6733 —נגד הצעת "יהודי בלתי מזדהה": אחדות העם, והצורך בדת דוקא בארץ ישראל

B"H, 28 Adar I, 5719
Brooklyn, N.Y.

To Mr. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen, may he live long,
known as Prof. Katz^[1]

Shalom u'Vrachah!

Many thanks for your kind attention in sending me a copy of your article "The Non-Identifying Jew"^[2], as well as its summary in the Jewish Forum^[3].

Asking your pardon, and although I think my words will not surprise you^[4], I am compelled to express my opinion, which is not in agreement with yours. My reasons and arguments stem from the recognition of how great the necessity is to preserve the unity of our people, on which you too will of course agree with me. For if in all times there was a vital need to defend the unity of the nation, how much more so in our era, which is by all opinions an era of crisis, and consequently an era of confusion of minds and blurring of values; and at such a time the danger of compromises and the like is many times greater – which is also emphasized by the multitude of opinions and systems that have sprung up and blossomed overnight.

– As in every matter, if you wish to understand the nature of some system, "come and see"^[5] its extreme expressions. Even if its extremism has been accepted only by a minority which seemingly carries no weight, nevertheless an extreme phenomenon brings out the direction and aim of the system, at any rate the possible consequences bound up with it if no remedy is found in time.

I mean the slogan that was current in certain circles, namely, that the Jewry of the Land of Israel and the Jewry of the Diaspora are two different worlds – the extreme of which view was brought out in the Canaanite movement^[6]. –

Proceeding from this approach, in my opinion the proposal to place the title "Jew" (with whatever adjective it may be) in the possession of members of the nations of the world, whom our tradition, a tradition of thousands of years, has identified absolutely as strangers [to the point that they are permitted to transgress the whole Torah (except for the seven Noahide commandments)^[7] and no one protests, and their betrothals do not take effect^[8], etc., etc.] – this makes a breach into the abyss and a rift whose consequences cannot be estimated. And even if the title "Jew" is limited by adding the qualifier "non-identifying", there will be those who stress the title and those who stress the qualifier; but what is common to both is that the title "Jew" has left the private domain of our people for the public domain, and "its owner is not with it", etc.^[9]

Moreover, even if in place of the title "Jew" a parallel secular title were used, the same danger exists, for the reason given: when something becomes the property of the many, its ownership is forfeited.

What follows from the above: everyone to whom the unity of the Jewish people is dear, even from circles that have no interest in religion, must defend it with all firmness, without giving room for weakening and compromise in it. Especially since whoever considers the truth of the matter must admit that any compromise between systems is not a way to bring peace and unity closer; on the contrary, it lays the foundation for constant friction, unceasing and ever growing.

Incidentally, in my opinion a great wrong was done by choosing the title "Israel" and "Israelis", so that the Arabs and the Christians, etc., were thereby included as citizens of "Israel" and "Israelis"; my reason is understood from the above.

Another point to emphasize, contrary to the opinion of those who err in thinking that religion matters for preserving our existence only in the Diaspora, whereas for those who settle in the Land of Israel language, culture and the land, etc., suffice.

In my opinion, quite the opposite: the necessity of religion in the Land of Israel is even greater than in the Diaspora. For if abroad there is the danger of assimilation and absorption, to the point that "they are lost from among the congregation", G‑d forbid^[10], in the Land of Israel the view could arise, as above, that Christians and Muslims, etc., identify as members of the people of Israel, may G‑d save us, since they live in the land, speak Hebrew, are educated in the same schools, live in its culture, etc. And as experience has shown even when the Holy Temple stood, "those who destroyed you and laid you waste"^[11] came from within.

Surely, if you have any comments on all of the above^[12], I will be glad to receive them.

May it be G‑d's will that at long last the promise be fulfilled: "And they will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their abominations and with all their transgressions, etc. And they shall be My people, and I will be their G‑d, etc. And they shall walk in My ordinances, and observe My statutes and do them" – which is the introduction to the following verse, "And they shall dwell on the land, etc., they and their children and their children's children forever", up to "And the nations shall know that I am G‑d, Who sanctifies Israel" (Yechezkel, ch. 37)^[13].

On this occasion I express to you my warm thanks for giving me the opportunity to go through the manuscript "Buch Vayikra"; enclosed on a separate sheet^[14] is a list of the discourses in it that have already been printed, etc. – in gratitude.

With respect and blessing.

Publisher's notes

Printed in Likkutei Sichos vol. 24, p. 383, and completed from the secretariat's copy.

Avraham Yitzchak… Katz (אברהם יצחק שי'.. כ"ץ): Further letters to him: above, vol. 15, letter 5616, and the references in the notes there. Below, letter 6806.

The title "Jew" (התואר "יהודי"): See also above, letter 6714 (to Ben-Gurion, the formal reply on registration), and the references in its notes.

Notes

1. Prof. Katz (פרופ' כ"ץ): R. Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Katz (Abraham I. Katsh), founder of the Department of Hebrew Language and Education at New York University, who on a journey to the Soviet Union in 1956 obtained the microfilming there of many Hebrew manuscripts, and published a catalogue of them. The Rebbe thanked him for the catalogue he sent and commented on it (vol. 15, letter 5616). Continuing this letter: letter 6806 below (11 Nissan 5719).

2. "The Non-Identifying Jew" ("יהודי בלתי מזדהה"): His proposal to solve the question of registering children whose mother is not Jewish and has not converted, by registering them as "Jew" with an addition – "non-identifying Jew" (in the Rebbe's words in letter 6806 below: "the proposal to solve the question of registering children whose mother is not Jewish and did not convert by an additional title… including the proposal of registration under the title 'non-identifying Jew'"). This was the question that Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion put to the Sages of Israel, which the Rebbe answered in letters 6714–6715 (and see vol. 18, letter 6624 above).

3. The Jewish Forum ("דז'ואיש פארום"): The name of an English-language Jewish periodical.

4. You (כ'): כ' = כבודו, "your honor".

5. "Come and see" (תא חזי): Aramaic, the idiom of the Zohar.

6. The Canaanite movement (תנועת הכנענים): א"י = ארץ ישראל. A movement founded by the poet Yonatan Ratosh in 1939, which rejected both religion and Jewish nationalism.

7. Except for the seven Noahide commandments (לבד ז' מצוות בני נח): They are commanded only in seven commandments, as in Sanhedrin 56a: תנו רבנן: שבע מצות נצטוו בני נח: דינין, וברכת השם, ע"ז, גילוי עריות, ושפיכות דמים, וגזל, ואבר מן החי, "Our Rabbis taught: the children of Noach were commanded seven commandments: courts of law, [not] blessing the Name, idolatry, forbidden relations, bloodshed, robbery, and a limb from a living animal."

8. Their betrothals do not take effect (קידושיהן אין תופסים): Kiddushin 68b: נכרית מנלן? אמר קרא (דברים ז, ג) לא תתחתן בם – אשכחנא דלא תפסי בה קידושי, "From where do we know this of a non-Jewish woman? The verse says (Devarim 7:3) 'You shall not intermarry with them' – we have found that betrothal does not take effect with her."

9. "Its owner is not with it" (ובעליו אין עמו): The language of the verse on a borrower, Shemos 22:13: וכי ישאל איש מעם רעהו ונשבר או מת, בעליו אין עמו – שלם ישלם, "If a man borrows from his fellow and it is broken or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely pay"; and the Rebbe adds "etc." When the title "Jew" leaves the private domain of our people for the public domain, its owner is no longer with it to guard it.

10. "They are lost from among the congregation" (ויאבדו מתוך הקהל): The language of the verse on Korach and his company, Bamidbar 16:33: ויאבדו מתוך הקהל. חו"ל = חוץ לארץ, "abroad"; ח"ו = חס ושלום, "G‑d forbid".

11. "Those who destroyed you and laid you waste" (מהרסייך ומחריביך): From Yeshayahu 49:17: מהרסיך ומחריביך ממך יצאו, "Those who destroyed you and laid you waste shall go forth from you." The Rebbe writes "came from within": even in the time of the Temple, the destroyers came from within the people itself.

12. All of the above (כהנ"ל): כהנ"ל = כל הנ"ל.

13. Yechezkel, ch. 37 (יחזקאל, סי' ל"ז): The verses (Yechezkel 37:23–28): ולא יטמאו עוד בגלוליהם ובשקוציהם ובכל פשעיהם… והיו לי לעם ואני אהיה להם לאלהים. ועבדי דוד מלך עליהם… ובמשפטי ילכו וחקתי ישמרו ועשו אותם. וישבו על הארץ… וישבו עליה המה ובניהם ובני בניהם עד עולם… וידעו הגוים כי אני ה' מקדש את ישראל בהיות מקדשי בתוכם לעולם, "And they will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their abominations and with all their transgressions… and they shall be My people, and I will be their G‑d. And My servant David shall be king over them… and they shall walk in My ordinances and observe My statutes and do them. And they shall dwell on the land… they and their children and their children's children forever… And the nations shall know that I am G‑d, Who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever." Separation from idols and abominations, and keeping the ordinances and statutes, are the introduction to dwelling on the land forever.

14. The manuscript… on a separate sheet (הכת"י… בפ"ע): הכת"י = כתב היד, "the manuscript"; בפ"ע = בפני עצמו, "separate". Continuing this, in letter 6806 below the Rebbe thanked him "for lending me the second booklet, which is returned separately, together with a list of the discourses and letters in it which, to my recollection, have already been printed".

Summary

Thanking the recipient for his article proposing to register children of a non-Jewish mother as "non-identifying Jews", the Rebbe firmly disagrees: placing the title "Jew" in the hands of non-Jews breaches the unity of the Jewish people, which must be defended without compromise; and religion is even more necessary in the Land of Israel than in the Diaspora. He also thanks him for the loan of a manuscript containing discourses.