Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...
Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ... Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...
While fraternities aided Jewish life, the Jewish community felt that the systemcould still do more. Both Maurice Jacobs, the executive leader of Phi Epsilon Pi, andAbram Leon Sacher, an honorary member of Phi Epsilon Pi's chapter at the University ofIllinois, saw membership in the Jewish fraternity as able to build the foundation of astrong Jewish leader, or at least, producing knowledgeable Jewish men. Upon hisinstallation as Executive Leader, Jacobs sought to remove the cross and crescent from thefraternity's crest and arranged to have reading material including religious tracts,pamphlets and copies of a Reform Jewish youth magazine sent to various chapters.Sachar, the director of National B'Nai B'rith Hillel, quickly formed a relationship withJacobs, the then director and editor for the Jewish Publication Society of America.Together they created the "National Service Plan" referred to as the "SacharPlan," which proposed an increase in Jewish content in fraternity life in six areas. Theseareas included mandatory Jewish reading during the pledge period, distribution of Jewishmagazines to chapters, an increase in articles of Jewish interest in the fraternity'smagazine, greater partnership with Hillel foundations and synagogues and an expectationof greater leadership in Jewish institutional life by alumni. Though the plan was adoptedat the 1934 National Convention, alumni protested the plan, and undergraduates resentedwhat they saw as an imposition of unwelcome religious materials. The revolt resulted inhowling letters of protest. One student, Jean Werthheimer wroteTo be very frank, I don't know if it means anything to youor the other boys or the Fraternity, but I am losing myinterest in it, and only because of "the Jewishness" or"Jewish consciousness" in the Fraternity , that I don't likeand won't have… An outstanding Jewish social worker orRabbi tells a Fraternity that it must be Jewish, write Jewish,read Jewish…and a weak-kneed Grand Council…. Forgetsthe college boy, and Alumni, and forgets the principles and31
purposes of the College Fraternity, and grabs a religiousstrain and tries to go to town with it 117Fraternity members begrudged the recommendations of someone they viewed as anoutsider, and were equally as disappointed in their leadership for succumbing to thesesuggestions. Sachar, disappointed, hurt and filled with rage generated by the reaction tohis plan and efforts, broke contact with the fraternity and later did not allow Jewishfraternities to "set foot on the campus of Brandeis University," the institution which heserved as President from 1948-1968. 118Despite a brief respite in which students could ignore antisemitism anddiscrimination, the end of the 1930's refocused their attention as news from abroad madethem aware of the reality of the rise of Nazi Fascism. Jewish Greek organizations such asSigma Delta Tau, Alpha Epsilon Phi and Zeta Beta Tau drew the majority of theirmembers from the German community, and therefore hardly a family within the groupremained untouched by the peril of Nazi Germany. Concerns of Nazism were not only intheir thoughts, but also in their backyards. One Sammy (∑AM) delegate at theUniversity of Washington reported seeing a brother from a Gentile fraternity flying aNazi flag on the fraternity house. 119 The flag flew for a week without objection from theUniversity. Fraternities and sororities struggled with how to deal with the rise of Nazismboth at home and abroad. Suggestions of boycotts on German goods were met withanxiety about ripple effects felt by the German Jewish community. Other organizations,such as AEPI called for a boycott until the "political and social rights of German Jews117 Sanua, 245118 Sanua, 245119 Sanua, 23032
- Page 1 and 2: The Untapped Potential of Jewis
- Page 3 and 4: Jewish network, which brought Jewis
- Page 5 and 6: their interest in my research, and
- Page 7 and 8: Table of ContentsAcknowledgements..
- Page 9 and 10: The “future” section uses curre
- Page 11 and 12: Organizations provided them with a
- Page 13 and 14: organizations. Like ΦΒΚ, many fr
- Page 15 and 16: fraternities to close. Despite the
- Page 17 and 18: criticism progressed, the four wome
- Page 19 and 20: themselves and in official document
- Page 21 and 22: accepting fraternities included Phi
- Page 23 and 24: Fraternities noted "undergraduates
- Page 25 and 26: maintain a nonsectarian constitutio
- Page 27 and 28: C. Moskowitz, played basketball for
- Page 29 and 30: Ida Bienstock Landau, Minna Goldsmi
- Page 31 and 32: universities, less formally educate
- Page 33 and 34: The Jewish Greeks stood at the fore
- Page 35 and 36: and sororities. The Council however
- Page 37: Other fraternities engaged in the m
- Page 41 and 42: Board meeting in which Alpha Epsilo
- Page 43 and 44: served in the Canadian forces. 129
- Page 45 and 46: eleven pounds of cakes, cookies, pr
- Page 47 and 48: This act, better known as the GI Bi
- Page 49 and 50: families in their own homes or care
- Page 51 and 52: living. Another argued "There are m
- Page 53 and 54: PresentPresently, the following org
- Page 55 and 56: Responding to the absence of Jewish
- Page 57 and 58: Tikkun Olam. Rabbi Isaac Luria saw
- Page 59 and 60: always be within fifteen feet of a
- Page 61 and 62: AEPI has made Jewish philanthropy a
- Page 63 and 64: cultivating a lifelong commitment t
- Page 65 and 66: ainchild of AEPI that is now run by
- Page 67 and 68: Conference (Maccabi is an affiliate
- Page 69 and 70: eferring to itself as a Jewish frat
- Page 71 and 72: Executive Vice President of America
- Page 73 and 74: Jewish fraternity. These three frat
- Page 75 and 76: through in higher education is the
- Page 77 and 78: This wave of growth centered around
- Page 79 and 80: Greek organization. A speaker able
- Page 81 and 82: Unfortunately, Greek Life is often
- Page 83 and 84: BibliographyAlpha Phi Alpha. Access
- Page 85 and 86: http://www.aepi.org/?page=TheLion."
While fraternities aided Jewish life, the Jewish community felt that the systemcould still do more. Both Maurice Jacobs, the executive leader of Phi Epsilon Pi, andAbram Leon Sacher, an honorary member of Phi Epsilon Pi's chapter at the University ofIllinois, saw membership in the Jewish fraternity as able to build the foundation of astrong Jewish leader, or at least, producing knowledgeable Jewish men. Upon hisinstallation as Executive Leader, Jacobs sought to remove the cross and crescent from thefraternity's crest and arranged to have reading material including religious tracts,pamphlets and copies of a Reform Jewish youth magazine sent to various chapters.Sachar, the director of National B'Nai B'rith Hillel, quickly formed a relationship withJacobs, the then director and editor for the Jewish Publication Society of America.Together they created the "National Service Plan" referred to as the "SacharPlan," which proposed an increase in Jewish content in fraternity life in six areas. Theseareas included mandatory Jewish reading during the pledge period, distribution of Jewishmagazines to chapters, an increase in articles of Jewish interest in the fraternity'smagazine, greater partnership with Hillel foundations and synagogues and an expectationof greater leadership in Jewish institutional life by alumni. Though the plan was adoptedat the 1934 National Convention, alumni protested the plan, and undergraduates resentedwhat they saw as an imposition of unwelcome religious materials. The revolt resulted inhowling letters of protest. One student, Jean Werthheimer wroteTo be very frank, I don't know if it means anything to youor the other boys or the Fraternity, but I am losing myinterest in it, and only because of "the Jewishness" or"Jewish consciousness" in the Fraternity , that I don't likeand won't have… An outstanding Jewish social worker orRabbi tells a Fraternity that it must be Jewish, write Jewish,read Jewish…and a weak-kneed Grand Council…. Forgetsthe college boy, and Alumni, and forgets the principles and31
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