Jews and Human Rights: Dancing at Three Weddings (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Jews and Human Rights: Dancing at Three Weddings Andrew J. Falk (bio) Jews and Human Rights: Dancing at Three Weddings. By Michael Galchinsky. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. x + 256 pp. A rich American Jewish historiography has developed over the past thirty years, one that has detailed the construction of ethnic communities [End Page 232] and identities. Yet, as historians Hasia Diner and Tony Michels have written recently, scholars should focus more attention on the international political dimensions of the Jewish experience.1 More studies are needed that take what we know of complex transnational Jewish identities and examine their rich relations with the state, including intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations. In Dancing at Three Weddings, Michael Galchinsky marries the two. The "three weddings" refer to Jews who "dance" in the worlds of nationalism, internationalism, and pluralism. In other words, modern American Jews are citizens of the world, citizens of multicultural America, and "imagined" citizens of Israel. These overlapping loyalties have influenced how Jews in general have approached human rights. After the Holocaust a generation of determined Jews blended many commitments: to core religious values such as tikkun olam, to international human rights, to Israeli nationalism, to American-style pluralism, and to an acute interest in self-preservation. The result was a clear mission and a desire to help draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the new United Nations, to create the state of Israel, to promote domestic civil rights, and to detect genocide around the globe. Whether acting because of, or in spite of, the absence of government intervention, activists filled a much needed void as advocates for victims. While many traditional histories examine genocide in graphic detail, Galchinsky's contribution is a catalog of the motivations and responses by a diverse community of Jews to deal with postwar tragedies. The story is not as heroic as one might think. The author argues that transnational Jewish activism in the area of international human rights has waned in the past half-century, and attributes the decline to these competing worlds of Jewish identity. Jewish nongovernmental organizations, for instance, devoted fewer resources to support their human rights initiatives. Meanwhile, Israeli Jews have become more active as lines blurred between human rights and state security with respect to United Nations resolutions, refuseniks in the former Soviet republics, and Israeli state actions in Palestinian-populated territories. Israel's vulnerable reputation before the UN contributed to its unwillingness, some might say inability, to respond. In several cases, as Galchinsky points out, a coalition of government officials, informal organizations, and individuals produced mixed results in their rescue and relief operations. This has been especially true when Jews responded late and inadequately to genocide perpetrated against non-Jewish victims. [End Page 233] Rather than looking at a particular NGO in a discrete period of time or place, the author is able to draw general conclusions. Readers undoubtedly will agree with the author when he writes that "this study makes no claim to comprehensiveness" (167). He prefers to rely on case examples of Russian Jews, non-Jews, Israeli Jews, and others to make his point. The book's organization is, therefore, thematic. For such an expansive topic, the author handles the details well and relies on many relevant sources, including UN resolutions, court decisions, treaties and international agreements, a series of personal interviews, and even the Torah. He also engages much of the existing literature, though some readers may conclude that more could have been done in this regard. For example, the author makes little use of correspondence, memoranda, and other documents from government collections and from NGOs relative to the extensive scope of the work. Readers familiar with the history may be reminded of other specific organizations and individuals not mentioned here. A number of prior studies could have been consulted. On the other hand, the broad view is part of the book's appeal, and it is accessible to a variety of audiences. Another drawback is in methodology. Though the author explains that "the book's main aim is largely historical rather than theoretical," some readers may be frustrated by its resistance to historical methods of organization and analysis...