The Early Years of European Judaism

Abstract

Memory is a traitor. Forty years is a short time in human history, but the attempt to remember exactly what happened in the past is fraught with problems. The clearest incidents are often the most trivial. What we really want to remember remains obscure. So my memories of the early days of European Judaism may not be entirely accurate. As the wife of the founding editor, Michael Goulston, I was fully occupied with running our household and caring for three small children. I did not participate in the meetings where Michael discussed his vision for the journal with colleagues. For this memoir I have had to rely on my memories of day-today conversations with Michael about his hopes and dreams, leafing through early issues of the journal, a chat with Lionel Blue, sadly one of the few survivors of the original Board of Editors, together with recollections of my own role. During his time at Hebrew Union College in the US, Michael had been inspired by the contribution that intellectuals made to a vibrant American Jewish community. He was excited by Commentary , the monthly journal published by the American Jewish Committee and described by The Washington Post as 'America's journal of ideas'; there was a rumour that it was read regularly by the president, John Kennedy. On his return to Europe in 1963, Michael started talking with colleagues about how to create a similar journal in Europe. These conversations resulted in the emergence of a group which was to become the Board of Editors of the journal. They were nearly all young rabbis, but also included a senior rabbi, Ignaz Maybaum, who was mentor and friend to many of them. He was given the honorary title of editor, but Michael was the managing editor. The journal needed financial backing before it could appear. At that time, Lionel Blue was responsible for looking after the needs of the progressive Jewish communities in Europe and had many Jewish and nonJewish friends throughout Europe. One of them, a gentile, was Rob Van Gennep, partner to Johan Polak in the Dutch publisher Polak & Van Gennep Ltd. Johan Polak, a Jewish war survivor, was interested in culture and literature. He knew that Jews had been important to the Dutch literary