Christianity and the Children of Israel 9780231879774

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CHRISTIANITY

AND

The Children of I S R A E L

CHRISTIANITY AND The Children of

ISRAEL

A. R O Y E C K A R D T

K I N G S CROWN PRESS MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS

1948

· NEW

YORK

COPYRIGHT 1 9 4 8

Α . R O Y

BY

ECKARDT

Printed in the United States of America by The Vermont Printing Co., Brattleboro, Vt.

KING'S CROWN PRESS

is a division

of Columbia

the

of

purpose

making

University certain

Press organized

scholarly

material

for avail-

able at minimum cost. Toward thai end, the publishers have adopted every reasonable economy except such as would interfere with a legible format. The work is presented substantially as submitted by the author, without the usual editorial attention of Columbia University Press. Η ΜS

TO MY WIFE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The following have granted permission to quote from their publications. The writer is grateful to both publishers and authors. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press; America·, The American Humanist Association (publishers of The Humanist); Baker Book House; The Catholic Association for International Peace; The Catholic Mind; Christian Century Foundation; The Commonweal·, The Devin-Adair Company; The Dial Press (G. C. Loud, Evangelized America, copyright 1928 by Dial Press, Inc.); Duell, Sloan and Pearce; The Friendship Press; Harper & Brothers (S. G. Cole, The History of Fundamentalism, originally published by Richard R. Smith); The Printing House of Leo Hart; Institute of Social Research (publishers of Studies in Philosophy and Social Science); International Missionary Council; Jewish Opinion Publishing Corporation; Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (The Great Hatred, copyright 1940 by Maurice Samuel, Moses and Monotheism, copyright 1939 by Sigmund Freud); Loizeaux Brothers, Inc.; Longmans, Green & Co., Inc. (A Christian Looks at the Jewish Question, by Jacques Maritain, copyright 1 9 3 9 ) ; Lutterworth Press, London, England; The Macmillan Company; Dr. P. B. Means (author of Things That Are Caesar's); The Menorah Journal; National Council of Catholic Men; The Paulist Press; Public Affairs Committee, Inc., New York City (Pamphlet No. 85, The Races of Mankind, by Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish); G. P. Putnam's Sons (One Destiny, copyright, 1945, by Sholem Asch); The Queen's Work; Religion in Life; Round Table Press; Charles Scribner's Sons; The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, England (publishers of Theology); Trustees for Westminster Theological Seminary (J. G. Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, originally published by The Macmillan Company); The Westminster Press (Emil Brunner, The Divine Imperative, originally published by The Macmillan Company); and Willett, Clark & Company. The writer also wishes to record his thanks to a number of persons without whose help his treatise would have been impossible of realiza-

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

tion. Above all he expresses his gratitude to Professor Reinhold Niebuhr, who in the midst of a busy life, gave freely of his time and counsel during many months of research and preparation. T h e following have also read the manuscript and offered valuable criticisms and suggestions: Professors Horace L. Friess and Herbert W . Schneider and Dr. Joseph L. Blau, all of the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University, Professor Salo W . Baron of the Department of History, Columbia University, Professor H . Richard Niebuhr of Yale University and Professor Paul Tillich of Union Theological Seminary. Professor Tillich generously supplied certain of his own unpublished writings. A special word of thanks is due to Doctors Leo Lowenthal and Paul W . Massing of the Institute of Social Research at Columbia University, both of whom read the manuscript and provided material from the Institute's files. T h e writer is grateful to the staff of the Institute for first calling his attention to a published sermon of Monsignor Giovanni Cazzani, Bishop of Cremona, Italy, and for giving permission to reproduce parts of the Institute's English translation of that document. Mrs. Ellen Flesseman of Amsterdam, Holland, Rabbi Irving J . Rosenbaum, Director, Religious Department of the Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith, Dr. Conrad Hoffmann, Jr., Director, Committee on the Christian Approach to the Jews, International Missionary Council, Mr. O. Borden-Lachapelle, Administrative Chairman, Foundation of Catholics for Human Brotherhood, D r . Carl H . Voss, Executive Secretary of the Christian Council on Palestine, the Reverend John H. Elliott, Director of the Commission on Religious Organizations, T h e National Conference of Christians and Jews, Dr. Keith L. Brooks, President of the American Prophetic League, and many others, particularly officials of various Jewish organizations, supplied indispensable research material. It was during the writer's undergraduate days that the Reverend Arch Tremayne and D r . Justus Buchler, the latter now of the Department of Philosophy, Columbia University, provided inspiration and incentive for study in religion and philosophy. A sincere word of indebtedness is extended to these two men, as to all other "companions along the way" whose names are too numerous to record here. Finally, the author's everlasting appreciation goes to his wife, Alice Lyons Eckardt, for her constructive criticism and for her tireless endeavor in preparing the manuscript for publication and also the index. Sole responsibility for the point of view herein contained rests with the author. I f there are misrepresentations of persons and groups and inaccuracies in fact, he is to blame.

PREFACE

F

the Children of Israel have felt upon their backs the lashes of a whip wielded by Christian orthodoxy. Hence, it would not be strange if the Jews become apprehensive because of the new "orthodoxy" which has appeared upon the Protestant theological horizon since the First World War. Men like Karl Barth and Emil Brunner in Europe and Reinhold Niebuhr, H. Richard Niebuhr and Paul Tillich in this country have been outspoken in their criticisms of Christian liberalism. Liberalism made the central message of Christianity that of the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God. Is there a danger that when emphasis is placed elsewhere a theological basis will be created which will only serve to aggravate the plight of the Jewish people? Liberalism was convinced that the words attributed to Jesus, "no one cometh unto the Father, but by me," are open to serious question, or at best can be accepted only to mean the necessity for a high type of moral behavior for all men rather than the requirement of a unique religious devotion to Christ. Will a stress upon Jesus as Christ or Messiah lead to increased tension between Christians and those who do not accept Christ? OR M A N Y CENTURIES

The term "neo-Orthodoxy" is largely a misnomer, but even if we employ a more fitting title, neo-Reformation theology,· for the type of thought here presented, there may be awakened in the Jewish consciousness memories of a man like Martin Luther and his treatment of the Jews. If a concern over possible apprehensiveness on the part of Jews is one of the motivations for this treatise, another is the conviction that Christian liberalism has failed adequately to understand or to deal with social questions like anti-Semitism. Can we find insights in neo-Reformation thought which contain a conception of human nature and of the Christian faith affording a more profound basis for approaching the question * Conservative Protestantism, particularly in its attitude towards the Bible, is strongly criticized by neo-Reformation thought. T h e term "neo-Orthodoxy" may lead to confusion with a new form of fundamentalism.

χ

PREFACE

of man's relationships with his fellows? This is not to say that we should look upon the contribution made by one or another school of thought as a possible means of social salvation. In the words of H. Richard Niebuhr, a m e m b e r o f the Christian c o m m u n i t y faces a m o r a l p r o b l e m w h e n he deals w i t h J u d a i s m and a n t i - S e m i t i s m a n d can g o to none of the schools o f theology for his a n s w e r . T h e question is, in K i e r k e g a a r d i a n [ # ] terms, an existential one. T h e r e is n o a n s w e r in t h e b a c k o f any book. T h i s thing m u s t be d e a l t w i t h responsibly in the presence o f G o d a n d m a n by the Christians of this day, a n d just as R e f o r m a tion t h e o l o g y a n d liberal t h e o l o g y are inadequate guides to a m a n ' s

religious

relation to G o d so they a r e i n a d e q u a t e guides to his m o r a l relation to his J e w i s h neighbor. 1

Hence, we are not concerned with defending or rejecting a given theological system but rather with determining whether the application o f one or another set o f convictions to relations between Jews and Chris-

tians may better serve the Kingdom of God. Neo-Reformation thought, along with every Christian attempt to reach rational theological insight, is constantly in danger of substituting a theory about, for example, God and sin for the realities themselves. The purpose of this treatise is not that of showing that the "school" of thought to which the writer belongs affords a "better" means of approaching the Jewish question than do other modes of thinking, but rather of attempting to state in confessional terms the way that question looks from the point of view of neoReformation convictions about God and phenomena like election, sin and redemption, and the consequences one might expect to flow from this understanding. It is hardly necessary to add that the writer does not pretend to be able to legislate the answers which all neo-Reformation thinkers must give to the question under consideration. He can only present an interpretation from his own perspective within the larger circle of which he counts himself a part. To the extent that a theologian approaches the Jewish question with a basic aim that of telling the Jews they need not fear what is going on in his circle of thought, to that extent is he blinding himself to the potential need for a radical reconsideration of his own thinking in the event that he aggravates, rather than helps to alleviate, the Jewish plight. Apologetic thinking may easily offer an occasion for self-defense, something which a confessional point of view tries to avoid. Yet confessional theology cannot completely escape from apologetics. W e always try to defend at least to a certain extent a point of view which seems to us to represent the truth. * T h e reference is to Sören Kierkegaard, Danish Christian philosopher of the nineteenth century.

PREFACE

xi

It would be to transcend the scope and purpose of this treatise to attempt an adequate comparative study of the positions of the various men who have contributed to neo-Reformation thought; we are more interested here in trying to present something of the common Weltanschauung of this "school." Such comparisons as are made are incidental to the main task of seeking for the path a Christian may follow as he lives with his brothers, the Jews. From these remarks it will be seen that the approach followed in this treatise differs somewhat from that found in most analyses of the Jewish question. However fruitful the disinterested attitude of the social scientist may be and however important it is that the insights of various branches of the social sciences be not ignored, the hope of the writer is that a theological orientation may likewise prove of some worth. This study does not pretend to be historically exhaustive. For example, little attempt is made adequately to place the various positions presented within their social and historical context. The treatise is systematic and hence selective in nature and undoubtedly suffers from restrictions which such an orientation always imposes. The greatest danger is probably that of arbitrariness. No claim is made to exhaust all the possible approaches which the Christian community may meaningfully take in its moral relation to the Jews. For several reasons two theological categories have been selected. These are religious absolutism, a position maintaining that a given historical reality or "space" embodies ultimate truth or possesses final validity, and religious relativism which denies this claim. Roughly speaking, orthodoxy and liberalism are respectively implied. These categories may help to serve as guides as we try to thread our way through a vast and complicated question. More important, they are especially appropriate in the present context, since, as we shall see, the problem of religious absolutism versus religious relativism is of central significance for the Christian as he looks at the Jews. Like all methodological instruments our categories fail at several points. To put people and points of view into one or another—partly preconceived—category may easily involve arbitrariness. The "parts" of reality cannot be pigeonholed. As we shall see, religious absolutism has its relativist aspects and vice versa. It is hoped that valid insight into the Jewish question will not be completely vitiated by the methodology followed and that the device used will be of some help towards an understanding of our problem. The reader should keep in mind that the two categories are employed partly for the sake of expediency.

xii

PREFACE

Material used in the preparation of this treatise has been chosen on the basis of the methodology noted. When the writer first undertook this study he had no conception of the vastness of the data available on the Jewish question. The limitations which he marked out for himself have been of assistance in selecting bibliographical data. However, he has not had to limit himself to material found on the printed page; he has had a number of opportunities for personal conversations and correspondence with some of the men whose views are presented. We will begin with an analysis of the plight of the Jews in our world today. This will include an elaboration of a number of interpretations of the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, together with some of the solutions which have been offered, and including a critique of the latter. Some criticism is presented of the several interpretations, but the more constructive section in this area is reserved for the second chapter. The third and fourth chapters discuss, respectively, the implications for the Jewish question to be found in religious absolutism and in religious relativism and this is followed by a final chapter which draws upon some of the insights of the two positions mentioned and speaks of a possible guide for Christians concerned with mitigating the Jewish plight. Before proceeding to the main body of our task several additional terms require explanation. The phrase "Jewish plight" has already been used. It is felt that adequate analysis cannot be made on the presupposition that the only matter with which we must be concerned in regard to the Jews is that of anti-Semitism. Hence the word "plight" is employed to signify all the problems which confront the Jews by virtue of the fact that they are Jews. The term has grave connotations, but certainly the Jewish situation is grave. "Anti-Semitism" will be taken simply to mean "hatred for the Jews" (Judenhass). Both an attitude and acts against the Jews resulting from that attitude are implied. The term is in itself not entirely accurate. We do not say that hatred of the Arabs is anti-Semitism, although they are a Semitic people. In addition the word "anti-Semitism" is of modern origin, applying particularly to a political movement of the nineteenth century.2 It was coined in Germany in the eighteen seventies as a symbol that it was not the Jewish religion which was to be attacked but instead the political activities of "Semitic" aliens in European society.3 Nevertheless the term has generally been employed to mean hatred and persecution of the Jews irrespective of the period of time under consideration. For the sake of simplicity we will adhere to this use. Actually, ill treat-

XIII

ment of the Jews before the nineteenth century was largely in the form of anti-Judaism rather than of ethnic or racial antipathy. Finally, because the phrase "Jewish problem" may involve unfortunate connotations, it will not be used. In the first place, Jews are human beings and not objects which we are to manipulate as we do pawns in a chess game, in order to "solve" a given problem. Further, the word "problem" is itself ambiguous. Besides meaning "something to be solved," it may be used in the present context to connote that the Jews themselves are somehow a problem to us—in other words a bad nuisance, as we say of "problem" children.4* It is for these reasons that the term "Jewish question" has been substituted. One virtue of the latter expression is its superiority over "Jewish problem" from the psychological side. "Jewish problem" may place the onus for solving the "problem" largely upon the Jews whereas the other expression at least implies that Christians are faced with a situation about which they must do something. When one is presented with a question, he must answer, one way or the other. Unfortunately, in the psychology of the anti-Semite, one term may be as bad as the other:"Why should there be a Jewish question? There is no Gentile or Christian question." The writer fully realizes that he has taken upon himself a delicate and controversial subject, and one the analysis of which is bound to stimulate much discussion and criticism from many sides. If this is the response he will be gratified, for disputation is superior to indifference. His own interest in the Jewish question was first awakened by the activities of a small group of Christian Bible students in a college with an overwhelmingly Jewish population. The members of this group were convinced that all their Jewish fellow students were on the road to destruction because of unbelief, and that they mast be "saved." Although the writer speaks from the point of view of an acceptance of Jesus as the Christ—an acceptance which is not merely "ethical" in character—he has the temerity to suggest that the Bible students were misinterpreting the meaning of Christian faith. Lawrence College Apple ton, Wisconsin October, 194J

A . R O Y ECKARDT

* It is significant that an anti-Semitic agitator like Rev. " X " of the West Coast can use what the Institute of Social Research in its analysis of his activities calls the "problem device." The agitator insists upon the gravity of the "Jewish problem" in America and says that this "problem" must not be allowed to go on.

CONTENTS PREFACE

ix

I. THE JEWISH PLIGHT

I

Jewry in Distress

ι

Causes and Interpretations

5

Some Solutions and T h e i r Limitations II. THE JEWISH PLIGHT: A CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION

16 34

T h e Mystery of the Chosen People

34

Original Sin and Anti-Semitism

44

G o d , Christ and Judenhass

50

III. RELIGIOUS ABSOLUTISM AND THE JEWS

66

Roman Catholicism

66

M o d e r n Conservative Protestantism

74

Neo-Reformation Absolutism

83

T h e Continental Church and N a z i Anti-Semitism

89

T h e Christian Mission to the Jews

103

I V . RELIGIOUS RELATIVISM AND THE JEWS

109

Liberal Christian T h o u g h t

109

Neo-Reformation Relativism

118

xvi

CONTENTS

V . A T H E O L O G Y FOR T H E JEWISH Q U E S T I O N

132

The Danger of Idolatry

132

The Dilemma of the Missionary

145

The Fight Against Anti-Semitism

152

Zionism and the Jews as an Ethnic Group

163

The Kingdom of God and History

173

APPENDICES

178

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

187

S E L E C T E D BIBLIOGRAPHY

208

INDEX

219

ONE

THE J E W I S H PLIGHT H e is despised and rejected of men; a man rows, and acquainted with grief . . . . he was for our transgressions, he was bruised for our . . . . the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of —from

I. J E W R Y I N

B

of sorwounded iniquities us all.

the 53d Chapter of Isaiah

DISTRESS

EFORE A British military court at Lueneburg, Germany, on October i, 1945, a Rumanian Jew testified that eighty thousand Jews, the entire population of the ghetto of Lodz, Poland, had been killed and burned in a single night at the Oswiecim concentration camp.1 It does not particularly matter if the story is exaggerated—or even untrue. For there are countless others to take its place. The fact is that at least 5,700,000 Jews perished under the rule of Adolf Hitler. 2 The Christian Church is confronted today with the Jewish "question," as epitomized in these figures, and the Church must try to give an answer. Christian theology seeks for the meaning of the Jewish plight, if there is a meaning, not simply in order that the Church may understand, but that understanding will lead to Christian action. The Nazis were of course not the originators of Judenhass. Even if we limit ourselves to the Christian era,3 we may go back to the time of the Fourth Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul to find an anti-Judaism containing elements of, at least potential, anti-Semitism. The tendency to represent the whole Jewish people as the murderers of Jesus began to color the "ecclesiastical way of thinking" of the Church Fathers.4 These men denounced the Jewish religion as a work of the Devil and said the Jews were destined for eternal torment in hell.8 The names of these thinkers include Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Chrysostom, and Augustine.® During the Middle Ages anti-

2

THE JEWISH

PLIGHT

Semitism was no longer limited to the literary expressions of theologians but became overt among the people; the masses "were imbued with hatred of the Jews in proportion as the Church through rites and education inspired them with her view of the Jews as a race accursed of God." 7 Innocent III, "the greatest pope," and St. Thomas Aquinas, "the greatest theologian," could agree with the attack of the Church Fathers, centering around the ideas that the guilt of the crucifixion consigned the Jews to perpetual servitude under the Christians and of the synagogue under the Church. 8 C. H. Moehlman gives this summary of the Medieval situation:* Bishop after bishop encouraged Jew-baiting. A pope like Innocent III repeated the accusation that Jews secretly murdered Christians, held that Jews were under the curse of God and condemned to serfdom, forbade their appearance in the streets at Easter, authorized their payment of an annual tax to the church, and deprived them of public office. The Jew was especially marked for insult by being forced to wear a distinguishing dress. The Dominicans and later the Jesuits were the bitterest enemies of the Jew. While some of the popes and bishops exonerated the Jews from accusations of ritual murder, monks and local clergy spread the gossip. And they could always be charged with procuring a host from a church and stabbing the "body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ" until it bled. Tens of thousands of Jews, more than 350 Jewish communities in Germany alone, lost their lives because people believed them guilty of producing the Black Death by mixing "Christian hearts with the sacred wafer stolen from the churches"! In 1431, the Council of Basel excluded Jews from the universities, enforced segregation in the ghetto, and instituted conversional sermons . . .

The ecclesiastical situation became even worse starting with the reign of Pope Paul I V . Before the Reformation the papacy had for the most part stressed toleration above restriction. But as Europe tended increasingly toward tolerance, emphasis was shifted to disabilities and accusations. 10 T h e Protestant Reformation itself was by no means a blessing for the Jews. Martin Luther denounced them bitterly,! and Martin Bucer and a number of others advised a stern Jewish policy, including the separation of Jews from Christians. 11 There is evidence that the Protestants compelled the Jews to attend Christian preaching services just as had their Catholic forebears. 12 Modern times, and more especially the last two decades, have of course witnessed an anti-Semitism unparalleled for its fury in all of history. From the time of the fall of Napoleon Germany became the "citadel" of anti-Semitism, 18 although Germany was by no means alone * It should be noted that Moehlman is writing anti-Catholic polemic. t See below, pp.

J E W R Y IN DISTRESS

3

in its Judenhass. Nor was anti-Semitism limited to non-Christian* circles. We shall have occasion to discuss more fullyf how during the reign of Adolf Hitler even German pastors and theologians, not to mention laymen, justified and practiced persecution of the Jews. It may seem difficult to understand how a Christian theologian like Gerhard Kittel could speak approvingly of Hitler; yet this is exactly what he did in his work, Die Judertfrage. Nor was Kittel alone. In 1939, for example, two Protestant churches in Germany excluded converted Jews from membership.14 Anti-Semitism in the post-war world, so countless newspaper accounts tell us, is greatly on the increase, particularly in central and eastern Europe. In Poland, to take an example at random, anti-Semitism is rife. Reports of anti-Jewish riots tell that at least two such episodes were the result of the ancient charge that Jews were engaging in the blood sacrifices of Gentiles!15 A United States Army poll, taken in the Fall of 1945, revealed that of 1,700 men, said to represent a cross-section of troops stationed in Germany, twenty-two percent said they believed that the Germans under Hitler had "good reasons" for the persecution of the Jews. 16 Although an Elmo Roper poll, reported early in 1946," found that there is no apparent increase in anti-Semitism among the American population since a similar study in 1943, a later survey of employment conditions in fifteen major industrial centers, conducted by the National Community Relations Advisory Council, spoke of a rise in discrimination against Jews, including veterans of World War II. 18 To conclude this brief historical survey, as well as to underline the fact that down the years anti-Semitism has flourished within the circle of Christianity, we may mention the success in America of, among others, Father Coughlin and Gerald B. Winrod, one a Roman Catholic and the other a fundamentalist Protestant. It is small wonder that men have looked at the Jewish plight, both past and present, and been impressed at what they consider its unique* The word "Christian" is often used ambiguously, as shown in the fact that it is occasionally confused with the word "Gentile." Anyone who is not Jewish is sometimes thought of as a Christian. The term "Christian" can actually be applied only to those who accept Jesus as the Christ. Insofar as a person is truly a Christian he is not antiSemitic. Yet the fact that many anti-Semites claim such an acceptance makes it difficult to exclude them from the ranks of Christians, unless religious faith is to be subordinated to overt ethical activity. It is of course questionable whether the anti-Semite has really made the acceptance he claims. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7:16). Nevertheless it is difficult to make the test of whether a man is a Christian based on whether he leads a "good Christian life." The ambiguity in the term "Christian" is often used to advantage by the anti-Semitic agitator, who, for example, makes much of the fact that America is a "Christian nation." t See below, pp. 91 S.

4

THE JEWISH PLIGHT

ness. What other people has been made to suffer over so long a period of time and to such a horrible degree? That the barbarities perpetrated against the Jews were allowed—and for the most part in the midst of the ethical standards of Western civilization, and independent of what some men consider the necessities of recognized warfare—is one of the supreme anomalies of human history. What other persecution of a minority people can be compared to the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews systematically and completely? In Germany, non-Jews who were eligible for persecution could in some cases escape it by having a change of heart and supporting the Nazi cause. This was not so with the Jews. Their situation was completely and utterly tragic, in the classic Greek conception of that term. They had absolutely no choice. Baptism could save them in the Middle Ages; nothing could save them in 1 9 3 3 . True, the Jews themselves are an anomaly in our world. They are the only ethnic* group of any size forced to live for almost two thousand years without a country. Y e t it is not surprising that a modern American J e w should go beyond this historical fact and say, the history of Israel is not simply the history of an ethnic or cultural or religious group but in a true sense a providential history that reveals God's w a y s with men in a sense in which the history of no other people does. . . . [Israel has been chosen by G o d ] both for a mission and for suffering . . . for the sake of this, Israel must undergo persecution, humiliation, agonies of pain and death. Bringing G o d to the world, Israel must suffer the hatred and resentment of the world against G o d and his law. Israel as the Chosen People is Israel the Suffering Servant of the Lord . . .

Whether or not this is the analysis we must make of the Jewish plight, certain it is that Christians and Christianity are to be held responsible for much of Jewish suffering. The Christian must bow his head in penitence before Sholem Asch's indictment: " T h e power of God's son is love; the son of Satan works through hate. . . . N o matter through what channels it flows, the poison of anti-Semitism which they give out stems from but a single source, . . . the Anti-Christ." 20 N o r is this only a matter for the individual Christian; organized Christianity likewise is to blame. Certainly these words of Rabbi Milton Steinberg are well-deserved: " O f all institutions contributing to the inculcation of hostility toward Jews, organized Christianity has been in the past and regrettably still is the most consistent and potent offender." 2 1 As Professor Tillich has said, the most terrible crimes are always those undertaken in the name of some kind of religion. * Some Jews deny that the Jews are a people and say that they are simply adherents of a religious faith.

CAUSES AND I N T E R P R E T A T I O N S II. CAUSES AND

INTERPRETATIONS

What are the possible explanations and interpretations of antiSemitism and of the Jewish plight in general?22 To raise this question is not to imply that there are easy answers or that any one answer is valid. However, there is no dearth of suggestions. Some interpretations speak in economic terms. The emphasis on business in modern culture, with the Jew forced to play a significant part, and the rise of the workingman, with the Jew occupying a large role, are held to be part of the setting for anti-Semitism.23 For J. O. Hertzler, the Jew "has run into the nature of human nature in a competitive economy." It is only a short step from economic resentment to group hatred. However, Hertzler believes that economic factors for the most part have roots in historical circumstances over which the Jew has had no control. In speaking of the fact that the Jews have been considerably exposed to conditions which produce radicalism, he notes that "the remarkable thing is not that there are so many radicals among the Jews but so few." 24 Miriam Beard believes it astonishing that so little attention has been paid to economic myths as sources of anti-Semitism. For her, Hitlerism cannot be understood without realizing that behind its racial delusions lay superstitions "just as dark, but far less generally recognized" in economics and economic history. She holds that the close connection between anti-Semitism and economic conditions is evident from the fact that the relatively more healthy and wealthy nations have shown themselves less susceptible to the evil than less fortunate nations.2® A study by the Institute of Social Research at Columbia University concludes that a main factor in the vulnerability of the Jews for fascist purposes is the peculiar economic role which the Jews have played since the beginnings of capitalism, an example of this being the presence of Jews in marginal areas where, serving as middle men, they, rather than the feudal rulers, appeared to the exploited masses as responsible for the latters' suffering. In modern European states, the victimized middle classes, by means of the psychological device of projection, could blame their defeat on the group "which in their minds stood out as characteristically representative of declining individualistic capitalism."26 Finally, we may note that Marxists view anti-Semitism in economic terms, considering it an effort on the part of the exploiting classes to divert the attention of the oppressed from their real enemies, the capitalists.27 Secondly, there are a number of interpretations which stress what we may call for want of a better and more inclusive term the ethnological

6

THE J E W I S H PLIGHT

nature of the Jewish plight. Here key terms are nationalism, minorities, culture, desire for homogeneity. The Jews, scattered as a minority throughout the world, are the logical enemies of those who indulge in nationalistic fervor. Nazi Germany is considered the most obvious example. Sometimes anti-Semitism is reduced to the general category of the strangeness of the Jews. Professor Salo Baron has maintained that wherever a nation coincides with a state, anti-Semitism exists, but that when a state contains several nations, tolerance always obtains. 28 In another place the same author says that behind the anti-Semitic movements of history stands "one great reality: the failure of the Jewish group to succumb to ethnic or economic absorption." The Jews have suffered persecution and martyrdom for two thousand years because of trying to maintain their identity outside of state and territory.29 One psychologist holds that the Jewish "problem" is simply one among many similar problems arising at the line of conflict between differing cultural groups.30 Another writer concludes that the reaction to the Jews' "anomalous situation" of being a culture within a culture has taken the forms of expulsion, pogroms, restrictions, and the like. 81 Stonequist speaks in terms of the "marginal character" of the Jews, noting that they are neither completely in nor completely out of the Gentile's world and have ties of kinship with "interacting societies" between which there is sufficient incompatibility to make their own adjustment to them difficult or impossible.32 Reinhold Niebuhr holds that most Jews suffer simply because they are a nation scattered among the nations and thus commit the offense of being "different," an offense which "fans the semi-conscious pride of all ethnic and cultural groups into flame."33 For Steinberg, despite its uniqueness, anti-Semitism is not without analogue, for it is "in the main a specialized and unusually vehement instance of prejudice in general. . . . To understand anti-Semitism is to understand group antipathy, and to understand group antipathy as a universal phenomenon is to comprehend that particular instance which is anti-Semitism." 34 Valentin believes that anti-Semitism follows the same laws as does hatred of other minorities. When the minority is relatively small and attracts relatively little attention anti-Semitism is weak. Anti-Semitism, "a special case of the hatred of foreigners," is permanent because the Jews are a permanent minority.35 Allied to the ethnological mode of interpretation is one which speaks in racial terms. Racial factors can be much more deadly tools of intolerance than those which are merely ethnic in character. There is some chance for the alien to be assimilated into the larger group; this is

CAUSES A N D I N T E R P R E T A T I O N S

7

largely impossible for the man who is racially different, as we know all too well from the plight of the Negro. And the truly tragic element in race hatred is that the question whether the persecuted group is in fact a race in the biological sense of the term—as the Jews are not—is completely irrelevant. * To tell the Nazis that they were mistaken and that the Jews really were not a race after all would have been childish.f The convinced anti-Semite will never admit that it is possible for a Jew to change and "become as one of us." The Jew is damned because he is a Jew. This is the same as race prejudice, whether that term is appropriate or not, for a characteristic of racial hatred is the complete impotence of the one who is hated to do anything about his plight unless there is a change of heart on the part of his persecutor. Faris, speaking from the standpoint of sociology, rightly says that a race is not one which is "anthropologically different or biologically demonstrated" but a group of people considered in such a way as to determine conduct and attitude towards them. 38 Coudenhove-Kalergi indulged in a non sequitur when he wrote that because there is no such thing as a Jewish race anti-Semitism cannot be racial hatred. 47 "Racial" anti-Semitism may be, as Valentin contends, a misnomer, but it attests to a real phenomenon. Friedrich is prompted to say that modern anti-Semitism is really a novel thing as compared with its older analogues for it is directed against the "race" of the Jews.88 At the risk of undue anticipation, a further important interpretation, the religious, should be mentioned at the present level of this study. The Jews for the most part profess a different religion from that of the people among whom they live. Parkes places the origin of the "instinctive anti-Semitism of today" in religious intolerance.89 CoudenhoveKalergi spoke of the ultimate cause of Judenhass as being "religious fanaticism" and claimed that part of the evidence for his thesis lies in the fact that hatred of the Jews is to be found among hundreds of thousands of men who have absolutely no contact with Jews.40 Reinhold Niebuhr contends that one reason Jews suffer more than any other minority is that they diverge from type not only racially but religiously, and that it is fruitless to speculate over which source of prejudice is primary.41 * It is interesting that the Department of Race Relations of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America deals with the Jewish question as well as with that of the Negro. + The same may be said in the argument over whether the only thing the Jews have in common is membership in a religious faith or whether they are a people in an ethnic sense. The fact is their persecutors consider them a people. When exclusion signs appear at Gentile health resorts they are not directed against the Jews as a religious group.

THE JEWISH PLIGHT

8

Sholem Asch sees the basic cause of anti-Semitism in the "separate faith" which has isolated the Jews. 42 Bergman mentions, among others, Louis Golding and Η. M. Kallen as attributing the phenomenon to a Christian origin, Christianity having started in a Jewish society which subsequently denied the new faith. 43 It is certainly true that at least in the first millennium of the Christian era accusations against the Jews had a largely religious background.44 One study sponsored by the Institute of Social Research maintains that the specific p h e n o m e n o n o f a n t i - S e m i t i s m is m u c h m o r e deeply rooted in Christianity t h a n it w o u l d a p p e a r . It is true t h a t the typical anti-Semite of our day, the highly r a t i o n a l ,

merciless, cynical, p l a n n i n g

fascist, h a s as little belief in

C h r i s t as in a n y t h i n g else, e x c e p t p o w e r . B u t it is no less t r u e t h a t t h e anti-Semitic ideas w h i c h f o r m the s p e a r h e a d o f fascism e v e r y w h e r e could not possibly exercise such a s t r o n g a p p e a l unless they h a d their strong sources, not only a p a r t from, but

also actually

within

Christian

civilization.

I t w o u l d be difficult

to

e x a g g e r a t e t h e r o l e played by i m a g e r y o f the Christ-killer, o f the Pharisee, of the m o n e y c h a n g e r s in the T e m p l e , o f the J e w w h o forfeited his salvation by denying the L o r d , a n d not a c c e p t i n g B a p t i s m . "

From the standpoint of a religious theory, explanation may range all the way from the view that the Jews are rejected for their failure completely to accept Christian civilization to the conviction that Christians have it in for the Jews because the latter are not Christians and beyond that to the theological position that the Jewish people are actually being punished by God for their non-acceptance of Christ. * A number of interpretations approach the problem from a psychological point of view.4® In one sense this is an approach which embraces all the others since no matter how we look at the Jewish plight we are always dealing with human selves. In its studies of anti-Semitism the Institute of Social Research lists a number of hypotheses and findings as being of interest, among which are the following:! Anti-Semitism rests on personal insecurity, which is often the result of frustration and for which hatred of the Jews represents a compensatory aggression. This aggression involves sadistic behavior. Thus anti-Semitism is a "brutalizing factor" feeding on the imposition of pain and suffering. Incited and promoted by weakness and submission on the part of its victim, it shrinks from attacking the strong, self-confident, secure person or group. It seeks out * The last-mentioned point of view is further discussed in Chap. II. In Chap. V (ftn. to pp. 1 5 1 - 1 5 2 ) a claim from the Christian side is included that part of the Jewish plight is the result of a psychology engendered by the inadequacy of the Jewish religion. Additional religious theories are elaborated in Chapters II-V. + N o claim is made of their complete validity.

CAUSES A N D I N T E R P R E T A T I O N S

9

those groups which "because of their difference and minority status appear both as a threat and as an easy victim." The anti-Semite projects his psychology on his victim, who is represented as the aggressor. The Jewhater also "responds to mob psychology in seeking support, assurance, spurious strength and social justification for his aggression." 47 * Valentin speaks approvingly of the claim that the Nazi persecution of the Jews was an attempt to silence the voice of conscience for the Germans' own faults. 48 Freeman maintains that socio-economic institutions are ultimately responsible for anti-Semitism and that "it will not be abolished without the abolition of conditions which provoke aggression through superfluous frustration." 49 Speaking from the standpoint of Freudian psychoanalysis, J. F. Brown points out that the Jew is a particularly apt target for displaced aggression for a variety of psychological as well as cultural reasons. In modern psychopathology it is realized that any symptom is overdetermined. B y overdetermined w e mean that a symptom does not result invariably from a single cause but rather that a number of factors all pointing in the same direction combine and so not only determine the result but overdetermine it. Anti-Semitism, at least in its current severe forms, is a sort of sociopathology and, like the symptoms of psychopathology, it is overdetermined or made more severe by a large number of causal factors, each one of which contributes to it."

A research project on anti-Semitism speaks of the phenomenon of the "Jew-lover." This is the person who professes to be especially fond of the Jews because of their "prophetic" or other good qualities. Jews justifiably find in such an attitude an admission of and even an apology for secret discrimination against them. Various types of anti-Semites "can shift by certain mechanisms into different brands of Jew-lovers," thus overcompensating their hatred "by a somewhat exaggerated and therefore fundamentally unreliable adoration." 81 In answering the question of how the "uncorroborated views, which we absorb from infancy and which comprise the standardized stereotype of the Jew commonly found in the Gentile mind" are to be characterized, Freeman finds it "impossible to construe them as other than a vulgar conjury of paranoid delusions—as something derived from the obscure and disordered mental recesses of their originators and purveyors, not from their experience." 52 Similarly Friedrich concludes that the "kind of superstitution that occurs in Mein Kampf, assigning to the Jewish race (which does not exist) occult powers of achievement, is clearly pathological."63 * During Hitler's rule the King of Denmark was reported as saying, " W e have no Jewish problem, for we Danes do not consider ourselves inferior to the Jews."

10

THE JEWISH

PLIGHT

In a religio-psychological vein we have this statement, somewhat exaggerated but nonetheless significant : Children . . . are taught to love Christ, w h o was a J e w , and to hate the other J e w s who murdered him. But the Christian faith is the authority behind many of the frustrations of childhood and . . . frustration itself gives rise to aggression against the frustrating object. A certain amount of our unconscious resentment of childhood frustration which we can never openly express against Christ may become expressed against J e w s through his identification with them.·4

Finally, we may mention some interpretations which are sufficiently diverse to prevent including them in any of the above categories. Mayer speaks of the unique social structure of the Jewish people as being ultimately responsible for what he calls "anti-Judaism." The main cause underlying anti-Judaism is the fact that the Jews are the "chosen people." Although this idea was always coupled with the universality of God's plan for the salvation of all mankind and hence was not really a source of collective pride, nevertheless in the eyes of the world a gulf was created between Israel and the rest of humanity. In addition there is the fact that the Jews present an apparently incomprehensible phenomenon, since for one thing they "do not fit into any of the usual pigeonholes which we employ in our attempts at understanding." Whatever we do not understand invariably becomes the object of our contempt and hatred. In addition we must add "the immensely dialectical relationship between Judaism and Christianity," creating a particular kind of tension. Finally, there are abnormalities in the socio-economic life of the Jews. Having been forced into a few trades and professions they are open to all kinds of accusations and enmities. 55 It is probably true that one element in anti-Semitism is a psychological reaction on the part of Christians to the Jewish claim to be the chosen people. However, since the claim is not stressed in Jewish quarters as much today as in former periods, this reaction must at least in part be due to the influence of the cultural heritage. Furthermore, Kosmala's historical judgment that during the first four centuries after Christ, the Jews "suffered no other grievances or persecutions than those they brought upon themselves by their religious separateness," 5 ® cannot be accepted, even though the statement refers to earlier times. It assumes total lack of responsibility on the part of Christians for the Jewish plight. However, by the same token, we must not underestimate Jewish responsibility.* The "chosen people" feeling has had implications for the psy* One theory of anti-Semitism is that all the objections raised against the Jews are frame-ups and lies. This is analogous to Kosmala's position, though from the other

CAUSES AND I N T E R P R E T A T I O N S

11

chology of the J e w s . · As Parsons puts it, "to be a select people, to feel destined to occupy the place of honor among nations, and at the same time to be condemned to a humble, often humiliating place, could not but create a deep-seated ambivalence of attitudes, a curious combination of humility and pride, which, in the more extreme cases, resulted in arrogance." 58 It is psychologically certain that exposure to constant persecution should lead to acquired individual and group traits which, tragically enough, give the demonic accusations of the anti-Semite a certain amount of plausibility even though not of justification. The inclination toward hypersensitiveness on the part of some Jews, resulting from continued hostile action by non-Jews, is an example. Theories which are frankly anti-Semitic may be mentioned. To include all the accusations which have been made against the Jews is of course impossible. That the Jews are by nature extreme revolutionaries, that they have provided an inordinate number of leaders of the labor movement, that they are extremely capitalistic, and that they are out to rule the world are a few such charges. If the accusations contain contradictions this is of no moment to the anti-Semitic mind, which does not operate in terms of logic, f Another interpretation is that there is no such thing as anti-Semitism, that is to say, there is no attitude or act which can be considered uniquely anti-Semitic. For Johnson anti-Semitism "is one prejudice among many. Its causes and cures are fundamentally the same as those of other types of prejudice such as anti-Negroism, anti-Protestantism or anti-Catholicism." 59 Parkes believes that "the Jewish problem is composed of an admixture of historical facts, misunderstanding, ignorance and prejudice," and is thus exactly like all problems which "vex human society."80 Friedrich considers anti-Semitism to be "vitally related to the basic issue in our civilization, the wearing thin of faithfully believed-in ethical norms," and adds a factor he believes to be provided by the natural sciside." It is difficult to support the thesis that a solution to anti-Semitism involves the refusal ever to utter an adverse word about the Jewish people or about particular J e w s . The Jews are not perfect, and standards of right and wrong apply to them as much as to other people. Y e t the present tragic state of the J e w s must constantly be borne in mind and he w h o offers value judgments of Jewish conduct has to reckon with the fact that the anti-Semite is forever seeking to use such utterances for his own purposes. A certain amount of friction among different groups and between individuals may conceivably have a creative function. * W e are leaving aside f o r the present the question of whether the J e w s are actually justified in considering themselves the chosen people. f Professor H . L. Friess has rightly remarked that the anti-Semitic mind is in a sense very logical in that its whole attitude flows from the major premise, "In any case I hate J e w s ; I am against them from the start."

12

THE JEWISH PLIGHT

ences. In its search for objective truth natural science neglects the problem of standards, values and principles of conduct. With the popularization of science the notion is promoted of the inevitability of social developments, while it is considered fruitless and antiquated to insist upon ideals.81 This summary may help to present the type of data which a Christian theological interpretation may take into account and evaluate before giving its own point of view. It is of course impossible within the limits of this treatise to offer a full evaluation of all the positions outlined.* We do well at least provisionally to keep in mind Hertzler's admonition that "no single set of factors has explained or does now explain anti-Semitism; actually it is a tangled and complex cultural phenomenon —illogical, inconsistent, exaggerated, base, and horrible, but glaringly and painfully real—and only resolvable into a collection of contributory factors, which one examines singly solely for purposes of analysis." 82 Actually, although much scholarship has been put into the investigation of anti-Semitism, its nature has by no means been divulged. One may speak in terms of those economic, ethnological, religious and other factors which have been mentioned but it is difficult to remain on those levels of analysis. A research project on anti-Semitism asks why sections of the population which are in no way dependent on Jewish business should be particularly susceptible to anti-Semitic propaganda.63 Sometimes the chief motive of Nazi anti-Semitism is held to have been economic—for example, to create jobs and private fortunes for the faithful. Actually, "the final exclusion of Jews from all business took place, not at a period of mass unemployment, but at a time when expanding totalitarian economy was badly in need of new workers." 64 Anti-Semitism might be interpreted as resulting from the "hatred of what is different." Here stress may be put upon opposition engendered by the "peculiar" appearance, customs, language, religion, or general Weltanschauung of the Jews. The crucial question immediately arises, why should men hate the "different"? Suppose that the Jews are a unique group, why, as Bergman asks, should this give offense? Why should minority status provoke attack, and why is the Jewish minority specifically attacked? Freeman remarks that it is instructive to observe how people of extreme physical divergence may be accepted in certain strata of society, provided other factors are not unfavorable and certain conventional limitations are observed. "The very person who would sneer at the speech of a Jewish * Further interpretations are presented in the succeeding chapters.

CAUSES A N D I N T E R P R E T A T I O N S

13

peddler would feel flattered to entertain a Russian ex-nobleman with precisely the same accent."85 Mere difference cannot be the only element. As for religious factors, the immediate question which presents itself is why religious differences should lead to hatred. Bergman notes that we cannot make bias against Jews begin with Christianity because for one thing there was already a marked prejudice against Jews in the earlier pagan world, even in Rome which was generally tolerant towards religious minorities.ββ It is certain that the opposition between Judaism and Christianity cannot be the only cause of anti-Semitism, for this leaves unexplained hatred for the Jews on the part of non-Christians. Furthermore, anti-Semitism exists where the Jews have no separate faith but have become completely secularized. ' Yet in one sense religious factors are of more concern to Christianity than other factors, since the Church bears some responsibility for them in her teaching and preaching.* The most serious statement which can be made is that God is punishing the Jews for their rejection of Jesus as the Christ. Although a more complete discussion of this charge must be deferred, some preliminary comments may be made. Whether or not the charge has any validity and whether or not the Jews are to be held responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, the fact remains that throughout history they have suffered terribly on the basis of this accusation. It is likewise true that the Jews have not accepted Jesus as the Christ in the way that Christians have, and also that some Jews were undoubtedly in part responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.®7 On the other hand, it is known that the post-canonical records of the early Church were designed to place the blame for Jesus' death upon the Jews and to remove responsibility from Pontius Pilate. Hence, these documents are untrue to the original historical facts, as are also parts of the New Testament itself. The first disciples were Jews but at the time of the composition of the Fourth Gospel the Jews are described as the continuous Christ-haters, and Revelation 2:9 makes them out as "a synagogue of Satan." Meanwhile Pontius Pilate underwent a metamorphosis from a completely innocent man into a converted Christian, and finally into a saint.88 Justin Martyr changed the word "by" in the phrase "crucified by Pontius Pilate" into "under," thus helping to transfer guilt for Jesus' death to the Jewish people.69 The Catholic writer, J. Elliot Ross, may have a point in protesting that it is unreasonable to ask that the Gospel record of the * To ascertain statistically, insofar as this is possible, the amount of religious prejudice on the part of Christians towards Jews, as against other types of prejudice, is a piece of needed research.

14

THE JEWISH

PLIGHT

crucifixion be discarded, for this is to ask Catholics "to abandon their belief in the truthfulness and inspiration of the Gospels."70 Pragmatic considerations can never be ultimate where truth is concerned. But the validity of this contention can be applied the other way around. Wherever for pragmatic purposes statements were once made which contradict original historical facts, adequate commentary that this is the case should be made. Although neo-Reformation theology places a more conservative (enthaltung) stress upon biblical truths than does liberal theology, it is committed to the most searching kind of biblical criticism, having a more radical position in this respect than Roman Catholicism. Furthermore, neo-Reformation thought is largely unconcerned with problems connected with the historical Jesus who may or may not have been killed in a certain fashion by some Jews or Romans a number of years ago.· In this respect we have a theological basis for the lessening of an antiSemitic attitude resulting from the crucifixion stories. On the other hand stress upon rejection of the Christ of faith by the Jews can conceivably have the opposite effect, t At any rate anti-Semitism is found among those who have not been affected by the stories of the crucifixion; anti-Semitic religious training is not a sine qua non for hatred of the Jews. On the other hand the set of attitudes prevalent in the society inhabited by even the most nominal Christian must be taken into account, especially for the influence which such attitudes may have upon below-conscious factors in the individual. The distorted state of mind of the anti-Semite is evident in his equating what he has been told some Jews did two thousand years ago with the activities and desires of all Jews today. Actually, if consistent, he would congratulate the Jews for disposing of one of their own number. Theology and psychology are alike directly concerned with questions related to the human self; hence we may suppose that the psychological interpretation of anti-Semitism will have much in harmony with a theological point of view. Many theories of Judenhass speak only in terms of conscious processes; psychological views possess the virtue of going beyond these and of criticizing such views on a deeper basis. If antiSemitism is asserted to be the "product of economic myths," psychology may ask why people invent economic myths, and then answer in terms of the will-to-power of the individual and group. Bergman, for example, suggests that when anti-Semitism is considered due to economic competi* Hans Kosmala quotes the statesman Crimieux as having replied to Christian adversaries who blamed his ancestors for having murdered the Christian God: " I n order to do away with this affair, we allow you to kill our God as well when you meet him." t This part of our discussion is continued in Chap. ΙΠ.

CAUSES A N D

INTERPRETATIONS

15

tion, one wonders whether this is not to define "as primary causes what are merely immediate occasions." The same writer also contends that to attribute anti-Semitism to dislike and fear of strangers (as did the 1 9 3 6 survey by Fortune magazine) begs the question. Why should fear of strangers become hatred? 71 Psychology accepts whatever validity there may be in economic, ethnological or religious interpretations, but then asks, in terms of the various situations thus disclosed, why do people use such occasions for hating the Jews? The answer is found in phenomena like frustration, aggression, and projection, with the Jews as excellent targets because of their peculiar place in society. A theological interpretation of anti-Semitism can accept these insights but then introduces its own points of view in at least two ways, by reinterpreting in theological terms data furnished by psychology and then by going a step beyond this data. The first of these is illustrated in the fact that when a Gentile displays aggressive tendencies towards a Jew he is engaging in the fond belief that he is the "ultimate man" (Reinhold Niebuhr). In effect the anti-Semite says, I am God, you are a fallen creature; I am perfect, you are evil. The Jew-hater sets himself up as the final judge of what is right and wrong, good and evil, and the right and the good are always on his side. This is an example of idolatry, which is a theological concept* reflecting a perennial and pathetic tendency in human nature. The same can be said for the ostensibly racial basis for the Nazi persecution of the Jews; the glorification of the Aryan race took on the character of an idolatric devotion, f Secondly, a psychological analysis is ultimately confronted with the same limitation found in other interpretations. It can only describe, it cannot speak of the ultimate " w h y " of things. For example, will-topower may be the proximate reason for the invention of economic or racial myths, but why man is of such a nature that he should practice will-to-power is a question which psychology cannot answer, nor does it pretend to answer. In other words we ate finally brought to the basic * Idolatry becomes a meaningless term unless one presupposes a deity in contrast to whom any lesser god can be considered idolatrous. T h e individual may be an idol in reference to the larger good of humanity, but humanity can make of itself an idol only in reference to a deity which transcends humanity. Idolatry thus has ultimate meaning only if there is such a transcendent God. t In a letter of instruction to school teachers, Storm Troopers, the Hitler Youth, and the Labor Front, D r . Robert Ley stated: " A d o l f Hitler, to thee alone w e are bound. In this hour w e would renew our solemn v o w ; we believe in this world on Adolf Hitler alone. W e believe that National Socialism is the sole faith to make our People blessed. W e believe that there is a Lord God in heaven, who has made us, who leads us, w h o guides us, and who visibly blesses us. And we believe that this Lord G o d has sent us Adolf Hitler, that Germany should be established for all eternity.'"*

16

THE JEWISH

PLIGHT

question, what is man? This leads us into the realms of philosophy and theology.'

III. S O M E

SOLUTIONS

AND

THEIR

LIMITATIONS W e turn now from a provisional analysis of the nature of anti-Semitism to a consideration of possible ways of fighting the evil. 73 Much has been made in recent years of the need for the kind of scientific education of a moral and spiritual nature which will make for tolerance and goodwill among various racial and religious groups. Since 1939 in Springfield, Massachusetts a plan has been followed in the public school system for the purpose of combatting prejudice and intolerance. It is held that for the first time in American history educators have been undertaking a scientific study of racial and religious bias in the classroom and community, and have mapped out a specific program in order to develop more wholesome attitudes. W h i l e at school children spend time analyzing their prejudices and distrusts. " N o t through lectures or sermons, but through day by day experiences in the classroom are the children imbued with tolerance toward all creeds and colors. Virtually, every hour in school is devoted to the principles of friendship, fair play, sportsmanship, tolerance. Every subject is used as a point of departure to stress the principles of democratic living." 7 4 There is equal representation of the various racial and religious groups in the Springfield school administration. Children are placed in natural situations where they may associate with children of all other groups; no suggestion is ever made that "difference" means inferiority. 75 In 1944 the American Jewish Congress established a Commission on Community Interrelations, a research organization to deal with minority group problems in the United States in a way which merges fact-finding with action and ascertains the reasons for conflict in order to do something about them. Focussing on Jewish-non-Jewish problems, the Commission puts the tools of the scientist to work in various regions and localities "to determine the forces underlying inter-group conflict." Experiments are carried out "aimed at overcoming hostility and antagonism in community interrelations." 7 ® In another source, more and more education, along spiritual lines, is viewed as able to check religious hatred. 77 T h e National Conference of Christians and Jews, founded in 1928, believes that "distrust and fear can be largely dissolved and mutual con-

SOLUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS

η

fidence and respect created among Protestants, Catholics and Jews, and others, through effective use of the right kind of education." In keeping with this conviction the Conference, among other activities, sends out teams of speakers, usually consisting of a rabbi, priest and minister, distributes various publications, makes available research facilities and findings, and sponsors radio programs.78 It is felt that education of a nonreligious nature is not enough; education or social theories which, in stating man's duties and standards, fail to refer to God cannot succeed.79 The Conference denies that it holds one creed is as good as another. Instead, "it expects that every person be loyal to his own group and convictions and then respect and work with those of other groups." 80 The educational program proposed involves an attempt to change the culture pattern by the unending repetition of simple ideas through every mode of communication. It is held that this is the only way "to break the stereotypes of prejudice and either to substitute individual judgment for the generalization or to substitute a more favorable stereotype."81 Sometimes the appeal is made away from non-intellectual factors in the direction of "facts." To Clinchy, relations between Catholics, Jews and Protestants are not approachable as purely ethical or moral problems. Reliance must not be placed upon an appeal to be good to other people but upon the "scientific method of analysis of the facts and a search for causes." Only when "the fuel of ignorance and indifference, upon which the fires of intolerance feed, is itself destroyed, the flame falters, halts and dies." 82 The National Conference of Christians and Jews maintains that many destructive prejudices, at least in part, result from misinformation; accordingly, the Conference disseminates facts "to offset rumors and untruth."83 A survey, Jews in America, conducted by the magazine, Fortune, goes so far as to conclude that the only convincing answer and the only real obstacle to the most dangerous kind of antiSemitic propaganda is the appeal to fact. The American Jewish Committee says that in its domestic defense work against anti-Semitism, its program is based on the belief that the light of truth is the strongest weapon.84 To Haynes, "in race relations there is first a lack of information about people of other races, lack of acquaintance with them, prejudices toward them; feeling of unfriendliness and distrust growing out of lack of information, acquaintance and lack of certain fundamental convictions within ourselves or among minority peoples." 88 One solution offered is that of combatting the notion that a given religion is somehow superior to other religions. It is believed that the conviction of Christians that Christianity is "better than Judaism" may lead

18

THE JEWISH

PLIGHT

to anti-Semitic attitudes. This solution is found in liberal Christian thought.· Another remedy suggested is that of going at the problem indirectly but none the less effectively through improving the conditions in which men live. One writer advocates a return to sufficient prosperity to make less acutely felt competition of the Jew in different occupations where he is considered a dangerous rival and a nuisance to the community. 86 Johnson advocates as one of the cures for prejudice the lifting of economic levels in order to lessen "mass frustration leading to group conflict." 87 Hoffmann believes that anti-Semitism cannot be conquered apart from a change in the social and economic o r d e r . 8 8 ! Benedict and Weltftsh see freedom from fear as the way to cure race prejudice. On an international level this freedom will mean that the race tactics of the Nazis will be outmoded. 9 7 The enactment and enforcement of laws which will guarantee equal * See below, pp. 109 ff. t Occasionally much is made of the fact that there is no anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. Unfortunately it is most difficult to acquire reliable information about the status of this or any other social problem in the U. S. S. R. The government has officially outlawed anti-Semitism and has also established within Russia an "autonomous" Jewish republic named Birobidjan. Sholem Asch observes that the largest number of the Jews who were saved from Hitler found refuge in the Soviet Union, a country which "showed the world in deeds" how divine teachings are deeply rooted in its people." Macmurray, a pro communist writer, speaks of "the disappearance, in Russia, of the persecution of the Jews, and the practical solution of the Jewish problem."* 0 But the majority of accounts which the writer has seen gives something of the other side of the picture. Thus Professor Baron: Jewish minority rights are "largely due to the specific historical circumstances and to the peculiar ethnic composition of the Soviet Union. What may appear indispensable to the internal peace in a country in which the largest single ethnic group, the Russians, forms only 50.6 percent of the population, and the other half consists of a conglomeration of most diverse races and nationalities (the Jews, with 1.7 percent in 1930, were the sixth largest nationality), may be superfluous, or even prejudicial to the best interests of a more homogeneous proletarian state."* 1 Bates reminds us that, with the advent of the new regime, making a crime of religious instruction for children under eighteen had the same effect upon Jews as upon Christians. Hebrew was reduced to the status of a dead language and Zionism was condemned as counter-revolutionary. Bates speaks of a leading Jewish scholar's conviction that in Russia the three main pillars of the traditional structure of the Jewish community have been destroyed: the Jewish religion, Hebraic culture, and the Zionist messianic ideal."' Cohen concludes that "the ultimate orientation of Jews in the Soviet Union is away from whatever is specifically Jewish and toward the full flow of Soviet experience. It moves toward complete assimilation into the culture of Socialism."" Parkes expresses the probable situation when he says that the development in Russia affecting the Jews has involved a successful operation, but one in which, unfortunately, the patient died." Lestchinsky denies that anti-Semitism is non-existent in the Soviet Union." A New York Times correspondent returned from Russia speaks of anti-Semitism in the Ukraine.*"

SOLUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS

19

opportunity and the reduction of discrimination is held to be a further means of coping with prejudice. 98 More specifically, it is claimed that anti-Semitism itself should be outlawed as an instrument of internal and international policy. This method would be implemented "by international conventions and national legislation."®9 Of a different and more radical character are solutions which talk in terms of fundamentally altering the structure of Jewish life in a way or ways that will lessen or even destroy anti-Semitism. The most extreme of these positions is assimilationism, the view that the one way out of the Jewish plight is simply the disappearance of the Jews through merging with other peoples. Jews would thus surrender everything of a religious and ethnic character which could be considered uniquely Jewish. J. F. Brown feels that only by "immediate cultural and final racial assimilation" can "latent" anti-Semitism be overcome.100 In certain respects at the opposite extreme to assimilationism is Zionism which claims—to make a provisional comment sufficient for our present discussion*—that what the Jews need is a country of their own. This does not mean, however, that all Jews would be expected to go to Palestine. Integrationism stands midway between assimilationism and a position like that of orthodox Judaism, which stresses Jewish religious and ethnic distinctiveness. Advocated by, among others, the American Council for Judaism,! this view desires the complete integration of Jews into the community, with religion as the only difference remaining. Jews would become, just as Catholics and Protestants, simply members of a religious group. They would have no separate ethnic character. Equal rights with non-Jews would be based on the application of democratic principles to all citizens. To Elmer Berger, an exponent of this point of view, the "cardinal premise of anti-Semitism is the concept that 'a Jewish people' exists." 101 In some ways opposite to integrationism is the view that the Jews should become Christians. Religion rather than ethnic character must be changed. The fate of the ethnic side of the Jewish people, at least in the view of advocates of the Christian mission to the Jews, is considered secondary in importance to the conviction that the hope of the Jew lies in the acceptance of the Christian faith. This position is not held simply as a solution to the problem of anti-Semitism, although the feel* See below, pp. 163 ff. + The Council, recently formed, is a small but quite articulate group of reformed rabbis.

20

THE JEWISH PLIGHT

ing is expressed that if the Jews become Christians anti-Semitism may decrease. A variation of this point of view is the more pragmatic one that Jews should become Christians for the specific purpose of escaping their plight. Some Jews in pre-Hitler Germany, as elsewhere, were baptized largely for this reason. It was the "thing to do," for personal and social reasons. Religious convictions were for the most part not involved. Other insights into methods of combatting hatred against Jews may be found in the affirmations of social psychology. Freeman believes that "the most important enterprise for the elimination of anti-Semitism consists of the effort to reduce socially provoked frustration in all the members of the community." 102 A conference on anti-Semitism urges the aid of defense agencies in the struggle against insecurity, a basic cause of aggression. 103 A study conducted by the Institute of Social Research speaks approvingly of the use of cartoons, which psychologists are more and more finding an invaluable aid to propaganda. T h e anti-Semite and all his works can be held up to ridicule and robbed of their appeal to prejudice by means of lampooning. T h e proposal is therefore to develop cartoons that present in exaggerated and pilloried form the devices, stereotypes, and characteristics of anti-Semitic agitators and their tools. It is assumed that in this w a y defense agencies may reach those very levels of subconscious motivation which the anti-Semites have used so successfully for their own purposes. ,