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SALT LAKE CITY — Not all members of the Jewish faith are outraged over recent reports of Holocaust victims being posthumously baptized in LDS temples, against church policy.
Jeff Jacoby, an opinion writer for the Boston Globe, wrote an article for Townhall.com titled, "Outraged by Mormon Proxy Baptism? Not This Jew."
He wrote about the difficulty he had years ago doing family history work because some of his ancestors died in the Holocaust. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offered to add the names of his massacred relatives to the church's genealogical database, and he did not object. He said he didn't know anything about baptism by proxy, but when he learned about it, "The discovery didn't trouble me at all."
"I found the Mormons' belief eccentric, not offensive," he wrote. "By my lights, their efforts to make salvation available to millions of deceased strangers were ineffectual. But plainly they were sincere, and intended as a kindness."
I found the Mormons' belief eccentric, not offensive.
–Jeff Jacoby
The issue surfaced last month when LDS church leaders apologized to the family of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal after his parents were posthumously baptized. Church leaders viewed it as a serious breach of policy on the part of one church member. After a 1995 agreement with Jewish leaders, the church has barred members from posthumously baptizing Holocaust victims, except for direct ancestors.
The church also issued a statement after reports last month that a proxy baptism had taken place for Holocaust victim Anne Frank.
Prominent Jewish leaders have expressed outrage over the incidents. Abe Foxman,national director of the Anti-Defamation League, was quoted saying, "Holocaust victims were killed solely because they were Jews. And here comes the Mormon church taking away their Jewishness. It's like killing them twice."
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said, "We are outraged that such insensitive actions continue in the Mormon temples." He said they make a mockery of meetings with LDS church leaders on the subject.
Jacoby called their reactions to the issue "unworthy and unfair." He especially takes issue with the accusation that a posthumous baptism -- that Jews, he points out, give no credence -- is like "killing them twice." He also noted recent reports that some Mormons, including Sen. William King, stood up for efforts to rescue Jews from Nazi Europe. An opinion article in JTA.org notes that King backed legislation that might have saved Frank and her family.
