Eleven religious leaders have called upon Christians and Jews to organize a continuous fast and vigil in front of the White House beginning Ash Wednesday Feb. 11 through Passover and continuing until April 27 in protest over the war in Vietnam. They have also called for a “Freedom Seder” near the end of Passover in which Jews and Christians will participate. A statement, signed by the eleven religious leaders including Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld of Fairmont Temple in Cleveland, and Rabbi Balfour Brickner, Director of Interfaith Activities of the United American Hebrew Congregations, declared that “in our situation, with the Vietnam war both a domestic threat and an international crisis, Lent and Passover, 1970, is a special time.” Dealing with the fast, the statement added: “We fast because we feel there is a moral imperative at this time to do. We fast because we must…We believe that in fasting during this season we will be able to identify, at least in some measure, with those who suffer in Vietnam…We fast, then, as Rabbi Abraham Heschel (professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary) put it, ‘because in a democratic society, while some may be guilty, all are responsible’.” The fast is sponsored by CALCAV, an inter-religious anti-war group whose co-chairmen includes Rabbi Heschel, and FOR, an interfaith group whose national program director is Allan Brick.
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.
