6—Friday, November 18, 1966
Notes On Intrafaith' Dinner
By NATHAN ZIPRIN
(A Seven Arts Feature)
I have never been ashamed of
being a Jew nor of Orthodox per-
suasion in an age that strains re-
ligious credulity. This faith how-
ever was shaken quite profoundly
last week when I was witness to
an unbelievable spectacle—a picket
line by young religious zealots
against one of the great Jewish
scholars of the day and a man of
impeccable Orthodox piety.
The target was Dr. Samuel Bel-
kin, president of Yeshiva Univer-
sity and of its Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary of America,
an institution without which the
American Or t h o d o x rabbinate
would be extinct today. Dr. Bel-
kin's sin was acceptance of an in-
vitation from the Synagogue Coun-
cil of America to participate in a
dinner ceremony in tribute to the
heads of the three leading rabbini-
cal seminaries in the country—
Orthodox, Conservative and Re-
form. The invitees besides Dr.
Belkin were Dr. Louis Finkelstein,
Chancellor of the Jewish Theolo-
gical Seminary of America, and
Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of
the Hebrew Union College—Jewish
Institute of Religion.
On encountering the pickets be-
fore the hotel, who were surround-
ed by bewildered people who could
not grasp how so-called religious
people could picket an event that
marked the sitting together of
brethren, I asked one of them
whether he believed in the dictum
that "all Israelites are comrades."
His impudent answer was yes, but
that the term "Israelite" referred
only to "our Jews." I received a
similar answer when I reminded
another of the pickets about the
Psalmist's admonition, "Indeed,
how good and pleasant is the sit-
ting of brethren together." And
when I reminded a bearded gentle-
man with piercing eyes of a fanatic
of the Biblical injunction, "Thou
shalt not hate thy brother in thy
heart," he burst into an irate
flame that almost consumed me.
Angrily he replied, "the word
brother means our brothers, not of
the kind you have in mind." At
this point I could not resist re-
minding him of the Talmudic dic-
tum that falling into wrath is a
worse sin then idol worshipping.
Now his still more angry reply
was "ihr zeit an am haaretz" (you
are an ignoramous).
On entering the dining room of
the hotel where the function was
held, I hoped to meet and talk
to Dr. Belkin and other erudite
Orthodox scholars about the dem-
onstrators and the rationale be-
hind their conduct. But before I
could get into a conversation with
Dr. Belkin, the dinner bell rang
and our talk was interrupted be-
fore it' even began.
At our table there was specula-
tion whether any of the three hon-
ored guests, particularly Dr. Bel-
kin, would react to the situation.
The answer was not long in corn-
ing, though Dr. Belkin did not
specifically refer to the religious
zealots who objected to his sit-
ting at one table and under one
roof with men of different Jewish
religious views.
My notes on what he said may
be incorrect, but here is what my
notebook says he said:
After observing that he could
see no objection to a uniting of
Jewish religious forces within the
Synagogue Council of America on
matters of common interest and
concern, but that "in the things
in which we differ we can have no
unity, nor should it be expected
of us, particularly of Jews of Or-
thodox orientation," Dr. Belkin
posed the question: "Should we
have fifty splinter Jewish groups
or one united group to represent
the totality of the Jewish com-
munity in matters in which we
are of one attitude and of the
same concern? Should we encour-
age many organizations, each
claiming that it alone can repre-
sent Jewry, or should we rather
encourage one lay organization
which can serve as an umbrella
for the unanimous sentiment of the
majority of the religious com-
munity?" His answer was "we
must work together in unison
where we think alike and feel
alike for the good of Jewry as
a whole."
Continuing he said, "we do not
hate any Jew in our heart, we
love our neighbors regardless of
whether they are Jews or non-
Jews . . . As an Orthodox Jew I
have no hatred for any Jew
whether he is observant or non-
observant. I have the deepest
affection for my fellow co-reli-
gionists and when we rebuke
them, or make pleas to them in
furtherance of Tora, we never
do it in the spirit of hatred, ven-
geance or grudges, but in the
spirit of genuine love and affec-
tion. We shall never diminish our
deep devotion to our brethren
and fellow-citizens, nor shall we
compromise with our sacred heri-
tage, with our link in our golden
chain of being."
A scholar at the table we were
seated ventured the prediction
that if J u d a i s m survives in
America it will be only of the
Orthodox brand. I am not pre-
pared to accept this thesis, but it
is obvious that Orthodoxy if it is
to survive must walk in the path
of Dr. Belkin's thinking and not
along the line of the pickets who
would bring the house of Judaism
down unless it housed only the
zealots.
* *
*
Orthodox Group Takes
Issue With Belkin
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
NEW YORK — The Rabbinical
Alliance of America, an Orthodox
group, denounced Tuesday the par-
ticipation of Dr. Samuel Belkin,
president of Yeshiva University,
in a dinner of the Synagogue
Council of America at which he
was honored. The SCA is the only
national religious group represent-
ing all three branches of Ameri-
can Judaism.
Participation of Orthodox rabbi-
nical and congregational agencies
in the SCA has been the subject
of intermittent debate within the
Orthodox community.
The Rabbinical Alliance state-
ment signed by its president, Rab-
bi Abraham B. Hecht, and publish-
ed as a paid advertisement in the
New York Times declared that it
was "shocked beyond belief" by
the fact that "the rabbinic head
of Yeshiva University" would ac-
cept an honor "together with the
heads of the Conservative and Re-
form seminaries."
The dinner also honored Dr.
Louis Finkelstein, chancellor of
the Jewish Theological Semin-
ary, and Dr. Nelson Glueck, pre-
sident of the Hebrew Union Col-
lege-Jewish Institute of Reli-
gion, the Reform seminary.
The statement said that despite
"all the statements and rationali-
zations" made by Dr. Belkin, his
appearance at the dinner "provid-
ed a tacit endorsement of the
other, rabbinic seminaries, as
equals of Orthodox seminaries in
the category of Yeshiva Univer-
sity," a "distressing disservice to
Tora Judaism."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
-- —
A unique co-educational University devoted to
Judaica, the Humanities, the Social and Natural Sciences
4-
Nen- Wan- elitnivfm 4
aniutaL NanqueL
Wednesday, November 30 Cobo Hall
Guest Speaker
Guest Artist
DR. ORMOND DRAKE
THEODORE BIKEL
Cocktails: 6:00 p.m.
Dinner: 7:00
p.m.
For Reservations call: DI 1-0708
Guatemala VP Owns
Paper Spreading Hate
MEXICO CITY (JTA)—Reports
from Mexico recently printed
abroad about the publication of
anti-Semitic materials in one of
the Guatemalan newspapers had
incorrectly named the popular
newspaper El Imparcial, stating
that the newspaper was published
by the Guatemalan vice president.
The newspaper should have been
named as La Hora. Dr. Clemente
Marroquin Rojas, vice president of
Guatemala, owns the newspaper La
Hora, which has carried a serial-
ized version of the notorious anti-
Semitic canard, the "Protocols of
the Elders of Zion." El' Imparcial
has not carried anti-Semitic ma-
terial.
A unique co-educational University devoted to
Judaica, the Humanities, the Social and Natural Sciences