A Controversy of Zion – I
“They are not ex-Jews or non-Jews,
because many of them are and remain deeply involved Jewishly,
despite their harsh dissent.
Many un-Jews are active in forms of Jewish leadership,
running Jewish studies departments,
speaking from rabbinic pulpits,
hosting Shabbat dinners.
For many of these un-Jews,
the public and communal staging of their anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist beliefs
appears to be the badge of a superior form of Judaism,
stripped of its unsavory and unethical “ethnocentric” and “colonialist” baggage.”
– Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy, “The Un-Jews“, 2021
______________________________
From late November of 1942 through early January of 1943, Philadelphia’s Jewish Exponent published six articles that explored opposition to Zionism, explained the moral and historical imperative of the revival of Jewish statehood amidst the terrible context of the early 1940s and the anticipated urgency of post-war years, and, delved into the motivation and rationale for opposition to Zionism.
The articles are:
November 20, 1942: 733 Rabbis Rap Opponents of Zionism
December 18, 1942: Form Group to Fight Zionism in U.S.A. and Palestine
December 18, 1942: ZOA President Replies to Anti-Zionist Group
December 18, 1942: 36 Local Rabbis Support Jewish Home in Palestine
January 8, 1943: We Reject Zionism (by Rabbi Hyman J. Schachtel)
January 15, 1943: The “Bogey” of Zionism (by Rabbi Simon Greenberg)
The impetus for these articles was, unsurprisingly, no different in 1943 than 2023: Ambivalence about – if not flat-out opposition to – Jewish peoplehood, nationhood, and statehood, as expressed by individuals who’d attained positions of prominence and leadership in both the American Jewish Community and wider society, who viewed the “place” and future of the Jewish people along a continuum spanning the founding premises of Reform Judaism, and, secular universalism.
The Exponent’s articles were in response to a “Statement of Principles” released in mid-1942 by a group of ninety Reform Rabbis – these men later to form the nucleus of the American Council for Judaism – who were members of but not acting within the auspices of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the central organization of Reform Rabbis in the United States and Canada. The Statement declared that this group of Rabbis could not, “…support the political emphasis in the Zionist program which diverts attention from the historical Jewish role as a religious community and which confuses people as to the nature of Judaism.”
Unfortunately (!), I’ve been unable to find the full text of the Statement of Principles. However, the origin and gist of the document is described in this American Council for Judaism 1969 Memorandum (for those interested, WorldCat Record ID 694520404!):
“In 1942, at its annual conference held that year in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) passed a pro-Zionist resolution supporting the formation of a Jewish army in Palestine. This resolution nullified a 1935 CCAR agreement which stated that the CCAR would remain neutral on the Zionist issue. Immediately after the 1942 conference, several non-Zionist rabbis met to discuss their displeasure with the resolution.
“As a result of this meeting, sixteen CCAR rabbis, led by men such as Louis Wolsey, William Fineshriber, and Morris Lazaron, addressed letters to CCAR members concerning the formation of a Jewish “anti-nationalist” organization. Although various attempts were made to appease the “anti-nationalists” (on the grounds that they would split the CCAR as well as the American Jewish community) they remained adamant and held a meeting in early June.”
This is probably the meeting described by Howard Robert Greenstein in his PhD Thesis, “The Changing Attitudes Toward Zionism in Reform Judaism, 1937-1948”:
“On June 1, 1942, the non-Zionist rabbis convened in Atlantic City and organized the association which subsequently became the American Council for Judaism. On June 2, the founders of this organization also issued a statement of principles which declared in part that “… realising the dearness of Palestine and its importance in relieving world problems, (the Council) members will render unstinted aid to all Jews in their economic, cultural and spiritual endeavors there. But … (we) cannot support the political emphasis in the Zionist program which diverts attention from the historical Jewish role as a religious community and which confuses people as to the nature of Judaism.
This is consistent with the ACJ’s 1969 Memorandum: “At this meeting a “Statement of Principles” was formulated. In essence, the “Principles” declared that the non-Zionists supported Palestine and Palestinean rehabilitation but, in light of their universalistic interpretation of Jewish history and destiny, and also their concern for the welfare and status of the Jewish people living in other parts of the world, they could not “subscribe to or support the political emphasis now paramount in the Zionist program.” Futhermore, they could not help but believe “that Jewish nationalism tends to confuse our fellowmen about our place and function in society and diverts our own attention from our historic role to live as a religious community wherever we may dwell.”
“In August of that year, this “Statement,” signed by 90 Reform rabbis and lay leaders, was released to the press. By the end of 1942, this group of “anti-nationalists” had chosen a name for itself: the American Council for Judaism (ACJ). They adopted a constitution and named Elmer Berger, a rabbi from Flint, Michigan, as executive director. On March 19, 1943 the American Council for Judaism was incorporated in the state of New York and, by the end of the year, a slate of officers was selected. As president, the Council chose Lessing Rosenwald; as vice-presidents, Rabbi Louis Binstock, Fred F. Florence, Ralph W. Mack, Rabbi Irving Reichert and Rabbi Louis Wolsey; and as treasurer, D. Hays Solis-Cohen.”
And here we come to the impetus for the Exponent’s series of articles, as described by Greenstein: “The “coup de grace” of repudiation appeared in the forum of a declaration entitled, “Zionism — An Affirmation of Judaism” signed by 757 Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbis. Circulated primarily under the direction of Stephen S. Wise, Abba Hlllel Silver, James Heller, Philip Bernstein, Joshua Loth Liebman and Barnett Brickner, the document charged that the non-Zionist statement “comes as a cruel blow” and that opposition to the restoration of a Jewish homeland at such a critical hour has been “unwise and unkind.” The signatories rejected the Council’s attack upon the “political” aspects of Zionism by declaring that “there can be little hope of opening the doors of Palestine for Jewish immigration after the war without effective political action.”
Which brings us to the first of the Exponent’s six articles, below…
The article focuses on a statement of over seven hundred Rabbis in response to the “Statement of Principles” issued by the above-mentioned group of non-Zionist Reform Rabbis. Interestingly, the number of rabbis differs: Howard Greenstein states that the response was signed by 757 Rabbis, while the Exponent gives a total of 733. How to explain the discrepancy? I don’t know! In any event, though I don’t have the full text of the Rabbis’ response, the Exponent’s excerpt should suffice. As you can see from the hyperlinks in the Exponent’s article (hyperlinks of May 2023, not 1942!) three of the four listed organizations are still very much in existence.
I hadn’t known – until writing this post – that the The Synagogue Council of America, as founded in 1926, actually encompassed Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism. As stated at Wikipedia, “The organization dissolved in 1994, facing financial difficulties and fractiousness among its members, the organization effectively collapsed after a proposal to relocate the council’s offices from Manhattan to White Plains, New York, where it would have been housed in a Reform congregation, was rejected by Orthodox members of the organization. Rabbi Haskel Lookstein of the Orthodox Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun served as the organization’s final president lamented the lack of “people who are really interested in maintaining the organization.” Steven Bayme considers that the Council’s collapse was symbolic of the general Orthodox 1drift to the right, and raised serious questions of how orthodoxy can cooperate with the broader Jewish community in areas of external protection, support for Israel and Jewish continuity.”
All well and good, but it depends on one’s perspective: Could not the Synagogue Council’s dissolution instead be attributed to the ideological movement of Reform Judaism (and in 2023, hardly just Reform Judaism!) under the combined, ongoing, and accelerating influences of secularism and autonomy underlying contemporary Western civilization back to its original, founding principles?
And so, the Exponent’s article:
733 Rabbis Rap Opponents of Zionism
The Jewish Exponent
November 20, 1942
In an action said to be without precedent in the history of American Jewry, 733 Rabbis, including the heads of all the national rabbinical associations and drawn from all wings of religious Jewry in America, this week issued a joint pronouncement severely rebuking Jewish opponents of Zionism as dealing a “cruel blow” to the Jewish people. The statement declares that “the defeat of Hitler will not of itself normalize Jewish life in Europe” and points out that after the war “Europe will be so ravaged and war-torn that large masses of Jewish will elect migration to Palestine as a solution of their personal problems.”
Prominent among the signatories are Rabbi James G. Heller of Cincinnati, President of American Rabbis; Rabbi Louis M. Levitsky of Newark, President of the Rabbinical Assembly of America; Rabbi B.L. Levinthal of Philadelphia, member of the Praesidium of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis; Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein of New York, President of the Rabbinical Council of America, and Rabbi Israel Goldstein of New York, President of the Synagogue Council of America. These leaders recently called on Secretary of State Hull and presented to him a memorandum in support of Zionism, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration which is being observed this month throughout the country.
The declaration now made public is a rejoinder to the statement recently made by a group of Reform Rabbis regarded as unfriendly to the Zionist cause.
The statement refutes the charge that Zionism is a secularist movement and asserts that “it has its origins and roots in the authoritative religious texts of Judaism” and scores anti-Zionism as “a departure from the Jewish religion”. It defends the political program of the Zionist movement as an indispensable means for assuring large-scale Jewish colonization in the Homeland and affirms that “the settlement of a half million Jews in Palestine since the last war was made possible by political action which culminated in the Balfour Declaration and the Palestine Mandate”. It adds “there can be little hope of opening the doors of Palestine for mass Jewish immigration after the war without effective political action.”
Scouting the idea that Jews in Palestine should be prevented from ultimately constituting a majority of the population, the rabbinical pronouncement declares that those who are opposing the movement render “a grave disservice” and adds “it may well be that to the degree to which their efforts are at all effective, Jews who might otherwise have found a haven in Palestine will be denied one.” They also state “to the Jews of Palestine facing the greatest danger in their history and fighting hard to maintain morale and hope in the teeth of the totalitarian menace” anti-Zionist agitation comes as a “cruel blow”.
Continuing, the statement declares “the noblest spirits in American life – statesmen, scholars, writers, ministers and leaders of labor and industry have lent their sympathy and encouragement to the movement.
“The freedom which, we have faith, will come to all men and nations after this war, must come not only to Jews as individuals wherever they live, permitting them to share freedom on a place of equality with all other men, but also to the Jewish people, as men, restored to its homeland, where where at long last it will be a free people within a world federation of free peoples.”
Coming up next: December 18, 1942 “Form Group to Fight Zionism in U.S.A. and Palestine”
Three links…
American Council for Judaism memorandum, March, 1969. WorldCat record id: 694520404
Greenstein, Howard Robert, The Changing Attitudes Toward Zionism in Reform Judaism, 1937-1948, Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1973
Sharansky, Natan, and Troy, Gil, The Un-Jews – The Jewish attempt to cancel Israel and Jewish peoplehood, Tablet, June 26, 2021