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William Herberg (June 30, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was an American writer, intellectual and scholar. A
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
political activist during his early years, Herberg gained wider public recognition as a
social philosopher Social philosophy examines questions about the foundations of social institutions, social behavior, and interpretations of society in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social ...
and sociologist of religion, as well as a Jewish theologian. He was a leading
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
thinker during 1950s and an important contributor to the ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'' magazine.


Biography


Early years

William Herberg, commonly known as "Will," was born on June 30, 1901 to a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
family in the ''
shtetl A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...
'' of Lyakhavichy,
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
, located near the city of
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...
in what was then part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...
.Harry J. Ausmus, ''Will Herberg: From Right to Right.'' Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1987; pg. 1. His father, Hyman Louis Herberg (1874-1938) and mother, the former Sarah Wolkow (1872-1942) were themselves born in the same provincial village. Although no records remain to document the family's financial status, Herberg's biographer indicates that the family was not impoverished, with his father the recipient of a gymnasium education and successful enough as an electrical contractor to pay for the family's emigration from the
anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
Tsarist regime to a new life in America in 1904. Arriving in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the Herberg family took up residence in an poor Jewish neighborhood in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...
,
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. The family's economic position deteriorated in America, however, and Will's parents were divorced about ten years after arriving in the United States, with Will and his younger brother raised by his mother, who earned money as a housekeeper and small-scale manufacturer of knit fabric belts.Ausmus, ''Will Herberg,'' pg. 2. The boys aided the family income by helping with belt-making, although a very high priority was placed by his mother on education, and great financial sacrifices were made to ensure that the two boys stayed on an academically-oriented path. Will attended public school in Brooklyn, entering the prestigious Boys' High School in February 1915. During his high school years, Herberg demonstrated great capacity as a student, studying mathematics,
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which re ...
, German,
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, and French, while writing poetry in his spare time. Herberg graduated from Boys' High School in June 1918 and entered the tuition-free City College that same fall. While at City College, Herberg studied mathematics, English literature, and various physical sciences, developing a keen interest in
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
and the writings of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
. While his grades in these subjects were above average, he had difficulty with requirements in physical education and exhibited an antipathy to required courses in
military science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...
. Herberg would be suspended from City College in the fall of 1920 due to frequent absences from military science class, accentuated by an altercation by the officer in charge of the course.Ausmus, ''Will Herberg,'' pg. 3. Herberg would finish his career at City College having completed 94 of the 131.5 credits needed for graduation. Although he never graduated from the Baccalaureate program at City College, Herberg would later falsely claim to have degrees from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, including a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. a ...
in 1932. However, he later received three honorary doctorates, the first in 1956.


Political radicalism

The exact timetable of Will Herberg's radicalization is unclear; according to his brother, Ted Herberg, Will's difficulty with the military science officer, his subsequent dismissal from college, and the troubled financial situation of his family led him to the ideas of
revolutionary socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolu ...
. Be that as it may, by 1925 Herberg was a prominent member of the Young Workers League (YWL) — youth section of the Workers (Communist) Party — and a contributor to the group's weekly newspaper, '' The Young Worker.'' In the fall of 1925, Herberg was elected a delegate by YWL District 2 (New York City) to the organization's 3rd National Convention, held in Chicago. The 3rd Convention of the YWL elected Herberg to the governing National Executive Committee, as part of which he served as director of "Agitprop" (Agitation and Propaganda). Herberg was also named a member of a four-member editorial committee for ''The Young Worker,'' taking over as chief editor of that publication for acting editor
Max Shachtman Max Shachtman (; September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He went from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL–CIO President George Meany. Beginnings ...
effective with the issue of November 7, 1925. In 1925, Herberg married a YWL comrade, the former Anna Thompson, a resident of
Brownsville, Brooklyn Brownsville is a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The neighborhood is generally bordered by Crown Heights to the northwest; Bedford–Stuyvesant and Cypress Hills to the north; East New York to the east; Canarsie ...
. The couple would become intellectually compatible throughout Herberg's long ideological journey from communist youth journalist to
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
political writer and prominent Jewish theologian. The couple did not have children. Following the split of party leader
Jay Lovestone Jay Lovestone (15 December 1897 – 7 March 1990) was an American activist. He was at various times a member of the Socialist Party of America, a leader of the Communist Party USA, leader of a small oppositionist party, an anti-Communist and Cent ...
and his cothinkers in 1929, Herberg remained loyal to them, a decision earning his expulsion from the party on September 10, 1929. Thereafter Herberg joined the so-called Lovestoneites, remaining with that organization until its termination at the end of 1940, serving as editor of the group's weekly newspaper, ''Workers Age.''


''Protestant, Catholic, Jew''

He later turned away from
Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialec ...
and became a
religious Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
, founding the quarterly ''Judaism'' with Robert Gordis and Milton R. Konvitz. During the 1960s, he was the religion editor of the conservative journal ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'', and he also taught at
Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...
. Herberg's 1955 book ''Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology'' created a sociological framework for the study of religion in the United States. Herberg demonstrated how immigration and American ethnic culture were reflected in religious movements and institutions. It has been described as "one of the most influential books ever written about American religion." During the 1950s, that book and the 1951 essay ''Judaism and Modern Man'' set out influential positions on Judaism and on the American religious tradition in general. Herberg also wrote that
anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...
is the
antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...
of secular Jewish intellectuals.


"Cut flower culture"

Herberg is credited with coining the phrase "cut flower culture" to describe the spiritual rootlessness of modern European and American societies. The epithet is typically taken to imply that these societies cannot long survive without being regrafted onto their Judeo-Christian roots. In ''Judaism and Modern Man'', Herberg wrote: :The attempt made in recent decades by secularist thinkers to disengage the moral principles of western civilization from their scripturally based religious context, in the assurance that they could live a life of their own as "humanistic" ethics, has resulted in our "cut flower culture." Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now-severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die. So with freedom, brotherhood, justice, and personal dignity — the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality.


Opposition to Civil Rights Movement

In his September 7, 1965 ''National Review'' article, "'Civil Rights' and Violence: Who Are the Guilty Ones?", Herberg wrote of his opposition or skepticism towards the
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
, feeling, like many of his colleagues at ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'' at the time, that the civil rights campaign was moving too quickly and broke up the fabric of American society in an overly socially disruptive manner, not friendly to proper social cohesion. They supported what is often termed the
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American ...
position of "gradual reform."


Final years, death, and legacy

Herberg's final published work saw print in the middle of 1973.Ausmus, ''Will Herberg,'' pg. 210. From that time his health deteriorated steadily, culminating with the discovery of an inoperable
brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and second ...
.Ausmus, ''Will Herberg,'' pg. 211. Herberg died on March 26, 1977; he was 75 years old at the time of his death. Herberg's memorial service was held in the Great Hall of
Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...
in
Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming on ...
, and was attended by a throng of rabbis, professors, and former students and political associates. Herberg was buried in
Morris Plains, New Jersey Morris Plains is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,532,traditionalist conservative and contributor to traditionalist publications such as
Russell Kirk Russell Amos Kirk (October 19, 1918 – April 29, 1994) was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, and literary critic, known for his influence on 20th-century American conservatism. His 1953 book ''The Conservativ ...
's ''
Modern Age The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...
'' and to William F. Buckley, Jr.'s leading conservative magazine ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
,'' which published a special issue in August 1977 in Herberg's honor.


Footnotes


Works

* ''American Revolutionary Traditions.'' New York: New Workers School, 1932.
''The Heritage of the Civil War.''
New York : Workers Age Publishing Association, 1932. * ''Dialectical Materialism.'' New York: New Workers School, 1933. * ''Historical Materialism.'' New York: New Workers School, 1933.
''The NRA and American Labor.''
New York : Workers Age Publishing Association, 1933. * ''Theoretical System of Leninism.'' New York: New Workers School, 1934. * ''Outline for the Study of Dialectical Materialism and the Life of Man.'' New York: New Workers School, 1935. * ''Foundations of Marxism: Study Outline.'' New York: New Workers School, 1936. * ''Marxism and Modern Political Thought.'' New York: New Workers School, 1936.
''Marxism and Political Thought.''
New York: New Workers School, 1930s. * ''Which Program for Revolutionists?'' New York: New Workers School, 1930s.
''The CIO, Labor's New Challenge.''
New York: Workers Age Publishing Association, 1937.
''Rivera Murals: Permanent Exhibition.''
New York:
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female memb ...
, 1943.
''Bureaucracy and Democracy in Labor Unions.''
New York: Great Island Conference, 1947. * ''The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr.'' New York: Frontier Fellowship, 1950. * ''Judaism and Modern Man: An Interpretation of Jewish Religion.'' New York,
Farrar, Straus and Young Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...
, 1951. * "Jewish Labor Movement in the United States: Early Years to World War I," ''Industrial and Labor Relations Review,'' vol. 5, no. 4 (July 1952), pp. 501–523
In JSTOR
* ''Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology.'' Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1955.
''Jewish Labor in the US: Its History and Contributions to American Life.''
New York: Jewish Labor Committee, Atran Center for Jewish Culture, 1955. * ''The Writings Of Martin Buber.'' (Editor.) New York: Meridian Books, 1956. * ''Four Existentialist Theologians: A Reader from the Works of
Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas f ...
, Nicholas Berdyaev,
Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...
, and
Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theo ...
.'' Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1958. * ''Athens and Jerusalem: Confrontation and Dialogue'' Durham:
University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mov ...
, 1965. * ''Challenge to Morality: A Symposium.'' (Contributor.) Tallahassee, FL:
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the s ...
, 1966. * ''Dimensions Symposium: Human Values in a Technological Society.'' (Contributor.) New York: UAHC, 1971. * ''On Academic Freedom.'' (Contributor.) Washington, DC:
American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...
for Public Policy Research, 1971. * ''Martin Buber: Personalist Philosopher in an Age of Depersonalization.'' West Hartford, CT: Saint Joseph College, 1972. * ''The State of the Churches in the USA 1973 as Shown in their Own Official Yearbooks: A Study Research.'' Sun City, AZ: Ecumenism Research Agency, 1973. * ''Faith Enacted As History: Essays in Biblical Theology.'' Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976. * ''From Marxism to Judaism: The Collected Essays of Will Herberg.'' (David G. Dalin, ed.) New York: Marcus Wiener Publishing Co., 1989. * ''Jewish Perspectives on Christianity: Leo Baeck, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Will Herberg, and Abraham J. Heschel.'' (Contributor.) New York: Crossroad, 1990.


Further reading

* Robert J. Alexander, ''The Right Opposition: The Lovestoneites and the International Communist Opposition of the 1930s.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981, . * Harry J. Ausmus, ''Will Herberg: A Bio-Bibliography.'' Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...
, 1986, . * Harry J. Ausmus, ''Will Herberg: From Right to Right.'' Chapel Hill, NC:
University of North Carolina Press The University of North Carolina Press (or UNC Press), founded in 1922, is a university press that is part of the University of North Carolina. It was the first university press founded in the Southern United States. It is a member of the ...
, 1987. . * K. Healan Gaston, "The Cold War Romance of Religious Authenticity: Will Herberg, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Rise of the New Right," ''
Journal of American History ''The Journal of American History'' is the official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the official jo ...
,'' vol. 99, no. 4 (Dec. 2013), pp. 1133–1158. doi:10.1093/jahist/jas588 * Paul LeBlanc and Tim Davenport (eds.), ''The "American Exceptionalism" of Jay Lovestone and His Comrades, 1929-1940.'' Leiden, NL: Brill, 2015, .


External links


The author of Herberg's entry in American National Biography and an old student of his writes about him
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herberg, Will 1901 births 1977 deaths American sociologists Jewish sociologists Jewish American writers Drew University faculty American people of Russian-Jewish descent American Jewish theologians Philosophers of Judaism Jewish philosophers American communists American Marxists Right Opposition Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni