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March 4, 1955

Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jews in the United States (1955)

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Familiar Strangers: Orthodox Jews Encountering Non-Orthodox Jews and Non-Jews (1996)

[Circa 1930. A European Jew who has come to America:] "A goy is a goy, my father used to say in the old country; meaning, we don't trust them and the less we have to do with them the better. And who could blame him for saying so, after all that has happened in Europe? Even for a long time after I came to this land of golden opportunity, I stayed with the rest of the landsmen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan – not that I had a choice in the matter, I was so poor. But recently, after I landed this new job and moved uptown, I've come into contact with a lot of goyim and I have to tell you – they're not all such bad people after all. Just yesterday one of them invited me to a party he is making. Sure, they have their crooks and bigots, and there is an occasional sonei Yisrael mixed in. But mostly they are schlepping through this world the same way we are. Some of them would make very good Jews! Now, if I could only get into their country club..."What should we, today, view as our role in the non-Jewish world? What are our responsibilities to the general society? How can we reconcile relationships with non-Jews based on the principles of eivah and darchei shalom with the transcendent perspective that all people are created bitzelem elokim? How should we interact with them socially? Should we establish meaningful personal relationships with non-Jews? Does it matter whether we live in an anti-Semitic society or not? Should we teach the sheva mitzvos to non-Jews?[1996. The European Jew's grandson:]"My grandfather never did get into the goyish country club, but my uncle did. Though he had a talmud torah education, he didn't think it was worth verv much in this country, and he sent his children, my cousins, to public school. Much of our extended family is not frum. Some go to a temple, others don't bother even with that. Soon we are going to have our first real intermarriage, between my cousin and a girl he met in college. We received an invitation but of course we are n…
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

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The Jews and Society: A Religio-Cardiological View (1999)

I believe it necessary to begin my lecture in honor of the memory of one of the most significant families in the annals of this historic congregation by explaining the rather strange sub-title. Jewish tradition and history have woven a web of paradox over Jews and their relations to the environing society. On the one hand, the pagan prophet Balaam, his words enshrined in the Torah, gazes upon us and declares in admiration that Israel is עם לבדד ישכון, a people that dwells alone (Numbers 23:9). On the other, Isaiah summons us to a universal mission: ונתתיך לאור גויים, to be a light unto the nations (Isa. 49:6). We are both particularistic and universal. The tension between the two poles has subsisted over the centuries, and has defined not only our self-understanding, but also our role on the world scene. The great Spanish-Jewish poet and philosopher, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi (1085-1141), conjoined both of these elements in a classic formulation, in his immortal work, the Kuzari (2:36): ישראל באומות—הם בבחינת הלב באיברים. The role of Israel amongst the nations is akin to the function of the heart amongst the other organs of the body. Yehuda Halevi thus adopts a “religio-cardiological” view of the Jewish mission in the world. The metaphor reveals an underlying dialectic: Israel, as “the heart of the nations,” is weakened by the moral and spiritual diseases that ravage the world even as, at the same time, it sustains and energizes the same world. It is a separate organ, in and of itself, yet it is intimately connected with the rest of the body. We are a nation alone, but charged to be a light to the world. That assuredly is not an easy task, but it is our glory as well as our burden. And never may we permanently sever these functions from each other. Our story as a people begins with the revelation at Mt. Sinai. It is there that we were commissioned to undertake a dual function for all posterity. ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests…
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

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פרישה מה פרושה? (1956)

הויכוח החריף שנתעורר בחוגים אורתודוכסיים באמריקה לרגל הצעת הרב דוד הולנדר, נשיא הסתדרות הרבנים, באספת אותו הארגון באטלנטיק סיטי, להסתלק מ"מועצת בתי הכנסיות" ו"חבר הרבנים דניו-יורק", עוד לא שכך. חברי ההסתדרות ידונו בבעיה חמורה זו באספתם השנתית בוואשינגטון בעתיד הקרוב. מובטחני שלא יעלימו עין מכל השאלות החשובות העומדות על הפרק והדורשות פתרון, מהתוצאות המעשיות של פילוג בכל רחבי יהדות אמריקה, ומכל הזרמים במחשבת היהדות לשעבר המחייבים או השוללים את השיתוף הפעולה עם מוסדות בלתי אורתודוכסיים.
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations