By Rabbi Avi Shafran
Last December, an article appeared on the front page of a national Jewish weekly that sought to implicate the largest yeshiva in the United States – and by association, the entire “ultra-Orthodox” world – for its connection to what the piece’s headline called an “anti-Gentile book.”
The book in question, self-published with a run of several hundred copies, had indeed been written by an alumnus of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J, and carried approbations from revered rabbinical figures at that institution, a de rigeur practice for books published by alumni. Whatever the book’s merits or demerits, though, the newspaper article’s characterization of it was far off the mark, caricature bordering on (if not constituting) libel.
To be sure, the book’s topic, Jewish religious tradition’s understanding of Jewish “chosenness” and what it means to Jews living within non-Jewish cultures, is a delicate one. It is something more properly discussed with reverence and care in the study halls of Jewish academia or the pages of scholarly Torah journals than dealt with sensationally or superficially on the front pages of popular Anglo-Jewish media – or, for that matter, in an opinion column like this. Suffice it to note that Jewish tradition does indeed consider the Jewish people special.
But to characterize the book’s take on that belief, as the article’s opening paragraph did, as “a race-based theory of Jewish supremacy,” as the claim that Jews constitute a “separate, genetically superior species,” is excruciatingly overwrought. (Yes, Virginia, membership in the Jewish people is usually, although certainly not always, a matter of genetics, and yes, Jewish chosenness is a historic source of Jewish pride; but its upshot is “a light unto the nations,” not a Master Race.) Predictably, the newspaper article has been widely posted on rabidly anti-Semitic websites.
The purple prose, as it happened, clearly tipped the writer’s hand, foreshadowing not only further jaundiced descriptions but outright fabrications.
Like the article’s claim that the book mandates that Jews should employ “deception” and “duplicity” in dealing with non-Jews. Not a single passage in the book remotely says anything of the sort. Nor does any imply, as the article also claimed, that the “terribly harsh treatment of the pagan inhabitants of ancient Canaan… ought to be applied to [our] non-Jewish neighbors in America.” In reality, the book devotes an entire chapter to the importance of Jewish deference to non-Jews and of avoiding confrontation with Gentile neighbors.
The article accurately notes that the book “draws on an array of racist sources ranging from medieval theological tracts to the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche to the words of Nazi figures,” but implies that those sources are somehow cited approvingly. The book, however, employs them merely to make the author’s case that anti-Semitism at its core reflects resentment for the special spiritual status of Jews.
The essential outrage of the newspaper article, as it happens, runs considerably deeper than the subtle disparagements and blatant falsehoods with which it is riddled. It lies in the very fact that the article – a news report, after all, not an opinion column – was vetted by the paper’s editors and accepted for publication in the first place. Because its author (as if his report itself weren’t proof enough) is hardly an objective observer of haredim. An academic who has described himself as having followed a “trajectory from Orthodox Judaism to a more liberal, secular Jewish identity,” he has publicly described the “yeshiva world” as “the Jewish equivalent of the Taliban.”
Can someone who bears animus for a certain population really be expected to objectively report on the subject of his ire? Would any reputable news organization assign a Palestinian political activist to cover a story about a Jewish West Bank community? An anti-Catholic minister to cover a Vatican conclave? For that matter, James Carville to cover the Republican National Convention; or Karl Rove, the Democratic? One imagines such matters are covered in Journalism 101.
And yet, remarkably, it is not unusual for major Jewish media – and not only the newspaper that published the outlandish article – to disregard the deep personal feelings some of their correspondents may harbor, and have them report on a community they distrust or even despise: the Orthodox.
There are exceptions, without question, fine and fair reporters for Jewish media who have no bones to pick and no frustrations to vent; who endeavor, and succeed, to file objective and accurate stories. But the exceptions don’t negate the unfortunate rule.
One natural address for tackling the disturbing ethical problem of bias in Jewish reportage would be the American Jewish Press Association, a national organization of Jewish journalists that does wonderful work. AJPA keeps its members abreast of important developments in the field and offers other resources to editors and reporters. It also organizes annual conferences that include interesting sessions and speakers. Its most recent conference several weeks ago in Atlanta, which I attended, was no exception.
But one aspect of the AJPA conference this year stands as a depressing but telling commentary on the state of contemporary Jewish journalism. Not only was the newspaper article about the “anti-Gentile” book not publicly exposed as an irresponsible hatchet job.
It was awarded a prize, for “Excellence in News Reporting.”
AM ECHAD RESOURCES
[Rabbi Avi Shafran is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.]
Me writes: Agudath Israel works hand in hand with the Catholic Church to protect abusive clergy.
see (not on-line):
Rabbis Back Law To Report Child Abuse
By Rachel Donadio
The Forward (NY)
March 29,2002 p. 3
excerpts:
With the exception of a major ultra-Orthodox organization, rabbinical groups of all denominations say they support proposed legislation in New York State that would require clergy to report allegations of child abuse.
...
The ultra-Orthodox group Agudath Israel of America, however, said it was wary of the legislation, which would require clergy to "report to authorities whenever they have reasonable cause to believe a child has been
abused," according to a March 19 statement by Morgenthau.
...
Last summer, Aguda and the Catholic Archdiocese of New York joined forces to oppose a proposed bill in the City Council that would have required all schools, including parochial schools, to file a police report about any criminal act committed by students or staff.
...
Steven I. Weiss' article in the Forward addresses all of Rabbi Avi Shafran's points.
http://forward.com/issues/2004/04.01.16/news9.lakewood.html
...
After reading Grama's book, Rabbi Yosef Blau, a leading rabbinic counselor at Yeshiva University, sent the Forward a letter arguing that the newspaper had accurately translated the work (please see Page 10). But, he added, Grama "is not an advocate of acting against the gentile. On the contrary, his message is the need to separate from a hostile, intrinsically antisemitic world."
Still, Blau wrote, the "possibility exists" that Jewish extremists in Israel could use the text to "justify horrendous behavior." He suggested that American scholars such as Grama may be unaware of the possible impact of such writings in today's charged atmosphere.
...
The original article in question cab be found at:
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.12.19/news4a.html
It seems to me the only "irresponsible hatchet job" that needs exposing is that of Rabbi Avi Shafran here.
Agudath Israel should take a good long look at itself, its leadership and its agenda. I recommend others do so as well.
see also:
http://www.forward.com/issues/2004/04.01.16/oped4.html
