14—Friday, May 26, 1967
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
`Dialogue Within' Urged by Hertzberg,
New Head of Social Studies Body .
NEW YORK—A leading Jewish
historian and a noted Catholic edi-
tor agreed here that while each
faith must try to explain itself to
the other, it is equally important
that they begin to explain them-
selves to their
own followers.
Dr. Arthur
Hertzberg, mem-
ber of the grad-
uate faculty of
Columbia Univer-
sity and rabbi of
Temple Emanu-el
of Englewood, N.
J., and Philip
Scharper, editor-
Dr. Ilertzberg in-chief of Sheed
and Ward Publishing Co., gave
their views on "Social Implications
of the Present Ecumenical Cli-
mate" at the annual meeting of
the Conference on Jewish Social
Studies, held at YIVO Institute.
They were joined by Dr. John C.
Bennett, president of the Union
Theological Seminary (Protestant).
About 250 social scientists, educa-
tors and communal leaders were
in attendance.
Dr. Hertzberg was elected presi-
dent of the conference, succeeding
Dr. Salo W. Baron of Columbia
University. The conference was
founded in 1933 by Dr. Baron and
the late Professor Morris Raphael
Cohen of City College, to promote,
by means of scientific research and
study, a better understanding of
the position of the Jews in the
modern world.
editor of "Commonweal" magazine,
said Christians, "almost without
exception," have little understand-
ing of the Jewish people into which.
Jesus was born. "It will not do to
try to overcome this inadequacy
by referring to the statement on
the Jews by the Ecumenical Coun-
cil, or to Pope Paul's encyclical,
or to statements on the subject by
other Christian leaders, he said.
It is not with the old concept of
the Jew but with "living Judaism
that the Christian is summoned to
have dialogue today, and the con-
temporary Christian must recog-
nize that he is to speak and listen
to the contemporary Jew who is no
more exclusively a product of the
Old Testament than is the Chris-
tian himself."
Scharper said that Christians
must not look upon the reestablish-
ment of Israel as a purely poli-
tical fact but as the "fulfillment
of the ancient prophecy. We Chris-
tians may not believe so, but we
must try, at least to understand
why so many Jews both within and
without Israel look upon this state
as God's reply to a people's faith.
We might also at least strive to
see. in the newly gathered Israel,
an analogy to the church as a sign
raised up among the nations to
proclaim that God is faithful to
His promise that the calls of God
to the people of Israel are irre-
vocable."
Dr. Ilertzberg is the author
of a number of books, among
them the pioneer volume, "The
Zionist Idea." and the forthcom-
ing "French Enlightenment and
the Jews," which will be pub-
lished in the fall by Columbia
University Press. In March, he
"Fools" of Helem
The superior mentality for which
the Helemites were famous was
not, it should be noted, confined
to the men. The women, too, were
distinguished for it, as the follow-
ing tale illustrates.
A stranger once came to Helem
and put up at the tavern. After
eating a hearty meal, he asked
the mistress of the inn for his
account.
"Th bread, the soup, and the
dessert come to seven kopeks,"
said she. "For the roast, another
seven kopeks. Altogether eleven
kopeks."
For a moment the woman was
puzzled, but only for a moment.
"No," said she. "Two times
seven are eleven. I was a widow
with four children. I married a
widower who also had four chil-
dren, and three more children
were born to us. Now each of us
has seven children, and altogether
we have eleven. Two times seven
are eleven."
The stranger paid his account,
filled with admiration for the
acumen of a mere woman.
• • •
and slapped the Rabbi full in the
face. The fact got around and the
city was in an uproar. Such impu-
dence on the part of a fish had
never been known before!
At once the worthies of Helem
came together and passed sentence
of death upon the culprit. The sen-
tence was carried out immediate-
ly. The fish was taken to the river
and drowned.
• • s
One Friday afternoon the first
happy. By being happy we sow
anonymous benefits upon the world,
which remain unknown even to our-
selves, or when they are disclosed,
surprise nobody so much as the
benefactor . . . A happy man or
woman is a better thing to find
than a five-pound note. He or she
is a radiating focus of good will;
and their entrance into a room
is as though another candle had
been lighted. — From essay, An
Apology for Idlers by Robert Louis
Stevenson (1850-1894).
Those who complain most are
snowfall came down on Helem
and the people rejoiced to see the most to be complained of.
—Matthew Henry.
clean white blanket covering the
rutted streets and dingy houses of
their city. But then they thought
sadly: "The shammes will soon be
For Some
passing through the town and call
of the
on the people to close their shops
best buys
and prepare for the Sabbath. What
will happen to the snow when he
on new
walks over it?"
Pontiacs
Immediately the rabbi and the
Tempests
seven worthies came together to
see what could be done. The snow,
and
they decided, must at all costs be
Firebirds
kept clean. But how will the mer-
On a Friday morning, imme- chants know when to close their
ASK FOR
diately after prayers, the rabbi of shops for the Sabbath? They
Helem went to market and bought might, God forbid, violate the
a live and handsome fish in honor sanctity of the holy day! Finally
of the Sabbath. Now, having to the rabbi issued an edict as fol-
AT
carry his cane in one hand and the lows:
The shammes is to proclaim the
bag with his prayer-shawl in the
other, he slipped the fish head Sabbath as usual. But he is not to
18650 LIVERNOIS
down into the inside pocket of his go on foot. He is to stand up on a
1 block South of 7
cloak and went his way. But the table and be carried through the
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fish was a big one and the tail town by four of the worthies."
SAUL BERCH
Packer Pontiac
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In the realm of theology, "the
present age of dialogue has raised
in a new way the question of the
relations of Christians and Jews,"
Dr. Hertzberg said. "Jews are de-
manding of Christians that all at-
tempts to convert them to Chris-
tianity be abandoned, not only in
_fact but in theory."
1
IN EITHER
■ Nm4010-
-411116i ■
"Christians, on the other hand,
are asking Jews for some theolo-
gical accommodation to the exist-
ence of Christianity. that is, that
Jews assent to the proposition that
the existence of Christianity is of
especial theological importance to
Judaism. In neither faith commun-
ity, Dr. llertzherg avowed, "is
there anything yet approaching
complete agreement to either of
these two notions."
As for the Jews: the "age of
dialogue has meant an ongoing
radical change in the inner Jewish
morale." In the past. Jews "used
to feel united at very least by their
woes," he went on. "At this mo-
ment, the increasing openness of
American society has happily re-
medied this sense of embattle-
ment."
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Jews in the "ecumenical age"
must do two things, Dr. Hertz-
berg suggested: "They must at-
tempt to explain their particular
faith to others who are now ask-
ing them such questions in the
dialogue, and they must explain
it to themselves. The age of dia-
logue is thus reopening within
Jewry some ultimate questions."
Scharper, who was formerly as-
sistant professor of English at
Fordham University and associate
projected out of his pocket.
Suddenly the fish waved his tan
On Being Happy
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