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Friday, September 12, 1958
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Pare Fifteen
Portrait of a Southern Community
This is an account of my ex
periences as the rabbi of a small
Southern Jewish communitiy
which I served for nearly six
eight
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By JOEL C. DOBIN
CONGRESS WEEKLY
months. My experiences were not
particularly happy ones and I
suppose the community will find
my version of its life objection
able. Neverthless, I believe that
this account can serve a useful
purpose by helping Northern
Jews to understand both the
problem of the Jew in the South
and the problem of the rabbis
who serve Southern communi
ties.
To understand fully the import
of my experiences it is necessary
to distinguish between two types
of Southern communities — the
large metropolitan centers, such
as Atlanta or New Orleans,
Memphis or Miami, and the
smaller urban communities. In
the larger cities one finds that
liberal opinion will enjoy some
support and that a positive ap
proach to Jewish life will find
adherents. Unfortunately, this is
not the case with the isolated
Jewish community in the hinter
lands.
The city in which I served as
rabbi has a population of 40,000.
It is the largest community in
a predominatlv agricultural area.
Close to one-third of the popula
tion is Negro and the Jewish
community roster lists two hun
dred names. The Christian com
munity is overwhelmingly funda
mentalist, both Baptist and Meth
odist, with a large Catholic
minority.
The composition of the Jewish
community itself is interesting.
The congregational list, publish
ed for the year 1957 by the Sis
terhood, reveals 200 different
names as members. However,
this list is apt to be deceptive
inasmuch as it does not reflect
the actual degree and strength of
affiliation with the congregation.
Thus, twenty-two of those listed
as members of the congregation
do not live in the city. They re
side in the small, outlying com
munities as far as sixty miles
distant and exercise little more
than the privilege of attendance
at High Holy Day services and
the services of the rabbi in times
of need. Moreover, fifty-one of
those named are single women,
most of them widowed. There
are also seventeen single men
listed as members, most of them
widowers, with verv few young
men among them. Thus there are
only 110 family memberships in
the community.
My experiences must be view
ed against this background — a
small Jewish community, isolat
ed from other Jewish communi
ties and from centers of culture,
numbering a few professional
people and mostly merchants
whose livelihoods depend upon
the goodwill of a predominently
agricultural population, religi
ously fundamentalist and pro
foundly prejudiced. This Jewish
community, furthermore, is
shrinking through the loss of
both its aged and its youth, a
loss not being balanced by any
new influx of Jewish families
into the area.
I arrived in this community in
May, 1957 and immediately as
sumed my duties as rabbi, con
ducting services throughout the
summer and organizing a reli
gious school. I was aware that I
mfght encounter some difficul
ties so that before accepting the
pulpit I obtained a clear under
standing that the pulpit was to
be a free pulpit, that no sub
jects were taboo, that no censor
ship was to be imposed upon
the rabbi.
Shortly after I arrived, how
ever, certain difficulties began
to develop. I was asked to re
frain from using Yiddish ex
pressions as sermonic illustra
tions and to soft-pedal my sup
port of Israel. Integration did
not arrive as an issue since I
did not preach on this subject.
The inclusion of a textbook on
Israel in the school curriculum
was protested quite strongly but
the textbook remained in the
curriculum. Hebrew was taught
to two classes on Sunday morn
ing, and there was great opposi
tion to the establishment of a
weekday Hebrew school even on
a voluntary basis. Many of the
textbooks in use prior to my ar
rival were products of the West
minster Press, a Protestant pub
lishing house, and these were
replaced with texts dealing with
Jewish history and civilization.
On the eve of Rosh Hashonah
I preached on the subject of
God, Torah and Israel, indicat
ing the personal commitment to
each demanded by our faith.
The previous morning President
Eisenhower sent federal troops
into Little Rock, Ark. In my ser
mon dealing with the God of
Justice, I declared that justice
had not been done in Little Rock.
I stated that Governor Faubus
had opposed the federal govern
ment with force and that the
federal government had no al
ternative but to take the action
that it did in order to preserve
its authority in the face of mili
tary action taken against it. I
called upon the congregants to
accept this situation as citizens
of the United States obeying its
laws. In no way did I mention
the problem of integration di-
JACK REID
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rectly, nor did I indicate my
strong feelings in favor of inte
gration. All was said in the
name of the preservation of the
Union.
During my sermon, one con
gregant shouted, “Why don’t
they shut him up?’’ After the
service, only three people came
forward to wish me a Happy
New Year. On the evening fol
lowing Yom Kippur, a commit
tee of the board of trustees in
formed me that they could not
guarantee my reelection to the
pulpit at a February congrega
tional meeting, that I was “too
Jewish” for the community, and
that I was free to leave — the
sooner the better.
A Happy
New Year
To One and All
ROXY
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1011 PEACHTREE ST., N.E.
TR. 2-0066
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