Reproach, Recognition and Respect: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Orthodoxy's Mid-Century Attitude Toward Non-Orthodox Denominations

Introduction

On June 12, 1954, the congregation of Temple Bnai Moshe in Brighton, Massachusetts celebrated the opening of their new sanctuary on Commonwealth Avenue with a dedication dinner. Almost all of Boston's Jewish leadership attended the affair that honored the spiritual leader of the congregation, Rabbi Joseph Shubow. Shubow had graduated Harvard in 1920 and received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Institute of Religion in 1933. He had held a position on the presidium of the American Jewish Congress and was the congregation's rabbi for twenty years, excluding the years 1942-45 when he had served as a captain in the U.S. army. Because of his prolific career, Shubow was a man held in high esteem by mid-century American Jewish leadership and was considered influential among non-Orthodox Jewry. The journal distributed at the dinner included messages of greeting and blessing sent to the congregation and to its rabbi. Alongside communications from President Eisenhower and Senator Herbert Lehman, Shalom Speigel and Louis Finkelstein, Israel Goldstein and Abba Eban, one letter stands out.

I cherish my long association with Rabbi Shubow and I consider him a dear and distinguished friend whom I hold in great esteem because of his many talents and qualities. ¹

The letter is signed by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, scion of the eminent Lithuanian Orthodox rabbinic family, who was then the undisputed leader of American modern Orthodoxy and the chairman of the Vaad Ha-halakha of the Rabbinical Council of America.

What makes this letter so remarkable is that concurrent to lauding Rabbi Shubow's achievements, Rabbi Soloveitchik published a number of scathing critiques of non-Orthodox Judaism. In fact, throughout his career Rabbi Soloveitchik strongly discouraged his students and disciples from granting legitimacy to the Conservative and Reform denominations. In many circles, Rabbi Soloveitchik is known for his refusal to permit entrance into a non-Orthodox synagogue even for the Shofar service on Rosh Hashanah. ² Considering his total rejection of the ideology that Rabbi Shubow espoused, Rabbi Soloveitchik's positive tone is striking.

Rabbis Shubow and Soloveitchik maintained a strong relationship throughout both their careers. In 1959 Rabbi Soloveitchik sent a telegram to Rabbi Shubow where he wrote:

I have always deeply appreciated your great qualities as a friend the warmth of your personality your readiness to help others and your courage and steadfastness in advocating great causes. May the Almighty grant you many years of service to your community and our people. ³

Rabbi Soloveitchik attended Rabbi Shubow's funeral at Temple Bnei Moshe in 1969 (though he did not enter the temple building). Yet, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Rabbi Soloveitchik remained staunch and vociferous in his campaign against granting legitimization to non-Orthodox rabbis.

Because of Rabbi Soloveitchik's unparalleled influence within the American Orthodox community, his public pronouncements and positions became the policy of American modern Orthodoxy's rabbinate and lay leadership at mid-century, and to a large extent, still carry weight in debates regarding interdenominational cooperation. Thus, the letter that Rabbi Soloveitchik wrote that extolled Shubow's virtues deserves our attention and suggests that Rabbi Soloveitchik's approach need be reevaluated. Its immediate significance is that it suggests that the conventional understanding of mid-century Orthodoxy as exceptionally intolerant must be reexamined and that a much more nuanced reading of Orthodoxy's perspective is in order.

Jeffrey Gurock and Jenna Weissman Joselit have researched the social and cultural patterns of inter-war Orthodoxy with an eye toward understanding the evolution of Orthodoxy in the 1950s. Both suggest that Conservative Judaism's recipe of tradition and modernity was compelling on the American Jewish scene because of demographic and economic factors. The "move to the suburbs" and the increased popularity of liberal Judaism led to a sharp decline in the popularity of Orthodoxy and...