Leo Jung

Background

Leo Jung was born June 20, 1892, in Ungarisch Brod in Moravia.

Education

In 1910 he attended the Yeshiva of Eperies and in 1911 he went to study in Galanta, Hungary. From 1911 to 1914 he was in Berlin studying at the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary and gleaning secular scholarship from various German universities, including the University of Berlin and Geissen University, in which he pursued doctoral studies with a thesis on the concept of God in Anglo-Saxon philosophy.

From 1914 to 1920 he was in England studying at Cambridge (1916 - 1919) and earning both a bachelor's and a master's degree, obtaining three rabbinical ordinations, and beginning his practical rabbinical work.

Career

By the 1986 American Jewish Orthodoxy itself demonstrated a dignity, intellectualism, and responsiveness to modernity that resulted in no small measure from the work of Jung. A Life Dedicated to Orthodox Judaism Jung was educated in both secular German studies and in traditional Hebraica by a father who understood the challenges of the modern world and who was totally committed to Jewish tradition. The outbreak of World War I prevented completion of this course of study. In 1920 he returned briefly to Germany to gain a definitive rabbinical ordination from the Hildesheimer Seminary. Both his intellectual training and personal qualities were evident in the variety of his achievements in England. From his first years as rabbi of Congregation Kenesset Israel in Cleveland, Ohio, he began pioneer work transforming American Orthodox Judaism. He fought for decorum in worship and for improved Jewish education, creating a movement directed at the needs of Orthodox Jewish youth. In 1922 he left Cleveland to become spiritual leader of the New York Jewish Center, where he remained as rabbi for 50 years, becoming emeritus rabbi upon his retirement in 1976. His concern for practical issues led him to head the Beth Jacob Movement for the Religious Education of Women, to chair the New York State Government Advisory Board on Kosher Law Enforcement from 1935 to 1965, and to accept chairmanship of the cultural committee of the American Joint Distribution Committee, beginning in 1940, working for the good of European Jews. In that capacity he helped bring more than 9, 000 refugees to the United States. Although associated with the Agudath Israel group within Jewish Orthodoxy, he resigned in 1929 to protest its anti-Zionist stance. Jung's sensitivity to pressing issues of his day was reflected in his academic and professional work. He became professor emeritus upon his retirement in 1968. He also taught at the university's Stern College for Women, where he introduced a course in ethics in 1956. Writings on Everyday Problems Jung's writings display an engaging and wide-ranging competence. He wrote or edited more than 31 books. His most ambitious task, beginning in 1928, was to serve as editor of the Jewish Library, to which he also contributed original essays. He was not an ivory tower academic. Constantly aware of contemporary needs, he wrote in response to critical questions of Jewish life. The observance of Jewish law and the problems of living as an Orthodox Jew in a secular environment were dealt with seriously, sympathetically, but always from the perspective of a committed traditional Jew.

He taught it was more important to "judaize" the modern world than to modernize Judaism-an approach mirroring that of the German Jewish thinker Samson Raphael Hirsch, whose influence Jung acknowledged. Theologically Jung confronted the problem of evil, whether experienced as the trauma of Jewish history and particularly the Nazi Holocaust, or in personal tragedy. He contended that misery was not an argument against God but rather a challenge for human beings, that free will is not only a blessing but also a demand. Jung believed the Torah, Jewish teaching, is a way of peace and truth, but that human evil perverts it and engenders sorrow and distress.

Jung's ability to listen sympathetically to those in pain could bring them slowly to recognize the enduring and eternal presence of God and the value of Jewish tradition amid their distress. A collection of his writings-Between Man and Man-has been revised and expanded a number of times and translated into Hebrew. The title demonstrates his practical concerns with human relationships. Daily acts of kindness no less than dramatic deeds are considered acts of self-sacrifice. The Hebrew term for such sacrifice is kiddush hashem -the sanctification of God's name. Jung wrote at length on the meaning of holiness (kedushah) and of the love of God and others. His theoretical exposition of sanctification, both in ritual and ethics, is persuasive: the purpose of being a human is to bring God into the world and make the world more holy. His essays on Jewish ethics as a means of sanctification provided a fitting foundation for his practical and educational efforts. Despite his age and his emeritus status, Jung remained active at the Jewish Center in Manhattan until his death in 1987.

Achievements

• Jung was the only American contributor to the prestigious Soncino translation of the Babylonian Talmud (the foundation of rabbinical Jewish law and thought).
  
  Jung's most impressive work involved Jewish ethics. His moral writings are not abstract and distant. He wrote about such subjects as business ethics, the needs of the poor, and interhuman obligations.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Guardians Of Our Heritage

    (This volume being a sequel or companion to its predecesso...)

  • The Path of a Pioneer: The Autobiography of Rabbi Leo Jung (Jewish Library)

    (THE PATH OF A PIONEER: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LEO JUNGThe a...)

  • Sages and Saints (The Jewish library)

    (Book by)

  • Harvest: Sermons, addresses, studies

Religion

Rabbi Jung presented a platform of “Torah-true” Judaism; in his view, “Orthodoxy was the only legitimate form of Judaism. ”

Jung’s book, Living Judaism, from 1922–1923, states that he is the rabbi of the Jewish Center, a synagogue for “Jewish Jews. ” Jung begins an article, “Modern Trends in American Judaism, ” written in 1936, with the motto for “Jewish Jews. ”

Leo Jung wrote an essay: “What is Orthodox Judaism” based on lectures from 1927, that may be summarized as follows.

1. We are Torah true. But:

a. Judaism is not fundamentalist, we are against all forms of fundamentalism.

b. Judaism has many voices. All of them accept God, revelation and the law.

c. Judaism is not out of date. Jewish law is forever adapting to the world, through Responsa. We fully accept the general cultural world around us. The ghetto conditions of Eastern Europe and the lower East Side of NYC make the true vision of Judaism hard to be heard. True Judaism is up to date and cultural, but the lower East Side blinds people to Judaism.

2. Judaism is about mitzvot, which teach the highest ideals of mankind. Mitzvot embraces all life, eating, sexuality, pleasure, song, and work. Through mitzvot, you learn to give up leading a materialistic immigrant life. Judaism teaches a proper family life. Torah and mitzvot are an education, they train a person to be a perfect gentleman. Judaism is about a whole sentiment of the “life of the spirit”, all Torah study is for practical ends.

Rabbi Jung cites the contemporary philosophies of Havelock Ellis, “The Dance of Life” (1923), Hans Driesch, and Henri Bergson to prove the vitality of life.

Views

His approach to worship emphasized meeting modern esthetic standards while remaining true to traditional regulations. He championed an atmosphere of decorum, dignity, and sanctity in the Orthodox Jewish synagogue. At the same time he spoke out against the insularity of many Orthodox rabbinical leaders and castigated Jewish intellectuals who rejected the Judaic tradition without fully knowing its content. He was sensitive to the changing needs of the American Jewish community, speaking out on behalf of Orthodoxy, offering critical analysis on such questions as Jewish intermarriage, proselytism and conversion, love and family life, and business ethics. His academic interests focused on ethics, which he taught at Yeshiva University for more than 40 years beginning in 1931.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Rabbi Emanuel Rackman has pointed out that Jung’s approach to religion is called the psychological approach as this approach analyses religion with “peace of mind” and “happy and noble living” as its end.

Connections

friendship:

Herman Wouk