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FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1991

Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m

W

hen American
Jewry commenced
the 20th century
with celebrations, 1901 to
1904, of United States
Jewry's 250th anniversary,
a national committee of 250
contemporary leaders
supervised the numerous
commemorations. Questions
were raised about the histo-
ry and personalities of the
American Jewish experi-
ence.
A major concern was about
ancestry. The committee of
250 may not have included a
single descendant of Jews in
the Revolutionary period.
Why?
When we celebrated the
300th anniversary of Ameri-
can Jewry, such a question
- may not have been raised
because the celebrants were
primarily either recent im-
migrants or descendants of
immigrants from Eastern
Europe.
As chairman of the Mich-
igan Tercentenary Com-
mittee and appointee of the
Jewish Welfare Federation,
I and my associates on the
celebrations committee
somehow delayed posing the
ancestral question until a
later date. Perhaps it
became challenging as we
confronted problems involv-
ing survivalism.
Issues gaining attention
are addressed in a study by
five researchers. Their fin-
dings were published in the
July 22 issue of Newsweek
under the title "The Inter-
marrying Kind — A Gloomy
Study Leads Jews to Fear
Their Future."
Some of the revealed facts
deserve scrutiny. For exam-
ple, we have been treating
the American Jewish
population as having retain-
ed the six million mark.
Most recent demographic
findings admonished us to
think in terms of a 4.3 mill-
ion figure.
Intermarriage, of course,
is inevitable in the Ameri-
can melting pot, but over
20 years ago many
parents still sat shiva
mourning the death of
any child who married a
gentile. Some Orthodox
still do ... a massive study
found nearly three of
every four children of
intermarriages are being
raised either as Christians
or with no religion at all.
This trend, combined with
a below-replacement bir-

thrate, a rising tide of
divorce and a virtual end
to iminigrations is shrink-
ing the Jewish commun-
ity.
The Newsweek study
presents the following fig-
ures:
Since 1985, 52 percent of
all marriage involving
Jews have been inter-
faith; in 1964 only 9 per-
cent were interfaith mar-
riages.
The Jewish community
has lost more members
(210,000) through conver-
sion than it has gained
(185,000).
More disconcerting is the
consideration of sur-
vivalism.
"We are at risk of
becoming • such a small
percentage of the Ameri-
can population," warns
Stuart Eizenstat, a former

Most recent
findings
admonished us to
think in terms of
4.3 million
American Jews.

White House assistant
and prominent lay Jewish
leader, "that our in-
fluence and contribution
to our great country
might become greatly
diluted in the decades
ahead." Indeed the effects
on Jewish fund raising
are already being felt. The
generation of big donors
50 years of age and older,
for whom the Holocaust
and the founding of Israel
are still vivid memories, is
not being replaced by
people with as strong
Jewish identity ...
There's never been a
community of Jews that
has abandoned ritual and
survived.
When we consider the
newly emerging problems,
concern is given their effect
on philanthropy.
Mixed marriages and
dangers stemming from mis-
sionaries are old issues.
Dangers to philanthropy
threaten the . ideology of
tzedakah.
The entire problem is
summarized in the challeng-
ing words " Ancestral Sur-
vivalism."
With centuries of experi-
ence to guide us, we are sus-
tained by the dedicated
remnants. As I stated in a
review of Jacob R. Marcus'
United States Jewry:
Many important and un-
forgettable personalities

are recorded in early
American Jewish history.
What happened to their
progeny? Are there no
descendants with strong
Jewish affiliations? El

Religious Factor
In The Summit
Deep interest in the status
of Soviet Jewry includes
more than migrations. On
several occasions American
Reform Jewish spokespeople
were in controversy with
Lubavitch Chasidim over
acquisition of Soviet
government facilities and
school rooms.
Now we have another fac-
tor, this time in relation to
the Bush-Gorbachev
summit. In a report in the
New York Times July 30,
Francis Clines gave recogni-
tion to the Chasidim:
The Lubavitcvher
rabbis lately attend every
summit meeting. They
were there in -London this
month at the Group of
Seven gathering. Their
goal is not on the open
agenda: they want the
return, from the libraries
of Communism, of the
sacred books of the
movement's founders.
They lobby relentlessly
for their holy writ and say
President Gorbachev is a
mere gesture away from a
great mitzvah.
Scores of Chasidic identifi-
cations with Jewish
movements are echoed in
this occurrence. Chasidic
leaders and especially the
Lubavitch have evidenced
their activism in many
areas. They have become
known in statecraft and
have not been strangers
with the United States Con-
gress receptions at the
White House. Now they
have written their presence
in the July 1991 summit.
That's how history is always
in the making. ❑

NEWS

Vandals Deface
Sachsenhausen

Bonn (JTA) — Unknown
vandals wearing masks over
their heads daubed neo-Nazi
slogans this week on the
buildings and walls of the
former • Sachsenhausen con-
centration camp.
One slogan that was
scrawled more than once
read: "Put an end to the
Holocaust — Germany, do
you really want to keep pay-
ing?"

