THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Winning the War Against
Assimilation in South Africa
By SOLLY PRESS
(Copyright 1980, JTA, Inc.)
JOHANNESBURG —
Recently the president of Is-
rael, Yitzhak Navon, called
together a seminar in
Jerusalem to discuss the
confronting of assimilation
in contemporary Jewish
communities world-wide.
Among those invited was
Prof. Marcus Arkin„ direc-
tor general of the South Af-
rican Zionist Federation.
According to Arkin, three
factors marked the Jewish
outlook prior to the modern
secular era:
A distinctive set of cul-
tural values and behavior
patterns which were tradi-
tional and religious in ori-
gin, meaning and impact,
and clearly delineated
Judaism in the universal
scheme of things;
A situation of-extreme ex-
ternal hostility which led to
a high degree of social and
physical segregation;
A sense of common
purpose bound up in
Jewry's lofty concept of a
chosen people having the
task of bearing the divine
truth in a world of falsity.
Today, especially in the
West, Judaism increasingly
becomes a choice rather
than.a condition, notes Ar-
kin. Judaism in a sec,
ularized society has become
but one world view among
many. It no longer suffices
to appeal to traditional or to
ritual, and many Jews are
increasingly reluctant to
define themselves as being
Jewish in purely religious
terms.
This is not to say that the
religious dimension of
Jewishness has disap-
peared. In fact, Arkin points
out, there are signs in cer-
tain quarters in Israel and
the Diaspora where reli-
gious learning and living
have reached new heights of
intensity. On the other
hand, it is doubtful whether
this phenomenon will lead
to dramatic reversals in the
underlying demographic
trends of the Jewish people,
observes Arkin, who points
to the rapid rate of assimila-
tion in the U.S.
The prospects elsewhere
are alai not encouraging. In
Israel itself there is a
greater attachment to Is-
raelism than to links with
. the Jewish people, and to
identification with
Judaism.
Still, while recognizing
the problem, extreme man-
ifestations of total aliena-
tion such as in the Israeli
case, remain rare. Arkin
cautions against the failure
to distinguish between par-
tial and total assimilation.
After all, even for those who
have reached a certain
stage of assimilation, the
process can still be halted
and reversed.
South Africa repre-
sents a case where as-
similation is not as yet the
main concern of the
Jewish community. If in-
termarriage is taken as
one yardstick, the 15 per-
cent rate (at most) does
not threaten the future
physical existence of
Jewish life in the coun-
try.
If other criteria are taken
— such as synagogue mem-
bership, communal activi-
ties, Jewish day school
attendance — the impres-
sion is reinforced that loss of
identity does not concern
South African Jewry nearly
as much as it does, say,
Mexico City's Jewry.
The explanation for
South African Jewry's per-
formance, suggests Arkin,
is Zionism. For nearly a cen-
tury, ever since its com-
munal infrastructure began
to evolve, the Zionist com-
ponent has been paramount
in its affairs.
It has been implied that
Zionism represented the
total ideology of the South
African Jewish community
— not only concerned with
the concept of the Jewish
national home in Israel, but
with all other aspects of
Jewish life, including wel-
fare, education, anti-
Semitism, civic affairs and
much else.
"It was the Zionist com-
ponent which gave it an
element of ethnicity," ex-
plains Arkin, adding: "In-
volvement in the many
different aspects of Zionist
endeavor — from fundrais-
ing and youth movements to
Maccabi sports activities
and women's societies —
provided the great majority
of the South African Jewish
community with a cohe-
siveness that was an
everpresent bulwark
against loss of identity."
Friday, March 28, 1980 17
IRV & SOL COHEN
And The Gang
Wish Everyone A
Feedea Ped4e4
RINCETON
For Young Men
EIGHT TO EIGHTY
Old Orchard Shopping Plaza
Maple at Orchard Lake Rds.
851-3660—West Bloomfield
Mon., Thurs., Fri. 9-9
Tues., Wed., Sot. 'til 6
MASTER CHARGE
BANKAMERICARD
PRINCETON CHARGE
Jewish
Rational Fund
GREETS THE ENTIRE JEWISH
COMMUNITY WITH BEST WISHES
FORA
Ii
Detroit's Sephardim Receive
Book Gift from Yeshiva U.
starting thursday, apr. 3
JNF VOLUNTEERS WILL CLEAR YOUR
BLUE-WHITE BOX. Please have yours
ready. If your Box is not cleared by
May 18 , please call the JNF office.
Members of Youth Organizations will
also participate. Remember, all con-
tributions to JNF are tax deductible.
Jeffrey Zaret of Detroit, left, and Jack Varon,
right, of Seattle, students at Yeshiva University's
Yeshiva College, help Rabbi M. Mitchell Serels, asso-
ciate director of the Sephardic Community Activities
Program of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Semi-
nary (RIETS), a university affiliate, pack books for
the Sephardic Community of Greater Detroit. The
community has recently begun weekly services.
THE BLUE-WHITE BOX IS A SYMBOL
OF A STATE'S REBUILDING . . . Give
it a place of honor in your home. If you
do not have one in your home, ask for
it by calling the Jewish National Fund
office.
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
MRS. FRANK SILVERMAN
President
PERCY KAPLAN
Chairman, Blue Box Committee
Executive Director
MRS. IRVING BLOOM
MRS. EDWARD MENCZER
ALLEN J. HERBACH
Pres. Women of JNF
Pres. Young Women of JNF
Asst. Director
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