wicked gentiles have no portion in the world-to- Theological Concerns Outweigh Demography come . . . Joshua said to him . . . On sociological grounds, too, it should be re- there are righteous (tzadikim) among the gentiles membered that only fundamentalist, Evangelical who do have a portion in the world-to-come" (T. Christianity has been successful in its proselytizing San. 13.2 and San. 105a). In comparing these two efforts. The more liberal forms of Christianity, texts we see that Rabbi Eliezer's exclusivistic those which affirm some sort of theological plur- view is the theological basis for the prescription alism, are not only not gaining very many con- of what is to be told the prospective Jewish con- verts, they are actually shrinking in membership. vert (a Jewish version of the later patristic dictum, extra ecclesiam nulla salus, outside the church there Rabbi Schindler's proposal, then, is neither good is no salvation). Nevertheless, the view of Rabbi for the Jews nor is it justifiable on Jewish grounds. Joshua that conversion to Judaism is not a prere- It is not good for the Jews because it will not quisite for eternal other-worldly bliss became the increase our numbers and, I suspect, those con- normative Jewish view. (See , Melachim, verts attracted by such proselytizing, will largely 8.11.) be religious dilettantes. And it is not Jewishly justifiable by either traditional or Liberal Jewish The point that merges from all of this is that criteria, both of which recognize Judaism as a his- subsequent to the Christian schism, rabbinic torical continuum into which Jews must place Judaism began to espouse the notion that themselves. gentiles did not have to become Jews to enjoy God's full favor. This notion clearly made Jewish The proposal was made, it seems to me, out of an proselytizing an effort that had to lose in com- ethnocentric concern for demography. I, too, am parison to Christian proselytizing. For prosely- in favor of there being more Jews. However, as tizing, as opposed to individually motivated the covenanted people of God, we should re- reasons for a convert him or herself approaching member that the only reason given for God's Judaism, is only successful when the proselytizer election of us is that somehow our few numbers can tell the prospective convert that his or her make us special (Deut. 7:7). Perhaps this should proposed religion is the only means to salvation, teach us that our salvation — in this world and in that all other religions are unacceptable in God's the world-to-come — depends on factors far eyes (see John 14:6). Therefore, a successful more spirtitual than mere masses of people. program of Jewish proselytizing would require as its adequate theological basis a return to the Should jews proselytize: a rejoinder theology of Rabbi Eliezer, namely, other-worldly Sanford Seltzer salvation is for Jews only. Proselytizing, like any other genuine religious activity, is ultimately Whether should actively prose- based on theology, not sociology or political lytize is an enormously significant and complex science. issue requiring a thorough airing of as many di- verse opinions as possible as Jews wrestle with a A return to such a theology is impossible for concept that admittedly runs counter to long both traditional and Liberal Jews today. It is im- held notions that we are not a proselytizing people. possible for traditional Jews because the subse- quent rabbinic doctrine of the seven command- David Novak's demurral would be a welcome ad- ments of the Noahides provided the specific dition to the growing discussion on the subject, means for non-Jewish salvation. (For the dating, were the essence of his argument, whatever its see my "The Origin of the Noahide Laws" in the intrinsic merits, not marred by a style of writing Kelman festschrift.) A return to the earlier theology conveying to the reader that despite his stated would in effect deny the efficacy of the Noahide intent, the author's purpose is less the presen- laws which are now halachically constituted. tation of a definitive position on the controversial Such a return to the earlier theology is just as matter of proselytes than a barely veiled attack impossible for Liberal Jews — questions of the upon and its leadership past and authority of Halachah aside — because this the- present. In fact, in the substantial discussion the ology totally denies universalism and, moreover, proposal has received, a number of people who emphasizes other-worldliness in a most literal are not Reform Jews have, in various ways, re- way. Both of these factors go against the whole sponded positively to it, namely tendency of Liberal Judaism from its inception to Theodore Friedman and Harold Schulweis, and this very day. Dr. Trude Weiss-Rosmarin. Moment Magazine has

155 a symposium entitled "Should Jews Proselytize" of the 19 th century liberal Jewish thinkers. Hence and includes comments by two of Novak's Con- we are told that individuals "even of the caliber of servative rabbinical colleagues, Wolfe Kelman Hermann Cohen and Leo Baeck" regarded prose- and Harold Schulweis. As a matter of fact, with lytizing as important. Though he readily admits the exception of David Polish, the distinguished the historicity of successful Jewish proselytizing Reform rabbi of Evanston, , who,by the efforts during the Hellenistic period, Baeck and way, is opposed to engaging in proselytizing and Cohen are suspect, since their goal is not the disagrees with Schindler, all of the others are preservation of the Jewish people but rather the outside of the Reform camp. Theodore Friedman "joint Jewish and Christian transcendence of is a past president of The religious particularisms." and a former editor of Judaism. Polish is joined in Their theologies are then linked to the ultimate his opposition to the idea only by Wolfe Kelman. shiddach between William Ellery Channing's Friedman, Rosmarin and Schulweis welcome it as Unitarianism and Felix Adler's espousal of Ethical long overdue. Novak might also examine the Culture. And since Felix Adler was the son of a recently published study by The American Jewish Reform rabbi and himself ordained .. . well, the Committee prepared by Egon Mayer and Carl reader can of course deduce the rest. Again pre- Sheingold, "Intermarriage And The Jewish Future" senting no proofs other than his own biases and as well as the Brandeis University Doctoral dis- remarkable clairvoyance, Novak characterizes sertation of Steven Huberman, "New Jews, The Channing's supporters as "mostly idealists" while Dynamics of Religious Conversion" a summary Adler and his followers are dismissed as "disen- digest of which will shortly be published by the chanted, opportunistic assimilationists." Union Of American Hebrew Congregations. A reading of these documents would do much to correct Novak's sociological assumptions regard- The Substance is also Faulty ing converts and conversion which as we shall see But before returning to Baeck and Cohen, let us he offers with no supportable data. examine the crux of Novak's argument. It is that the seeking of proselytes should be contingent Why the continual small digs? upon whether to do so is good for the Jews and whether it is an authentically Jewish activity. As Novak's overriding need to malign Reform is previously mentioned he concedes that Jews pro- exemplified by his portrayal of Alexander selytized freely during the Graeco-Roman period Schindler. He states that Schindler's call for out- and that the rabbinic tradition recognized that reach to the "unchurched" is in reality a ploy to gerim, proselytes, were often enthusiastic, com- avoid Christian evangelical retaliation and is so mitted Jews who served as exemplary models for couched to allay Jewish apprehensions over tam- native born members of the community. Yet pering with the religious sensibilities of a near the end of his article we are informed that Christian majority. He thus refuses to acknowledge such a project today would not be good for Jews that Schindler may have actually meant what he since the number of persons who would be at- said, and leaves the impression that the proposal tracted to Judaism would be too small to apprec- was made in a vacuum rather than as part of a iably increase the Jewish population since only suggested comprehensive program addressing fundamentalist Christianity has been successful the needs of the American Jewish community jn in attracting converts. Furthermore, those who the decades to come. would convert would be "largely religious dil- Nor is he altogether certain about Schindler's ettantes." commitment to the continuity of the Jewish tra- dition. How else to account for this ever so These are sweeping generalizations unsupported subtle indictment as he damns with faint praise: as usual by any evidence other than Novak's sin- "I think it is safe to assume that with the excep- cere belief in their validity. In fact they run coun- tion of the extreme left wing of the Reform ter to the findings of both the Huberman and movement led by Professor Alvin Reines and his Mayer-Sheingold studies which indicate that not students ... a type of Judaism, I ASSUME [my only are gerim often more observant than native capitalization] is not espoused by the rather tra- born Jews, but that many left their Christian ditional Reform Rabbi Schindler..." origins precisely because of the fundamentalist, authoritarian quality of their religious back- His motives are far more transparent when he ground. Given Novak's general stance, one can- presents his version of the theological positions not help but suspect that his certainty about the m apathetic response to Reform Jewish efforts to religion of the Roman world and Jews were for- proselytize, not to speak of the alleged lack of bidden to proselytize? The exigencies of day to integrity of those who might choose to become day survival and the needs of a frightened, belea- Jewish, is based upon his equation of the diluted guered people were far more compelling argu- content of liberal Christianity with what from his ments against it than excursions into the theo- perspective is the similar emptiness of Reform logical! Judaism. When we Could, we Always Did No matter the historical background, did Rabbi Joshua's statement really put a permanent end, as Novak contends to the formerly acceptable Jewish practice of seeking converts? How does one then account for the findings of Jewish scholarship showing rather conclusively that proselyting by Jews continued in various parts of Europe rather extensively as late as the 14th century despite the dire and often precarious nature of Jewish existence and in apparent trans- gression of what Novak considers the Halachic norm? In 1233, Pope Gregory IX admonished the German princes for "tolerating Christians Are we Truly Forbidden to Proselytize? who freely adopt Judaism and allow themselves to be circumsized as Jews." And Rabbi Simeon But is proselytizing an authentically Jewish ac- Ben Zemuch Duran insisted that the welcome of tivity? How does it fit into the historic Jewish Gerim be considered one of the taryag mitzvot, continuum? Novak contends that once Halachic 613 commandments. (See Wacholder, "Prose- Judaism specifically mandated that salvation for lyting In The Classical Halacha, J.Q.R, 47;p. 87; non-Jews was possible because of their adherence and in vol. 51 "Cases of Proselytizing in Tosafist to the laws of Noah, conversion to Judaism for Responsa.") the purpose of gaining salvation was no longer necessary since the righteous of all nations were What of Reform Jews for whom Halachic con- now insured a place in the world to come. Thus siderations regarding proselytes are not relevant? for contemporary traditional Jews, the seeking of In the final segment of his argument, Novak germ is forbidden as it violates Jewish law. warns us that a resumption of efforts at conver- This is essentially the heart of his argument. Yet sion would betray liberal Judaism's classical mes- nowhere in the formulation of his position does sage of universalism since it requires an embrace he cite any rabbinic source that even remotely of Rabbi Eliezer's exclusivistic view of salvation prohibits outreach to potential germ on the basis which in turn is antithetical to the ideals embodied of Rabbi Joshua's statements in Sanhedrin regard- in the concept of 's mission. ing the world to come. The only source he does Reading Reform Judaism Properly quote, astonishingly enough, is the Gospel of John which serves as the proof text for his other- Now leaving aside the scientifically illogical con- wise undocumented assertion that the practice of struction of a problem which begins with a rec- seeking converts can only be successful when en- ognition of the philosophical rejection of a par- acted under the doctrine of extra ecclesiam nulla ticular frame of reference and then concludes salus. with an appeal to the very formula, which has already been acknowledged as invalid, Novak's Novak is careful to avoid the implications of misreading of Hermann Cohen's religion of reason sociology or politics when they threaten to under- and Leo Baeck's cautions against romantic re- mine his conclusions. En passant, he tells us that ligion now lead him to the indiscriminate lump- rabbinic Judaism adopted the views of Rabbi ing of all shades of Reform Jewish theology from Joshua subsequent to the Christian schism. Does Einhorn to Kohler to Isaac Mayer Wise to Baeck it never occur to him that the decision was rooted and Cohen and all of the others into a single, neat in a pragmatic attempt on the part of the rabbis assimilationist basket. The Pittsburgh and to safeguard the Jewish community and protect Columbus Platforms and the recent Centenary Jewish lives once Christianity became the official Document of the Central Conference of

157 American Rabbis are not even mentioned, let by a corporation may seek stability from his family. alone analyzed. And Alexander Schindler, here- He will brook no complaints from them. No mood tofore the villain of this scenario is now recast as shifts will be tolerated. The whole family must be the champion, albeit a misguided one of a new frozen as in an instant replay, so that the executive brand of liberal Judaism with no ties to the Re- coping with change at work will not have to deal form past. with changes at home. The toll exacted from the The treatment of Jews at the hands of non-Jewish family is not taken into account so long as the majorities throughout the centuries culminating executive can function in the new work setting. in the holocaust has taken its toll not only of An adolescent trying on a variety of roles may Jewish lives, but of Jewish attitudes as well. Sus- wish to dress or speak in any mariner that seems picion, hostility and fear regarding non-Jews are appropriate. The same adolescent may mock his deeply rooted in the Jewish psyche and are never parents if they change their styles. Some adol- far from the surface of Jewish behavior. They escents may refuse to inform their parents of may always be present, in one form or another, their whereabouts while insisting that their expectant and poised for the first inklings of parents are always at home. danger. Psychologically all of this displacement is under- These persist as far more formidable barriers standable. Understood or not, however, this against Jewish readiness to proselytize once more frantic attempt to exert control eventually be- than all of Novak's fanciful Chiddushim not to comes unbearable for the victim designated to speak of his perilous descent into the murky symbolize stability. waters of Reform Jewish theology without his Halachic life jacket. Would that his opposition World-Weary, we want Unchanging Judaism rested upon less tenuous foundations. To para- Judaism has become such a designated victim. phrase Peter Gay: "a bit of reality with a mass of Confronted with a world out of our control, as in prejudice, a morass of cliches kept from drying the instances of intermarriage, working women out entirely by a thin trickle of facts annotated by and an uncertain economy, some Jews fall into a single reference." the psychological trap which I have described. Their displacement, takes a fascinating form for instead of demanding that Jews stand still, rather What fear prohibits, vitality demands they insist that Judaism itself become the symbol of immutability. Unwilling to search the texts for Norman Mirsky valid halachic reasons for proselytism as did, say, Rabbi Zvi Kalisher, (see the forthcoming article Rabbi Alexander Schindler has done the American in the Journal of Reform Judaism), they present us Jewish community a great favor by asking the with a Judaism as inflexible as they. Even this is liberal and religious among us to revive prose- understandable. Rigid people want a rigid Judaism lytism. By asking us to think beyond ourselves, Understanding is one thing. Forgiving is another. he has issued the Jewish people an invitation to For example, one can read and reread Novak's rejoin the world. essay and never find a single suggestion as to how Procustes was a mythic giant. He was famed for one might realistically deal with intermarriage, offerring weary travellers a place to lie down. on the one hand, or the psychological isolationism Once upon the mattress the traveller discovered of American Jews, on the other. These are real that Procrustes' offer was not without strings. If problems. They are problems which confront us the traveller was too short for the bed, he would as Jews and as Americans. And the solution to be stretched to fit it. If the traveller was too long, these problems does not come from talking tough Procrustes amputated. and reminding Jews, that in the past there were Jews who were more observant than we, and as a The second meaning of Procrustean in the dic- result did not get themselves into such messes. tionary is "designed or acting to secure conform- ity at any cost." When there are conditions around One can read and reread Novak's article and not us over which we have little control we often find in it a trace of humanity or compassion. It might seek to alleviate our anxiety by exercising tighter be too much to ask that he show compassion for control over those people who are dependent non-Jews (his Judaism doesn't) but is it too much upon us. An executive moved around the world to ask that he cull his Judaism for some suggestion 158