Mainstream Jewish “Leadership” Today and Yesterday
by
Jerrold L. Sobel
Nov. 17, 2011
As most people have heard by now, this past Oct. 19th The Anti Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) joined hands issuing a petition calling for a “National Pledge for Unity on Israel.” Ostensibly created to encourage other national organizations, religious groups, elected officials, and individuals not to use Israel as a wedge issue in the upcoming 2012 election.
Co-sponsoring the petition, David Harris, Executive Director of the AJC had this to say. "We want the discourse on U.S. support for Israel to avoid the sometimes polarizing debates and political attacks that have emerged in recent weeks, as candidates have challenged their opponents' pro-Israel bone fides or questioned the current administration's foreign policy approach vis-à-vis Israel." His cohort in this endeavor, Abraham Foxman, ADL National Director chimed in, "The last thing America and Israel need right now is the distractions of having Israel bandied about as a tool for waging political attacks." In less political speak, both men are asking Jews to put aside any differences they may have with the present Administration and what some consider questionable policies vis a vis Israel for the sake of unity. Mind you, they’re not asking for a dialogue amongst American Jews on the daunting issues facing the Jewish state; nuclear Iran, Hezbollah in the north, incessant rocket attacks from Gaza, the “Arab Spring,” or countless other issues facing Israel. They’re disingenuously calling for Jewish unity, unity behind the policies of this Administration.
http://www.adl.org/PresRele/IslME_62/6141_62.htm
This exhortation brings to mind a little remembered but watershed moment for Jews in both Europe and the United States which occurred almost seven decades ago. By late 1942, except for the willfully blind, the plight of European Jewry became quite obvious to the allied powers but to many Roosevelt, although dearly admired by much of American Jewry was not doing enough for their brethren, millions of which were being systematically slaughtered by the Nazis.
On Oct. 6, 1943, several days before Yom Kippur a man named Peter Bergson established a political action committee to make the American people aware of the genocide being committed against the Jews of Europe. To alert Americans of their dilemma, Bergson enlisted the help of Academy Award winning screen writer, Ben Hecht and a huge pageant was viewed by over 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden and other parts of the country. This effort was augmented by advertisements and a newspaper blitz throughout the country. The centerpiece of the campaign was a planned march on the White House by no less than 400 Rabbis representing the various persuasions within American Jewry.
In response, some Jewish mainstream organizations, the AJC amongst them were uncomfortable with Bergson’s tactics for several reasons; ostensibly they felt if anything it would be counter intuitive and create more anti-Semitism, others no doubt felt their prominence within the Washington elite would be threatened. It can be argued the same holds true today.
Handling the recruitment of the demonstrating Rabbis was an Orthodox organization called Va’ad HaHatzala, a mainly Yiddish speaking group that for the most part shied away from the limelight instead they concentrated their efforts on assisting the trickle of Jewish refugees the Roosevelt Administration allowed through what was known as the “paper wall;” a bureaucratic hodgepodge of paperwork designed to keep Jewish immigration to a minimum. However, the dire circumstances of the Holocaust forced them to take action in what turned out to be the only mass demonstration for Jewish rescue to take place in Washington during the entire war period.
Once again, the idea of Jews standing up for themselves asking for help by marching through the streets of the nation’s capitol was anathema to mainstream Jewish leaders at the time; probably would be so today as well. According to internal Bergson documents, some Jewish Congressmen were so embarrassed by this march, they “had done all they could to dissuade the Rabbis from making their bearded appearances in Washington.” These records also indicate Rep. Sol Bloom of New York, who chaired the House International Affairs Committee told the Rabbis it would be very undignified for such an un-American looking group of people to appear in Washington. In not so many words, under the guise of unity, this is not dissimilar to what Foxman and Harris are saying today. During the most precarious time for Judaism in three generations, Jews today are being asked once again not to make a main perturbation of theirs, the security of Israel, a political issue. During this election year, if Israel isn’t a political issue for those concerned with her well being, when will it be? Blooms’s admonitions turned out to be a lightning rod, his remarks were counter intuitive swelling the ranks of the Rabbis from 250 to 400. This may well be the result of Foxman and Harris’ “Unity Petition.”
Within the group of protesters on that Fall day in 1943 were some of the most prestigious rabbinical leaders of the time. Co-Presidents Eliezer Silver and Israel Rosenberg of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis; Solomon Friedman, President of the Union of Grand Rabbis; the Chief Rabbi of Philadelphia, Bernard Dov Leventhal; and a man who later would become known as the leading authority on Jewish law in America, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Accompanied by Marshals supplied by the Jewish War Veterans, most wearing traditional long black coats and black hats, they gathered and were met at the steps of the Capitol by Vice President Henry Wallace. In response to their entreats, Wallace reportedly expressed “grief” at the genocide being committed against the Jews of Europe but little else in way of rescue.
From the Capitol, the assemblage then moved on to the Lincoln Memorial where prayers were offered for the President, our soldiers at war, and the millions being slaughtered by the Nazis. Following a rendition of the national anthem the group proceeded to the gates of the White House where they anticipated a small delegation would be granted a meeting with President Roosevelt. It didn’t happen. They were told, but later found out to be untrue, the President couldn’t see them “because of the pressure of other business.” According to official documentation Roosevelt was actually open that day. In fact his speechwriter, a prominent member of the American Jewish Committee, Samuel Rosenman, and Dr. Stephen Wise, President of the American Jewish Congress embarrassed by the demonstrators both advised Roosevelt against meeting with them. Their inane reasoning, it might foment anti-Semitism.
According William D. Hassett, a presidential aide, Rosenman claimed the protesters were not “representative of the most thoughtful elements in Jewry.” He went on to say, “the leading Jews of his acquaintance opposed this march on the Capitol,” and despairingly referred to the Rabbis as “a group of Rabbis who just recently left the darkest period of the medieval world.” Equally disparaging, fellow “prominent Jew,” Dr. Samuel Wise accused the Rabbis of being “stuntists” and of “offending the dignity of the Jewish people.” At this point Roosevelt, whose Administration never did much in the way of thwarting Hitler’s plans in the ’30’s or bolster Jewish immigration to the U.S. during that period, heeded the remarks of his advisers and skipped out through a side door.
http://www.wymaninstitute.org/special/rabbimarch/pg02.php
Two stories 68 years apart, the main theme identical; Jews once again being asked by self proclaimed leadership to behave accordingly; not to make waves; to forgo political disquisition. All this at a time when Israel and by extension Jews the world over are facing perils approaching those which lead to the Holocaust. Once again, If Israel isn’t a proper topic for political discussion during this upcoming election s year, when would it be?
by
Jerrold L. Sobel
Nov. 17, 2011
As most people have heard by now, this past Oct. 19th The Anti Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) joined hands issuing a petition calling for a “National Pledge for Unity on Israel.” Ostensibly created to encourage other national organizations, religious groups, elected officials, and individuals not to use Israel as a wedge issue in the upcoming 2012 election.
Co-sponsoring the petition, David Harris, Executive Director of the AJC had this to say. "We want the discourse on U.S. support for Israel to avoid the sometimes polarizing debates and political attacks that have emerged in recent weeks, as candidates have challenged their opponents' pro-Israel bone fides or questioned the current administration's foreign policy approach vis-à-vis Israel." His cohort in this endeavor, Abraham Foxman, ADL National Director chimed in, "The last thing America and Israel need right now is the distractions of having Israel bandied about as a tool for waging political attacks." In less political speak, both men are asking Jews to put aside any differences they may have with the present Administration and what some consider questionable policies vis a vis Israel for the sake of unity. Mind you, they’re not asking for a dialogue amongst American Jews on the daunting issues facing the Jewish state; nuclear Iran, Hezbollah in the north, incessant rocket attacks from Gaza, the “Arab Spring,” or countless other issues facing Israel. They’re disingenuously calling for Jewish unity, unity behind the policies of this Administration.
http://www.adl.org/PresRele/IslME_62/6141_62.htm
This exhortation brings to mind a little remembered but watershed moment for Jews in both Europe and the United States which occurred almost seven decades ago. By late 1942, except for the willfully blind, the plight of European Jewry became quite obvious to the allied powers but to many Roosevelt, although dearly admired by much of American Jewry was not doing enough for their brethren, millions of which were being systematically slaughtered by the Nazis.
On Oct. 6, 1943, several days before Yom Kippur a man named Peter Bergson established a political action committee to make the American people aware of the genocide being committed against the Jews of Europe. To alert Americans of their dilemma, Bergson enlisted the help of Academy Award winning screen writer, Ben Hecht and a huge pageant was viewed by over 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden and other parts of the country. This effort was augmented by advertisements and a newspaper blitz throughout the country. The centerpiece of the campaign was a planned march on the White House by no less than 400 Rabbis representing the various persuasions within American Jewry.
In response, some Jewish mainstream organizations, the AJC amongst them were uncomfortable with Bergson’s tactics for several reasons; ostensibly they felt if anything it would be counter intuitive and create more anti-Semitism, others no doubt felt their prominence within the Washington elite would be threatened. It can be argued the same holds true today.
Handling the recruitment of the demonstrating Rabbis was an Orthodox organization called Va’ad HaHatzala, a mainly Yiddish speaking group that for the most part shied away from the limelight instead they concentrated their efforts on assisting the trickle of Jewish refugees the Roosevelt Administration allowed through what was known as the “paper wall;” a bureaucratic hodgepodge of paperwork designed to keep Jewish immigration to a minimum. However, the dire circumstances of the Holocaust forced them to take action in what turned out to be the only mass demonstration for Jewish rescue to take place in Washington during the entire war period.
Once again, the idea of Jews standing up for themselves asking for help by marching through the streets of the nation’s capitol was anathema to mainstream Jewish leaders at the time; probably would be so today as well. According to internal Bergson documents, some Jewish Congressmen were so embarrassed by this march, they “had done all they could to dissuade the Rabbis from making their bearded appearances in Washington.” These records also indicate Rep. Sol Bloom of New York, who chaired the House International Affairs Committee told the Rabbis it would be very undignified for such an un-American looking group of people to appear in Washington. In not so many words, under the guise of unity, this is not dissimilar to what Foxman and Harris are saying today. During the most precarious time for Judaism in three generations, Jews today are being asked once again not to make a main perturbation of theirs, the security of Israel, a political issue. During this election year, if Israel isn’t a political issue for those concerned with her well being, when will it be? Blooms’s admonitions turned out to be a lightning rod, his remarks were counter intuitive swelling the ranks of the Rabbis from 250 to 400. This may well be the result of Foxman and Harris’ “Unity Petition.”
Within the group of protesters on that Fall day in 1943 were some of the most prestigious rabbinical leaders of the time. Co-Presidents Eliezer Silver and Israel Rosenberg of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis; Solomon Friedman, President of the Union of Grand Rabbis; the Chief Rabbi of Philadelphia, Bernard Dov Leventhal; and a man who later would become known as the leading authority on Jewish law in America, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Accompanied by Marshals supplied by the Jewish War Veterans, most wearing traditional long black coats and black hats, they gathered and were met at the steps of the Capitol by Vice President Henry Wallace. In response to their entreats, Wallace reportedly expressed “grief” at the genocide being committed against the Jews of Europe but little else in way of rescue.
From the Capitol, the assemblage then moved on to the Lincoln Memorial where prayers were offered for the President, our soldiers at war, and the millions being slaughtered by the Nazis. Following a rendition of the national anthem the group proceeded to the gates of the White House where they anticipated a small delegation would be granted a meeting with President Roosevelt. It didn’t happen. They were told, but later found out to be untrue, the President couldn’t see them “because of the pressure of other business.” According to official documentation Roosevelt was actually open that day. In fact his speechwriter, a prominent member of the American Jewish Committee, Samuel Rosenman, and Dr. Stephen Wise, President of the American Jewish Congress embarrassed by the demonstrators both advised Roosevelt against meeting with them. Their inane reasoning, it might foment anti-Semitism.
According William D. Hassett, a presidential aide, Rosenman claimed the protesters were not “representative of the most thoughtful elements in Jewry.” He went on to say, “the leading Jews of his acquaintance opposed this march on the Capitol,” and despairingly referred to the Rabbis as “a group of Rabbis who just recently left the darkest period of the medieval world.” Equally disparaging, fellow “prominent Jew,” Dr. Samuel Wise accused the Rabbis of being “stuntists” and of “offending the dignity of the Jewish people.” At this point Roosevelt, whose Administration never did much in the way of thwarting Hitler’s plans in the ’30’s or bolster Jewish immigration to the U.S. during that period, heeded the remarks of his advisers and skipped out through a side door.
http://www.wymaninstitute.org/special/rabbimarch/pg02.php
Two stories 68 years apart, the main theme identical; Jews once again being asked by self proclaimed leadership to behave accordingly; not to make waves; to forgo political disquisition. All this at a time when Israel and by extension Jews the world over are facing perils approaching those which lead to the Holocaust. Once again, If Israel isn’t a proper topic for political discussion during this upcoming election s year, when would it be?
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