leaves a good deal of room for growth and development as the student is exposed to the intensive
study and practice of the tradition within a community of students of the Torah—each of whom is
engaged in the same task of coming to grips with
the claims of the tradition on himself.
The strain of midrash
In other words, we have tried to handle this difficult
problem in an authentically Jewish way. We have a
written statement couched in general terms, and a
parallel oral tradition which we refuse to transcribe,
but which elaborates and specifies the sense of the
written statement. The fact that it remains an oral
tradition makes it a subtle and flexible instrument
reflecting the various hues in the spectrum of
opinion here. But here are limits to its flexibility,
for there is a written statement.
We are not unaware of the fact that at times a substantial gap exists between some of the faculty and
the student communities on the issues alluded to in
the statement. Also our approach assumes that our
students bring to their rabbinic training a high degree of maturity and self-awareness which is not
always the case. But we are also convinced that in
our day, no other approach has a chance of working. We will not resort to more zealous enforcement
of faculty standards nor can we use a more restrictive admissions policy. There is, however, a third
possible course and that is the way of education:
this is precisely what a theologian in a seminary of
this kind must do—not presenting his Judaism as a
set of conclusions neatly wrapped on a silver platter
but rather by tracing the way he has come as a Jew
and inviting his students to take up the inquiry
themselves. But this is an enormously difficult task
to accomplish in practice.
I, for one, am sorry that your correspondent has
ruled the Seminary out of contention. His letter is
moving and insightful and I hope that this reply
might serve as an encouragement for him to communicate with us directly and possibly even to want
to join us.
An apology
On page 86 (issue 1/11) we said, "The College-Age
Youth Committee in Los Angeles . . . is not committed to undertaking similar studies of the needs
107
of other large schools in the city . . . ." We should
have said, "The College-Age Youth Committee in
Los Angeles . . . is now committed to undertaking
similar studies of the needs of other large schools in
the city . . . ." We apologize to Rabbi Levy for obscuring his meaning, and to the reader for any confusion this error may have caused him.
A p h e n o m e n o n called k a h a n e
Andre
Ungar
From a distance he looks very young and open and
powerful; close up, a pale furrowed face bespeaks
weariness and a hint of bitter cynicism. It comes almost as a surprise how softly he speaks most of the
time, and yet how much passion he conveys through
modestly dramatic words and gestures. Kahane is a
highly talented man, a skilled orator, a superb practical psychologist. Critics have cast aspersions on his
motives. They have questioned not only his emotional stability but also his sincerity. After all, he
has gained international renown in a matter of a few
months, has more lucrative lecture invitations than
he can cope with, decorates The New York Times
and televisions screens far more frequently than any
other rabbi or Jewish spokesman. Also, he is a relative newcomer to issues that others have championed for years—the case of Soviet Jewry most
notably. No doubt he derives much gratification
from the response of his huge audiences and, more
still, from the utter love and loyalty of his young
camp followers. Nevertheless, it appears that the
man is wholly in earnest, genuinely believes in what
he says and would gladly suffer for his convictions.
Unquestionably he is sane, fully in contact with
reality, in fact manipulating it with remarkable skill.
No major orator or writer, and certainly no significant original thinker, he does make an impact that
is little short of phenomenal in our context. There
is a measure of magnetism (not quite charisma)
about the short, slim man, a glint of charm in his
rare smile, hard steel in his rising temper. Messiah,
martyr, Robin Hood, Billy the Kid, Eldridge Cleaver,
Brooklyn Yeshivah bachur, Menachim Begin, that
erstwhile Austrian with a minimustache—the associations flow freely in the observer's mind.
So much for the man. What of his message? The
argument can be reduced to a simple enough
formula. It begins in the period of the Second World
War. The Nazis massacre millions of Jews in Europe.
The world—including world Jewry—does not care,
does not act. Then the struggle that heralds Israel's
birth. Here, in contrast, some Jews do stand up and
fight. The Irgun and the Sternists break British laws,
indulge necessary violence . . . . and create the new
State. Nearer home: black modernation has been a
fiasco while the Panthers' militancy a triumph. The
time has come for Jews to care for—and act on
behalf of—Jews, whether in Crown Heights or in
Kiev. Action must involve breaking laws and using
violence: that is the only language the world understands. Jewish tradition cherishes peach and lawabiding attitudes in general, but on certain conditions permits, nay commands, submission to a
higher law (break the Sabbath to save a human life)
and the resort to violence (in self-defense and some
other cases). The Jewish Establishment does nothing,
worries about respectability, cares only for itself.
In contrast, the JDL stands on the barricades, takes
risks, thinks only of the welfare of the Jewish
people as a whole. More specifically, it focuses on
the fate of Soviet Jewry. They are victims of spiritual, cultural and national genocide already: they are
also threatened by physical extermination in the
near future. There is no difference between Nazi
antisemitism and Soviet antisemitism. To counter it,
all means are justified—any effective method mandatory. If in the process the usual norms about legality and peacefulness must be disregarded, that cannot be helped. And the League's activity pays off:
Mr. Nixon did at last refer to Soviet antisemitism,
the USSR does permit some Jews to leave, and so
on, and so forth . . . .
A refutation of the message
Of course, put thus schematically, it is child's play
to refute the empty assumptions, ad hominems and
non sequiturs of the thesis. Whether the terrorist
groups' efforts helped or hindered the emergence of
The State of Israel, is a highly debatable matter.
Equally so, one might claim that black violence has
set back the cause of racial justice by a generation.
To break American law in order to protest Russian
oppression, to use violence in the USA so as to
counter persecution in the USSR, appear a perverse
use of both logic and Judaic law. Without minimizing the tragedy and horror of what the Soviets are
doing towards their three million Jewish hostages in
terms of psychic assault, surely it is totally untrue
108
and unjust to put it on the same level as the destruction of Jewish lives under Hitler. And if the Soviet
government did grant permission for a handful of
Jews to leave, the JDL can hardly claim credit for
that. A trickle of emigration has been going on ever
since the Kruschev episode; and what put the issue
of Soviet Jewry on the world scene was the Leningrad trial and the incredible courage of some young
Jews within Russia who dared to put their case before Western opinion. Not to mention the fact that
Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry has been dedicated to this cause for five years before JDL discovered the issue. Likewise, the Conference on Soviet Jewry has—true, none too efficiently—coordinated the concern of all significant American Jewish
organizations in this direction for a while already.
One may indeed charge American Jewry and its
leadership with ineptitude . . . but not with the sin
of silence and uncaring.
What accounts for kahane's appeal
But by far the most important aspect of the whole
Kahane syndrome is the popular response. Not the
man, such as he is, nor the "message," for all it is
worth, but the obvious enthusiasm it meets with
everywhere in Jewish America constitutes the crux
of the puzzle. What is it within our people which
hungers for this sort of leadership, for this type of a
program? Why this eruption of zeal for a mediocre
orator and a confused mass of slogans? Who are
these people who cheer JDL on so vigorously?
Peripheral as it may seem, much of the appeal lies in
the stance JDL assumes against The Establishment.
Whether it is embodied in pompous rabbis or in fatcat agency executives, fundraisers and publicity
hounds, it represents (rightly or otherwise) a vain,
pampered, arbitrary bunch of parasites in the mind
of many Jews. The young need father figures to
rebel against; their elders have ample personal experience of just how corrupt, selfseeking, shallow
our Jewish official leadership in fact is. The Establishment is in one sense a piece of paranoid fiction:
there is no secret conspiracy of Jewish bosses to
hold down Jewish masses. Yet in another sense The
Establishment is all too real. Jewish life in this
country is run—in all to many instances—by persons
who would fit in just as nicely with General Motors,
IBM, or the Mafia. Inasmuch as Meir Kahane points
an accusing finger at them (for whatever reason),
the long pent-up resentments that simmer beneath
the surface come aboiling to the top. Besides, cur-
rent fashion makes it obligatory for the young to
be against the Establishment (it seems less a matter
of Oedipal necessity as peergroup pressure)—and for
their elders, in the great American tradition of idolizing youthfulness, to gain vicarious teenage thrills
from aping their own children.
And then there is an astonishing residue of guilt
concerning the holocaust. A large segment of
Kahane's audiences were very young or not yet born
during the Auschwitz years. Even so, there is a deep
uneasiness in their minds, a vague feeling that something could and should have been done then but was
not done . . . . and that they themselves must bear
part of this responsibility. "Never Again!" touches
this naked nerve ending. Kahane appears to hold
out a concrete, dramatic pattern of action which
will wash away the stain of past passivity and offers
the challenge of brave ethical endeavor in the future.
An outlet of racial hatred
Then there is anger, righteous rage, too. It shines
from Kahane's eyes, it makes his uniformed, badgeladen, Israeli and American flag-patched, karatetrained bodyguards clench their fists at the belt, it
juts the ageing shopkeepers jaw forward while drinking it all in. God knows, there are many causes for
middleclass Americans to feel fury, and pretty few
legitimate outlets. Now here comes one. Not only is
it permissible to be livid—it is downright virtuous, a
matter of Jewish valor. They are angry in general,
for all kinds of personal reasons. They are angry at
blacks particularly (for beating up old Jews in ghetto
areas, for buying homes in nice white suburbs, for
tangling with Jewish teachers in high schools, for
wanting to get into colleges preferentially over
bright white kids, and so forth)—and remember that
the League's first leap into public attention was as
armed defenders of Jews against blacks. Kahane insists that he is no racist, and perhaps he means it.
But that much of his appeal is fed on racial hatred
and resentment is beyond dispute. Let us not forget,
either, that anger which has a clearly defined object
and a channel of expression is a delicious experience,
a rare luxury for tame housewives, optometrists
and realtors.
Linked with the element of rage is the dimensions
of fear. From obscure anxiety to sheer panic, many
gradations of fright impinge on human consciousness. We are afraid of the bomb, of Birchers and
Weathermen, of being sick and of being fired, of
109
American Jews are too soft.
Even their yarmulkas must change!
finding out and of being found out. And we are
afraid of "them" . . . the others, the different, the
supposedly menacing. Of late several black leaders
have openly expressed their distaste for whitey in
general, Jews in particular. There is ample indication
of antisemitism in the Soviet Union and her satellites. "They" hate us, we are in danger, we are afraid.
Quite patently, JDL expresses, and capitalizes on,
this fear. This very shared threat brings us together,
makes us huddle near each other, creates a new
warm intimacy, known from foxholes and air raid
shelters. Through our dread of the outsiders, we
open up tenderly to those who are our comrades in
this mutual predicament. Thence, a fellowship, a
family closeness, something pretty infrequent in our
kind of society—and therefore rather attractive.
The spectre of exaggerated hostility
There is also another side to the picture. Few manage to remain neutral towards the League, shrugging
it off as it would seem to deserve. But it also evokes
hostility that appears exaggerated way out of proportion. Private individuals as well as official spokesmen for Jewish organizations have indulged in hysterical outbursts which are suspect because of their
very violence. Hooligan and fascist are among the
meeker epithets hurled at JDL. Confidential memoranda have counselled synagogues and other groups
to deny a forum to Kahane and his colleagues. The
degree of hatred beamed towards this bunch elicits
some pretty justified curiosity.
No doubt there is a fair amount of plain envy and
jealousy present. In a short time, and with relatively
few adherents and modest effort, the League has
gained enormous publicity . . . something that Jewish bureaucracy values above all things and pays
much money, flattery and sweat to obtain.
Also one might detect the thinly disguised terror at
what JDL actions might prompt Gentiles to think
about Jews in general. The carefully nurtured
facade of Jews as model citizens who never break
laws or toy with violence is openly tugged at by
these rude youngsters. Jews are in danger of failing
to keep up their tame white middleclass posture. By
embarrassing the Mayor of New York and the President of the USA, they rock the boat of Jewish tranquility and status.
Yes, we have a right to wonder whether a burden of
guilt—justified guilt at that—is not present behind
these Jewish overreactions to JDL. That too little
was done, too late and too badly, to save Jews from
the Nazi holocaust is being patiently documented
these days. That over the past few years, American
Jewish organizations' and leaders' outcries on behalf
of Soviet Jewry were ill coordinated, vague, haphazard and certainly ineffectual, is likewise becoming
evident—and the Brussels assembly only bore out
this melancholy truth. Quite deservedly, pangs of
conscience may afflict some of our grey (and other)
eminences. One convenient way to deal with such
feelings is to project them onto others. Instead of
having to hate yourself, you find a convenient surrogate to hate instead. The Jew has thus been the
Christians' scapegoat. . . and analogously, the
League becomes the Establishment's vicarious
atonement.
The graver danger
Maybe the most perilous implications of the popular
Jewish response to JDL lies in its vicariousness, in
its deflection of endeavor from truly constructive
purpose. Yes, the condition and fate of Soviet Jewry
must indeed remain on top of the world—and American—Jewish agenda. Concerted, effective, urgent
action is needed, though avoiding the League's
flirtation with violence and lawbreaking. But it
must be remembered that while there is all too
sadly little that American Jewry can do for Soviet
Jewry, there is an enormous deal that can—and
must—be done for Jewish survival right in this country. The real foe of the Jewish future, both in Russia and in American, is not antisemitic violence but
assimilation, there assisted by governmental policy,
here by Jewish apathy. To focus attention primarily
on real or alleged danger to Jewish bodies tends to
de-emphasize efforts for the enrichment of the Jewish mind and spirit. Dedicated efforts for the attainment of Soviet Jews' right to emigrate if they so
choose or live Jewishly if they desire must naturally
110
be pursued to the full. But we dare not allow it to
become a substitute for the far more difficult and
demanding task of fostering Jewish education, cohesion and spirituality in this country. Yet that
might well be happening. Under the guise—with the
plausible excuse—of working for Soviet Jewry's
survival, many Jews might be tempted to allow
their own, and their children's, significant Jewish
survival to fall by the wayside. It is essential to
demonstrate before the Soviet Embassy. It is at
least as essential that we ourselves learn Hebrew,
study Jewish history, observe the Sabbath, visit
Israel—do the very things that our brothers in Russia
want to do but cannot.
The lecture is over. Kahane steps off the podium
and, amid the phalanx of his teenage escorts ("Zionist Hooligan for Soviet Jewry" shines proudly on
the newest buttons) makes his way through the
throng. Off to jail? To the pages of history? To
speedy oblivion? Time will tell. One thing however
is already sure. The League has managed to set long
quiescent strings of the Jewish soul into vibration.
. . . b u t others s a y
On being a woman and ignored
My letter has been reinforced by one of the letters in
Sh'ma 1/9, by Jane Rubin, on the role of the Jewish
woman. I feel a great deal of empathy with the writer although our backgrounds are quite different. I
grew up in an Orthodix, Yiddish-speaking home,
where all questions were answered by the statement,
"It is written." My first encounter with Orthodox
attitudes towards femaleness occurred when I was
only ten, on Simhat Torah, when I was waving my
flag and enjoying myself with all the other children
at the Rebbe's. His grandson pushed me into the
kitchen "with all the other women."
My brother, coming out of the same milieu, went on
to Yeshiva and is now a well known scholar and
teacher in the extremely Orthodox mode. My life
took a different turning, precisely because I am a
woman and because there is no room in Orthodoxy
for women intellectuals (except for Rashi's daughters maybe and who remembers their names and for
and occasional female mystic).
I would assume that Sh 'ma would be sensitive to the
new wind and appoint at least one woman to its
staff of contributing editors. Unlike Jane Rubin I
have never felt the need to put on tefillin or, indeed,
to be called to the Torah. I have felt the need to
learn (and have not been able to learn as much as I
could if I were a man) and to teach (ditto) and read
about Judaism. And, since I am completely free
only in the last, I should like to read material which
represents my problems as a Jewish woman, not
only in letters to the editor but by distinguished
Jewish women.
We are grateful to those who have responded so
generously to our appeal for contributions. We continue to welcome gifts of any amount. Donors of
$100 or more are invited to our annual meeting, to
be held on Sunday, May 23, in New York and Chicago. Please send your tax deductible contributions
to: Rabbi Eugene B. Borowitz, Secretary, Sh'ma Inc.,
19 Reid Ave., Port Washington, N.Y. 11050.
One of your editors, Rabbi Irving Greenberg, during
a recent visit to Pittsburgh, had a question about
Orthodox attitudes toward women placed before
him, and was quite frank about his own problems
in answering.
Ida Cohen Selavan
Pittsburgh, Pa.
On being jewish and ignored
After my conversion, I read alot of books and
articles about the American Jews. I was new to the
community, and I knew only my own congregation
well. Historical, sociological, or anecdotal, they
were informative but unsatisfying. I could not feel
that these were my people being described, for the
Jews I had chosen to join and to live among were
not included.
CAAMHIL
©
@
<9
Has no one heard of the young Orthodox Jews? Is
Yavneh an underground organization? Wo to they
think uses the mikvehs? Most of the hundred students sitting behind and in front of the mihitzah
at Harvard Hillel House each Shabbat are Orthodox.
Many of them, my husband included, were raised
Conservative or Reform, and have only recently begun to observe the mitzvot according to halachah.
We are vocal. We study and teach the Torah and the
Talmud. We are not afraid to articulate our religious
doubts and examine our premises. We demonstrate
for Jewish education and for Soviet Jews. We write
for the Jewish student press. We welcome guests
for a kosher meal or to stay in our homes for Shabbat. We always try to answer questions. Why has no
one heard of us?
Mary Schaps
Cambridge, Mass.
Ill
NEIL GILLMAN is the Dean of Students in the
Rabbinical Department of J.T.S.
ANDRE UNGAR is Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in
Westwood, New Jersey.
Did you k n o w that the Bar Mitzvah ceremony is u n k n o w n i n
the Bible a n d T a l m u d ? (see p a g e 57) T h a t J u d a i s m f r o w n s
o n c e l i b a c y ? ( s e e p a g e 81) T h a t t h e
m y s t i c a l K a b b a l a h h a s d o c t r i n e s i n [j
HxEindgpe&oi
of the
i ' i n r. 1 .
JewHDKdvon
common with Hinduism?(see page389)
WMiUUkWU)
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