Jews Against Zionism: The American Council for Judaism, 1942-1948

284 Pages·1990·48.3 MB·English

by  Thomas A. Kolsky

Jews
Against
Zionism
The American Council
for Judaism,
1942-1948
Copyrighted Material
Copyrighted Material
THO MAS A. K 0 L SKY
Jews
Against
Zionism
The American Council
for Judaism,
1942-1948
Temple University Press
Philadelphia
Copyrighted Material
Temple University Press, Philadelphia 19122
Copyright © 1990 by Temple University. All rights reserved
Published 1990
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984 S
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publieation Data
Kolsky, Thomas A.
Jews against Zionism: the American Council for Judaism, 1942-1948
Thomas A. Kolsky.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references
ISBN 0-87722-694-6 (alk. paper)
1. American Council for Judaism-History. 2. Zionism
Controversialliterature--History and criticism. 3. Jews-United States-Politics
and government. 4. Zionism and Judaism.
I. Title.
DSI49.AIK65 1990
320.5'4095694--dc20 89-27891
ClP
Copyrighted Material
For Amy Daliah
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Copyrighted Material
Contents
Preface
ix
CHAPTER 1
Zionism and Its Reform Jewish Critics
in America Before World War II
1
CHAPTER 2
The Rebellion of the Dissident Reform Rabbis
37
CHAPTER J
The Formation of the American Council for Judaism
57
CHAPTER 4
The Council's Wartime Anti,Zionist Campaign
87
CHAPTER 5
Between War and Peace
107
CHAPTER 6
The Search for Compromise in Palestine
129
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VII
Contents
CHAPTER 7
The Emergence of Israel
159
Epilogue and Conclusion
189
Appendix
203
Notes
213
Bibliographical Note
253
Index
257
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viii
Preface
The American Council for Judaism was the only American Jewish
organization ever formed for the specific purpose of fighting Zionism and
opposing the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. In the 1940s,
when the Zionists were engaged in a decisive struggle to create a Jewish
state, the Council stood as their most formidable opponent within the
Jewish community.
Much has been written about the history of American Zionism, with
Melvin Urofsky's American Zionism from Herzl to the Holocaust and We Are
One! providing a thorough survey of the movement. But no comprehensive
I
history of the Council and its activities in the 1940s has been written to
date. The major works on the growth of American Zionism, including
Urofsky's, have given the Council only marginal attention. My essay, "The
Opposition to Zionism: The American Council for Judaism Under the
Leadership of Rabbi Louis Wolsey and Lessing Rosenwald," in Philadelphia
Jewish Life, 1940-1985, edited by Murray Friedman, is a brief overview of
the formation and the main phases of the history of the organization. 2 Elmer
Berger, the central figure in the Council's history, presents a highly candid
personal account of the organization in Memoirs of an Anti-Zionist Jew. 3
However, besides being too brief, Berger's story, though told frankly, is not
free of partisan bias. In short, the story of the American Council for Judaism
has remained largely untold.
Throughout my research and writing I have tried to remain impartial.
My basic attitude toward the American Council for Judaism has been that
its philosophy is as legitimate as that of the Zionists. Both Zionism and
Jewish anti-Zionism are products of the powerful historical forces that have
shaped the modem Jewish experience.
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the help 1h ave received while
working on this project. The staffs of the National Archives in Washing
ton, D. C. , the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York,
and the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, offered me
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ix