 Winter 2006 To the Editors: In Samuel G. Freedman's essay, "Philip Roth and the Great American Nightmare" (Azure 20, Spring 2005), he lumps together, as he describes them, "the so-called 'defense organizations' for American Jewry," and then proceeds to accuse them of a litany of misdeeds, including, above all, "the fetishizing of anti-Semitism." In essence, he charges these organizations with an inability to accept the good news of a country that has marginalized anti-Semitism and, worse, with continuing to peddle fear and thus preying on the latent anxieties of American Jews. It is, he asserts, "a self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing exaggeration of risk." To begin with, I am surprised that a respected observer of the American Jewish scene would make the mistake of talking about the various organizations as if they were indistinguishable from one another. In reality, they are distinguishable, just as universities, though all committed to the common goal of education, are not identical. Needless to say, I can only speak for my own organization. The American Jewish Committee is not in the fear-mongering business. Our domestic agenda is comprised of three parts and "fetishizing" anti-Semitism does not figure in any of them. First, the biggest danger to American Jewry today, we believe, is posed not by external threats, but rather by internal challenges. We are hemorrhaging as a people. Our numbers, both in absolute and proportional terms, are static at best, declining at worst. Ignorance and indifference about the richness and contemporary relevance of our heritage abound. And while there is also good news to report on thriving synagogues, oversubscribed day schools, and vibrant adult education programs, this cannot mask the difficulties we face in large segments of the community. That is why the American Jewish Committee established a Jewish Communal Affairs Department more than four decades ago. The goals of the department have remained constant: to study trends in American Jewish life, enhance appreciation of the joys of being Jewish, and encourage a greater sense of connection among Jews in the United States and between them and Jews worldwide. Second, much of our work is focused on intergroup relations. This has always been a priority for us, but all the more so with the accelerating pace of socio-demographic change in the United States. We want to be certain that the glue of American democratic pluralism holds strong for the benefit of all, that mutual respect, not mutual rancor, prevails, and that the American Jewish community has potential coalition partners on issues of consequence. That requires the constant give-and-take of interfaith and interethnic diplomacy. And third, yes, we keep an eye on potential external threats to the security and well-being of American Jewry, and make no apology for it. We fully recognize the coming of age of American Jewry, including the nomination of Senator Joseph Lieberman in 2000, electoral successes of (Jewish) candidates in states with few, if any, Jews, and the shattering of the glass ceiling in Fortune 500 companies and top-notch universities. Indeed, we (and our sister agencies) have devoted much of our effort over the decades to helping foster just such a climate of acceptance. Yet, we cannot simply declare anti-Semitism dead, for it is not. Being alert does not mean being alarmist; it means being attuned to currents at hand, continuing our many programs in prejudice reduction, conducting research, and always bearing in mind that things can change-for better or worse. Just a few years ago, French Jews felt fully integrated and totally at home in France, despite occasional preoccupation with the extreme right-wing National Front Party. Now, as another article in the same issue of Azure reports, there is a sense of anxiety about the future, after a four-year spate of hundreds of documented attacks. Could it happen in the United States? Hopefully not. But surely that does not allow for complacency either. David A. Harris |
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