THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
18 Friday, May 8, 1981
VIDEO TAPE
TAU Honors
George Wise
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TEL AVIV — Tel Aviv
University recently hon-
ored Dr. George S. Wise, the
university's first president
and currently a chancellor
at the school, on the occa-
sion of his 75th birthday.
Those attending the cele-
bration included Prime
Minister Menahem Begin,
and Ephraim Katzir, former
president of Israel, who
spoke on "Science and
Jewish Moral Values."
Diaspora Role in Jewish Life
By DAVID FRIEDMAN
(Copyright 1981, JTA, Inc.)
The early Zionists ex-
pected the Diaspora to dis-
appear with the establish-
ment of a Jewish state. Yet
with the state of Israel al-
most 33 years old most Jetvs
in the United States and
other free countries do not
seem to have any intention
to making aliya. The major-
ity of Jews from countries
where Jews are
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endangered, such as the
Soviet Union, also seem to
prefer to go to the U.S. and
even many Israelis are corn-
ing here.
Yet, if there is one thing
that unites all Jews it is the
state of Israel. Even many
Jews, who otherwise feel lit-
tle connection to the Jewish
people, can be stirred when
Israel is in danger. It could
be said that at a time when
Zionism itself seems to be
weakened all Jews are
Zionists.
But Israel, for practical
and ideological reasons,
cannot yet officially accept
the legitimacy of the Dias-
pora. Because of its own
precarious position it must
continue to stress that a
Jewish life can only be lived
fully in a Jewish state.
This subject is not often
discussed openly in
Jewish forums. So it was
a groundbreaking event
when a critical issues
conference, sponsored
by the United Jewish
Appeal's Rabbinic and
Faculty Advisers
Cabinets, in Washington
recently held a session on
"Is There a Future for
American Jewry?"
It featured a debate be-
tween Hillel Halkin, an
American Jew living in Is-
rael since 1970 and author
of "Letters to an American
Friend," and Leonard Fein,
editor of Moment magazine
and a professor at Brandeis
University.
Halkin's main theme was
that in a secular age, Jews
are going to be predomin-
antly sectarian and the sec-
tarian influences in the
general society are going to
win out over the particular
Jewish influences thus in-
creasing assimilation. He
said the population figures
which put the total number
of American Jews as five to
six million are meaningless
because he maintained that
no one knows how many
Jews there really are.
Explaining this, Halkin
argued that the middle of
Jewish life has dropped out
with most Jews joining the
majority who are assimilat-
ing into the general Ameri-
can society. He said there
were only about a million to
1.5 million American Jews
"who really care."
He said these people
are more and more isolat-
ing themselves from the
general society, "almost a
process of reghettoiza-
tion." He said they are
opting out of the Ameri-
can dream.
But Halkin declared the
only way for a full Jewish
life is in a Jewish secular
state with all the accoutre-
ments of a modern state.
Fein rejected the notion
that assimilation is inevit-
able, noting that it has been
declared despite the "ab-
sence of empirical evi-
dence." He said that some
people cite demographic
figures as evidence of the
shrinkage of the Jewish
people in the United States.
But he said while the
Jewish birthrate is not high
enough to keep the Jewish
population at its present
,
rate it has remained steady
and may even be increasing
because of the immigration
of Jews from abroad.
At the same time, Fein
noted that the move by Jews
to the Sun Belt has not been
a disaster for Jewish life as
predicted by some. He said
Jews moving to the South
and Southwest have rec-
reated the institutions they
left behind in the North-
east.
Fein also rejected Hal-
kin's assertion that this is
a secular age. He said
Jews
today h
spiritual needs, thougii
Orthodoxy is not neces-
sarily the answer, and
they need to be met in Is-
rael as well as the Dias-
pora.
But Fein said there is still
a need for finding a way to
affirm the Diaspora, the
legitimacy of Jewish life in
the United States, without
appearing to negate Israel.
He said Israel has not only
become the center of Jewish
life it is "the purpose of
Jewish life."
Halkin and Fein agreed
on one point. There is a need
for a strong Diaspora, not
only for economic and polit-
ical support of Israel, but
also because a strong Dias-
pora will provide the
groundwork for increased
aliya.
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