish entity?
That's the situation in Poland. Let not the reports emanating from

KIAMESHA LAKE — "High
walls of divisiveness" have arisen
between the great Jewish commu-
nities of Israel and the United
States because of the lack of dia-
logue between them on the cul-
tural, spiritual and intellectual
levels, Prof. Moshe Davis, head of
the Institute of Contemporary
Jewry at the Hebrew University
in Jerusalem, declared here Tues-

day.

Rabbi Davis, who is also re-
search professor in American Jew-
ish history at the Jewish Theologi-
cal Seminary of America, where
he was ordained, addressed the
more than 1,600 delegates attend-

ing the five-day biennial conven-
tion of the United Synagogue of
America, the congregational arm
of the Conservative movement.
"If we really want to share a

creative future," Prof. Davis de-
clared, "we must find the way
to enlist the investive minds
among American and Israeli
Jewry in a cooperative thought
force which will strive in active
cooperation to give the Jewish
people a new version of the
ancient dream of Zion."
The divisiveness is happening
despite a "new physical unity"
among the Jews of the world be-
cause of the Air and Space Age,

Jewish Agency Executive
to Include Non-Zionists
`in Principle,' Leaders Rule

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The plen-
ary session of the Jewish Agency

executive meeting here decided
Monday "in principle" on the re-
organization of the American Sec-
tion of the Jewish Agency execu-
tive to include representatives of
Jewish welfare funds and other

non-Zionist organizations in the
United States.
At Monday's session of the
executive, the question of Jewish

immigration to Israel from West-
ern countries was widely discussed.
It was reported that about 5,000

immigrants from Western countries
came to Israel during the first nine
months of this year, compared with
a total of 5,600 in all of 1964.
However, the rise was considered
insufficient. It was emphasized by
speakers that the United States
alone should provide at least 5,000
immigrants annually.
It is understood that the mem-
bers of the executive expect the
scheduled Jan. 11 Zionist Actions
Committee meeting to be devoted
largely to a counter-offensive
against the attacks on Zionism
made by Arabs and the Soviet
Union.
The executive approved the
establishment of three boarding
schools attached to high schools
for students from abroad. The proj-
ect will be coordinated with educa-
tion ministries abroad to assure
recognition of the studies in Israel.
The Jewish Agency executive
began discussion Tuesday on the
best use of the annual $1,000,000
income of the Memorial Fund
for Jewish Culture. The con-
sensus of the executive was that
the money be used for "monu-
mental" central purposes rather
than for a multitude of smaller
projects.
Dr. Nahum Goldman, president
of the World Zionist Organization,
presiding at the plenary session,
reported on the activities of the.
Conference of Jewish Organiza-
tions. He announced that two meet-
ings of COJO have been scheduled,
one to be held in New York next
month, another to be convened in
Israel in June.
The session, which has been
discussing the establishment of a
magazine in the United States to

"whether it be a year of study or
regular visits." He declared that
it should be taught in every'
Jewish school that "one has not
fufilled himself completely as a
We must explore the meaning of Jew unless he has been in Israel
for part of his life."
this unprecedented situation."
Rabbi Davis pointed out that
The convention luncheon Tues
for the world Jewish community ; day was in tribute to the Jewish

he said. "Today, in terms of dis-
tance, the state of Israel is, so to
speak, a suburb of the Diaspora.
In terms of Judaism, the entire
diaspora is a suburb of Jerusalem.

Israel is both a "reality and a
symbol" through the darkest days
of Jewish history "the hope of
Jews in the restoration of Israel
never waned," he said. "Modern
Israel, therefore, is in every sense
the creation of the entire Jewish
people of all generations and
should be responsible to all of the
generations." But "too often we
tend to forget that Israel is also
an evolving world Jewish com-
munity."
He declared that what Israel re-
quires of American Jewry is not
only continued material help "but
our spiritual strength as well—the
assurance of our ability to give
Torah to Israel as well as to re-
ceive spiritual guidance from it."

Rabbi Davis said that what is
required of every Jew is per-
sonal identification with Israel

OMNI. 0111=111.4•1110 0111•11.

Theological Seminary on its 80th
anniversary. Rabbi Bernard Man-
delbaum, provost of the Seminary
and professor of homiletics, was
speaker.
Henry N. Rapaport of 'White

Plains, N.Y., was elected the new
president of the organization.
The keynote address at the con•
vention was delivered by Rabbi
Israel Kazis of Newton, Mass., who
scored the nation's "youth rebel-
lion" for what he described as its
self-centered and selfish motiva-

tions.

Other speakers at the conven-
tion, which will continue through

Thursday, included Lee C. White,
special counsel to President John-
son, who brought greetings from
the President; and Sheldon S.
Cohen, U.S. commissioner of inter-

nal revenue.

.1•110►041.1.1.0•••11.041=1.1011•004

0411•141

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
. and Me'

(Copyright, 1965, JTA, Inc.)

ENVIABLE RECORD: The General A s s e m b 1 y of the Council
of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, which is taking
place this weekend (Nov. 11-14) in Montreal, has accumulated quite
a record of achievements during its existence . . . A mere glance at
the highlights of its actions during the last 30 years establishes the
order it brought into Jewish communal life in the United States .. .
As the governing body of the CJFWF, the General Assembly is com-
posed of delegates selected by the Jewish communities, the number of
delegates from each city being in proportion to that of the community's
Jewish population ... Thus, the CJFWF is a kind of parliament repre-
senting the Jewish communities of this country and of Canada . .
Its decisions and resolutions are the collective action of the COMM11-
nities' representatives, and serve as recommendations and guides to the
communities • . . They are the official policies of the Council of Jew-
ish Federations and Welfare Funds, and govern the Council's board
of directors . . . No wonder that the CFJWF General Assembly Is
considered the most important Jewish gathering of the year . .
During the Assembly sessions, all phases of Jewish communal life
are being discussed and decisions are taken not only on fund-raising
for local, national and overseas Jewish needs. but also on political mat-
ters . . . These include civil rights, church-state separation, peace in
the Middle East, U.S. economic aid to Israel, and the position of the
Jews in the Soviet Union . . At the same time, decisions are taken
also with regard to medicare, aid to the aged, Jewish participation in
the anti-poverty campaign, and other matters of public welfare . .
The CJFWF General Assembly also deals with the ugly problem of
anti-Jewish discriminations and with national cooperation in Jewish
Community Relations activities . . . It also reviews the activities of all
important Jewish organizations seeking funds from the Jewish Federay.m,_
tions and Welfare Funds, and plans community services . . .
education, development of young Jewish communal leadership, recruit'..--'f
ment of personnel for Jewish institutions, Federation endowment
funds, coordination of fund-raising in this country for Israel and for

other Jewish purposes, organization of women's divisions in the
communities — all these functions are part and parcel of the CJFWF
work based on recommendations taken at its annual General Assembly.

BASIC POLICIES: The CJFWF General Assembly is thus actually

the central body of American Jewry reflecting the will of all Jewish

communities in the country . . . This is being acknowledged more and

more with every year by every Jewish group and institution in the
country . . . In making its decisions, it works on the basis that con-

ditions confronting Jewish federations are changing rapidly . . . It
takes into consideration that problems need to be faced in financing
and programs must be reshaped in view of increasing needs .. . It
also takes note of the fact that new agencies, particularly public wel-

fare departments with services available to Jewish people, cut across
established programs . . . Its basic policy is that the activities of the

federations and their affiliated and related bodies must be con-
sidered as a unit, directed to the welfare of the Jewish population as
a whole and created by the Jewish community to assure its welfare
needs, whether these be economic, social, political or cultural . . .
Thus, it has from the very beginning of its existence, in 1934, advised
local federations to place decreasing emphasis on those sections of

their programs which other agencies, non-sectarian or governmental,
are competent to handle . . . Instead, they urged that increasing em-

phasis be given to those functions not being attempted by other agen-
cies which will help Jewish families and individuals with their serious

problems of social and economic adjustment arising out of the changes
reflect the Zionist movement, de- in economic life . . . Also to functions which are so specifically sec-
cided that Midstream, now pub- tarian that none but sectarian groups can be expected to deal with
lished in the U.S. as a quarterly, them . . . The raising and distributing of funds remain, of course,
be transformed into a monthly the central federation responsibility . . . With the march of time,
periodical as the central organ of the federations have assumed heavier responsibility not only in meet-
ing local and domestic Jewish needs, but also with regard to meet-
Zionism in the United States.
ing needs of Jewish communities overseas, including Israel . . . Today,
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
the federations raise about $125,000,000 a year, of which about