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2 Friday, October 26,19115
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
PURELY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Dr. Emanuel Rackman Paves Road To Jewish Unity With Dignity
Jewish unity is not a myth. If it
were, the myth would have to be dispel-
led.
Am Ehad, One People, are not two
unrelated words pulled out of the dictio-
nary at random. There is a reality in the
combination that contributes immensely
to cooperative Jewish tasks
Wherever there is dissention it
should be healed. It can be corrected.
Religious differences caused havoc in
many quarters. They were recently in
evidence in this country and continue as
a dispute in this and other communities. ,
They were and continue to be especially
distressing in Israel.
Fortunately, there are noted , Or-
thodox scholars in leadership roles who
strive for a healing of the pains that
have been and regretably remain in evi-
dence in many quarters.
Dr. Irving Greenberg has a leader-
ship role in such efforts. He advocates
meeting the issues on the basis of com-
monality, of frank discussion in an at-
mosphere not only of amity but also of
mutual respect, even for secularists.
Hopefully, he will succeed.
A leader in Orthodaxy, a scholar of
note who heads the major, Orthodox
theological seminary, Dr. Norman
Lamm, president 'of Yeshiva University,
is important in these discussions. He
contributes toward the attainment of
unity among all Jewish ranks with his
practical approach to Jewish needs as
well as conflicts.
Dr. Emanuel Rackman, president , of
Bar-Ilan University, in the position • of
Jewish leadership in which he is recog-
nized by his associates in Orthodoxy and,
indeed, by all Jewish factions, has a
major responsibility toward unified
Jewish actions in view of his notable
academic position in Israel. He has ex-
pressed views on the subject which pro-
vide the guidance needed to eliminate
the unnecessary conflicts.
Understandably, Dr. Rackman is
concerned about Israel's• economic plight.
He is especially distressed over the reli-
gious rifts. He has a viewpoint that is a
solution to many problems. His analysis
of a sad situation encourages the inner
amity that is needed in Jewish ranks.
In an essay dealing With Jewish un-
ity, Dr. Rackman has a brief comment
on the basic ideas with which • the entire
problem should be treated:
It should be made clear that
it is not precisely Jewish unity
that is the problem. One cannot
expect that there will ever be
total agreement among Jews on
major issues. There will always
be differences of opinion. We are
a thinking people and con-
sequently there will always be
different views, continuing de-
bates and discussions.
The real problem is the mood
and the spirit in which we differ.
Thus, when we talk about the
problem of Jewish unity, we
really mean our ability tp relate ,
with mutual respect to each other •
and with mutual respect for our
differing points of view, from
which there may eventually
emerge a consensus.
Concerning himself especially with
the painful situation in Israel, basing his
observations on "a magnificent insight of
the first Chief Rabbi of Israel,". Dr.
Rackman proceeded with his views on
the challenging subject, asserting;
Dr. Irving Greenberg
'Dr. Emanuel Rackman
The Talmud says that Jewish
scholars have increased peace in
the world. My colleague, Dr.
Norman Lamm of Yeshiva Uni-
versity, used to say that anybody
' who thinks that the rabbis of the
Talmud had no sense of humor is
sorely mistaken. They must have
had a senile of humor if they
could say that Jewish scholars
multiply peace in the world. It is, , ,
the last thini in the world to ex-
pect from them.
. However, said Rabbi Kook,
Jewish scholars do multiply
peace in a very unique way. They
think and produce different
points 'of view. But every time
that they generate • a new idea,
this new idea comes into conflict
with a counter idea. There is, in
the words of Hegel; first a thesis
and then an antithesis. From the
two there emerges a synthesis. So
ideas generate momentum and as
the scholars argue with each
other and finally resolve into one
entity the ideas which, to begin
with, were contradictory, they
are multiplying peace — peace
among the ideas. From the con-
flict •of ideas there emerges a
consensus and a synthesis of that
which they had been discussing.
This can happen when schol-
ars are respeetful of each other
and argue in the proper mood
and manner. Alas, this is not pre-
sently the case.
Now we do not know how to
talk to each other respectfully.
We engage in what we might' call
verbal violence. We do not even
know how to use words peace-
fully. And I am not talking about
extremists alone who engage in
verbal violence — as for them we
must reconcile ourselves to the ,
fact that there will ever be luna-
tics in all societies and Israeli
society will have its share of
. Ahem. I talk rather about people
generally. We have forgotten how
to talk to each other. We must•
learn all over again how . to re- •
late to each other, how to listen, .
and how to respond.
At one time the cause for
what we 'though might be an exp-
losive area in Jewish society was
the economic gap between rich
and poor. ,That gap may still
exist; but almost all Israelis eat '
well' and most of them are driv-
ing cars. If anything, the
economy has suffered• from too
•
,
much prosperity. Indeed, there
are , poor people, but the source
of future trouble in Israel will not
be the gap between rich and
poor. Nor' will the differences be-
tween Ashkenazim and Sephar-
dim be the source of major con-
flicts. The rate of intermarriage
between • Ashkenazim and
Sephardim goes up every year so
that that problem is going to be
solved automatically. And these
intermarriages create very few
halachic problems — only prob-
lems involving different customs
which can be resolved easily.
Unfortunately, the area in
which the situation continues to
be explosive is the religious area,
and this must worry us. The most
explosive area' is between' ethe
"datiim and chilonlim", the ob-
servant and the non-observant.
In the Diaspora this is not as
serious as it is in Israel.
In the United States the prob-
lem is not serious because there
is very little politicization of 'reli-
gion. In Israel, however, because
religion is so involved in the
country's politics, it has become .
a 'source of enormous conflict
and misunderstanding.
Perhaps we will one -day ar-
rive at the conclusion that the
less the establishment is involved
in religion, the more likely it is
that differing groups will develop
a modus vivendi to relate to each
other and thus promote together -'
what are the general - Jewish
interests:
However, because the estab-
lishment in Israel is so involved
with religion, religious conflicts
only become more serious. At one
time I myself assumed full re-
sponsibility for fulfilling all the
wishes of the Chief Rabbinate in
Israel. Now I find that my' posi-
tion is being eroded all the time. I
feel less and less comfortable de-
fending the positions of the reli-
gious establishment. True, the es-
tablishment is pleading for reli-
gious unity, but it has. not the
remotest- notion of what it must
do to achieve it.
We have forgotten that the
fate of all Jews hangs in , the bal-
ance. We will either live together
or perish' together. Anti-Semites
do . not distinguish between the
"whites" and the "blacks" among'
us,' and peace in the religious -,
sphere must be achieved.
Dr. Norman Lamm
. Would that the analyzed .rift were
really missing in the American 'Jewish
society! In some respecti it exists here as
well. Fortunately, it is not on such a
massive scale as in Israel. But, when
there is a threat to the Am Ehad princi-
ple it must be dealt with equally as seri-
ously here.
Dr. Rackman's comment that "there
is an urgent need" to deal with the
threatening issue becomes vital for all
Jews. There is a suggested solution, in
Dr. Rackman's personal position as
president of Bar-Ilan University. He de-
scribed the suggested solution, in his
essay on Jewish unity, by stating:
I am most proud of the faet
that Bar-Ilan -University is a
leader in the effort. Its first task
was to \ bring the yeshiva world
into the Twentieth Century, an-
swering a basic need of the coun-
try. Then Bar-Han decided not to
limit its student • body to obser- •
vent students alone, but to bring
nts 'from all
together other stude
segments of Israeli society that
they may learn, to 'relate to each'
other, that they,`may study to-
gether, and socialize together.
Moreover, within the faculty we
achiefe mutual respect. The
non-obseriant learn to r espect
the observant as colleagues, and
very often even take on many of
the practices of the faith. ,They
cannot possibly regard their' reli-
gious • colleagues as idiots or
medievalists. They discover that
one can be observant and yet ex-'
ceedingly knowledgable about all
that is going on in the world --
an expert in' science and modern.-
culture and yet devout.
The latest activity that we
undertook to .foster .Jewish unity
• was to establish ,an ongoing con-
ference on Jewish unity. For ger-
veral years we have had confer-
ences of rabbis and secularists,
outstanding thinkers in Israel
and abroad.
Last year we also convened
educators from the school systeM
of Israel to sit and talk to each '
other and ask how school chil-
dren can be taught to relate to
each other. Rabbis came together ,
from all over the world, some
left-wing, some right-wing, and
ask what. -we can do to enable
Jews to relate to teach other re-
spectfully.
'Perhaps it is our role to help
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