Yivo Gathering Told Jewish College Courses Irrelevant to Needs of Young Jews

Jewish courses on most American college campuses are “irrelevant” to the needs of young Jews searching for Jewish identity and commitment. If such courses are to become meaningful to Jewish students, they must be moved away from their present orientation of teaching about Jews in terms of ancient history or theology, and towards teaching the history of 19th and 20th century East European Jewry where the roots of modern Jewish life lie. This view was expressed by Dr. Judah J. Shapiro, a historian and sociologist long active in Jewish communal affairs, at a luncheon held yesterday by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. More than 300 persons active on behalf of YIVO attended the luncheon, marking the 30th anniversary of YIVO’s existence in the United States and honoring Dr. Nathan Reich, active in YIVO for three decades, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Dr. Reich, Professor of Economics at Hunter College, is chairman of YIVO’s Board of Directors and its Commission on Research and Training Dr. Shapiro said that Jewish youth would be able to relate to the heritage and history of East European Jewry in the last century and a half because this period is closest both in time and historical circumstances to that of today. For this reason. Dr. Shapiro said, the YIVO Center for Advanced Jewish Studies, of which he is secretary, was established in 1968 to develop “cadres” of Jewish professors able to teach about this period. The Center gives special seminars for graduate students and provides them with consultants and source material in this field.

Dr. Martin Peretz, Assistant Professor of Social Studies at Harvard University, said that the period of most recent American Jewish history, “characterized by a sense of security about being a Jew in America without concern for the content of this Jewishness, has come to an end.” This “Jewish euphoria” was shattered by the threat to Jews’ “psychological security” from those involved in causes to which Jews, particularly youth, had committed themselves. The anxiety of Jewish youths about Israel, threatened by the “hostility and indifference” of so many American liberals and radicals, and their had experiences among blacks, in whose struggle so many Jews participated, has created a “bridge” to Jews in the community whose anxieties young Jews can begin to understand. “Blacks became role models for young Jews.” Dr. Peretz continued. Young Jews realized that if blacks, “in their act of finding their identity, are turning against us, doesn’t it make sense for us to search for our past and sense of connection with other Jews?” Being caught between a right wing inimical to Jews and a left “unable or unwilling to recognize Jews as a distinct people with a distinct identity,” has given rise to a “new introspection” among young Jews, which is likely to persist. Mr. Morton J. Merowitz, a graduate student at Yesbiva University, was awarded a prize at the luncheon for his work on Dr. Max Lilienthal, a pioneering American Jewish educator, submitted to the 21st annual YIVO Essay Contest.