Rabbi Criticizes Jewish Opponents of Project in Forest Hills

Rabbi Robert J. Marx, director of the New York Federation of Reform Synagogues, criticized today those Jews in Forest Hills, Queens who oppose the 840-unit public housing project there because they fear it would destroy the institutions of the Jewish community. Rabbi Marx asserted that the projects’ opponents are the very people who “have abandoned every institution for Jewish for Jewish survival, such as the synagogue, Jewish centers, and Jewish education” and “they rally to the banner of Jewish community only when the issue is that of providing housing for the poor.”

Speaking at a meeting of the New York Association of Reform Rabbis, Rabbi Marx stated that “If a Jewish community of 400,000 people can be destroyed by inviting 2,000 Black people to live in its midst, then there is something terribly wrong in that community and in the fabric of Judaism itself.” He said “Low income housing represents one of our nation’s most important problems. If Forest Hills is to be a significant lesson, the Mayor (John V. Lindsay) must show the city and nation that low income housing should be constructed not only in Queens, but in all segments of the community and that this type of housing will be accompanied by imaginative social service programs that will alleviate fear and promote genuine integration.”

Rabbi Marx said “the situation in Forest Hills has become so emotionally enflamed that reason and objectivity have been destroyed.” He suggested that the presence of Lindsay, actively involved “to deal with the fears of Forest Hills residents about schools, transportation, crime and the fear that community structures and services are about to be destroyed” would be the best way to reduce the tension.

The New York Federation of Reform Synagogues, representing 120 Reform temples in the metropolitan area, and the New York Association of Reform Rabbis have adopted statements endorsing the Forest Hills housing program. The two groups have called for the establishment of a new committee made up of residents of the community and future tenants of the project to jointly deal with community problems and plans.

The two groups also sharply condemned threats by congregants of Forest Hills synagogues against local rabbis who have supported the Forest Hills project. The organizations said that “not only have these spiritual leaders been attacked but they have been threatened with the loss of their jobs because they dared to uphold the very principles of both Judaism and American democracy.”