mvm@whuxk.UUCP (MASON) (06/04/84)
From Ken Wolman, BellCore/Morristown I had a communication this morning asking for information about the identity of Eliezer Berkovits. In addition to answering the person who contacted me, I figured I'd put my answer on the public Net. Eliezer Berkovits is an Orthodox-trained scholar who was on the faculty of Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, where he taught Jewish Philosophy and Ethics. He was ordained at the Hildesheimer Seminary in Berlin, I believe in the late '20's, and was in the camps during the war. He has written at least two books about the Holocaust: "Faith After the Holocaust" and "With God in Hell," the latter of which is one of the few books I can say changed my life. It presents a counterview to Richard Rubinstein's "God is Dead" theology by presenting instances where Jewish observance was maintained in Auschwitz, et. al., despite what probably were "reasons" to turn one's back on both God and man. As I understand it, Berkovits retired several years ago and made aliyah. My use of his name was occasioned by the fact that a few weeks ago he was attacked in the Jewish Press as a Conservative (!). In fact, he is one of the more liberal voices in Orthodoxy, and has spoken out for dialogue between Orthodoxy and the other "groups" within Judaism.