41••- ,
-
7
I
•• ■ ••••
••••., •
7.
■ ...;;
45
DESIGNER SHOE OUTLET
NEWS
For Men & women
Hertzberg Calls For
Renewal Of Social Concern
Washington — Rabbi Arthur
Hertzberg, addressing some 500
delegates attending the Ameri-
can Jewish Congress national
biennial convention here, last
Monday called on American
Jews to renew their ties to the
concept of a "generous and open
America" and reject the neo-
conservative creed that extols
the individual pursuit of wealth
and power.
Rabbi Hertzberg, professor of
religion at Dartmouth Col lege
and a vice-president of the
World Jewish Congress, warned
that an "essentially materialist
notion about American life" has
taken hold, "and not only
among Jews."
The "yuppie" ideal of mater-
ial success as the principal
reason "to justify one's exist-
ence" is antithetical to Jewish
tradition and runs counter to
the history of the Jewish people
in America, he asserted. A form-
er president of the American
Jewish Congress, Rabbi Hert-
zberg was the keynote speaker
for the convention.
He linked the glorification of
the "quest of power and advan
tage" to a growing movement
toward religious and political
fundamentalism.
"In American life," Rabbi
Hertzberg declared, "there are
trends of flight from freedom
and reason, towards the the
authority of religious fundamen-
talists or of political max-
imalists." "Discussion," he
went on, "is being poisoned in
America. The twice-born are tell-
ing us that they know the truth
and that we who disagree are
the proponents of some dread
doctrine called. 'secular ism'."
Rabbi Hertzberg deplored
what he saw as the growing neo-
conser vative preoccupation
with the "happiness and im-
mediate ease of the individual."
"There is nothing in the neo-
conservative creed which re-
echoes the concern of classic
conservatives for society as a
whole, for stability and order,
with as much justice as possible
in the govern ment of the City
of Man," he said.
"Even Judaism in America,"
he contended, "has been bent,
by some, away from transcend-
ence and towards centering on
man's wellbeing."
It is the Jewish "vision of
their moral obligations as they
were expressed and shaped by
America," that most accurately
describes the role of Jews •in
Ainerican society, Rabbi Hertz-
berg said. More than any other
group in American society, in-
cluding the Puritans, he con-
tinued, "Jews have been dedi-
cated to the general good, to the
creation of an American society
with justice and fairness for all."
"When Jews were poor in
America," he said, "it was possi-
ble to think that their passion
fcir equal S opportunity was
rooted in their desires for them-
selves, but Jews remain today,
,
,
!sin tgittia
BRAND NAME
SHOES & BOOTS
AT DISCOUNT PRICES!
SAVE UP TO 75%!
WEIS =ARE Next to Lookoas
Ordori Lk & 14, Fn. Hills N1-4190
551-0062
SOUDIFIELO PLAZA
&aching the 044
VOICE INSTRUCTION
Former soloist with Detroit Symphony
Orchestra and Detroit Concert Band.
Studied under Emilio Roxas, Metropolitan Opera, New
York City, Bel Canto Italian method. Accepting women
only
14 years and older.
Musical Comedy training available.
—
Jocelyn "Ruth" Krieger
354-3149
Arthur Hertzberg
despite the blandish ments of a
new breed of radical reaction-
aries,*the only group of 'haves'
in America who are not deNioted
to their narrow class interest
but to social justice."
He added that this is contrary
to the experience of all other
ethnic minorities "which have
moved to the political and social
right as they have entered the
American establishment."
Rabbi Hertzberg attributed
the commitment of Jews to
social liberalism to ."the moral
judgment that even the least
literate of Jews knows from the
Bible."
Convention delegates also
heard an address by Seymour
Martin Lipset, a sociologist and
professor of political science at
Stanford University, who said.
that although extremists have
attempted to pinpoint Jews as
the source of the current farm
problems in the midwest, a vast
majority of farmers have re-
jected this effort.
He cited a recent Louis Har-
ris poll, indicating that only 13
percent of the farmers inter-
viewed blame Jews for farmers'
economic problems. Much of the
fear of increased anti-Semitism
is exaggerated by the media and
by Jews themselves, he observ-
ed. "Farmers in the midwest are
not rising up against Jews, re-
gardless of what we have read,"
he said.
Replying to a suggestion from
an AJcongress leader that
"Jews have something to worry
about when even 13 percent of
farmers irrationally blame Jews
for their problems," Prof. Lipset
contended that the figure was
significantly lower than in the
past. Data in the 1930's suggest
this figure was as high as 25 per-
cent, he said. Today it has drop-
ped to about half of that, a
significant improvement, he
said.
On the issue of religious fund-
amentalism, he noted that, over
time, its influence in America
'has declined. While a larger pro-
por tion of people. in America
claim a belief in God than in vir-
tually any other country; their
adherence to fundamentalist,
philosophy is signi ficantly leis
widespread than in the past, the
result of better education,
- greater mobility and increased
sophistication.
0
0 1:11'tio toe
1
BE A WINNER, PLAY
THE CLASSIFIEDS
•
Ca11The Jewish News
354.6
416060
0 60
3T911:GRAND RIVER AVE., FARMINGTONHILL.V:
,
o
• 1..
.7 • •