Seven rabbis have quit the Reconstructionist movement and a number of its synagogues are discussing responses since the Reconstructionists announced a new policy allowing rabbis to marry outside the Jewish faith. Perhaps I can help those in the Reconstructionist movement better understand what has transpired by setting their decision within the context of recent American Jewish history.
Remember Tillie Edelstein? Sure you do. You knew her as Gertrude Berg.
Born in 1899 and raised in Harlem she began her acting career during summers at her father’s Catskills hotel, “Fleischmann’s” creating shows for the guests’ children. She married Lewis Berg, an English born Jewish engineer, changed her first name to Gertrude, and a few years later began writing radio scripts. Her creation, “The Rise of the Goldbergs” enjoyed a 17-year run second only to “Amos ‘n’ Andy,”
In 1949, Berg convinced CBS executives to broadcast “The Goldbergs” on television, TV’s first family sitcom. She played the lead role, Molly Goldberg, the matriarch of a typical Jewish family. Her TV audience was treated to the day-to-day trials and tribulations of the Goldberg family and on one show the first Seder ever broadcast on TV. Molly dealt with all the issues a Jewish family of the day confronted, including a rock thrown through their window during the Seder, with intelligence and balance. A huge success, “The Goldbergs” was eventually canceled. It was but one of the victims of McCarthyism – the Communist scare that plagued the entertainment industry of the day.
An infamous moment in Ms. Berg’s otherwise sterling acting career occurred in her 1959 appearance on TV’s “The Ed Sullivan Show” when during her standup comedy routine Berg described her father’s purchase of what he dubbed a “Hanukah bush” (actually a Christmas tree.).The response from the Jewish community was loud and clear. She was condemned for mocking the Jewish People and Judaism. Not quite two decades after the close of World War II, most Jews of the day saw the Christmas tree as a symbol of a Christendom which was for the most part mute while the cattle cars of Germany rolled on transporting millions of Jews to their deaths in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. With the loss of a third of the world’s Jews, the display of a Christmas tree was an acceptance of assimilation gone awry – the completion of Hitler’s annihilation of the Jewish people. It left an indelible negative mark upon an otherwise amazingly successful, and in some ways, courageous career.
In 1965, The Commission on Synagogue Relations of the New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies held a conference on the topic of Intermarriage. One element of this conference was the following:
“Intermarriage: From a Religio-Ethnic Perspective
By Mordecai M. Kaplan, Herschel Schacter
Intermarriage is a threat to Jewish continuity, an ailment that should be treated “pathologically.” Since a person’s religio-ethnic group is the source of his values, intramarriage is more likely to be successful than intermarriage. Therefore, desegregation of Jews and acceptance of citizenship is one of the ultimate causes for increased intermarriage. It weakens the Jew’s possibility to embrace his Jewish heritage. Jewry must be directed to life of organic Jewish communities. A following discussion of this matter emphasizes the fact that today the question “Who is a Jew” is not sufficient. The question “Why to be a Jew?” must be answered as well, through its aspects and implications on modern Jewry. Through the discussion, some tensions were revealed between Reconstructionist and Orthodox approaches to Judaism.” (Taken From “Conference on Intermarriage”, pages 1 through 26)
I am reminded of these tidbits from Jewish history, when considering the recent decision of the Reconstructionist movement to accept rabbinical students who are in relationship with non-Jews. “Today’s announcement is a decision by our faculty about what should or should not hold someone back from becoming a rabbi,” said Reconstructionist Rabbinical College President Deborah Waxman, of the faculty’s vote, which was announced on September 30th. “Our deliberations, heavily influenced through consultation with alumni, congregations and students, have simultaneously led us to reaffirm that all rabbinical candidates must model commitment to Judaism in their commun
