Two of the nation's major Jewish organizations last week urged American Judaism to step up communications with both Christianity and the Negro ghettos. There was a real point to the exhortations, issued by Conservatism's United Synagogue of America and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, principal voice of Reform Judaism. Of late, there has been a marked deterioration in Jewish relations with white churches and black communities.
A major reason for the lukewarm quality of Jewish-Christian relations was last spring's Arab-Israeli war. Jewish leaders have charged that the majority of Christian churchmen...