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January 29, 1969

The Role of Orthodox Judaism in the Protest Tradition of America (1969)

General Jewish Thought
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Orthodoxy and Character (1967)

The question to which this essay is addressed – the ethical practice of committed, religious Jews – is one of the most urgent of the complex of problems which afflict Jews and Judaism in modern times. I seriously doubt whether it is within the competence of any essay to propose an adequate solution and the effective means of dealing with the issue. Nevertheless, in the hope that some insights may be gained even if by inadvertency, from this kind of impressionistic analysis, I am pleased to contribute whatever I can to the discussion. That there is a painful discrepancy between the theory and practice of Orthodox Judaism, that too many Jews who are observant of the “ritual” law are flawed ethically – needs, unfortunately, no confirmation. It is obvious to anyone who lives in the Orthodox community, and has eyes to see, that all is not well with us.However, this self-evident fact must not be exaggerated, lest we befoul the problem with cur own guilt feelings, and con-found an already complex issue with an even more complicated collective masochism. Any attempt, for instance, to read a pro-pensity for corruption into the essential character of the Jewish people, to locate the source of ethical weakness in "some basic trait" in our people, is the kind of extravagance which, in addition to revealing a racist bias, befuddles any attempt at clear under--2-standing. Further-more, it should not be blithely assumed that Orthodox Jews are any worse in their social ethics than any other Jews or any other human beings. It is possible, of course, that independent research will corroborate as an objective fact what is now merely a suspicion that observant Jews possess less integrity than others. But unless and until such "proof" is forthcoming, what is but an assumption should not be elevated to the status of a fact. My personal impression is that this is certainly not the case.Moreover, the focusing of our concerns on the social and personal dimensions of Judaism should not be …
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The Ethics of Protest - Draft (1969)

Almost overnight, it seems, the placid, staid, and complacent American has burst into unexpected social and political frenzy. His political thyroid glands have suddenly become hyperactive. The campus, with whom David Reisman and his colleagues pleaded only a few years ago to aspire once again "to set the world afire," has gone ahead and done just that: it has put the torch of disillusionment and agitation to that cheerfully tranquil and compact world of middle-class America in which the ideals of optimism, mild meliorism, and individualism reigned supreme. Social scientists have not yet given us an adequate explanation of this sudden eruption of activist students, the poor, and the blacks. But whatever the causes may be, it is time for us to formulate some general guide-lines for a society in which unrest, agitation, and activism have become progressively more significant and consequential. What is needed, in short, is to make a beginning in developing an ethic of protest. This article is a preliminary suggestion for some Jewish contributions to such an ethic. Judaism has always been a protesting religion. Someone once said, in a whimsical moment, that Judaism is both "catholic" and "protestant"—provided those words are spelled in lower-case, not with capital letters. Judaism’s interests are "catholic" in that they are universal and embrace the entire human family. They are also ”protestant” in that Judaism has, from its very inception, protested against greed and hate and brute force and the theory that ’,might makes right.” It has never consented to passivity in the face of evil. It has always refused to turn the other cheek, even to Caesar, and has preached resistance to wrong and to injustice. Sometimes the will to resist has been quite attenuated, but when that occurred it was the result of relentless and Inhuman pressure, not the ethical principle of accepting evil as a legitimate fact of life. Biblical history, especially as interpreted in the Rabbinic tradi…
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The Ethics of Protest (1969)

Almost overnight the placid and complacent American has burst into social and political frenzy. For example, the students with whom David Riesman and his colleagues pleaded only a few years ago to aspire once again “to set the world afire,” have gone ahead and done just that: they have put the torch of disillusionment and agitation to the cheerfully tranquil and compact world of middle-class America and its optimism of mild meliorism and individualism. Social scientists have not yet provided an adequate explanation of this sudden eruption of activist students, the poor and the Blacks. But it is time to formulate some general guide-lines for a society in which unrest, agitation, and activism have become rampant. What is needed, in short, is to make a beginning in developing an ethics of protest. Judaism has always been protesting. It has been said, whimsically, that Judaism is both “catholic” and “protestant”—provided those words are not spelled with capital letters. Judaism’s interests are “catholic” in that they are universal and extend to the entire human family. They are “protestant” in that Judaism has, from its very inception, protested against greed and hate and brute force and the theory that “might makes right.” It has never consented to passivity in the face of evil. It has always refused to turn the other cheek, even to Caesar, and has preached resistance to wrong and to injustice. Sometimes the will to resist has been attenuated, but when that occurred it was the result of relentless and inhuman pressure, not the readiness of accepting evil as a legitimate fact of life. Biblical history, especially as interpreted in the Rabbinic tradition, abundantly documents the Jewish approval of protest. Noah was rebuked by the Rabbis because he was concerned only with his own moral integrity and failed to reproach his contemporaries Rabbi Lamm (The Jewish Center, N. Y. C.) founded and served as editor of Tradition, the journal of Orthodox Jewish thought. He has cont…
General Jewish Thought