PURELY COMMENTARY
American Jewry And The Constitutional Heritage
Continued from Page 2
roots of the American 'Constitution. The
Jewish role is indicated here and the le-
gacy assures an inspiration for the ap-
proaching celebration in Jewish ranks.
In the quest for guidelines, there is
special need for the text of the introduc-
tion article by Dr. Marcus.
Dr. Marcus is the historian who ap-
pends a powerful analysis of the Con-
stitutional background to the Konvitz
essay. Together they serve as a powerful
text for learning the facts relating to the
Constitution and utilizing them in celeb-
rating a great event.
To make history real and to assure
understanding and appreciation of the
Jewish role in and influence upon the
Constitution, Jewish youth especially,
and their elders as well, of course,
should be provided with them as their
inspired participants in the celebration
of the 200th anniversary of the Ameri-
can Constitution. Here is the full text of
the Marcus essay for that purpose:
The American Constitution
was hammered out at a con-
stituent convention in 1787. When
it was finally finished it offered
equality — within the limits of
federal authority — to all Whites
and Negro freedmen. It was not
easy to win these rights. The
primary goal of lawmakers was
to keep peace among the diverse
Protestant sects who were at
each others throats. As late as
the 1770's Baptists were beaten
and imprisoned in Anglican Vir-
ginia. But the great liberals, the
architects of the constitution,
persisted although they knew full
well that this broad grant of
equality would make it possible
for Catholics and Jews too to
share the new immunities. In an
Leo Pfiffer
age of religious prejudice, from
which few if any were truly
emancipated, these American
leaders surmounted their own
dislikes and insisted on equality
for all. This is indeed a compli-
ment to those constitution mak-
ers who had gathered together in
Philadelphia in 1787.
The new organic statute was
adopted by a majority of the
states in 1788 and went into op-
eration in 1789. When it was ac-
cepted in 1788 the people of the
United States, aware that what
they had just done was an act of
great historical significance,
called for a Federal Parade on
July 4th in the city of brotherly
love. Those gathered on the
crowded streets thrilled as they
Milton Konvitz
saw Philadelphia's clergy, the
rabbi included, walk together
arm in arm. The Messiah was just
around the corner! Did the Jews
realize the possible impact of this
new constitution? This is difficult
to determine. Historians today
know that this was the first time
in all Diaspora history — since
the Exile of the first century of
the Christian era — that Jews
were accepted as citizens in any
land. It is true that the tyrant
Caracalla in the year 212 did
grant citizenship to all freedmen
in the Roman Empire, but it is
difficult to believe that this
privilege had any permanent sig-
nificance, at least for Jews.
Within a century the Children of
Israel were to begin experiencing
Pride In Jewish Nobel Laureates
Continued from Page 2
New York that the prizes were not
given to Jews as Jews, that if function
like the Jewish Academy's are ap-
proved, Jews would not again be
selected for the coveted honor.
Her inconsistency is in the
humor-of-the-fact that she was express-
ing such an opinion about a Jewish
function while attending a similar Ita-
lian one.
This is for the scientifically-
brilliant Nobelist to decide. In reality,
she has gone on a ridiculous tangent.
Nobel judges honor academicians of
distinction. When they were confronted
with the Jewish realities, they honored
them, hopefully as Jews, as in these in-
stances:
It began with Albert Einstein, who
never hid or belittled his Jewishness;
continued with Nelly Sachs, Yosef Ag-
non. Henry Kissinger, Isaac Bashevis
Singer, Menachem Begin, Elie Wiesel
— a selected group that qualifies with
notable Jewish delineations. The scores
of other Jewish Nobelists surely in-
cluded others with proud Jewishly-
acclaimed backgrounds and identifica-
tions.
In the current instance it becomes
important and obligatory to quote one
of the most recent Nobelists who re-
sponded for the Jewish Academy's
medal recipients at the Nov. 12 func-
tion. Dr. Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, who
was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Medicine in 1977, had this to say:
"Why have our people
enjoyed dis-proportionate re-
presentation among those
deemed truly worthy of recogni-
tion for service to humanity?
Through the ages, we have
taken pride in being known as
the People of the Book. This
phrase can be interpreted not
only as our having carried the
Book — our Bible and traditions
— throughout history in spite of
the Diaspora, persecution and
the many travails inflicted by a
hostile world, but also as a
recognition of the fact that
throughout those centuries of
tribulations we have continued
to honor wisdom and learning."
Could there be a more powerful re-
futation of the negative attitude that
smacks of fright, bordering on panic,
lest The Jew is over-emphasized?
There is this to be added to what
had become a dispute:
We take great pride, as Jews, in
the large percentage of Jews who have
been awarded Nobel Prizes: 28 percent
of the world total. We want this to be a
source of pride for our youth, that they
should always be dedicated to the high-
est goals, as professionals, as authors,
as scientists — as aspirants to the
highest moral and ethical ideals.
We are proud of the achievements.
We are sharers in the great human fac-
tors of Nobelism, and as Jews who wish
to retain noblest ideals — a fact that
gives emphasis to Jews, as Jews. We
glory in the fact that Jews are in the
limelight as great humanists with
achievements to benefit mankind,
rather than as yielders to drugs and
criminalities.
Indeed, there is cause for pride
that Jews gain fame and become
Nobelists.
Is this chauvinism? Is it unreason-
able and unrealistic boasting? Yes, if
we did not concede that Jews are not
all saints, if we did not admit that we
have sinners, some involved in crimes
against the society to which they are
committed to be honorable. When such
sinners are front-paged, and we learn
of crimes committed and greed causing
their lawbreaking, we squirm. But our
call especially to youth is to be dedi-
cated to scholarship, to rise above
temptations to indiscretions, to aim at
the highest levels of ethical codes em-
bodied in our historical legacies. On
that score, aiming at emulating the
Nobel Laureates, we accept the
chauvinist designation.
A word of appreciation for the
former fellow Detroiter whose generos-
ity made possible the convening of the
Nov. 12 Nobelists' function in New
York. It was the brainchild of Joseph
Handleman and his financing of it that
assured its success. He has earned the
thanks of the Nobelists and their ad-
mirers.
the disabilities which soon re-
duced them to a second-class
status ushering in for them 1500
years of medievalism.
This much American Jews
knew: under the new federal
government they would no longer
be citizens of a lesser hue. Before
the Revolution, no Jew could
hold, did hold, honorary office in
British North America. American
Jews in 1789 — they were intelli-
gent men and women — hoped
that the privileges accorded them
would influence the fate of their
fellow-Jews abroad. There were
only 2500 "Israelites" in all North
America; there were possibly
3,000,000 in all other lands.
Within a few years these new
American liberties impinged on
revolutionary France and when
in 1830 England's Jews began to
struggle for political rights their
Christian protagonists pointed to
the American example. When,
two generations later, the East
European masses fled to
America, the haven and asylum
for the poor and the oppressed of
Europe, their writers translated
the Declaration of Independence,
the Constitution, and the Bill of
Rights into Yiddish and Hebrew.
The potentiality of the con-
stitution as an instrument for
enlightenment and freedom is
today still very real. Most of the
peoples and the states of the
world live under dictatorships;
hundreds of thousands of Jews
still remain second-class citizens
experiencing disabilities because
of its origin, their religion. The
constitution which inaugurated
the new American government in
1789 is still vitally important for
all Americans, and certainly for
Jews too, because there are ele-
ments in this land who would
"baptize" it, amend it to declare
officially, vigorously and asser-
tively, that this is a Christian
country. If that were to happen
then the Jew and a host of non-
Christian Gentiles would auto-
matically become second class
citizens.
Because of its humanitarian
outreach, America's organic sta-
tute is one of the greatest docu-
ments of all time. It is right and
proper that the bicentennial of its
composition and adoption be
celebrated by our nation and that
its far-ranging significance be
understood by all Americans.
Red Cross' Evil Line'
. . . Internationally
American Red Cross representatives
are enlisting public opinion protests
against the international organization
that has added the Red Crescent to its
title while rejecting the Israel Magen
David Adorn. Congress and the White
House must be urged in joining the pro-
testing forces. The shocking interna-
tional act can only be judged not only as
anti-Israel but also as anti-Semitic. The
prejudicial act must not go unchallenged.
Fair-minded and justice-loving
people everywhere have a duty to join in
mobilizing world public opinion in a de-
mand to an alteration of the bigoted de-
cision and to end such tactics by a glob-
ally respected movement.