B’nai B’rith’s new executive vice-president, contending that the diaspora cannot thrive on just a “symbiotic relationship” with Israel, urged the American Jewish community to reverse “its trend toward insularity” and broaden its involvements in “shaping American society.”
Dr. Daniel Thursz, who began fulltime duty two weeks ago as chief administrative officer of the 500,000-member organization, said here Sunday night that “important as Israel may be to the scheme of things and for our sense of Jewish identity, it is simply not sufficient” for the cultural survival of the next generation of American Jews.
Addressing the annual midwinter meeting of B’nai B’rith’s Board of Governors — his first formal appearance before the organization’s highest policy body — Thursz said the “change in perspective” did not mean any diminution of support for Israel but was a strengthening of the “prophetic tradition” which had identified organized Jewish life with “concern for the general welfare and demands for social justice.”
CITES VARIOUS ISSUES
Thursz, for the past 10 years dean of the University of Maryland’s Graduate School of Social Work, cited the need for organized Jewish support of anti-poverty and senior citizens campaigns, energy conservation, anti-discrimination measures for such “beleaguered minorities” as the Chicano and Indian communities and similar social and political causes.
“In an era when many Jews have given up strict observance of religious rituals, when assimilation is a serious threat, there is need for stronger ideological base which will provide greater purpose for Jewish life in America.” Thursz declared.
An American diaspora with that “sense of mission becomes a stronger ally of Israel’s cause.” Thursz said. “But to live vicariously through the exploits of our Israeli colleagues is to deny them and ourselves, and is not a basis for Jewish survival in America.” Nor, he added, “Is it sufficient as some philosophers would suggest, to base the purpose of our existence on the desire not to give Hitler a posthumous victory. The Jewish ethos cannot be conceived as a sort of museum of bitter memories.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
