Signs of the Times

The New York Times

John Leo in The New York Times New York, New York
[© 1968 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission.]

The "nervous scurrying for relevance" by politically active clergymen may represent the sickness, not the health, of American religion, according to a prominent rabbi.

"Religion as an ongoing force cannot be saved by 'making it relevant,'" said the rabbi, Arthur Hertzberg of Temple Emanuel, Englewood, N.J. "What people come to religion for is an ultimate metaphysical hunger, and when this hunger is not satisfied, religion declines."

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November 16, 1968
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