ure y ommen ar
Effective Response to 'Key 73' Proselytizers
So much is said about the "Key 73" proselytizing cam-
paigns, and there is so much repetitive nonsense about the
mythical "Jews for Jesus" movement, that a refutative
.statement is worth emphasizing.
In the bulletin of his congregation (Chizuk Amuno of
Baltimore), Dr. Israel M. Goldman has inserted an effec-
tive repudiation of one proselytizing effort. Introducing
the developing incident, Rabbi Goldman told the story of
a rabbi with a- liberal attitude toward Christianity and
Jesus of Nazareth who held the post of professor of re-
ligion in a Catholic college. When the vice-president of the
college was ready to retire, his post was offered to the
rabbi by the president of the college who told him that in
the spirit of ecumenism such a post would require that the
rabbi convert to Catholicism. It is the rabbi's reply that
makes Dr. Goldrhan's personal comment so effective. lie
translated the rabbi's reply from a Yiddish text in the
Jewish Daily Forward, and we share it here with our
readers:
- "I hardly deserve the honor which you have accorded
me inviting me to become your Vice President after Dr.
Abbot shall have resigned from that office. I cannot
imagine that there is anyone, no matter how modest he
may be, who would be unappreciative of the honor which
you want to confer upon me and I am truly touched by
your offer.
"But you, in your great earnestness and in your sin-
cerity, are asking a great price for the profferred honor.
You want that I should abandon my Judaism, become a
convert and henceforth be a Catholic. This shows me how
deeply in love you are with your own religion, which has
certainly rendered great services for civilization and for
humanity.
"But permit me to ask you why you are not willing
to allow me, a son of an ancient people with a rich spir-
itual heritage, the similar right to love my own ancestral
faith even as you love yours. You are a very dedicated
Christian and therefore you are a fortunate man indeed..
But please explain to me why you have not striven with
greater zeal to impart some of your deep love for your
faith to those other Christians who have in our generation
burnt to cinders millions of my people for the only reason
that they did not belong to your faith.
"You want that after my persecuted people had gone
through the hell of the holocaust, that I, who am a mem-
ber of this incinerated and gassed human family, should
make a courteous bow to the Christian church and say:
`As an expression of sgratitude to you of the Christian
faith for the ashes of my six million brothers and sisters,
I am now prepared to become henceforth your committed
servant!
"It seems fitting in your eyes, that after my perse-
cuted people had for two millenia prayed for its Jewish
homeland in Palestine and 'after that, fought sacrificially
to be able to live in that historic land, that I should spit
in the face of my heroic brothers and sisters and say to
them: I mock your struggles and your sacrifices! And
all that you have achieved in finding a haven and a home
for our persecuted people in the Holy Land, is less im-
portant in my eyes, than the little Golden Cross which' a
Christian Priest wants to put upon my breast.
"No, my worthy Father Quigley! I will not and cannot
sell my conscience for a title and for a job. It is apparent
r ju Ices an•
n
e oca
ounterpart
of Damaging Misunderstanding; 'Key 73' Gets an
Effective Reply ... Problem of Leadership Security ,
By Philip
Siomovitz
to me that you do not truly understand the Jew and that
Jews but wealthy people and Catholics as well, can pose
you do not sense his Jewish pride and his Jewish stub-
such a threat to Judaism. Even if one accepts the rather
bornness.
implausible assumption that hordes of Jewish males
"Dear Father Quigley, there is one thing that I have
identify with Bernie and therefore look favorably on his
learned from you. It is not nice to imitate, in monkey-
relationship with Bridget, how does this pose a threat to
fashion, the faith of another man. My frequent discussions
the Jewish religion?
and lectures concerning the Prince of Peace have ap-
"Jews_VV;Vel,:;AS,Rabbi Cohen does, that inter-
parently misled you into thinking that "I have an inclitiaY
marriage 'violates the teachings of their religion' are un-
tion toward the Christian religion and therefore you felt
likely to be lured away from this viewpoint by exposure
free to try to convert me to your faith. But the lesson
to 'Bridget Loves Bernie.' After all, over the last three
you have taught me, not to ape another man's religion,
decades the intermarriage rate among college-age Jews
I have learned well. And for this reason the time has come
climbed steadily upward — without Bridget and Bernie's
for me to seek another job where I can continue, un-
help. The furor over 'Bridget Loves Bernie, seems to re-
disturbed, to express myself in total loyalty to my own
flect a basic and well-founded insecurity among Jewish
faith and to leave Christianity to those to whom it belongs,
namely the Christians."
religious leaders. It's much easier, of course, to lash out
at this TV series than to tackle the problems they face
Your Jewish Friend,
head-on.
"Rabbi
It is immaterial who the Catholic dignitary is, or the
"A case can certainly be made for keeping off the air
TV programs — such as 'Amos 'n' Andy' — which present
rabbi, and the college referred to. It is the principle that
members of minority groups in an unfavorable light, since
needed and received emphasis in Dr. Goldman's well-
such programs will not only reinforce negative st
prepared statement.
types held by the general public but may also contr
Rightly, there has been much embarrassment in some
to the poor self-images which many minority group mem-
Christian ranks over the extremism of proselytizers. There
bers have. But suggesting that 'Bridget Loves Bernie'
has been boasting about results among Jewish youth.
should be canceled because it makes a rabbi's task more
More sound than fury is in evidence of the after-effects of
difficult is an entirely different, and indefensible, proposi-
the "Jews for Jesus" clamor. The truth is that there are
tion."
few Jewish defectors from our ranks, that there are some
who are not too loyal to our traditions but they are not
Of course, there is much to fear from the spread of
leaving us and we never give any large numbers up as
intermarriage and from indifference that was in evidence
lost to us. There is the inevitable return.
for a time in the ranks of college youth. But there is
always the return, and we may be experiencing it faster
Dr. Goldman's splendid rendition of an interesting
than is generally believed.
letter into proper English form reintroduces the dignity
with which Jews confront the issue of proselytizers. We
A namesake of Rabbi Goldman of Cleveland, Rabbi
know there are Jews who have turned missionaries and
Gerald A. Goldman, the director of University of Michigan
who are trying to capture Jewish souls. They seldom
Hillel Foundation, sees reality in the return, in the revival
succeed. It is doubtful whether the loss is ever noticeable.
of interest among Jewish youth, especially on the cam-
The rabbi's letter just quoted points to the firmness and
puses. Perhaps it is not as impressive, or as strong
the dignity of a Jewish answer to searchers for converts.
numerically as we'd like it to be, but it is inevitable.
Perhaps it'll help allay the nonsensical fears that have
How else can self-respecting Jews react to suicide-inviting
caused so much uproar over "Key 73" at a time when our
New Left (which may have been dead even before it
emphasis must be on giving emphasis to Jewish cultural
started, and now certainly is ebbing) or to anti-Semitic
programing rather than fighting windmills.
tendencies among anti-Israelis?
*
*
*
Judging by the letter quoted -by Rabbi Israel M. Gold-
Is There Insecurity Among Jewish Leaders?
man, the charge of insecurity is not too valid. Yet there
Dr. Israel M. Goldman's article reflects a sense of
is ground for rejection of the panic that has set in both
pride and determination not to be haunted by the .ghosts
over "Bridget and Bernie" and Key 73. We do have
that keep reappearing as claimed dangers to Jewish
to get down to business and make the task of elevating
existence.
our basic cultural needs even more challenging — and
There is a debate on over a television show. A rabbi
therefore more inviting — than ever before. We have
wrote to the New York Times protesting against it. There
already made the trek toward the Jewish student more.
was a reply to his letter from Stanley J. Morse, assistant
firm. We are on the road to giving it greater solidity. It
professor of psychology at New York University Research
is true that major emphasis in our ranks still is being
Center for Human Relations, who expressed the view
given to the fund raisers and the philanthropic. Yet there
that there is a sense of insecurity among Jewish religious
need be the recognition that in these ranks, too, there is
leaders. He claimed that this insecurity accounts for the
an appreciation of the needs.
unnecessary concern over the "Bridget" show. Prof.
Some of us may be tired, others may be bending under
Morse wrote:
the weight of responsibilities on many fronts, but we are
"If 'Bridget Loves Bernie' encourages Jews to 'violate
not collapsing. That's the 'answer to the proselytizers and
the teachings of their religion' as Rabbi Hillel A. Cohen
those who tempt with intermarriage and with the shams
suggests, then I guess 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' en-
that are believed to be disloyalties. Dignity and pride, as
courages career women to remain unmarried. It's diffi-
well as devotion and dedication, in whatever measures
cult for me to understand, in other words, how a situation
they become evident, still are the basic weapons that
comedy which employs outlandish caricatures of not only
defy the negations.
17
The CBS Shock From Pierpoint and the Lack of Faith of Detroit Columnist
Bias has many aspects. It is seldom sub-
ject to reasoning. Few of the prejudiced
minds can be corrected, unless the bigoted
go through personal experiences to lead
them toward an understanding of the posi-
tion of his fellow-man.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) had written
"On Prejudice" -and he had a wist defini-
tion:
"Prejudice is never easy unless it
can pass itself off for reason."
it comes in -handy in dealing with a
prejudiced mind like Robert Pierpoint's,
whose CBS comment on Israel and Amer-
ican Jewry was one of the most outrageous
heard on a public network in many years;
or like the shallow attitude of a former De-
troit sports writer who suddenly became a
philosopher and is judging the guilt against
Jews as if it were an invention for capi-
talization of smpathy.
Jewry's antagonists have often resorted
to the cliche of voter power allegedly pos-
sessed by Jews as having influenced Amer-
ican attitudes on Israel. Therefore Pierpoint
had the audacity to charge that "the Israelis
have and utilize a formidable political and
propaganda force in this country in the
form of six million Jews."
If ever there was a self-degrading Amer-
ican declaration it is this one. It is a charge
that the American government can be and
is dominated by propagandists, that fair
play, decency and humanitarianism play
no role in the minds of free Americans.
It is the kind of charge that is worthy
2—Friday, March 30, 1973
of the Kremlin. The Soviet rulers could
also make that charge in relation to the
Jackson Amendment that calls for a halt
to ransom taxes and international black-
mail. Perhaps the anti-Semites in Russia—
and they are anti-Semites, or they would
not conduct a war against Jews as Jews—
will also claim that the six million Ameri-
can Jews are using their power to press
for adoption of the Jackson Amendment.
But there are few Jews in Senator Jack-
son's state, and few of the states represent-
ed by the other 75 senators have large Jew-
ish populations. But the backers of the
Jackson Amendment have •a sense of justice
and are influenced by the American spirit
of fair play. That's what Pierpoint lacks,
and CBS could have and should have gone
farther than it did in its response to pro-
tests. It is not enough to reject the sentence
we have just quoted: there is need for hon-
orable approach to freedom of expression-
s• that fredom should not be abused by
resort to prejudice that seeks to pass itself
off for reason.
What a pity that a local columnist who
has resorted to biased attitudes could not
understand that freedom of expression ob-
ligation to protect its very life. He had writ-
ten sympathetically on the Munich tragedy,
and he became an outraged soul on the
question of the Libyan tragedy which has
given Israel a sense of deep remorse. It is
needless to go over the details. No one
condoned it, especially if it was guilt; all
that has been said by Jews generally is
THE DETROIT JEWISH HEWS
that it is cause for deep sorrow because
of the error. No one danced in the streets,
as the Libyans do whenever there is a mass
murder of Jews, or as the Egyptians demon-
•trate, by 'applauding terrorism—and we
doubt whether all Egyptians feel that way,
because not all Arabs approve the horrors
perpetrated by bandits.
What galls is that the sports-writer-
turned-philosopher should have selected for
his purpose texts that apply to him and in
rejecting those he did not like, should have
written privately, in relation to warnings of
threats that a suicide flight will be made
over Israel by the Arab terrorists as part
of their aim to destroy the Jewish state:
"If the Israeli military command takes
counsel from Jack Anderson, hadn't they
better check with Lou Gordon, too?" It'll
do the biased mind a bit of good to apply
for fair play to Lou Gordon! Perhaps he
can also use better taste with more advice.
But he went a step farther in a letter
to Louis Panush—and it is because of it
and the many others who resent a preju-
diced attitude that we make these comments
belatedly. He wrote to Panush: "The. perse-
cution complex of U. S. Jews who have
suffered little more than an occasional
hangnail' is what I find objectionable. It
is a tool for sympathy which is used in
letters to me condoning the Libyan murders.
That is what tires me—not the legitimate
gripes."
That's where Hazlitt's "passing off for
reason" comes in when a man tries to
justify his prejudices. No Jew condones
murders, but the. Detroit News' sports-writ-
er-philosopher chooses to say so. In his
column which aroused justified resentment
he said: "I grow weary of the dulling argu-
ments that 'for 2,000 years the world never
has wearied of persecuting us' and in the
course of our -history Jews have learned to
live with the double standards of this world.'
Particularly when they are used in an at-
tempt to defend an indefensible act."
Non-Jews have reason- to grow weary
when they take into account the Christian
crimes of the ages. That's how atonement
develops—by -growing weary of guilt. But
no one has claimed overwhelming Amerie
anti-Semitism. It has existed here, it sti
exists in many areas, there are new dangers
of it in university and job quota systems.
But we are confronting the issues as whites
when it is a black-white issue, as Americans
who seek fair play from fellow Americans.
And contrary to Pierpoint and a misguided
Detroiter there is, in the main, fair play,
on the American ball field.
There is much to criticize in all social
spheres, including Israel's and world Jewry,
and once the right to differ is denied our
freedoms will have been sacrificed. It is
when critics distort facts that they must be
condemned mercilessly. That's the point to
be made against the Pierpoints, whether
they are on , the air or serve as columnists.
We bear no animosities; there is only
the insistence on the right to present facts
and to reject prejudices. We can't forgive
the transgressors of fair play for making
it necessary for us to reject defamations.
If it's the only way to deal with a Pier-
point and his Detroit counterpart, so be it!
-