ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the Commission on Synagogue

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Commission on Synagogue delations of the Federa- tion of Jewish Philanthropies acknowledges with deep gratitude the splended contribution made by Mr. Edward Isaacs, Vice President of the Federation, and a group of his friends which made the Conference on Intermarriage possible.

The Commission also wishes to express its profound gratitude to Moe and Louis Mark of the Supreme Printing Co., Inc. for their generous gift of printing this volume in memory of their beloved parents,

HARRY MARK

MAMIE MARK irrn 'nx n m ypD'a Our appreciation is extended to Mr. Jack J. Zurofsky for all his help during The Conference and in preparing the proceedings for publication.

RAISBI DAVID I. GOLOVENSKY President, Commission on Synagogue Relations

v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION i Dr. Benjamin Z. Kreitman, Spiritual Leader, Brooklyn Jewish Center

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS V

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

INTERMARRIAGE FROM A RELIGIO-ETHNIC PERSPECTIVE .... 1 Speaker—Dr. Mordecai M. Kaplan, Founder of the Re- constructionist Movement Discussant—Rabbi Herschel Schacter, Spiritual Leader, Mosholu Jewish Center 10 Summary of Discussion 19

INTERMARRIAGE FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 27 Speaker—Nathan Goldberg, Professor of Sociology, Yeshiva University Discussant—Bernard Resnikoff, Director, Ramah Com- mission, United Synagogue of America 59 Summary of Discussion 67

INTERMARRIAGE—THE CRUCIAL COLLEGE YEARS 77 Speaker—Dr. Alfred Jospe, Director, Program and Re- sources, B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations Discussant—Dr. Morton Teicher, Dean of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University 100 Summary of Discussion 104

INTERMARRIAGE—FROM A CASEWORK PERSPECTIVE 115 Speaker—San ford Sherman, Associate Director, Jewish Family Service Discussant—Rabbi Bernard Kligfeld, Spiritual Leader, Temple Emanu-El of Long Beach 128 Summary of Discussion 134

PROPOSALS FOR ACTION 137 Dr. Robert Gordis, Spiritual Leader, Temple Beth El of Rockaway Park

EPILOGUE: AN AGENDA FOR TOMORROW 159 Graenum Berger, Consultant on Community Centers and Camps, Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York vii INTERMARRIAGE—FROM A RELIGIO-ETHNIC PERSPECTIVE

DR. MORDECAI M. KAPLAN

If ever there was a situation in Jewish life when we can watch history repeating itself, it is the present one, which gives those of us who are gathered here great concern. We actually share with the prophet Jeremiah, who about 2500 years ago found it necessary to puncture the complacency of our ancestors by challenging their spiritual leaders. Those spiritual leaders maintained that all was well with the Jewish people when all was far from well. Likewise we are here to puncture the complacency of our fellow-Jews, particularly those in positions of authority and influence who find nothing in Jewish life to worry about. The truth is that the Jewish people is in danger of succumbing to the kiss of death and Judaism of becoming a thing of the past. If we are eager to forestall either eventuation, we should do our utmost to understand what's wrong with the Jewish people and with Judaism at the present time, and we should arrive at some course of action that might set it right. The treatment which the sick condition of the Jewish people and Judaism requires is neither theological nor philosophical, but pathological. Psycho-social pathology would have us deal with the ail- ments of a society or a people in terms of symptoms and causes—immediate, intermediate and ultimate, if we arc- to get at what's wrong with it, and to know what to do to set it right.

The most striking symptoms of what ails the Jewish people and Judaism are: 1. The growing menace of intermarriage: 2. The self-alienation of the Jewish intellectuals ; 3. The frank admission of our great Jewish scholars 2 INTERMARRIAGE that they don't know what is a Jew. That means that they are at a loss as to what has to be done to restore the Jewish people and Judaism to normal health. Those three symptoms point to the wasting away, or consumptive condition of Jewish life. To what may we ascribe that condition? 1) The immediate causes are the following: a) The short sighted- ness of our spiritual leaders, v.7ho assume that, despite their evading the basic moral and spiritual issues, Judaism will manage to survive, b) The lack of parental interest in transmitting the Jewish heritage to their children. They are more interested in making a big social event out of a bar mitzvah occasion than in making sure that, their son will continue his Jewish sludi«.«. c) The Jewish illiteracy of most, and the assimilat ionist tendencies of some lay leaders. They are abetted in their indifference to Judaism by their executives, d) Jew 'di causes like Zionism, religion, ethics, culture seldom if ever receive large grants. Those go, for the most part, to establish institutions that can confer social prestige through testimonials and honorary degrees.

2) The intermediate causes are the following: a) Com- petitive and divisive religious denominations; b) Rabbis, teachers and social executives without clearly formulated ideologies and programs for creative Jewish survival.

3) The ultimate causes are the following: a) Desegre- gation of Jews and acecptancc of citizenship. Those have resulted in the disbandment of the Jewish people. There bar/ been no effort at reconstituting it into an organic society. The collective existence of Jews has thus been undermined. Jews have no existing people to belong to. Wc have lost our corporate status. We are Jews only de facto, Lilt not de jure, b) The scientific world outlook and this-worldly conception of salvation, which are the outcome of naturalism, have nullified the traditional conception of the purpose of Jewish existence, c) The con- flict of the Jewish way of life with that of the majority FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 3

population, particularly the difficulty of observing Sabbaths and festivals, disrupts all adult religious and educational activities. In the discussion that is to follow we shall confine ourselves to the first of the three symptoms. The problem of interfaith marriage from a non-sectar- ian, whether ethnic or religious, perspective is dealt with from a purely psychological approach. "People bring to marriage a sense of values or the way they feel about and live by things." A happy marriage is likely to be one in which man and wife have on the whole a common sense of values. Since a person's religio-ethnic group is the source of his values, intramarriage is more likely to be successful than intermarriage. The marriage counselor must keep out his own personal emotional involvement, and therefore cannot give directive advice. From a religio-ethnic perspective, however, which in Jewish life is that of the rabbi when he functions as counselor, the approach cannot be other than psycho-soctai. He articulates the will to live of the Jewish people. Seeing in intermarriage of a Jew with non-converted Gentile a menace to Jewish survival, he cannot under present cir- cumstances do more than try to persuade the Gentile spouse to become a Jew. In most cases he is handicapped by the fact that the Jewish spouse is himself only a Jew by fate and not by faith, generally because of ignorance or conviction. In addition, it is natural for the Jewish spouse to use the opportunity for acting out his or her conscious or unconscious rebellion against parental authority. Even when the counselor succeeds in getting the Gentile spouse to adopt Judaism, the household established by the couple is seldom a genuine asset to Jewish survival.

The fact is that as with all maladies, for this one, too, of which the prevalence of interfaith marriage is a symptom, the truth holds good that one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Had the Jewish people and its 4 INTERMARRIAGE

religion been in a state of physical, mental and spiritual health, no matter how many cases of interfaith marriage would arise, they would not constitute a threat to Jewish existence. As Jews interested in Jewish survival, our main concern therefore should be how to restore the Jewish people and its religion to that condition of health which would endow them with absorptive and assimilative capacity not only for whatever is true, good and beautiful in the civilizations of the rest of mankind, but also for many healthy bodied and healthy minded Gentile men and women. A prerequisite to bringing about that condition of health is a definite knowledge from a psycho-social standpoint of what would constitute a condition of health on the part of the Jewish people and its religion. Such knowledge should be objective and scientific in character. That means that it should deal with facts of experience in terms of function. With that in mind, we should adopt some common frame of reference for the consideration of what should be done to restore the Jewish people and religion to full health. The following might serve as such a frame of reference.

II Man, whether individual or collective, functions along three interdependent dimensions: physical, mental and spiritual. The spiritual dimension is the functioning in him of the cosmic polarity of independence and interdependence of all things that exist, whether animate or inanimate. Animate things are organic units of cosmic polarity. Organic units are of two kinds: individual and collective. Collective units among human beings take the forms of families, clans, tribes, city-states, nations, peoples, churches. FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 5

In man, whether individual or collective, cosmic polarity of independence and interdependence, functions as self- respect and moral responsibility, as conscience or as sense of justice, on the one hand, and as love of freedom, on the other. So far self-respect and moral responsibility, or conscience, has been functioning either mainly or entirely only along intra-group lines, but not along intergroup lines. The experience of mankind has been that human self- fulfillment, or salvation, whether individual or collective, cannot be achieved through the functioning of physical and/or mental dimensions only, without the functioning of the spiritual dimension as defined above. The Jewish people is the first people in the world that has come upon the discovery that none of the gods, whose existence the various religions affirmed, made his function as a god the salvation of man either individual or collective. Being passionately interested in their own salvation, both individual and collective, they affirmed their allegiance to the one God whose function was to impel, direct and help man, whether individual or collective, to achieve his salvation. Such a God was therefore the only authentic God. That passionate interest in its own salvation, which at first was conceived as being achieved only in this world, and later was transferred to the hereafter world, has made the Jewish people more aware of the purpose and meaning of its own existence than was the case with any other people or nation. That passionate interest in its own salvation has taken the form of the will to live of the Jewish people. The will to live of a people, nation or church functions as experience on the part of its individuals first as fulfill- ing the need to be needed by the group as a whole. That 6 INTERMARRIAGE need is supplied by the parental love which is so essential to mental health of the person when adult as well as in children. De jure recognition confers upon the individual or the group the awareness that he or it is needed, thereby activating in them the sentiment of love or loyalty to the source of the recognition. That experience conditions the individual to want to know as much as possible about his group in order that he may contribute to the purpose and meaning of its existence. The will to live of a people, particularly as the Jews experienced it, necessarily calls for the transmission of its social heritage, to begin with, through the families which constitute the people. That is why the transmission of its spiritual heritage has been from the very beginning of Jewish existence the dominant activity of the Jewish people. The knowledge of the purpose and meaning of Jewish existence, which is thus transmitted with the spiritual heritage of the Jewish people transform the individual Jew's need to be needed by his people into his own need for the Jewish people, which confers upon him a sense of self-respect and of moral responsibility, or conscience. Thus the two parts of the process whereby the individual Jew can learn to accept wholeheartedly his Jewish heritage and live by it, constitute Jewish identification. Such identification is the result of good Jewish conditioning. On the other hand, commitment is the result of an adequate Jewish education. Ill In order, however, that the Jewish home fulfill its function as a conditioning influence, and the Jewish school fulfill its functioning as an educative influence, world Jewry as a whole has to be transformed from its present status as a congeries of individual Jews without any group status into a publicly recognized people. The Jewish nation was formally disbanded by Napoleon's Sanhedrin FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 7 and the disbandinent has been confirmed by the founders of the Reform movement at the Braunschweig Conference in 1845. Since then nothing of a formal character has taken place to reconstitute the Jewish people. Actually, World Jewry functions only as a de facto people. The only way it can transform the conditions which form the immediate and intermediate causes that have brought on its fatal illness, is by becoming again a de jure people. Only indirectly has the existence of the Jewish people been recognized and that only by Britain. I refer to the recognition by Britain of the Jewish Agency, with which Britain negotiated, as representing the Jewish people. Actually the Jewish people is in existence only de facto but not de jure. It goes without saying that this fact is from a psycho-social standpoint most responsible for the growth of escapism and defection from Jewish life. Unless the Jewish people is reconstituted and recognized as a de jure society or fellowship, all attempts to solve the problem of interfaith marriage are futile. That however does not mean that we must wait until the reconstitution of the Jewish people into a de jure people is consummated. That being the ultimate achieve- ment which would counteract the ultimate cause of the present malady which is devastating Jewish life has to be preceded by intermediate achievements which would aim to overcome the intermediate cause, named above, of the present sick condition of World Jewry. Fortunately there are two situations, an existing one and one which can be brought into existence in the near future. Those two situations would enable Jews to function immediately as though the reconstitution of the Jewish people was already consummated.

The existing situation is the State of Israel. The fact that the Jewish World Agency continues to exist serves as a reminder of its having been regarded by the British Government as an authoritative body, representative of an existing Jewish people. Therefore the State of Israel is the creation of an existing people publicly recognized. 8 INTERMARRIAGE

Actually the permanent Jewish majority of the State of Israel is the hub, around which whatever de jure Jewish people is to come into being—and the sooner the better— the wheel form structure of that people will come into being.

The other situation which has to be created even before the Jewish people is to be reconstituted consists of the urgent task of organizing the local Jewish populations into communities. That calls for an understanding of American political democracy, lest organic Jewish community be regarded as a form of self-segregation or ghettoism. American democracy is based on the assumption that citizenship confers the political status and pro- tects the economic status of its citizen, but expects him to look for guidance and inspiration for the spiritual dimension of his life to some spiritual group or society of his choosing.

Each organic Jewish community will therefore have to serve those who belong to it as representative of the reconstituted Jewish people in the making. The organic Jewish community will have to be based on voluntarism. Membership would be open to all persons who wish to identify themselves as Jews. They should be permitted to interpret the purpose and meaning of Jewish existence in accordance with the dictates of their reason and conscience, and seek out for association and cooperation all fellow-Jews who are like-minded with them.

Each organic Jewish community should govern itself like a civic community by duly elected officials for its various departments. The administrators of those departments should be appointed by the officials. The main departments should be the following: 1) vital statistics; 2) Jewish education and culture; 3) ethical standards in economic life; 4) religion; 5) health and social welfare; 6) public relations; 7) Zionism; 8) aid to Jews of other countries. FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 9

Finally, as far as the immediate cause of the present sickness of Jewish life is concerned, even before proceed- ing with the formation of organic communities there is the immediate need of dealing with the present set-up of Jewish communal activities of all kinds in a way that would prepare them for achieving their material integration and attaining the character of an organic community. All Jewish lay leaders and all professional workers in Jewish institutions, organizations, federations, community councils, welfare funds should be expected to direct their efforts toward creative Jewish survival through the reconstitution of the Jewish people and the revitalization of Jewish religion. Particular social workers to whom cases of interfaith marriage are to be referred should be imbued with the same psycho-social interest in treating those cases as an integral part of the problem of creative Jewish survival as well as of personal problems of the particular couple that is eager to get married. The tempo in which the three stages of the regeneration of the Jewish people and its religion is likely to take place depends entirely upon the Jews themselves. In comment- ing on a verse in Isaiah which reads "in due time I shall hasten the redemption" our ancient Sages stated: "If the Jews deserve speedy redemption, God will hasten it. If they do not deserve speedy redemption, it is bound to come ultimately in God's own time,'' which only God knows what it is. Herzl put it tersely when he said: "If you will it, it is no legend." 10 INTERMARRIAGE

DISCUSSANT—RABBI HERSCHEL SCHACTER

I am deeply appreciative of the honor and I am mindful of the responsibility implicit in the assignment given to me to participate in this important conference and to discuss the excellent paper we were privileged to hear from our most distinguished and revered speaker tonight. I lay no claim to any special competence in this complicated and complex area. I am not a sociologist nor a social scientist. I will not operate with any statistics or treat with any of the scientific aspects of group dynamics. I am admittedly concerned, primarily, with the religious aspect of this subject and, as an orthodox Jew, I shall endeavor to convey my own subjective thinking on this matter, and my personal reactions to some of the statements made by Dr. Kaplan, without attempting the exhaustive analysis of his thesis which it so richly merits. I know that we are all alarmed by the current crisis and dilemma brought on by the frightening dimensions of intermarriage. To quote the old Calvin Coolidge story—"We're agin it." None of us favors mixed marriages. All of us here believe that Jews should marry Jews. The crucial questions before us are to analyze the factors that brought us to this impasse, and the most effective measures that can and should be taken to remedy as much as possible this grievous situation that is of such great concern to us all. On this we concur. Dr. Kaplan correctly identifies intermarriage as the primary symptom of what ails us, and I substantially agree with his pertinent comments at the outset on Jewish empiricists, and when he describes the immediate and ultimate causes for this condition. Among the symptoms of what ails us today, Dr. Kaplan cites, "the frank admission of our great Jewish scholars that they don't know what is a Jew." Parentheti- cally, let me say, the unequivocal fact that when Ben-Gurion polled the great Jewish scholars of our time on the famous question, "Who is a Jew?", the overwhelming majority clearly reiterated the authoritative definition given by the traditional halachah. FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 11

However, it seems to me that the current dilemma as to what is a Jew has its roots in the more basic question which is currently being asked with incisive and damaging impli- cations in intellectual circles, on the college campus, among academicians, "Why be a Jew?" We understand why in the primitive world of ancient times, when the Jew as the classic iconoclast burst upon the arena of world history with a unique concept of God and man, of ethics, morality and justice, which was clearly vastly superior to that of all the nations of antiquity. But, in the context of the modern world, where many contemporary vital thinkers, notably Dr. Kaplan, have embraced a naturalistic and humanistic approach to God and man; when Judaism is conceived to be merely a religio- cultural civilization, the product only of the genius of the Jewish people, however glowing, then we are taunted by the haunting question, "Why, necessarily, be a Jew?". It has been pointed out by a contemporary observer, "As civilizations become more open, hospitable, flexible, civi- lized, men may more readily and more easily shift their alle- giances from civilization to civilization." Judaism is becoming, for many, increasingly a matter of choice, rather than of birth and choice is not automatic but deliberate. Therefore, to use an unsuccessful pun, unless we offer a choice, not an echo, unless we are different, unless we affirm the deep-rooted conviction that Judaism is not just another religious cultural system in our pluralis- tic society, unless we acknowledge the unique relationship between God and Israel, unless we recognize the revelation of the Torah at Sinai and accept the normative aspects of Judaism as having their origin in the divine manifestation of God's will, in short, unless we believe and declare the election of Israel by God, why the martyrdom, the sacrifice for survival? Can we attempt to inculcate into the hearts and minds of our children an abiding sense of kinship, a deep feeling of affinity with the Jewish people, unless we and they are convinced that Jews and Judaism are different, yes, better, 12 INTERMARRIAGE loftier, precisely because our peoplehood is rooted in God and sanctioned by His will? Unless we do so, can we expect the young, contemporary Jew to pay the enormous price of Jewish identity in the modern world, with all the social, intellectual and even economic disabilities and conflicts, which such identity imposes upon them? It is this divine imperative which has motivated the classic, authentic, orthodox Jew through the ages to proclaim proudly, coura- geously, even defiantly, our determination to reject any interpretation of Judaism which would deny or minimize the uniquely divine character of the Jewish people, for we believe that it is precisely the deviationist interpretation that has weakened the real cohesiveness and inner strength of our faith in people, and has contributed, in large measure, to the current crisis posed by the growing incidence of intermarriage. Furthermore, is not separateness, singularity, the virtue which Dr. Kaplan calls for, which all of us in this conference are seeking to achieve? The very thesis and purpose of all our deliberations is the universally recognized valid need for being different. The divine statement is relevant, "Thou hast separated us from all other peoples." We are separate, and it is precisely in such abiding separation that the unique character of the Jewish people is sharply defined. And that has protected us from the threat of assimilation. Allow me to pinpoint what I consider to be one of the dangers in Dr. Kaplan's interpretation of traditional doctrine. In a recent issue of the Reconstructionist magazine, in April of this year, in discussing the relationship between Reconstructionist Jews and Liberal Protestants who are naturalistic in outlook, the editor of the Reconstructionist states unequivocally, "In fact, it is not inconceivable for a Jewish Reconstructionist to agree philosophically more with a non-Jewish naturalist than with a fellow Jew who is supra-naturalist.'' Will such agreements stem the tide of intermarriage? Especially if both parties share not only a naturalistic FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 13 belief, but even more so, if that is reinforced with a natural love. I repeat, before you can define what is a Jew, we must be prepared to answer why be a Jew? If, philosophically and ideologically, we are closer to the naturalist non-Jew, than to our own fellow Jews, then why pay the price? Mere folkways and mores, and even sentimental nostalgia, have proven to be hardly adequate to protect us from the storms of assimilation and intermarriage that are threaten- ing to engulf us. Our basic problem today is sheer survival and yet practical Judaism submits that the imperative will of God is not dependent upon the ulterior motive of Jewish survival. Although we agree with Professor Kaplan that we always conceived of God as being concerned with im- pelling Man to strive for his own salvation, we believe, theologically speaking, that God's design for this world and our society cannot be fulfilled without the Jewish people. However, we maintain the absolute independence of God's existence, and not as a figment of the individual or collective genius of Man. Normative Judaism, which is a manifestation of His will, has autonomous validity. We observe the Sabbath not only for its pragmatic value, not only for its esthetic beauty and inspiration, but rather as an affirmation of God as the creator of the Universe and of Man. It's only such affirmation which provides the raison d'etre, the only valid purpose for genuine Jewish living. It is such affirmation that has impelled our people to heroic heights, thus insuring our dynamic, creative, meaningful survival, not only as Jews, but, parenthetically, as human beings in this crazy world in which we live, for without this faith we would degenerate into the corrosive, impossible forms of modern existentialism. Many moderns, while articulating their concern for Jewish survival, are simply not prepared to pay the price, for just as individual Man is not a free creature of the jungle, but, rather, as a disciplined citizen of society, he must yield some of his complete freedom to preserve society, so must the Jew of today, if he means what he professes, be prepared to submit to "the yoke of 14 INTERMARRIAGE

the Kingdom of Heaven" in order to preserve the continued existence of the Jewish people. I must insist that if we maintain the humanistic approach, that the totality of Judaism is the product of the collective genius and wisdom of the Jewish people, then how can we modern sophisticates be so chauvinistic and proclaim that our wisdom is superior to that of the Chinese or any other ancient or modern cultural system. Why, wherein, are we better? Does the fact that we were the first to recognize the concept of ethical monotheism and the incor- poreality of God, endow us with eternal superiority? Could not Christianity, or Islam or Buddhism, much of which has embraced the finer elements of Judaism, could they not now surpass Judaism? Many Jewish moderns are guilty of perpetuating the glib cliche, " Judeo-Christian heritage," as if both these diametrically opposed and separate communities are really one, and if, in the thinking of many liberal interfaith leaders, they are one, then why Judaism, why bo a Jew? We must emphasize that the only proper practitioners of the ethical Judeo-Christian heritage are the Christians, not the Jews. We are different—our philosophy, our ethics, our Weltanschauung, is fundamentally different. Sure, we pray for the ideal of hachrit hayamim, we are concerned with all humanity. Our ecumenism expresses itself in our sincere yearning for them to return to the mother faith. If there is any primacy to Judaism, it is only because its truth is beyond compare. It is eternal as is the God who revealed it. The prime charismatic quality of Judaism is its "otherness," separateness, singularity. I need not emphasize here that this singularity expresses itself not necessarily in outer appearances, in a beard and sidecurls, or a hat and coat, what matters is not the physical countenance, but the psyche, the soul, the inner per- sonality. Indeed, the existential experience of Jewish being is crucial. Jewishness is an existential dimension of human being. To live as a Jew means to live with sympathy and solidarity—yes, to experience the need to be needed, as Dr. Kaplan put it, to share a common destiny with all FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 15

Jews. Jews represent a covenantal community, and Dr. Kaplan pointed out the Sinaitic covenant. But, with all due respect, we know of a dual covenant. Before the Sinai- tic covenant there was the covenant with Abraham. The covenant with Abraham is the eternal covenant of and with the Jewish people. Then, it was refined, elevated, endowed with abiding purpose at Sinai. One without the other cannot long endure. The Sinaitic covenant calls for the commitment of faith, intellect, practice. The covenant of Abraham establishing our peoplehood is primarily an ex- periential commitment to experience, deeply to feel, keenly to be aware of the burden of the millenia of Jewish history, its triumphs and defeats. Yes, its loneliness! It is this unique experience, all our own, which we must convey to the contemporary Jew, the romance, the adventure, the splendor, as well as the burden of responsibility, the alone- ness. Alone, and yet an integral part of the world in which we live. Thus, can we legitimately answer the question of why be a Jew. From this flows—who is a Jew ? He who affirms the immutability of the eternal divine truth, and recog- nizes within this truth an escalating goodness, a teleology leading to universal goodness to which the full and creative genius of Man, as Man, is dedicated. Such a commitment then endows the individual Jew, as well as the collective Jewish people, with real abiding purpose. He who lives by such commitment, who subscribes to these dimensions of thought and the practices that are implied therein is a bona fide member of the Jewish people and has proven that he is prepared to pay the price of such membership. He is an authentic, genuine Jew who passionately strives for Jewish survival, for the perpetuation of a faith and a people worth perpetuating. In our legitimate concern over the future of the Jewish community, I believe it to be relevant to point out several interesting phenomena on the contemporary American Jew- ish scene. There is much agitation and concern among us over the alienation of Jewish intellectuals, and primarily over the vexing problems of academic youth on the college 16 INTERMARRIAGE campus. I am certain that many of you already know that there is a startling development emerging in academic circles. Do all of you know of the American Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists? Of a group called Yavneh on college campuses across America? It is composed of brilliant, young, indigenously American men and women in all disciplines, behavioral, natural, physical and medical sciences. Do you know that there are young men wearing yarmulkahs, and I will agree with you that the yarmulkah is not of the most importance, but it is a barometer, an indication, young men wearing yarmulkahs in the advanced scientific laboratories of the Navy Department, in M.I.T., in Harvard, in Princeton, and various industries? There is, thank God, a new generation of Jewish intellectuals who are Jewish, not merely born of Jewish parents, who come to the laboratories with intensive Jewish learning, who are unlike the others who reject Judaism out of ignorance and apathy. The Weltanschauung of the greater number of so-called Jewish intellectuals is one of scepticism. Philo- sophic and scientific scepticism were thought up in the 19th century. They transferred the legitimate scientific method into a formal philosophy, projecting this scepticism into all the realms of religious and human life. This intellectual climate is slowly but perceptibly changing. There is a con- siderable number of younger scientists who recognize the valid difference between scepticism as a proper attitude in the scientific realm and scepticism as a fixed philosophic doctrine, as a way of life. The newer generation is rapidly growing sceptical of the scepticism of their predecessors.

I wish to point out yet another phenomenon! The re- discovery by bright, young, second and third generation American Jews of the abiding value in profound, intensive Jewish scholarship as such. Instead of devoting mind and energy to Newton and Leibnits, to Darwin and Kepler, they are studying intensively the Bible and the Prophets, the Mishnah and the Talmud, the Rambam, and the Shulchan Aruch. Let us be abundantly candid, do we prefer the value system of permissiveness, of moral and ethical laxity of the university campus, and many great intellectual and FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 17 cultural centers over the pristine Jewish integrity of the classic Yeshiva? There are today well over 15,000 young Americans, in their teens and early adulthood, who are learning Talmud daily, regularly, intensively, who are wholesome, complete Jews, and who are, I submit, not candidates for intermarriage. I know, many of you will quickly refute this argument, and point to case histories of Jews from orthodox homes, and even former Yeshivah students who are in- volved directly in problems of intermarriage. Granted. We must be prepared to face reality. In the contemporary confrontation imposed upon us by a free, open society, we are bound to sustain casualties. The relentless process of acculturation will inevitably claim its toll from a hopeless minority. Yet it is our sincere and deliberate conviction, and as social scientists I trust that many of you will agree, that there is definitely a correlation between intermarriage and the extent and depth of Jewish learning and practice as measured in terms of Torah and mitzvahs. Where is the incidence of intermarriage higher? Among * Jews to whom Judaism is a pragmatic, social, naturalist religion, or among those to whom Judaism is the revealed word of God, and who are dedicated to its perpetuation with body and soul, with heart and mind? There is one specific point which Dr. Kaplan emphasizes, and which is, in a sense, the key to his whole system—the concept of the organic community—which he feels will be our salvation. It seems to me that a cursory review of Jewish history will reveal that such organic Jewish communities, to the extent that they existed—and they did in one form or another even in comparatively modern times in central and eastern Europe—were hardly effective weap- ons against the onslaughts of intermarriage, disintegration and assimilation, all by themselves. One last word, to the distinguished social workers in our midst. Time was, only recently, when despite a measure of lip service to cultural pluralism, most social workers— yes, most Jewish social workers—looked with complete ob- 18 INTERMARRIAGE jective detachment upon all the problems within the Jewish community and saw absolute integration as the ideal in every sense. I certainly have not come here to preach, and yet my earnest and respectful plea is that all of us must reaffirm, for ourselves and for the people we serve, a renewed sense of kinship and affinity with the Jewish people based upon the eternal verities of our faith, must recognize that in the face of the weakening of the old family and ethnic ties, we need a vibrant, dynamic faith. Mr. Graenum Berger made the following point in a brief, but incisive, review of a recent book on this subject by Rabbi Albert Gordon: "The advice to young people is that the rates of divorce, annulment and separation, will continue to increase with the increase in the marriages of persons whose religious, ethnic or social backgrounds are different." This advice and argument is just not per- suasive enough as all of us know who used these arguments to no avail. Boy meets girl and love conquers all. The universalization of Jewish values has robbed us of our uniqueness. Rabbi Gordon, a prominent Conservative rabbi, pleads for more Jewish education, but hopes that, "such an education need not create a false standard of superiority in the child." We claim for authentic and authoritative Judaism a true standard of superiority. Judaism does offer a better set of values—indeed, more cogent, valid and abiding answers to the modern problems facing the individual Jew, his family, his community and his people. The Messianic ideal is not as remote as we may think. The great Emmanuel Kant said, when he was questioned as to how can one hope for the imposition of the moral, cate- gorical imperatives, "Du kannst, weil du must." We have no choice if we are to live. FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 19

SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION

DR. ROBERT GORDIS—We have had two very excellent presenta- tions of two fundamental philosophies of Jewish life today—a beautiful presentation of Reconstructionism by Professor Kaplan and an impassioned definition and defense of orthodoxy by Rabbi Schacter. I would like to point out that we are not concerned in this meeting with Jews who believe in the various philosophies of Jewish life, each of which lias power of conviction to those who believe in it. No Jew who is a genuine Reconstructionist or a genuine orthodox Jew or a genuine Reform Jew will intermarry. What we are concerned with are those Jews who are outside this scope. Abraham Geiger, a great philosopher of Reform Judaism, said, "Every intermarriage is a nail in the coffin of Judaism." Emil G. Hirsch, who represented Reform Judaism's far left, took great pride in the fact that no member of his congregation ever intermarried. On the other hand, the daughter of the great orthodox leader of Hamburg, did intermarry. This is no reflection on him. It simply goes to show that we should realize that any positive philosophy of Jewish life will serve as a protection against intermarriage. But when it is not maintained, it doesn't matter what your theology is. You don't demonstrate the truth of a doctrine simply by insist- ing that it is God's word. I say this precisely because, curiously enough, I happen to agree with Rabbi Schacter on most of his theological propositions. I believe, for example, that the election of Israel is a fundamental doctrine and I cannot conceive of an adequate philosophy of Jewish life which does not accept as a cornerstone the election and uniqueness of Israel. I accept the doctrine of revelation. I accept the doctrine of superiority on the basis of demonstrating to my own satisfaction the innate superiority, not of Jews, but of Judaism. However, to call Judaism God's revelation doesn't prove it. If a man believes Buddhism, for argument's sake, is superior to Judaism, calling it God's purpose will not change it. It so happens that I believe Judaism is the superior religion but that is because I have been able to persuade myself of the unique values of the Jewish tradition. This does not mean, however, that the Judeo- Christian tradition is an empty phrase. It has great historical validity and the fact that some use it to excuse intermarriage, to 20 INTERMARRIAGE

which we arc all opposed, does not necessarily disprove the truth of the conception. The Judco-Christian tradition would have to be analyzed in all its cultural, religious and other manifestations—not just simply the assumption that it may lead to or he used as an excuse for intermarriage—to prove it had no validity. 1 urge that we recognize that we are all in the same hoat, that this is what this conference is for. We ought to recognize that this problem goes far beyond any one group. We ought to utilize all the valuable elements in every Jewish tradition—Orthodoxy, Con- servatism, Reform, Reconstructionism, secular Judaism. These are our resources for survival. To pretend—or even to believe—that we have the guaranteed cure-all can destroy the Jewish people. We are too small in numbers to afford the luxury of divisiveness. We simply haven't enough effectives in the Jewish community to be able to be divided into four, five or six camps. Professor Kaplan's great phrase, "Unity Within Diversity and Diversity Within Unity" should provide the spirit for this conference, and what is much more important, for the efforts to be made by American Judaism and American Jewry to meet the problems of intermarriage.

RABBI FABIAN SCHONFELD—This is not just a conference on the problems of intermarriage but also on the difference in approaches to the problem. It is legitimate, right and proper that each of us looks upon this from our own point of view, whether Orthodox or Reconstructionist. Rabbi Kaplan says that to prevent intermarriage we need an adequate Jewish education as the foundation for adequate Jewish homes, adequate Jewish schools. What is this Jewish home, this Jewish school, to be? What kind of a curriculum? Is a Jewish home where the Sabbath is observed, where Kashruth is observed? Or is a Jewish home one where God is referred to by some wonderful appellation without any direct meaning to the child? An orthodox Jewish home, it seems to me, is far less likely to produce an intermarried child than a Reconstructionist, or Reform or Conservative home. We Orthodox maintain that the problem of intermarriage has come about because we have let down the barriers, because we have permitted our children to be enticed by other schools of thought. We agree with Dr. Kaplan about the need for agreement but is it not a strange fact that in Germany, in Austria, in Hungary, where there were registries of Jews and Jews paid their taxes, that even FROM A RELIGIO-ETH NIC PERSPECTIVE 21

there intermarriage was not stopped? The existence of a Kehilleh in Vienna, where I grew up, did not prevent hundreds of Jews from falling prey to the disease of intermarriage. But it was among the orthodox that intermarriage was least likely to happen. The great and wonderful institution of Yeshiva University is the living proof of all that Rabbi Schacter has said. I say this, not as an alumnus, but because at Yeshiva University and at Stern College we have young men and women who are and are going to be the source of all that is noble and fine in Judaism, of all that is going to prevent intermarriage from going beyond the frightening degree it already has. I do think, though, that it is in the area of social work that the problem will be solved. The social workers will have to come to agree that intermarriage is primarily a religious, not a social, problem.

JACOB T. ZUCKERMAN—As a social worker, dealing with people from day to day, I have to face some of these problems not theoreti- cally but practically. One of our difficulties-—and I can't speak for all social workers any more than a rabbi can speak for all rabbis—is that we don't know exactly what is expected of us as Jews. I myself know what I expect of myself as a Jew. I'm one kind of Jew, and I can pick for myself what I feel is important in dealing with those I try to help. Without being directive, each of us does have an influence. The very fact of whether or not we raise the question of Jewishness is of itself important, without necessarily directing the individual as to what point of view he is to take in Jewish life, or how he is to react to a problem. But we need some help from the very people here who can't agree among themselves as to what is the role of the Jewish community in meeting this problem. I know there are differences— we all respect these differences—but let's not confine this discussion merely to why we can't do certain things, but see what we can do to meet some of these basic problems. For instance, can we create machinery to provide us with the information we need? How much intermarriage is there? What form does it take? Is there anybody yet ready to prove to us that intermarriage takes place more in certain situations than in others? Another thing—are we talking merely about those Jews who attend synagogue services, or do we mean to talk about the great numbers of Jews unconnected with religious life today? Are we 22 FROM A RELIGIO-ETHNIC PERSPECTIVE certain that there is more or less intermarriage in this group than in any other? Let's find out. Don't expect social workers to give you the answers unless you give the social worker some guidance as to what it is you really expect of him in dealing with these problems?

RABBI DAVID PASSOW—As a rabbi, I am right alongside of you. I think social workers can make a tremendous contribution to rabbis in directing us precisely into this area of inquiry.

RABBI DAVID GOLOVENSKY—There is a fire burning. I speak from personal experience. A week doesn't go by where I don't learn that a young person in my own congregation is contemplating a mixed marriage. While we are proud of the orthodox scientists and orthodox homes and orthodox families, let us remember, with all humility, that not every orthodox family produces orthodox children. Those of us who conduct authentic, maximal, orthodox Jewish homes know that we do not reproduce ourselves completely. That is why Orthodox Jews should be deeply concerned. We may be one or two generations away. I cannot guarantee my own children—although I am very proud to feel they are following in the footsteps of their parents— and certainly I am not in a position to guarantee the total commitment of my grandchild, who is not yet born. And so, it is beside the point to stress the type of home we are conducting right now, although it is exceedingly significant for our generation to have Jewish homes. We are dealing with hundreds and thousands of young people who had orthodox grandparents. Something went wrong some- wheres. Now, what do we do? The fire is on right now, and the fire is burning on the campuses, most of all. Whatever statistics we have point to the ascendancy of intermarriage on the campus. What can we do? How can we stem the tide? What resources are available to us, to the young people in college today, to the young people in high school, who may be victims one, two and three years from today?

BERNARD MARKS—Personally, I am not a pessimist. I believe the Jewish people will survive. If our spiritual leaders would stop giving us book reviews on Friday night, which I can read in the paper; if our spiritual leaders would stop being social workers, and be rabbis and on Saturday morning give us the portion of the week, 23 and teach us Judaism—as I learned it when I went to school and as I am learning it now—I think most of these problems would be solved.

RABBI BERNARD KLIGFELD—I would like to ask Dr. Kaplan if he would say something more about the thought in which he men- tioned Freud and Adler, and I was wondering whether he deliberately left out Carl Jung, because certainly Jung spoke of the organic entity of a community. Also, it was not clear to me precisely what Dr. Kaplan meant when he spoke of the importance of morality and religion, and I would like very much to hear what he has to say. I am mindful of the fact that we've had experience in Jewish life, as well as the general community, of organizations which refused to die when their purpose was accomplished, but they invented new purposes. Now, is the Jewish people simply refusing to die? Is it inventing new purposes? Are we looking for new purposes, or is there some other way of understanding? I agree with Rabbi Schacter's emphasis on special election and its importance, but I disagree with his notions of divisiveness. In fact, Orthodox leadership has a very important task. Their passion is desperately needed in Jewish life and those Orthodox leaders who have this passion must make it available to others in the framework of what Dr. Gordis said—that each of us maintain his Jewishness in his own way. I have seen in my congregation people who say they do not believe in God. They are secular Jews. Yet they want to maintain their Jewishness and they are passionate about it, and they, therefore, belong to a congregation. It seems to me that it would be well for Orthodoxy if it wants to serve the entire Jewish people, to open this passion to others.

DR. WERNER CAHNMAN—The survival of the Jewish people is too serious to be left to rabbis, and I do not mean to indulge in a witticism. The rabbi, by necessity, looks at the Jewish scene from the inside out. You need, for a serious discussion, to have the opinion of those who live dangerously at the periphery, because that is where most of our clients live. It seems to me that Rabbi Schacter—and a great many of his rabbinical colleagues, whether or not they are orthodox—are trying to close the barn door after the horse is gone. The fences around the Torah that once fenced our people in are now fencing them out. As long as you don't recognize this, you will not face the reality of the problem. Without entering into any discussion of ideology, 24 INTERMARRIAGE

I would suggest that those who wax so eloquent about the divine splendor of Judaism try to translate that, not to the few 15,000 orthodox Jewish scientists, but to those who are on the outside, whom you want to call in. This is a pre-condition for our consideration. It would be most perilous if we were to believe that by emphasizing separateness—that is to say, by keeping them out— we would induce them to come in. The need for Jewish education, and it is the most urgent need precisely—and I speak from experience—among the children of Orthodox Jews that come to our campuses with total ignorance of Jewish life, except the negative aspects. It would be most important if an approach could be pro- vided—and it might well be orthodox—which would be inclusive and which would show the young generation how we can be Jews in the world and not outside of it.

DR. JESHAIA SCHNITZER—Fred Hoyle, the astronomer, writes in "Can We Learn From Other Planets" that the important problems are not easily understood, let alone solved. Because we don't know what to do about them, we dismiss these questions from our minds and concentrate on something more immediate and obvious. Fre- quent discussions of problems you cannot solve tend to be frustrating and irritating, so we tend to react by turning on the television, which is what I think we have tried to do tonight. The scientist who looks at the world with a religious and moral viewpoint is called upon for the kind of originality which springs from good judgment. This is what we need in our conference— originality. We know all the answers of yesterday, but the problems that come to the rabbi, and to the counselor, and to the social worker— and I can talk in that combination because I am a trained marriage counselor—are entirely different from those that faced the Jewish community in previous generations. I think we have a lot of originality here, many disciplines and many talents. Let's try to pool them and bring some good judgment to the perplexing problem we all face.

SIM GLUCKSON—We are facing a tremendous paradox. We have endured privation, ghettos, pogroms. Now, in a free society where we would expect the greatest development of our faith, we are losing our young people. Why this paradox? What is causing this movement away from Judaism?

RABBI SOLOMON GOLDFARB—I have attempted to speak to our young people of high school and college age about the election of 25 the Jewish people and the superiority of Judaism and I find that not only do they not accept it but that they resent it to the point of doing the opposite.

DR. KAPLAN—A creative Jewish future is based on having a conception of Jewish life stemming from "Unity in Diversity and Diver- sity in Unity" on the one hand, and on the other, on the conception of continuity in change and change in continuity. We must realize that Judaism is not a religion only, but a civilization. It is entirely a religious civilization, an evolving religious civilization. It has passed through at least three distinct stages, from the standpoint of religious and civilizational identity. These phases are like three religions and three civilizations that the Jewish people has lived through. You cannot say in any way that the civilization of the first commonwealth is the same as the civilization, from a religious point of view, as the second commonwealth. Or that the second commonwealth is the same as Maimonides, who formulated, in a sense, a third stage of Judaism. Now, where you have three different religious civilizations, still regarded as one, what makes it one? Evidently, not the dogmas, not the beliefs about God even. What has enabled Judaism to continue as one religious civilization has not been a belief, has not been a dogma, it has been the Jewish people. It is the fact that the Jewish people is so constituted that it wants to be one people, the same people, despite the change in complete world outlook. What we have got to learn is that if there is to be a Judaism, a Jewish people, we must accept a future in which there is room for variety of dogma, of belief. What we want to find is a way of working together. This is what this conference is called for.