Jewish Life August 1962

M A N A N D SO C IE T Y I N J E W IS H L A W T H E A R A B S I N IS R A E L • H E B R E W M E L O D IE S T H E J E W IS H CO M M U N ITY OF CH ILE M IS S IO N OF M E R C Y A T E A C H IN G M ETH O D F O R T H E A U TO M A TIO N E R A SE L E C T IO N S FRO M L IG H T S O F R E P E N T A N C E

AUGUST, 1963 AV, 5733

ANNOUNCEMENT 64th Anniversary B iennial N ational Convention OF TH E

Union o f Orthodox Jewish Congregations o f Am erica will be held AT THE

Sheraton-Park Hotel in WASHINGTON, D. C. on Wednesday, November 21 — Sunday, November 25,1962 Cheshvan 24 to Cheshvan 28, 5723 • PLEASE RESERVE THESE DATES T hanksgiving Week . . . in the Nation's Capital

Vol. XXIX, No. 6/August, 1962/Av 5722

EDITORIALS THE ANTI-JEWISH INTERNATIONAL ........................

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PRAYER IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ........................

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YOSSELE! SM ALL BOY, LONG SHADOW ...................

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ARTICLES Saul Bernstein , Editor M. M orton R ubenstein R euben E. G ross Rabbi S. J. Sharfman Libby K laperman Editorial Associates Rik k i G ordon , Editorial Assistant JEWISH LIFE is published bi­ monthly. Subscription two years $4.00, three years $5.50, four years $7.00, Supporter $10.00, Patron $25.00.

Editorial and Publication Office: 84 Fifth Avenue N ew York 11, N . Y .

ALgonquin 5-4100 Published by U n io n of O rthodox Jewish C ongregations of A merica M oses I. Feuerstein President Benjamin Koenigsberg, Nathan K. Gross, Samuel L. Brennglass, M. Morton Rubenstein, Harold M.. Jacobs, Vice Presidents; Edward A. Teplow, Treasurer; Herbert Berman, Secretary; Harold H. Boxer, Financial Secretary.

Dr. Samson R. Weiss Executive Vice President Saul Bernstein, Administrator Second Class postage paid at New York, N . Y .

August, 1962

MAN AND SOCIETY IN JEWISH LAW / Felix Wlllman . . ......................................................

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THE ARABS IN ISR A E L/!# Helen Fried .............................................................. 14 SELECTIONS FROM RABBI ABRAHAM ISAAC KOOK’S “THE LIGHTS OF REPENTANCE/ Translated by Alter Ben Zion M e tzg e r............. 21 A TEACHING METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATION ERA/ Joseph L. Schlussel ..................................

29 THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF CHILE ITS PAST AND PRESENT/Jacob Beller ............. 33 HEBREW M ELODIES/ Ira Albeck ...................................................

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FICTION MISSION OF M ERCY/ Michael Rosenak ............

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REVIEWS TWO STUDIES OF WILLIAMSBURGi| Nathalie S c h a c te r................................................... 53

DEPARTMENTS AMONG OUR CONTRIBUTORS ..............................

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HASHKOFAH: THE SECOND TABLETS .................... 43 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ......................................... 59 Drawings by Ahron Gelles Copyright 1962 by UNION OF ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS

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among our contributors

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MICHAEL ROSENAK, a writer of growing repute, counts both Kew Gardens, N. Y. and Haifa, Israel as his home communi­ ties. A graduate of Yeshiva University, Mr. Rosenak received an M.A. from Columbia University and studied also at the Jewish Agency’s Teachers Institute in Jerusalem, then taught English and history at the Midrashiya in Pardes Chanah. Dur­ ing the past year he has filled an executive post with National Young Judea. He plans to return to Israel in the fall.

FELIX WILLMAN is the author of Roshey P’rakim Beemunah (“Summary of Jewish Faith”) published in Tel Aviv. Formerly on the staff of the Tel Aviv daily Shearim, he is now engaged in a study of social aspects of Jewish thought, for which he has received two consecutive yearly grants from the Claims Conference. A musmach of the Slonimer Yeshivah in Ramat Gan, Rabbi Willman is a graduate also of Tel Aviv Law School and has done graduate work at Philathea College, London, Ont., where he received his doctoral degree, and at the new School for Social Research in New York.

JACOB BELLER, well known in the field of Yiddish journal­ ism, writes nowadays for English-language media also. His article “The Marranos and the Inquisition in the New World,” appeared in our previous issue. Mr. Beller who has travelled widely in the course of his career, including extensive periods in Latin American lands, makes his home in Canada.

IRA ALBECK combines devotion to Talmudic study with writ­ ing on philosophic and literary themes. The combination took root in his student years, which included yeshivah learning to­ gether with college courses featuring English and philosophy as his respective major and minor subjects. Among his previous contributions to Jewish Life was “The Believer and the Sceptic,” in our Adar, 5722/February, 1962 issue.

HELEN FRIED came to the United States as a child from her native Minsk in Russia and was reared on New York’s lower East Side. Working daytimes, she went to high school classes evenings, and after marriage and while mothering her three children continued evening studies at Brooklyn College, the Rand School, and New York University. Her literary career began with writing commercials and continuity for the Yiddish radio program sponsored by her husband’s store. Since then Mrs. Fned has authored articles and stories, plus two booklength manuscripts of personal experiences, as yet unpublished.

A lengthy visit to Israel in 1961 was the source for her article m this issue.

JOSEPH L. SCHLUSSEL is Educational Director of Congre­ gation Morya m New York City and programmer for the Edu­ cational Science Division of U. S. Industries. Born in Munkacs, Czechoslovakia, he has been in this country for twelve years, studied at Brooklyn and City College, and has received Semichah from Mesivtah Torah Vodaath.

ALTER BEN ZION METZGER is the spiritual leader or Congregation Anshei Baranow in New York and teaches at Yeshiva University High School for Girls. He is a graduate ana ipusmach of Yeshiva University, from which he also re­ ceived the Master’s degree in Education. He received a Master’s degree and Guidance diploma at Teachers College, Columbia University, and is now a candidate there for a Ph.D. JEWISH LIFE

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The AntUJewish International HY the recurrence of organized Jew-hate? Why its persist­ ence, unsated by the Horror of history? Why its manifesta­ tions in many lands, in diverse systems of society—in the Soviet Union and in England, in Argentina and in the United States, in Uruguay and in Germany?

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Many seek answers, and many are the answers offered. Each answer gives a measure of insight, a rationale that formulizes one or another approach to the question. Yet none of the an­ swers, nor any combination of them, quite suffices. Jew-hate is a cancer of modern society, and like its physical counterpart, contributory causes have been in part identified but the ultimate cause has eluded research.

Does it follow then that since the ultimate cause of Jew-hate is unknown, and the definitive cure accordingly not within our grasp, it be viewed in a spirit of fatalism? Here too there is some analogy with cancer. Had this dread disease been viewed with hopeless resignation, its ravages would have gone unchecked, taking unthinkable toll of human victims. Rather, cancer became the subject of tremendous, unceasing effort, which brought a variety of forms of remedial treatment. Looking at the disease of Jew-hate with the eye of the social scientist, we can see that if proper stock be taken of its malignant, soul-destroying char­ acter, if effort of the necessary intensity and scope be applied to the charting of its pathology, if due means be applied to the uprooting of its manifestations and the prevention of its further spread—Jew-hate too can be held within bounds.

UT the analogy must not be pressed too far. The very

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Will process of viewing Jew-hate with scientific objectivity and to detachment has its danger. Nobody wants cancer. Nobody, any­ Evil where, is in favor of physical disease. But there are those who want Jew-hate. There is a universal will against the physical disease, but as for the menace of Jew-hate, though there are vast numbers who look upon it with abhorrence, many others are but passive-—and yet others have a veritable craving for it.

August, 1962

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It is of great importance that modern society come to grips with this fact. Jew-hate is not to be handled as just another social aberration, neatly docketed as antisemitism, but as a human evil, a sick passion under the command of personal will and propa­ gated, with deliberate intent, under personal responsibility. After the nightmare of the Nazi holocaust, no man on earth may shield his gaze from its monstrous reality of blood lust.

HROUGH proper channels, in carefully correct form, the United States Government has indicated to the Government of Argentina our country’s serious concern with the shocking wave of anti-Jewish violence that recently erupted there. In the halls of Congress and in many a forum across the country ex­ pression has been given to the sentiments of Americans on the grim developments in Argentina and Uruguay and on the oppres­ sion of Jews and the suppression of Judaism in the Soviet Union.

But the ruling authorities of these nations might well question in turn the policies of our own authorities towards organized Jew-hate right here in the United States, and pointedly too might they remark on its official toleration in that other keystone of modern democracy, Britain.

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In both pillars of the Western world, militant Jew-hate, pro­

Official fessing the doctrine and name of Naziism, has been permitted to Tolerance organize publicly, to propagate and to proclaim its teachings

through the mails and on the public squares. Juridical and gov­ ernmental sources have ruled that such action is lawful, and hence entitled to the protection of public authority. According to these interpretations of the written constitution of the United States and the unwritten constitution of the United Kingdom, one is free to agitate publicly for the extermination of his neigh­ bor and to mobilize an organized force for this end. This is law­ ful: to interfere with its public expression is unlawful.

ESPONSIBLE Americans must take a new look at organized Jew-hate. They must confront themselves with the fact that it is a crime— and not less a crime because it has become so familiar a phenomenon both in modern times and through the ages. Would sponsors of robbery, arson, theft, dope-peddling or any other category of crime down to murder be conceived as No License having “constitutional rights” to organize, to propagate their for Crime purposes and proclaim them, under the protection of freedom of speech and assembly, from the public streets? For that matter, would it be conceivable that such license be given to sponsors of the extermination of Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists—or Poles, Swedes, Irish, English—or any other religious or ethnic element whatsoever? Never, of course, would Americans be so utterly mad as to give any one of these crimes constitutional protection or any other measure of public

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sanction. Organized Jew-hate is no less a crime than any of these and must be treated accordingly.

When the United States has established a proper basis for the treatment of Jew-hate as a crime, its treatment as a malignant social disease will be radically facilitated. The example thus set will have salutary effect in other countries. Then, and not until then, will organized Jew-hate be relegated to the category of evils conquered by the progress of civilization.

Prayer in the Public Schools ELDOM have decisions of the United States Supreme Court brought so violent a reaction as has its ruling that prayer in the public schools is unconstitutional. If public utterance be taken as the criterion of public opinion, it would seem that the decision is massively unpopular, to the point, among many, of sheer outrage. It may be that those seeing merit in the Supreme Court ruling are less inclined to express their feeling than those to the contrary, and hence that public sentiment is less one-sided than appears. But there can be no doubt at all that a great many Americans look upon the ruling as hostile to the concept of the American way.

While emotions may calm down in due course, it seems un­ likely that the matter will be permitted to rest. The decision lies The at the heart of a focal issue of our time: the religious orientation W ider of American life. More specifically, the question with which Issue Americans are struggling is: Is the United States essentially a religious community? And yet more specifically—is America a Christian community—and if so, shall not its public institutions reflect and sustain this character?

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T is curious, and significant, that opposition to the banning of public school prayers has been voiced by leaders of both Protestant and Roman Catholic circles, and by both opponents and proponents of Federal aid to church-related schools. While recognizing that the foregoing are alike moved by concern for spiritual values as such, one may surmise also that subjective interests play a considerable role. The Protestants doubtless fear that the ruling will undermine their influence in the public schools, while the Catholics on their part must fear that it will prejudice the process of achieving quasi-public school status for parochial schools. Consistency might seem to call for the opposite —that Protestants should favor the Supreme Court decision as a bulwark against Federal support of the Catholic school system, and that Catholics should welcome the ruling as a barrier against the mounting Protestantization of the public schools. But the hard interests of both override tactical concerns. In the final showdown, each is prepared to forego important considerations when these clash with yet more basic issues.

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The tacit recognition by both Protestant and Catholic leaders of the interlocking of their practical interests forms a precedent which can bear major consequences. Few facets of the American Interlocking public scene could withstand the combined weight of these great Forces forces. This applies pertinently to the immediate issue of the public schools and scarcely less pertinently to the broader issue of the role of religion in American life.

ITHIN the Jewish community, views as to the merits of the Supreme Court decision appear to be less unevenly divided than in the Christian communities. Those whose domi­ nating consideration is separation of church and state and those concerned with the problem of imposition of Christian teaching on Jewish public school children—the two being by no means synonymous—alike hail the decision as a major step in the right direction. But a good many other Jews see a greater danger in the rise of a “religion of secularism” in the public schools than in the inroads of sectarianism. There can be no real “neutrality,” these hold, as between religion and irreligion in the climate of the public schools; they can be either “neutralist” in favor of materialism or “neutralist” in favor of religion; and it is more difficult to arm Jewish public school children against the menace of materialism than against the pressure of Christian indoctrina­ tion. The Supreme Court decision, in this view, would close the door to religion and open the door to materialism.

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Although the Supreme Court is the country’s highest tribunal, argumentation pro and con a decision already rendered is not necessarily irrelevant, as history shows. Supreme Court decisions Battle arrived at by a given formulation of Constitutional philosophy Lines have on occasion been reversed, in effect, by decisions derived Form from a differing basis of Constitutional interpretation. Too, be­ tween the pronouncement and the implementation of a decision there can be a wide gap. In view of the weight of the underlying issues, the present decision marks not the resolution of the battle over religion in the public schools but the onset of a new and sharper phase of the struggle. All-out efforts can be foreseen^ by partisans of both sides to arouse and fnobilize public opinion.

Many elements of American life will be encompassed within the battle lines—-the Jewish community included.

AS Americans, Jews have the same stake in the issue as all jrV. other Americans. As Jews, we have some special considera­ tions to weigh. If the opponents of the Supreme Court ruling succeed, through one or another process, in overcoming its effect, the way will be open for the “parochialization” of the public schools and the “publicization” of the parochial schools. The schools system will, at the very least, become overwhelmingly identified with Christianity. Should this not eventuate, materialist 6

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influences in American life will penetrate the schools system as never before, with Jewish children more than ever a prey.

However little unanimity there may be among American Jews as to the merits or demerits of the Supreme Court decision, common sense dictates that there can be no dispute as to the The Only alternative before us—namely, to provide Jewish schools for all Alternative Jewish children. This policy, of course, recommends itself on its intrinsic merits, apart from external issues; but the external issues being what they realistically are, the impetus to the fullest devel­ opment of the Jewish day school movement must now prevail.

YOSSELE: Small Boy, Long Shadow LTHOUGH young Yossele Schuhmacher has at last been restored to his parents, the “Yossele case” is not closed.

It cannot be considered closed so long as Israel’s air remains contaminated by the poisons that the case precipitated.

Of all the unhappy aspects of the situation rising from Yossele’s abduction, the most significant was the outpouring of malevolence against religious Jewry. Ideological rancor, always endemic on the Israel scene, never before had reached this pitch.

Day after day, week after week, there gushed forth a stream of venomous calumny—calumny, by Jews, of the Jewishness of other Jews. The ugly stream filled the columns of the country’s press, polluted the daily lives of the people, desecrated the deliberations of the Knesseth, sprang from the mouths of governmental leaders.

It took on the shape of astounding machinations that were of the very texture of the “ritual kidnapping” libels of infamous memory —but this time concocted by Jews, against Jews.

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What kind of mischief was afoot became apparent to all in the trial, on charges of kidnapping, of Rabbi Binyamin MendelPlot sohn. That Israeli authorities would stoop to the level of persethat cuting this revered figure, together with three other devout men B oom eranged of irreproachable character, was a shock even to those influenced by the agitation. That they would resort to such means as were disclosed to frame a case was a greater shock. Soon exposed as a tissue of falsehood from beginning to end, a concoction of lies and slander built solely on the “evidence” of a man with a record of criminality and mental disorder—who presently confessed his complete perjury—-it seems incredible that such a case should have been brought to court. Yet such a case was brought to court —to a court of the State of Israel, by the legal authorities of the State of Israel. Well did the presiding judge, Justice Benjamin Halevi, excoriate the authors of the prosecution. But the court’s verbal chastisement alone will not suffice. Greater amends are in order—to the intended victims and to the entire Israeli nation.

August, 1962

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HE collapse of this enterprise stripped from the agitation surrounding the Yossele case its assumed guise and exposed the real objective: to shatter the influence of Israel’s religious forces. The method too was now apparent to all: to traduce the character of religious leadership by besmirching, without scruple, eminent figures of the religious community.

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For all the transparency of purpose and means, the question of ultimate motivation is less easily explained. It is a question of deep import to Israel and the entire Jewish people.

That men with lifelong commitment to materialist and irre­ ligious ideologies could be impelled to combat religious influences Jew s —this, however unfortunate, is not a matter for puzzlement. That A gainst men so committed, having achieved social power, would be moved Jew ishness to ruthless methods to sustain their power—this too is to be understood. And when such men, so placed, find themselves con­ fronted with a steady rise in the tidal pull of Jewishness, pointing to the ultimate reversal of their power—it is saddening yet by no means inexplicable to see them strike against that which endangers their status.

But the problem cuts deeper still, for the fact remains that when a Jew lashes out against Jewishness he strikes against his own self.

S it then that in the process of twisting the Yossele issue into a political weapon, long pent-up impulses finally found full release? To reconcile contradiction within their inner selves, secularists had sought to shape a structure of contradiction: a Jewish self without Judaism; a Jewish nation without Torah. In recoil alike from Jewishness and from Jew-hate, they had manu­ factured a synthesis within and about themselves. But in the environment of Eretz Yisroel the contradiction could not endure.

And now, the chemistry of the Yossele case with which they had tinkered reacted on the inner contradiction, dissolved the syn­ thesis, and released the barriers to captive impulse.

If this urge to the destruction of Jewish self proves to be a continuing force then one must view Israel’s future with grave Fateful foreboding. But as against this there rises the hope that what has Eventualities happened will prove to have been a purgative or catharis, freeing troubled spirits of that which impeded healthy growth. In the one event, Jews, in Israel and everywhere, must arm themselves against a calamitous danger. In the alternate event, we must be alert to improve upon the opportunity thus presented for the opening of a new and better chapter in Jewish life. Whichever may prove to be the case, young Yossele Schuhmacher will have been the occasion for a turn in the Jewish history of our time.

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Man and Society in Jewish Law

By FELIX WILLMAN

HE Kennedy Administration’s pro­ posed medical-care-for-the-aged plan, the cries of conservatives that we are heading towards the Welfare State, the recent welfare regulations in the city of Newburgh—these and numer­ ous kindred developments have focused attention upon our social welfare sys­ tem and are causing some basic reap­ praisal of the role of the State in caring for the less fortunate.

Obviously, any consideration of our social welfare system must be com­ pletely related to the underlying politi­ cal and social philosophy, to our con­ ception of the nature of Man, the role of the State, the responsibility of society. These are questions to which we must first respond before we can determine whether our system is effec­ tive, meaningful, and consistent with our goals.

As Jews, we must endeavor to de­ velop a social philosophy based on the Torah. It is our purpose here to offer some guideposts towards such a phi­ losophy, and to indicate some overall distinctions between the social outlook of the Torah and that which is the basis of Western society’s legal and

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social system. These distinctions will be particularly mariifest in the areas of political philosophy, the basis of crimi­ nal law, and social philosophy, the basis of our welfare regulations.

Even a superficial examination of our public laws will lead to the ines­ capable conclusion that the prevailing “law of nations” is predicted on the overriding assumption that the state must enjoy priority of value over the individual. To be sure, in democratic societies the rights of the individual are guaranteed, he is awarded a maxi­ mum of liberties, his individualism of personality and character is respected.

Nevertheless, this concern is only secondary to the primary concern of protecting the interests of the state, as a political entity. I think that his phi­ losophy was deftly defined by Anatole France, when he said: “The interests of the sinner are twice as sacred to me — but the interest of the public pre­ dominates.” Interestingly, the French author recognized that in the treat­ ment of the sinner one can more readily glean a criterion for the level of law and justice which obtains in any system.

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“law amongst nations” there is no dis­ HAT is the Jewish view?

Indubitably, Jewish law pro­ tinction between a small state or a vides for the functioning of the “body large state. Similarly, in Jewish law politic,” the state. Ample regulations man is viewed as a state, albeit small, are provided in Torah for the preser­ that need not bow in deference to the vation of the state. A complete chapter large state—which we call society.

The scope of this principle is ex­ treats the laws relating to the head of state, the King. Yet, at the root of all emplified in this famous Talmudic these laws is the all-embracing recog­ discussion: Two men are walking on the road nition of the predominance of the indi­ and only one possesses a vessel of vidual over the state. The Rabbis water. If they share the water they will emphasized that the fact that man was both perish, but if one drinks he will created first, before the family, society, have sufficient to remain alive and and state, was not alone a chronologi­ reach human habitation. Ben Petura cal coincidence but an ontological ruled, ‘it is better they should both judgment on his prominence. Man, drink and die rather than one should individual man, enjoys such superiority witness the death of the other.’ Rabbi because he alone enjoys the coveted Akiva taught, ‘it is written and thy distinction of being created in the brother may live with thee'—Only with image of G-d. thee but your life takes priority to his.

(Bova Metzia 62:1).

The laws of Kiddush Hashem, the sanctification of G-d’s name, reveal Ben Petura here gives eloquent expres­ how this principle is embodied in law. sion to the range of individual worth in Jewish law. Rabbi Akiva’s objec­ The following are illustrative: A group of men walking on the tion, which is the accepted Halachic road are confronted by heathens who opinion, applies only where the water threaten ‘give us one of you and we belongs to one. Where ownership of will kill him else we will kill all of you’ the water is shared by both there is -—let them all be killed and let them no dispute, and therefore, the insight not deliver one Jewish life. (Yeru- into the Jewish perspective of indi­ shalmi Terumah; Rambam, Yesodey vidual dignity is in no way mitigated.

Hatorah) (See Maharsha Ibid.)

A group of women are assaulted by heathens saying ‘give us one of you HIS principle is more clearly re­ and we shall defile her else we shall flected in the criminal laws of the defile all of you’—-let them all be de­ filed and let them not deliver one Torah and its entire penal system. In Jewish soul. (Ibid V:4). regard to witnesses in life-trials it is The Kabbalists and mystics aptly said (Makkoth 7:1): Know ye that laws of life are not as portrayed the Torah view of man when laws of money. In financial matters a they spoke of him as an “Olom Koton” man may pay financial amends and be —a small world. Man is not measured forgiven, while in matters of life his in terms of how much he contributes own blood and that of his descendants to the betterment of society but instead depends upon him until the end of he is judged as a world all his own. time. Thus Scripture relates G-d’s con­ From such a perspective, it follows that frontation of Cain after he had mur­ it is unjust to destroy one “world,” dered Abel, the bloods of thy brother however small or large. Verily, in the ................ , the plural bloods is used

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to indicate the effect on descendants.

Therefore has man been created alone to teach you that whosoever destroys one soul in Israel it is as if he has destroyed a complete world, and, he who makes one single Jew live is con­ sidered as if he gave life to an entire world.

In keeping with this tradition was the extreme caution exercised before pro­ nouncing the death sentence. A Sanhe­ drin which issued the death penalty once in seventy years was designated a “slaying tribunal.”

CRIM IN O LO G IST studying Torah would easily grasp the philosophy of its penal system as moti­ vated almost completely by the desire to rehabilitate the criminal rather than to rid society of its undesirables. The atonement of the criminal, his restora­ tion and reformation so that he may yet share in the hereafter, supersede concern for protecting society against its degenerates. The Biblical explana­ tion “so that they may hear and see” was only proffered as justification for the public display of the execution and not for the death verdict itself.

Moreover, where the reformation of the criminal clashed with the well-being of society, the Rabbis ruled in favor of the criminal’s welfare. Let me cite some examples.

A thief had decided to repent. His wife spoke unto him ‘you fool, if you repent even the belt which you wear will no longer be yours.’ He thus was dissuaded from repenting. At the time the Rabbis ruled ‘no refunds are to be accepted from thieves or those who lend on usury and the Sages looked with disfavor upon those who do ac­ cept such refunds.’ (Bova Kama °4:1).

Ostensibly, this regulation would be to the detriment of the victimized society and would encourage rather than deter the thief. However, if such regulations

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would facilitate the repentance of a sinner, the Rabbis did not hesitate to put forth such rulings. Interestingly, the comments of the Tosaphoth (in behalf of the Ri) add even greatei sensitivity to this principle. They main­ tain that the Talmudic ruling against acceptance of such refunds applied only to a professional thief whose pri­ mary means of sustenance was rob­ bery. It did not apply to the onetime inadvertent sinner. Ordinary logic would have dictated the converse, a proven thief should suffer the severity of law, whereas one who has only on occasion succumbed to temptation should enjoy leniency. Once again we have ample demonstration that the ways of Torah are unique. A habitual criminal is spiritually ill and morally depraved. He can only be pitied and dealt with understanding^. To deal harshly with him would only force him to fall deeper into a wayward life.

Every facility must be afforded him to enable him to attain repentance.

But he who has stolen in a moment of temptation must be helped to realize the folly of his way before it becomes a habit. This can only be achieved through harsh treatment.

Unlike all other penal codes, Jewish law exempts the robber from all fines while it penalizes the thief. In explana­ tion thereof, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai said, “the robber has rendered the honor of the servant equal to that of his master while the thief has not rendered the honor of the servant equal to his master in that he con­ siders the eye above as incapable of seeing and the ear above as incapable of hearing.” (Bova Kama 79). Punish­ ment in this context is based on the motive of the criminal, not on the extent of damage caused to others.

In areas of “Knas”-fines, Talmudic 11

law provides “he who admits his liabil­ ity is absolved from payment.” This special dispensation is only accorded to the criminal who confesses of his own volition, but not to him who is coerced to admitting his guilt by the presence of witnesses. Here there is a complete preoccupation with the re­ formation of the sinner’s character.

HERE were occasions when the Rabbis felt impelled to relax this otherwise sacrosanct immutability of individual integrity. Rabbi Eliezar Ben Yaakov says “I have learned that the Tribunal imposes punishments of lashes and other penalties that are not in the Torah, but this has not been done in transgression of the law of Torah, but in order to build a fence around Torah.

It once occurred that a man rode a horse on Sabbath in the days of the Hellenes and was sentenced to stoning, not because he deserved such pun­ ishment but because it was the urgency of the time that required it.” (Sanhe­ drin 46). In the Yerushalmi (Chagigah) relating to these emergency reg­ ulations, the question was raised as to what extent did the Rabbis use such power. Rabbi Lezer son of Rabbi Yossi said it must always be based on an appraisal of the situation and the severity should be limited to rendering the cross-examination of witnesses easier. Rabbi Yossi said that the wit­ nesses must comply with all standard regulations, and the emergency powers relate only to foregoing the need for prior warning of the criminal by the witnesses (Hathraa), which is ordi­ narily mandatory. Nevertheless, no penalty may be imposed on mere as­ sumption.

From the extreme caution taken by the Rabbis to define and limit emer­ gency powers one can easily glean the

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spirit of Jewish law, which treats with utmost reverence the individual per­ sonality so as to avoid any infringement on personal freedom and integrity.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, stands higher in the eyes of Jewish law than the individual human being.

HIS distinction between an indi­ vidual-orientated and society-ori­ entated philosophy is also the basis for the wide gulf that separates the social welfare laws of Torah from that which underlies the system of the contempo­ rary Western world. Current welfare laws in Britain, for example, are based on the recommendations of the Com­ mittee for the Law of the Poor of 1834. In its report the Committee said “The state recognizes the need of sup­ porting the poor not as a right but in order to protect the state, and as a remedy against the obstacles caused to the state through the penniless. As­ sistance should be given in such a manner that the situation of the pauper should be less satisfactory economically than that of the poorest independent laborer.” Bearing in mind that England served as a symbol of a liberal and democratic state and as an example for the leaders of the French Revolu­ tion, one easily infers what philosophy governs the welfare programs of mod­ ern nations. To be sure, many pro­ gressive measures have been incorpo­ rated into the system, welfare pro­ grams have been expanded, but the underlying principle of regarding the distressed and impoverished as a lia­ bility of and obstacle to society re­ mains essentially unchanged.

The magnitude of Torah’s diver­ gence from this view is best depicted in the simple definition of the word “charity.” Webster defines it as “lib­ erality to the poor consisting in alms­ giving or benefaction or in gratuitous

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services to relieve them in distress.”

In Jewish law we have no word for “charity” other than “Tzedakah,” which means justice. In the former it is the benevolence of the donor that is paramount, in the latter it is his basic fundamental duty, as basic as his duty to do justice. This difference is not merely academic—it is reflected in the regulations of the respective sys­ tems. Compare the current red tape, bureaucracy, and formalities which surround the welfare system in this country with that which prevailed in a Jewish society where beggars were not alone condoned but offered protection against creditors who could not collect their debts from funds so begged. A tax was imposed on all residents, who were compelled—sometimes by force —to contribute to the charity fund.

Public assistance went to the extent of providing a man not alone with his needs but with that to which he was accustomed. Thus, if during his days of wealth he was in the habit of riding a horse and being served by a butler this was to be provided for him!

A community that failed to exercise its responsibility to its needy was re­ garded as sinful. The Bible rules that if a corpse be found without any clue to the murderer, it is the duty of the elders of the most adjacent community to declare “our hands have not shed this blood,” which is interpreted to

mean, “we did not fail him in hospi­ tality, lack of which may have been contributory to his death;” Every effort was taken to reduce the embarrassment of the recipient of charity. Where his pedigree of wealth added to the shame of his poverty, it was the duty of the community to dispense the charity under the pretext of a loan.

N summation, we can define the Torah perspective of social and political philosophy as man-centered in contradistinction to the state-centered philosophy of the Western World.

In Torah, society is individual man, writ large. Its penal and welfare codes are geared to the rehabilitation of the distressed and not simply to the amelio­ ration of a state problem. While there is no denying the fact that the Free World has made remarkable progress in the area of treating the criminal as a human being, and respecting the integrity of the impoverished, it is still distantly removed from the Torah view that makes man’s individuality an im­ pregnable honor. The message of Torah speaks with urgent poignancy in summoning the nations to raise man’s stature in the spirit of King David’s words in the Psalms: “Thou has made him but little lower than the Angels.”

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August, 1962

13

The Arabs in Israel

By HELEN FRIED

NY traveler in Israel becomes iml mediately aware of the existence of many races and religions among the population of this small state. On the crowded business streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Haifa one sees a bewildering variety of na­ tional dress, of skin color, of physical appearance. But no one pays the slight­ est attention to these differences.

Yet the observer soon recognizes that apart from the Jewish populace, one group stands out among the in­ habitants—the Arabs. He thus is con­ fronted with a major fact of Israel’s existence. Out of this fact comes many of Israel’s problems.

I arrived at Lydda Airport after midnight on the day Israel had had its national elections. The following morn­ ing all the newspapers carried the re­ sults of the election returns. During that day a discussion started among my relatives—who had lived in Israel more than a quarter of a century— concerning the various groups and parties. This prompted me to ask about the nature of the policy that the Israel Government has adopted toward its

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Arab citizens. Shemon, who is close to the country’s economy and its social problems, replied: “From the first day of Israel’s exist­ ence, the Government adopted a policy intended to bring about full integra­ tion of its Arab citizens in the life of the country. Israel’s parliamentary democracy insists on equality before the law for all the people, regardless of race, sex, and religion. All citizens over the age of eighteen have the right to vote. Even the Arab women, for the first time in this history of the Middle East, are voting side by side with other citizens.”

“Are you implying that the Arabs living here are happier now than be­ fore Israel became a state?”

Shemon looked at me for a thought­ ful minute. “No, I have to admit the majority of our Arab citizens are not happy, even though their economic situation has greatly improved.”

“What is it that makes them un­ happy?”

“Basically because suddenly they became a minority and their national pride was hurt. They fear Israel’s new JEWISH LIFE

and modern patterns of life, which English. Though he was not talkative, they have never met before. Then, at I discovered that he had graduated least half of the Arabs in Israel are from the Haifa Technion recently and living in the border areas, where they was trying to get placed on a Govern­ have always lived. These are the areas ment housing project. vulnerable to attack and infiltration We drove up to a Moslem village by the Arab nations which still claim in Galilee not far from the Lebanon to be at war with Israel. Hence these border. The family, Havari, were people have to live under emergency working in the garden. All stopped as defense regulations and a military ad­ they saw us coming. I was introduced ministration. They feel humiliated and to a young Arab, Abdul, who spoke handicapped in many ways, and so are an understandable English. I nodded bitter.” to the rest, who responded in the same “What regulation hurts them the fashion. most?”

My driver went back to the car, and “The best example is the movement I started a conversation with Abdul. permit. Anybody desiring to move “Is that someone in your family who about must have this permit, which is working that tractor?” I asked, forbids entry into any settlement ex­ pointing to a machine a little distance cept those specified in it. Since most away in the field.

“Yes, it’s my older brother. It’s a of the people living there are Arabs, the requirement is clearly directed at very fine machine, it does wonders for them. This, and other minor restric­ us.”

I learned from him that they had tions, have provoked the Arabs to re­ sentful hatred. It’s regrettable that obtained the tractor with the help of these restrictions are absolutely neces­ the Government, which also subsidizes sary.” Shemon spoke in a dismal tone. land reclamation and irrigation and in­ After a deep sigh and a long pause, troduces modern mechanized farming he went on to say, “A great number methods. These changes have more of our Arab minority are not loyal than doubled agricultural productivity citizens and cannot be trusted. Infiltra­ of their farms.

“Your Government seems eager to tion, sabotage, and espionage cases have been occurring constantly near help you,” I said.

“Oh, yes, they are. But . . .” His the frontiers and in other places.” voice sank. He seemed to want to say ATER I undertook to visit some of more. I encouraged him to go on. “But i the Arab villages and speak to even if they help us much, we are un­ the ordinary workers in the fields and happy in other ways.”

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orchards. I wanted a chance to get a first-hand impression of how the aver­ age Arab responded to the changes in his way of life which his Israeli citi­ zenship had meant.

The people with whom I stayed helped hire a car and a young Arab driver to take me to some Arab vil­ lages. My driver, Aziz Husseini, spoke August, 1962

LOOKED at him intently.) “You just said that the Government has been aiding the Arab farmers with good results.

“That is true, but they confiscated much of our land near the frontier and other places. They paid us-—true, but very little.”

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“Do you mean less than you thought that it was worth?”

“Cheaper than during the time of the Mandate. We don’t want their new machines, we like; our plows, we want our land back. It’s our life, we have had it for hundreds of years. They had no right to take it from us.” I sensed rage in his tone of voice.

‘■Please bear with me,” I said. “In my country, too, the government has a right to appropriate property neces­ sary for public use with reasonable compensation to the owner. Whenever that happens the proprietor usually feels that he wasn’t paid enough. I am sure that the Military Administration in Israel was justified in what it did for security reasons. Your country is surrounded by enemy nations. How would the Government know what Arabs they could trust?”

“They used our land to build new Jewish settlements around our villages to watch us. We don’t like it.” He stopped for a moment. Then he went on. “True, many Arabs cannot be trusted, there are plently of inform­ ers.” He spoke with despair in his voice.

“Let us look at the many advantages that your country offers to all her citi­ zens,” I said. “Israel is active in the development of its resources. It pro­ vides the Arabs as well as the Jews with health services, social insurance, broad expansion of free education, agricultural credits, water that is so scarce, housing, roads, and many more welfare services. How do you feel about that?”

“That is very good. But we are still treated as second-class citizens. Many of our young people who graduate from college cannot get a job with the Government. They never get as good a job as the Jews. They don’t let our 16

people, the refugees, come back to their birthplace. This is their home­ land, the only country they know.”

At this point I felt that the con­ versation must end as his anger was likely to grow. I left a little money and asked him to buy something for the children who ran around barer footed.

“Where would you like to go next?”

Aziz asked.

“Anywhere I could meet people who would be willing to talk. Let us go down there in the valley and speak to the shepherds.” I pointed to the pasture down below.

ONE of the three herdsman could speak English. My driver had to become the interpreter. So I said to him: “Aziz, ask the elderly man with the gray hair how he likes his work.”

“He likes it all right. He says he likes sheep.”

“So you earn more money now than before Israel became a State?”

Aziz translated my question.

“He earns much more because of the fact that Israel did away with the feudal landowners and usurers.” The old shepherd smiled as Aziz translated his reply.

I turned to my interpreter: “How does he feel as a citizen of Israel?”

The man looked down as Aziz ex­ plained my question. Then he said something in a low voice, his eyes still averted.

“He says that he does not want to talk about it.”

“Then shall we go?”

“Wait, I’ll ask him again.” After a few minutes I learned that the Chris­ tian Arab complained bitterly about Israel’s stand toward the refuges. While Israel allowed his children arid single sister to come back* there are other members of his wife’s family who were

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JEWISH LIFE

not permitted to re-enter their own homeland. That was something he con­ sidered terrible.

“Would he vouch for their loyalty to the State? Please ask him.”

“Even if they, don’t like the State, they would do nothing because they are anxious to come back to their land and homes. ”

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Y next experience was with a Moslem cotton-picker. At the beginning he was almost unapproach­ able. His parents and his wife and child had been killed in the battle of Dir Yassin near Jerusalem,, and he wouldn’t speak to any Jew. I tried to persuade him. “I am only an American anxious to speak to one who earns his livelihood by doing manual labor.”

Angrily shrugging his shoulders, he said, “No Arab likes Israel. Too many of us died uselessly in the war. We only lost it because of the United Nations and the English who gave us bad weapons. This is our country, not theirs,” and he spat.

My driver motioned to me to get into the car. “He is an angry man, no use talking to him. Would you like to meet my family? We live in Haifa and we could soon be in the vicinity of our house.”

The Husseini family lived in a mod­ ern house with much greenery around, something which nearly all of the Arab houses in the villages lacked. There I met Aziz’ mother and two sisters, both beautiful black-eyed girls who spoke English well. One of the girls was a graduate nurse and earning good money. The other was in her last year of secondary school and planned to become a language teacher. I was told that the father owned a banana plan­ tation, as well as a gasoline station where the father and three brothers work.

August, 1962

“How does the Israeli Government treat you folks?” I asked as we were sipping coffee.

“Very well, we are satisfied,” both girls answered almost at the same time.

“Many Arabs are not, but we Druzes always got along well with the Jews,” the older sister said thoughtfully. This seemed like a good place to end the conversation.

HEN I returned home I dis­ cussed my experience with sev­ eral Israelis, some of whom are very close to the country’s economy and its various problems. All agreed that the Arabs in Israel are filled with doubt and fear. They are torn in two. Their racial loyalties belong to the enemies of Israel. They fear that, should war again break out between the Arab nations and Israel, the outside Arabs would reject them as collaborators and traitors. Though the Arabs in Israel are economically secure, protected un­ der the law, treated with great respect by the Jews (who have reason to un­ derstand the feeling of a minority), most are emotionally torn and feel hatred toward the Government and its Jewish subjects.

This got me started on a series of efforts to find out more about the Arabs and their life. At the Histadruth office in Tel-Aviv, I was told that they have over 25,000 Arab members. The nearly 2,000 Arab teachers are the largest Arab group in the field of trade union organization. They receive the same pay as Jewish teachers. Origi­ nally, Histadruth was founded as a federation of Jewish labor. The Arabs are granted full and equal status with rights, duties, and benefits identical with those of the Jewish members.

Kupath Holim, the Histradruth sick fund, has founded more than two dozen clinics in the Arab sector where

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members of Histadruth and their fami­ lies receive full medical services. In addition to dispensaries, the Arab worker enjoys the benefit of the sick fund hospitals and rest homes. Insur­ ance and mutual aid funds exist, through which the Arab workers are enjoying such benefits as paid annual holidays, old age pensions, and other social services which are entirely new in Arab society.

I found that a large number of Arab workers belong to the Building Work­ ers Insurance Fund which provides social benefits and housing loans. All in all, the Histadruth is a great force striving to integrate the Arab worker into the country’s economy.

URING my visit to Nazareth, the largest Arab town in Israel, I was shown the special hospital for adult Arab tuberculosis patients who wish to observe their special practices and dietary habits.

I learned from Government infor­ mation that health teams have been touring most Arab villages to immunize infants and school children against smallpox, diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus. General vaccination against infantile paralysis is offered and urged. It is free to all citizens, and the response in Arab centers has reached as high as seventy percent.

Since the health services of the country include the Arabs as a matter of course, the Government has set up several clinics for Bedouin in the Negev. Serious cases are admitted in the large hospital in Beersheba.

At a large kibbutz that has an agri­ cultural research plant, I met an Arab instructor who spoke a fine English.

He told me that Arab education has undergone a startling development.

There is now a school in every village.

The Compulsory Education Law, and

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Israel’s modern method of schooling which is free to all children between the ages of five and fourteen, forced the parents to send their children to school. Many of the Arab youth are eager to learn. Some hold Government scholarships. Many able students from low income homes benefit from graded fees. “When you visit the Hebrew Uni­ versity, the Weitzmann Institute, or the Haifa Technion, you’ll see many Arab students walking through the halls.

With their textbooks under arms, they talk animatedly to Israeli fellow-stu­ dents in Hebrew.” There was pride in the educator’s tone of voice.

HAD spoken to a soldier, an adopted son of some friends of mine, who explained the reason why the Moslems and Christians are ex­ cused from military service. “Due to the hostile attitude toward Israel in the surrounding Arab states, some Arabs may one day find themselves in a con­ flict of conscience. Therefore, the law that all Israeli citizens are liable to military service, does not apply to the Moslem and Christian communities.”

But the 23,000 members of the Druze sect had insisted in 1956 that conscription into the army should be applied to them. The Druze soldiers are under the command of their own officers. They have served well, and have gained distinction for their group.

Few though they may be, the Druzes play an appropriate part in the State, and are highly regarded in the armed forces and the police.

Ever since Israel was founded, four­ teen years ago, the Government and the Jews of Israel have been striving to integrate the Arabs into the life of the country, in the face of compli­ cated, serious problems. As a result, the position of the Arab citizens today is far better than it has ever been be-

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JEWISH LIFE

fore. Though not all the good inten­ tions of the Government have been realized, the cultural and economic gap between the Arabs and the Jews has been greatly narrowed.

On the basis of talks with a wide variety of Arabs who are, whether they now like it or not, Israeli citizens, there is good reason for belief that if a peace treaty could finally be drawn between the Arab nations and Israel, the Israeli Arab would come in time

August, 1962

to regard the Government as his friend and protector. If there were no steady irritant propaganda from surrounding nations which regard themselves as still in a state of war with Israel, those who now feel themselves of alien blood would relax their pumped-up hatreds.

As full co-members of a nation, the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel would work toward realization of the national ideals of their homeland and a better life for all.

19

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20

JEWISH LIFE

Selections from

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook’s “ The Lights Of Repentance” Translated by ALTER BEN ZION METZGER

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This m aterial is from the Hebrew original, which has never before appeared in English translation.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook achieved great distinction as the first Chief Rabbi of Israel. His writings encompassed the entire range of Halochah, philoso­ phy, and Jewish mysticism, and were highly original both in manner of formu­ lation and in style. His books have evoked great interest and discussion in all realms of Jewish life, and a large literature based on his works has already begun to emerge.

The basic theme in the writings of Rabbi Kook is the simultaneous im­ manence and transcendence of G-d, in relation to the world. G-d animates and sustains the world in its entirety. “N o realm is void of His existence,” yet He is beyond existence in that “no thought is capable o f comprehending Him.” The world is ever ascending toward perfection, and evil has its source in the imperfection of the world. It is the task of man, through the fulfillment of G-d’s Torah and mitzvoth, to uplift the world ever constantly toward perfection and Messianic redemption.

Rabbi Kook was descended on his father's side from a long line of Mithnagdim and great Talmudic scholars. On the other hand, his maternal ancestors were devoted adherents of the teachings of Chabad Chassiduth.

Undoubtedly, the intellectual formulations of Jewish mysticism provided by Chabad Chassiduth exerted great influence upon him as a child.

The theme of G-dly light within and beyond the world is constantly dealt with in the writings of Rabbi Kook. In his philosophy, the natural and moral order o f the universe are one totality, and man's virtuous or evil conduct has cosmic significance. However, evil is merely a temporary veil: Virtue will inevitably triumph, and all nations will come to recognize the majesty of G-d, through the selfless dedication of His chosen people, Israel. Israel can achieve true renascence only by return to the land of Israel, and by complete fulfillment of all its religious obligations.

August, 1962

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In the tradition of Yehudah Halevi, Rabbi Kook wrote with inspired fervor and lyrical beauty of the grandeur of the Promised Land. One of the first significant phases of Messianic redemption would be the return to the Holy Land. He displayed great compassion and love even for those who were non­ observant, for he was deeply confident that, “ultimately all things shall come unto repentance.”

In the thought of Rabbi Kook, “lower repentance” was characterized by* departure from evil, and “upper repentance” was T'shuvah in a literal sense— return to G-dliness, and aiding to reveal His majesty within the world.

Rabbi Kook accorded special significance to his work, “Oroth Hat'shuvah” (“The Lights of Repentance”), which was edited by his son, Rabbi Zvi Yehudah Kook. It was the father's custom to study it daily during the month of Elul.

He is quoted as having said that all who contemplate therein shall find much light.

The following selections from this work will convey a measure of insight into Rabbi Kook's general conception of the realm of Repentance and its significance in Jewish thought and life.

— A lter B en Zion M etzger

INTRODUCTION

OR a long period of time, I have been involved in an intense inner struggle and a strong spirit impels me to speak on the subject of repentance, and all my thoughts are centered on this theme. Repentance encompasses the major part of Torah and life. Upon it are based all the aspirations of individual man as well as the community. It is the commandment of G-d that is in one manner the lighest of the light, for the slightest thought of repentance is in itself re­ pentance. Yet in another sense, repentance is ultimately difficult, for it has not as yet emerged to its fullest actualization in the world and in human life.

I find myself tending to think and speak constantly only of repentance.

Much is written in the Torah, the Prophets, and the teachings of our Sages regarding repentance. To our generation these matters are obscure and require clarification. Literature, which explores all areas wherein are to be found poetry and life, has not at all penetrated within this wondrous treasure of life, the treasure of repentance. In truth, it has not even commenced to take interest in repentance, to know its character and value, nor yet its poetic aspect, which inspires beyond comprehension, and most assuredly has not exerted the slightest effort as regards its realization, particularly in relation to the conditions of modern life.

I am compelled, from my innermost self, to speak of repentance. I draw back with the thought: “Am I then worthy to speak on the subject of repent-

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JEWISH LIFE

ance?” The great of all past generations, the Prophets and the most virtuous Sages, the greatest men of piety, wrote of repentance and how can I stand in their assemblage? But no inadequacy in the world can free me from this inner demand. I am compelled to speak about repentance, particularly its literary and performance aspects—to clarify its inner content in our generation, and of the means to facilitate its actualization in life both in the life of the individual and the life of the community.

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REPENTANCE: Natural, Faithful, and Intellectual

EPENTANCE may be divided into three categories: Natural, Faithful, and Intellectual.

Natural repentance possesses physical and spiritual aspects.

Bodily repentance encompasses all transgressions against the laws of nature, as well as against ethic and Torah, which are united with the laws of nature.

The result of all evil conduct is sickness and pain, and individual man as well as collective man suffers greatly from this. After the matter has become clarified unto man, namely, that he himself, by means of his evil conduct, is guilty of the entire weakening of life-strength which has befallen him, he consequently concerns himself with the rectification of the situation, to return to the laws of life, to heed the laws of nature, ethic and Torah, so that he may return and live and so that life may be restored to him in all its vigor. Medicine actually preoccupies itself a great deal with this matter, but apparently this great field of endeavor has not been brought to completion. As yet there has not been found the proper solution to all the problems of bodily restoration; medical science has not yet learned to what extent there is within the realm of life, the possibility of restoring all that has been lost as a result of the sins which have weakened the body and its powers. Apparently, this area of repentance is de­ pendent upon and strongly connected to the other parts of spiritual repentance —natural, faithful, and intellectual.

More inward is the natural repentance of soul and spirit. It is that which is called “the ethic of the inner organs.” It is the nature of the human soul to proceed upon an upright way. When a person strays from this way, and has fallen because of sin, if his soul is not as of yet completely corrupted, then this sense of uprightness pains his heart and causes him to waste away from great anguish, and he hastens to return so as to adjust that which is perverted until he senses that his sin is erased. This aspect of repentance is extremely compli­ cated and dependent upon many conditions, both internal and external, and there are therein many paths of error of which he is obligated to take heed.

Nevertheless, this type of repentance is one of the foundations upon which the content of repentance is based.

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August, 1962

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ONSEQUENT upon natural repentance, there occurs faithful repentance, with its source in tradition and doctrine, which concern themselves greatly with repentance. The Torah assures forgiveness to those that return from trans­ gression. The sins of the individual and of the community are erased by means of repentance. In general, the entire significance of the Torah remonstration is based upon faithful repentance. In its depths there are details beyond inquiry, and even their basic principles require extensive clarification and much ex-* ploration.

Intellectual repentance can be achieved after natural and faithful repent­ ance have been undergone. It is ascent to the highest level. Bodily pain or spiritual anguish, the influence of heritage and tradition whether through fear of punishment or from the effect of law and stature—none of these in them­ selves causes intellectual repentance. It is caused by a clear awareness that emerges from a complete perceiving of life and the world—an awareness which has ascended to its level after the natural and faithful tasks have effectively exerted their impressions.

Encompassing the preceding stages, intellectual repentance is pervaded with infinite happiness. It transforms all sinful acts into acts of merit. From all errors, it derives lofty teachings and from all degradations, glorious exaltation.

This is the repentance toward which the eyes of all are uplifted and which inevitably must occur and ultimately shall occur.

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II SUDDEN and GRADUAL REPENTANCE

S regards the extent of time entailed, repentance may be divided into two categories—the sudden and the gradual.

Sudden repentance occurs from a spiritual flash entering the soul. All at once the individual recognizes the evil and ugliness of sin and is transformed into another person. He already feels within his heart a complete change for the good. This comes about by means of a manifestation from an inner spiritual quality, by means of a great soulful influence whose paths are worthy of scrutinizing in the depths of their concealment.

As for the gradual repentant, no flash has gleamed within him to trans­ form from the depth of evil to virtue. Rather, he feels that he must go forward and improve the paths and ways of his life, his will, and manner of thought. In this way, he advances and gradually acquires for himself paths of uprightness. He rectifies his qualities, improves his deeds, disciplines hiinself as to the manner in which he may constantly improve, till he finally comes to the exalted level of cleansing and rectification.

Upper repentance occurs from a flash of the general virtue, of the G-dly virtue which exists in all the worlds, the Light of Him who is eternal. The soul

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of Allness, so emanant, takes form before us, to the extent that the heart can assimilate; and, indeed, in truth, are not all things, in their essence, highly upright and virtuous? And the uprightness and virtue within us, do these not come from our harmony with all things? How is it possible, then, to be torn from everything with incredible severance—a separation comparable to fine grains of sand devoid of worth? And from this awareness, which in truth is G-dly awareness, there shall come repentance motivated by love unto the life of individual man and unto the life of humanity.

Ill PARTICULAR and GENERAL REPENTANCE n n HERE is repentance corresponding to a specific sin as well as to many sins.

X Man places his sin “before his face,” and is remorseful for it. He is also pained because of his having been caught in the snare of sin. His soul climbs and ascends till he is completely freed of bondage to sin. He senses within himself the sacred freedom, so pleasant to his weary soul, and is progressively cured. And the radiant lights of the sun of mercy, transcendental mercy, cast their rays upon him and he becomes joyful; becomes filled with inner pleasure and delight though simultaneously enduring a broken heart as well as a humbled and contrite soul—for he senses within himself that this very feeling, appropriate to him according to his present state, increases his inner spiritual pleasure and aids him toward true perfection. He constantly senses that he is coming ever closer to the source of life, to the Living G-d from Whom he was but a short while ago so remote. His weary soul is mindful with joyful heart of its inner affliction and anguish and he is overwhelmed with feelings of thankfulness, with praise and song the soul lifts its voice: Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits; Who forgiveth all thine iniquity; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from the pit; Who encompasseth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thine old age with good things; So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle.

The Lord executeth righteousness and acts of justice for all that are oppressed.

(Psalms 103:1-6) O! how oppressed was the spirit while it yet bore the burden of sin, when the dark, coarse, frightful endurance lay yet upon the spirit, even if wealth and outer honor were its lot. Of what worth is all wealth if the inner content of life is impoverished and decayed? How joyous and happy is the spirit now when it senses within itself, that its iniquity is already forgiven and that the nearness August, 1962

25

of G-d animates and illumines within; that its inner burden is lightened, for it has already fulfilled its obligation and it is no longer oppressed with inner oppression and turmoil. It abounds in virtuous repose and tranquility.

Return O my soul unto thy rest; For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

(Psalms 116:7)

F another kind again is the elemental, general repentance. This comes to one who, though no specific sin or sins of the past come to his mind, in general senses within himself that he is greatly pained, that he is filled with iniquity, and that the light of G-d does not illumine upon him. There is no “willing spirit” within him, his heart is calloused; his soul’s qualities and characteristics do not proceed along the straight and desired way, conducive to fulfillment of life appropriate unto a pure soul; his conceptions are coarse and his emotions are a confusion of darkness and lust which causes him spiritual revulsion. He is ashamed of himself and he is aware that G-d is not within him, and this is his greatest anguish, his most frightful sin. He is em­ bittered of himself and finds no escape from the snare of his pursuers, which has no specific nature, but he is as one taken completely captive. From amidst this spiritual bitterness, repentance emerges as healing by means of a skillful physician. The sensing of repentance and a profound knowledge thereof—of its great affinity to the depth of the soul, to the mysteries of nature and all inner recesses of Torah faith and tradition—repentance with its full strength comes and streams into the soul. Intensive faith in the healing, and in the allembracing renascence which repentance extends to all that cleave to it shall cause a spirit of “favor and grace” to pass over him:

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As one whom his mother comforteth, So will I comfort you.

(Isaiah 66:13)

He feels with the advance of each day to be in greater harmony with the general upper repentance. This feeling becomes more assured; clarified to a greater extent; increasingly illumined by the light of intellect, and increasingly elucidated in accordance with the laws of the Torah. His face beams, the visage of wrath passes, the light of acceptance casts its brightness, he abounds with strength, his eyes are filled with sacred light, his heart is immersed in “streams of pleasure,” sanctity and purity hover above him. His spirit is filled with infinite love, his soul thirsts for G-d and his soul is satiated “as with marrow and fatness” from this very longing.

The spirit of holiness reverberates about him like a bell and he is informed that all of his transgressions are effaced, those known to him as well as those of which he is unaware, for he is created anew as a new creature, for the entire world and all worlds are renewed with him, all things sing praise to G-d; G-dly gladness pervades all creation. “Great is the power of repentance for it brings healing to the world and even if one individual repents, both he and the entire world are forgiven.”

T is the nature of repentance to give unto man peace and seriousness of mind simultaneously. Man is consoled with even the slightest thought of repent­ ance, within one small point of its great light there rests already the lofty and

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JEWISH LIFE

exalted happiness of an entire universe. At the same time, it constantly places before the eyes of his spirit the obligations of fulfillment which save him from arrogance and cast upon him a sweet light, giving great and constant value to his life.

The conception of repentance transforms all iniquities and their confusion, their spiritual suffering and their ugliness, into conceptions of happiness and contentment because, by means of the iniquities, there emanates unto man the profound knowledge of hatred for evil, and love of virtue grows stronger within him with noble strength. Beyond all reckoning and knowledge, he derives from the joy of solace the G-dly pleasure which is solely for those who have repented. Most pleasurable of all is this feeling when joined with the refining sense of a broken heart and contrite soul, a soul united with deep faith in redemption and eternal salvation.

Even thought of repentance unites the entire past with the future, thereby does the future ascend in the ascent of the will of repentance motivated by love.

By means of thoughts of repentance, man hears the voice of G-d which calls unto him from amidst the Torah and from amidst all the heart’s emotions, from admist the world and its entirety and all that is therein. And the desire for virtue proceeds and grows stronger within him. The very flesh which caused sin is constantly refined, until the light of repentance penetrates within it.

HEREBY perceive the iniquities standing as a barrier before the clear G-dly light which radiates with great radiance upon every soul and the iniquities cast darkness and gloom upon the soul. Actually, even the slightest thought of repentance effects great salvation. However, the soul can come unto complete redemption only by means of bringing to actuality the repentance which is potential within it. Nevertheless, since the thought is bound with sanctity and with the desire for repentance, there is nothing to fear. Most assuredly, G-d, blessed be He, will provide all the ways whereby perfect repentance, which illumines all the dark realms with the light of its life, can be achieved. In accordance with the greatness of repentance’s value, so is Torah blessed and more greatly clarified. Torah study becomes more lucid and clear:

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A broken and a contrite heart, O G-d, Thou wilt not despise.

(Psalms 51:19)

There must be pondering with great depth upon faith in repentance and there must be assurance that even with the slightest thought of repentance there is great rectification of self and the world. It is inevitable that after every slight thought of repentance, man shall be more happy and content with his soul than he was at the onset. This is even more so when the slight thought has already come unto man’s acceptance of repentance, and the thought is joined with Torah wisdom and fear of Heaven. Most assuredly is it thus when the quality of love for G-dliness reverberates within his heart. He should console himself and give comfort unto his weary soul, strengthening it with every manner of strength to be found in the world, for it is the word of G-d: As one whom his mother comforteth, So will I comfort you.

August, 1962

(Isaiah 66:13) 27

And if he should find within himself the sins in matters “between man and his fellow man,” and his power is weak as regards their rectification, nevertheless, let him not despair at all from the great rectification of repentance, for the iniquities “between man and his maker” are forgiven once he has repented for them. Therefore, we may surmise that the remaining segments hitherto un­ rectified will be nullified by the majority, since the greater part of his iniquities have already achieved forgiveness due to his repentance. Nevertheless, let him not rest his hand from great caution so as not to fall victim to any sin “between man and his fellow man,” and to rectify all that he can from the past in a manner of wisdom and great spiritual courage: Deliver thyself as a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, And as a bird from the hand of the fouler.

(Proverbs 6:5) Let not his heart fall within him as regards that which he has been unable to rectify. Rather should he strengthen himself in the fortress of the Torah and G-d’s service with a whole heart—in joy, in fear, and in love. * HE currents of individual and general repentance are sweeping forward.

They are comparable to the waves of flames upon the surface of the sun which, in infinite battle, leap forth and ascend. They give life to a multitude of worlds and to creations beyond number. No power can encompass the great multitude of varying colors which emanate from this great sun, the sun of repentance that illumines unto all worlds. This cannot be done because of their rapid flowing and great profussion; because of their wondorous speed; because they themselves come from the source of life wherein even time is only one of many concentrated forms. The individual and collective soul of the universe and the infinite, cries out as an awesome lion in its pangs of suffering for complete rectification, for the ideal existence, and we sense the pains and they cleanse us, as the salt which sweetens meat, they sweeten all our embitterment.

It is impossible to express in words this thought which is as the vastness of the heavens. We unite unities, we meditate upon the names of G-d: A dot— new heavens and earth in their entirety are concealed therein, a letter—-and worlds are revealed, words—and tens of thousands of infinite worlds and multitudes of creations, tranquil and rejoicing, abounding with the gladness of the Almighty, abounding with Peace and Truth. And the soul proceeds and is rectified.

By means of repentance all things return to G-dliness; by means of the existence of repentance’s power, which prevails in all the worlds, all things return and are united with the perfect G-dly existence—by means of the conceptions of repentance, its attitudes and emotions, all thoughts, conceptions and attitudes and wills are transformed and return to be established in the essence of their character in a content of G-dly sanctity.

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A Teaching Method for the Automation Era

By JOSEPH L. SCHLÜ SSEL

A N important improvement is taking place in the field of education —the introduction of Teaching Ma­ chines. This development has been called by Time magazine “the first real innovation in teaching since the invention of movable type in the 15th century.”

The Teaching Machine is not really a machine that teaches. The teaching is done by especially prepared teach­ ing programs, by educators and psy­ chologists. Therefore a better name for describing this method is Pro­ grammed Instruction.

The basic idea of Programmed In­ struction is to present the learner with small, clear steps of information, each logically built upon the earlier steps.

The extent of the students’ under­ standing is then determined and re­ corded before going on to the more difficult step.

One group of teaching machines is based on the research of B. R. Skin­ ner. On these devices the student is jl\

August, 1962

given a small unit, then a hint or a simple example, followed by an easy question. On the next page, or in some machines, microfilm frame, the cor­ rect answer is given. As the student gets the right answer almost every time, he moves rapidly from one step to the other.

MORE advanced system, called “intrinsic programming,” is used

by Norman A. Crowder of U. S. In­ dustries. This program is more flexi­ ble, and adjusts itself to the abilities of each student. In this system, too, the student is given the material to be learned in small units and is tested on each unit immediately. If the stu­ dent passes the test question, he is automatically given the next unit of information and the next question. If he fails the test question, the preceding unit is reviewed, the nature of his error is explained to him, and he is retested. The test questions are multi­ ple-choice questions and there is a

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separate set of correctional materials for each wrong answer.

The simplest device using this tech­ nique is a “scrambled book.” This is a specially prepared book in which each answer choice is identified with a page number. The reader choosing a particular answer turns to the page number given for that answer. There he will find either the next unit of information and the next question, or, if the answer was incorrect, he will find the correct material appropriate to the answer he chose. He will then be referred to the original choice page to try again. The page numbers in the book are assigned essentially at ran­ dom, and the student therefore, can­ not progress from one page to the next except by making an active choice.

He cannot finish the book unless he gives all the correct answers.

A more complex way to present the same material is by a random-access microfilm machine. Here the student makes his choices on a keyboard and the material presents itself automati­ cally.

The least expensive programmed device is called a Mini Tutor. It pro­ vides the student with a self-test and review. The student must make the correct choice or he is mechanically barred from the next question.

N the last two years, great interest in the idea of Programmed Instruc­ tion has become apparent among edu­ cators and in industry. U. S. Industries has established a special Educational Science Division to work on Crowder’s project. General Atronics Corp., Ham­ ilton Research Associates, Bell Tele­ phone Laboratories, and many others are actively involved in similar under­ takings. Leading publishers of text­ books such as McGraw Hill, PrenticeHall, and Doubleday are working on

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programmed texts. Scrambled books have been published by Doubleday under the name of Tutor-Text in many subjects, ranging from Electronics to Bridge and Poetry.

What are the advantages of Teach­ ing Machines and Programmed In­ struction?

1. Programmed Instruction moti­ vates the student to learn. The student learns to pay attention, because he knows he will be ques­ tioned immediately and his an­ swer will be checked.

2. Retention is improved because the student is active, and because he must do his best.

3. All students arrive to the same end point but spend only the time they need. It does not bore the bright student, yet, it interests the slow student.

4. The student is free to study when­ ever he chooses.

5. The same program can be used over and over, which makes it economical.

6. Time is saved. The student gets most of his information from the program, so that more class time is left for creative discussions and elaboration.

7. In Intrinsic Programming, finally, each error is corrected and the mistake and the reason for mak­ ing it is explained.

ROGRAMMED Instruction is of special value for Jewish education.

The Jewish student, especially the day school student, is in urgent need of saving time, since he carries a double load of Hebrew and secular studies.

According to Dr. Holland of Harvard University, any material can be learned in half the time on a teaching machine.

In the afternoon Hebrew School, Programmed Instruction would allow

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JEWISH LIFE

More than seventeen hundred years for the individual differences in a heterogeneous group (as the case often before any nation established a regular happens to be). Each student could school system, our Sages established a free school in every city where Jews progress at his most efficient speed.

It would enable students who are lived. Just before the destruction of not able to attend classes, because of the Temple and the Jewish State, when sickness or location, to follow the regu­ everything seemed lost for the Jewish people, Shimon Ben Shetach and lar curriculum.

It would give the bright student and Yehoshua Ben Gamla proclaimed that adults a chance to acquire additional every city must have a teacher and knowledge, and to the slow learner every child a sound education.

We owe it to the foresight of these it would provide a private tutor at his and other sages, that today, when the side.

In the spring of 1961, I discussed niins of the mighty Roman Empire lie with Norman A. Crowder the special buried in the dust, Jewish ideals live problems of Jewish education, and in on.

In every age our Sages and Rabbis what ways Programmed Instruction could help meet these problems. I then took advantage of all possible means prepared a sample program on the and methods available to spread the Jewish holidays, with the assistance of light of the Torah. When the printing The Education Science Division of press was invented, our rabbis were U. S. Industries. Copies of this pro­ among the pioneers in utilizing it for gram have been sent out to the major the sacred purpose of Jewish education.

Jewish educational agencies. The Jew­ In 1475, only a few years after the ish Education Committee of New York invention of printing, the commentary is now conducting a study of the op­ of Rashi on the Torah was published, portunities opened by Programmed In­ a book which became the foundation struction under the leadership of Dr. of Jewish education.

Alvin I. Schiff. The Graduate School UR generation has witnessed more of Education of Yeshiva University inventions in the field of com­ will sponsor a workshop on Teaching munication than any previous one; yet, Machines this summer.

There remains much to be done, we have failed to use them for our and I hope that, with the help of G-d, urgent needs in Jewish education.

At the Mizrachi World Conference much will be done. Once more we held in Jerusalem in 1949, my father have to be the pioneers in the field of (may he rest in peace) proposed a education, as we have been in the past. plan to utilize radio, motion pictures, HE secret of Jewish spiritual per­ and phonograph records for Jewish petuation throughout the ages of education. Unfortunately, only a tiny prosperity and persecution has been fraction of that plan has been carried our ability to hand over our heritage out.

In the United States very little was from generation to generation. “Moses received the Torah at Sinai and handed accomplished up to recent years. There it down to Joshua . . .” This transmis­ are a few excellent educational pro­ sion of the golden chain of knowledge, grams on the radio, such as Rabbi which started in the desert, continued Pinchas Teitz’s “Daf Hashovua,” and through all the stages of Jewish history. the “Sidrah in the Light of Today,”

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conducted by the Jewish Agency’s De­ partment for Torah Education, but since they are in Yiddish, they do not reach the most important audience— the youth. Phonograph records are available of Hebrew and Jewish songs and Chasidic melodies, but they put little or no emphasis on education.

Audio-visual departments have been established by Yeshiva University, the American Association for Jewish Edu­ cation, the Jewish Educational Com­ mittee of New York, and various other Jewish agencies. Television has con­ tributed very little to Jewish education thus far, and some observers justly be­ lieve that television in general has done great harm by taking students away from their school work. Today, when radio, television, and motion pictures are huge commercial enterprises, non­ profit educational programs can hardly compete.

OW many Jewish children are limited in their Jewish knowledge because of our lack of foresight, be­ cause we acted too late and did too

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little? It is our duty to act in time, utilizing Programmed Instruction for Jewish education.

Let us not forget that our Torah is a living Torah, and while the moral truths in it are unalterable, the methods of transmitting Torah must be the most advanced; the golden chain that started at Sinai must have the newest link suitable for the Age of Automation.

To those who say, “Chodosh assur min ha-Torah,” let me point out that the basic idea of Programmed Instruc­ tion can be stated in the words of Midrash Shir Hasirim: “Just like water falls in drops and drops and they be­ come rivers, so are the words of the Torah. . . . until it becomes a flowing river.” This is the main principle of Programmed Instruction—to present short nuggets of information immedi­ ately reinforced.

Let us resolve to follow the foot­ steps of our great leaders in the past, to use all available means to make the Torah “Great and Glorious.”

The Jewish Community of Chile Its Past and Present

By JACOB BELLER

HILE is one of the most beautiful countries of Latin America with its snow-capped m ountain peaks, breathtaking vistas, and mild, pleasant climate. When you cut through the giant Cordilleras in an aircraft from Argentina your eyes cannot tear them­ selves away from mountains silvered over with snow reflecting the rays of the sun in the dead of winter. The view is even more striking when the plane lands in Santiago and the trav­ eller finds himself at the foot of a long chain of shining snow-topped peaks.

The name “Chile” is from the Indian words Chi-Le, which mean “end of the world.” In this literal end of the world there is a Jewish community of 30,000.

As in neighbouring Peru, there are traces of two previous Jewries. First came the tragic epoch of the Marranos who practised their faith in the New World though hounded by the Inquisi­ tion. Because of its distance these crypto-Jews found ,Chile a convenient place to hide out from the Inquisition and used it also as a transit area to countries like Argentina, Paraguay,

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August, 1962

and Uruguay. In 1885 there came a migration of German Jews who before long merged with the existing popula­ tion. Of both these elements there have remained only individual traces which one comes acrosj from time to time.

HE present Jewish community of Chile recently celebrated its first half century. Unlike the Jewish migra­ tion to other parts of Latin America, the movement to Chile was not a di­ rect influx of families or lantsleit. Jews who had not found success in Argen­ tina and who had enough wanderlust or imagination would look beyond the towering mountain ranges of the Cor­ dilleras to seek their fortune. The first Jewish adventurers who were enter­ prising enough to cross the Cordilleras were sons of the Mosesville colonists from the so-called Jerusalem of Argen­ tina. On an earlier trip to Santiago I was able to talk to one of these pio­ neers, the late Nechemia Trumper, who was the first president of the Jew­ ish center and of the Zionist organi­ zation—virtually the founder of the

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community—a typical son of the Ar­ workers—an imposing contribution for gentine farm colonies in his simple, a country of this size.

The Jewish community has grown cordial temperament and his warm and serious attitude to all that is Jewish. both communally and culturally. Many The original Jewish livelihood in important community and welfare in­ Chile, as throughout Latin America, stitutions have been created. The num­ was pack-peddling. There it was called ber of Jewish professionals has grown. by the Spanish-Yiddish word “sema- Numerous structures have been raised, nalchik” from the Spanish word for among them a Maccabee sports sta­ “weekly payments.” They were also dium and an up-to-date Jewish school. known as “klappers” (knockers) as As far as appearance goes, the Jewish they would knock on doors offering community of Chile is well developed everything under the sun on weekly in­ and well cared for.

Internally, however, it is a different stalments. The migration, as stated, was one of individuals who found matter. Chilean Jews are quite con­ themselves scattered in various parts of cerned about the younger generation the country quite remote from each and all means are being utilized to re­ other. Gradually they began to look tain this second and third generation. each other up and settle in the larger When one compares Chilean Jewry to towns in order to form some kind of that of Uruguay—the two being of group life. In 1906 the first minyon similar number—one can see that in was held in Santiago. In 1909 the first Jewishness Chile lags far behind. The Jewish association was founded. assimilation in language has gone fur­ Among its statutes is a clause that to ther in Chile than in other Latin Amer­ be eligible for membership persons ican countries but some derive some must have a decent occupation. This comfort by calling it “adaptation.” was their way of fending off those who Montevideo in Uruguay has two Yid­ may have brought with them the dish language dailies (besides a Com­ shame of Buenos Aires—the white munist party organ), three Jewish radio stations, and among its schools slave traffic. even has an orthodox yeshivah on the traditional eastern European pattern.

ROM that point the Jewish com­ Santiago, on the other hand, has a munity of Chile made rapid social single weekly which originally ap­ and economic progress, making a sig­ peared half in Spanish and half in nificant contribution to the country’s Yiddish but which recently dropped development and occupying a mean­ its Yiddish section. ingful place in the world map of Jew­ ish communities. In South America, it ANTIAGO has a magnificent school must be remembered, a community of building which houses what we 30,000 Jews is considered a substan­ tial unit. There is not one area of would call a Jewish day school. How­ Chile’s economy or industry where ever, in contrast to its impressive exte­ Jews are not to be found. In many rior, internally it gives little satisfaction. ways they were the creators of its in­ Its budget is $100,000 a year, a figure dustry. According to government sta­ high even for the United States or Can­ tistics there are four hundred Jewish- ada. General or secular studies, how­ owned industries employing 20,000 ever, receive the main attention in the

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teaching program. Recently, when a survey was held on the achievements of the pupils in Hebrew, the results were such that it was decided not to publish the figures. The position of Yiddish may be imagined. When an enquiry was circulated to the parents asking whether they wished Yiddish to be taught to their children, all but a very few replied that they were not interested in this. The ambassador of Israel in Chile, Eliezer Doron, recently stated that only 10% of Chile’s Jewish children receive a Jewish education.

It is not surprising that a Chilean Jewish observer, Mr. M. Rizenberg, writing in the Argentine Yiddishe Zeitung, struck such a pessimistic note in talking about the future of his com­ munity, comparing it to a rosy apple which is rotten inside and predicting its utter disintegration. When I first visited Chile it was at the time that the Yishuv was locked in warfare with the Arab armies. The Jewish youth of Chile was undergoing a resurgence.

There were set up by the various Zionist movements and many young lads and girls were preparing for aliyah to Eretz Israel, to live in kib­ butzim. Quite a substantial number of these fulfilled their plan and many took part in the defense of the Jewish state.

At my most recent trip to Chile the situation had changed for the worse.

The hachsharoth had disappeared. The Argentine journalist Moshe Shenderey best described the situation in an arti­ cle in Yiddishe Zeitung entitled “The Unfavored Sacrifice.” “The commu­ nity,” he writes, “is willing to spend and give whatever the youth will de­ mand, but there is no one to give to. . . . Much support is given to the Maccabi Sport organization which has its own splendid quarters but utterly August, 1962

without any Jewish content. . . / ’ HY has Chilean Jewry so suc­ W cumbed to this assimilation, whether we call it language-assimi­ lation or, as some say, “adaptation”?

For one thing it is a fact that the Jewish immigrant did not find it as difficult to make his way up the eco­ nomic ladder as did his brothers in parts of Latin America. The Chilean is by nature amiable, generous, and carefree. He is always in need—a sort of merry pauper—and is a strong be­ liever in the philosophy of enjoying the passing hour, letting the morrow look after itself. This environment can­ not help influencing the Jew who lives in Chile. Moreover there was very little commercial competition, for Chile sounded much too strange and far-away for most emigrants. As a result riches came quickly and the newly rich were soon dazzled by the income which went up and up. Very little thought was given to the coming generation and as a result the aliena­ tion of the youth from traditional Jewish life, so prevalent in Latin Amer­ ica, was particularly marked in Chile.

The fact that the Jewish immigra­ tion to Chile, as we have mentioned, did not come directly from the coun­ try of origin and was not of a uniform composition also contributed to the assimilationist trend. With the Jewish settlers migrating from many different countries, each with their own back­ ground, temperament, and mentality, the development of a cohesive Jewish life was much handicapped.

Nevertheless, there is no need to be utterly pessimistic about this com­ munity. In conversation with the lead­ ers of the various community organi­ zations—many of them of the second generation in Chile—one gets the im35

pression that their approach to Jewish life is changing. While one cannot place too optimistic a construction on this either, evidence is unmistakable of a trend among the second-generation to return to Jewish life largely because of external pressure. The Chilean-born Jew does not suffer the inferiority com­ plex of his immigrant parents. The immigrants will never admit to you that any antisemitism exists in Chile and seek consolation in the news that in New York too, there were syna­ gogues daubed with the swastika; the second-generation Jew, however, will tell you that a ghetto exists without walls, that he is proud of being a Jew and will let you know it at any occa­ sion. He will tell you that doors to non-Jewish society—especially upper class society—are barred and bolted.

A middle class as such does not exist here. The masses are on a cultural and social level that is so low that the Jews can find no contact with them. He therefore has no alternative and is thrown back on the necessity of creat­ ing his own social and cultural en­ vironment. The envy of the foreigner —especially of the Jew—because of his rapid economic success is much stronger than in the U. S. A. It is tangible and almost visible as one walks along the street. The same envy is directed toward the Jewish student and professional for their academic and professional success.

still others Alemanes, i.e. Germans, according to the land of origin of the first Jewish settlers.) However,*they all now know that there are two kinds of Rusos and Polacos—the kind that at­ tend a church and the kind that are Judios (a word that has retained its . strong derogatory flavour in these countries which derives perhaps from the Inquisition.) It was the Gentile Rusos, Polacos, and especially Ale­ manes who had no small part in restor­ ing antisemitism in these lands and underscoring the feeling against their Jewish compatriots.

The Chilean will tell you, just as does the Bolivian and the Argentine, that the Judios exploit the country and are responsible for all its woes. When­ ever a crisis occurs—and when do they not occur?—the blame is put on the Jews. There is no determined and fixed political “line” on the Jews in Latin America just as there is no fixed policy on any other matter. The men who yesterday were denouncing the Jews can suddenly make a switch and to­ morrow emerge with protestations of love and admiration for the Jewish people. In a certain state I attended an official reception for the ambas­ sador of Israel after a pact had been signed whereby Israel was to send technical experts to that country to assist its agricultural development. The flags of both countries fluttered in the breeze and the anthems of both were sung. A Jewish representative was honoured by the award of certain S far as antisemitism is concerned, medals. Only a few days later there I Chile is no exception to the con­ was a public antisemitic demonstration ditions to be found in the other Latin with people marching through the American lands. True, the present streets carrying brooms shouting that President Allessandri is a Liberal but the Jews should be swept out—and this does not necessarily apply to the hanged.

Rusos. (In some countries of Latin If it is possible that a person close America Jews are referred to as Polacos and in others Rusos and in to the head of a state who had a

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pro-Communist record, should sud­ denly turn up in Formosa and express his great admiration for Chiang KaiShek’s achievements for the workers and peasants and follow this immedi­ ately by a trip to Washington to seek a loan, then it becomes more under­ standable that certain countries see nothing contradictory in distrusting one’s domestic Jews but seeking the help of Jews abroad.

ERTAINLY one ought not to V>l minimize the positive develop­ ments in Santiago and other settle­ ments; the effort to build schools and sport clubs, the generosity shown in giving funds to Israel and other Jewish causes, all of which play such a signifi­ cant role in Chilean Jewish life. The present period in Jewish life there might be described as the birth pangs of a new era— a transition period lead­ ing to a new nusach, a Latin American Jewish way of life. Proof of this might be in the success of the B’nei Israel congregation, the country’s newest community formed by German Jewish refugees in 1939.

Since its formation, B’nei Israel has been an important religious, cultural, and communal institution, the center of a wide periphery of activities on the model of the American synagogues, which do not restrict themselves to a purely religious program. There is a sisterhood, youth clubs, a children’s school, a library, a cultural circle, a welfare organization with many branches and even a kosher restaurant —the only one in Santiago. Two rab­ bis, Dr. Manfred Lubliner and Dr. Egon Lowenstein, helped create this imposing apparatus which takes in all elements of Santiago’s German Jewish population. Like many American syna­ gogues, B’nei Israel has a junior con­ August, 1962

gregation and the rabbis are in close touch with the youth.

The second positive development is that the leaders of Chilean Jewry have come to the conclusion that something must be done about assimilation and they mean not merely language assimi­ lation but something deeper. This, they concluded, can only be done by bring­ ing the younger generation closer to Jewish tradition — something badly neglected by South American Jewry.

The Zionist leader Gil (Yechiel) Sinai told me that as head of a representa­ tive committee of Jewish organizations, he accepted the proposal of an ortho­ dox Chevra Kadisha to create an allembracing kehillah to cover all organi­ zations, as exists in Buenos Aires.

B’nai B’rith plays an important role.

This order has brought an executive officer from the old B’nai B’rith lodge of Germany to assist. As in other countries nearby B’nai B’rith serves as an impartial platform for Jews of vari­ ous origins to meet and it also carries on a program amongst the youth.

FIT HE Chilean Jewish community, JL like those of neighboring coun­ tries, is composed of various divergent elements: the Eastern European sector, the Hungarians, the German Jews, and the Sephardim. All these are linked by means of the central body—a repre­ sentative committee on the model of the Argentine DAIA. Each one of these blocs has its representative on this central Committee which is the spokesman for the whole community.

It can be said that in the field of organization Chilean Jewry has taken a long step forward since the day that the first eastern European Jewish immi­ grants founded a social group, giving it the name “Filharmonico Ruso” and the Sephardim who had been there 37

earlier had founded their “Centro Macedonio.” Today the situation has changed. Not only does the second generation refrain from concealing its origin but it goes further: it demon­ stratively chooses the name Israelita.

Outside of the capital there are Jewish communities in Valparaiso, the so-called Atlantic City of Chile, in Temuco, in Valdivia, in Concepcion, in La Serena, and in other towns throughout the length of the country.

HEN I first visited Chile, com­ ing via the Pan American High­ W way from Peru, I met a solitary Jew in Arica, as I have related in a pre­ vious article.* Arica is a town on the Pacific, on the borders of three coun­ tries: Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. This time I came to Arica from Santiago on the Chilean airline and found no less than two hundred Jewish families set­ tled there. On the “21 de Mayo” street in the center of town, where I once found my solitary Jew, I counted at least twenty Jewish business establish­ ments bearing such names as “AngloAmericano,” “Flutex Importación Carolina,” “Casa Regina,” “Lincoln Star,” “Vindex.” On the other street called the “ 18 de Septiembre” were other Jewish-owned shops such as “Casa Tov,” “Casa Miguel-Mendel,” “Importación Roma,” “Casa Aristo­ crat.” Among these casas I caught sight of a sign reading “Kohen Her­ manos” (i.e. Brothers). Both these brothers are Chilean-born and uncon­ cerned with the ways of “diplomacy”; they simply put up a sign that read “the shop of the Kohen brothers.”

A little beyond the Kohen shop is a white-washed building with a welltended garden attached called the “Centro Dr. Theodor Herzl.” This is ♦“A m ong Jews in R em ote Corners o f Latin A m erica,” Jewish Life, December 1961.

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the social club, school, and synagogue of this small, remote Jewish commu­ nity by the Pacific. How did they come here and establish this community in the space of a very few years? First one must know something about the history of these casas, all of which started out in the same way. In the early years it was the custom for three —sometimes four or five—young immigrants to live together in one room, sleeping in portable cots known as catres. Each had his own package of merchandise lying next to his portable cot. When dawn broke each would get up, put his load on his shoulders and start knocking on doors to sell his wares to the natives on weekly or monthly payments. Each of them had a set of business cards and contract forms printed with a name like Casa Jaime, Casa Samuel, Casa Miguel (for Mendel) etc. From time to time the purchaser might want to exchange an item he bought from Casa Jaime and he would come to the address shown on the card on a Sunday asking for Casa Jaime. The other “casas” would direct him saying “the cot on the right of the sink—that’s Casa Jaime.”

Today those make-believe casas of Jaime and Mendel are real casas with as many as a dozen employees—ele­ gant shops provided with the best of imported goods, all in the height of fashion. Today Casa Jaime would either be an importer or a manufac­ turer employing some hundreds of people in direct touch by wire with the largest factories in the United States, Italy, and England. The wellstocked shelves of these shops display a wealth of handicrafts and goods from North America, Hong Kong, Italy, and Japan. The proprietors are so busy they haven’t a moment to stop for a word with the visiting journalist.

JEWISH LIFE

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I recollect the casas of forty years ago in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and other lands and think of the sweat, effort and energy that went into it all.

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countries, Bolivia and Peru, and from Chile itself thousands moved in to take advantage of the cheap prices or to seek employment. As a result Arica soon became a busy, bustling city and lost its primeval calm. The shops are EÑOR Mendel of Casa Miguel, packed with customers who come from who is both a manufacturer and the bordering countries and smuggle an importer, did take time off to tell their goods back, and with Chileans me how the Jews got to know about who come to get bargains, paying Arica and why they chose to settle much less than in their own towns. here. Arica is in a completely dry area; How do they transport the goods back very little grows there and there is no out of the free zone?—they have ways rain all year long. The sky is the color and means of looking after this.

The Jews of nearby Bolivia as well of copper and it is an odd experience to find that your hotel room windows as the Jews of Santiago were quick to are on the ceiling. Since it does not scent the possibilities for commerce rain at all, is the explanation, why in Arica. Moreover political and eco­ spoil the wall? Should you happen to nomic conditions had not been too wake up in the middle of the night stable in Bolivia (when, one might you have the feeling of sleeping in ask, are they?) and since Polacos had not been enjoying much popu­ the open air.

The population in this arid unpro­ larity there, a number of Jews joined ductive area is, of course, quite poor. the trek to Arica. They opened busi­ The territory is surrounded by lofty nesses on the two main streets and mountain peaks so barren they suggest things got going. Soon others joined the unformed void of Genesis. On the and before they knew it there was a slopes of these crags are small huts Jewish community—the newest and inhabited by the local natives called most remote community on the Pacific.

Viewing the Jewish scene in Chile, the Rotas (similar to the descami­ sados). For years these people lived one wonders whether the present-day their primitive life totally isolated from Jews of that country will find guidance the rest of the world. Suddenly they in the experiences of their predeces­ became aware of a world of railway sors, historical traces of whom are still trains, automobiles, and fine clothing. to be found.

All this, the native will tell you, is due In the year 1885 Chile permitted to the airplane. Once the airplane the immigration of non-Catholics, need­ penetrated the mountain fastnesses it ing the assistance of technicians to brought with it all the curses of civili­ develop its copper, nitrate and other zation. “It is destroying our youth,” minerals. Among the technicians who he will complain, “all they want to came from Germany at that time were do is dress up in fine clothes and a number of Jews. For the same rea­ leave home.” sons that applied in Peru—the paucity In order to assist this province the in numbers, the isolation from other government created a free port in Jewries and isolation from each other Arica and soon it was invaded by —assimilation took a heavy, almost merchants from the two neighboring complete, toll of this group. To this

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39

day, however, there are some who know of their origin and speak of it on occasion.

In 1941, a meeting in memory of Theodor Herzl, the founder of politi­ cal Zionism, was held in Santiago.

Among those attending was a woman of a leading Chilean family with her Chilean husband. It turned out that she was of partly Jewish parentage and was a relative of Dr. Herzl. Her hus­ band was the Chilean minister to France. Their son was in France at the time of the Hitlerite invasion and was in close touch with Jewish leaders in Chile. He helped rescue Jews from the Nazi claws and provided them with Chilean visas.

Another characteristic case is that of the family of Eliyahu Braun, a Polish Jew who came with the Ger­ man Jews in that period and settled in southern Chile. His eldest daughter married a wealthy Chilean. Her broth­ ers were taken into the brother-in-law’s business and the family soon merged with non-Jews. In the synagogue of the Circulo Israelita there is a copy of Bereshith in Hebrew, printed in Vilna in 1863, which belonged to Eliyahu Braun. On the blank sheet between the covers are written the birthdates of the children: Sarah-Itta, Moritz, Oscar, Anita, Fanny, Meyer, and Juan. It is known, incidentally, that the former Sarah-Itta Braun— Señora Valanzuela, noted in Chile for her welfare work and philanthropy—when she visited the U. S. A., identified herself as a Jewess.

A high-ranking official of the Chil­ ean External Affairs ministry insisted on embracing the liaison officer of Israel when announcing that Chile recognized that state. A Chilean of Jewish descent has kept intact his par­ ents’ love-letters written in the 1880’s, 40

one of them being a “Shonah-Tovah” card with a message inscribed “you’ll surely be in the synagogue—pray for me too.” In a debate in the Chilean Parliament the writer Ricardo Lachos listed a long series of distinguished Chilean families who come of Jewish ancestry.

In the Protestant cemetery there is a mausoleum belonging to a Jewish family whose parents were still active in the, new Jewish community estab­ lished in that generation. The mauso­ leum displays various Jewish symbols.

The people lying there are in the limbo between Jew and Christian, being neither entirely one nor the other. It was about such as these that Heine wrote shortly before his death when he remorsefully felt his own tragedy: “Keine Messe wird man singen Keinen Kaddish wird man sagen . . .”

Vestiges of lost Judaism of this kind can be found not only in Chile but throughout South America.

HE initial period of the Jews in Chile goes back to 1632 when the Spaniards conquered the land. In his book “Jews in Chile in the Colonial Period” j published by the Chilean Academy and printed at the University of Santiago, Gunther Behm lists a hundred and fifty names of Marrano origin now borne by families of the Chilean aristocracy. The names are taken from the Spanish genealogies and peerage records of the sixteenth century. A second Chilean historian, Luis Avedo, mentions four hundred Chilean names that indicate a Jewish origin.

There was one Marrano in Chile whose martyrdom will long be re­ membered and who worked and fought for his faith until his last breath at the burning stake. He was a native of

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Tucuman in Argentina but remained a convinced Jew all his life. He prac­ tised medicine in the Chilean capital of Concepcion and was arrested by the Inquisition. His name was Fran­ cisco Maldonado da Silva and he called himself Eli Nazareno (Elijah the Nazirite). Many historians have told his tragic story though the details dif­ fer with each writer. This account of unbelievable sacrifice and suffering for his faith has been a favorite topic of chroniclers, beginning with Dr. Isaac Cardozo, who, in his “Las Excelen­ cias de los Hebreos” which appeared in Amsterdam in 1679, pays tribute to da Silva as a great figure of Jewish martyrdom. Because of the greater accessibility of certain documents in Lima the locale of the execution, more information has recently been obtained about him.

Francisco Maldonado da Silva came of a Portuguese Marrano family. His father, who was also a physician, had been arrested by the Inquisition for observing Judaism, confessed, and was given an opportunity to be “recon­ ciled” to Catholicism. Da Silva had two sisters who were pious Catholics, one of them a nun. It was those who betrayed him to the Inquisition, saying that he had not been to confession for a long time and was observing the Jewish Sabbath.

Da Silva was shipped to the Inqui­ sition headquarters in Lima. At the first examination he declined to take the oath in the Catholic manner. “If I must swear,” he said, “I will swear in the name of the living G-d who created heaven and earth and who is the G-d of Israel.” Though they were reluctant, they had to permit him this as they hoped it would enable them to get a valid confession.

August, 1962

AT the hearing Maldonado da Silva openly stated he was a Jew just as were his father and grandfather before him. His father had imparted to him that all his own kin and for­ bears had been Jews and had died faithful to their beliefs and that on his mother’s side he was descended from Christians. Until the age of eighteen, he told them, he considered himself a Christian. Then he read the book of the apostate Shelomo Halevi who upon baptism had taken the name Pablo de Santa Maria and became the Bishop of Burgos. This book, “Scrutinium Scripturarum,” though written as a Christian tract, had the opposite effect on him and led him to a study of the Scriptures and eventually to Judaism.

At the next examination he stated that he had observed the Sabbath ac­ cording to the law of Moses as a com­ mandment incumbent upon all Jews, that he had circumcised himself with a scissors and razor, and that he had attempted to convert his sister to Judaism.

The Inquisition was most anxious that da Silva, more than any of the prisoners, be reconciled to the Church.

Attempts were made by torture and by persuasion to win him over. None of this however brought him to recant and in fact he was bold enough to declare as false the basic belief of Christianity. A keenly-argued dispu­ tation arose which consisted of fifteen sections but he remained stubbornly in the same position.

N the disputation of March 4, 1634, after a long sickness brought on by an eighteen-day fast and emaciated by a diet of a flour and water concoction, exhausted by the torture-machines, he was on the verge of death. After a period of uncon-

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under acute physical pain but nothing could break his rock-like adherence to Judaism. On January 23, 1639 an auto da fe was performed on St. Ildefonso Day in the public square— the Church encouraged public attend­ ance, granting pardon for their sins to loyal Catholics witnessing the fearful spectacle. This was the day da Silva was led to the stake, bearded, grey, and skeleton-like. He bore around his neck the two books he had written; this the Church had required, in order to have the flames consume his heresies as well as his emaciated body. A con­ temporary eye-witness has left this record: “After the act of condemnation was read, a wind blew up such as has not been seen by the oldest residents of Lima. The wind blew off the curtain over the stand where Eli Nazareno was confined. He shouted aloud that this had been done by G-d so He could look upon face to face—and so Francisco Da Silva—Elijah the Nazirite—was swallowed up with his books by the fires of the Inquisition.”

The news of his martyr’s death reached Europe and aroused great mourning, especially in the commu­ nities of the former Marranos who had found refuge from the Inquisition. A Jewish poet in Amsterdam, Miguel Barrios, himself originally a Marrano, wrote a poem mourning da Silva’s death which concludes: “He faces the fire unflinching To which Isaac brings the wood Following his father’s order.

Like Elijah he is borne to heaven OR twelve years Francisco Mal­ On a chariot donado da Silva lay in the under­ And leaves only his dust on the ground dungeons of the Inquisition ground.”

sciousness he came to and immediately asked that those debating with him come and repeat to him the chapters in the Bible on which he had chal­ lenged their interpretation. This time his inquisitors were certain that he would abjure his heresies but after a three-hour discussion they were exactly where they had started.

He had collected a great many leaves from corn stalks which he had asked for in place of bread. With these he had made himself a rope and with this rope he let himself down through his prison window to the other prisoners. He urged them on their re­ lease to go to the synagogue in Rome where they would be welcomed. The Inquisition found out about this and when he was questioned, he admitted it quite freely.

In his last disputation with the In­ quisitors Maldonado da Silva produced from his pocket two handwritten quarto-size books made up of scraps of paper which he had pasted and fashioned together so skilfully that they looked like single sheets of paper “so neat, that they seemed to have come out of a stationer’s shop” using ink made from charcoal. One book consisted of a hundred and three pages and the other of a hundred. The fif­ teenth and last disputation left the Inquisitors in great fury as their pris­ oner stated that all arguments for the messianic nature of Jesus were invalid.

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JEWISH LIFE

M a sh k a fa h THE SECOND TABLETS

By SAMSON R. WEISS

The Almighty, in His Love for His people, multiplied the evidences of His goodness upon us and commanded us to return to Him whenever we have become enmeshed in sin. And while Tshuvah is always valid, still the month of Elul is apt in a higher degree than the other days of the year for the acceptance of man's return, for these have been days of Divine Grace from the time when we were chosen to be His people. How so? When Israel sinned with the Golden Calf and the first Tablets were broken on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, and when Mosheh prayed for forgiveness and the Holy One, Blessed be He, told him to hew new Tablets and consented to inscribe and to give him these second Tablets, then Mosheh ascended again on Rosh Chodesh and Elul and stayed on the mount until Yom Kippur, the day of the completion of the atonement. And it is written that the people of Israel were given to prayer and fast all these forty days.

And because they blew the Shofar in the camp of Israel when Mosheh went up on Mount Sinai, to admonish the people that they should not go astray again, as had happened at the end of his first ascent, therefore we, too, have the custom of blowing the Shofar every day from Rosh Chodesh Elul on through­ out the entire month, except on the eve of Rosh Hashonah. (from the “CHAYEY ODOM” of Rabbi Abraham Danzig)

ABBI Chaim Vital, the great dis­ ciple of the Ari Hakodosh, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, writes in his “Shaarey K’dushah” (Gates of Sanctity) that the correspondence between the pre­ cepts of the Torah and the physical structure of man is one of the evi­ dences of the inherent harmony and oneness of the entire universe, a mani­ festation, in turn, of its origin. A world

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called into existence by the One G-d must bear the insignia of His Oneness.

The two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments of the Torah correspond to the two hundred and forty-eight bones of the human body, and the three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions equal its sinews. But this total of six hundred thirteen Mitzvoth is reflected not only in the physical 43

cloak of man. His soul too, which functions in this world through the instrument of the body, is endowed with six hundred and thirteen facets.

These facets, or parts, are housed in a body structured with this correspond­ ing number of bones and sinews. As a glovemaker will fashion his gloves to fit the number of fingers, Rabbi Chaim Vital states, so the Almighty formed the “garment of the soul,” the body, in perfect congruence with it.

It is this soul for whose nourishment, elevation and perfection the Torah was given and for every one of its facets there is a Mitzvah.

Thus, the Divine idea of man is, so to speak, expressed twice and joined in the wondrous juncture of the human being, once in his soul and once in his body. Dissimilar as are the melody and the string instrument, they are yet in perfect congruity, one being the pur­ pose and, therefore, the very reason of the other. As an ideal artist might fully express his vision and his concept in stone or on the canvass, in rhyme or in prose, so the Creator gave the Tzelem Elokim its fitting physical concretization.

of the nourishment it needs for its complete and glorious unfolding. To sin is to cripple it or, at least, to let it starve. To till the field given into his care and have it bring good fruit, this is man’s obligation. To despoil it or to leave it barren, this is evil.

The great teachers of our people, throughout the ages, have searchingly analyzed man’s propensity to fail and his yearning to escape the just results of his failure. They have seen in T’shuvah, in the repentance and re­ turn, though it be only one of the six hundred thirteen Mitzvoth, an un­ paralleled revealment of the infinite mercy and goodness of the Maker.

That there still remains in the under­ nourished, starved and crippled soul that power of rejuvenation from which can spring forth healing and fullness; that in the deeds of man there never is any finality determining inexorably his value and his tomorrow; that there is no ultimate darkness in the precincts of man’s struggles and vexations—this is a miracle and a grace compared by our commentators to Tchiyath Hamethim, the resurrection of the dead.

The first Tablets have, alas, been broken. In Elul, we are called upon HAT is a sin? And wherein lies to ascend and to bring before the the obligation;to desist from it? Divine Throne of Judgment those And once committed, how can its con­ second Tablets Which we must hew sequence be ever again denied or ourselves from among the rocks of our obstacles. On them will be in­ avoided?

Sin is a debasement of man’s poten­ scribed again, if we so merit, the word tial. It is the withdrawal from his soul of G-d.

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JEWISH tLIFE

Mission of Mercy

By MICHAEL ROSENAK

HE not-quite-new Buick, tuned to the smooth ribbons of asphalt called interstate thruways, growled and panted on the narrow stone-studded mountain road in Galilee. The driver, a large comfortable man in his late fifties with a carefully nurtured repu­ tation for warmth of heart and shrewd­ ness of head, held the wheel tightly.

He permitted himself a swift glance at the freshly folded map at his side; then he peered at the top of the incline as if trying to nudge the road into really veering left as it was supposed to do.

Soon, as the car shifted itself back into third gear, the somewhat pudgy hand on the wheel slackened; the almost white head half-nodded in re­ assurance. The road was indeed turn­ ing, and to the right, half a mile further, he saw the place he was look­ ing for, the immigrant village of

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Now he felt good. Really, he had been feeling good all day, but had sometimes forgotten it. It had rained all night and part of the morning, and now the afternoon sun was beaming on a washed landscape. And though it August, 1962

was rather cold, the Holy Land looked the way he had always imagined it back in Maryland, like on the post cards . . . greenish-brown hills and sheep and sun. With a careful flourish, he turned the car sharply and swung it onto the path that led to the village.

After a few yards of crunching on stones and slopping in mud, the car stopped; the driver slammed the gleam­ ing but mud-stained door behind him and began to walk briskly into the village.

HE path, after a two or three min­ ute walk, became a main street.

On both sides, pushed back a little from the muddy thoroughfare, stood identical houses, once white, already shabby and unkempt. Chickens wan­ dered listlessly around the littered front yards, pecking indifferently at dis­ colored radish plants; a few, with that ridiculous chicken pompousness, ven­ tured into the street. There was gar­ bage everywhere, and an unpleasant smell. The man, conscious of the un­ abashed stares of a sloppily dressed and uncombed woman, walked faster.

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A little way beyond the last dwell­ ing, not quite beyond the black eyes of the village women, he came to an even smaller cabin-like structure. Here there was less dirt and the surround­ ings looked somewhat scrubbed. From inside the structure, the man heard young voices, shrill and nervous.

Brushing back his hair with a quick hand, he entered the house and stood awkwardly at the door. The children became quiet. He tried to look through and over them, to avert the challenge of wild eyes that pierced him from all directions. Above and around the faces, he saw flimsy curtains, a few games of checkers and dominoes, and a wooden table strewn with cloth, needles, and sundry activity projects.

This, then, was the Youth Club which had drawn Moe’s fancy.

After what seemed like an inde­ cently long time, but was in reality only a brief moment, a tall, too thin but somehow exotically attractive girl in her late teens rushed apologetically towards him. “Ken adoni?” He smiled self-consciously, trying to focus his task to this girl, so different from the cultured English-speaking woman he had thought to do business with. Funny how those movies about Israel threw you off.

“Oh, excuse me. You speak English perhaps.” A quick and broad smile.

“I can see by your clothes. Can I help you?”

“You speak English then.” Not an inquiry but a statement of fact, a dis­ covery. He did not know how to pro­ ceed.

“Would you like to see our club, sir?” The girl has a head on her shoul­ ders, he thought. “I’m afraid there isn’t much. But here we can have the older children together, so they will not run every evening to the town and stand in front of the cafes and learn 46

bad ways.” He tried to picture the nearest town, the holy city of Safed, as a nest of cafes and bad ways. As far as he remembered hearing, Safed meant beards and cobblestones.

“You see,” she was walking around the room with him now, pointing and shooing the children to their games, “we have some checkers and the girls learn to do useful handiwork . . . when the weather is good the boys play foot­ ball. Soon,” she almost laughed, “we shall play against the boys in the next village. We are very excited about that.

They there are from Tripoli.”

UT for the last sentence, which hadn’t sounded right to him, the man would have had an approach now.

“Well . . . er . . .”

“I am called Ronya.”

“Well, Rownyer, I think it’s won­ derful . . . hm . . . wonderful what you’re doing here. Yes sir. A youth club. Yes . . . pardon me for being so interested . . . you probably think I’m just another tourist b u t . . . I think I can help you.” Royna nodded her smile and the man smiled back. Now it would be smooth sailing.

“You don’t have to tell me what you’re trying to accomplish here. I think I know pretty well.” He paused before launching the substance of his speech. “Maybe you remember an­ other American who was here two years back, Mr. Davis? My brother.

Believe me, he was very very im­ pressed. As a matter of fact, he thought this is just what Israel needs.

Youth clubs for immigrant children.

Off the streets as you say. Healthy fun.

Football, games, getting together, as you put it, to have a good time to­ gether. You follow me?”

Ronya, still nodding sympatheti­ cally, seemed to follow him. She had not known Mr. Davis’ brother and

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seemed to be very sorry about that.

She had only been graduated from high school the year before, the only child of the village who had ever been in high school. High schools cost money and children must earn, not spend. . . .

“As I was saying, my brother . . . my late brother that is, thought that way about it and before he . . . er . . . passed away, he asked me to take care of something for him.” He paused for dramatic effect just as a fist fight erupted in the opposite corner of the room. Ronya excused herself hastily and then came running back, looking suddenly no older than she was. She begged his pardon and Mr. Davis said that was all right, but he was miffed.

Not too subtle after all, these people.

“What I wanted to say was, my brother left a good deal of money just for this club. He had the idea, back in Maryland, maybe it could become a model for other villages just like yours. You know, then everyone would get the idea. Youth clubs. But not just a hut with a few games.” Ronya’s eyes widened slightly. “My brother, if you understand me, thought big.” Ronya knew as little about “thinking big” as she did about Maryland and nodded again. “You know what a model club would be like, don’t you? He wanted you to have everything. Now you say that your boys here like football. Of course it isn’t football, it’s soccer, but that’s all right, they like to play ball and that’s what counts. Why can’t we give them a real ball field, with equip­ ment? And would they go for pingpong! Table tennis. All you would need is a few tables, with nets and rackets.

You understand?” Ronya had seen table tennis once, in Tel Avjv. She understood.

“Mind you,” a sudden note of warnAugust, 1962

mg, “my brother didn’t mean anything too fancy. After all, Israel is a pioneer­ ing country, isn’t it? But we want your kids . . . er . . . children . . . to have everything they need. And if things +urn out the way I think, we’ll set uj* a real building for this club. With all the trimmings.”

ONYA’S smile was dying, choked off at the corners by bewilder­ ment and concentration. There had been too many words she hadn’t under­ stood and the American with the soft hands was too strange. What was soccer and why didn’t the man like it and why was it all right after all?

A house with trimmings? What was that? And why had the man suddenly become so strict? What was “fancy” and what did pioneering have to do with boys and football?

But she hoped it was a misunder­ standing. The man from America (or did he come from Maryland?) wanted to help that was plain. He wanted to keep the children away from the town and the cafes, just as she did. Perhaps, if there were a fine new football, even Yosef would come and forget his friends in the town, who watered their hair and combed it into their necks.

Naturally she didn’t want such a big building. The people in the village would be angry. It would make their houses seem smaller. But a new foot­ ball . . . she took heart. Her smile regained the corners and then burst in the transformation from attention to enthusiasm. It was the kind of un­ sophisticated excitement Mr. Davis saw on some of the younger faces in the room. He didn’t know whether he liked it on Ronya. Somehow it didn’t smack of a good investment. Who was really in charge here, anyhow?

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“Mr. Davis, I think you are so won­ derful. There are so many things we could do for the children. Have you ever seen the game where everyone buys and sells? (Mr. Davis, who was not brought in mind of Monopoly by this description, was not overly eager to discuss it just then. It would get dark in two hours and he did not want to be on the road after nightfall.) It is wonderful. The children will learn to do figures and to use money wisely and . f ” “That sounds important.”

“Oh, it is. They go to the town and they are cheated and then they are bitter. And then the Germans and the Russians laugh at them and tell them they come from caves in Africa. They must learn so much.” Was this girl lecturing him? Mr. Davis brushed back his hair. Ronya didn’t notice.

“We could have all the things you said. We don’t need a new house so much. If only we had nice curtains, cloth is so expensive, and material for sewing. But we need one thing very much. More than all the others.” She took a deep breath. “We must have shoes for the children.”

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R. DAVIS sat down on the fold­ ing chair which stood next to the door. Without knowing exactly why, the girl felt that the American was displeased with her, but she had to continue. The children of the village, most of them, had no shoes and it was winter. Just a month ago one of the boys at the club had died of pneu­ monia. It rained and the mud was thick and wet. The people were poor and had never made their children wear shoes in the old country. And when a child died in winter, who can argue with the Angel of Death? But here she had learned that children do not have to become sick at all. If there 48

was money for the “ping-pong tables,” surely there must be enough left tfor shoes. Could she have a little money now, just a bit of all that money? She: knew where there was a factory. She could buy fifty pairs of shoes, very cheap. And Mr. Davis could be sure, her little brother would get last, not first, even though he had a cough and her parents did nothing because they thought the doctor in the clinic had the evil eye.

All this Ronya explained in broken English and with youthful urgency.

Of course she had thought about the shoes for a long time, ever since her teacher had told her about germs and the evil eye in the germs. Mr. Davis, his own enthusiasm smothered under the weight of something he knew to be more genuine, was annoyed. Why did the girl have to hover over him that way?

“Now Rownyer . . .”

“It won’t cost much. I know a factory for shoes . . . ” “Rownyer, you don’t understand me. My brother, now he thought of this club. You know, the Morris Davis Youth Center. Football fields and such.

Shoes? Talk to the parents about shoes.

My brother didn’t think of shoes. We want a youth club.”

Mr. Davis didn’t understand. She explained again, about the mud and the germs and the evil eye. Mr. Davis brushed back his hair and got up.

“Look, Rownyer, maybe I can talk with the man who helps you. Can I speak with him, the man whose club this is?” Mr. Davis thought he sounded understanding and kind. He had a name for kindness to subordinates.

“This is my club. I want the chil­ dren to stay here and not run to the town. You are very good. But . . .”

Her determination kept pace with her JEWISH LIFE

passion. “But first I must buy shoes for the children/” Mr. Davis looked at his watch. The will had said nothing about shoes. And these people, with their chickens and their dirt and their smell . . . No, he remembered it quite distinctly . . . “to be named the Morris Davis Youth Center . . .”

E gave the bustling room a last studied stare. The children had almost forgotten him and were behav­ ing normally again. When not assaulted by those gypsy eyes, he dared to ex­ amine them closely. They were tired and tense; they irritated the man in­ tensely now. He held out his hand.

“I’ll be back soon, Rownyer. You’ll hear from me soon. Let me think it over. This is a nice place you’ve got here, Rownyer.”

The Buick drove several feet in re­ verse and was precariously balanced on the narrow road winding westward.

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The driver consulted his map and traced the red line to Haifa. The set­ ting sun got in his eyes. He would have to hurry.

He put the map down. Tonight, after supper, he would study it again.

His brother had mentioned another village he could approach. And that was in the Negev, a part of the coun­ try he hadn’t seen. Great things could be done in the Negev, he had heard.

The Negev represented the future; it was a blossoming desert.

The clouds reappeared in the sky, hastening the approach of night. On the road in Galilee, the man drove faster toward his Haifa dinner; in the immigrant village of D.--------------- , a boy switched on an electric light which then illuminated a game of checkers in a small house. Sitting on the fold­ ing chair next to the door of Moe’s Youth Center, a tall girl, her chin in her hands, looked up at the naked bulb and tried not to cry.

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Hebrew Melodies

By IRA ALBECK

T was the year of the battle of Waterloo. It was the month and year of Lord Byron’s marriage. In January, 1815, the celebrated English poet published a selection of Hebrew Melodies set to music: a beautiful dirge on the destruction of the Temple and the Wandering Jew—a weeping tribute to the People of the Bible.

The poems are in the spirit of Tisha B’Av. The verse do not merely put on sack cloth and mourn—they express a traditional Jewish viewpoint. The concept of “k’dushath haaretz” (holi­ ness of the land) is not just implied— it is plainly written: And drink from all the living rills That gush on holy ground: The author writes as though he were a member of “Israel’s scatter’d race.”

In “Were My Bosom As False As Thou Deem’st It To Be,” the poet identifies himself with the exiled Jew. Lord Byron employs the first person plural and singular, clearly identifying himself with the Jewish people: But we must wander witheringly.

In other lands to die— We sat down and wept by the waters Of Babel—

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I look’d for thy temple, I look’d for my home— Traditional sources are used. “By The Rivers Of Babylon We Sat Down And Wept” is clearly based on Psalm 137—indeed, paraphrases the psalm.

“On The Day Of The Destruction Of The Temple By Titus” causes the reader to conjecture whether Lord Byron possessed Talmudic information (as did numerous Englishmen of his era).

YRON’s “Hebrew Melodies” is unique in the tragedy of Goluth which fills its pages. However, Byron will be Byron, and the themes which characterize all the poetical works of the poet permeate these verses, as well.

Exultations of nationalism and free­ dom, earmarks of all Byronic verse, are especially appropriate here, and suffuse the despair-ridden poems.

Reserved readers of Scripture will be surprised at the extent to which the themes of nationalism and freedom permeated Lord Byron’s Biblical in­ terpretation. The poet sees Jephthah’s daughter in this light. “Jephthah’s Daughter” rivals the “Sonnet on Chil-

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Ion” in its reverent—though exulting —treatment of this subject. His view is not without foundation. During the conflict between Ammon and Israel (a matter involving as much nationalism as any other war), “Jephthah vowed unto the Lord, and said, If Thou wilt indeed deliver the children of Ammon into mine hand, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judges 1 1 :3 0 - 3 1 ) .

Israel triumphed, but, sadly, Jephthah’s daughter was the one who came forth to meet him. In the poem, she exclaims: I have won the great battle for thee, And my Father and Country are free!

N “Song of Saul Before His Last Battle,” the nationalistic motif is more obvious to the Bible student, although the martial words and bellig­ erent tones put into Saul’s mouth by the poet would be more appropriate for a medieval English warrior than for the tragic king.

The nationalistic theme is more sub­ dued and spiritual in the most famous of the “Hebrew Melodies,” “The De­ struction of Sennacherib,” another poem derived from the Scriptures.

The most impressive attribute of the “Hebrew Melodies” is the relationship between the poet and the Holy Land.

There is much intimacy and im­ mediacy. Lord Byron reports, as it were, from the sacred ground of Israel: From the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome, I beheld thee, O Sion!

The setting of the verses is the Land of Israel. The handsome descriptions of natural scenes are inspiring—par-

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August, 1962

ticularly since the poet seems to be there.

HEN two poets traverse common ground, they are bound to meet —especially if the Holy Land is their territory. Lord Byron and the great Jewish poet, Chaim Nachman Bialik, besang the same themes, the former in English, the latter in Hebrew. The vibrant world of Eretz Yisroel, Goluth, freedom, and nationalism, inspired their pens with equal vigor. However, their muses responded differently.

In sharp contrast to on-the-spot Lord Byron, Bialik was a poet of frustrated longing. In “To the Bird,” and other poems, Bialik expressed a distant yearning for the land of his dreams.

The Hebrew poet was in Lithuania, and sang of the far-away country.

It is noteworthy that frustrated de­ sire was a characteristic poetical atti­ tude of Bialik toward women. Lord Byron, on the other hand, whether in relation to women or country, always appeared to attain his objective.

Where did Bialik lay the scenes of his poetry? In “Elves of the Night,” the fairies dance on an eastern Euro­ pean lawn. “The Pond” is not Lake Huleh. It is a nearby body of water situated in Europe. “Hamathmid” besings the fortunes and ideals of a Volozhin yeshivah bochur. The locale is Lithuania.

Of the two poets, Bialik is naturally the more beloved of the Jewish people, as one of themselves. And he spoke their language: Hebrew. It is a con­ nection that creates warmth and close­ ness, as well as understanding. Too, there is something more tragic, heart­ felt, and heartrending in a frustrated yearning for a distant beloved. Bialik’s poem to the faraway land engendered profound love, as well as poignant feel­ ing, in the souls of his readers.

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Bialik’s overall role as a man of letters and poet gave him a place in Jewish sentiment which Byron can not be expected to share. His poetry dealt with yet another topic, one close to the heart of every Jew: the contempo­ rary European Jew, his problems, suf­ fering, and bitter oppresssion. Thus the European setting of his poems! And thus the depth of his appeal to the Jewish masses who felt the sting of antisemitism. Herein, too, is explained Bialik’s nationalism. It arose from everyday necessity. The plight of the European Jew at the hands of his persecutors. In the hand of Israel the Jew would be free.

S for Lord Byron’s nationalism, it S was not peculiar to the Jewish people. The Byronic theme of national­ ism was universal, applying to all men, and found in all his poetry. It applied to the Jew as to anyone else.

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In “Hebrew Melodies” the spirit of nationalism arose from the Bible. The destruction of the Temple (which, by the way, Byron called “my home”), the dispersion of the people of Israel, caused the poet to mourn the lost country and hope for its restoration.

The spur to nationalism was classical.

The spirit of nationalistic striving was more than theory to Lord Byron; he demonstrated it in practice. The poet joined the Greek war for inde­ pendence, and perished in Greece at the age of thirty-six. Were he to have lived in the twentieth century, after political Zionism had come to the fore, he might have taken common cause with Israel, and fought on her side. Be what may, Lord Byron’s beautiful poems, the “Hebrew Melodies,” linger with us, casting a spell with their haunting loveliness and melancholy allusions to the burning Temple and the rivers of Babylon.

JEWISH LIFE

Booh Bevietv Two Studies of Williamsburg

By NATHALIE SCHACTER WILLIAMSBURG: A Jewish Community in Transition, By George Kranzler, New York, N. Y. Philipp Feldheim, Inc. 1961. 310 pp.

THE HASIDIC COMMUNITY OF WILLIAMSBURG, By Solomon Poll.

The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc. 1962.

308 pp.

LTHOUGH the Jewish population of the United States is concen­ trated in New York City, until re­ cently there has been little attention paid by the sociologist to this large group.

Within the last twelve months, how­ ever, two major studies have appeared, both dealing with the predominantly orthodox community in Brooklyn known as Williamsburg. Both studies represent major contributions to the increasing body of Jewish community research.

The field of urban sociology is ramp­ ant with studies which examine pat­ terns of neighborhood growth and decay, or provide descriptions of “in­ vasion and succession” cycles. The usual pattern is one whereby an im­ migrant (or racial or religious) group

“invades” a well-to-do area and gradu­ ally displaces the original inhabitants.

Land values decline as more and more “undesirables” move into the com­ munity and “succeed” the higher status residents who move to other areas. This process has been duplicated and documented in every major city in the United States. Dr. Kranzler’s book demonstrates how the Williams­ burg community was able not only to avert but to reverse the usual neigh­ borhood trend.

The study describes the changes which took place in the residential patterns, economic and occupational structures, class hierarchy, family life, educational patterns* and synagogue activities during each of three phases in the history of the Williamsburg community. Phase I which begins dur­ ing the latter half of the 19th century and extends until 1938, was a period during which Williamsburg became au orthodox community of the moderate “Ashkenazic” Russian Polish type.

Phase II represents the ten year period from 1939 to 1948, during which Wil­ liamsburg^ population swelled with the influx of refugees from the Nazi

N A TH A L IE (M RS. D A N IE L ) SCHACTER is instructor of Sociology at Stern College for

W omen. She has authored numerous mono­ graphs on sociological themes.

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August, 1962

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holocaust. These newcomers, who rep­ resented a more intensively observant way of life, found Williamsburg, with its large orthodox element, an area conducive to religious practice, and they quickly worked their way into influential positions in the community.

Phase III extends from 1949 until the present, and is characterized by the supremacy in all areas of life of the Chasidic newcomers (primarily from Hungary) led by their rebbes. During this period some of the non-Chasidic orthodox Jews have left Williamsburg for more fashionable areas in New York City, or for the suburbs.

URING these thr^e phases, as a result of the Depression and other factors, the neighborhoods ad­ joining Williamsburg suffered blight and decline. Why was Williamsburg different?

Dr. Kranzler’s thesis is that the strong religious values of the com­ munity have served as forces of conservation, stemming the tide of disintegration in the residential, economic, and family spheres. For example, during and after the De­ pression, as wealthier Williamsburg Jews moved to higher status neighbor­ hoods, the community seemed doomed to social and economic decline. Real estate and business values, however, instead of declining actually increased during Phase II because of the intense desire on the part of the more ob­ servant refugees to settle in congenial Williamsburg.

Similarly, the traditional patriarchal family began to disintegrate toward the end of. Phase I as assimilation to majority values accelerated. This disintegration process, however, has reversed itself as large groups of new­ comers of a more intense orthodox background have not only settled in

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the community but have perpetuated a set of values which have served to re-establish the inner strength and cohesion of the Jewish family.

Dr. Kranzler thus describes (in some­ times undisguisedly glowing terms) the manner in which religious, valuational needs have superseded eco­ nomic needs, and have not only pre­ vented the expected decline of a neighborhood, but have turned it into a thriving, creative, and integrated community. His method is largely de­ scriptive, though partially intuitive and impressionistic. His material is the result of the selective use of ques­ tionnaires, case histories, and depth interviews, as well a s . “fifteen years of intensive and systematic partici­ pant observation,” As the author himself admits, his own religious back­ ground, combined with the long years of intimate association with the vari­ ous individuals, groups, and organiza­ tions of the community, have endowed him with a personal bias which is evidenced throughout the book. He is sympathetic with the values and prac­ tices of the more observant groups of the community and at times he sub­ stitutes a homiletical for a sociologi­ cal approach. Despite this drawback, his study of Williamsburg adds sub­ stantially to our knowledge and understanding of Orthodox Jewish community patterns.

R. POLL’S study is less broad in scope, restricting itself to a soci­ ological analysis of the Chasidic com­ munity of Williamsburg, and even more specifically to the economic struc­ ture of this group. The author charac­ terizes the Chasidim as an “ultrareligious” group and presents the fol­ lowing problem : In the light of the fact that other ultra-religious minori­ ties have had great difficulty in

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JEWISH LIFE

maintaining social control over their members and have suffered loss of group identity and gradual assimila­ tion into the wider community, how have the Chasidim managed to preserve group cohesion and resist accultura­ tion to majority norms? An analysis of the economic structure of the Chasidic community helps to provide an answer to this question. As the pre­ vious study also evidenced, the answer seems to stem from the supremacy for the Chosid of religious needs, values, and practices. These needs, values, and practices are reflected in and influence the economic patterns of the community which in turn re­ inforce and maintain group solidarity and isolation.

In most communities, for example, studies of the stratification system have revealed that status is closely related to and dependent upon eco­ nomic achievement. Those whose oc­ cupations yield high incomes rank high in the status order. In the chasidic community, however, religion is the major criterion for evaluating a man’s social status. As Poll remarks, “The frequency and intensity of re­ ligious behavior and the frequency and intensity with which one observes the rites and rituals of Jewish law in the course of the day are a major class index. Wealth, occupation, resi­ dence. . . only supplement one’s status position.” Thus professionals who serve the Chasidic community (the Baal Tefilah, the Shamosh, the Mohel) rank higher in the social status scale than do businessmen with substantial­ ly higher incomes. And the authority of the professional rests not so much upon his technical competence as upon his religious behavior.

Since highest status and prestige are accorded those who most fervently devote themselves to religious norms, August, 1962

members of the group are encouraged to enter those professions or occupa­ tions which specifically enhance and strengthen these norms.

ELIGIOUS values operate in other economic areas to maintain group cohesion and isolation. Because almost every aspect of the Chosid’s life is intimately bound up with his religion, there are a multitude of items which he requires for the me­ ticulous observance of Jewish law in the home or synagogue. The need for these items has provided occupations for many individuals in the com­ munity. For example, strict adherence to Kashruth has promoted a large in­ dustry in the field of Kosher foods and associated items such as plastic tablecloths or paper bags which are suitable for Pesach use, metal stove sheets which are appropriate for Shabboth or Pesach, glat Kosher res­ taurants and hotels, etc. Thus, rigid observance of the dietary laws has pro­ vided new opportunities for economic activity, thereby enabling the Chasidic community to eat in accordance with its religious values. In addition it has served to maintain the solidarity of the group by keeping its members in this neighborhood where these foods and other items are available.

In addition to the promotion within the community of obviously religious items such as tefilin, ethrogim, sukkahs, etc., even non-religious items have acquired semi-religious signifi­ cance. For example, the apparel store advertises that its stockings fulfill the requirements of female modesty; the appliance store sells shabbos zeigers to turn the lights in the house on or off on the Sabbath; merchants selling non-religious items use Talmudic quo­ tations in their advertising; movers and truckers announce themselves as

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JEWISH LIFE

“Sabbath Observing.” Thus Dr. Poll concludes that the strong religious values and the intense religious be­ havior of the Chasidim not only pro­ mote economic activity, but community stability, solidarity, and identification.

For the transformation of secular items into religious and semi-religious ones helps “to maintain the Chasidic community’s distinctiveness in con­ trast to the non-Chasidic community in which these items are neutral and secular in character . . . The cumula­ tive effect is a high degree of isolation.”

Dr. Poll documents his thesis with numerous examples of letters, circu­ lars, placards, advertisements, which all evidence the powerful influence of religious values and personal religious behavior upon economic activity and achievement. His data were gathered over a thirteen-year period during which he frequented the community

August, 1962

visiting retail establishments, schools, and synagogues; interviewing an un­ specified number of Chasidim; sub­ scribing to the weekly Chasidic newspapers and monthly Rabbinical journals.

HE resulting descriptive analysis, frequently resembling that of the anthropologist describing a “strange” or “primitive” people, lacks the warmth and sympathy of Dr. Kranzler’s study. Despite the lack of sys­ tematic sampling and interviewing techniques, Dr. Poll’s analysis of the manner in which religious values function as an integrative and cohe­ sive element in the preservation of the group is in the finest Durkheim tradition. His description of the Chasidic community, together with Dr. Kranzler’s study, provides us with much needed insight into an impor­ tant arid vital aspect of Jewish life.

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JEWISH LIFE

Letters te the Editer Mexico, D.F., Mexico I have read the article by Victor Solomon in the April issue of J ewish L ife and I am constrained to indicate some historical errors. I shall not dis­ cuss factual errors regarding the mod­ ern era and the “Indian Jews.” I have lived in Mexico for almost two years for the purpose of continuing my re­ search and writing a history of the Jews of this country since 1521.

1. The official Inquisition was estab­ lished in Mexico in 1571. However, there had been bishops, Franciscans, and Dominicans who had exercised In­ quisitorial powers since 1523. The first Jew to be burned at the stake was Hernando Alonso, in 1528.

2. Luis de Carvajal has never been referred to as the “House of Carvajal.”

The Governor had no wife or children and for five years prior to his arrest in 1590 he had little to do with his sister or her children. They all worked hard to eke out a living. Luis de Car­ vajal came to Mexico with a hundred Jewish families after the Santo Officio had been formally established in 1571.

He was never convicted of being a Jew. The Inquisition found Luis de Carvajal guilty of paving failed to report to it that he had discovered his niece and two nephews to possess Jew­ ish beliefs and that he thought they had buried their father in accordance with Jewish rites. Luis de Carvajal lived and died as a good Catholic. The August, 1962

minutes of his trial clearly reveal that he made the discovery that some mem­ bers of his sister’s family were Jews or held Jewish beliefs a few years after he had brought them to Mexico and he reported his discovery to his priest.

3. I have prepared the first “Guide To Jewish References In Mexican Colonial History” which includes all the cases which appear in the Archives which have to do with “judaizante” and “followers of Moses.” (This “Guide” will soon be published). The number of these cases is fa r less than 4,000.

4. The Inquisition made only little attempt to ferret out “Indian heresies,” and practically all of these precede the 17th century.

5. There are quite a few procesos against Jews in the 18th century. In fact, the last one was in 1788. There is no “mysterious hiatus” of 200 years.

In the middle of the 18th century the Inquisition was directed by the Su­ prema in Spain not to seek after the Jews. Later the order was rescinded.

Furthermore, in 1802, the Inquisitor General declared it illegal for any Jews to come to Mexico and that those who were there were present illegally.

This act was predicated on the pres­ ence of many Jews in some of the smaller towns.

6. The Marranos of Mexico did form a genuine “Jewish community.” There 59

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were such communities in Vera Cruz, Mexico City, and Guadalajara. In the “History Of The Marranos” by the renowned Dr. Cecil Roth one can learn of some of the community practices.

7. Mr. and Mrs. Factor came to Mexico in 1920 and met Tellez some­ time about 1925.

8. The Inquisition never burned any Jews at the stake outside of Mexico City. The word “judio” also means stringbean and was also applied to people who knew about medicine, re­ gardless of their faith.

Seymour B. Liebman Rabbi Solomon Replies: I do not claim infallibility as a his­ torian. Indeed, the only precise con­ clusion I felt qualified to propose in the article appearing in J ew ish Life , was that the approach to the prob­ lem of the Indian Jews of Mexico be predicated on sympathy and openmindedness; that if there is insuffi­ cient documentary evidence to sub­ stantiate their geneological claims, there is no more convincing proof to the contrary to permit our consciences the luxury of dismissing, with a schol­ arly shrug of the shoulders, their plaintive claim of fraternity with the K ’lal YIsrael.

Turning to Mr. Liebman’s impres­ sive corrigendum, I find his points distributed among the categories of fiction, pedantry, and irrelevancy— with one exception which I hasten to correct with due apologies; the first meeting between Mr. Factor and Sr. Tellez did occur in the second decade of the twentieth century (the exact year remained a mystery after much devoted cerebration by Mr. and Mrs. Factor, the substance of which I pre­ served on magnetic tape). “Circa 1910” was a typographical error.

August, 1962

Mr. Liebman is indignant about my use of the term “House of Carvajal” because, he states, Carvajal had no wife or children. I wish to call his at­ tention to an elementary reference work, the Universal Jewish Encyclo­ pedia where, in Volume 7 page 510, it is stated explicitly that Luis de Carva­ jal had a wife who practiced Judaism in secret, and whom he left in Seville when he came to Nueva España.

Moreover, wherein have I trans­ gressed by referring to the court of the powerful Mexican governor as the “House of Carvajal?”

I might also mention that some scholars disagree with Mr. Liebman’s contention that Carvajal came “after the Santo Officio had been formally es­ tablished in 1571.” They set the date of his arrival in 1567.

Now, compare Mr. Liebman’s state­ ment with the facts in the following quotation from the above-mentioned reference work: “The king gave Car­ vajal the special privilege of inviting to his province one hundred persons, including members of his family, with­ out requiring them to establish proof of their zeal for Christianity” (italics mine).

My reference in the article to “4,000 cases” of the Inquisition against Mar­ ranos and Judaizers, was based on a statement made during my interview with Sr. B. Ramirez, and was substan­ tiated by a gentleman who has done intensive research on this subject and in whom I have the greatest confi­ dence, especially in the absence of published data to the contrary. The same applies to the statement regard­ ing the “Indian heresies.”

Contrary to Mr. Liebman’s asser­ tion, and in reaffirmation of my origi­ nal thesis, the Marranos in Mexico in the course of time did not form a 61

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JEWISH LIFE

genuine “Jewish Community,” and Dr. Cecil Roth has very little to say about the community practices of the Mexican Marranos.

The Inquisitorial powers of which Hernando Alonso ran afoul in 1528 were directed mainly against Lutheran heretics rather than Judaizers (see Cecil Roth’s A History of the Marra­ nos, p. 274). For the crypto-Jews in Mexico the terror began in earnest with the official establishment of the Inquisition in 1571. The first auto-dafé under these auspices took place on February 28, 1574. The first Judaizer paid the supreme penalty in 1577 (p.

276).

Now for Mr. Liebman’s objection to the “200 year hiatus,” we have the word of no less eminent an authority than Dr. Cecil Roth himself. He re­ lates that a few isolated autos notwith­ standing, including that of Raphael Gil Rodriguez in 1788 (whom Mr. Liebman has in mind) “. . . by the close of the first half of the seven­ teenth century, it may be said that

August, 1962

crypto-Judaism had been almost com­ pletely suppressed” (p. 283).

I am willing to accept Mr. Lieb­ man s assurance that “the Inquisition never burned Jews at the stake outside of Mexico City.” Nevertheless, the startling fact remains that a hill near Tlapacoya, within sight of the old Indian Jewish burial ground and not fa r from the village of Venta Prieta, bears the name “El Judio” and that the local natives associate that name not with “stringbeans” or “medicine men” but with Jews.

There is much more to be said on this subject, but that would be another article . . . and more errors! So let me conclude with the hope that Mr. Liebman will leave the thankless task of pedantic sniping to men of lesser talent and apply himself to the solu­ tion of this riddle which is more than scientific—for it touches the most sen­ sitive part of a human being: his re­ lationship with G-d, his fellowmen— and himself!

Dr. Victor Solomon

63

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DECORATIONS : Eshpizon - Kiddush (P r a y e r s) a r e s ilk s c r e e n e d on u p p er four Wallis as per photograph. W ill not fade.

LIGHT : We furnish you w ith 30 ft. w ater­ proof w ire— socket— plug and plastic re­ fle c to r , w ir e d and mounted on a wooden strip 2" x 2" which you place across the top of Sukkah.

PROTECTIO N : A g a i n s t wi nd and storm. W e furnish you with tw o heavy cords 12 ft. each, slides and Hy pegs to fasten Sukkah to ground or wall.

A SSEM BLING: W ith each pur­ chase w e furnish you w ith a very d e ta ile d a s se m b ly in s t r u c t io n sheet, which makes it very sim ple to put the Sukkah together in about 30 m inutes.

Sukkah on display at 33 W est 42nd Street, N.Y.C. Room 642

COMMUNITY SIZE SUKKAH . . . accommodating up to 24 persons, 14% ft. long — 10 ft. wide — 7% ft. h i g h ............ $ 2 1 2 .0 0 F.O.B., N.Y. S ’CHACH W e w ill also supply you w ith 80 bamboo sticks 1% inches in diam eter by 6 feet long to cover entire Sukkah.

A D D IT IO N A L .. . . .$18.00

COMMUNITY SIZE ALL OTHER FE A T U R E S A S A BOVE. ADD ITIO N AL FOR S ’CHACH, $36.00

Union of Orthodox Jew ish Congregations of America 84 F ifth Avenue New York 11, N . Y.

A G entlem en: □ Please ship me one Packaged Sukkah designed by the Spero Foundation. Check for the amount of $102 is enclosed. □ I also w a n t 80 bamboo sticks, which w ill cover entire Sukkah, and I am enclosing an additional $18.00.

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