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C H A P T E R 6 Horace M . Kalle n Milton R. Konvitz For abou t a half-century , Horac e Kalle n occupie d a special—fo r many o f thes e years , a unique—plac e o n th e Jewis h scen e i n th e United States . Fo r he was no t a professional Jew , no t a rabbi, no t a professor i n a rabbinica l seminary , no t a schola r wh o mad e a spe cialty o f Judai c study , no t eminen t amon g Jew s b y reaso n o f th e high offic e h e held i n a Jewish organization . H e was the first Jewis h professor o f a non-Jewis h subjec t i n a non-Jewish colleg e or univer sity wh o wa s intimatel y an d prominentl y identifie d wit h Jewis h interests, Jewish concerns , Jewish organizations. 1 Whil e widely rec ognized an d honore d a s a thinker , philosophe r an d psychologist , Kallen devote d muc h o f hi s tim e an d though t t o Jewis h problem s and influence d Jewis h educators , communa l workers , rabbis , an d Jewish publi c opinion . I n som e way s h e serve d a s a rol e mode l emulated b y hi s peer s an d man y younge r me n an d women , wh o looked t o hi m fo r guidanc e an d direction . I n al l thes e respect s Kallen had n o predecessor, and , regrettably , n o successor. I n Ameri can Jewis h histor y h e carve d ou t fo r himsel f a ver y specia l place . He was, b y reason o f that ver y special place, primus inter omnes. Kallen wa s bor n o n Augus t n , 1882 , i n Berenstadt , a tow n i n th e German provinc e o f Silesi a (no w Poland) . Hi s parent s wer e Jaco b David an d Esthe r Rebecc a (Glazier ) Kallen . Hi s father , wh o ha d emigrated fro m Latvia , studie d a t a yeshiv a an d wa s a n assistan t rabbi i n Berenstadt . A s a foreigner, Rabb i Kalle n wa s expelle d fro m Germany an d emigrate d t o th e Unite d States . Whe n Horac e Kalle n 144 HORACE M . KALLE N 14 5 was five years old, hi s father returne d t o Berenstadt an d moved hi s wife, Horace , wh o wa s th e eldes t child , an d tw o daughter s t o th e United States, where he became rabbi of an Orthodox congregatio n in Boston . Rabb i Kalle n (th e origina l famil y nam e wa s Kalony mous , the name of many medieval Jewish families) wa s a scholarly man; at the time of his death in 191 7 he left som e manuscripts tha t have remained unpublished . Th e son was close to his mother, wh o died i n 1928 , but wa s alienate d fro m hi s father, who m h e remem bered a s a domineering fathe r an d husband. Fo r many years fathe r and so n were estranged , bu t whe n hi s father wa s on his deathbed , Horace Kalle n sa t besid e him fo r a fortnight unti l h e died. Durin g those two weeks parent an d so n achieve d a reconciliation, an d o n the wal l o f his study Professo r Kalle n ha d a framed photograp h o f both his parents.2 Rabbi Kalle n apparentl y trie d t o kee p hi s son fro m attendin g a public school and to teach him at home, but when the truant office r threatened Rabb i Kallen , h e sent Horac e t o an elementar y school . The bo y als o attende d a heder fo r hi s Jewis h studies ; an d afte r school he sold newspapers, t o help support th e large Kallen family , for in due...

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