A mild mystery surrounds the appearance of an article on “Orthodox Judaism in America” in the Jan. 1970 edition of “The American Way,” an in flight magazine published by American Airlines. The magazine has never before published articles on Jewish subjects and according to its editor, has none scheduled. The illustrated article, by Carol Schwalberg, claimed that Orthodoxy is the “fastest growing branch of American Judaism” and that the greatest commitment to it “is among the young.”
According to Don Moffitt, editor of “The American Way” which is published for the airline by Caldwell Communications, the article was proposed by Rabbi Chaim Lipschitz, identified as the “research director” of Yeshiva Torath Vodath Mesivta in Brooklyn. Mr. Moffitt described Rabbi Lipschitz as “a very persuasive publicity man” and said he was sent to him by Juan Homs, Jr., director of sales promotion of American Airlines. Contacted by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mr. Homs said the idea for the article originated with him and that he was not approached by anyone. He denied that any sales promotion objectives were involved but wouldn’t say why he selected Orthodoxy rather than the other branches of Judaism. “We like to give our passengers serious articles of interest.” Mr. Homs told the JTA.
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.
