Communications

A communication will be considered only if it relates to an article or review published in this journal; publication is solely at the editor's discretion. The AHA disclaims responsibility for statements, either of fact or opinion, made by the writers. Letters may not exceed seven hundred words for reviews and one thousand words for articles. They should be submitted in duplicate, typed double-spaced with wide margins, and headed "To the Editor."

REVIEWS OF BOOKS

In his review of my book Militant Zionism in America: The Rise and Impact of the Jabotinsky Movement in the United States, 1926–1948 [/journals/ahr/108.2/br_68.html], Michael E. Staub erroneously states: "Medoff skewers liberal Jewish spokespersons as indecisive and misguided, due to 'a "universalist perception" that tended to hamper their effectiveness in times of Jewish crisis' (p. 216)."

     The phrase on which Staub focuses was, as I wrote, quoted from the writings of another scholar (as the quotation marks around "universalist perception" indicate)—Professor Henry Feingold. It was Feingold whose assessment of the most prominent American Jewish leader of the 1930s and 1940s, Stephen Wise, portrayed him in rather unflattering terms (although Feingold did not use the terms "indecisive" or "misguided"—those are Staub's words). Here is how my passage in Militant Zionism actually reads: "Many prominent Jewish leaders of that era adhered to a 'universalist perception' that tended to hamper their effectiveness in times of Jewish crisis, historian Henry Feingold has noted. 'Stephen Wise's interest in the Jewish dilemma was often overshadowed by such preoccupations as the Sacco and Vanzetti case or the corruption in the Jimmy Walker administration of New York City during the New Deal or the progress of the newly formed Congress of Industrial Organizations … His letters tell of his embarrassment at speaking in the Oval Office of the special crucible of the Jews when the entire world was in flames.' By contrast, 'groups like the [Orthodox] Agudath and the Bergson Boys, the latter composed primarily of Palestinian Jews, were much better able to imagine the disaster and propose solutions more appropriate for the specific Jewish need' because 'both groups were not locked into the prevailing secular universalist perception. They wanted simply to save Jews qua Jews.'"

     Unless Michael Staub has found evidence to indicate that Feingold is mistaken, Feingold's remarks concerning the "universalist perception" and its impact on American Jewish leaders during the Holocaust must be considered the most persuasive assessment of that particular phenomenon.

Rafael Medoff

Purchase College, State University of New York

Michael E. Staub Replies:

Rafael Medoff indicates that I quote "erroneously" from his book. This is an unfortunate charge. He argues this because I ascribe to him a view that in fact belongs to Henry Feingold. In effect, Medoff suggests that the view expressed by Feingold is not his own view. Yet he nevertheless asserts that Feingold's conclusions "must be considered the most persuasive assessment." He then tendentiously challenges me to provide evidence that contradicts Feingold. Forgive me, I am puzzled. Does Medoff agree with Feingold or does he disagree? My review does assume that he agrees, and Medoff does not dispute this point. If I got it right, then what's the problem here? How exactly have I "erroneously" cited Medoff if he agrees with Feingold? It was not my assigned task to evaluate either Henry Feingold's writings or the career of Rabbi Wise.I was assigned to review Medoff's book on the Jabotinsky movement. And this I did.

Michael E. Staub

Bowling Green State University

ERRATUM

In the April 2003 issue, a review of Richard S. Newman's 2002 book, The Transformation of American Abolitionism: Fighting Slavery in the Early Republic [108: 522–23], named the author correctly but also accidentally calls him "Freeman" from time to time, not Newman. The editors and the author apologize for not catching this error.

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