Behind the Headlines Assimilation and Intermarriage–twin Dangers Facing World Jewry

While Israelis glowed with pride over the spectacular success of the Uganda rescue mission and the spontaneous outpouring of congratulations from all over the world, a group of Jewish scholars and leaders from Israel and abroad were deliberating a problem which, they believe, poses a far greater threat to the survival of Israel and the continuity of the Jewish people than another war or the worst assaults perpetrated by terrorists.

The problem–Jewish assimilation and its most serious consequence, inter-marriage–was the subject of a symposium sponsored by Haifa University last week with the participation of internationally prominent historians, sociologists and other academicians, among them President Ephraim Katzir.

The anxiety and outright gloom expressed by many of them stemmed from the fact that unlike the lightning raid at Entebbe Airport, the erosion of the Jewish people by assimilation cannot be reversed by courage, bravery or technological skills. Its ramifications are too complex, its progress too subtle and its causes too numerous to be subject to any single, decisive action.

The purpose of the symposium was to examine the historic roots of assimilation and its various types and trends throughout Jewish history and today. Assimilation in open societies, assimilation in authoritarian societies, assimilation under pressure–such as in the Soviet Union– and assimilation even in Israel, were the subject of lectures delivered by the various authorities on Jewish history and contemporary life.

JEWISH POPULATION SHRINKING

All agreed that the world Jewish population is shrinking because of assimilation inter-marriage and the decline in the Jewish content of life in Israel as well as in the diaspora. Prof. Joseph Nedava, of Haifa University, claimed that were it not for assimilation the Jewish people today would number 200 million. Jewish history, he said, was actually the history of those remnants that clung to their faith and identity despite pogroms and persecution.

Prof. Shmuel Ettinger of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem noted the paradox of renewed Jewish solidarity going hand-in-hand with increasing cultural, social and political assimilation. Even in Israel, where Jewish culture is based on Hebrew and an educational curriculum that includes many basic elements of Jewish history and tradition, the influence of Western values is very much felt while Jewish content recedes, he said.

Ettinger questioned whether the creation of the State of Israel, the development of Hebrew and the revival of Jewish group consciousness would be sufficient to strengthen Jewish religious values and spiritual enrichment. Memories of the Holocaust and the hostility of the gentile environment are not strong enough to prevent cultural and social assimilation, he said.

DIASPORA NEEDS ENCOURAGEMENT

Prof. S.A. McCartney, of Oxford University, who spoke about British Jewry from the viewpoint of a non-Jew, said Jews in England felt no need for assimilation apart from its outward manifestations. He expressed fear, however; that the anti-colored feelings spreading in Britain may also have an anti-Semitic content.

Katzir, who chaired a special session on the influence of Israel on world Jewry, said the Jewish diaspora must be encouraged to remain Jewish. He said Israel had to cooperate with the diaspora for the benefit of the latter and for itself so that Jewish youth can be inculcated with Jewish traditions and the highest moral values of Judaism.

Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, president of the American Jewish Congress, said the creation of Israel had a positive influence on American Jewry. On the other hand, he said, a Jew in the diaspora who does not feel himself to be part of Israel will not be able to remain a Jew.

SITUATION OF SOVIET JEWS

The problem of Soviet Jewry was discussed at length. Participants stressed that while the Soviet regime did not recognize Jews as a national minority, a Jew cannot easily assimilate because his identity card is stamped “Jew” and he is not accepted by the surrounding population. These factors cause Soviet Jews to consider emigration, Prof. Yaacob Ro Yi of Tel Aviv University said. But Dr. A. Altschuler of Hebrew University noted that inter-marriage in the Soviet Union has reached 50 percent. That indicates that a significant part of the Jewish population seeks to assimilate, he said.

Dr. Yuri Nudelman, a surgeon from the Soviet Union now attached to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, said he and fellow emigres made a survey on the feelings of Soviet Jews toward Israel and found that while there was no regression in the revival of Jewish feelings among them, Israel had failed to take advantage of the revival. He said aliya from the Soviet Union has slowed down because of objective factors such as the state of Israel’s economy and the security situation. Nudelman noted that the Uganda operation was likely to start a new wave of immigration from the Soviet Union, as the Six-Day War did after 1967.

Dr. Sergio Delia Pergola of the Hebrew University, said the 50 percent inter-marriage rate among Soviet Jewry was the same as in Western Europe and higher than in the U.S. where inter-marriage is said to run at 40 percent. He said Israel needed to combat the demographic crisis by intensifying Jewish education in Israel and in the diaspora.

Prof. Shlomo Breznitz, who will become Rector of Haifa University next year, criticized the state of relations between Israel and diaspora Jews. He said reciprocity was limited to those Jews who decide to immigrate to Israel while those who remain where they are ignored. He said it was a mistake to maintain contacts only on the basis of voluntary financial assistance. He urged that Americans who come to Israel should be sent not only to pick fruits and harvest vegetables. There are scientists and scholars among American Jews. Let them come to Israel, share its problems and learn its ways, Breznitz said.