of Opinion " from the Radical Jewish COlllmunity!>~;:,/: Issue No.5' ST~TEMENT OF PURPOSE RESPONSE is the continuing attempt of coUege students :il~~,~q~ .'. to e~amine the. vitality and relevance of Juilaism to per­ '.. , 'M.t;Si?JQiScliool,o! Medicine ~nai develo.,ment and eqmmunity progress. ,l\1aJ:tinOierruaci1 . .,. '. '. , .,. • . I . '., ' Yale .University·· . AlaiiMiiitz· •. :......... To. wbat extent may intelligent participation in Jewish •..•. Go'~mlft4Uniti~rsiiy Joseph Reimer· , . , ~ivilization serve as a stimulus for inteUectuai growth, , '. HaVllr/lt. ShtiJom ~ " for increased sensitivity to bUlI\an problems, for active HoWatdStkklor ,contribution to societal erldeavors? 1fari;a1'dSchoo~o/ &/ucation Can jeWish commitment provide a common basis and 'ASSOcrAm~troRS depth for a variety of life-styles? How can the symbolic SteVen,Ajl":"";'" '<.;''', language of Jewish experience express our own tempera­ ".. ' ,'l!nifJersity of PennsY/fJ(mia m~nt? What is, and what oUght to be, .our relationship MOrucaBerger .... ., to existing communal structures? To Israel? , ..... Jii/:;!iSon College Bruc~;&Ilin '" . jeremy Brochin. RESPONSE is dedicated to a sincere consideration of , ,.' Up#~rsity ,0/ Minnesota tl)ese qUCstions as they relate to issues of current con· BethavivaCQhen < . jeff 'COoper '..,' < ' cern. As an independent journal, RESPONSE is not com· .~Norlhilieitem'·Un.ifiersity mitted to any particular approach, "line", or ideology . '.RUthrJbaum .... " .. '."'. .' An of 'the opinions expressed in these pages are tbe sole ;. ".' Hohiard Sch~ol o/Education , Rich8td' :Fmkelstein . responsibility of their various authors. 'Coluf:nbia COllege. Steven Fr.i3de . , ~ We encourage and solicit the SUbmisSion of articles, fic- tion, poetry and letters relating to Jewish themes. Manu­ scqpts must be double-spaced, and accompanied by a covenng letter. Letters of inquiry and manuscripts should be sent to RESPONSE Room3C 160 W. 106m St. New York, N. Y. 10025 RESPONSE is' published three times a year. Single copy SO¢. 0 Copyright . 1969 ,by RESPONSE. Office:. Room. l:c, 160 West 106th St., New York, N. Y. 10025; . : ~. - A WHAT'S WRONG WITH OUR SEMINARIES Towards a Relevant Community Rabbinate .... ;: .•.... Ben HoHander A Critique of Yeshiva University . ... Meyer Goldstein A Critique of the Hebrew Union College . Steve Stroiman ARTICLES Reflections on a Matured Zionist Commitment ... ~ .. '. '25 . Gabriel Ende The Yiddish Writer in 1he Face of Crisis. , David Roskies POETRY Pittsburgh -- Murray Pomerance. Father Abraham· . Danny Siegel .. , ' Mosaic -- Murray Pomerance ' , , ' , , , . , , .. ' ,:: . , , , ' : .23 .' Gates -- Lorne Segal Correspondence . News .. , .. "", . Volume III . [No. 2J I At present. the Seminary shares the attithde'of th6se"'ho,ebYi~i6ri;;the:,; pulpit rabbi. in Leibman's words. as "an encyclopedia sitting ona sheHW'aii-" ',' ing to be consulted," Thus. the logical conclusion of a :Semjn-ary'eclucati?~\< becomes a Kafkaesque nightmare: the rabbI, having drowned intpe;,sell':O(i,,', Talmud. himself has become text (notice how~ver theseminafyc6n<l~si::~~/ , sion: not original research. but popular encyclopedia); ,he sirsiiripQten~:is the dust muffles his cries. the termites gnaw at ryis insides, ,an9, theJ~wish community continues on its way ignoring him completely, 'The nlQral:'ifi~ -TOWARDS A ·RELEVANT encyclopedia must learn to get off the shelf and start walking and 'ifllki~g"" like a man, " COMMUNITY RABBINATE It is true that in the traditional story of \Vhat~is-more-importa~t;TQrin;,:) or m'l'aseh. Torah wins out. But note that it is relevant Torah,lei<aingt~,) , ad ion Unfortunately. in the Seminary. Torah leads to textolatry, Ikibplan; (Reflections of a Recent Seminary Graduatt' I deslrioes how in the Seminary's method of scholarship vvords are more,lm" by 'sen Hollander pOrLtnt than ideas. philology more important than philosophy. Fortht",tr<i; d ItJ()[l;i1 s(hoi;lr. "Talmud is the core of Judaism," and he can justifydev~ting many of us the Jewish Theological Seminarv " ih seal the hush th,,, To t1l\ lik to it th;lt way, For today's practicing rabbi. though, this is"neither !)tubbornly wiil not be consumed, The world feeters ,\nd Jlld,llS[1l ",'tt'r\ (ft',lihk nor creditahle, The core of Judaism ,to him IS existentialhot'tex-' 'and the flames flare close: horrors in Harlem d(lWn (lnt' stn'('t, l ',I,h", ,it 1\1,'\ it IS the searchings of the Jewish soul (first his own, whichledhi~ "'Cohim'bia"up another. an exodus of students ;md LlnJit\ to \,Irlllll' "Wll'r S III l'hoos(' his vocation: then his congregants'. which sltstainhirri:ln:"his ofdiaspora and homeland, But the Seminary lns(fuuhlv st.ll1ds l'rllll."tlll!l>': \, )l,lt iOll ) 'Ldm ud (and of course the entire tradition that implies lis: faw it's message. (Eternal of course. although nt 1;l[e Shllmn Y"r,\('[ " \'1"( IILItl'rldl that must oe assimilated and refined - and sanctified "'::,hv life: m,atically, reve'aIing itself as the lnstitu!(, fnr the ,\d\ ,II1n,d Stu,h ,'! rht' It IS lIot 'Ldmud, out lik itself that is sacred. Torah l'shma is simply~tuxury Huma~ities. ) .. \\ Imh 11\ temperament and .commitment the active rabbi in a world,gone-, But unless we.are to relv Oil mlrades, the Sl'lllllLlf\ (,lIll' '1'(' til, ,,Jh t]j"c\ ,';lnrwt ,dlow himself too often, , ' ' Rabbinical Department which is our t"I'IC I nwn' th,IIl ,II1\thllll: 111'1,,1, III ,hon, de'pite rhe Sem inary's facile equation of text-study a~d ,rab~ a',:Iarg~ dose of reality ther;]py, The Semlfldrv hds tWll ~l),ds, ""til t't \\ hi, I, hill" rr,'IIlIng. the scholar is not necessarily suited to being a rabbi (6r.,as i('is filf from realizing or reconciling, One IS tll tr.llIl slhlll.,rs, thl' "thn t" " ll\\l "e\1 knnwn, e\'t'n a teacher), The locus of God's presence foi,,,thetabbi :frain. .rabbis. It tries to reconcile them OV conn'ni(,fltiv th,lt thl ,'''Ufllln~ " lilt,,! I'l'f"onal relations. not books, A serious cOlTImitment to bei~g:a"sp'ir-:, .m.ost basic requisite to the rabbi is his scholarh .Ibill[l('s, ,'Illl thndort' the Itll,1i guide' flwans oeing open to the potential of all encouiiters)mdb~'ing Seminary can do it~ duty to both its,goals bv n)nn'nrratlll~ on sdwl<lrshq), willing tll tolerate the many false and wasteful starts - and not begru(lging -,-'Scholar-training has failed with most student, OCCll1S(" OIlt', " 'lIl[,lbk prl' the time d\\'a\ from learning when, for example, the phone rings ot the meet- kEtowledge on which to build scholarship is rarc, and two, the tii,if)cl,n,l[loll Inl,! nlfllt'S to order. ' ' " '"tdbincl,'one's study, much less one's lif(, in the covers of Talmud I.S not ran', R~bbi~training has failed because the Semin'ar, does not know what t(1,LI\" In relating to congregations.. it is not a matter of learning Torahancl ,i~bbiisordoes, and has little interest in wh;.lt he could or should be. I,t lack-; Illouthing it it's being Torah, And for that a people-o~ientedpersonaIiti >~s LiebmanlametJts, "an image of the role of the rabbi," ThiS article i, in i_' needed which takes eyerY bit of Torah that one knows and applies:jt~uL: tended to be a small contribution to developIng d more dYndmH image of of the uniqueness of one's own personality. philosophy, and communicative, t.he :potentia:Iofthe active rabbinate: and suggestions as to the form the skill. Unfortunately. Seminary training fails on all three counts.--cThe,Jatter, l,\1l be helped through training - but the Seminary only' tr,ainirig for such a vocation would take, Wn()ws,"spe~ch,. (words again!) whereas what is needed is to utilize all the mediamade'p6s-, BenHoitander graduated from the Rabbinical Department 0/ I 1'5, in 19(JR sihle bv the communications revolution and all the discoveries ofthe:benav;" l-(ew#hesto acknowledge his wife 5 contribution to this ilrticle .. JudI hilS ioral s~'iences: the second can be helped by ~tudying Talmudand'iT6rah­ :experieitcedwith him set'en,vears at the Seminar,v and tu'o in Ii con!{re!{iltion, but not if it is text-organized rather than topic-integrated,so thatyou'h~ve':, " ,,' . '.', , " . -, :,.,-:<!';~:,:<::;- to:'~fridyih~followingpa'ge instead of following the development of an idea tllrough,othettexts ind other disciplines' and. traditions: the first is one's reform will not succeed because on~v~hanafiJ{ ivllnitbbe, ~H~""'~,'~.-.'; piir'ticu'hirgift'but which can be developed (particularly in such a small in­ It calls upon this handful to intensify, the qualiWof theit:. .... , 'stitutiOn).::..:'but which is ignored by the Seminary in favor of the exclusive It sUf[f[ests thil! Judaism has alwalls survived andwillt:onHnue I? sur­ concern ,;ith ,the ability to learn (in its narrow scholastic sense I. Indeed, l'it'e in the lit'es of a small remn;nt who pursue ,ih,e. workofOqa.and<' ,', the uord of God at its source, and who can rhple,:: .' , ieis this .;Iack of feeling for the individual and interest in developing his influenc/on~y by ext1 ,uniquepo'tential :.- .and the consequent lack of any impulse toward commun- This ideal has its merit and horefullv it inspires some " .' ,1·' , s:rrlaIlgr:o~ps,butit j:ty.t0,whichcbncern gives 'forth - that is the real traged\' of the Seminar\', is hardly appropriate for a school which must provide-;guidancef()r,~milIi()'n; a betraya1.of it~ religious. purpose. and the reason for its failure to create members plu<; the countle,s others unaffiliated whom the mo\(errle-nt:would:, a;concerhedrabbinate,~-For if exemplary religious life and religious com- undoubted I\" like to reach, .munity cao't:be found at the Seminary (and is not even a goal!.