Purely Commentary
A Rabbi's Exaggerated Charge of Threats to Legislators
On two occasions, Rabbi Arthur Gilbert, who holds an important
position with the ADL, made reference to pressures upon legislators
that were accompanied by threats and charged that Jews who were
exercised over Israel's position vis-a-vis the Arabs resorted to threats
in dealing with members of Congress.
In his book "A Jew in Christian America," Rabbi Gilbert charges
all religious groups with bad behavior, that "Jewish organizations were
more exercised over whether a congressman will support a favorable
Mid-East policy than where he stands on Algeria, medical care, or any
other issue. And how many times have we threatened legislators,
openly or behind the closed door, with loss of vote should they not
come along with us on the one narrow specific issue that concerns our
religious community at the moment."
In another volume, "Torah and Gospel," (both books were pub-
lished by Sheed and Ward), in which noted Jewish and Christian
scholars participate in frank discussions of Jewish-Christian relations,
Rabbi Gilbert wrote the "Afterword" under the title "Next Steps in
the Jewish-Catholic Dialogue." In it he wrote:
"If synagogue leaders can threaten congressmen with the loss
of votes on an issue that concerns the welfare of the State of Israel or
the economic interest of the Sabbath-observer, is it wrong for a bishop
to exercise that same threat on the issue of the bus transportation of
parochial-school students or the revision of the divorce law?"
The repetition of this charge in two books in which religious issues
are under consideration is cause for serious concern. Is the accusa-
tion justified?
Tb're undoubtedly always are unwise acts by the crude who
resort to threats when dealing with legislators. Members of Congress,
like any other responsible elected officials, must be treated with
respect. They are entitled to their views and they must not be threat-
ened. But why should it be assumed that Congressmen or Senators,
when they speak up in Israel's defense and in condemnation of Nas-
ser's hatred for Israel, are acting under the pressure of threats.
This Commentator has been a lobbyist of a sort in behalf of the
Zionist cause and in Israel's defense. He has dealt with many Sena-
tors and Congressmen and with responsible people in the White House.
But he has never threatened and he resents the accusation. He has
pleaded and has reasoned and has gotten a good American reply in
the main.
(In the U. S. Senate documentary volume, "Memorial Services
for Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg, U. S. Senator from Michigan,"
Eighty-Second Congress, First Session, 1951, appears this Com-
mentator's tribute to Senator Vandenberg and an evaluation of his
early interest in Zionism. The tribute concluded with this assertion:
"In all the years that we conferred with him he never—not once
—showed the slightest interest in this commentator's political
preferences. We were concerned with grave matters involving
the security of the Jewish people, and we stuck to this point.
On this score he was unselfish and always honorable. If only
for this reason alone—which is one of many—we honor his
memory—as we honored and respected him in his lifetime.")
In every instance of our negotiations with members of Congress
from Michigan, Republicans and Democrats alike, the services they
rendered Israel were in principle and in recognition of a great cause.
There was no pressure, no threats. Only Congressman Hoffman was
an antagonist, but in differing with him we didn't threaten.
There was an experience with the late Senator Pat McNamara.
He was among a handful who voted against a resolution that was
co-sponsored by Senator Gruening and others in condemnation of the
Arab boycott. I discussed the matter with him and pointed to the
injustice of threats against American Jews by Arabs because of the
Jewish interest in Israel. For months thereafter, Pat McNamara utilized
every occasion to indicate that he recognized the justice of our appeals
in Israel's behalf and that he agreed with us wholeheartedly.
There were no threats and by that time McNamara didn't need
our votes: he already knew he would not be a candidate for re-elec-
tion. But he saw the justice of a cause and he supported it.
Rabbi Gilbert didn't help good causes with his repetitious charge.
He certainly exaggerated the role of Jews who resorted to threats. It
would have been better if he had given greater emphasis to the efforts
of those seeking positive action for causes to which they are dedicated
out of conviction.
4:
Secularists . . . Agnostics . . . Jews Among the Atheists
Secularists have formed an element to be reckoned with in Jewish
life for a- long time. In all ages, there have been Jews who questioned,
who entered into polemics with the believing Jews and who boasted
of being Apikorsim. When, therefore, a survey shows that Jews pre-
dominate among the agnostics or atheists or those who question God's
existence, we are not presented with a new fact. It is merely one of
the repetitions of history. Only the vastness of the quoted numbers
is cause for concern.
A poll conducted for the Catholic Digest by Dr. George Gallup
shows that the number of Jews who, in 1952, said they were abso-
lutely certain that "there is a God" has declined to 70 per cent this
year; and those •who said they were unbelievers, that they were
atheists or agnostics, rose from 2 per cent in 1952 to 16 per cent this
year.
The comparable figures are offered in this table which indicates
how high is the percentage of Jewish unbelievers in comparison with
the other faiths:
Absolutely
Fairly
Doubtful
Agnostic or
Denomination
Certain
Sure
Believers
Atheists
Catholics
88
10
2
Baptists
89
7
3
1
Methodists
81
13
5
1
Lutherans
82
13
3
2
Presbyterians
76
16
6
2
Episcopalians
74
20
5
1
Congregationalists
73
19
7
1
Jews
39
31
14
16
The release of the result of this Gallup poll is especially interest-
ing in view of the simultaneous revelations in other Jewish quarters.
Midstream magazine published an interesting—and a very objective—
essay by B. Z. Sobel and Norman Mirsky under the title " `Ignosticism'
in Detroit—An Experiment in Jewish Religious Radicalism." It is a
good evaluation of a situation in our own bailiwick and it strikes a
realistic note when the authors point to "the translation of Jewish
secularism and religious scepticism into an acceptable religious form."
Haven't many of the Apikorsim in our midst usually concluded their
scepticism with a baruch ha-shem — a praise be the Lord — self-
assurance?
Irrelevancy of !gnosticism
in Jewish Experience ...The
Unjust Charge of 'Threats'
By Philip
3/0MOYitZ
Indeed, among us there has always been a secularist group that
has been Jewishly loyal. Some of them may not have honored the
faith, but they have not been disdainful in the main.
It is especially noteworthy that at about the same time that the
Gallup poll study about believers and unbelievers was released, the
secularist Workmen's Circle (Arbeiter Ring) had its convention in
Kiamesha Lake, N. Y., and the WC president, Judge Jacob T. Zuker-
man, had this to say about the forcefulness of secularism:
"Hundreds of thousands of American Jews who are not synagogue
worshippers, and many who are, have come to the realization that the
only way to stem the tide of intermarriage and assimilation and survive
as Jews in the United States is by strengthening secular Jewish
cultural and social idealism . . .
"The growing loss of Jewish identity in the United States is now
meeting the test of reversal because leading Jewish organizations and
communal groups have come to realize that, in order to prevent inter-
marriage and assimilation, the Workmen's Circle philosophy of secular
Judaism alone can stem the tide. There are hundreds of thousands
of American Jews who do not go to temple - and who, yet, want to
retain the traditions and heritage of Jewishness.. They are using
Yiddish and English to capture the literary qualities of Jewish secu-
larism.
"We do not oppose those who think that religion holds most of
the answers, but we do not agree that the answer to Jewish survival
lies in synagogue-going alone. There must be social idealism and
Jewish humanism. This can be found only in Jewish secularism, which
we represent and reflect. The Workmen's Circle has been a trail-
blazer in social idealism, and a torchbearer of progressive and social
improvement.
"Other Jewish organizations have attempted to decorate their
activities by cloaking themselves in a religious aura. From time to
time, they have been forced to assume almost exclusive secular
postures on civil rights or matters of foreign policy. We offer no
shams to the American Jewish community. We are, we believe, follow-
ing the best traditions and the deepest heritages of the Jewish people
by opposing the conservative and reactionary elements within our
own Jewish community and by representing the hundreds of thou-
sands of American Jews who are proud bearers of tradition as it is
reflected in the Yiddish language, in literature, in music, in the
dramatic forms, in the arts and in progressive social improvement.
The fact that Jewish community centers and Y's from coast to coast
have shown an acute interest in our program is demonstration enough
that our secularism is the current taste of the American Jewish
community."
This is, indeed, a very radical approach to our issues and our
needs, and to our identity. But we must take into consideration the
irrefutable fact that the head of the Workmen's Circle spoke as a
Jew, to Jews, before a gathering of an important Jewish organization.
This has happened before, and it is possible that if Dr. Gallup had
gone to the WC group previously the 2 per cent of agnostics in 1952
might have been much higher.
An important factor in Jewish life must be understood. We are
primarily a religious community. But we also are a distinct cultural
entity. We have the qualities of nationhood, and without ever being a
nation within a nation wherever we may reside—because our loyalties
to the states to which owe allegiance are supreme—we retain qualities
that enrich the peoples among whom we live.
The Gallup poll result is interesting, and Judge Zukerman's
comments deserve, attention. The latter sound sensational, but they
really represent a continuation of an established concept of his
organization. And the Gallup poll result may really indicate that
there is always a questioning even of the deity by Jews.
Really, there is nothing new under the sun—and there is nothing
so astonishingly or staggeringly new about our atheists and our
secularists. Baruch ha-Shem!
Barbara Tuchman
Attacks Arendt's
Holocaust Views
NEW YORK (JTA)—Mrs. Bar-
bara Tuchman, a best-selling popu-
lar historian of modern Europe,
has denounced Hannah Arendt's
widely publicized views on the
Nazi holocaust, including her
charge that the European Jews
aided the Nazi program of their
destruction.
Mrs. Tuchman expressed hers
views in a review in the New Yoi
Times weekly Book Review
ton of "Justice in Jerusalem," the
book by Gideon Hausner, on his
experience as Israel's prosecutor
of Adolf Eichmann.
Mrs. Tuchman noted that Miss
Arendt, in her book on Eichmann,
had subtitled it "the banality of
evil." Mrs. Tuchman asserted that
for the author of that "ineffable
phrase as applied to the murder
of Six Million to have been so
taken in by Eichmann's version
of himself as just a routine civil
servant obeying orders is one of
the puzzles of modern journalism."
Arguing that, on the contrary,
Eichmann "was an extraordinary,
not an ordinary man," Mrs. Tuch-
man declared that such a view
from "a presumed historian," was
"inexplicable." She continued:
"That he was just an ordinary
man, a 'banal' figure, was of
course precisely Eichmann's de-
fense, his assumed pose desperate-
ly maintained throughout his in-
terrogation and trial. It was the
crux of his plea."
Mrs. Tuehman asserted that Miss
—
—
Arendt's acceptance of Eichmann's
plea "at face value suggests either
a remarkable naivete or else a
conscious desire to support Eich-
mann's defense, which is even more
remarkable. Since simple caution
warms against ascribing naivete to
the formidable Miss Arendt, one
is left with the unhappy alterna-
tive."
The issue of the extent of the
Jews' cooperation in their own de-
struction, Mrs. Tuchman wrote, "is
clarified" in Hausner's book "for
anyone who wishes to understand
rather than to judge." She added
that the "attractiveness" of the
thesis that the Jews "were some-
how responsible for their own
slaughter" was that "by shifting
the guilt to the victim, it relieves
everyone else."
Most Santiago Jewish Students Native-Born
SANTIAGO DE CHILE (JTA)
— Ninety percent of the Jewish
students in this city are native-
born Chileans, while 63 percent
of their parents were born in
countries outside Latin America,
it was reported here recently on the
basis of a research study on the
characteristics and attitudes of
the Jewish students enrolled in
the University of Chile, the Tech-
nical University and the Catholic
University.
The study was conducted on be-
half of the Latin American office
of the American Jewish Commit-
tee's Institute of Human Relations
by Professors Eduardo I. Rogov-
sky and Gunther Boroschek, mem-
bers of the University of Chile
faculty. Dr. Rogovsky is director
of the AJC's social studies depart-
ment here.
The data showed that there are
506 Jewish students in the three
local institutions of higher learn-
ing, representing roughly six per-
cent of the total student popula-
tion in those institutions. Among
the Jews, 89 percent were born in
this city.
Among all the Jewish students
here, 29 percent said they had re-
ceived a Jewish education, 18 per-
cent said they had had "some"
Jewish studies, and 31 percent re-
ported they had no Jewish educa-
tion. By comparison, Dr. Rogovsky
reported, 37 percent of the fathers
and 20 percent of the mothers of
the Jewish students said they had
attended Jewish schools in their
youth. Of the parents who had
had no Jewish education, 46 per-
cent said they felt the lack of such
schooling.
Among the students, 35 percent
said they had some knowledge of
Yiddish, but only four percent of
them speak Yiddish correctly; 27
percent of them had some knowl-
edge of Hebrew, seven percent of
these being able to speak Hebrew
correctly. On the other hand, 97
percent of the Jewish students
said they know English.
Figures on participation in re-
ligious services showed that only
12 percent of the Jewish students
attend "fully" the services during
the High Holy Days and Passover.
However, 59 percent said they
participate in sedorim, 60 percent
attended Yam Kippur services and
44 percent participated in Rosh
Hashanah services.
Almost half of the Jewish stu-
dents are affiliated with some
Jewish institutions, 25 percent of
them belonging to the Jewish Ur'--
versify Center, and 65 percei,
saying they were "interested"
working with Jewish institution
Thirty-five percent of the studct
said they were affiliated with non-
J e w i s h institutions. Questioned
about anti-Semitism in Chile, 64
percent of the Jewish students
said there was no danger of such
bias in this country.
Africa's Hospitality to Eshkol Linked
to Israel's Technical Aid Program
PARIS, (JTA) - - Premier Levi
Eshkol's tour of six African nations
has been a success because of the
care which the Israel government
has implemented in its program of
technical aid to those countries,
the influential Paris daily news-
paper, Le Monde, declared.
Eshkol is visiting the Ivory
Coast, Liberia, Congo-Leopoldville,
Madagascar, Uganda and Kenya..
The newspaper attributed the ef-
fectiveness of the Israeli program
to three conditions. One of these
is that Israel avoids giving t h e
former colonial powers the im-
pression that it intends to take
their place.
At the same time, Le Monde
pointed out, Israel seeks to
avoid giving the n e w African
countries any impression that it
is acting as an assistant to those
powers. Third, unlike the actions
o f Arab diplomats officially
called upon in countries like
Chad or Senegal, the Israeli dip-
lomats always stay out of the in-
ternational political quarrels of
those nations.
Attention to these cautions, the
newspaper added, is backed by the
efficiency of the technical experts
Israel sends to the new African
nations, which Le Monde said
might very well be the fundamen-
tal reason for the Israeli success
in Africa.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
2—Friday, June 10, 1966