JEWISH $3.00 Frontier

1897 POST-PERES LABOR

1997 ZIONISM AND THE JEWISH STATE

1897 HISTADRUT RENEWAL

1997 THE SPIRIT OF HARAV KOOK

1897 "JEWISH POWER" REVIEWED 1997 MEXICAN JEWRY

1897 ORIGIN OF HABONIM

1997 JACOB L E STC H I N S KY, STATISTICIAN

S I N C E 19 3 4 A LABOR ZIONIST JOURNAL

JEWISH CONTENTS Vol . LXIV, No . 4 (627) Frontier JULY/AUGUST 1997 Israel 3 SINCE 1934 POST PERES LABOR Susan Hattis Rolef A LABOR ZIONIST JOURNAL History 5 Mark A. Raider Founders ZIONISM AND THE JEWISH STATE Hayim Greenberg Marie Syrkin Histadrut 9 IS RENEWAL UNDERWAY? Jerry Goodman

Editorial Board Dialogue 11 Henry Feingold, Chairman IN THE SPIRIT OF HARAV KOOK Gustave Pearlman Saul B. Cohen Hyman Fame Poetry 14 Jonathan J. Goldberg THE LYNCHING OF LEO FRANK Emanuel S . Goldsmith Jerry Goodman A FRIDAY NIGHT Jon Nalley Rabbi Mark W. Kiel Jeffry V. Mallow Review Essay 15 Daniel Mann JEWISH POWER by J.J. GOLDBERG Daniel Mann Mordecai Newman Samuel Norich Michael S . Perry MADELEINE ALBRIGHT AND THE 20 Mark Raider MAGIC CIRCLE Harold Ticktin Eduardo Rauch Chava Reich South of the Border 22 Mordecai Shtrigler MEXICAN JEWRY Edward B. Glick Ezra Spicehandler Phyllis Sutker David Twersky A Cozy Nook 24 RAANANAH AT 60

Nahum Guttman THE TRIANGLE FIRE RECALLED 25 Editor ORIGIN OF AMERICAN HABONIM 26 Yehuda Riemer

NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS Biography 29 If you plan to move, please notify JACOB LESTCHINSKY David Rosenthal us six weeks in advance . Contributors 21

JEWISH FRONTIER (ISSN-0021-6453) is published bi-monthly by Labor Zionist JEWISH FRONTIER Letters, Inc . Editorial and advertising offices at 275 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 . Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Circulation, Jewish Frontier, 275 Seventh Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, 275 Seventh Avenue NY 10001 . Subscription rates for U.S. and possessions, $15 .00 per year for 6 issues, $25 .00 for 17th Floor two years for 12 issues . Add $2.50 for Canada . All other countries - $20 .00 per year ; New York, NY 10001 All foreign subscribers - remit in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. Back issues- payable in advance at $5 .00 each. Editorial / article contributions should be sent to the editorial office and be accom- Telephone: (212) 229-2280 panied by return postage. Editorial and advertising rates available on request . (212) 366-1194 All material (unless otherwise noted) © 1997 Jewish Frontier . Signed articles do not necessarily reflect the official position of JEWISH FRONTIER . Fax: (212) 675-7685 JEWISH FRONTIER is available on microfilm from : University Microfilm, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 . Distributed by Bernhard De Boer, Inc., 113 East Centre St ., Nutley, NJ 07110. Israel

Post-Peres Labor by Susan Hattis Rolef

abor's leadership primaries, held on June Peres's sulking somewhat spoiled the festive L3rd, were lacking in tension or excitement . The atmosphere, which should have accompanied result - a victory for former Chief of Staff the changing of the guard in the Labor Party, Ehud Barak - seemed all along a foregone from the generation born in the 1920s to that conclusion, even though there were some born in the 1940s - skipping over the rather within the party, who hoped until the last gray generation of apparatchiks and profes- moment that unlike Benjamin Netanyahu in sional politicians born in the 1930s . Some were the Likud primaries back in March 1993, angry with Barak for not being more magnan- Barak would get less than 50% of the votes . imous with Peres, when he refused to consider They felt that too sweeping a victory, especially Peres being appointed Party President . But in a situation where there were four contes- Barak was probably right in his decision . tants, would encourage Barak to act within the Labor Party as Netanyahu had done in the eres has apparently not yet resigned him- Likud - as a soloist, eager to neutrali e all self to change, and is not yet ready to potential sources of opposition to himself. assumeP the role that should rightfully be his : Barak ended up getting 50 .33% of the votes . that of the wise old statesman, whom former Yossi Beilin came in second with 28 .51% friends and foes alike come to consult . He still Shlomo Ben Ami third with 14.17% and Efraim wants to be at the center of the stage, refusing Sneh fourth with 6 .6% . Given these results, to grasp that for him the curtain has gone Barak's position in the party seems safe, even down, and that despite his many talents and though Haim Ramon - who decided not to achievements he will never again be given the participate in the current leadership contest, opportunity to try to win an election . "Am I a because he is still held responsible by many for loser?" he asked at the last meeting of the Labor's failure in last year's election due to the Labor Party Conference, and the crowd excessively mild election campaign which he shouted back "yes" . The sad truth is that Peres ran, and for the collapse of the Histadrut after never won a national election, though twice he he was elected its Secretary General in May became Prime Minister by default - once in 1994 - has stated that under certain circum- 1984, within the framework of the National stances he might still stand for election Unity Government, in a situation of a draw against Barak in 1 .999. between the left-Arab bloc and right-religious Even though it was obvious to everyone that bloc; the second time in November 1995, after former Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres Yit hak Rabin's assassination . Before Peres preferred Beilin of the four candidates - he can formally assume the role of elder states- kept mum . Peres himself said that it was man, and be welcomed as such by Barak, he because he felt that his position as outgoing must undergo a metamorphosis . In his present leader called for formal neutrality, but there mood he could easily turn into a liability to a were some who said that the whole situation Labor Party which urgently needs to change was simply too painful for him, and as he had its image, though some Likudniks have already done previously in similar situations (for cynically embraced Peres "as the first victim of example, after going through with the rotation the over-ambitious Barak" . agreement with Yit hak Shamir in October As to Labor's newly elected leader, Barak 1986), he just clammed up . seems to be willing to build a leadership team

JULY/AUGUST 1997 3 in which three other contestants, and Haim Labor's future economic strategy. Ramon, in addition to the leading MKs who More immediately Barak must decide about supported him in the leadership contest - the future of the post of Secretary General of Binyamin (Faud) Ben Elie er, Avraham Beiga the Labor Party. In the past the Secretary Gen- Shohat, U i Baram and Hagai Merom - will eral was a politician, elected by the Central all take part. However it is difficult to tell what Committee to run the party apparatus. Since form this leadership will take, or what Barak's the Labor Party was formed in 1968 the fol- own leadership style will be like . Barak started lowing personalities held the post : Pinhas off by holding meetings with each of the per- Sapir (1967-1970) ; Arie Lova Eliav (1970- sonalities involved. He is a good listener, but 1971); Yisrael Yeshayahu (1971-1972) ; Aharon many of those who have worked with him in Yadlin (1972-1974) ; Me'ir Zarmi (1974-1977) ; the past argue that - to rephrase several lines Haim Bar Lev (1977-1984) ; U i Baram (1984- from one of the songs in the famous musical 1989); Micha Harish (1989-1992) ; Nissim Zvili "My Fair Lady" (it was Prof. Higgins talking (1992-1997). All but Zarmi were Knesset mem- about women) - "He will ask for your advice, bers when elected. After Nissim Zvili failed to your reply will be concise, he will listen very get Peres elected President of the Party, he nicely and go out and do precisely as he wants ." announced his intention of resigning the post right after the leadership primaries. Barak ccording to press reports Shohat and responded by stating that he intended to do Baram are pressing Barak to set up a away with the post and instead hire a profes- Aleadership team made up of no more than 12 sional Director General (Netanyahu appointed personalities, with whom he will consult regu- Avigdor Liberman - today the Director Gen- larly. Beilin and the chairman of the party's eral of the Prime Minster's Office - as Direc- Knesset parliamentary group, Ra'anan Cohen, tor General of the Likud after he was elected are pressing for the setting up of a "shadow Chairman in March 1993) . Peres has been try- cabinet", such as is customary in Britain, and ing to talk Barak out of the idea, as have sev- the appointment of specific personalities to eral others who regard themselves as candi- head specific "shadow ministries" to keep tail- dates for the post, such as MKs Ra'anan ing the real ministers and trying to give them Cohen, Ori Orr and Hagai Merom, and individ- as hard a time as possible . Barak is said to pre- uals like Shlomo Ben Ami and Efraim Sneh . fer the formation of clusters of party members This is a serious issue , since it concerns the to deal with particular spheres, both on the future structure and management of the party, current level and planning level . which in the age of primaries, its current dire The name of MK. Professor Shlomo Ben Ami financial situation, major changes in the coun- is raised as the person most likely to overhaul try's Labor Movement (Histadrut, kibbut im Labor's attitudes and policies on social issues . and moshavim), is without doubt a totally dif- Ben Ami, a Moroccan born history professor ferent sort of body than it was in the past, and from Tel Aviv University, who was appointed is starting to resemble the parties in the U.S., by Peres as Israel's first ambassador to Spain which between elections maintain a skeleton in January 1986, was the only non-Ashkena i apparatus and only come to life several months among the four contestants to the leadership before elections. For the time being Barak has and the only one among them to have experi- decided not to decide, and has temporarily enced the hardships endured by the new immi- assumed for himself the tasks of the Secre- grants, who came from the Muslim countries tary General . However, before long he will in the 1950s. Shohat - who was Minister of have to take a decision on this issue as on Finance in the years 1992-1996 - will un- many others. doubtedly continue to be responsible for Labor's economic policy, though Benny Gaon - hough Barak's style of leadership will be the man who in the late 1980s and early 1990s most affected by his personality, 35 years saved Koor (at that time an industrial con- ofT military experience and his inclination not glomerate owned by the Histadrut and today a to express precise policy proposals rather than privately owned multinational) from liquida- general principles and outlines, his agenda tion and is its current President - has recently will be dictated by whether or not the current expressed interest in helping to formulate (continued on page 13)

JEWISH FRONTIER H I S T O R Y

Zionism and the Jewish State-in-the-Making By Mark A. Raider

n the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, lands, such as the British Board of Deputies, theI Jewish communities of Europe were tradi- the American Board of Delegates for Civil Lib- tional in character : Jews were a corporate unit erties and the German Hilfsverein der Deut- with distinct religious practices and institu- schen Juden. tions, limited to a narrow range of trades and professions, and excluded from agriculture, the ile Jewish liberalism dominated the economic pursuit of the majority of the non- thought of the emancipated Western Jewish population. The Jews viewed them- Jewish leadership, there was a strain of dissi= selves as a people consigned to exile and pas- dent thought that objected to the loss of Jewish sively awaited redemption in the midst of an identity and national awareness . The typical alien and frequently hostile majority . proponents of anti-assimilationism were born This period witnessed a complex phenome- and educated in areas outside the Western non known as Jewish emancipation : the process Liberal Mainstream - in the Balkans or the by which the Jews, especially those in Western cultural borderlands of Eastern Europe, where and Central Europe, were propelled towards integration did not appear to be a viable new social and economic opportunities and option, and where traditional values still held began to assimilate into Gentile society. Jewish strong. This phenomenon is especially striking ideologues of the emancipation process sought in the biographies of the first proto-Zionists : to redefine the Jews as a religious community, Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai (1798-1878), who lived aware of and responsive to the norms of Gentile in the Balkans at the time the local population society, and to denigrate or weaken the national freed itself from the political control of the element in Judaism . Jews, it was argued, could Ottoman Empire; Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer and should become Frenchmen, Germans, Eng- (1785-1874), who emphasi ed biblical laws lishmen or Poles of the "Mosaic faith ." In this concerning settlement in the Land of Israel ; way, the liberal ideologists hoped, the age-old and Moses Hess (1812-1875), who rediscov- "Jewish question" would be solved . ered Jewish nationalism after a distinguished At the same time, a perception grew among radical career in which he helped to lay the the leadership of emancipated Jewry in West- ideological foundations of European socialism . ern Europe that their seemingly backward Hess's book Rome and Jerusalem (1862), was East European coreligionists were not only in an eloquent appeal for the reassertion of Jew- need of support and defense, but of economic ish national identity. and educational assistance in order to become "modern" and "western." This feeling prompted East European Milieu the founding of a French Jewish institution In 1881-82, following the assassination of dedicated to the defense and improvement of Tsar Alexander II by revolutionary terrorists, the Jews throughout the world, the Alliance a wave of pogroms [anti-Jewish riots] broke Israelite Universelle (1860) . Similar communal out in the Russian Empire . Scores of Jewish bodies were soon founded in other Western communities were attacked and pillaged, hun-

JULY/AUGUST 1997 5 dreds were killed and injured, and thousands Political Zionism were left without means of a livelihood. The The fortunes of the fledgling Zionist move- pogroms had the immediate impact of speed- ment changed dramatically with the appear- ing up the process of Jewish disenchantment ance of Theodor Her l (1860-1904), the father with the ideology of liberalism . of modern Zionism . Her l was an Austrian The most obvious problem was that of the Jewish writer and journalist and, until the Jewish refugees, a problem whose solution was Dreyfus Affair of 1894, a typical, assimilated, widely seen to lie in emigration . An immediate middle-class Jew. Shocked to the core by the rivalry developed between the Amerikantsy, virulent display of anti-Semitism surrounding represented by such groups as Am Olam [Eter- the Dreyfus Affair, Her l subsequently turned nal People], who saw the United States as the his efforts to the implementation of a Zionist obvious safe haven, and the Palestintsy, who solution to the so-called "Jewish problem ." In desired resettlement in Palestine . The Pales- 1896, after unsuccessful attempts to enlist the tintsy saw coloni ation as the most effective support of Franco-Jewish philanthropists, means of reasserting a Jewish national iden- Her l sought a wider audience with the publi- tity, whereas they feared American society cation of Der Judenstaat [The Jews' State] . In promised wholesale assimilation and the dis- 1897 he launched a Zionist weekly called Die appearance of the emigrants' Jewishness . Welt [The World] and presided over the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Swit erland. It was n 1882 scattered groups of Palestine-minded after the first congress that Her l wrote in his students united to found the Bilu move- diary: "If I were to sum up the Basel Congress ment,I an organi ation dedicated to creating in a single phrase I would say, `In Basel I cre- exemplary agricultural colonies in Eret ated the Jewish state.' Were I to say this aloud, Israel . The Bilu pioneers derived their name I would be greeted by universal laughter . But from a passage in the book of Isaiah, 11 :5 : perhaps five years hence, in any case, certainly "0 House of Jacob, come let us rise up ." Al- in fifty years, everyone will agree ." A total of though the Movement failed to effect mass six congresses were held between 1897 and migration to Palestine, Bilu partisans did suc- Her l's death in 1904, and they created the in- ceed in establishing a few settlements in stitutions of the Zionist movement : the World Palestine. More importantly, they laid much of Zionist Organi ation, the Jewish Colonial the ideological groundwork for Russian Jewish Trust and the Jewish National Fund . pioneers in this period, including the philoso- Her l pursued his goals through diplomacy phy of Jewish manual work which later came aimed at the rulers of European states and the to be known as the "conquest of labor." The Ottoman sultan. In 1903, the Zionist move- Zionists' success in Palestine depended on the ment underwent a crisis when the British gov- concurrent development of agricultural and ernment offered Her l a tract of land in East industrial pursuits . Africa for Jewish coloni ation. Her l recom- While radical Jewish youth pursued specific mended the acceptance of this territory to his projects aimed at Jewish liberation in Pales- followers as a temporary "safe haven" for the tine, the movement for a new exodus received Jews. This "Uganda Project," as it came to be ideological justification from Leo Pinsker known, ultimately failed, foundering on the (1821-1891), who in 1882 published an influ- hostility of the Russian "Zion Zionists" led by ential pamphlet entitled Auto-Emancipation . Menahem Mendel Ussishkin (1863-1941) . Pinsker, a veteran Russian Jewish journalist, called for the creation of an autonomous Jew- pon Her l's premature death in 1904, the ish national home. leadership of the movement was captured Pinsker headed a movement - known as byU the so-called "practical Zionists" who subor- Hibbat Zion [Lovers of Zion] - from 1884 dinated the long-range, messianic goals of until his death . The efforts of the Russian Zionism to the task of building up Jewish set- Zionists were largely ineffectual, save for the tlement in Palestine . establishment of a few agricultural colonies in Ahad Haam ["One of the People"] was the Palestine, dependent on the largesse of the im- pseudonym of Asher Zvi Ginsburg (1856- portant French Jewish philanthropist Baron 1927), a Russian Jew who rejected the concept Edmond James de Rothschild . of Zionism as a mass movement, arguing in-

6 JEWISH FRONTIER stead that the Jewish people required cultural fter World War I, when the British Manda- revival and moderni ation, objectives best car- tory regime's policy unfolded, it became ried out by a small elite based in Palestine . clearA that there was no political will to facili- This was a clear rejection of the idea of imme- tate the establishment of a Jewish national diate, mass resettlement . Although never part home in Palestine . Instead, during the inter- of the Zionist mainstream, the writings of war years, the British government issued a Ahad Haam had a profound influence on many series of "White Papers" clarifying that, in the of the younger leaders of Zionism. view of His Majesty's Government, a Jewish "national home" did not mean a sovereign Jew- War and Revolution ish state. Instead, the British actually imposed In the turbulent decades that bridged the severe restrictions on Jewish immigration and nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Jewish the areas of Jewish settlement. Unappeased, nationalism, like the Jewish labor movement, however, the Arab community's opposition to spread from Eastern Europe to the West, in- the Zionist enterprise intensified . cluding the United States . With the outbreak of World War I and the expulsion of Jews from the Between the World Wars Eastern War Zone, Zionism was thrust on to the Chaim Wei mann (1874-1952), the primary political stage . Against the background of anti- architect of the Balfour Declaration, emerged Jewish brutalities, militant nationalism, shat- as the leader of the Zionist movement after tered empires, and new nation-states, the war World War I . The political headquarters of the engendered a revolutionary outlook - trans- Zionist movement moved to London under his forming Zionism, as many Jews perceived it, direction, especially since the League of Na- from a utopian quest into a practical necessity . tions entrusted the Mandate for Palestine to Britain. Despite Wei mann's secure diplomatic he war also created a dilemma for the Zion- standing, the new hierarchy led to a somewhat ist movement, namely which side of the anomalous situation : the Zionist pioneers ac- conflictT should it support? Palestine, after all, tually building the Yishuv did so with a partic- was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and the ular social-ideological agenda in view, but the Turks were aligned with the Central Powers . individuals who retained ultimate political Meanwhile, European Jews were fighting on control of the Zionist movement lived in a both sides of the war, the outcome of which was totally different milieu thousands of miles uncertain . Ultimately, it was the hostility of the from Palestine. Ottoman Empire towards the Yishuv [Pales- The geographic distance separating the tine Jewish community] that pushed the Zion- Zionist leadership in London from the move- ists into the Allied camp. Though unofficially ment in Palestine caused misunderstandings, true at the war's outset - even when the cen- ideological quarrels and eventually a power tral Zionist offices were moved from Berlin to struggle in world Zionist politics . A rift neutral territory in New York City - it quickly emerged between the traditional European- became apparent that Zionist sympathies lay based Zionist leaders and the stewards of the with the Allies . When the United States finally movement in the United States . Louis D . Bran- entered the war in 1917, decisively changing deis (1856-1941), an associate justice of the the balance of power in favor of the Allied United States Supreme Court and head of the forces, hopes were raised that Palestine would American Zionist movement, believed that the eventually come under British control. During political era of Zionism had ended with the the war, especially after the great political suc- Balfour Declaration . The new challenge, in his cess of the Balfour Declaration in 1917 opinion, was to develop Palestine's economic (wherein the British government expressed its potential and successfully absorb its new commitment to the establishment of a Jewish immigrants . national home in Palestine), the focus of the In contrast, Wei mann and his followers Zionist debate shifted away from the problems believed that the political struggle was far of the diaspora communities and toward Pales- from over, and he continued to view Zionism - tine. Two issues now emerged as paramount : now officially represented by the Jewish the fate of the Yishuv and the vexing problem Agency for Palestine - as the national will of of Arab-Jewish relations . the Jewish people. They also differed over a

JULY/AUGUST 1997 7 principle of fundamental importance : the no- tals. In 1947, against the backdrop of overflow- tion of exile and the imperative of Eret Israel ing displaced persons camps in Cyprus and so- as the authentic home of the Jewish peo- called "illegal" Jewish immigration to Pales- ple. Over time, much of the Brandeis group's tine - known as "Aliyah Bet" - the British agenda was adopted and implemented by the decided on a policy of returning illegal Jewish Wei mann forces which controlled the Zionist immigrants to their original ports of depar- movement. ture . The most notorious example in this re- It was also in the 1930s that the Labor Zion- gard was Exodus-1947, a ship carrying nearly ist movement rose from its minority status in 5,000 Jewish refugees. Intercepted off the the World Zionist Organi ation to a position of Palestine coast, the Exodus was compelled to political dominance . At the heart of the Labor return to Hamburg after a pitiful ordeal where enterprise stood the Histadrut, the general the British forced the passengers off the ship federation of Jewish Labor in Palestine, cre- and beat those who resisted with clubs and ated in 1920 by a conference of socialist Zionist hoses - all in the glare of the world media . parties in Palestine . The Histadrut comman- This affair signaled Britain's inability to deal ded a broad network of agricultural settle- with the ever-increasing flow of Jewish immi- ments, as well as educational institutions, grants and hastened its decisions to relinquish trade unions, self-defense groups, a workers' the Mandate . press and a workers' health organi ation, After Israel's War of Independence (1948- which enabled the Yishuv to cope with differ- 49), the new state faced an abrupt transition to ent crises through broad measures of coopera- statehood that strained the country's resour- tive organi ation. ces. The existing pre-state institutions were called upon to meet a host of unprecedented robably the single most important factor in domestic challenges including an enormous determining the Yishuv's future, however, influx of immigrants and the stabili ation of wasP the fact that the Zionist organi ation as a the economy. At the same time, Israel was con- whole united behind the objective of attaining fronted by a threatening foreign environment, Jewish political sovereignty in Palestine . The notably an ongoing state of war with sur- British government, on the other hand, though rounding Arab countries and the demands of it inched toward the policy of partition recom- a si able population of Palestinian Arab mended by the Peel Commission of 1937, was refugees . quite uncertain about its short- and long-range objectives . Such ambivalence, compounded by Conclusion the Arab riots of 1936-39, prompted a British Between the rise of Theodor Her l and the reappraisal outlined in the MacDonald "White creation of the State of Israel, Zionism changed Paper" of 1939 . In an attempt to meet Arab in the sense that its original premise and the demands, the British government proposed a relative strength of the movement as a whole limit on Jewish immigration of 75,000 between was dramatically modified . The Holocaust not 1939 and 1944 (when it would cease alto- only annihilated many of the most active bear- gether), and a ten-year transition period to an ers of the Zionist program, but also put an end independent state with an Arab majority. The to the complex European-based Jewish-gentile Jewish Agency believed this to be a clear relationship that was central to Zionism's rise . breach of past British pledges . In the face of Although Zionism survived in Europe after this turnabout, compounded by the onset of World War II, the source of its ideological stim- World War II, David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), ulus shifted to the newly emerging centers of the leader of the Zionist movement after 1935, Jewish life in Israel and the United States . declared a new Zionist policy agenda : "We must support the [British] army as though merican Zionism, like other ethnic nation- there were no White Paper, and fight the White alist enterprises in the United States, was Paper as though there were no war ." neverA large ; but the American movement's The period between the end of World War II presence was felt in the wider community . and the establishment of Israel in 1948 was Viewed historically, the movement's strength characteri ed by turmoil in Palestine and in- was not contingent upon its si e nor, at a later tense diplomatic activity in the Western capi- (continued on page 13)

8 JEWISH FRONTIER H I S T A D R U T

Is Renewal Underway?

n recent months, Israel's General Federa- jumped to over 700,000 . tionI of Labor, the Histadrut, has shown signs In continuation of its major overhaul, hun- of a renewed sense of purpose . This follows on dreds of staff members from central depart- the heels of radical organi ational and ideo- ments and from local labor councils have been logical changes which have been taking place retired or retrenched . The restructuring in- within the venerable federation . cludes grouping more local councils in regional For more than seven decades the Histadrut administrative bodies. Most recently, the His- played an increasingly vital and dramatic role tadrut completed its move to new, smaller fa-. in fashioning the form of pre-state Palestine cilities in Jerusalem . While the results are yet and then in creating the State of Israel . To- to be measured, a significant savings is antici- gether with Israel's Labor Party, it became a pated without any major loss in meeting work- key instrument in fashioning the Jewish state ers' needs . and giving it a social mission which would ben- The Histadrut has committed its resources efit all of its citi ens. It also became a pioneer to continuing the campaign to enroll more instrument for integrating Jewish, Arab, and members, protect those gains it has made, and Dru e citi ens, as well as in providing health position itself in the vanguard of social and care to all citi ens, including those living below political change. It has also moved to assist the the poverty line, in isolated development peace process and to strengthen its ties with towns, and in Arab villages . the Palestinian labor movement. With membership approaching 1 .5 million a few years ago, the Histadrut had become a Municipal Workers Strike ; Histadrut force for change. According to critics within its Disputes Treasury own leadership, however, it had also become The labor federation and the National Union heavy with redundant staff. To some outside of Clerical, Administrative and Public Service observers it was also too deeply involved with Employees took a tough negotiating position the fortunes of the Labor Party. As a result, with the government of Prime Minister Ben- and in part to pare back expenses after amass- jamin Netanyahu, in response to Histadrut's ing a huge debt, the Histadrut launched a view that the Treasury was unilaterally seek- series of significant initiatives . ing to reduce workers' wages and pensions . When the sick fund, Kupat Holim Clalit, According to Leon Maro owski, General was separated from the federation, under the Secretary of the public service employees' terms of Israel's restructured health care sys- union, the government efforts were in violation tem, membership in the Histadrut dropped to of specific labor court decisions . Furthermore, about 400,000. The loss reflected the fact that the Histadrut declared that these were con- thousands of people, including retirees and trary to earlier government decisions and col- home makers, had become members merely to lective bargaining agreements signed by the take advantage of its low cost health care net- Histadrut and the government . work. Since that watershed, and as a result of After a month of negotiations, which failed more aggressive organi ing, membership has to lead to a resolution of the dispute, the His-

JULY/AUGUST 1997 9 tadrut called for a strike of municipal workers, UNITE president Jay Ma ur, who is also except for fire and emergency services . His- president of the National Committee for Labor tadrut Chairman and Knesset Member Amir Israel, praised the decision as "a classic exam- Peret declared the strike as "a first step" in an ple of labor solidarity undertaken by Israel's effort to change the policy of the Treasury. The democratic labor movement . It also demon- labor chief described the issues in dispute strates how the work place has become global- as "basic to protecting workers' rights", and i ed, and that social and economic issues no threatened that if the strike did not succeed in longer tolerate borders ." moving the authorities, "all the workers in the The leadership of the Histadrut was pre- country" will join the campaign . sented with a proposal from its Strategic Plan- It was estimated by the Histadrut that ap- ning Department whose chairman, Benjamin proximately 100,000 municipal workers actu- Jassour, recently took part in a Histadrut ally took part in the one-day strike, which end- study mission to this country. That mission ed on May 27 when Maro owski and Adi Eldar, was organi ed by the AFL-CIO and the Minis- Chairman of the Union of Local Authorities, ter Counselor for Labor Affairs at the Embassy signed an agreement . According to a Histadrut of Israel in Washington, in cooperation with spokesperson, this included a commitment on the NCLI. behalf of the Union of Local Authorities that The proposal urged the Histadrut to "lead a employees' wages and conditions "would not be public campaign to highlight and oppose the reduced" . The Histadrut also supported the exploitation of child labor in the world" . Amir local authorities' campaign for governmental Peret referred to the practices adopted by cer- help in overcoming their problem of "mounting tain multinational companies as "modern slav- debts", caused by delays in receiving funding ery." He agreed to chair a public council which for projects and programs transferred to them would include, among others, workers' repre- by the national government in Jerusalem . sentatives, the Consumers' Protection Author- ity, the Histadrut Trade Union Department, Pension Dispute and the Working and Student Youth Organi a- In a related development, Amir Peret and tion (HaNoar HaOved v'HaLomed) . Its mis- the then Minister of Finance, Dan Meridor, sion, according to a Histadrut spokesman, is to agreed to appoint a joint committee represent- "make the facts about exploitation of child ing the Histadrut and the Ministry to solve labor available to the general public ." a dispute about pension rights and collective To highlight the effort a "Moral Standard agreements . Emblem" will be given to products manufac- The labor federation protested the fact that tured under conditions satisfying interna- agreements signed in May 1996 had not been tional labor standards, suggesting that these implemented. Peret insisted that the His- should be preferred when making purchases. tadrut could not ignore the issue of pension rights since nearly fifty per cent of those who -Jerry Goodman, Executive Director, entered the ranks of pensioners in the last National Committee for Labor Israel year, or 7,000 out of 15,000 workers, are being - Israel Histadrut Campaign harmed by the government's non-compliance . Campaign Against Child Labor The Histadrut has overwhelmingly en- CORRECTION dorsed an international effort to end the ex- ploitation of child labor and declared that it A typographical error in the poem was "joining the fight . . . . led by UNITE (the "Early Call" in our May/June issue Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile altered the meaning of the line . Employees) and the AFL-CIO in the United The correct version is : States and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federation, ICFTU (In- "And not a song ." ternational Confederation of Free Trade Unions) and ILO (International Labor Organi- Sorry, Henry Glickman! ation), internationally."

10 JEWISH FRONTIER D I A L O G U E

In the Spirit of Harav Kook

What Would He Say Today? By Dr. Gustave Pearlman

here was a time, before and during the He was called the Rabbi of the Liberal, TBritish Mandate that the present conflict be- Labor, Kibbut Workers Movement because of tween the religious and secular in Israel was his many compassionate decisions which were almost non-existant . Much of this was due to important in promoting a kind of purpose- the teachings of HaRav Avraham Kook, who as ful unity among the various inhabitants of the Chief Rabbi defined the work of rebuilding land. Eret Yisrael by secular Halut im as holy. We 1) He clearly and strongly stated : in the Labor Zionist movement should know "Workers have the right to strike . The Torah about this extraordinary man . commands us to do what is right in the eyes of Born in Latvia in 1865, HaRav Kook made God. If an employer exploits his workers it is aliya in 1904 and died in Jerusalem in 1935 . their duty to insist that he correct this . If he refuses, they have the right to strike . This article tells about significant decisions HaRav Kook made, and takes the journalistic 2) He acknowledged that the observance of liberty of "interviewing" him about modern Shmittah (leaving the fields fallow every sev- Israeli issues . enth year) would mean economic ruin for the struggling agricultural Kibbut im. Reali ing t the turn of this century, during the early this, HaRav Kook abrogated Shmittah for the days of what was then called the Yishuv, farms, with a Talmudic procedure which satis- Athe present day regrettable conflicts between fied both the religious and the secular. For the the haredim and the secularists were almost seventh year the farms were "sold" to gentiles, non-existant . In the 1900s, many of the thereby making the use of their produce per- Halut im came from observant families in the missable. For the strictly observant, including shtetl . Although they were rebelling against himself, HaRav Kook decreed "we are not re- what they considered the restrictions and quired to eat at the harvest of Shmittah year if irrelevancy of religious practice as they saw it, it is not acceptable to us, but it is forbidden to these still remained part of their background . deny the livelihood of others ." Consequently, when they encountered HaRav We must be concerned about the relationship Avraham Yit hak HaCohen Kook, the first of religious piety to moralism . Piety should chief Rabbi of what was later to be Israel, there not push aside the natural sense of morality. was respect, consideration and understanding . There is no dichotomy between the sacred and the profane . Whatever is essential to human HaRav Kook regarded the work which the pio- life is sacred. neers were doing to build up the land as holy ; even endowed with special sanctity. He called 3) Then there was the controversy of soccer the return to Eret Yisrael "the beginning of games in Tel Aviv on Shabbat . The teams as- divine redemption . The labor of the Halut im serted that they were definitely going to play. in the fields is essential to meet the vital mate- The orthodox importuned HaRav Kook to issue rial needs of the people . This will be followed a cherem, a ban, against them . HaRav Kook by progress towards Israel's spiritual needs ." said,

JULY/AUGUST 1997 11 It is not my way to go searching out the sins of about construction on Har Homa? Israel . T addikim do not complain of evil but HK (HaRav Kook) : Under ideal conditions it rather increase goodness ; they do not com- is legal and should be allowed . But practically plain about the faithless but rather they in- crease faith; they do not complain about igno- it is not wise . In the foreseeable future when rance, but rather increase knowledge . genuine peace will prevail, it should be possi- ble for Israelis and Palestinians to live wher- The ban was not issued . He constantly ever they wish all over Israel as it is with dif- spoke about the holiness of Shabbat . He em- ferent ethnic groups in the U.S. But right now phasi ed how important it was to respect it it is dangerous and unwise . The concept is and set it aside in some way. He stated his sound, especially as it involves modern hous- hope that perhaps this would be the first step ing for Palestinians as well, but the timing is leading to more observance . The athletes not correct now. agreed that tickets to the games would not be JF: What about giving up land for peace? sold on Shabbat, but had to be purchased in HK: When two nations have claims on the advance . A compromise was reached and a dis- same land, a viable compromise must be pute was avoided . worked out and mutually enforced so that vio- 4) HaRav Kook founded the first and only lence and destruction is avoided. Yeshiva which taught both a modern trade and JF: What is your opinion about the Judaism of . It is still in traditional Hebrew knowledge Ethiopian immigrants? existence today and is called Merka HaRav. HK: We should first say the prayer of Thanks- He wrote, giving for their rescue from exile and life- The physical life of mankind should be infused threatening persecution . They should be wel- with religious purpose . The true Mystic is not comed and accepted into our midst ; educated, isolated in esoteric studies but is involved in communal life. In social passion is hidden a and their lives be brought up to the higher divine spark . It shines forth both as social standards of the rest of Israel . devotion and heightened spiritual enthusiasm JF: What do you think of the activity of the which exist together as do darkness and light . Conservative and Reform Movements in 5) HaRav Kook was invited to speak at the Israel? dedication of the Technion in Haifa . Several of HK: I believe that the institution of the Chief his very strict colleagues urged him to decline Rabbinate in Israel should be the fore-runner but he took the opportunity to express himself of the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin of about the necessity of research : ancient times . Representatives of all shades of Research will never lead to evil, because of the Israeli opinion will deliberate . It is not the faith in reason that all great thinkers of up- province of private individuals to decide these right hearts have in common . We must try to issues. There were great changes at the times magnify the fountain of knowledge that issues of the Perushim (Pharisees) . Great changes from the Torah source and add many ideas are occurring now. They must and will be which will develop . We must be very careful that the products of scientific research will be addressed . directed toward the greater good of society JF: What is your opinion about the election and not fall into the hands of evildoers . results? Why is there a coalition between the religious parties and Likud? Several years ago there was a fine program HK: Shimon Peres had many excellent pro- on PBS portraying and "interviewing" signifi- gressive ideas for the future of the entire Mid- cant personalities in the history of mankind, dle East . He wrote and planned for water such as Socrates, Plato, Galileo, Maimonides, desalination, reversal of the "desertification" of Einstein etc . With the background we have much of the land, development of a water about HaRav Kook, his opinions about current power system between the Mediterranean and happenings in Israel should be instructive . His the Dead Sea and growth of tourism . These statements and actions were seminal factors long-term plans would have benefited both in the peaceful cooperation of both the reli- Israel and neighboring states as well . His de- gious and secular groups . Let us imagine his feat was a tragedy for all . Permanent lasting responses to an interview by the Jewish Fron- peace is essential for such projects to be pos- tier about important issues in Israel today : sible . I don't see the Likud going in that JF (Jewish Frontier) : What do you think direction.

12 JEWISH FRONTIER

A growth in religious devotion will not occur POST PERES LABOR through politics . It will happen through an continued from page 4 evolutionary process, which is already taking Israeli government will survive to the year place. Several prominent Rabbis and Reshei 2000 . Barak has already expressed his hope Yeshivot come from secular families . that new elections will be held within a year, JF: What do you advise to promote peace be- but it is difficult to see how this might be tween the religious and secular elements of achieved, given the fact that under the law for Israeli society? the direct election of the Prime Minister only HK: We must always remember these three 61 MKs or more can cause the holding of early basic tenets of Judaism, and apply them as we elections. Despite widespread dissatisfaction act and think in any situations of possible con- in all parties with the functioning of the cur- flict which may arise : rent Prime Minister, there aren't 61 MKs in 1) Chaverim Kol Yisroel - All of Israel are the Knesset today willing to vote against him friends and partners . and thus bring about the holding of early elec- 2) Kol Yisroel yesh lahem chelek b'olom haba tions. At the same time, two private member - All of Israel have a share in the world bills, proposing the amendment or cancellation to come. (Everyone - no matter whether of the law, which were recently tabled in the they are secular or religious - is equal Knesset, failed to get through a preliminary before God .) reading. 3) Kol Yisroel arayvim eh la eh - The peo- The Labor Party under Barak's leadership ple of Israel bear responsibility for each will be much more visible as a fighting oppo- other. One group cannot neglect the wel- sition force than it was under Peres' during fare of another. the past year. The 64,000 dollar question is JF: What have you done personally towards whether it will convince the new immigrants, these ends? the supporters of Shas and other haredi par- HK: I travelled and spoke at Kibbut im and ties, and middle-of-the-roaders that Barak Moshavim throughout Israel . Many non- rather than Netanyahu (or possibly Minister religious families decided to have halachic of Defense It ik Mordechai) is the man they weddings and Brit Milah (covenantial circum- should vote for. LI cisions) ; many of our Yeshiva boys grew to understand their secular countrymen . ZIONISM I urged the religious groups to attend and continued from page 8 participate in the World Zionist Congress . I stage, even its remarkable fundraising ability . said to them, "How can you reject Zionism Instead, American Zionists were most influen- when God has already chosen Zion?" tial as leaders who helped to inculcate in On the eve of Shavuot, I opened the doors of American Jewry a sense of kinship and respon- my home to all who wanted to study Torah . I sibility for the Yishuv and the State of Israel, did not question if they were observant or not and helped to build bridges between the two or even whether they were Jewish or not . We societies. studied that the Mit vah to love one's neighbor The establishment of the State of Israel includes non-Jews and secular people . "The solved one major problem in modern Jewish righteous of all nations have a share in the life - the need for a Jewish homeland . At the world to come" we are taught in our Talmud . same time, the birth and development of the State of Israel created new dilemmas and con- Conclusion tinues to pose new challenges : to Jews and It is important that we, in the Labor Zionist non-Jews, to Jews in Israel and to those in the Movement, know about HaRav Kook . His voice diaspora, and within Israeli society itself. speaks out from the past, condemning those Zionism - nearly one hundred years after who deny the Judaism of others and who cast its inception and almost half a century since stones. There are today orthodox Rabbis and Her l's vision of a Jewish State was reali ed - observant Jews brought up in the traditions of is still the only Jewish movement that contin- HaRav Kook, practicing them as he did . Would ues to deal with these fundamental questions that there were more . F~ in their totality. F-1

JULY/AUGUST 1997 13

P O E T R Y

by Jon Nalley A Friday Night (to Selina Trieff)

",Se habla espanol?" The Lynching of Continuing ed . . . that class at Cooper Union Leo Frank brings me to this unlikely Shabbat, trajects from a SoHo gallery His brethren's homes beneath the peach with a couple of classmates . blossoms, are boarded up, they have fled the neighbors' Me, the young one, jeers, barely 25 and new to our metropolis . the sight of your noose in the sultry air. Dreyfus and Bellis have bettered the Wine is sipped with chatter and glances. Georgian Paintings - yours and others', on Devil's Island and in Tsarist Russia . that old friend of yours with a black beret, brings me romantically to Ferlinghetti, Schiller, Heine are not read beneath gentle Kerouac. gaslight, post-bellum bree es smell faintly of decompo- Your friends, the mishpoche, sure. kind of kin desired, Behind concrete walls and steel doors that da le absolutely. slam, a pencil manufacturer can hear the seething Among enchanters, bile that brassy, Westchester real estate agent, of flagellant Dixie sons who clamor for his a red-diaper baby blood - who decries her parents' Stalinism, filled with adrenalin . Fear's sweat beads an over Hunan dishes - urbane forehead . a whole fish on a blue porcelain plate, never before tried. Appeals are ignored, where he lives - except for the brave A painting at your place, governor's. A death sentence becomes life in one of yours - prison . haunts me, like The Lottery, His innocence is dismissed amid raging took me seriously, cauldron eyes. "Ah, the story by Shirley Jackson," Commission pries open his cell, casts a fate you note . before the mob .

Almost a century later in a modern city - "too busy to hate," its Peachtree Pla a lifting Nave an urgent document or package to/from ISRAEL? up to the sky - the limp body hangs from a Send it with us for guaranteed delivery within 36 hours . tree. There is no comfort to his family. This blood shigur cosell libel, couriers inc. 147-40 184th Street, Jamaica . NY 11413 stagnant and dry, clings to the walls of the Call 718 . 244 . 7356 or 800 . 695 . 1213 Underground. Fox 718-244-7870 LI In Israel call Avi at 03-512-6649 The fastest courier service for all your shipments to/from Israel

14 JEWISH FRONTIF R E V I E W E S S A Y

American Jewish Politics A Critique of J. J. Goldberg's Jewish Power By Daniel Mann

he time was August 1975, when Washing- the rule when it came to acknowledging that a tonT tends to be hot and humid and news from Jewish lobby was indeed operating in Wash- the capital is relatively subdued . That summer ington, and quite effectively for that matter. was about midway between the beginning of But the rules were apparently changing . On Gerald Ford's administration following the August 8, 1975 the New York Times published Nixon resignation in 1974 and the 1976 presi- a long article on page 2, reporting that repre- dential elections . The American Jewish polity sentatives of 14 national Jewish organi ations was likewise between great events : The Yom claiming to speak for four million American Kippur War and its aftermath, and the Jack- Jews were meeting once a week at the AIPAC son Vanik amendment linking detente to the office. The article went on to describe the plans right of Soviet Jews to emigrate, were high- Amitay had for expanding his agency and lights of 1973-4, while Camp David would not offered the efficient work of AIPAC in securing take place until 1978 . In fact, the biggest issue blockage by Congress of the projected Hawk confronting the Jewish community that sum- sale to Jordan as an example of the lobby's mer was the proposed American sale of 14 operations. The Times reporter got all 14 orga- Hawk anti-aircraft missile batteries to Jordan, ni ational names right, though to be precise in retrospect a question of such limited signifi- one of them was not "national" but rather the cance that it does not even appear in J.J. Gold- local Jewish Community Council, which I rep- berg's important and challenging new book, resented at those meetings. According to Gold- Jewish Power. berg, "the inner workings of the Jewish organi- In those days the so-called "Israel lobby" - ational world are arcane, by antine and con- actually an agency of the organi ed American voluted, so much so that even seasoned insid- Jewish community operating in Washington ers often feel lost without a compass" and adds - was also relatively subdued. Not that the that "it does not help that so many of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee names sound virtually identical ." However, (AIPAC) was unknown, but Morris Amitay had that did not deter the Times . After the article only recently assumed professional direction of appeared, the inside joke in Jewish Washing- the organi ation from its founder, I . L. (Si) ton was that there is no Jewish lobby, and it Kenen, and was still at the beginning of a proj- meets every Tuesday afternoon at the AIPAC ect of expanding staff, membership, finances, office. and public recognition, a process that has in- It should be noted that later the same creased exponentially under succeeding execu- month AIPAC celebrated a final victory with tives in the ensuing decades . In the summer of its allies in Congress on the issue of the 1975 the transition was still under way from Hawks: In what might strike one as a decision what Goldberg correctly calls "a one-man office by the wise men of Chelm but what was actu- run by its tireless founder . . . the affable and ally a typical facesaving Washington compro- understated Kenen ." Somewhat like the "Jew- mise that served its purpose, the sale went ish vote," the existence of which was more through but Jordan agreed to accept "fixed de- often denied than flaunted as became the prac- fensive and nonmobile anti-aircraft weapons" tice more recently, caution and discretion were aimed away from Israel . In the ensuing years

JULY/AUGUST 1997 15 much greater issues faced - and still face - book - "to explore the workings of Jewish the Jewish community in the area of Ameri- power politics in contemporary America" - can-Israel relations, and AIPAC was trans- and does so remarkably well, combining jour- formed - ironically in the wake of its defeat on nalistic insights with historical contexts . He the AWACS issue in 1981, as detailed by Gold- has thus provided his readers - first of all, the berg - "from a small agency, run by the na- American Jews themselves and then "other tional Jewish organi ations as their congres- Americans" whom he invites "to read on and sional lobbying arm, into an independent find out what their neighbors are up to" - a mass-membership powerhouse run by its comprehensive and penetrating analysis that wealthiest donors," particularly a right-wing is unique even in a period of so many books on "Gang of Four" that did not hesitate to under- topics of Jewish interest. mine American support for the Rabin-Peres Oslo peace process in recent years. recurring theme in this book is that while Jews are not necessarily as powerful as 11 this, and much more, is to be found in Asome non-Jews may think, particularly our Jewish Power: Inside the American Jew- enemies, we are surely not so weak as many ishA Establishment (Addison-Wesley, 1996) by Jews themselves perceive . In the author's former New York correspondent and now a words, there is a "gap between the Jews' self- contributing editor of the Jerusalem Report, image of vulnerability and the reality of Jew- J. J. Goldberg, described by two authoritative ish power" : admirers, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan Any serious description of American Jewish and ADL's Abraham Foxman, as an "astute . . . politics - the exercise of power by and within seasoned observer of the communal and politi- the Jewish community - must inevitably be cal scene . . . and the American Jewish commu- colored by this perception gap. The gap runs nity." Of course, he is known to many readers of like a crack through the base of the edifice this maga ine as one of its former editors as called the Jewish community . Coursing up well as the prime editor of Builders and through the structure, it becomes a yawning chasm of ignorance and mutual incomprehen- Dreamers, the 1983 anthology on the Labor sion, dividing the Jewish community's leaders Zionist youth movement Habonim Dror . from their presumed followers. In fewer than 400 pages, the author de- scribes the history, current operations and sta- The author goes on to place this chasm in tus of almost every significant umbrella orga- the context of America and the world today : ni ation of the community and many of its "sweeping changes in the world . . . the danger- individual agencies, large and small ; the role of ous uncertainties facing all political systems the community-relations field in civil rights . . . the growing insecurity and mistrust of the and liberties, immigration law, black-Jewish public . . . a national political system that is relations, and support for Israel and for Soviet increasingly balkani ed . . . the political un- and Ethiopian Jews ; the impact of watersheds ease afflicting American society as a whole ." such as the Holocaust and the Six-Day War ; And while he sides with sociologists like the ways in which the community deals with Steven M. Cohen who insist that the famous assimilation and intermarriage ; Jews in poli- 52 per-cent intermarriage rate is a statistical tics, the government, and the media (the latter exaggeration (an analysis I also agree with, a particularly discerning treatment) ; and the though I do not accept Goldberg's concomitant complexities of Israel-Diaspora relations . deprecation of the perceived demographic cri- The book is replete with anecdotes, includ- sis), he does acknowledge that "even the ing a few new ones ; catchy titles, e.g., "Sepa- spread of Jewish assimilation - the growing rated by a Common Faith: American Jewry's abdication of Jewish community life by indi- One-Way Love Affair with Israel," and one-lin- vidual Jews - differs only in degree from ers, e.g., "George Bush was not wrong in believ- Americans' declining participation in the ing that . . . Jews were indisputably a powerful broader political process ." political force when he convened his Septem- If Goldberg had been satisfied to attribute ber 12 [1991] press conference. Bush's mistake the intra-communal gap to malaise, apathy, was saying it out loud ." In short, the author assimilation, and an insecure world, that fulfills what he states to be the purpose of his would have served his purpose admirably. But

16 JEWISH FROT` then he produces a villain, or actually a cabal the. life of the community, surely including the of three factions that rose to power in the wake readers of this journal, would be disingenuous of the Six-Day War, or more precisely, "the to claim that Goldberg's argument has no basis waiting period before the war [author's empha- in fact. We have all seen, and struggled against, sis] . . . those three tense weeks in May, [in the phenomena he cites . The question, how- which] countless American Jews experienced a ever, is the extent to which the tripartite right- shattering anxiety that Israel might be de- wing coalition can serve as the explanation for stroyed . . . an anxiety so consuming that it the "chasm" between the leaders and the overshadowed what actually happened when masses . If it were that simple, then the pro- the war came ." gressive, pluralist, and pro-Oslo opposition could concentrate its counterattack on one - j ~ Tho were - and still are - the three bad or, at most, three interconnected - targets, guys? Since the author identifies the with some hope of success if only because of aforementioned chasm between the "activists the cyclical nature of politics . and . . . the broader population of American Unfortunately, the situation is much more Jews" as one of the themes of his entire work, complicated than that. First, there are the con- it is worth quoting what might be considered ditions noted above that Goldberg correctly the crux of the book : cites : apathy, unease, insecurity, divisiveness, ignorance, assimilation, etc . It would be giving In the popular mind, the New Jews of 1967 - the Zionists, the Orthodox, and the neoconser- the right wing too much credit to say that they vatives - quickly came to be identified as the caused those problems . They may have exacer- leadership of the American Jewish commu- bated them but the situation of American nity. Their defiance was so strident, and their Jews, for better or worse, has a life of its own anger so intense, that the rest of the Jewish without reference to the ideology of certain key community respectfully stood back and let the New Jews take the lead . The minority was leaders. permitted to speak for the mass and became Second, the record is nowhere as bleak as the dominant voice of Jewish politics. the paragraphs quoted above suggest, and the best evidence of that is to be found throughout In this new mood, the cause of Jewish advo- the book : Jews still hold liberal positions and cacy underwent a fundamental transforma- tion of values. The world after 1967 was re- vote Democratic in disproportionate numbers ; garded as a hostile place divided between the community-relations agencies still maintain Jews' friends and their enemies . The values and implement a progressive agenda ; there is that for so long had characteri ed American still life in the Black-Jewish coalition . And Judaism - equality, tolerance, and social jus- tice - became suspect in New Jewish leader- there are also innovative Jewish social-action ship circles . A new set of basic values came to programs, such as Leonard Fein's Ma on. replace them : loyalty to the Jewish people, Third, in some respects Goldberg oversim- commitment to its survival, and hostility to- plifies his argument. Weren't the fears in and ward its enemies. around the Six-Day War of 1967 vindicated by the experience of the Yom Kippur War of 1973? The Jews who rose to the leadership of the Jewish community were those who most em- Is it fair to cite Begin's comparison of Arafat to bodied these new values . Jews now expected Hitler as an example of the misuse of Holo- to be represented not by those who best ex- caust terminology, lumped together with Ted pressed their beliefs and aspirations, but by Turner's comparison of his losing a business those who seemed to them to be "most Jew- ish": most loyal to the Jewish people and its bid to the situation of the Jews under the traditions, or most hostile to its enemies . Na is?! After all, Rabin was no less insistent that Arafat disavow his genocidal positions as a condition for the Oslo agreements . On an- n Goldberg's view this coalition of "New other topic, wasn't Jewish opposition to rigid Jews" - described elsewhere in the book as quotas in the 1978 Bakke case justifiable, no "OrthodoxI separatists, hardline Likud Zion- matter how shrill Commentary and other op- ists, and conservative Republicans" - contin- ponents of affirmative action may have been? ues to rule and run Jewish communal life and The fact of the matter is that Black leaders in public affairs on all fronts : Black-Jewish, their more candid moments acknowledged at Israel-Diaspora, etc . Now, anyone involved in the time that Bakke was a weak case from

JULY/AUGUST 1997 17 their standpoint and would give affirmative even better. action a bad name, while the Jewish agencies took the opposite side more in sorrow than in ewish Power is well-edited, with almost no anger. typos and with user-friendly endnotes, a Jcomprehensive index, and a glossary of t is nuances such as those that are missing acronyms. Nevertheless, there are some errors, from the text - on those issues, and others including an uncanny tendency to place events asI well . For example, the Jackson-Vanik one year before or after they actually hap- Amendment, rather than having "backfired," pened . Thus Jackson Vanik was passed in proved to be a necessary though surely not suf- 1974, not 1973 ; Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy ficient tool for rescuing Soviet Jews, as evi- took place in 1974-5, not 1975-6 ; Herbert denced by the increase of emigration in 1979 to Lehman defeated John Foster Dulles in a spe- over 50,000, thus approaching the "bench- cial senatorial election in New York in 1949, mark" figure of 60,000 agreed to by Kissinger, not the regular election of 1948 ; Ford's Jackson, and Dobrynin in 1974 . In fact, the reassessment of America's Mideast policies Jewish community was tempted to drop its took place in 1975, not 1976 (in fact, it had as opposition to improved trade conditions for the much to do with the collapse of South Vietnam USSR because of the 1979 emigration rates as it did with Israel's resistance) ; the Israel- and later expressed regret that it may have Egypt peace treaty, though negotiated at missed an historic opportunity. Camp David in 1978, was actually signed in Another example is the creation of the Holo- 1979; the World Zionist Congress that split on caust Museum in Washington, which proved to the question of the settlements took place in be much more than what Goldberg dismisses 1982, not 1983; and the Soviet Union collapsed as "a national museum of Jewish suffering ." In in 1991, not 1990 . This pu ling pattern of one- actuality it has succeeded beyond the expecta- year misses extends back almost two cen- tions of many concerned individuals to com- turies: the "Jew Bill" that gave Maryland Jews bine the American and universal themes of the the right to serve in public office without tak- Holocaust with the specifically and uniquely ing a Christian oath was passed in 1826, not genocidal dimensions pertaining to the fate of 1825 . And one important date is off by a the Jews. Moreover, that was the important decade: AIPAC was founded in the 1950s, not theme of President Clinton's address at the the 1940s, and the process of its establishment dedication of the museum, rather than the cer- and further organi ation was somewhat more emonial language cited by Goldberg, and it complex than Goldberg describes . was a factor in Clinton's appointment of new There are also some factual errors and note- leadership of the Holocaust Memorial Council . worthy omissions : Moment is a bimonthly, not And one more significant omission : the impact a monthly maga ine. There were other presi- on Jews in the 1960s of ethnic consciousness in dents between Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald several Catholic groups. Reagan who had Jewish personal friends ; Bal- These complexities are cited not to dispar- timore should be added to the list of larger age this book but rather out of respect for its cities that have Jewish members of Congress, considerable achievement. While journalistic and some of the other communities cited are in style it offers historical depth well beyond not "tiny"; the Na is never actually marched what one usually encounters in this type of through Skokie, and that entire story could work. There are more than a few oversimplifi- have merited inclusion in the book ; the WZO cations, both of broad issues and of specific sit- does not name all the top officers of the Jewish uations, and a few missing attributions, e.g., Agency ; Bernice Tannenbaum headed the Daniel Ela ar's pioneering work on the Jewish WZO American section, not Hadassah, in 1988 ; political tradition in general and the organi ed and it is the United Israel Appeal, not the American Jewish community as a "polity" in Agency, that together with the JDC "techni- particular, and Henry Feingold's pre-eminent cally owns" the UJA. In addition, the role of the role in interpreting the weakness of the American labor movement as a steadfast ally American Jewish community during the Holo- of the Jewish polity is neglected, as is the caust. But these points are raised as indica- world of youth, students, and academics. tions of how a very good product could be made Then there are a few regrettable uses of

18 JEWISH FRONT :

words: the Wailing Wall instead of the Western tion of the CJF" and the concomitant strength- Wall in Jerusalem ; Falashas for the Ethiopian ening of the community through "the power of Jews, who do not like that name ; and "millen- the purse" will lead to a "truly representative nium" (three times in the last chapter!), a word council of American Jewry," as Goldberg advo- that is both Christological and pretentious. (As cates, or whether we will instead be confronted we will see below, several important develop- with further strengthening of the right, on the ments in the 1990s described or anticipated by one hand, and the hegemony of the lowest com- Goldberg have already altered course well be- mon denominator in community policy-setting, fore the year 2000 .) Additionally, not every on the other.) Other new developments not an- quotation can stand alone : Max Fisher's con- ticipated by Goldberg are affecting the WZO, tention that "Kennedy wouldn't ship any arms the Jewish Agency, AIPAC, and the Netanyahu [to Israel] . Johnson didn't either" is contradic- government in Israel . ted by the facts as stated elsewhere in the This final point is stated the least critically book. of all those in this review, for there is always a risk in projecting even the immediate future, ecause this book will prove useful as a text let alone defining longterm trends, especially or reference in courses on Jewish commu- in a book that provides depth and breadth to nalB studies and American politics, the exten- its analysis . (It makes one look forward to the sive bibliography should be commended, but second edition .) In any event, the questons I again there are some important omissions, have raised in this essay are intended as a col- including several excellent analyses of and legial tribute . For J. J. Goldberg's Jewish Power anthologies on contemporary American Jewish is timely, comprehensive, stimulating, in- political and social life that have appeared in formed, and thus indispensable, besides which the past two decades, and some highly it reads well! It is therefore both a welcome regarded American Jewish histories . The Mor- and a needed addition to the literature about ris and Freund collection of material from the the American Jewish polity . F1 field of Jewish communal service through 1952 is on the list, but the two-volume anthology edited by Graenum Berger dealing with the 1970s and 1980s and aptly titled The Turbu- lent Decades is missing, although it is much On the centennial of the more comprehensive and reflects the enhanced Jewish priorities of the field. first Zionist Congress in

he final point in this critique has to do with 1897, we share the Goldberg's descriptions and projections of passion of the Jewish changesT in key Jewish institutions and processes, some of which have already unrav- people to fully reali e its eled in the short year since publication . The noble ideals . National Jewish Community Relations Advi- sory Council (NJCRAC), described by Gold- berg as "nothing more than a toothless reflec- tion of its fiercely independent member-agen- cies," has not only changed its name to the Jewish Council for Public Affairs but also over- come the resistance of its national agencies Jay Ma ur Jerry Goodman and accorded increased priority to its local President Executive Director affiliates through changes in voting proce- dures and the establishment of its own Wash- National Committee for Labor Israel ington office. Meanwhile the plans for merging Israel Histadrut Campaign the Council of Jewish Federations and the 275 Seventh Avenue United Jewish Appeal have been deferred and New York, New York 10001 a more gradual process initiated in its stead . (One might also ask whether the "consolida- "Representing Israel's workers today ."

JULY/AUGUST 1997 19 Madeleine Albright and the Magic Circle of Jewishness By Harold Tick tin

ommenting on Madeleine Albright's dis- tainly David Jonah Goldhagen's Hitler's Will- coveryC of her Jewish antecedents, Zbigniew ing Executioners is the leading example of the Br e inski, Jimmy Carter's National Security anti-symbiotic school . What Br e inski calls Adviser and Ms. Albright's thesis adviser at symbiotic, Goldhagen incriminates as an un- Columbia University said : "Americans have a relenting eliminationist hate, peculiarly very naive view of the symbiosis and inter- German. penetration between Jewish and non-Jewish Both sentiments cannot be true . Or can populations in Central Europe before World they? When one considers that Stalin, Molotov, War II." Br e inski added that many families Gomulka, even the King of Romania had Jew- of this type "saw what was coming and proba- ish wives, that intermarriage, seculari ation, bly thought it best to protect the family [with the university, professionali ation, and assimi- Baptism] ." lation (called Poloni ation in Br e inski's It is extremely unlikely that either Madam native Poland) in the interwar period trans- Albright or Dr. Br e inski ever read a letter formed Eastern European Jewry from rural from Ludwig Bourne, a Jewish convert to religious insularity to desire for Westerni a- Christianity in 1832, written from Berlin to tion in even less than a generation, it is at Jeanette Wohl in Paris in which Bourne said : least arguable that Br e inski is correct . "It's a kind of miracle! I've experienced it a Yet, some 165 years after Herr Bourne thousand times and yet it seems new to me . wrote to Madame Wohl, it seems that the mor- Some find fault with me for being a Jew ; oth- bid interest in Jewish roots (taints?) has sub- ers forgive me ; still others go so far as to com- pliment me for it; but every last one of them sided little. The Albright affair itself illus- thinks of it. They seem caught in this magic trates that the magic circle remains aglow . circle of Jewishness ; none of them can get out After World War I, Europe saw a stew of na- of it." tionality mixes emerge that made the Austri- Ironically, the letter is quoted in a volume an-Hungarian Empire look downright homo- called Jews and Judaism in German Letters geneous. Yet no one speaks of a German-C ech, After 300 Years published in Vienna in 1935, Hungarian-Romanian, Italian-Croat or any three years before Kristallnacht, the beginning other such national "symbiosis ." But from Dis- of the Holocaust which would overwhelm these raeli to Ms. Albright, the revelation of a Jewish and all other sentiments affecting the relation- connection produces immediate excited titilla- tion, a covert hint of scandal . ship between Jews and non-Jews . n commenting on the events surrounding r e inski's key word is "symbiosis ." Until Hitler it was more or less taken for granted Ithe Albright revelation, Abraham H . Fox- thatB such a process had taken place between man, National Director of the Anti-Defamation Europe (even Eastern Europe) and its Jews . League of B'nai B'rith stated, "What I find so If there really was a symbiosis, Germany was distressing and perplexing is how long the ten- considered the most fertile ground, with Freud tacles of the Holocaust are." However well and Einstein leading a European cohort that intended Foxman's statement, it is incomplete, included Fran Kafka, Heinrich Heine, Gustav even incorrect ; it is not the tentacles of the Mahler, Primo and Carlo Levi, Leo S ilard Holocaust that reach out and grasp people (discoverer of atomic fission), and a host of sci- within the magic circle of Jewishness . It is the entists, dramatists, critics and musicians . antecedent history, combined with the Holo- Today, there is a school of historians who caust, that has astonishingly left its glow in argue that no such animal ever existed. Cer- place in the same way as when a former Ger-

20 JEWISH FROND

tl

man Jew wrote to a friend in Paris in 1832 to itself from the magic circle? I think not . There describe precisely the same dilemma which was a Jewish Secretary of State under Nixon Albright experiences today. and even a Jewish wife of a Secretary of State There is no satisfactory explanation for this - the wife of Cordell Hull - under Roosevelt, phenomenon. Except, perhaps, for the coiled a time of the cruelest restrictions on immigra- entrails of the Judaic-Christian split and the tion imaginable, given the rise of Na ism. But absolute human necessity for casting contempt no situation has arisen quite like the magic on those from whom one has decided to part circles surrounding Madeleine Albright . What- company. The Albright case intrigues because ever else comes out of this remarkable situa- it occurs on the furthest cusp possible, with the tion, rest assured, as Bourne asserts, everyone dimmest shadow of Jewishness in the magic will be thinking about it . 0 ring, yet made full-blown instantaneously by nothing more than the revelation itself. Fifty-two years since the immigration of "DP's" was metamorphosed into the softer CONTRIBUTORS "survivor" term, I have come to know many Susan Hattis Rolef, PhD, a political scientist, people with histories closely resembling that of is regular Israel correspondent of Jewish Madeleine Albright . I think of a pair of doctors, Frontier. husband and wife, whom I've known for almost Edward Bernard Glick is professor emeritus 40 years and yet have never been very sure of of Political Science at Temple University, their antecedents because of the cover the war Philadelphia . He was a member of the LZA places on their relationship, leaving even their Executive Committee . His books include children in doubt as to who is Jewish and who Straddling the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and is Gentile and who protected whom and where Latin America and the Palestine Problem . He in Warsaw between 1939 and 1945 . lives in Portland, Oregon . Daniel Mann, president of the Labor Zionist lbright's parents were far from alone in Alliance, is a retired professional communal their desire to spare their children the worker in Washington, and has taught Jewish horrorsA which they foresaw in which many communal studies at the Baltimore Hebrew unfortunately died, not merely six million, but University. one by one to that number. On August 19, 1947, a letter was written Harold Ticktin, a Cleveland attorney and from England to a now deceased friend of mine active member of the Labor Zionist Alliance, who had managed to escape from Poland to writes frequently for Jewish publications . Bolivia in 1940 . The writer hoped to give her Jon Nalley, a Habonim alumnus whose short closure on the death of her brother who, by story, "Anne Above All" appeared in Jewish that time, she was almost sure was dead . Frontier in 1977, has published his poems in a The friend described the death of the brother variety of periodicals. who had been killed in the Warsaw uprising Dr. Gustave Pearlman, a dentist in Syracuse, (not the Warsaw Ghetto uprising) . At the NY, last wrote a "simulated" dialogue between beginning of the letter was Roman Rosenberg, David Ben-Gurion and TV host Bill Moyers . M.D. Here are his words : Mr. Moyers' staff, excited by that treatment of "After all the happenings of the war and the Genesis, phoned for more copies of the post-war period, we have decided that there is Frontier. no more room for Jews in the world except for Mark A. Raider, a member of our Editorial Palestine . Since we are not going to Palestine, but to Australia, we decided to quit being Jew- Board, is Professor of Judaic Studies at State ish . I do not know if it will help us, but per- University New York . haps it will help save our children and grand- Yehuda Riemer, of Kibbut Urim, is in charge children from fates similar to ours . In any of a project on Zionist Youth Movements at case, we have changed our name and that is why I write you as Ronald F. Rosleigh, M.D." Yad Tabenkin, the Research Institute of the United Kibbut Movement . Is it possible for this episode in the history David Rosenthal, of Philadelphia, contributes of the distinguished office of Secretary of State regularly on Jewish historical events and for the United States of America to emancipate personalities .

JULY/AUGUST 1997 21 S O U T H O F T H E B O R D E R Learning from Mexican Jewry by Edward Bernard Glick

exico was not the original New-World ish organi ations into a representative body destinationM for most Mexican Jews, especially that speaks with dignity, confidence, and re- the sixty percent of them who are Ashkena im. spect - and with a single voice - to the gov- Rather, it was their reluctant second choice . ernment and people of Mexico. They, or their parents and grandparents, made the choice after 1924, the year in which the etween 1960 and 1997 the number of Mex- United States imposed quotas that discrimi- ican Jews grew from 28,000 to 50,000. This nated equally against both Jewish and Gentile 78-percentB increase occurred without any ap- immigrants from Eastern, Central, and South- preciable Jewish immigration into Mexico . ern Europe. During this same period, the Jewish popula- Nevertheless, many Mexican Jews speak tion of the United States declined by at least English well . Many of them have vacation, 10 percent, in spite of the large influx of Jews business, family, social and school ties to the from Israel, South Africa, and states from the U.S. As a result, they know much more about former Soviet Union. us than we know about them. This is a pity, American Jewry's demographic loss is due because if we American Jews borrowed some of to an intermarriage rate of over 50 percent - their organi ational and educational models, the rate is even higher in the South and in the we might solve some of the problems that vex West - to the high non-marriage rates among us so deeply here . young Jews, and to the suicidally negative fer- One need not describe Mexican Jewry in tility rate even among Jews who marry other detail . It is enough to say that theirs is the Jews. third-largest Jewish community in Latin American Jews distinguish themselves in America - only Argentina's and Bra il's are many ways . However, their most prominent, if larger - that Mexican Jews have the highest saddest, distinction is that they have the low- per capita income of any Jewish group in this est reproductive rate of any ethnic, religious, hemisphere; that most most of them live in or racial group in the United States . There is a and around Mexico City ; that their Centro cause-and-effect relationship between our dis- Deportivo Israelita (commonly called Yid- astrous demographic condition and what the disher Sports T enter) is, with its Olympic- lawyer Alan Dershowit has called "the van- si ed swimming pool, big, beautiful, and osten- ishing American Jew ." There is also such a tatious; that most Mexican Jewish children relationship - despite the obvious differences attend all-day Jewish schools; that even third- in Mexican and U.S. society- between the rise generation boys and girls are fluent in Hebrew in the number of Mexican Jews, their four-per- and/or Yiddish; that Zionism, particularly cent intermarriage rate, and the fact that 75 Labor Zionism, is the watchword of most Mex- percent of their children attend one of 16 all- ican Jews; that many of their children make day Colegios Judios. Ranging from the most aliya to Israel; and that the Comite Central secularly Yiddishist to the most religiously Israelita is Mexican Jewry's organi ations ultra-orthodox, these schools comprise the masterpiece. educational centerpieces of Mexican Jewry. Unlike our conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organi ations - n his 1994 study The Power of Jewish Edu- which speaks or acts only after major diplo- cation, the sociologist Seymour Martin matic negotiations among its constituent bod- LipsetI confirmed that "The longer Jews have ies, and which is not elected by the entire orga- been exposed to Jewish Education, the greater ni ed American Jewsih Community - the their commitment to the community, to some Comite Central Israelita unites Mexico's Jew- form of religion, and to Israel ." Yet, fewer than

2 2 JEWISH FROI•

20 percent of American Jewish children go to agencies will need to defend . all-day Jewish schools . Apparently, the major- Mexican Jews have developed day-school ity of Jewish parents believe that such schools models which, in the main, stress Jewish are not diverse enough and that they provide a ethics and peoplehood over Jewish ritual and segregated education that will hurt their chil- religiosity, that is, the Talmud's Pirke Avot dren's entry into the best universities and into (The Sayings of the Fathers) over the Torah's the American mainstream . Taryag Mit vot (the 613 Biblical Command- There are additional reasons why American ments) . That's why their day schools are so Jews are not keen to send their children to attractive and so effective . Jewish day schools, as most Mexican and other American Jews may never feel ready or Latin American Jews do . One reason is cost . able to adopt Mexican Jewry's model of com- National Jewish organi ations in the U.S. munal organi ation. But we ought to embrace always support Jewish education more with its approach to education . For when it comes words than with money. Another reason is that to teaching Jewish values that will ensure most American Jews are reared with the Jewish survival, Mexican Jews have a record notion that public school education is a good of success, while American Jews have a record thing. Consequently, most childless Jewish of failure El couples, and most Jews whose children and grandchildren have long since been graduated from the public schools, more or less willingly Recommended Reading pay high taxes to finance public schools . THE ZIONIST IDEA A third reason is that American Jews live under and believe in the constitutional princi- As we mark the centennial of the modern ple of separation of church and state, which Zionist movement, it seems appropriate to re- makes it difficult, though not impossible, for fresh one's knowledge of Zionist history . federal and state governments to give finan- Hence, a new, updated version of the classic volume, The Zionist Idea, by Arthur Hert berg, cial aid to private religious schools . is most welcome . The 656 page paperback So we are left with the synagogue school edition reissued by the Jewish Publication education in this country. While almost every Society ($24.95) should be on every Jewish Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist reading table . synagogue has a Hebrew school, and many of The Zionist Idea, first published in 1959, its children attend it, the school often isn't very has taken its place as the single most impor- good. How can it be, when the children typi- tant resource for understanding the history cally attend it for no more than six hours a and the ideology of the Zionist movement . The week, from about 8 to 13 years of age, that is, book has been translated into several lan- until their Bar or Bat Mit vah? guages including Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian . The book is an anthology drawn from the he one remedy against incessant assimila- writings of 37 of the leading thinkers of the Zionist movement, including Theodor Her l, Ttion and unbridled intermarriage that Ahad Ha-Am, Martin Buber, Louis Brandeis, American Jews have not yet tried is contribut- Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, Judah Magnes, ing massive amounts of money to the full spec- Max Nordau, Ludwig Lewisohn, Solomon trum of Jewish day schools . But it is a remedy Schechter, Mordecai Kaplan, Vladimir Jabotin- that has to be tried, even if it means cutting sky, Chaim Wei mann, and David Ben-Gurion . down on individual and communal contribu- This new edition has been updated with an tions to Israel and to many old-line national afterword by the author. Jewish organi ations. Rabbi Hert berg is the Bronfman visiting As a community, we have for decades Professor of the Humanities at New York Uni- overemphasi ed anti-defamation and the pro- versity, and Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanu- tection of Jewish rights, to the detriment of El in Englewood, New Jersey. He received his education at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and effective Jewish education . This is leading us Columbia, and his rabbinic ordination from to a time when there simply will not be enough the Jewish Theological Seminary of America . Jews left in this country with the interest to A frequent contributor to periodicals including support Israel. Nor will there be enough Jews Jewish Frontier, he is the author of numerous whose rights the so-called Jewish defense books including The Jews in America .

JULY/AUGUST 1997 23

They are more elaborate . The interiors are larger, modern kitchens feature dishwashers . Some of the houses are air conditioned . The roads are paved . Leisure facilities now include a popular playground, handball and tennis RAANANAH AT 60 courts, and an attractive pool . The accompany- ing sunshades at the pool were a collaborative building experience by members . There is a community hall, once known as nce upon a time, in the Jewish immi- the "casino" and later renamed "Bet Yosef" in grantO experience in America, there was a loving memory of one of the founders . Weekly strong drive to assimilate and quickly become Oneg Shabbat programs, gala opening and part of the dominant culture . Having a clearly closing parties, Holocaust memorials and Yiddish or Hebrew first name was considered, lively general membership meetings all take by some, to be un-American. It was particu- place here . Warm and meaningful Rosh larly uncomfortable for a young bearer of such Hashonah and Yom Kippur services are now a name. enthusiastically attended by a formerly reluc- However, in the late Thirties there was a tant "congregation". The building has new sid- place in the metropolitan New York City area ing, a modern loudspeaker, but it is essentially where one could feel quite comfortable with a still an unpretentious structure . name like Vevvy, Fruma, Rochele or Yonah . In "It's not the Hamptons," is how residents Raananah Park there were lots of people with cheerfully describe their community. The phys- these kinds of names . These were ordinary ical attributes are fine. It is however, the coop- names here, not exotic and certainly not un- erative spirit that still excites people. It is this American . It was okay to be Yiddish . At a intangible blend of Yiddishkeit and Chaver- Raananah baseball game, a familiar cheer shaft that binds them and explains from the bleachers was "Hustle, Yossl"! Raananah's sixty year old survival . The con- In 1937, a small group of Jewish friends liv- nection with a Labor Zionist Israel remains as ing in New York City founded a summer com- powerful as in the early days . The original munity in Orange County. They named it visions are as intensely expressed now as in Raananah, a Hebrew word for freshness, the words of the founders - "to live peacefully, greenery. Looking for a haven in the country, charitably and respectfully among ourselves, where families could breathe fresh air and live to support the creation of a Jewish state and to together in safety and harmony, Raananah support the welfare of Jews worldwide ." was a 65-acre patch of land that would hope- Raananah Park has shed its modest begin- fully fulfill such needs . nings . But the common heritage and serious In addition, these early founders were com- concern for secular Jewish and Labor Zionist mitted to secular Yiddishkeit and Labor Zion- issues continues to give the community its spe- ist ideals . They envisioned a community cial character. Happy 60th! 1:1 where the land would be collectively owned . There would be, both literally and symboli- cally, no fences within an open, supportive family life. A former Catholic summer camp On the eve of Israel's with tents and old, run-down, buildings was 50th Birthday purchased . Eventually, thirty nine cottages we extend ma el tov to all were built . the inhabitants of the Land t is now sixty years later. Raananah Park is of Israel . May they enjoy celebrating yet another birthday, a tes- peace and prosperity. tamentI to the durability of such a unique concept. There is not much evidence of its humble Ruby & Martin past. Many of the original simple, basic bunga- Vogelfanger lows have been altered through the years .

2 4 JEWISH FRONTI The Triangle Fire Recalled

n March 25, 1911, the infamous Triangle marched together. It was raining very hard . We FireO in New York took the lives of 146 young continued marching arm in arm, until she women trapped in an inferno or who leaped to wouldn't let me march any further. She led me their deaths through the windows of the plant to another street. I didn't watch where I was without fire extinguishers or safe escape routes. going . I stepped on a sharp pointed stone Shortly after the tragedy, which later led to which made me fall and caused an internal major reforms in the garment industry and injury. Because of this injury, I had to pay for spurred the unioni ation of the needle trades, medical care with the money I had saved for the following letter (dated May 8, 1911) was you, with the added belief that I thought I sent by Ane Adler to her brother Max (Morde- would die. cai) Barlas in Krakow, Poland . On the 86th But now I feel better. I am very aggravated anniversary of the event, this letter was trans- with myself that my sickness ate up the money lated from the Yiddish and sent to us by Ben I had saved up for you . Don't worry. As soon as Barlas, Max's son, a longtime Labor Zionist in I return to work, I will send you the money New York. immediately. At the same time, I lost my job where I was working . But don't worry. You will May 8, 1911 be here with us . To My Dear Brother Max: Now, write and tell me what you are doing . I received your last post card . Please excuse Tell me if you are working and what kind of me for taking so long to answer. I must tell you work you are doing. Tell me everything . I have that I was very sick . I had prepared the money no more news. for you, but the cost of the medical care of my Your dear sister, sickness, ate it all up . I was confined to bed Chana over four weeks . This sickness cost me over Ane Adler $50.00, but I couldn't help myself. I also had to 706 E . 5th St. undergo an operation . New York, America There was a very sad day recently. One hun- dred fifty people were burned to death in a fire Editor's Note : Mordecai Barlas eventually came to in a factory. I used to work in that very same America, worked in the garment industry and served factory, but I had left two weeks before the fire for many years on the staff of the American Trade occurred . Union Council for Histadrut (National Committee In the fire were 150 souls . . . children. From for Labor Israel) . this conflagration, even to this day, there are casualties who cannot be recogni ed; no one knows who they are and they lie unclaimed for two weeks . Our trade carried out a protest march against this horrible murder . None of us ISRAEL'S worked that day. All of the factories in New York were closed that day. About 100,000 peo- FIRST 50 YEARS ple took part in the protest . A mass funeral was held for those bodies The LZA-AHA Group of New York which had not been identified . Who knows how salutes the builders of Israel . many mothers are still waiting for letters from their children; and how many were waiting for May there be a further growth during their dear children to send something for a peaceful era in the next Pesach, and here we didn't know who they were . I was among the marchers when an acquain- half century! tance from Russia recogni ed me . She was very happy to see me . She took my arm and we

JULY/AUGUST 1997 25 The Origin of American Habonim FROM YOUTH PARTY TO YOUTH MOVEMENT : An attempt at historical interpretation

By Yehuda Riemer

ow did it come about? And who was Organi ations of Yiddish-speaking immi- responsible?H In the eyes of its founders and grants such as Poale Zion were deprived of early active members Habonim was almost reinforcements of young people from the "old exclusively their own creation . It was they who country" and thus doomed to gradual ageing changed the framework of Young Poale Zion as and decline . Efforts to recruit new blood from a Yiddish-speaking youth section of a Zionist- American-born youth proved to be a difficult Socialist Party set up on the Eastern Euro- and frustrating process . The many Yiddish pean model in favor of an English-speaking schools and summer camps could not prevent youth movement incorporating Western and the eventual estrangement of the children American educational methods and an ideol- from the culture of their parents . Young people ogy focused on Eret Israel . And to a large educated in the folk shulen might look upon extent this claim seems to be true . Certainly their Yiddish heritage with sentimental affec- the initiative for reconstitution originated tion, but the future lay with English-speaking from within the YPZA leaders and it was they America and its values as absorbed in High who gave it its basic form and direction as well School and, if at all possible, College . For the as that independence and self-reliance which Poale Zion to give up Yiddish meant cultural prevented the movement from becoming a self-negation. But if the Zionist Labor move- mere appendage of a senior organi ation . It is ment in America was to survive, the solution to their credit that they were able to adjust to had to come from a different direction . a historic process which threatened to destroy The first was educational : the growing influ- their organi ation by giving it new form while ence of Talmud Torah and Hebrew Schools preserving and adding to the content . But they where most of the teachers were nationalist did not act in a vacuum : other forces were at Jews, products of the Russian Haskalah and work which contributed to this development . the Hibbat Zion movement . The study of mod- In order to better understand the emergence of ern Hebrew was especially important since it Habonim in America one must take into ac- not only acquainted the youngsters with the count developments on the American scene, literature and ideas of Zionism, but also within American Jewry and also in the Zionist enabled them to get first-hand knowledge Movement and in Eret Israel. about the growing pioneering enterprise in A historic factor of prime importance to be Eret Israel . It seems to be no accident that considered are the U.S. immigration laws of three Talmud Torah graduates (Moshe Cohen, 1921 and 1924 which were especially directed Saadia Gelb, Nahum Guttman), two of whom towards restricting immigration from Italy had also gone to college, were the prime and Eastern Europe . We cannot here elaborate movers in bringing about the change which on the tragic effects of these laws on the fate of essentially represented the adjustment of the Jewish people except to point out that the Y.P.Z.A. to its American environment. closing of the gates spelled the decline of the Still, while America could provide educa- then flourishing Yiddish culture in America . tional methods and a restatement of Jewish

26 JEWISH FRO' values in a language understandable to youth, about 200 halut im from America made aliyah it could not easily set a focal point for their during the ensuing years, thus forging a living practice . The answer was given by the living link between Young Poale Zion and Eret example of the Jewish pioneering enterprise Israel. then springing up in Eret Israel, which in It was therefore events in Eret Israel and addition to its aura of heroism and practical the modern Labor settlement which could in- achievement also projected values conforming spire and serve as an ideological and educa- to American ideals : pioneering, democracy and tional focus . But the leaders of this enterprise even the various forms of cooperative enter- did by no means sit idly by. For many years prise. It is significant that many assimilated attempts were made from Eret Israel to stim- Jews were attracted by this practical example . ulate the growth of an American halut move- While not particularly interested in the nice- ment . One may recall the initiative of David ties of Zionist theory, they found through sup- Ben-Gurion and Yit hak Ben-T vi who in the port of the "new Palestine" a way of asserting days of the first World War organi ed both their Jewish identity. Louis D. Brandeis may "Hehalut " and a Jewish legion in America . serve as the most prominent example . For Since then the leaders of the Histadrut and youth raised in socialist-Zionist families, Mapai consistently tried to direct the vast po- Labor Palestine presented the ideals of their tential of American Jewry towards their cause . parents in a modern setting . Instead of the While most of these activities were concerned Yiddish of the "old country" here was Hebrew with financial and political support, the possi- which while stemming from the ancient past bilities of building up a halut movement were also signified the future : a modern national not ignored . Already in 1931 Ben-Gurion, culture and a community to be founded on the while on a visit to America, stated goals which principles of social justice . If one looks for were to be reali ed later on . In his diary he motivating factors for personal commitment, noted that an America halut movement was one must start with the negative : neither anti- possible and claimed that "only this type of semitism nor economic hardship seem to have movement can strengthen the growing His- been instrumental in generating halut ic tadrut and our party." In the same entry he aliyah . The Great Depression, traumatic ex- expressed the hope that the "Detroit Kvut ah" perience that it was, did not bring about a would establish an American Kibbut which flight from America . The song "Goodbye would serve as a center for further aliyah from America . . . we're going to Palestine, the hell America. He also called for the union of YPZA with the Depression" was sung, but it was and Gordonia. His description of a meeting tongue-in-cheek . And antisemitism in America with the YPZA leadership is illustrative of his sometimes hurt, but it didn't threaten one's approach: existence. Still, the spirit of radicalism preva- ". . . I asked them towards what they educated lent at the time may well have influenced this youth? - To be `Poale Zion' . I explained to Zionist Youth to take active steps towards self- them that to be Poale Zion cannot be the edu- reali ation. cational goal of youth, especially in America where the way of life of the individual belong- A different matter were the wave of hatred ing to Poale Zion has no relation to its ideology and repression sweeping the Eastern Euro- and is in fact opposed to it . In the education of pean lands from which the parents came and youth there must be a personal goal : What with which many still retained close familial should the child be when he grows up? And ties. When the persecutions started in Ger- our youth activities make sense only if we educate towards halut iut and maximum hag- many, young Jews could notice the contrast be- shamah . . . We must give the youth something tween their own feelings of outrage and the that will arouse their enthusiasm and inspire apathy and even pro-Na i sympathy of the them . . . [also] they must spend more time gentile public. studying Hebrew . . ."' An even more powerful incentive to action Other emissaries of the Labor Movement, came several years earlier, with the Arab at- such as Golda Meir (then Meyerson), Yosef Ba- tacks on the Yishuv in 1929 . It was this chal- rat , Zalman Rubashov (Sha ar) also tried to lenge to the Jewish cause which brought about influence the youth organi ation. In the corre- the first aliyah commitment of YPZA and while the immediate results were negligible, x LaborArchiues, Tel-Aviv, file IV 2081336b

JULY/AUGUST 1997 27 spondence of Israel Mereminsky (Merom), the what they had preached . Still, they survived, head of the overseas relations department of partly because of the support they enjoyed the Histadrut, who visited America in the from educators in Hebrew Schools and also be- early thirties one notices besides the usual cause of the steady guidance they received financial, organi ational and political matters from their centers in Europe and Eret Israel. a constant demand for the organi ation of a It was this direct contact which YPZA had halut movement. To these efforts should be lacked, and which, with the arrival of the first added those of Net ah. This youth movement shlihim, constituted an additional ingredient had lost most of its original base of operations in its transformation. due to the suppression of Zionism in Soviet It may be recalled that the reestablishment Russia. It was therefore logical that its leader- of American Hehalut (December 1933) pre- ship should turn to the West and especially ceded that of Habonim by more than a year America . In 1932 the idea of a halut ic youth and more if one considers the Vaad l'Maan movement in America was discussed in an ex- Hehalut , set up in 1932 . Many YPZA mem- change of letters between I . Mereminsky and bers had joined these organi ations and been the Net ah leader Yosef Yi raeli, then residing influenced by the shlihim . Their example in- in Riga* . The shlihut of Lassya Galili in 1933 spired the younger membership . The Hach- was in fact originally motivated by hopes of shara farms set up in those years were not just setting up a movement on the lines of Net ah training centers but also living examples of and it was only after confronting the realities communal living, proof that "it could be done ." of America that he redirected his activities to- The shlihim, living embodiments of the "new wards setting up "Hehalut " . When Habonim breed" of Jews, also served to concreti e the was founded, American Net ah leaders were message that the idea of halut ic reali ation active in the educational department, but the was no empty dream . movements never developed organi ational A final but nonetheless important factor ties and Habonim seems to have adopted little was the existence of Habonim movements in if any of the Net ah ideology. The ability of Western Europe, notably England, and in shlihim such as Lassya Galili to adapt them- South Africa . With all the differences between selves to the existing situation and work these and the American movement there were within it proved to be advantageous to all . It many elements which all of them had in com- should be recalled that besides YPZA there mon from the beginning . The educational pro- existed in America Hashomer Hat air and gram of the English and S. African movements Gordonia, both founded in the twenties, and a influenced the haverim in America . Not much small Net ah group which was organi ed in seems to have been taken over wholesale, only 1932 . These movements were branches of the name, some educational patterns and the European organi ations with distinct ideolo- "Beth" (house) which was adopted as the basic gies and directed towards specific forms of set- symbol but embellished in a way that empha- tlement. But with all their differences they si ed its uniqueness. Still, these few common had in common the duty of personal commit- denominators laid the groundwork for later ment, i.e . upon reaching maturity members contacts, common settlements and a world had to take practical steps towards aliyah or movement . leave the movement . While this demand for These then were the foundations upon ideological integrity was consistent with the which Habonim was built . Trying to summa- educational goals, its rigid application ill fitted ri e their significance one might say that its the realities of America and doomed the move- emergence stands for the adjustment of a ments to remain small exclusive groups, youth organi ation patterned on Eastern racked by constant crises as many members Europe to American society and its values, the and often the leaders showed themselves at change in emphasis from European Zionist- the moment of truth to be unwilling to practice socialist ideology towards practical involve- ment with Eret Israel, where the ideal of a Labor Archives, Tel-Aviv, file IV 2081338b. Yosef Jewish Labor Commonwealth seemed about to Yi raeli himself came to America as a Shaliach to become reality. Hebrew took the place of Yid- Hehalut and Habonim in 1939 . Net ah is an acronym for Noar T ofi Halut i (Pioneering Scout- dish as the primary Jewish language while ing Youth). (continued on page 31)

2 8 JEWISH FR( B I O G R A P H Y

JACOB LE STCHINSKY Founder of Jewish Statistics

by David Rosenthal

general picture of the origin and aims for a people as scattered as the Jews are, with Aof the science of statistics will enable us to such a variegated economy, especially since view more fundamentally the pioneering na- there was no established way of gathering the ture and significance of Jacob Lestchinsky data . One of the individuals who carried out (1876-1966), one of the earliest practitioners this difficult and complex task was Joseph of Jewish statistics . Lestchinsky. Shmuel Niger called him "the Statistics, a branch of mathematics, aims to person who does our national bookkeeping ." translate many facts and figures into an un- In the case of the Jewish people this process derstandable form . One popular definition is required certain precautions : Don't follow the "the art and science of analy ing facts and fig- well-beaten path . Break the habits of a people ures in order to arrive at correct conclusions ." lacking the discipline of a government, a people The beginnings of that discipline go back to that does not tolerate regulation of the individ- the 18th century, when governments began ual's thought processes, of thinking according conducting population studies for taxation to a predetermined system . Two Jews, Sholom purposes . In our own time statistics helps Aleichem once said, will have three opinions, politicians plan their campaigns; it creates the because if one says "yes," the other may say possibility of learning "which way the wind is "yes but not quite" or (as the folk-saying goes : blowing" or in whom people are placing their A Jew always answers a question with another trust; what do they really think about the can- question.) didates, positive or negative . In a word, what is In that world Jacob Lestchinsky tried to the mood among "the people." introduce the primacy of facts over theories, of Vital statistics are a record of the most es- economic realities over party resolutions and sential events in human life : births, mar- dogmas. And he did this with the profound se- riages, divorces, illnesses, deaths . A study of riousness of a scientist and with the simplicity vital statistics and societal facts and figures of one who is rooted in the soil of the masses of tells us what is happening or what has hap- his people. pened to the population of a country. It can also Here are several of Lestchinsky's character- indicate future trends and developments . In istic features, as well as some facts about his the United States vital statistics are based on life, as reported by his close friend, the histo- the census . The Constitution of the United rian Dr. Raphael Mahler . "Having been im- States requires a census to be taken every ten mersed in the Jewish traditions of the cheder and years. At first the census was carried out in the study-house - he studied Talmud until he order to determine the number of Congres- was 18 - Lestchinsky carried the insights and sional representatives to which districts were the learning of former generations into the sta- entitled. In time the facts and figures of the tistical research of Jewish reality . His special per- census came to include also the fundamental sonal charm was in the grace and the cordiality, "facts of life" relative to the citi enry. in the warm tone of his language and the whole- someness of his smile. Thanks to his warmth and mong Jews, the broad tasks generally be- the popular style of a folk preacher, he became an longing to government functions were left interesting speaker without the use of oratorical toA interested individuals . This was no easy task effects, which were contrary to his very nature."

JULY/AUGUST 1997 29 n many ways Lestchinsky's life symboli ed search work on the structure of the Jewish pro- the fate of the Jewish people itself. Born in letariat, "The Jewish Worker in Russia." As HorodycI , Kiev District, in 1876, he lived in early as that he was able to demonstrate sta- Russia until 1921 . He then settled in Berlin, tistically that Jewish workers were employed where he lived until 1933, when he was driven only in small workshops, in technically primi- out of the country by the Na i government . He tive enterprises that had no electrical power. then moved to Prague, then Riga and Warsaw . These circumstances highlight the economic In 1935 (I recall the year because Poland was structural needs of the Jewish working class, then under the effect of Marshal Pilsudski's needs which demanded an immediate solution . death) Dos Neie Vort, daily newspaper of Poale Thirty years later, in the 1938 Jubilee edi- Zion, was running a contest for the submission tion of Heint, he called attention to similar cir- of a research work on "Our Shtetl" . This was cumstances in Poland . "The Jewish worker can supposed to describe the life of the Jews, their be found in branches of industry where wages social conditions, their ways of earning a liv- are lower than those of the Polish workers . ing, their economic situation . Heading the re- Among the latter, 70 to 75 percent of the work- search effort was Jacob Lestchinsky, with ers are employed in medium and large indus- whom I, as one of the contestants, had estab- tries and they are entitled to unemployment lished some contact . compensation . Among Jewish workers, 80% During his stay in Warsaw Lestchinsky was are employed in small workshops with fewer the official Polish correspondent for the For- than five workers and they have no unemploy- verts. In 1937, because of the "hostile reports" ment compensation." in that newspaper, he was ordered to leave In the same article Lestchinsky cites a cor- Poland. The closest place for him to go to was respondent of the Ilustrowany Kurier Cod i- Swit erland, then Paris . From Paris he sent a enny (a widespread Polish conservative daily research work for the 1938 Jubilee volume of in Cracow) of June 2, 1935. The correspondent Heint entitled "The Impoverishment of the visited Br e iny and wrote : Jewish Masses". In November 1938 he emi- "People there work 20 hours a day during grated to New York . In February 1959 he left the season and seven months of the year they the United States and settled in Israel (Tel are unemployed, they go hungry and become Aviv) and then, after several years, in Jeru- emaciated because of this poverty. And they salem. "Lestchinsky the wanderer," wrote Dr. shrink spiritually because of enforced idleness Mahler, "like his people, closed the circle of and because of worry and desperation . Work- immigration with this safe-haven in the Jew- ing 20 hours a day they turn out 120 pair of ish national homeland ." children's pants, for which they receive six lotys, i.e., five groshn a pair! Out of that the espite the hardships of his "wander-life" `exploiter' pays the worker 1-1/2 groshn a pair, and despite all the difficult conditions this and for the home worker there remains, for 20 presentedD for research, Jacob Lestchinsky left hours' work, four lotys and 20 groshn . A situ- us a scholarly heritage of two-score books and ation like this demands immediate relief." hundreds of essays and articles . With the foun- From this (as previously mentioned) came ding of YIVO he edited almost all of the eco- Lestchinsky's opinion that these miserable nomic-statistical papers of the Institute . He conditions are more structural than political . was also responsible for the monthly "Jewish The war years convinced Lestchinsky that Economics," which was published in Warsaw Eret Israel was fatefully important for the until the outbreak of World War II . In 1954 national Jewish future . He wrote : "We were there appeared, under his editorship and with very naive to believe that Hitlerism taught the the close co-operation of Prof. Ben Zion Dinur world anything . We believed that the nations and Prof. Aryeh Tartakower, a book about the - especially the intellectuals and the political sociology of the Jewish people, titled Klal Yis- leaders - would want to rid themselves of rael (Chapters in the Sociology of the Jewish their anti-Semitism as of a plague, a conta- People). gious disease . But it turned out that Hitlerism In 1908 Lestchinsky published his first re- became even more deeply rooted in the souls of

3 0 JEWISH FRONTIER

the broad masses, and one year after liberation HABONIM come alarms from every country in the world, continued from page 28 without exception, that Jew-hatred had be- ed colloquial . come intolerable . . ." English became the recogni And further on in that article : "What we ex- Hagshama halut it in Eret Israel became the perienced in Europe is unthinkable in Eret central goal but, at the same time, the youth ational, cul- Israel . Not because those Jews are kneaded movement preserved its organi tural, and ideological ties with the parent body out of a different kind of dough . Certainly not! But only because they are already a territorial in America. Of the Poale Zion legacy one might community, they are actually an organi ed suggest the tradition of pacifism and anti-mil- state collective . . ." (Excerpt from "The New itarism which is probably one of the reasons Picture of European Jewry," Und er Shtimme, why scouting never managed to take hold as an educational tool and a political awareness Bergen-Belsen, July 1947) . which at times led to the adoption of positions t was not easy, in Jewish society, to revise at variance with those of the official "line" and deeply rooted opinions, to bring to the fore a finds expression in the political activities of criticalI idea, to break through with a new eval- Habonim graduates, both in America and in uation of the Jewish situation and its future . Israel. Jacob Lestchinsky was deeply hurt and angry All through its existence the movement jeal- about that: "There is no more conservative, ously guarded its independence from the vari- fro en, bloodless intelligentsia than the Jewish ous adult bodies with whom it was associated, one. If you take a good look at what is going on be it political party or kibbut federation . The in the world, how others are tossing away out- varied concepts and traditions which it lived ideas and assumptions, how they are dis- absorbed dictated a policy marked by toler- carding worn-out social theories and seeking ance, flexibility and compromise, attempting to new ways, new goals, new ideals, and how they reconcile the demands of community and are turning away from an ideological world, movement with the needs of the individual . then the situation looks pretty bleak . We are And it seems that these qualities which were blind, yes, blind, because if we weren't, we inherent at the time of its foundation were also would learn something from new facts . the secret of what, as youth movements go, "But with us, we would sooner remember a may well be called its success . 11 phrase, a biblical quotation, than study and think about the new facts . And we are more afraid of new endeavors than we are of the In June devil . We are afraid that because of the great future we might forget the rotten present . . ." you became eligible to vote for (Excerpt from "One of Our Illusions" in Yid- Delegates to the 33rd disher Kemfer, March 21, 1941) . WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS . Jacob Lestchinsky belonged to one of those Jewish families in which a variety of social If you did register, you can now convictions existed . His younger brother, Jo- seph (also known as J . Chmurner), a member vote in September of the Central Committee of the Bund in Po- land, and one of the editors of the Bundist for the Labor Zionist list press, was Chairman of CYSHO (Central Yid- dish School Organi ation) and a member of the of Delegates Warsaw Jewish Community Administration. Thus, two brothers, standing at opposite REMEMBER TO VOTE - poles of Jewish social thought, influenced the Jewish masses in two opposing, militant ideo- AND VOTE logical trends. 0 LABOR

JULY/AUGUST 1997 31

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