^jiday, September 13^ 1968
JEWISH WESTERN BULXETIN
Page 3
The Anglo-Jewish academic
By LIONEL KOCHAN
Idiior'is Note — Dr. Kochan ILeciurer in Modern History at ^inburgh University, Scotland, article appeared in The ^ndon Jewish Chronicle.
lA. great deal has recently been
|itten about the Anglo-Jewish
jdent; relatively little, how-
about the Anglo-Jewish
idemic. These few remarks,
m, are an attempt to redress
balance. We all know what
icky Jim was like. But what
we know of his Jewish coun-3art, Lucky Yankl?
jHe is, of course, neither hu-jrous nor affluent enough to irrant the formation of a JPA joup. For all that, his pre-ce is a significant feature of contemporary Jewish scene
[First of all, however, to avoic Jsunderstanding, let us try to fswer this question: is it rea-lable to argue that the Anglo-rish academic does not, in :t, exist? How, it will be said, fn you attach the same label to Fellow of All Souls and to temporary assistant lecturer Hedbrick?
the Anglo-Jewish academic as a and cultural environmeui lo^efore
recognizable
[How can you group under the le category men whose spell interests range, shall we |y, from the etymological basis Middle High Gierman to the foblems of low temperature iysics, from the history of the iddie years of the reign of larles V to the occupational ructure of a suburb in North-ipton?
I Yet even these and no doubt juntless other individual differ-\ces cannot entirely obliterate icky Yankl's existence. There Ml remains a number of com-)n characteristics, which, alth-^gh they may not withstand a rict sociological scrutiny, do ike it meaningful to talk of
more or less recognizable entity.
What are these characteristics? In the first place. Lucky Yankl is probably something of 3 pioneer. The academic profession is the last of the major professions to be followed in any number by young Jews. One would hazard a guess and say that only since the war has it made any great appeal as a career. There were, of course, outstanding exceptions during the inter-war period — one thinks automatically of such personalities as Alexander, Brodetsky, Namier — but as a general rule it seems undeniable that the academic profession was comparatively spurned in those prewar days.
FjERUSALEM. — Minister of 'riculture Moshe Dayan with-3W his threat of resigning f roin le Cabinet, and agreed to keep [s pbst in the Government-af-a series of conferences with }ime Minister Levi Eshkol and Inhas Sapir. The latter holds le portfolios of Minister of Fin-ice and Minister of Commerce |d Industry.
[The parleys produced agree-3nt on several major points [ised bv Dr. Dayan prior to his reat last week that he would lally quit today. One of lese issues was a demand for Dser liaison between the Agri-ilture Ministry and the coun-
Why should this have been so? The answer, I believe, suggests another characteristic of the Anglo-Jewish academic. In all probability; he (or she) is the offspring of parents who settled in this country in the successive waves of immigration from the 1880's onwards. In other words, the academic is likely to be first- or second-generation British. The older Anglo-Jewish families, again with notable exceptions, have produced proportionately fewer entrants to the profession.
This is all the more surprising, as a certain time-lag is inevitable before a Jewish community, anywhere, becomes sufficiently acclimatized and attuned to the intellectual atmosphere of its chosen environment to be able to venture forth with con-idence into that environment. Commerce, shall we say, is in-ernational and abstract in a way hat the study of literature *r history or philosophy is not. Most people will require to have behind them a generation or more of uninterrupted contact with the relevant intellectual
T QUIT i
try's security apparatus. Another
revolved about a demand l^y
Mr. Dayan that his Ministry be
given certain prerogatives, iji-
cluding the right to fix prices
of agricultural products and to have a hand in food planning and imports.
After his meetings with Mr. Eshkol and Mr. Sapir, Mr. Dayan said that he has obtained the Premier's "clarification" of the disputed issues, and would be able, therefore, to respond to Mr. Eshkol's request that he stay on in the Cabinet. Mr. Eshkol has opposed Mr. Dayan's resignation vigorously.
mOUS PIANIST AT HEBREW U.
World-famous pianist Arthur Rubenstein recently visited the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. At a luncheon given in his honour, Mr. Rubenstein (leit) chats with Eliyahu Elatb„ President of the Hebrew University and with Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
they can have absorbed sufficient of its intangibles to appreciate, for example, the literature or the philosophy produced as part of that cultural environment.
The existence of this time-lag no doubt helps to explain the relative distribution of academics as between the various faculties. Lucky Yankl is far more likely to be engaged in one of the more abstract branches of knowledge, i.e., those less dependent on their relationship to a particular culture. He will tend to be a physicist rather than a sociologist, a biologist rather than a historian, a medical research worker rather than a lecturer in English literature. There can be no doubt that the ratio of Jews to non-Jews is much higher in science and medicine than it is in the arts faculties. The fact that Jewish Nobel Prize winners are also predominantly scientists is a further significant pointer in the same direction.
JUDAISM
The last point I would like to touch on is the relationship of the Anglo-Jewish academic to Judaism. This is a most complex affair. Here there is no doubt a great difference again between arts men and scientists. The latter tend to go to extremes they will either be utterly disinterested . or strictly Orthodox. As an index of this latter characteristic it is noteAvarthy that a Society for Orthodox ^Jewish Scientists has recently been formed, affiliated to the American organization of the same name.
Arts men, on the other hand, tend to be neither so indifferent
nor so attached to Judaism. They will be lukewarm. It is difficult to imagine a Society of Orthodox Jewish Sociologists or of Orthodox Jewish Lawyers. But the limitations of this attitude must also be borne in mind. If Lucky Yankl, a lecturer in sociology, say, is not Orthodox, he is also not totally oblivious to the claims of Judaism. He himself may not attend synagogue more than half a dozen times a year, but it is more than likely that his children will attend cheder or have private Hebrew
lessons; and his sons will cele- j Jewry these few remarks cannot brate their Bar-Mitzvah in the be much more than shots in the traditional fashion. His wife dark. But they will bave serv-may riot shop in the local kosher ed their purpose if they ehcour-butchers, but she may well hold age further investigation.
some sort of open house for Jewish students at her husband's university, particularly if the local community is small.
Further testimony to the concern for things Jewish was the widespread academic interest in the headship of Jews' College. It is true that this might have been considered almost a professional matter. Nevertheless, even when this factor is subtracted, there still remains a considerable substratum of interest.
Given our present ignorance of so many aspects of Anglo-
He Enrolled 406 in Bnal B'rith
WASHINGTON-David J. Young of Cincinnati Cccnter), «n otternoy who onrellcd 404 B'nai B'rith members—a record number—to win the orgoniiotion't annual member<k •hip contest, receives congratulations from Label A. Katz, president of B'nai fritH (left), and Dr. William Wexler of Savannah, chairman of its Membership Cabinen Young won a trip for two to Paris. A new campaign, focused on the organizatien'4 120th anniversary year« begins in October with « goal tH 50,000 member^
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