American Jews were themselves in serious trouble when we entered the war against Hitler some 60 years ago. In the 1940s, even at the end of that war, six out of 10 Americans complained that “the Jews have too much power in the U.S.” In 1950, one-third of all California employers admitted to the State Department of Employment that they would not hire Jews, no matter how well qualified they were. In the 1930s, large numbers of desperate refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany were denied entry into America because of restrictive immigration laws here.
American Jewish efforts to change those deadly disabilities largely failed because we were disorganized and politically impotent. At one U.S. government conference on immigration, a number of Jewish organizations presented dissimilar memos to the conference, giving politicians the license to ignore them. Jewish efforts to persuade the American public or the California employers to abandon their prejudices also failed, partly because we did not understand how people are “educated” out of bigotry.
So we invented and developed some revolutionary new public policy mechanisms and concepts. Chief among those was the Jewish Community Relations Council. In the San Francisco area, we were among the first Jewish communities in the country to establish this new idea and agency. As our JCRC celebrates its 60th anniversary on Tuesday, Oct. 26, it is a time to see how well this mechanism and its accompanying ideas have fared, and how well they fit the public policy troubles we still face.
To begin with, the JCRC idea was to bring to the same table every Jewish organization and synagogue, developing a consensus among the organized community on public policy issues. Today, this JCRC, which now includes San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma and the East Bay, has some 80 organizations and synagogues as members. A national agency built on the same idea was also created. Then known as the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Committee (NJCRAC), it was composed of all the major national organizations and synagogue bodies, along with the local JCRCs, now numbering more than 100. National agencies such as the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League were not only members of NJCRAC, but ardent supporters of the JCRC idea (as were the federations, which largely supported the JCRCs). Those national agencies still provide their critical resources for these universal-membership bodies. In 1997, NJCRAC changed its name to the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.
Four new operational ideas accompanied the new structures:
• The law is the prime educational instrument in such matters, changing attitudes as well as behavior.
• To change and create law, it is necessary to join ranks with other like-minded groups in the general community.
• In this society, the basic rights of Jews depend on the basic rights of everyone.
• In public policy, Jewish values and ideal American values are on the same wave length.
America changed radically in the ensuing 60 years. The immigration laws were radically altered, ceilings raised, discrimination removed, refugee laws greatly liberalized. The Soviet Jews who came to this country in large numbers could never have done so if these laws had not been changed. With the civil rights laws, discrimination against Jews virtually disappeared in employment, housing, universities and other public places. As behavioral patterns changed, so did attitudes. For example, while six out of 10 said Jews had too much power 60 years ago, fewer than two out of 10 say so today.
Of course, the new Jewish agencies did not bring about all these changes by themselves. America changed because the citizenry demanded it — but we as Jews were now an integral part of that citizens’ effort, and we influenced it greatly. We were an instrumental part of the local and national coalitions that effected these and other changes.
These changes only emphasize that we need those revolutionary agencies such as the JCRC as urgently as before. We need the strength of its organizational consensus — and community outreach — in order to impress and educate our policymakers about matters related to American policy on Israel. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, for example, understands that it needs that support from JCRCs.
And there is that small dark cloud on the American horizon — those who would blame the Jews for our problems in Iraq and thereabouts. (They specifically name the Jews in the Defense Department.) In this dangerous world, there are many reasons why the JCRC will flourish well past its 60th birthday. Dangers aside, the JCRC has provided the opportunity for many to strengthen their Jewish identity on this social justice front.
Earl Raab is executive director emeritus of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council. He is also director emeritus of Brandeis University’s Nathan Perlmutter Institute for Jewish Advocacy.
60 years of JCRC
The Jewish community will celebrate the JCRC’s 60 years from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St. Former Executive Directors Earl Raab and Rita Semel will be honored, along with current JCRC head, Rabbi Doug Kahn. Tickets: $100. Information: (415) 957-1551.
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