The 1960s
THE CIVIL RELIGION OF AMERICAN JEWS: In his book Faith or Fear, Elliott Abrams observes:
To be a Jew in America, indeed to be a good Jew, did not and does not to most American Jews require traditional ritual observance: it no longer means praying three times daily, studying the Torah, keeping kosher, and respecting the Sabbath. Instead, it means feeling oneself a part of the “Jewish community,” giving money to that community’s institutions, and supporting the liberal and secularist prescriptions for American society that would theoretically allow American Jews to thrive. The perceived interests of the community, and the act of working to advance those interests, have been sacrelized, and have become a sort of secular religion themselves. A model Jew in America is not off in the synagogue at prayer but out at a meeting discussing a new hospital, a trip to Israel, or a new fund-raising drive.
Many Jews came to believe that charity and the pursuit of social justice was itself the heart of the Jewish religion, and donated vast sums toward causes that they felt did not threaten their Jewish identity or lack of observance, such as Israel, Holocaust commemoration, medical research, the environment, civil rights, and combating anti-Semitism. Proportionately very little funding was allocated for such Torah institutions as day schools and yeshivos.
The good works achieved by the American Jewish civic organizations have been immense, but they have failed to keep American Jews Jewish. Organizations such as Hadassah and B’nai B’rith have aging memberships, now averaging in the fifties and sixties, as younger Jews feel less of an affiliation with the Jewish causes of their parents. The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) and its federations have seen the percentage of charitable contributions of major donors drop from 70 percent to less than 30 percent. What was sown in the 1960s reaps a bitter harvest today.
BLACK ANTI-SEMITISM: Reform and secular Jewish groups were the most active of all white people in the struggle for civil rights. Ironically, victory proved a dividing point between Jews and blacks. The Black Muslims, who identified with Islam and the Arabs, became increasingly popular among African-Americans. A new emphasis on Black Power drove whites, especially Jews, from leadership positions in the civil rights movement. Equality of groups replaced the vision of equality of individuals. One had to belong to a group, and group identity was critical. This was a view entirely at odds with liberal Jews, who regarded equality as an individual right and generally shunned group affiliation.
As in Europe, Jews were seen as the oppressors of disadvantaged people. Jews were teachers in black schools, Jews owned retail stores in black neighborhoods, and Jews were the landlords of black ghetto residences. The black riots of the 1960s in major American cities, in which 90 percent of the nation’s Jews lived, seemed to single out Jewish stores for destruction. Blacks demanded proportionate access to jobs, schools, and the professions, instead of the traditional criteria of merit that had favored Jews. Ugly confrontations erupted, particularly regarding New York City teaching positions. Currently, although not approaching the intensity of the 1960s, a considerable gulf exists between the two one-time allies, most recently exacerbated by the anti-Jewish Crown Heights riot of 1991.
THE ORTHODOX WORLD: Orthodox Jewry experienced enormous growth in the 1960s. Children of Holocaust survivors reached their teen years and young adulthood during this decade. Taking advantage of opportunities denied their parents, they swelled the yeshivos and Jewish schools, setting new standards for Torah excellence in America. Many of them became scholars and teachers, while even those who entered the general job market displayed a new pride and assertiveness in their observance, replacing the defensiveness of earlier generations of American Orthodox Jews.
Lumping together diverse Orthodox groups that in Europe had little interaction, such as Hungarian Chassidim and Lithuanian Misnagdim, created a uniquely American cross-cultural fertilization that benefited both groups. Chassidic modes of dress, customs, and kashrus standards began making inroads among Misnagdim, while the Lithuanian style of Talmudic study became more popular among Chassidim, especially those who attended Lithuanian-style yeshivos. (It is interesting to note that in photographs of attendees of Lithuanian yeshivos in Europe, only the faculty wore dark garb and beards. The students dressed in light beige suits and hats, and did not grow beards. The black hat of today’s yeshivah student is a unique American innovation.)
Among the major Torah leaders in America were Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky, the Satmar rebbe, and the rebbe of Lubavitch. (Rabbi Aharon Kotler passed away in 1962.)
THE BA’AL TESHUVAH MOVEMENT: Three factors contributed to the rise of Jews brought up in a nonreligious environment turning to Torah observance. First, the new emphasis at the end of the ’60s on ethnic identity won Orthodox Jews a measure of respect. If African-Americans could proudly display symbols of their ethnicity, could not Jews do the same? If one could wear a dashiki in public and eat soul food, why could one not wear a kippah and eat kosher food?
Second, young Americans began turning away from the value system of their parents, which stressed material success, to lifestyles that satisfied their desire for inner meaning and self-discovery. Jews, who attended universities at three times the rate of the general population, were particularly susceptible to the winds of change swirling about them. While many idealistic young Jews were attracted to radical causes and Eastern religions, others found spiritual fulfillment in their own heritage.
Third, many Jews, even those secularly oriented, viewed Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War as miraculous. It strengthened their connection with the Jewish people and provided an impetus to explore Judaism as a lifestyle. While the numbers of returnees to Jewish observance was relatively small in the 1960s, the groundwork was laid for the many thousands of Jews who would discover their religion in later decades, both in the United States and in Israel.
THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION (PLO): In 1964, the PLO was founded in Jordanian Jerusalem with its goal, baldly stated, “to attain the objective of liquidating Israel.” (This was before all talk of so-called occupied territories and illegal settlements.) Its charter, adopted in 1968, declares that all of Palestine is an Arab country, and has not been amended despite the Oslo Accords that affirmed mutual recognition between the PLO and Israel. Article 6 of the charter is of great significance, stating: “The Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion will be considered Palestinians.” There are different interpretations of this clause regarding before what date Jews are to be considered normal residents of Palestine, but the upshot is the same: Jews who arrived in Israel after 1917, at the latest, and their descendants are not considered Palestinians and must leave the country. This, of course, includes the vast majority of Israel’s five million Jews.
In 1965, Yasser Arafat founded the Fatah movement in Syria, and in 1968 took control of the PLO. A spate of guerrilla attacks in the newly conquered West Bank followed, hoping to create a spontaneous uprising against Israeli rule. When this attempt failed, the PLO moved to Jordan, using the country as its power base. However, major terrorist acts, dramatic hijackings, and the intifada were still events in the future.
