1. A Case Study in Black-Jewish Relations or 'The Only Thing Wrong With Jews is That They Just Ain't Jewish Enough'.
- Author
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Fishman, Howard and Fishman, Walda Katz
- Abstract
This paper examines the results of and the response to a seminar in black-Jewish relations which was offered to a group of Jewish youth in a major, urban, conservative synagogue. A pre and post seminar instrument was administered to measure various dimensions of social attitudes, level of socio-cultural and ritual identification with Judaism and the Jewish community, social distance perceptions, and racial attitudes. The seminar experience was composed of twelve two-hour sessions. The staff included two Jewish males, a black male, a Jewish female, and a black female. Readings were assigned and discussions were focused on the experiences of the black and Jewish communities in America, the history of black-Jewish relations, differing black and Jewish perceptions, and specific issues such as the Middle East situation, the civil rights movement and black power, and the New York City school crisis. The pre and post seminar scores of the participants' racial attitudes provide evidence which supports the hypothesis of positive change. Though the study was initially designed to measure changes in the racial attitudes of seminar participants, the study itself, as well as the seminar content and the seminar leaders, became objects of controversy. This paper includes an analysis of the congregational leadership's reaction to the program. It is suggested that the pseudo-scientific, pseudo-objective, and fundamentally self-protective response exhibited typifies the reactions of Jewish communal leadership to certain aspects of Jewish-black relations. (Author/AM)
- Published
- 1977