The State of World Jewry - The 92nd Street Y, New York

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92NY Humanities Audio Collection

State of World Jew Address

The State of World Jewry

Nov 10, 1981


Stuart Eizenstat delivers the second annual State of World Jewry address at the 92nd Street Y. Eizenstat worked as President Jimmy Carter’s Chief Domestic Policy Adviser and Executive Director for the White House Domestic Policy Staff from 1977 to 1981. In this address, Eizenstat contends that, in 1981, “world Jewry is in a true state of crisis.” He claims that, for the first time, “Jews live in three diametrically different states at the very same time in history,” which are Western democratic countries, non-democratic countries, and Israel. He addresses the challenges of those three states in turn. In the United States and other Western democratic nations, Eizenstat argues that Judaism is “in danger of internal erosion and ultimate assimilation.” To exemplify the threat of religious persecution against Jews in non-democratic countries, he recalls the story of Jacob Timerman, a Jewish journalist who was imprisoned and tortured in Argentina. Finally, he emphasizes the disconnected relationship between Israel and the diaspora. Eizenstat reflects on these challenges and ultimately contends that all Jewish people “have a right to be heard” and must “do what we can do together to strengthen each other.” The address is followed with questions from the audience.

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