The quintessential New York Times reader and citizen editorialist, Martha S. Cherkis has been studying ethics and sociology in America for decades. Her contributions to news publications have been well received since, as a pre-teen, she won a contest given by The Detroit Free Press for the best letter about being a Detroit Tigers fan. Of course, it was published in the paper...and she won tickets to a game. Since then, her comments about media, politics and society have graced the pages of The New York Times and Commentary Magazine in response to articles on popular issues by noted writers. Further, her research has been acknowledged in books addressing issues ranging from the Holocaust to racial unrest. Now, in the age of the Internet, Martha's insights are available online. To this, Martha, who has been ever cautious in her approach to new media, says: "Thank you, Google."

Martha Cherkis is a researcher who has worked for organizations such as the American Jewish Committee and the League of Women Voters. She attended Wayne State University, New York University and The New School for Social Research.



In the above photograph, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is speaking at the Ethical Culture Center in New York City in 1945. Martha is seated to the right of Eleanor in the first row. She is wearing a white hairwrap.

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Always an advocate of face to face discussions, Martha now embraces the world of cyberspace. She welcomes comments to this blog, which is having its inaugural group viewing before the Telecommunications Governance seminar held by Professor Olivier Sylvain on April 20, 2009 at Fordham Law School...just blocks away from the Ethical Culture Center!

REAGAN AT BITBURG

Admittedly, it takes a strong will not to overidentify with make-believe characters, especially when talented writers, directors, and actors are able to arouse emotions more effectively than straight news reports of genocide, totalitarianism, and man's inhumanity to man.
Martha S. Cherkis Brooklyn, New York

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/bitburg-15001?page=4

[discussing President Reagan's visit to Bitburg Cemetery: for further brief background of Reagan's controversial visit to Bitburg, view http://deadpresidentsdaily.blogspot.com/2007/05/may-5-1985-reagan-at-bitburg.html]

RIGHT-TO-LIFE LOBBY

I must also comment on how skillfully Miss Tedeschi dismisses the issue of individual rights and responsibility as she draws attention to critics of the body politic, the Surgeon General's Office, and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. More pointedly, Miss Tedeschi sounds like an apologist for the polemicists of the right-to-life party who have been unyielding in their lobbying efforts against parents suffering human anguish, physical pain, and economic privation due to overwhelming birth accidents.
Martha S. CherkisNew York City

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/infanticide-14780?page=4

IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS

In today's battles for the supremacy of humanity over depravity, television indeed makes an impact. When dramas reinforce lessons of the marketplace - ends justify means, material gains reward immoral behavior, quantity dollars are superior to quality goals - it is later than we think. The televised Iran-Contra hearings, which exposed ethical conflicts among government decision makers, presented real questions to audiences as to the real heroes and the real villains.
MARTHA S. CHERKIS Brooklyn, N.Y.

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/27/arts/l-villians-and-heroes-016687.html

[For more on Iran-Contra Hearings, see http://www.history.com/search.do?searchText=IRAN-CONTRA%20AFFAIR,]

VIEWERS AS VICTIMS

To the Editor:
If Red Smith could be inspired in 1951 to write that "the art of fiction is dead; reality has strangled invention," Larry Gelbart has cause to groan in 1995 [ "Peering Through the Tube Darkly," April 16 ] . Fortunately, relief is in sight. A minority of viewers, not classifiable as voyeurs, have applied for victim status. We are not entertained by ugliness, gossip or scandal. Without hesitation, we channel surf or switch off, read a book or meditate.
MARTHA S. CHERKIS Brooklyn

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/14/arts/l-fact-and-fiction-on-tv-viewers-as-victims-664695.html?sec=&spon=
[Commenting on Article: "Peering Through the Tube Darkly.." Article by Larry Gelbart re: Rodney King, New York Times, April 16, 1995.]

Citation Printer Friendly
Title:
American Jews and the Holocaust.
Authors:
Cherkis, Martha S.
Source:
Commentary; Sep1983, Vol. 76 Issue 3, p21-21, 1/5p
Document Type:
Letter
Subject Terms:
LETTERS to the editorJEWS, American
Abstract:
Presents a letter to the editor in response to the article "Indicting American Jews," by Lucy S. Dawidowicz in the...
Accession Number:
15869742
http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/1040822979.html

THE ALTRUISTIC PERSONALITY

http://books.google.com/books?id=7Ze0ohBVFY0C&pg=PR24&lpg=PR24&dq=martha+s.+cherkis&source=bl&ots=wm2gcNrfO1&sig=GaiPnIa_QHOoQO8V0NRuml_1w8E&hl=en&ei=K1vmSbm1L-qRnAfc-4SlCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPP1,M1

[Acknowledgment for her assistance on book: The Altruistic Personality By Samuel P. Oliner, Pearl M. Oliner, Harold M. Schulweis]

UNEQUAL AMERICANS:PRACTICES AND POLITICS IN INTERGROUP RELATIONS
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=29027694

Acknowledgment for contribution to book: In any study conducted over a long period of time and covering diverse areas, such as this one represents, the assistance of colleagues and friends is not only helpful but essential. This I have had the good fortune of receiving. Selma Hirsh, associate director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC),stands out in this role above all others. She initiated and produced the John Slawson Fund for Research, Training and Education, which made possiblenot only this study but also a number of useful projects both here and inIsrael. ...My interviewees supplied the basic data of the study, and to them I con­vey my thanks for their time, their interest, and their effort. Dr. Marc Vosk, a former colleague of many years' standing, worked dili­gently in a collaborative role during the last phases of the study. His role is indicated on the title page.
Martha S. Cherkis faithfully and diligently carried out the
tasks of a re­search assistant. Her services were invaluable.
My gratitude is conveyed for the helpfulness given me by many AJC staffmembers,
especially Morris Fine, Harry Fleischman, the late Judith Her­man, Sonya Kaufer, Irma and Milton Krents, Irving Levine, Sam Rabinove,Rabbi A. James Rubin, and Dr. Neil Sandberg. I trust I will be forgiven if,inadvertently, I omitted names that should be on this list. In addition, I wish to express my gratitude to Oscar Cohen, ProfessorsLucy S. Dawidowicz, Sigmund Diamond, Herbert H. Hyman, and JackRothman for their advice. Outstanding, of course, in
helpfulness and support in every way was mydear wife, Ada Schupper Slawson, to
whom this book is happily dedicated.
-ix- Questia Media America, Inc. www.questia.com Publication Information: Book Title: Unequal Americans: Practices and Politics of Intergroup Relations. Contributors: John Slawson - author, Marc Vosk - author. Publisher: Greenwood Press. Place of Publication: Westport, CT. Publication Year: 1979. Page Number: ix.

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ON A NEW DIRECTION FOR AMERICAN JEWS

When I finished reading Mr. Friedman's analysis and nodding in agreement with so much that he had to say, I asked myself: is it possible that today's Jewish leadership is suffering from a failure of nerve, or a failure of talent, or both?
Martha S. Cherkis New York City

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/american-jews-13359

For a link to the Friedman article, go to http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/a-new-direction-for-american-jews-6491
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ETHICS IN AMERICA:
Banter with Bill Bennett

Further, I entertain the possibility that, with mankind's ethical and moral heritage taken out of the realm of vague and theoretical concepts, students may be energized to put their own values to work in comprehending and dealing with the crises of their life and times.
Martha S. Cherkis New York City
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William J. Bennett writes: So to both Robert Rosthal and Martha S. Cherkis I would point out that in teaching ethics, and indeed, in many other things today, we are well counseled by Justice Holmes's suggestion, made in another context, that we are more in need of study of the obvious than investigations of the obscure.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/teaching-ethics-13174

INTERGROUP TENSIONS

While genuine controversy exists among special-interest groups, it is my view that the media, in reporting the painful past and dwelling on demagoguery and bigotry, interfere with contributions by responsible agencies toward the resolution of America's pluralistic dilemmas.
Martha S. Cherkis Brooklyn, New York
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http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/black-anti-semitism-13080

For link to related article, go to: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/black-anti-semitism-on-the-rise-6175
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Full letters appear below:

Black Anti-Semitism

Reader Letters

February 1980

To the Editor:

I feel that both the title and the contents of Murray Friedman's article serve more to intensify group fears than to foster constructive intelligence among readers who consult COMMENTARY for the clarification of issues.

Further, I question Mr. Friedman's cursory presentation of poll data showing bad marks given to one group by another and presenting the suspicions and negative opinions of one group about the other at a time when intergroup tensions are most sensitive.

It is axiomatic that fears can be generated and hate aroused simply by publicizing the negative remarks of authority figures. Even apart from the conflicts arising from the Andrew Young-PLO issue, black and Jewish leaders have been involved in a controversy over domestic goals. The two groups, each with a different ethnic history, disagree about the means by which affirmative action should be translated into more jobs and educational opportunities for blacks (without sacrificing the principle of merit in the workplace). Jewish spokesmen who have vociferously supported the protection of constitutional prohibitions against discrimination have been accused by black leaders of undermining the cause of affirmative action.

While genuine controversy exists among special-interest groups, it is my view that the media, in reporting the painful past and dwelling on demagoguery and bigotry, interfere with contributions by responsible agencies toward the resolution of America's pluralistic dilemmas.

Martha S. Cherkis
Brooklyn, New York

Commentary Magazine

Teaching Ethics

Reader Letters

April 1981

To the Editor:

In his brilliant article, William J. Bennett somewhat dampens my optimism about the latest approaches to ethics instruction. . . .

It had been my understanding that beyond providing a background in the ethics of Western civilization, the new values-clarification classes were conceived to crystallize ethical awareness during secondary educational years so as to awaken students earlier to their partnership in shaping personal attitudes and individual pursuits.

Through such rousing exercises, I imagined the possibility of generations of individuals becoming more aware of their rights to moral choices and creative initiatives as they emerged from the age of innocence. I envisioned students made alert to positive and negative values transmitted to them during formative years in family and cultural environments. The new texts promised to be an improvement over the scholasticism that dominated the teaching of ethics and logic when I was a student in the 1940's.

Perhaps I am less distressed with educators who fear “moral indoctrination,” however, because I see a possibility that while trying so hard not to influence moral behavior, they may be impelled as well to abandon a dogmatic style of teaching. Rather than project a teacher-preacher stance, they may take on the educator-facilitator mandate that will encourage students to engage more freely in controversy and expose conflicts of conscience that may be interfering with their moral awareness.

Further, I entertain the possibility that, with mankind's ethical and moral heritage taken out of the realm of vague and theoretical concepts, students may be energized to put their own values to work in comprehending and dealing with the crises of their life and times.

Martha S. Cherkis
New York City