Board of Rabbis Issues Statement Condemning the ‘council for Judaism’

“The American Council for Judaism is neither American nor Jewish in spirit or in concept, ” the New York Board of Rabbis asserted today on the basis of a “factual study” conducted on the program and activities of the Council, The Board of Rabbis, largest Rabbinic body in the world, with a membership of over 800 Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbis, reaffirmed the position of the three major national rabbinical bodies in America that “the American Council for Judaism does not represent any valid interpretation of Judaism.”

Emphasizing that “the Council for Judaism does not speak in the name of religious tradition, and that it does not speak for the religious Jewish community, ” the statement issued by the Board of Rabbis through its president, Dr. Israel Mowshowitz, said that the factual study conducted by this central rabbinical body revealed that the Council for Judaism is “a political organization consisting, by its own claim, of less than one-half of one percent of American Jews. ” The statement charged that the Council was organized in the first instance for the express purpose of denying the right of refugees fleeing occupied Europe to enter Palestine, at the very moment the Nazis were implementing the “final solution. “

“The American Council for Judaism has consistently misrepresented the Jewish people before the bar of public opinion, ” the statement said. “It has welcomed every opportunity to malign and impugn the integrity of Jewish institutions, organizations and causes; and it has consistently distorted and caricatured the precepts of Judaism which it purports to teach. Worst of all, in the most tragic era of Jewish history it sought to deny to Jews fleeing Hitler’s Europe a haven in Palestine, and undermined and obstructed the life-giving work of rescue and rehabilitation carried on by the Jewish community. “

“During the 20 years of its existence, ” the Rabbinical statement pointed out, “the activities of the ‘Council have consisted of an assault against the United Jewish Appeal, the major life-saving instrumentality of the American Jewish community. They have attempted to impugn the patriotism of American Jews who have, together with other Americans, shown concern for the welfare of the people of Israel. They have had as their principal aim the incitement of prejudice against the State of Israel, thus contributing to tension and unrest in the Middle East, a policy we believe to be contrary to the best interest of both America and Israel.

VIEWS ‘WITH CONTEMPT’ COUNCIL’S TACTICS AGAINST U. S. JEWS

“Judaism, we believe, has sufficient breadth and depth to embrace varied points of view, but we solemnly declare that there is no room in Jewish life for Jews whose words and deeds would result in the destruction of the State of Israel, in the weakening of Jewish religious commitment, and in incalculable harm to the Jewish people everywhere,” the Board of Rabbis stressed.

“We view with contempt the Councils tactics of reviving anti-Semitic slanders of ‘dual loyalties,’ ” the statement continued. “American Jews who have served their country in peace and in war need not defend themselves against such baseless, vicious charges. As Americans concerned with the survival of democratic values everywhere, we pray for the strengthening and survival of the. State of Israel as a stronghold of democracy in the Middle East. It is thus in keeping with the best traditions of America to support Israel, or indeed, any other nation which strengthens the democratic and moral climate of our troubled world.

“As religious leaders we are dismayed that the Council’s philosophy is one of complete negation: it would deny the existence of a Jewish people, it rejects traditional Jewish ceremonials, and scoffs at the basic American concept of the right of every citizen to help other peoples struggling for freedom. The Council is an organization which claims to be religious, yet it has no religious commitment. It claims to be ‘American,’ yet it misinterprets America as a monolithic structure where all cultural and spiritual variations must be obliterated. It purports to speak for Judaism, yet it is against every best interest of the Jewish community. It has no positive program of its own, but is founded on a platform of negation and hate.

“The New York Board of Rabbis is confident that the American people will reject with contempt the political machinations of this small band of misguided individuals who suffer from insecurity and tragic self-hatred. Our love of God, our love of America, our religious commitment and the ties of our religious fellowship with Jews throughout the world–all enjoin us to continue our efforts to save oppressed Jews everywhere, and to extend the arm of brotherhood to the people of Israel who are bound to the people of America in a common commitment to the democratic ideals which stem from our Judeo-Christian tradition, upon which both America and Israel are founded, ” the rabbinical statement concluded.