the upper West Side of New York, a wide range Sh'ma set of vignettes from coast to coast (and, occasion- ally from between the coasts) prove to Silberman that there is no significant, no official and no * a journal of Jewish responsibility "real" anti-Semitism in America. They also indi- fc . 16/315, MAY 30, 1986 cate that Jews no longer believe they have to give up their Jewishness to succeed. Alas, as the Yid- dish proverb has it, from "for example" comes no proof. These triumphalist assertions are counter-intuitive. One does not have to do the work of the defense agencies, with their inevitable self-interest in bad news, to offer examples of rishus among us. Last A letter from the editor month the Democratic party in Illinois nominated two La Rouche fanatics to state-wide office. And, Eugene B. Borowitz worse than that, one of them was born a Jew, like We were flattered recendy when Prof. Zeev Falk many in that Fascist cult. Perhaps we Jews do kill of the Hebrew University called to say that he had the messenger of good news. Or, more likely, Sil- established "an Israeli Sh'ma." And indeed, we've berman is high on Neo-Yiddishkeit and has missed now received the second issue of his lively Siah some of the bitter nuances. He quotes Professor Mesharim, which I prefer to understand as Wolfson of Harvard's insistence that being a Jew "Straight Talk." Even if you don't read Hebrew, is a burden. Charles Silberman wants to lay his do send him $10 for a year's subscription, 10 burden down, but it was Jesus and not the Torah Harav Berlin St., Jerusalem, 92503, Israel. that said "my yoke is light." It still costs a good deal to be a Jew. It still entails some risk and Also, should you have forgotten us, please send some danger. Silberman doesn't deny this but some tzedakah to help reduce our deficit: Box 567, prefers to write up-beat, very American, good Port Washington, NY 11050. Residents of New news. York may get a copy of our annual report from the NY Dept. of State, Albany 12231. And with When did "Making It" become a Mitzvah? that legal compliance we go on vacation until Sep- More important, Silberman's Jewishness is a kind tember. May we all be refreshed. of Reconstructionist-Havurah concatenation of au- tonomous cells and autonomous persons who do An uncertain people their own thing Jewishly and ever more joyfully. His book is the aging Yuppie's Jewish Catalogue Arnold Jacob Wolf TV. I only wish he were right. Charles Silberman is one of the most distinguished For him, Lee Iacocca, the most popular American social thinkers in America. His famous work on in many polls, an ethnic Italian who has triumphed criminal justice, civil rights and schooling provide over discrimination, is a true culture hero. After thoughtful discussions of some of the most crucial the Statue of Liberty fiasco, and other examples of and difficult problems in twentieth century his entrepraeurial style, I am personally still in- America. His liberal views, his careful research clined to prefer Fiorello H. LaGuardia. and his personal character all commend him to any open-minded reader. Thus, when he embarked on The success stories mount into a kind of reduction a six year study of American Jews, we were hope- to absurdity. There is no room for the alienated ful that the book that he would write would be Jew, the radical, the Orthodox. There is no place both valuable and convincing. It is valuable; it is, for us who haven't made it according to the in my judgment, not convincing. American standard of success. Nor is there so little cost for success, as the case of Irving Shapiro A Certain People is a string of success stories, proves. The classical DuPont flunky, he moved anecdotes about some of the most interesting and farther and farther away from the Jewish commu- committed Jews in the United States. Shapiro of nity. And is it true that this generation of leaders DuPont, the Yale humanities faculty, havurot on is superior to Stephen Wise and Henry Monsky, to Eliezer Silver and Salo Baron? I doubt it. ARNOLD JACOB WOLF is rabbi of K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation, Chicago, and a found- Jews are, Hannah Arendt pointed out many years ing Sh'ma Contributing Editor. ago, both visible and successful on the one hand, 113 and powerless on the other—a dangerous combina- Galut, Eretz Yisrael included; for in his eschatol- tion, as Germany proved. We are intersticial, ogy, Galut is a metaphysical condition—one that ia j caught in the contradictions of late capitalism, likely to last until the Moshiach comes. From a holding the winning tickets on a lottery that may political and sociological standpoint, American never be run. We do the dirty work of American Jews live in tfutsot (dispersion), not Galut (exile), business and inherit the universities only when no for their presence in the United States is clearly one else wants to be President, as we did the rail- and purely voluntary. As Jacob Neusner, whose roads before. What one America has given another judgment of the spiritual quality of American Jew- America may well take away. Reagan's country is ish life is even harsher than Rabbi Wolfs, has ar- not as hospitable to our people as the neo- gued, the concept of Galut "is politically irrele- conservatives, of whom Silberman is emphatically vant, socially pernicious, [and] economically not one, would have us believe. The old lies may disfunctional" to the interpretation of American jj be true, but it is less dangerous to be wary and re- Jewish life. "I am an American," Neusner adds, j; mote than to swallow them whole. "I do not believe that any society has been so . • open or free, so fundamentally decent, as Ameri- I The Happiness that is yet Exile can society." f In the great universities we have a generation of famous professors who are Jews in public and reli- To say this is not to suggest that the United States | gious nullities at home, reversing the strategy of is the best of all possible worlds; I have spent Judah Leib Gordon. They may lecture about Kab- much of my career analyzing its weaknesses and balah, but their homes and their families are often bereft of Jewish connections and Jewish commit- ment. Only in public do they profess a faith which is not their own heart's desire. Nor is Judaism mere Yiddishkeit. All texts and all Sh'ma periods and all views and all persons are not equally privileged. "I'm OK: you're OK" is not a a journal of Jewish responsibility motto for covenantal responsibility—almost the re- Editor Eugene B. Borowitz verse. There is trouble in paradise, Mr. Silberman, Administrator Alicia Seeger trouble you have not fully noticed yet. Production Weinglas Graphic Services, Inc. Contributing Editors Michael Berenbaum, J. David Bleich, America, to be plain, is still Galut. We are not Balfour Brickner, Mitchell Cohen, Daniel J. Elazar, Blu Greenberg, supposed to be fully at home and we do not feel Susan Handelman, Paula Hyman, Nora Levin, David Novak, ourselves fully at home. A distinguished congress- Harold Schulweis, Steven Schwarzschild, Seymour Siegel, Sharon man once said to me, strangely, that when he Strassfeld, Elie Wiesel, Arnold Jacob Wolf, Michael Wyschogrod. enters the House floor he always thinks of Ausch- witz. That is, perhaps symptomatic rather than Sh'ma welcomes articles from diverse points of view. Hence, the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those revelatory. But Martin Buber was right when he of the editors. Donations to Sh'ma Inc. are tax-deductible. spoke of a life filled with success after success that Sh'ma is available in microform from University Microfilms was, nonetheless, a failure, and of a life filled with Internafl., Ann Arbor, Mi. failure after failure that was still a success. Ameri- Long book reviews appear quarterly; shorter ones regularly. can Jews want it all. Silberman promises us almost Unsigned reviews are by the Editor. all. God laughs, while most of us await the final verdict. We are an uncertain people in America, Address all correspondence, subscriptions and change of which is what we were always meant to be. • address notices to Box 567, Port Washington, N.Y. 11050. Sh'ma (ISSN 0049-0385) is published bi-weekly except June, July and August, by Sh'ma Inc., 735 Port Washington Blvd., A response to one review Port Washington, N.Y. 11050. Subscriptions $22 for two years in U.S. and Canada; $12 a year overseas. Ten or more to one Charles E. Silberman address, $6 each year. Retired or handicapped persons of restricted means may subscribe at half price. To Arnold Jacob Wolf, "America is still Galut." But as Rabbi Wolf uses the term, every country is Copyright ® 1986 by Sh'ma Inc. POSTMASTER: Please forward Form 3579 to Box 567, Pbrt CHARLES E. SILBERMAN author of A Certain Washington, N.Y. 11050. People also wrote Criminal Violence, Criminal Second class postage paid at Pbrt Washington, N.Y. and at Justice and Crisis in the Classroom among other additional entry Bethpage, N.Y. books. MAY 30,1986 114 .