The Arizona post., 1960-12-09
How Jewish Are U.S.. Students?

display an attitude of universal humani
tarianism This is something which has
developed during and after the Secono
World War, and expresses itself in three
ways: anti Communism, anti-coloniallsm
and anti-chauvinism The last mentioned
explains the young Jews lack of nationa
enthusiasm over a small Jewish state
$500 miles away. 1t also explains why
American Jews and Israelis studying ir
the United States rarely find common
language between them, the latter being
the product of highly nationalistic anc
even chauvinistic education.
It is also no wonder why most Ameri
can Jewish students take little interest lr
Jewish affairs outside their communities
Their Jewish birthright does not generate
feelings of mutual links with other Jews
They may display sympathy for those who
suffer privations, but it will be equal ir
measure and degree to their sympathy for
say, the famine stricken Indians. The ele
ment of brotherhood is distinctly lacking
Like their parents. the American Jewish
students donate far more energy and mon
ey to general charities as opposed to spe
officially Jewish ones.
We are thus confronted with the old
question. How does the JeWiShness eX
press itself? The answer in my view
is that it does so "organizationally." The
student lives his student life in Jewish
organizational framework He belongs to
a Jewish fraternity is member of Hill
lei (active or passive) joins Jewish social
circles where he meets other Jews and
JeWeSSeS who are themselves a part of the
general Jewish organiZational set-up.
What differentiates these groupings
from their non-JeWiSh counterpartS? The
answer is: Nothing in particular" The
Jewish student shuns isolation, seeking as
he does to be a part of the general group
and as a result camouflageS Jewish forms
by which his group identity might be iden-
titled. I was told of the opposition stu
dents display to the lighting of the can
delabra in Jewish fraternities during the
Chanukah festival Christmas tree,
however, is popularly accepted, not as a
Christian symbol, of course, but as sea
sonal demonstration of brotherhood and
goodwill.
All this need not add up to aSSimila-
ton. It is fact that the statistics on in
termarriage are not too frightening, and it
is equally true that non-Jewish student
circles do not encourage the acceptance of
Jewish students into their midst.
What we find then, is not assimila-
ton but acculturation, being the popular
adoption of outward forms which need not
necessarily corrode the group feeling of
Identity This is a phenomenon common
to all minority groups in the United States,
and is a part of the great social melting
process which results from the over
whelming pressure of the American way
of life. The Jewish Students indeed the
whole Jewish community, is caught up in
this process and, to a great extent, help
it along.
1t is no wonder, then, that most Jew
ish students, probably most American
Jews, give the word Jew primarily bio
logical connotation, one which has a thin
religious cultural veneer 1t is hardly ne
cesary to dwell on the dangers inherent
in this situation in terms of the general
Jewish future in the United States.