Britain’s Chief Rabbi today appeared to find fault with the Jewish world’s attitudes toward Arab refugees and called for a greater measure of compassion for them. Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits told the opening meeting of the national leadership conference of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America that “we must manifest much more clearly our sensitivity to the humanitarian aspects of the Arab refugee problem.”
He told some 800 delegates and guests that “we must re-establish, for the state of Israel and for the entire Jewish people, the classic, authentic image of the Jew whose hallmark has always been compassionate identification with the weak, the needy, the suffering and the persecuted, wherever they may be.”
The Chief Rabbi told the parley that “the double standard of morality and justice so patently applied by the nations (of the world) to Israel is indicative of the fact that somehow Israel has not fulfilled their expectations. These expectations lie in the moral and religious dimension and are not satisfied by its political and economic advances.”
He expressed distress that “the present image of Israel is not fulfilling the moral quest and yearning of many of our young people who feel a void when confronted by the present rather harsh image of self-reliance which Israel presents to the world. Deplorably, some of them have even joined our enemies and propagate the so-called Arab cause.”
On the issue of the so-called “vanishing Jew,” the rabbi said that “this term must be understood in its dual meaning. Some vanish because they lose their identification with the Jewish people; they assimilate and leave us. We lose others because they are not being born. Our gravest problem today is the low birth rate of Jews everywhere.”
Only the “strictly Orthodox community” is “not affected by the lower birth rate. This community consistently and appreciably increases in numbers,” Rabbi Jakobovits said. Only the Orthodox community “maintains the allegiance and loyalty of its youth thanks to its superior educational institutions and well-designed youth activities, such as those pioneered by the National Conference of Synagogue Youth of the Orthodox Union.” The rabbi called for creation of a “top-level international commission to study the problem of Jewish communal and personal disintegration and to propose programs of action to the Jewish communities here and abroad.” His suggestion was welcomed by Rabbi Joseph Karasick, Orthodox Union president.
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