Jewish Life Nov-Dec 1963 by Jewish Action

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THE COUNCIL A lfD THE JEW S THEIR PROBLEMS AND OURS SOUTH mSEE , @i^;ES? CAIAiEH:;E^^TH

MR. BONES • THE RECURRING 'CYCLE •EDITORIAL: ISRAEL'S EXPLODING KLLTURKAMPP KISIiiJV-iETETH: 5 7 2 4

1963

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Vol. XXXI, No. 2/November-December 1963/Kislev-Teveth 5724 •T'3

EDITORIALS THE PRESIDENT ........................................................................

ISRAEL’S EXPLODING KULTURKAM PF...........................

Saul B ernstein , Editor Reuben E. Gross Rabbi S. J. Sharfman Libby K laperman Paul H. Baris Editorial Associates Lila Silver Editorial Assistant JEWISH LIFE is published bi monthly. Subscription two years $4.00, three years $5.50, four years $7,00. Foreign: Add 25£ per year. 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 Congregations of A merica M oses I. Feuerstein President Benjamin Koenigsberg, Nathan K. Gross, Samuel L. Brennglass, Harold M. Jacobs, Herbert Ber man, Vice Presidents; Rabbi Joseph Karasick, Treasurer; Harold H. Boxer, Secretary; David Politi, Financial Secre tary. Dr. Samson R. Weiss Executive Vice President Saul Bernstein, Administrator Second Class postage paid at New York, N . Y .

ARTICLES THE JEWS AND THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL/ Rabbi Norman Lamm ........................................................

THE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL: THEIR PROBLEMS AND O U RS/ Justin Hofmann .....................................

SIX CITIES CALLED EILATH / Pinchas E. La p id e.. 20 THE RECURRING C YC LE/Reuben E. G r o s s .............. 28 SOUTH AFRICAN TRAVELOGUE/ Dr. Samson R. W e is s ........................................................ 32 THE 1924 RABBINICAL DELEGATION V IS IT / Aaron R o th k o ff..................................................................... 56

FICTION MR. BONES/Sholom Staiman ........................................ 50

REVIEWS A PICTORIAL PRESENTATION OF THE JEWISH STO R Y /P hilip W. Zimmerman ................................... 62 ON EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM/ Elias C o o p e r .... 65

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

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November-December, 1963

DR. JUSTIN HOFMANN, whose articles and reviews have appeared in numerous periodicals, was ordained by the Hebrew Theological College of Chicago and received his M.A. and Doctorate in Education from the University of Buffalo. He has served for many years as Director of the University’s Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation and is also a member of the faculty of the School of Education. Dr. Hofmann’s contributions to J e w i s h L i f e include “Are We Teaching Our Values?” (MarchApril ’55/Nisan T5). Since SHOLOM STAIMAN’s literary activities are, as he tells us, “sandwiched between a full-time career as a scrap dealer in Williamsport, Pa.,” the background for his “Mr. Bones” story “did not have to be researched.” Among his several previous contributions to J e w i s h L i f e was “You Can Lead a Man to Caviar, But . . .” (February ’61/Shevat ’21). Stories, articles and verse by Mr. Staiman have appeared in many Jewish periodicals. He is President of Williamsport’s Ohev Shalom Congregation. One of orthodox Jewry’s outstanding thinkers and ideologists, DR. SAMSON R. WEISS is the Executive Vice-President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Reared in Europe, Dr. Weiss received S’michah at the historic Mir Yeshivah in Poland and served as Dean of the Jewish Teachers College in Wuerzburg, Germany, before coming to the United States in 1944. His writings include the oft-quoted “Haskofah” series of essays which appeared in J e w i s h L i f e . RABBI NORMAN LAMM, Associate Rabbi of the Jewish Center of N.Y.C., teaches Philosophy at Yeshiva University’s Teachers Institute. He was the founder and first Editor of “Tradition,” published by the Rabbinical Council of America. Rabbi Lamm has lectured widely throughout the U.S., Canada, Israel and India, and is shortly to travel to South Africa for a series of lectures. His articles have appeared in a variety of Hebrew and English journals, both popular and scholarly. RABBI AARON ROTHKOFF is a Rosh Yeshivah at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary where he received his S’michah. He received his M.A., in Jewish History, and his M.H.L. degrees from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University after graduating Yeshiva College summa cum laude in 1959. A well-travelled and accomplished author, PINCHAS E. LAPIDE is at present a coordinator of an Interministerial Committee on Pilgrimage in Jerusalem. Among his works are his most recent study, “A Century of U.S. Aliya,” which may well have had its origins in the training he began at age 16 with Youth Aliya in England. REUBEN E. GROSS’S articles, invariably marked by a dis tinctive outlook, have won wide attention. An attorney whose educational background includes degrees from Yeshiva College and Harvard Law School, Mr. Gross is Chairman of the Com mission on Regions and Councils of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and in the Israeli Air Force during the War for Liberation. JEWISH LIFE

The P residen t ITH most of mankind, we mourn the death of John Fitz gerald Kennedy. The assassin’s bullet that struck down the President of the United States penetrated the inner being of men, women, and children throughout the world. The pain and shock will reverberate through our time and far into the future. The spell of President Kennedy’s vibrant personality enfolds us still. Of the very stuff of leadership, he reached through the tangled web of a perplexed era to lead men toward vital objec tives. He is gone, but the heritage and purpose must endure. President Lyndon B. Johnson now assumes burdens which few are equipped to bear. One senses in him rare strength of purpose and high dedication. May the Almighty uphold and sustain him in his tasks.

IsraeVs E x p lodin g K u ltu rk a m p f HE violent clashes of which Meah Shearim was the recent scene are an indicator that the tension between Israel’s reli gious populace and secularist forces has reached the point of explosion. Beyond the immediate issue—the problem of per sistent and growing automobile traffic on Shabboth through this devoutly religious quarter of Jerusalem—stands the greater issue of the Jewishness of the Jewish State. Beyond the shocking actions which transpired— savage, bloody suppression of protests against violation of the Sabbath peace of Meah Shearim—rises the dark specter of forcible imposition of goyishkeit upon the whole pattern of Israeli life. No mere localized incident, this is the climax of a long series of conflicts rising from the spiritual cleavage which is Israel’s great affliction. The vista of calamitous strife which the Meah Shearim affrays held forth has borne sobering effect. There has ensued a mutual pause at the edge of the precipice. Will this lead to a new approach to co-existence or is it the precursor to a conclusive trial of strength?—this is the crucial question faced by Israel and Jews everywhere. It seems paradoxical that religious forces in Israel should find themselves most embattled when the development of religious life in the Yishuv has taken on greatest scope. Religious com munities have waxed, social and economic undertakings have Paradoxical &rown on an undreamed-of scale. Yeshivoth and religious eleTrends mentary anc* P S schools have multiplied manifold, yet with all their phenomenal expansion thousands who clamor for admit tance cannot be accommodated because facilities, are packed to utmost capacity. And the throngs that daily, Shabboth, and Yom

NovembehDecember, 1963

Tov crowd Israel’s synagogues—now grown to a record 4,000— alone belie the carefully fostered canard that most Israelis are non-religious, non-observant, or non-orthodox. It is in fact this very efflorescence of religious life, this very reality that Israelis at large— all propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding—cleave to the faith of their fathers, that is the key to the paradox. The more Israeli Jewry embraces Torah, the more ruthless and determined become the efforts to crush this spontaneous development. N contrast to their success in fields of practical development, the organized elements of the religious public have shown a regrettable degree of ineptitude in the area of public approach. Ideological communication has lagged badly. Thus a great proportion of the broader religious-minded constituency—com prising the large majority of Israelis—remains untutored in understanding of the spiritual issues at stake in the realm of public affairs. They fall under the sway of the secularist and anti-Torah parties and become unwitting accessories to the undermining of their own way of life. Nevertheless, the disparity between religious strength at the grass-roots level and its public mobilization and representation has inevitably been narrowing. The anomaly of secularist and anti-religious dominance of the state which is heir to Jewish history becomes more and more evident to more and more Israelis. Secularist, atheistic, and assimilationist groups realize The Gap that the trend, if not drastically checked, must in time make its Narrows full impress on the Israel scene. Highly skilled in political arts, public relations techniques, and the use of economic power, these elements hold command of key positions in public life and in the channels of public opinion. Spurred by fear of losing their dominant power, they have become constantly less scrupulous in its use. Hence, the rising tempo of anti-religious moves, on various levels and in varying degrees of malignancy. Hence the repeated breaches of the “status quo” agreement on public Sabbath ob servance, as in the case— among many—of the building of the Ashdod port; the establishment, under “free choice,” of non religious schools at innumerable places where religious schools are wanted; the vetoing—by labor parties!—of legislation to grant workers a midweek half-holiday; the stoking up to white heat of anti-religious propaganda. Hence the toleration, even tacit encouragement, of Christian missionary soul-stealing. In line with all of this and much more, the insistence upon the serving of t’refah meals by the new Zim Lines ship Shalom— against the outraged objections of the widest cross-section of Jewish opinion in all lands and in the face of the fact that selfrespecting Jews must and assuredly will shun this and every other Zim Lines ship so long as the gross offense continues.

JEWISH LIFE

And in line with all of this fell the insistence that the routing of automobile traffic through the streets of Meah Shearim on Shabboth is indispensable, absolutely, to the needs of Israel and that all protests by the residents must be beaten down at all Resort o costs ^ h a t then transpired in Yerusholayim Ir Hakodesh some Brute Force weeks ago marked a portentous new turn in the unfolding pattern. There poured into Meah Shearim that Shabboth truckloads of truncheon-wielding toughs from leftist kibbutzim, under the banner of the believe-it-or-not-named League Against Reli gious Coercion. In pursuance of their mission to “teach them a lesson,” these dedicated idealists beat down pious Jews right and left, undisturbed by the public authorities. Then, on a suc ceeding Shabboth, came a mass attack by the police themselves —Jewish policemen, in the Jewish capital of the Jewish State-— an attack over two hours long, savage, ruthless, with the police bludgeoning all in sight, children and adults alike, pursuing them into their homes, bestowing bloody beatings on hundreds and wrecking dozens of homes. In a subsequent Knesseth debate, Mr. Victor Shemtov, a Mapam spokesman, is reported to have called—in the name of freedom of conscience and freedom from religious coercion!— for yet more ruthless measures. The Mapam leader’s craving for a replica in the Jewish State of the Black Hundreds and Cossacks of Czarist Russia is shared by few. Throughout Israel and throughout the Jewish world, the Meah Shearim shambles has evoked a sense of sick shame and an apprehension for the future such as the attacks of outer enemies could never engender. There has seeped through the secularist propaganda curtain a general sense that something is profoundly wrong. HE recourse to brute force by anti-Torah elements has brought closer together the wide spectrum of traditional reli T gious groups in Israel and the Golah. One and all see in the unfolding developments a fatal menace to the life and soul of Unified S X B I 1 Pe°ple- Equally, all recognize that unity of approach Torah 1111181 be brouSht to bear m combatting the menace. There is a Approach general accord that religious Jewry must not permit itself to pp fall prey to a mood and attitude of militant hostility, that efforts shall rather be keyed to creative endeavor and to the building of understanding between Israeli and Israeli, Jew and Jew. On the other hand, there is a unanimous view that there can be no yielding to the de-Judaizing of Israel whether undertaken by guile, by pressure, or by brute force. Let no one, in or out of Israel, permit himself any illusion in this connection. Continued attempts to force goyishkeit upon Israeli Jewry will be confronted by a unified array whose full strength, the votaries of anti-Torah may learn, much exceeds their estimates. November-December, 1963

The Jews and the Ecumenical Council By NORMAN LAMM

Y NOW everyone knows of the our critical faculties; that we not be B efforts of the Roman Catholic overwhelmed by the torrents of pub Church to rectify certain ancient licity; that we strive for a historical wrongs it has perpetrated against the Jewish people. The Roman Catholic Ecumenical Council, called to discuss various internal problems in Chris tianity, was presented with a proposal concerning the Jews. In the schema on Christian unity, Chapter 4 urged that the Church retract the old charge of deicide of which Christians had ac cused Jews for ages. It asked that the Jews be absolved of guilt for killing the central figure of the Christian re ligion. This proposal, as we also know, was not voted upon; it may possibly be brought up for consideration again next September. My purpose is to analyze not the Catholic action as such, but rather the reactions of certain Jews, perhaps very many of them. And it is concern ing these reactions, which in many cases are quite disturbing, and in some cases outrageous and scandalous, that I wish to register a complaint, and to offer several suggestions. The complaint is that we have over-reacted, occasionally to the point of compromising our principles and our dignity. And my suggestions are that we be cautious; that we exercise 6

perspective; and, above all, that we judge men and events not by the shift ing standards and ephemeral moods of the moment, but by authentic Jew ish criteria—the eternal values of Torah and Tradition. We Jews are a grateful people. The very name “Jew” implies gratitude: it comes from “Judah,” and that name —in Hebrew, Yehudah—was given to her son by Leah because “this time shall I thank the Lord” (Gen. 29:35). It is this element of gratefulness that has made Jews so loyal, throughout these many years of our dispersion, to those countries which have offered us safety and freedom. It accounts as well for the many lasting contributions we have made to the science and the literature, the finances and the se curity, of benevolent regimes. Yet, what is essentially a virtue can, under specific conditions, become a vice. The noble quality of thankful ness can be pushed to an extreme which is undesirable. We Jews have often suffered from this over-grati tude. For instance, Russian maskilim were so grateful to the Czarist regime for the liberal measures it enacted JEWISH LIFE

communion. The head of all Reform temples solemnly informed a conven tion that the spirit of ecumenicism works both ways and that therefore we Jews must reciprocate by accept ing the central figure of Christianity as “a positive and prophetic spirit in the stream of Jewish tradition.” This same individual declared, in utter abandon, that “the mind is staggered and the heart enkindled simply by the prospects of the implications” of this proposed statement by the Council. To such an extent were minds para lyzed and hearts thrown into black confusion. And all of this—for a brief statement, the exact text of which has never been made public, and—irony of ironies!—which was never accepted even in principle! So, in this mood of elation and E are noticing a similar phe gratitude, certain so-called Jewish nomenon in the popular Jewish leaders (in a demonstration of galuthreaction to the Ecumenical Council. psychology that would never have The reactions are, by and large, un been tolerated in the 2000-year his reasoned,# unbalanced, excessively tory of the Jewish galuth) were pre emotional, wishful, and extravagantly pared to bow low and offer for the grateful. Individually many of us ex taking all the treasures and sanctities perienced an outpouring of deep emo of Judaism, in return for—nothing! tion to the churchmen gathered in Any kind of bartering or bargaining Rome. Jewish organizations, espe with religious principles is vulgar and cially those dedicated to harmonious degrading, how much more so a poor intergroup relations and anti-defama deal such as this. tion as the greatest good in the uni But for those to whom these words verse, kept their mimeograph ma are addressed it is unnecessary to be chines working overtime. The spirit rate such blasphemous people who of euphoria gripped many a seasoned have the temerity to call themselves Jewish spokesman, spilled over into “rabbis.” It is more important to con the excerpts of sermons printed in the sider them as the extreme manifesta press, and was reflected in the writ tions of an underlying current that ings of various Jewish columnists. One prevails throughout the Jewish com Reform clergyman in Florida marched munity, and to analyze that current. his congregation into a neighboring church; the proposed absolving of HE question is: ought we feel Jews from the guilt of deicide was grateful to the Roman Catholic evidently considered the trumpet-call signalling the end of all our old re Church for the sentiments allegedly ligions and getting together in one expressed in this Chapter 4 if it would concerning the Jews in the 1860’s that a wave of assimilation and intermar riage ensued. It took less than ten years for them to discover how bit terly wrong they were: in 1871 the same government conspired with criminal elements to foment the in famous Odessa Pogrom. Some of our own American assimilationist Jews are no better. Out of gratitude to our wonderful country, they have im agined that one must become a 1000% American, and that “Ameri canism” requires abandoning all re ligion and culture that is not of the majority at the moment. So the Jew ish heritage was considered “unAmerican,” and the over-gratitude became utterly destructive.

November-December, 1963

have passed, or if it will later be voted upon favorably (and, despite all the assurances in the press, it is not at all that certain)? My answer is: No! Despite the fact that there are without question many sincere and genuine liberals amongst the Council members, the answer must be a categorical “No.” We Jews will not owe the Church even one iota of gratitude, even if it finally does de clare us innocent of the charge of god-killing. First, there is the elementary ra tional principle that if someone strikes me and harasses me and persecutes me without reason, and then desists, I owe him no debt of thanks for stop ping. On the contrary, he owes me an apology for abusing me unjustly. Only a subservient, obsequious, negative personality who has no self-respect will thank his tormentor for calling off his playful tortures. With a few luminous exceptions, the record of the Church towards Jews is dark and dismal; Malcolm Hayes’ “Europe and the Jews” is only one of several well-documented works on the history of the Christian practice of Antisemitism and persecution of our people throughout the ages into the twentieth century. If the Church will now remove the religious sanction of Antisemitism and withdraw the cruel, despicable charge of deicide— an ac cusation which would be a joke if it were not so tragic in its consequences —we will owe it nothing. No thanks are due to a religious communion which has decided as late as 1963 to civilize its theology—and even this attempt has failed! The Jew who is overcome with gratitude at this pres ent occasion is the kind who, when confronted with Antisemitism, im agines that there must be something 8

wrong with Jewishness that it should incur such hatred. HIS brings us to a second point. Christian Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem, it is a Christian prob lem. Jews may be interested observers —but only from the outside. We have no right to interfere in the conversa tions of Christians, to suggest, to re quest, or to offer gratuitous advice. The charge of deicide— a barbaric, savage, atavistic relic of primitive paganism—is a blot on the conscience of Christianity. It does not present any moral problem for the innocent victim. Religious Antisemitism, the charge of deicide—these are a scandal to Christianity. If they will be re moved by the Church, it will be cleansing its own soul, not ours. A third point should be empha sized: we may perhaps have over rated Christian theology, and espe cially the accusation of deicide, as a source of Antisemitism. This malig nant condition, we now know, has many causes, and none of them alone can explain all of it. Once, liberals thought that Antisemitism was the re sult of ignorance alone. But in that case how does one account for Ger man Antisemitism, or the more refined kind that often infects the academic community? Poverty has been blamed for the hatred of the Jew. It may ex plain many instances; but how does it account for the Antisemitism of the “country-club set?” So can Christian ity alone not be blamed exclusively, for then how could we explain the Antisemitism of avowed atheists, of anti-Christians such as Nazis and Communists? We ought not to forget the power ful insight of our Rabbis who declared that the Hebrew word for hatred,

JEWISH LIFE

sinah, sounds much like Sinai: when the Torah was given to Israel at Sinai, that is when sinah towards the Jew came to the world. Put into modern terms, that would mean that when a Christian hates a Jew it is not really because he believes he killed his god; it is rather, on an unconscious level, that he cannot forgive him for having given birth to his god! The moral code of Judaism, which came to the world through Christianity, tried to control the unbridled passions of the pagan soul, and it is the irritation with this discipline and civilization which is manifested as Antisemitism. So that even if the deicide accusation is offi cially rescinded, it will not bring the millennium of inter-religious harmony and good will. There is yet another reason for hesitating before embarking upon an unlimited expression of gratitude. Let us remember that when the Catholic Church was at its most powerful, when it wielded much greater influ ence over the minds and destinies of men, it never even considered reduc ing the charge of deicide against what then were known as the “perfidious Jews.” Today the Church is no longer as all-powerful as it once was. It is being undermined by the growing sec ularism in the Western world and by the official atheism of the Communist countries, and its expansion into Africa and Asia has been checked by the end of colonialism, the means by which the white man’s faith was tra ditionally imposed upon the pagan natives. In our time, the main threat to Jewish survival is no longer, as it once was, the Church. The real dan gers are, rather, assimilation, the antiJewishness of the Communist coun tries, and the string of Arab states that encircle the State of Israel. It is November-December, 1963

only now, late in the day, that the Catholic Church has begun to rouse itself—and even then, it has turned around and gone back to sleep until next September! FINAL point must be made. There is a supercilious religious note to the reported statement. As Jews, we must object to being “ab solved” of the guilt of killing their god. To be “absolved” implies that one is guilty, but nevertheless he is being forgiven. But we Jews never were guilty, and we do not therefore beg forgiveness. We are told that the stigma for the crucifixion is now to be removed from us and our descendants and placed upon all of mankind. So let it be. The problem of how to distribute the blame for that event is one that is peculiar to Christian theology. As such we have nothing to say about it. But from our own point of view as Jews we do not acknowledge guilt for that act even as humans. Our faith is firmly committed to the propo sition that ish be’cheto yumath, each man shall die only because of his own sin, and we therefore cannot conceiv ably accept even a diminished share of guilt for a deed perpetrated by a handful of people against a certain single individual about twenty cen turies ago. As Jews, we object to the whole focus of discussion being whether or not we are guilty. For to our mind the question is not: who will absolve the Jews? The question is: who will absolve the Church for its guilt in in spiring and sponsoring crusades and inquisitions, blood-libels and pog roms? The question is not: who is guilty for killing one Jew some 2,000 years ago; but who is guilty for allow-

ing thousands upon thousands of Jews to be killed throughout the last 2,000 years? This chapter in the schema—not yet adopted—is a beginning; that is true. But—even if it will be adopted —-it is only a beginning. Repentance (teshuvah), according to Jewish teach ing, requires not only resolution for future proper conduct (kabbalah), but also, indispensably, confession (vidui). And the Church has ex pressed to the Jewish people neither apologies nor confessions nor regrets. Germany has done so; individuals do so when they offend a neighbor; na tions do so in the course of inter national conduct. But the Christian churches have not done so, and the Catholic Church does not do so now. There has been no sign that the Church is willing to concede that it has done wrong, even when such wrongs have been forcefully brought to public attention.

HESE words are not by any means said in an anti-Catholic spirit. Oh the contrary, I have often maintained that it is time we American Jews be gan to rethink our heretofore “offi cial” position on cooperation with other faiths, particularly the Catholic. Today all religions must work to gether against the common enemy, that all-pervasive secularism which threatens us all alike. Catholics and Jews can enjoy mutual benefits in co operating in matters of public policy on many important issues. What has been said is, rather, an attempt to assert Jewish pride and dignity. We Jews make no claim to being intrinsically, ethnically, better than any other people. But neither are we any worse. And we must therefore

not suffer from feelings of inferiority in the confrontation With other faiths. When Judah approached Joseph, whom he did not recognize‘as his own brother, the Torah writes, va-yigash elov yehudah. And the Baal ha-Turim remarks that the last letters of these three words spell shoveh—-“equal.” You may be a powerful Egyptian po tentate, Judah hinted to Joseph, but I am your equal. That must be our position in this confrontation; neither one of arrogance nor one of submis siveness, but: shoveh. Our conversations— “dialogues” as we now call them—with other com munions must not be carried on strict ly in the terms of reference of the other faith. Nor can such matters be left to secularist Jewish organizations and leaders, for their understanding and appreciation of Judaism leaves so very much to be desired. We dare not, by default, assign matters of such moment for the future of Judaism to Jews whose loyalties lie elsewhere, and who are sometimes prone to con sider religious principles as negotiable in diplomatic encounters. Our ap proach must be derived from the Holy Torah. We must proceed from the premise of Judaism: that the Jewish people is the can segulah, that we bear a sacred mission as the people of Torah— a claim that in no way denies any other persons or faiths their rightful place in the divine econ omy. We Jews have, since Abraham, been dedicated to the Almighty, and we have never abdicated that func tion, not even with the rise of Chris tianity. It is as religious people that we assert the common human dignity of all men. And it is that dignity which does not permit us to consider the end of an injustice as a “favor” to the victim. JEWISH LIFE

HERE is, in the context of the re ligious dimensions of the problem, yet another factor that is disturbing to thoughtful Jews, and that ought to be mentioned despite our inhibitions: the missionary element. Although some liberal Protestants have begun to es chew the ancient Christian goal of the conversion of the Jews, the Catholics have thus far not evinced any similar tendency to abandon their missionary efforts. But how can respectful con versations be conducted in an atmos phere charged with suspicion that one partner will not be satisfied with any thing less than the total surrender of the other? It makes no difference to us whether the goal is physical oppres sion or spiritual submission; both are inadmissible. If anything, the latter is even more noxious: a body can sur vive when a hand or foot is amputated, but never when the head or heart is cut out. In addition to a general sense of un easiness at the possibility of mission ary elements in the total picture, there are a number of particular features that are disturbing. For one thing, the inclusion of the chapter on the Jews in a schema on Christian unity has never been adequately explained. Ac cording to press reports, many Coun-^ cil members objected to the chapter on the same grounds. Why, indeed, should the withdrawal of the deicide charge or the condemnation of Anti semitism be considered in the context of Christian unity?

ONE of the reasons presented thus far is very persuasive. Some are vaguely disturbing. Thus, one of the leading members of Cardinal Bea’s Secretariat on Christian Unity, a Jew ish convert to Catholicism (one of two such on the Cardinal’s staff—a

November-December, 1963

fact not at all reassuring to those who fear a hidden missionary attempt), Msgr. John M. Oesterreicher, men tions a number of explanations. Most prominently he writes of a dimension of the relationship between Christian and Jews which is rooted “in a history which they mysteriously share, the history of salvation . . . Stranger still, the redemption of the world and the glories as well as the failures of the Israel of old are wedded to one an other” (The Catholic News, Decem ber 19, 1963). One cannot escape the feeling that this affinity, so “strange,” and “mysterious,” which he purports to find between Judaism and Chris tianity, is a reflection of his own spirit ual biography and his desire to have others of his former co-religionists emulate it. Lest we be accused of reading too much into such statements, let us quote the same individual in a book he wrote on propagating Catholicism amongst Jews: Whether we will or no, we are mis sioned at all times . . . We will win [the Jews] if we move on the height to which we are called. We may find a door also in our daily contacts . . . again, in visits to Jewish acquaint ances, particularly to the sick—many a Jewish conversion begins with an act of kindness on the part of a Chris tian, with the conquering impression of selfless love. Such approaches, we read further, ultimately must bear fruit. “We sow in hope, and others may reap our sow ing. Indeed, there is no other mission ary work which has so sure an out come as that to the Jews, to which is given the greatest promise” (The Apostolate to the Jews, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 82-83). In the absence of any other con vincing explanations as to what the

“Jewish problem” is doing in a dis cussion on Christian unity, the mis sionary explanation looms large indeed. OREOVER, even if some other M adequate interpretation will be forthcoming, the proselytizing dimen sion remains a powerful deterrent to happier relationships which, we hope, will ultimately prevail. Consider the following passage from the conclusion of an article by Edward H. Flannery (in Oesterreicher’s “The Bridge,” Vol. Ill, p. 324) entitled “Theological As pects of the State of Israel” : All the authors I have cited . . . have in one way or another suggested that the present state of Israel may be a stratagem of divine providence to drive Israel into a “blind alley of grace.” An “ingathering of exiles” without Messiah will always be an abnormal situation for all Jews who adhere to a modicum of Jewish tradition. The disillusionment springing from this situation can only grow with tim e. . . No less may those Jews whose life is not fed by Israel’s religious tradition find themselves at the end of their resources . . . In either case, the men and women in the state of Israel will face a dilemma . . . We may then think that God wished to bring a rep resentative cross section of the Jewish people to the Holy Land in order to bring it there face to face with the great question of the Messiah. Israel’s restoration to the land of promise, even though under secular auspices, may thus be a distant preparation for her final encounter with grace. In other words, the Catholic theologi cal embarrassment occasioned by the emergence of an independent Jewish state is now to be resolved by convert ing not individual Jews, but the “rep resentative cross section of the Jewish 12

people” who are citizens of the State. American Jews fare no better than Israelis as prizes for Catholic proselytization. Writing in December 1948, the same Msgr. Oesterreicher cites fig ures that demonstrate the shift of Jewish population centers from the Old World to the New, and declares that the burden of bringing the Glad Tid ings to the Jews rests chiefly on American Catholics . . . Because the United States has become the center of the Jewish world, it must therefore be the heart from which will surge a new effort to bring Christ to the Jews, to bring the Jews to Christ. (The Apostolate to the Jews, p. 68) Most instructive in this regard is how the same author (ib., p. 72f.) approaches the problem of Jewish re sistance to Catholic missionary efforts as a result of experience with Chris tian Antisemitism: Above all, many a Jew still remem bers his childhood shock when an other child called him “Christ killer!” This makes him ready to believe that the Church teaches that the Jews and the Jews alone are to blame for the Crucifixion . . . We can scarcely con ceive the misinformation and ignor ance on things Christian on the part of Jews, an ignorance which is invin cible only so long as we do not try to conquer it. But when the authentic voice of the Church enters their lone liness, then the cloud of misunder standing may be lifted. Clearly, the removal of the deicide accusation is a means of lowering Jewish resistance to the “authentic voice of the Church” and conversion to Catholicism. This stratagem comes from the pen of the same Msgr. Oes terreicher who now speaks on behalf of the proposal to the Ecumenical Council absolving Jews of the guilt for the crucifixion. JEWISH LIFE

ERTAINLY, sensitive Jews, That is what our attitude should be. C whose loyalty to Judaism is not When the text is made public, and if predicated upon anti-Antisemitism, it does not offend our religious dignity; cannot be blamed for exercising con siderable reserve towards the delibera tions of the Council. It would do well for Catholics to appreciate (and for mer Jews are not the most suited for this sensitive educational task) that we Jews want to speak with them about matters of mutual interest without always feeling that our souls are on the block, that any display of friend ship on their part is necessarily a means to a “higher” end: shemad, or conversion of Jews. Such apprehen sions inevitably inhibit free and easy relationships in mutual respect. But if not gratitude, what then should our reaction be? Let us take as example the conduct of one of the most Jewish Jews of the last centuries, a man whose every action is a Jewish teaching: the late Rav Kook, first Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land. When he was Rabbi in London, in 1917, the famous Balfour Declaration was issued by the British government. A celebra tion was arranged in Albert Hall, and it was attended by representatives of the Crown. At that occasion, Rav Kook addressed the audience, and said: I did not come to thank the English people for the declaration that it gave us; I came rather to congratulate it with the blessing of mazal tov on its great merit in being the one nation to grant us the Declaration . . . It is the unique pride and glory of your nation to have lent aid and support to the people of the Torah . . . On this day do I congratulate the people of Eng land—on their being among the sup porters of the people of Torah.

November-December, 1963

if it is written in the proper spirit; if it is passed; if it is not followed by a mis sionary drive designed to capitalize on the good will; and if it does not at tempt to compromise by one iota the political and territorial integrity of the State of Israel—such as by insisting upon the internationalization of Jeru salem—then, while we shall not offer any thanks, wè shall be glad to offer our Catholic friends our congratula tions for coming to terms with their conscience. The congratulations we refer to are not meant as perfunctory gestures. We are not and ought not be unaware of the great courage needed to revise ancient teachings and modify timehonored prejudices by a religious communion noted for its conserva tism. There are many noble spirits and men of good will in the Catholic Church, inspired by the luminous example of the late Pope John XXIII. To them we want to offer not the extravagant sycophantic homage of Jews who have long lost any real contact with Judaism, but the hand of friendship as fellow human beings who worship the Almighty, each in his own way and with equal devotion and sincerity, and without any attempt at conversion or “soul-snatching.” We are anxious for that time to come. Meanwhile, let us exercise com mon sense and restraint. Let us be moderate in all we do and temperate in all we say. Above all, let us at all times act in accordance with Jewish dignity and self-respect. “The Lord shall reign over all the earth; on that day shall the Lord be One and His name One.”

The Ecumenical Council: Their Problems and Ours By JUSTIN HOFMANN

EWISH interest in the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Council has centered mainly on the decisions af fecting Catholic-Jewish relations. The order issued by Pope John XXXII to delete the term “perfidious” from the prayer referring to the Jews in the Good Friday liturgy was widely greeted as a genuine gesture of good will. Of even more far reaching con sequences are the proposals formu lated by Cardinal Bea and his asso ciates which are designed to clear the Jews of the accusations of “Christ killer.” This accusation of nearly two thousand years standing has probably contributed more than any other single factor to the rise of Jew-hatred. Its elimination from Roman Catholic theology and, consequently, from Catholic teaching in the schools and churches, may be expected to help lift the terrible scourge of Antisemi tism from future generations. The importance of such a development to the Jewish community can hardly be overestimated.* But Jewish interest in the Ecumeni-

* This article was written prior to the termination of the second session o f the Ecumenical Council, which adjourned without taking final action on the proposal to which the author refers.— Editor

cal Council extends to matters other than those affecting Catholic-Jewish relations. Some of the internal issues of the Church which have confronted the Council in Rome have a measure of fascination for Jews as well. One of the most urgent of these is Catholic dogma and its interpretation. For at least the past two centuries and prob ably longer, Catholic theology has not undergone any major changes of for mulation. Thomism, the philosophictheological system of Thomas Aqui nas, is still the official teaching of the Church. But considerable pressure is now being exerted by the important elements within the Church to bring this theology up to date. The leaders of this group are convinced that Catholic theology is in need of re thinking and restatement in the light of intellectual developments in mod ern times. The pressure is being re sisted, however, by the conservative faction which draws its strength from a circle of Italian clergy that controls the Roman Curia. Many of the Church dignitaries serving on this in fluential body seem intent on main taining the tradition and show little sympathy for the introduction of new ideas. JEWISH LIFE

HE problem of restating prin Jew gains the World-to-Come only T ciples of faith in modern terms is if his faith is manifested by good by no means unique to Catholicism. deeds, by the fulfillment of the MitzIt is a task which every religious tra dition must perform lest it forfeit its influence on the current generation. Judaism is no exception to this rule. Beginning with its first encounter with Greek philosophy, it has found it necessary to speak to each genera tion in terms meaningful to it. The challenge was a particularly serious one in post-Emancipation Europe where, in the course of several hun dred years of externally imposed iso lation, Judaism had not felt itself com pelled to express itself in the terms of the intellectual currents of the Gentile world. Unlike the Catholic Church, however, Judaism was never committed to one official formulation of its philosophy, notwithstanding the eternal validity and binding character of its laws and tenets. This circum stance facilitated the process of re statement and made censorship, which was such an indispensable instrument in Catholicism, quite unnecessary among the Jewish people. But while Judaism has made both earnest and successful attempts to keep its formu lations fresh and vital, it fully recog nizes that its work is never done. Thus, the task confronting the Coun cil in Rome confronts us as well, al though to a lesser degree. There is a further reason for be lieving that this problem is not as crucial to Judaism as it is to the Catholic Church. In Catholicism, the primary emphasis is on faith. In Juda ism, while the basis is both faith and practice, the major emphasis is on action. Dogma assumes an importance in Catholicism that it never has in the Jewish tradition. The Catholic is taught that he is saved by faith. The November-December, 1963

voth. Much more depends, therefore, on dogma and the acceptance of dogma in Catholicism than does in Judaism. Viewed in this perspective, it is not difficult to sense how much more urgent the reinterpretation of dogma is to the Church than to Judaism. LTHOUGH the rethinking of theology has occupied a position of priority on the Council calendar, certain aspects of Catholic observance have been found equally in need of attention. Important elements of the Catholic community have become much concerned about practices which do not seem edifying to many non-Catholics. They have developed an unwonted sensitivity to adverse non-Catholic reaction to what appears to be a perfunctory recitation of pray ers, such as when they hear “fifty Hail Marys in one fell swoop rapidly recited over the air,” and by some of the uses that are made of statues, as for example the fastening of celluloid madonnas to the dashboard of an automobile. A lapse into perfunctoriness is, of course, a hazard encountered by any system of rituals, be it of a social, political, or religious nature. A pledge of allegiance to the flag runs the danger of being performed mechani cally no less than a prayer. In Juda ism however, a serious attempt is made to minimize this hazard by making ritual, including prayer, a per sonal responsibility and by stressing the importance of kavonah, inner devotion and concentration. “Be care ful to read the Sh’ma and to say the Amidah,” Rabbi Simeon admonished.

“and when you pray regard not your prayer as a fixed mechanical task, but as an appeal for mercy and grace before the All-present . . .” (Pirkey Ovoth 2:18). By impressing the in dividual with the idea that the dis charge of his ritual obligation rests entirely upon him and that the worth of his act is judged in terms of the quality of its performance, carried out in the sight of the Almighty, Judaism hopes to ensure the fresh ness of ritual observance. The problems encountered by the use of images by Catholics, Judaism happily need not face. The proscrip tion enunciated in the second of the Ten Commandments and reiterated subsequently in numerous other Bibli cal passages, makes the use of statues or other imagery, so closely associated with idolatry, unthinkable among Jews. Nothing is more abhorrent to Judaism than idol worship. It is Judaism’s cardinal sin. Any practice that may reflect or may even re motely lead to idolatry automatically shares in this abhorrence. Judaism recognized from the outset how easy it is to confuse the symbol with the object symbolized and how great a risk the use of statues involves. HE traditional employment of Latin as the language of the Mass, the central element of Roman Catho lic worship, and of other key facets of Catholic liturgy is an issue that was bound to engage the Ecumenical Council as well. Pressures have been building up for use of the vernacular tongues as against the use of Latin, a language that is no longer under stood by the laity and is proving a matter of some difficulty even to the clergy. In several countries dispensa tions have already been granted to

use the vernacular for parts of the Mass.* The problem of language exists in Judaism, too. Jews, perhaps, better than anyone else, can understand the great hesitancy on the part of the Church to relinquish the Latin of the Mass. Although the use of the vernacular in private prayer is possible in Judaism, there is a world of difference between reciting an ancient prayer in Hebrew and in English. Aside from the diffi culty of recapturing the precise mean ings and nuances in translation—an important Halachic consideration— the original Hebrew seems to add a certain flavor to the service which the vernacular simply cannot hope to achieve. Conceivably, this is largely a matter of historical association and a result of our subjective response to the antiquity and sanctity of the He brew tongue. Admittedly, this is more an emotional than a rational factor. But where if not in worship is there a legitimate place for the expression of emotion? In the Jewish world too there have been those who advocated the aban doning of Hebrew either entirely or for the most part. Not unlike many modern Catholics, exponents of Re form maintained that hsing the ver nacular would make the service more understandable and, therefore, more meaningful and attractive. It was a view that both disregarded the unify ing role of Hebrew and underesti mated the part the emotions play in worship. For a while, the approach seemed to be rather popular. But in time, the emotional “coldness” be came more and more apparent. Re form temples have been impelled to * The Ecumenical Council gave bishops of the Church, on a regional basis, authority to permit the use of the vernacular languages within their areas of jurisdiction.— Editor

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reintroduce an increasing amount of Hebrew in their services. This move was designed, in large measure, to recapture some of the “warmth” so characteristic of traditional Jewish worship. The fact of the matter is that He brew has an even stronger attraction for Jews than Latin has for Catholics. Hebrew, language of the Torah and a bond between Jews everywhere and in all eras, never was a dead language for Jews. It is true that for centuries Hebrew was not used for daily con versation. But it never ceased to be the language of scholarly writings throughout the ages. Moreover, the classics of Jewish tradition, so indis pensable not only to the scholar but to the average Jew as well, were avail able in no other language. This meant that Jews in every generation had to know Hebrew in order to carry on their daily Jewish existence. The Jew ish tradition of learning enjoys even today a measure of strength. As a result, most Jews favor the study of Hebrew for their youngsters and re ject the substitution of English for Hebrew prayers in the synagogue. in the service on the part of the congregants, or rather the lack of it, is another issue which the Roman Catholic Church, it appears, can no longer avoid facing. It has been pointed out that Catholic worship is characterized by congre gational silence. The congregants, it has been noted, kneel in the pews as the priest prays at the altar. This pas sivity allegedly displeases many Cath olics and the desire for greater lay participation is being increasingly felt. By contrast, the traditional Jewish service is altogether a service of lay men, so to speak, for all Jews, as

a r t ic ip a t io n

November-December, 1963

am kodoshy are equally and identically consecrated to the service of the Al mighty. The one who leads the con gregation in prayer, the baal ffillah, is not a clergyman and neither is the baal k’riyah, the one who reads the Torah portion. Moreover, there is no dearth of opportunity for congrega tional participation. There are re sponses, hymns, aliyoth, Haftorah reading from the Prophets, and above all, the obligation of personal prayer, already noted above, requires that all recite the prayer service, whether in congregational or in private worship. In addition, the numerous Jewish ob servances of the synagogue as well as of the home are performed by all. All alike recite kiddush and havdolah, build sukkoth and live in them, light Chanukah candles, conduct the Seder, send mishloach monoth in observance of Purim, and so forth. With but few exceptions, such as birkath kohanim and pidyon ha-ben, Judaism is a re ligion of the laity. The matter really goes beyond ac tive participation in worship. What is involved here is the differentiation between layman and priest. In Cathol icism the priest is the central figure. Not only are there certain liturgical and ritual functions which only he may perform but also he has total responsibility for the spiritual well being of his flock. It is a responsibility not shared with the congregants. But this precisely is what many modern Catholics apparently are striving for. In Judaism, on the other hand, there is no division into categories of priest and layman, and the central figure is the Jew as Jew. The only condition for his sharing in the responsibility for the spiritual well-being of the con gregation is knowledge of and com mitment to Jewish law, teaching, and 17

tradition. Any knowledgeable and com mitted Jew is thus in principle quali fied for spiritual leadership and may, in fact, so serve. The rabbi is not a priest; he is essentially a teacher, qual ified to expound authoritative Jewish teaching and to interpret Jewish law by virtue of his ordination, the Hatorath Horoah. Consequently, the dichotomy between layman and priest that pre vails in Catholicism does not exist in Judaism and neither do the tensions to which this dichotomy may so easily give rise. NE of the most irritating prob lems facing the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in America, is mixed marriages. In view of the broad social contacts of Catholics with nonCatholics at work, at school, in com munity organizations, and in places of recreation, intermarriage is a com mon occurrence. The question is how to deal with it. Until now the attitude of the Church has been to accept mixed marriages as a fact of life and to proceed from there with safeguard ing the spiritual survival of the Cath olic partner and, above all, the chil dren of this union. To achieve this end, the signing of certain promises by the couple concerned were made the condition for the performance of the marriage rites by a priest. Thus, the couple must consent to raise all the children as Catholics. The nonCatholic partner must agree not to interfere with the religious commit ments of the Catholic partner. More over, the Catholic partner must promise to work for the eventual conversion of the non-Catholic to Catholicism. It goes without saying that this arrangement has been the source of

a great deal of resentment on the part of the non-Catholic partners and has contributed to much marital discord. Furthermore, it was found that it has created a good deal of antago nism among Protestant denominations whose adherents are most frequently affected by it. In addition, it has been realized that the “promises” have no legal standing in American courts; that their effectiveness depends en tirely on their moral force, which is often insufficient to prevent their vio lation. The proposal has been made, therefore, to the Ecumenical Council to drop the written promises alto gether in favor of an oral understand ing. Certain Catholic liberals have gone beyond this and advocated the recognition of mixed marriages by the Church even if the ceremony was per formed by Protestant clergy and to leave the religion of the children to parental decision. Intermarriage affects Jews as well as Catholics, although perhaps to a somewhat lesser degree. But Judaism has adopted an altogether different approach to this problem. It insists that the Jewish marriage ceremony can only be performed for Jewish couples. According to Judaism, no religious marital bonds can be estab lished between a Jewish and a nonJewish partner. In taking this position, Judaism has avoided the irritations that often arise under the practice of the Church. From its stand on this question have emerged, however, cer tain other practical problems to which no easy answer seems to be available. It is usually not easy for the rabbi to say “no” to a young Jew who is de termined to marry outside his faith. The risk of total alienation from Judaism is a serious matter to conJEWISH LIFE

sider. Some have thought to resolve functionaries they cannot be exe this problem by utilizing the avenue cuted. The shortage of priests from of conversion of the non-Jewish part which the Roman Catholic Church is ner to Judaism. But this course con reportedly suffering is, therefore, a tains hazards of its own. To begin matter of great concern to the Ecu with, it is incompatible with Halo- menical Council. The problem is by chah; Jewish law unequivocally stip no means unique to Catholicism. The ulates that conversion to Judaism Jewish community is equally afflicted must be based solely on complete, by a shortage of rabbis, teachers for exhaustively tested Jewish conviction, religious schools, and various other free of any ulterior motive. Secondly, communal workers. The Church, in a conversion undergone for the sake its public discussions of the subject, of marriage often turns out to be a accounts for its shortage in terms of farce, since neither partner considered the prevalence of idealistic careers it as more than a formality without outside of the priesthood which young which the religious ceremony would idealists can pursue. This is a factor not have been performed. In other of importance for Jews as well. But instances, the requirement of conver even more important, it seems, is the sion is rejected by the non-Jewish pronounced tendency among Jewish partner and resented by the Jewish young men to follow a professional one. In some cases, where so-called career in the general community. conversion is accepted as a precondi They are attracted to professional, tion for a religous ceremony, resent scientific, and academic fields far ment builds up later in married life. more than to the Rabbinate or to Recognizing that the opposition of teaching in Jewish schools. While it Judaism to intermarriage and to con is readily granted that there is no version for the sake of consummating simple remedy for this situation, a such a marriage is sound in principle, marked improvement in status posi what can be done to meet this prob tion and financial compensation, espe lem? It would appear that the solution cially for teachers, would appear to must be sought in the area of pre be first steps. vention. By strengthening the religious A view of the Ecumenical Council commitments of the family group and thus serves ends other than the mere by pointing out the hazards of roman satisfaction of our curiosity. It helps tic involvements to children much to bring into focus the way in which before they ever reach the age of dat Judaism, because of its differing ap ing, intermarriage may never become proaches, has avoided certain prob a life option for our young people. lems now confronting the Church. It also helps to point up some of the HE future of any religious group problems facing Judaism in our time depends in the final analysis on the and affords us a clearer understanding quality and quantity of its leadership. of these issues. This initial but neces Without good leadership solutions to sary step hopefully will be followed current problems will not be found by proposals designed to resolve these and without an adequate number of difficulties.

November-December, 1963

Six Cities Called Eilath By PINCHAS E. LAPIDE

ATER is the key to life through perial concept. His allies, the Phoeni out the East, yet no Eastern land cians, were traders at sea, who had occupied by a sedentary population succeeded in monopolizing the Medi has as uncertain a water supply as terranean. However, the Isthmus of Israel. Its Mediterranean climate Suez barred them from direct con leaves it without any rain for about tact with the fabulous countries of the half a year, and since geography Far East, which provided the luxuries placed it at the southern end of the that could only reach the estuary, of rainy westerly winds, its rainfall be the Nile by way of camel-back. The comes progresssively more scanty as Phoenicians were thus compelled to one goes south towards the desert of stock their warehouses in Egypt at the Negev—with little dew and long prices dictated by the avaricious droughts along the Red Sea shores. masters of the caravans which plied Here, where Israel stretches to a Arabia across tortuous and expensive narrow-point at her most southerly routes. tip, lies Eilath, Israel’s gateway to Ships, to be sent south and east East Africa and Asia—at present her from Eilath, could be locally supplied smallest yet historically her oldest with the trade goods most eagerly port. sought for by people of the Orient, Eilath is first mentioned in the who were rich in gold, silver, and Bible as a station in the wanderings ivory, who had spices, frankincense, of the Children of Israel on their way and balm, apes and peacocks, all of from Egypt to the Promised Land. which they gladly bartered for copper, Later, the port and its twin-city ingots, slabs of highly-valued rockEtzion Geber were built up by King salt, and blocks of asphalt from Solomon who smelted copper from Sodom. We may safely assume that his mines by the shores of the Red the “Tarshish ships,” oared galleys of Sea and built wooden ships to carry the type the Phoenicians used for their his copper and other riches to faraway expeditions to Iberian Tarshish and lands. to the countries beyond the Column of Heracles, were built at Eilath of N Israel’s ancient history, Solomon timber from Edom, the forests of stands out as a king of truly im which were so rich that as recently

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as the First World War the Turks built a branchline of the Hejaz Rail way into the great stands of oak and cedar around Shobek. What a sight those fleets must have been, crawling with hundred oars like enormous water beetles across the blue mirror of the Gulf! Outgoing ships were loaded with copper, the ore coming from a num ber of mines in the Wadi Arava, the largest at Feinan (the Biblical Punon), in the North-East, and from Wadi Timna. Smelted at the mines to save weight, copper and iron converged at Etzion Geber. Recent excavations have shown that the Solomonic industrial settle ment at Etzion Geber did not grow gradually, but was built all at once, according to a carefully worked-out plan. The whole area of barely ten acres was occupied by foundries and workers’ billets, and surrounded by strong fortifications, intended to keep the workmen in and the desert raiders out. The staff must have lived among the palm groves of Eilath, where only a quarter of an hour’s walk away they enjoyed shade and fresh water, pro tected from the northern storms which still make Etzion Geber an ideal foundry site, but difficult to work in. Solomonic Eilath must have been a lively place, particularly every third year, when the Tarshish fleet was in. It was not only a port, but also a mighty caravanserei, the half-way inn for all the travellers from rich Arabia to the court of the Great King. The Darb el Haj “Road of the Mecca Pilgrims” of today still follows that trade route of immemorial times. The fabulous Queen of Sheba, whether she came by ship or caravan, must have rested at Eilath, before she went November-December, 1963

up to Jerusalem, to meet King Solomon. Solomonic Eilath was destroyed by fire. The second foundry town can be ascribed to Jehoshaphat’s attempt to restore the Ophir trade. The third settlement was constructed on entirely new lines and was most probably a Minean trade post. Nails and frag ments of rope, found in the “Third City,” seem to indicate that ships were built at Etzion Geber throughout that period. The “Fourth” town of Eilath sold and repaired imported Greek pottery, to be found only a few cen timeters below the sandy surface. Such attic ware of the fifth century B.C.E. probably came down from Gaza or Ashkalon on camel-back. The story told by the excavations of Tell el Khelife stretches uninter ruptedly from the tenth to the fifth century B.C.E. Later on, the Naba teans, who neither manufactured cop per goods nor built ships, moved their trade center to the friendlier suburb of Eilath, which they surrounded with olive-groves and orchards. The fact that Herod, the Idumean ruler of Judea, acquired from his patron, the Roman emperor Augustus, a lease on the imperial copper mines of Cyprus may be accepted as ample proof that the Eilath mines and foun dries were lost and forgotten by that time. There is however, abundant docu mentary evidence that Eilath, then called Aila, remained an essential trade post, more important even than Suez. The Roman emperor Trajan, who conquered the Nabateans and built the imperial road on the fringe of the desert, which still forms the backbone of the Kingdom of Jordan’s communications, brought his famous “Legio Décima” from Jerusalem all 21

the way down to Aila to safeguard his trade routes. The Byzantines even had a bishop there, but since the south-eastern cor ner of the famous Madaba mosaic IN

CRU SAD ER

HROUGHOUT her first five ‘‘re incarnations,” we know that there were always Jews living in Eilath, and, after the Arab invasions, that both the Jewish and Christian local communi ties held dubious letters of protection from Mohammed the prophet of Islam, whom they had befriended dur ing his northern travels. In the second half of the 12th century the spotlight of history fell again on the Red Sea port: The town of Eilath, looking out upon the Indian Ocean, was a much coveted prize for the Crusaders. But it was not until they had ruled over Jerusalem for sixteen years that they first set foot on the shores of the Red Sea. During that time they had been doggedly fighting their way forward inch by inch along the coast in order to gain control Of the Mediterranean ports, without which they had no hope of getting supplies, men, horses, and money from Europe. Only Tyre in the north and the Ascalon strip in the south still remained as Moslem islands along the Christian-held coastal belt. The Crusaders believed only the desert, which separated the Moslem countries from the territory they held, could ensure the safety of the Latin Kingdom. Two roads extended from Egypt and Damascus, respectively eastwards and southwards, converging at Eilath, at the head of the Red Sea. The pil grim route from Egypt ran via Sinai

map is missing, we do not know what this cathedral city on the-R ed Sea looked like in the early seventh century.

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to Eilath, and thence southwards to the Moslem holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The other route, along which travelled caravans from all the Islamic territories of eastern Asia, started at Damascus, traversed Transjordania, meeting its Egyptian counterpart at Eilath. Control over the territory in question thus meant acquiring a very considerable source in income, in ad dition to reinforcing the position of the Crusader kingdom, since it drove a wedge between Iraq and Syria on the one hand, and Egypt on the other. Within four years of the capture of Sidon and Beiruth the Crusaders were already reaching out towards Transjordania. Baldwin II set out (1115) on an expedition to Moab, the mastery of which was being con tested by Turcoman tribes evidently hired by Damascus. He built the fort ress of Shaubak-—thenceforth known as Montreal—astride the Darb-el-Naj (the Mecca Pilgrim Road). A year later a Crusader force from Trans jordania appeared in Eilath. The Mos lem inhabitants fled at the approach of the invaders. The Crusaders bathed in the Red Sea. According to their chronicler, they found there the twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees of Elim. (Sh’moth 15: 27.) ILATH by that time was no longer a large trading centre. In its hey day its port had played a notable part in the trade between India, Persia, and Egypt, but its commercial role

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had come to an end with the defeat of the Byzantines. The Crusaders established a garri son at Eilath which now witnessed the unwanted spectacle o f blond, clean shaven giants from the north who spoke French and wore shirts of chain mail, and helmets covered with kefiyes as a protection against the broiling sun. The newcomers entrenched them selves and remained for sixty years, an outpost of Christendom set in the sea of Islam. The nearest abode of their countrymen lay several days’ ride to the north, in the fortresses of Wadi Musa and Petra, at Shaubak and, still further north, at Kerak and Amman. The border territory, where life

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N all, the caravans of thè devout Mosléms passed through Eilath fifty-four times under the protection of the Crusaders. This practice continued until the rise of a new star in the Moslem firmament, Saladin (Salah ed-Din). As early as 1170 Saladin had recognized the importance of Eilath for the consolidation of his own posi tion and that of Islam as a whole. Its liberation from the Crusaders would reopen the pilgrim route from Egypt and make the name of Saladin a household word in Mecca and Me dina, even though he was nominally still subject to his master, the Sultan of Syria. True, he did not display any haste in helping Nur ed Din to cap ture the Crusader strongholds in Transjordania, for he preferred to havè the desert, or even the Crusaders, as a barrier between him and his overlord. However, the capture of Eilath was entirely his own achieve-

November-December, 1963

w ^iso hard and fe u g h t with so many ctengers^! i had a great attraction for the younger element among the Cru saders, for they were eager to gain experience of warfare. There was the additional attraction of the loot to be obtained by plundering the pilgrim caravans and the Bedouin tribes as they wandered from oasis to oasis with their flocks and herds. The Lords of Kerak, however, pre ferred an arrangement with the lead ers of the Caravans whereby the latter paid a stipulated sum for the right of safe passage. That was indeed a para dox—the Knights of Cross affording protection to the pilgrims on their way to the shrine of the Crescent at Mecca!

VERSU S

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ment. He took it in 1175 and sta tioned an Egyptian garrison there. That was the year before the appear ance of a new Crusader Count in Transjordania. His name was Reginald, and he came from Chatillon, a small castle in Gattigny, in Northern France. For him the Latin Kingdom was the Promised Land. He brought nothing from France save his arms, his hand some bearing, and his powerful body. Before long he won a reputation as a fighter and organizer, and became the terror of his Moslem neighbours. He soon found a new niche for himself, in the heart of the Countess of Trans jordania, winning at one stroke both a wife and a kingdom. HE strongholds in the territory east of the Jordan were constantly exposed to attacks from Syria, and sometimes from Egypt as well. So far

they had withstood all onslaughts. But Saladin was now emerging as the most powerful figure in Islam. Fol lowing the death of his Syrian overlord, he conquered Syria and Iraq, and laid the foundations for the new Ayyubid empire. Reginald was aware of his opponent’s movements. The caravans, which had to pay him for the right of passage, also fur nished him with information about Mecca and Medina, about the wealth of the Moslem cities, and about mer chants speaking unknown tongues who brought precious merchandise from India, China, and the Moluccas. Reginald apparently realized that Eilath was essential to him if he was to gain control of the overland cara vans from Egypt. Therefore Eilath must be restored to his rule. And if Eilath—why not venture further still? Why not advance into the very heart of Islam? The resourceful Reginald devised a bold stratagem. In the summer of 1182 he placed an order with the shipwrights of Ascalon (which was in Crusader hands) and the carpenters of Shaubak to build no fewer than sixteen ships, two of them large ones. But instead of being assembled, the parts were to be kept separate. One day they were loaded onto camels, and two caravans, one from Ascalon and the other from Shaubak, made their way southwards to the Red Sea coast escorted by fast-moving light cavalry. The assault was timed to coincide with Saladin’s absence from Egypt. When they saw the approaching Crusader force, the Moslem troops could not believe their eyes. But the hail of arrows that was directed against them was real—so real that they turned tail and made for Egypt 24

with all speed. Within a very short time the ships were afloat, and two black vessels took up their station next to the port. For well over six months—from the autumn of 1182 to the spring of 1183—the Crusaders dominated the Red Sea. They raided coastal settle ments and stripped them bare. In the course of their forays they got as far as Aden, at the entrance to the Indian Ocean. Dozens of merchant ships fell into their hands, and they amassed great wealth. They ravaged Rabugh, an oasis in the Hejaz on the pilgrim route, and el-Haura at the southern extremity of the Egyptian Red Sea coast, which was the port of em barkation for Medina. The cries of distress of the inhabi tants of the Red Sea coasts eventually reached Cairo, where they caused great consternation. “The Day of Judgment has arrived,” says one Mus lim chronicler. Saladin was at the time in Iraq, engaged on one of his frequent expeditions against the petty princes there. Public opinion therefore turned to his brother, elMelik el-Adil, demanding prompt action. But there was no Egyptian fleet in the Red Sea. El-Melik el-Adil thereupon charged one of his prin cipal officers of state to build a fleet and take command of it. Under the latter’s direction, ships were dis mantled at Alexandria and Damitta and carried overland to the Red Sea coast, where they were re-assembled. Sailors were recruited, and then be gan a game of hide-and-seek between the Crusader and Moslem fleets which lasted for two months. One by one the Crusaders’ ships fell into the hands of the Moslem warriors. In the early spring of 1183 they ferreted out the remainder of their fleet, as well as JEWISH LIFE

what was left of their expeditionary force, half-way between Mecca and Medina. A brief battle ended the Crusaders- Red Sea adventure. Thus ended the dream of the oc cupation of Mecca and Medina, and

O A RED

BOATS

HE importance of Eilath as a port did not wane till the oared boats gradually gave way in the late Middle Ages to sailing vessels which found the northerly winds and frequent storms too dangerous and so ceased sailing up the Gulf of Eilath. Spice caravans preferred the overload route through Syria and Northern Palestine. Down to the 16th century, Eilath is spoken of as a large and prosper ous place under the government of the Mameluks, who, as protectors of the Caliph, considered themselves re sponsible for the security of the Pil grims’ Road. The Egyptian Sultan El Ghoury built in 1520 the basically still-intact citadel, “Kalat Akabath Aila,” the fortress of the “Akabat” (Ascent) from Eilath up to the Arabian highlands. The shifting of trade routes, caused by the Turkish conquest, caused the place to fall into slow decay. Kalat Akabath, or Akaba for short, became a sleepy half-way station, which awakened only twice a year with the arrival and return of the Egyptian Mecca caravan, that came down from Sinai, rounded the Gulf and rested at Akaba, before it wearily ascended to the high plateau of Arabia, Finally, the opening of the Suez Canal in the second half of the nine teenth century made possible a direct sea-route between Europe, Asia, and

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with it the Eilath episode. Four years later (1187), at the battle of Hittin, Saladin took personal revenge upon Reginald of Chatilion, the erstwhile conqueror of Eilath.

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East Africa, leaving Eilath an isolated fishing village on an abandoned back water of the Red Sea. Only sporadic explorers passed Akaba, including Lawrence, who “by sheer accident” toured this area dur ing his first Arabian expedition. In 1906 an Egyptian force, led by a British officer, tried to occupy the whole of West Sinai and Akaba, but Rashdi Pasha, the Turkish colonel in charge of the local garrison, thwarted the attempt in a quick over night move and by his dogged stand. The Egyptian bid was, however, backed by a subsequent British ulti matum which Turkey had to obey. All but an eleven kilometer-wide strip of shore along the tip of the Eilath Gulf was incorporated into Egypt. After the First World War this narrow strip, thanks to the Tur kish colonel’s temerity, became part of British-Mandatory Palestine. N 1947, the U.S. State Department, following the British lead, pressed for the exclusion of the Negev from the proposed Jewish State. Only the personal intervention of President Truman, impressed by Eilath’s check ered history, saved a corridor for Israel to the Red Sea outlet. Eilath was the last point to be in corporated de facto into the State of Israel. The two brigades sent south wards were given strict orders not to

seek contact with the enemy-—the British-led Arab Legion was then in possession of the a re ^ However, the “Negev Brigade” wa^ able to reach the western shore of the Red Sea without firing a shot, because the Egyptian officer who commanded the nearby fortress of Ras-En-Nakeb per mitted them to use the road which passed through Egyptian-held terri tory. Before dawn the Arab Legion evacuated the area, probably acting on information by their Bedouin spies, who enormously exaggerated the strength of the Israeli forces advanc ing from the north. On the next day, March 10th, 1949, the Israel flag was hoisted over Eilath’s deserted policepost. King Solomon’s heirs had re

GA TEW AY

ROM the start it was Israel’s hope to rebuild a port which would allow the Third Jewish Common wealth a direct route to the countries of Africa and Asia. Egypt sought to follow up its blockade of Israel ship ping through the Suez Canal by a similar blockade of the Gulf of Eilath. Egyptian guns were set up at the en trance of the Gulf, where the navig able channel narrows to a few hun dred meters, and attempts were made to intercept all shipping bound to and from the Israeli port. It was only as a result of the Sinai, Campaign in 1956 and the subsequent stationing of a United Nations Emergency Force at the entrance of the Strait of Tiran that the Gulf was reopened for inter national navigation. From then onwards nothing could stop Eilath’s growth. Thousands of workers poured into the new town. The first real jetty in the harbour was

turned to the Red Sea. They had to start from scratch. Every brick for building a new town, every scrap of food, even every drop of drinking water had to be transported southwards over a track less wilderness from Beersheba in a journey that took three days. Gradu ally, Israeli engineers constructed a small distillation apparatus on the sea’s edge, and later a pipeline to a small oasis eighteen kilometers to the north provided drinking water to the early pioneers. A track of sorts was built, shortening the distance to Beer sheba by two days and a landing field was laid out on the salt flats near the shore to allow transport planes to land and bring in supplies.

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completed in record time; stevedores began unloading the ships that started calling at the port and teams of engi neers, building workers, welders and pipe layers built an oil pipeline (“the dry Suez Canal”) through the desert to Beersheba. A new, asphalted motor road was built from Eilath to Beer sheba to connect up with Israel’s urban centers. Soon trucks, cars, and buses were speeding to Eilath in the space of one morning; Eilath was on the map again! Today Israel’s Red Sea port has a permanent population of 10,500. There are two synagogues and a mikvah, three schools, one of which is religious, half-a-dozen kindergar tens, scores of shops, a cinema, a library, two small museums, seven hotels, parks and playgrounds—all the trimmings of a modem town. The population keeps on growing at a rate of some 1,500 new residents a year. JEWISH LIFE

Mainstay and center of Eilath’s economic life is the harbor which has been enlarged so that three ships can berth simultaneously and load and unload with the most modern equip ment. Nearly twenty ships call regu larly at the port, running scheduled services to Asian and all East African ports south of Massawa. The next phase of the harbor building, due next spring, will allow twelve freight ers of ten thousand tons each to berth simultaneously. Besides the port, an important source of employment for Eilath is the ancient mines of King Solomon at Timna, now worked by 500 work ers. Annual production is in the

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region of 8,000 tons, but within three years the plant will have been ex panded to produce 16,000 tons, and extra equipment will allow the plant to smelt and refine its own copper for Israel’s domestic requirements as well as for export. What about the future? With the “dry Suez Canal” of as phalt now connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean; with the new Zarchin plant ready to supply the entire city with de-salinized drinking water from the sea, and the railway project destined to link Eilath with Haifa, in an advanced stage of plan ning, Israel’s backdoor bids fair to become the front gate of the country.

The Recurring Cycle By REUBEN E. GROSS

O event in the Jewish calendar is so riddled with paradoxes and irony as Chanukah. Although Chanu kah is a mitzvah mid’rabanan, it is observed with zeal by heterodox Jews who otherwise reject what they de scribe as Rabbinical Judaism. This zeal manifests itself in “hiddur mitz vah” by such practices as decorating the home with objects whose symbol ism reflects the Christmas motif rather than that of Chanukah, to the gro tesque point, in some casés of the “Chanukah man” and “Maccabee bush” of popular jest. Even where the attempt to imitate the gentile holiday of that season is not so blatant, a process of acculturation is manifest in gift-giving and other emblements of the Saturnalia spirit. A reason for the popularity of Chanukah with many Jews who ignore the Sholosh Regolim and who have only a nodding acquaintance with the Yomim Noroim, is that Chanukah “adjusts” so easily to the American scene. To those who would reconstruct Judaism by readjusting it to modern civilization, Chanukah is the most

adaptable of days in the entire Jewish year. However, the story of Chanukah is one of struggle and victory by Torah-true Jews against the original adapting and reconstructionist Jews— the Hellenizers. The villains of the piece are the intellectual forerunners of the very ones who today are among its most ardent promoters. Although the generally told tale makes Antiochus Epiphanes the villain of the Chanukah story, we must ad mit, for the sake of historical ac curacy, that the motivating germ of this drive for the Pan-Hellenization of Judea arose, not in Antioch, but in Jerusalem. The first book of Maccabees, which is generally recognized as historically accurate, tells us (1:14): In that time (the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes) certain free-thinking indi viduals went out from the midst of Israel and stirred up the masses, say ing: ‘Let us covenant with the nations about us, for since we have turned aside from their ways many grave trou bles have been encountered.’ And the matter appeared well in the eyes of the people and they sent messengers to the JEWISH LIFE

king and the king commanded by their hand to go in the ways of the nations and their statutes. And they erected houses of amusement in Jerusalem ac cording to the laws of the nations and they no longer circumsized their sons and they deserted the holy covenant to go in their statutes and they sold them selves to do evil in the sight of G-d. The above lines were obviously written by a partisan of the Hasmoneans, unsympathetic to the reformers. The party of “reform” and “recon struction” left no writings of its own. But that it had a “line” and a philoso phy cannot be doubted. The “line” was persuasive with many, for it is expressly stated “the matter appeared well in the eyes of the people.” Enough appears, too, to show the out lines of its philosophy; that it was utilitarian, epicurean, and pragmatic— “Let’s get along with the nations and avoid trouble.” ERHAPS no era in all history supplies a better background for the understanding of that era than the present. The prevailing mood in the Hellenistic world was cosmopolitan, tolerant, and liberal, even as it is to day in the twentieth century. Emphasis was placed on art, literature, and cul ture. With profound historical instinct, Josephus commerces Book XII of his Antiquities, recounting the era of the Maccabees, with a story going back one hundred and seventy years earlier —the capture of Jerusalem by Ptolemy I, Soter, his enslavement of 120,000 Jews in Egypt, and their subsequent enfranchisement by Ptolemy II, Philadelphus. As is indicated by his adopted surname, “Brotherly Love,” this king was a magnificent liberal— an ideal recipient of the brotherhood award for man-of-the-year, 250 B.C.E. He also was a patron of the arts and

November-December, 1963

sciences on a scale that rivaled Augus tus and the great French and Prussian monarchs of an even later era. His librarian, Demetrius Phalerius, being determined to obtain copies of all extant literature, reported to his mon arch that he had only 200,000 books, but that he soon expected to complete his library with about 500,000 books. “However,” said he, “many books of laws among the Jews worthy of in quiring after, and worthy of the king’s library . . . being written in characters and in a dialect of their own, will cause no small pains in getting them translated into the Greek tongue.” At this point, one Aristeas, a royal favorite, urged the king, since he was interested not only in obtaining a translation, but an interpretation, of the laws of the Jews, to liberate the many Jewish slaves in his kingdom. After some inquiries as to the num ber of persons and the cost involved, the king published a magnificently generous emancipation proclamation, the text of which has been preserved for us by Josephus. Ptolemy’s letter to Eleazer the High Priest, a brother and successor to Shimon Hatzadik, re questing seventy-two scholars for the job of translating the laws of the Jews, has also been preserved and attests to his simplicity and true greatness. Un like the florid self-praise characteristic of most monarchs, his words are al most Lincolnesque in their simplicity. . . . when I had taken the government I treated all men with humanity, and especially those that are thy fellow citi zens, of whom I have set free above one hundred thousand that were slaves, and paid the price of their redemption to their masters out of my own reve nues; and those that are of a fit age, I have admitted into the number of my soldiers. And for such as are capable of being faithful to me and proper for 29

my court, I have put them into such a post. . . . As I am desirous to do what will be grateful to these, and to all the other Jews in the habitable earth, I have determined to procure an interpretation of your law, and to have it translated out of Hebrew into Greek and to be deposited in my library. This letter was accompanied by fifty talents of gold (about $250,000) for vessels in the Temple and 100 talents of silver for sacrifices and other uses. The scholars were sent. The transla tion, known to posterity as the Septuagint, was made and deposited in the king’s library with great pomp and circumstance. HE upshot of the cultural rap prochement between Judea and T this great Hellenistic king was that for the next few generations social and economic ties flowered, and cul tural exchanges became a two-way street. In particular, a family de scended from one Tobias rose to prominence through this development. Joseph, the son of Tobias, obtained some highly profitable farming con tracts for himself and his descendants upon which he built a substantial dynastic fortune. The following gen eration was openly assimilationist, changing their names from Hebrew to Greek, Joshua to Jason, and the like. At that time a contest for the high priesthood developed between two brothers, cousins of the Tobiads, one by the name of Menelaus and one by the name of Jason (Joshua). The rank and fiJe of the people sided with Jason, but the Tobiads sided with Menelaus. A contest for the control of Judea itself was then also shaping up between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties, rulers respec tively of Egypt and Syria. Being de feated in their battle for control of the high priesthood, the Tobiads re 30

tired to Antioch, the capital of the erstwhile successful Seleucid dynasty, where they openly and completely assimilated, announcing that they were adopting the Grecian way of living and rejecting completely the laws of the Torah. HE rest of the story, the incur sions of the armies of Antiochus, the flight of the Hasmoneans to the caves, their gradual build-up of strength in increasingly greater mili tary contests, and the cleansing of the Temple exactly three years after the day of its defilement, is all familiar history. But what is not emphasized at all is the character of the main body of the Hasmonean supporters. In the first Book of Maccabees (11:25) they are described as “Assideans (Chassidim) that had the fear of the Lord in their hearts.” To these pious ones, uncultured simpletons by the standards of Alexandria and Antioch, went the victory over the polished and cultured sons of Tobias who came rid ing back to Jerusalem from Antioch astride the powerful Syrian war machine. Thus closed the cycle which ap pears and reappears in Jewish history with almost mechanical regularity— piety, acculturation, assimilation, con flict, and persecution, followed by emergence of a new piety.

UT the irony of the story is that every year candles are lit in B memory of the feats of Judah Maccabee and his heroic band, and little boys and girls enact plays depicting their bravery, in temples and centers which nullify the very sanctities they battled for. Each year as the days be come shorter, lyrical voices are raised in praise of the miracles performed in those years and this season—by JEWISH LIFE

persons who would be shocked by the very thought of doing what Judah Maccabee did—restoring the Korbanoth—and whose life pattern is the antithesis of that which the Maccabeans personified. But if the Chanukah story has any meaning for our times, and if the two

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acts of the great drama of our gen eration—the European destruction and the re-establishment of Medinath Is rael—are to have any significance, they must be followed by Act Three—re kindling of the Ner Tamid—even as it was miraculously re-lit by Judah Maccabee in his day.

South African Travelogue

By SAMSON R. WEISS

N MONDAY, August 5th, I ar rived at Johannesburg, in the early afternoon. As the guest of the South African Federation of Syna gogues, there lay before me an in tensive three-week program of ad dresses, meetings, and informal talks commencing officially with the Fed eration’s annual Conference the fol lowing Thursday. Upon landing I was welcomed by Rabbi M. Kossowsky, an old friend from my Yeshivah years in Mir, Dr. I. Bersohn, the President of the F e d e r ation of Synagogues, Mr. I. J. Kagan, the Executive Director of the Federa tion, and by a large delegation of officers of the Federation, of Johan nesburg congregations, and of the Federation’s League of Synagogue Women’s Guilds. Among those dig nitaries I was delighted to meet three other former chaverim from Mir. I was struck by the extreme warmth and friendliness. Behind the formal words of welcome and the offers of hospitality, there was an underlying sincerity expressive of the hunger of

the South African orthodox Jewish community for personal contact with their brethren. In the hotel, Mr. Kagan, who had remained with me, briefed me on the schedule of addresses and lectures and especially on the program of the Con ference, to be opened with a public session on Thursday evening. He also gave me the background of the cur rent controversy with the Reform group which threatened to split the Jewish community and of the internal difficulties facing the Federation in the wake of a related dispute of the Beth Din and a rabbi of an important community outside Johannesburg. While I had read, prior to my arrival in Johannesburg, the reports on these issues in the South African press, this was the first time that I was given the details not only on the subject matter but also on the personalities involved. In the evening, I had dinner with Rabbi and Mrs. Kossowsky. The fact that we had known each other from our Yeshiva years established an imJEWISH LIFE

of course also always been firm in maintaining the primacy of the ortho dox Rabbinate. This Rabbinate is or ganized in an Association to which also belong ministers, cantors, and shoch’tim. In South Africa, like in OR the fuller appreciation of England, ministers who do not have these issues some background in rabbinic s’michah serve the Jewish formation is necessary. South African community in quasi-rabbinic capacity Jewry in its overwhelming majority but without authority to rule on is affiliated with orthodox synagogues. halachic questions, which must be re By its own claim, the Reform move ferred to the Beth Din. ment in South Africa does not exceed Accordingly, rabbis as well as re 15% of total synagogue membership. ligious functionaries belong to a highly It was established some thirty years disciplined organization guided by the ago and there are no more than twelve Beth Din and the Chief Rabbi in its Reform temples in the entire Repub activities and attitudes. Joint services lic. (The Fall, 1963 issue of “Ameri with the Reform or joint appearances can Judaism,” the quarterly of the at communal functions in parallel American Reform movement, states capacity with the Reform ministers on page 23 that “some 10,000 Jews were unknown in South Africa, for are members of a dozen Reform con they would imply the recognition of gregations in South Africa.” This Reform as a valid interpretation of more modest claim contradicts the Judaism and of its spiritual leaders numbers quoted by Reform represent as having equal status with orthodox atives in the South African press. The rabbis and ministers. total Jewish populace of South Africa With the arrival of Dr. Ahron is estimated at 115,000.) Opher in Johannesburg, a year ago, Heretofore, the Reform ministers as chief minister of the (Reform) had played an insignificant role out Temple Israel, a great deal of un side of their temples. While partici pleasant agitation started. Coming pating in communal activities, they from Chicago, Dr. Opher apparently did not appear at any communal felt that it was his duty to mold the functions in rabbinic capacity. Invo community in the Reform image. He cations and benedictions, the “Ha- immediately began a vociferous cam motzi” at dinners and Birchath Hamo- paign for equal status, i.e. for rabbinic zon were, as a matter of course, recognition. In order to further his always entrusted to orthodox rabbis. ends he attacked in the press, and The late Chief Rabbi Landau and his labeled as outdated superstitions and successor, Chief Rabbi Rabinowitz, outmoded relics, such basic Jew now living in Israel, never recognized ish sanctities as the Shabboth, Kash the Reform ministers as rabbis. The ruth, and Tefillin. In a truly scandal Beth Din of Johannesburg has full ous statement he equalized these ob control over Kashruth, marriages, servances with “selling Aliyoth on the divorces, conversions, and other areas Sabbath.” He also officially informed of halachic concern. It is affiliated the South African Army authorities with the Federation of Synagogues, that the present Jewish chaplains, all and its highly respected members have of them orthodox, could no longer

mediate atmosphere of confidence in which the very sensitive issues con fronting the Federation could be dis cussed in utter frankness.

November-December, 1963

serve Jewish soldiers belonging to the Reform movement. The Army author ities thereupon issued a questionnaire to the Jewish servicemen asking for their affiliation. I was told that a total of nine soldiers, out of over two hun dred, indicated Reform affiliation. The entire community, not only the orthodox majority, was outraged by these attacks. The Beth Din and the Federation of Synagogues proclaimed a boycott of all functions at which

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HE Reform group unleashed a bitter press campaign, led by Dr. Opher and supported by cleverly planted “Letters to the Editor,” di rected—to the great dismay of the Jewish leadership—to the general press as well as to Jewish organs. For the first time in the history of the South African Jewish community, an internal conflict was brought to the attention of the general public and that at an especially critical juncture of Jewish-Gentile relations, as will be shown later on. The cry was raised that the Beth Din and the Federation do not recognize Reform Jews as Jews and had barred them from synagogue attendance in orthodox houses of worship. The Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation were requested to assign to Reform ministers on a parallel basis all official rabbinic honors such as invocations, the recital of Grace, etc., at any function where such recognition were to be given to an orthodox rabbi. Otherwise, the Reform group threatened, it would establish its own organizations, seced ing from any in which the orthodox had any part or voice. Paradoxically

the Reform group would be officially represented. Subsequently, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the all-representative organ of South African Jewry, pleading for the main tenance of the heretofore unbroken communal unity, achieved a with drawal of the boycott. Still, the Beth Din and the Federation maintained the boycott of any function at which a Reform minister would appear in his official capacity.

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enough, the charge of divisiveness was laid at the doors of the Federa tion of Synagogues and its Beth Din. No one was impressed by these blackmail tactics. However, the lead ers of the Board of Deputies and of the Zionist Federation did not want to risk an open break with the Reform minority, for that would entail the loss of the all-representative character of these organizations. Many orthodox leaders and Fed eration delegates too were very doubt ful whether their previous position could be maintained. They felt that a modification ought to be advocated at the Federation Conference. In one of his press statements, Dr. Opher had accused the orthodox community of hypocrisy because many of the prominent lay leaders of the Federa tion and its synagogues do not ob serve Shabboth in their private lives and some of them are more than care less in the observance of Kashruth. The truth of this accusation could not be denied. Sh’mirath Shabboth is sadly lacking in South Africa and while Kashruth prevails in the major ity of Jewish homes, there are many JEWISH LIFE

who do not observe it on the outside. HE POSITION of the Beth Din, T too, had recently become subject to doubts and severe criticism, as a consequence of an incident consti tuting a grave breach of orthodox discipline. The young rabbi of an out lying community had permitted an official representative of the Reform denomination to recite a psalm at a prayer service in memory of the six million martyrs, arranged in his syn agogue by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Against the back ground of the recent controversy with the Reform, this gave rise to protests against such joint services much sharper than would have occurred under normal circumstances. The Beth Din ruled that such action is halachically improper and that any rabbi or minister not abiding by this ruling would place himself outside of the orthodox ministry. This reply brought the public furor to a new crescendo. Dr. Opher, not having bothered to inquire as to the legal, halachic sources of Shabboth, Kashruth, and Tefillin, suddenly wanted to be informed where the basis for such a ruling could be found in the Shulchon Oruch. The Jewish and general press widely carried his recital of purported precedents in the United States where, he alleged, prominent orthodox rabbis perform religious functions and hold services jointly with Reform ministers and this sometimes even in Reform tem ples. Likewise, he cited British precedent. The community in which the in cident had occurred was deeply split. Their choice seemed to lie in either seceding from the Federation or in asking their respected rabbi to resign —something which had not as yet November-December, 1963

happened in any South African Jew ish community, where a rabbi’s posi tion is understood as permanent and sacred. Similarly, South African orth odox Jewry justifiably saw in this in cident a danger sign of far-reaching implications. If a young rabbi could defy the Beth Din* could not every congregation and community write its own laws and set its own standards? There were many who saw in this controversy an issue going far beyond the breakdown of a discipline. The community had to come to grips with basic principles of the relationship be tween exponents of conflicting re ligious ideologies and the social forces representing them. MALL WONDER, then, that the forthcoming Conference of the Federation of Synagogues, represent ing, with the exception of the Cape Province and its approximately 7,000 Jews, all orthodox congregations of the Republic, was expected to be a decisive conclave. From its outcome would depend to a great degree com munal harmony and, even more im portant, the inner strength of South African orthodox Jewry and its insti tutions. When I had received the invitation of the Federation to be its guest at this Conference, the germs of the present conflict had already been sown. Some of Dr. Opher’s at tacks had already occurred. Now, however, this sorry seed had sprouted to its full and sad harvest. My discussions with Rabbi Kossowsky on the evening of my arrival understandably lasted many hours. It became clear to me that my task would be quite unlike that of the usual guest and visiting lecturer who is expected to provide some spiritual and intellectual stimulation and to be helpful to his hosts by the exchange

of communal experiences and by ad vising them on techniques and meth ods successfully employed in his own community. Obviously, I was con fronted with much greater responsi

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ID E O L O G IC A L

N TUESDAY morning at eight o’clock, the press conferences started. As was expected, the reporters were concerned mainly with the pres ent controversies. They wanted infor mation on the cooperation of Ameri can Orthodoxy with Reform, whether joint services were held, whether I agreed with the rulings of the Beth Din, and whether the present discus sions would split the community be yond repair. Only the representative of The Transvaaler, the largest Afri kaans daily in South Africa; generally regarded as representing the govern ment, asked about the American atti tude to South Africa and about Antisemitism in the United States and in European countries. Next morning, his two-column report was promi nently displayed. It seems he and his editors found great satisfaction in my statement that whatever divides South Africa from the Western democracies is less than what unites them in their common fight against Communism and its attempt to win over the new nations, and that the democratic na tions, despite their opposition to apartheid, continue to see in South Africa a staunch ally in the Cold War. The Jewish papers, of course, gave a great deal of space to the interview. They highlighted in the main the statements that no orthodox leader in South Africa or anywhere else had ever stated that Reform Jews cannot be regarded as Jews or that they

bilities. I was expected to contribute to the solution of these burning focal problems which occupied with such intensity the minds and hearts of all concerned.

APPROACH

should not be permitted to attend services in orthodox synagogues; that orthodox Jews can and do cooperate with any Jew in all communal matters as long as no violation of theological principle and of Halochah is involved in their common activities; and that while Torah and its laws cannot be changed for the sake of accommoda tion and convenience, we differ with out hatred and expect those holding other views to respect our sanctities. Without taking issue with any specific statement by Dr. Opher, I stated that I do not know of any joint services attended by orthodox rabbis in this country. Tuesday afternoon I finally found a quiet, undisturbed hour to re-write my notes for the opening address of the Conference, in the light of the changed circumstances. I had agreed with Dr. Bersohn that I would not touch at this public session on any controversial subject but rather out line the basic concepts of halachic, authentic Judaism and let the public draw its own inferences as to the present conflict. It was our feeling that this approach would help elevate the controversy to the higher level of ideology and that the absence of any personal or other reference to the at tacks against Orthodoxy would enable the Conference to rise to a posture of dignity, a posture which had been lost during the violent exchanges of charges and counter-charges. JEWISH LIFE

A dinner party and reception tendered at his home by Dr. Bersohn on Tuesday evening, and a mayoral luncheon tendered at the Johannes burg City Hall by Mayor Oberholzer on Wednesday, afforded me the op portunity to meet with numerous leading members of the Jewish com munity as well as with various state and civic dignitaries and with Israel’s chief representative in South Africa, Minister Simcha Pratt, and the Con suls of the United States and Israel. In welcoming me on behalf of the city of Johannesburg and the Province of Transvaal, the Mayor spoke of the political isolation of South Africa and expressed the hope that upon my re turn I would convey to my fellow Americans, a better understanding of the harsh realities of the South African situation. A visit to the Jewish Old Age Home was also fitted into my preConference schedule. After address ing an assembly at this very modern and impressive structure, which con tains a large hospital wing, I met with the heads of the staff for an enlighten ing discussion on the range of services rendered by the Home to its residents. N Thursday evening, the Confer O ence was formally opened. The ballroom of the Hotel Carlton was filled to capacity. Official greetings were extended by Rabbis Kossowsky and Rosenzweig, representing the Beth Din; by Rabbi Altshuler, represent ing the Ministers Association; by Mr. Phillips, the President of the Board of Deputies; and by the Mayor, who presented me, at the end of his re marks, with a souvenir, a small deco rative china plate, bearing the city insignia. Minister Pratt delivered an eloquent address on the relations of the Jewish communities in the Dias November-December, 1963

pora and Israel. Dr. Bersohn, who chaired the evening with great dignity, outlined the purposes of the Federa tion of Synagogues. I thought his presentation to be a masterly, states manlike exposition which, while in no way referring to the present discord, was a clear mandate to the delegates and the general Jewish public to main tain its loyalty to undiluted Torah principles. Delivering the final address of the evening, I sought not only to elucidate the theological considerations which proscribe any change of the Torah law, but also to make the audience feel proud of being affiliated with Orthodoxy and being the successors to a long line of great and heroic spirits, as the recipients and carriers of our eternal values. I was told that this purpose was achieved in gratify ing measure, The Mayor, who had attended the session, told me at its close that he and his wife hope to visit Israel soon, with the Bible as their guide. Never had he felt as close to the Jewish people and understood them so well as now when South Africans are ex posed to the opposition and the en mity of their neighbors and the other nations of the world. How tragic then, he continued, that the State of Israel is aligned with the opponents of South Africa, in spite of all the aid which his country gave to the young state during the critical War of Liberation and during the initial years of its existence. He expressed the hope that a better understanding of the South African position would develop and that relations with Israel, too, would return to their initial cordiality. m o r n i n g , i visited Johannesburg’s Yeshiva College. The term “college” iii this case der id a y

notes an academy of high school level and not, as in the American usage, a university-level institution. The Founder and Dean of this in stitution is Rabbi M. Kossowsky. Housed in a beautiful structure, with dormitory and dining room, the school has at present seventy students. The level of instruction in the Hebrew disciplines is not as high as in com parable American institutions, due to the fact that the community lacks an elementary Hebrew day school with a yeshivah curriculum. The students come either from Talmud Torahs or from the King David School, a day school with very little Torah content, operated by the Jewish Board of Education. Upon returning to the Conference after addressing the Yeshiva College students, I found a lively and some times heated discussion taking place concerning the affiliation of the Fed eration Synagogue Youth with the S. A. Zionist Youth Council. The opponents felt that such affiliation would retard the development of the Federation’s youth organization, which had shown remarkable prog ress during the past several years. The thought was also expressed that the present strained relations between South Africa and Israel made it in advisable to identify the Synagogue Youth with the Zionist Movement. The protagonists of the affiliation, later on upheld at the Sunday Plenary Session, pointed out that there had been for a period of time a trial affiliation in effect, with beneficial re sults; that religious youth in South Africa is oriented towards Aliyah; and that religious youth would by such affiliation be placed in a position to exert a strong influence upon other, religiously indifferent groups within the Zionist Youth Council. 38

At noon, I attended the Zionist Luncheon Club, which meets on Fri days. Guests of the Jewish community are sometimes invited to address this prestigeous gathering. Most of my talk at this occasion dealt with the emergence of the synagogue as one of the most powerful forces in Ameri can Jewish life and of the central position of the Hebrew Day School Movement and its growth. My talk was very well received and I was in vited to address the group again on the last Friday of my stay in South Africa. To my regret, my schedule did not permit me to accept. N South Africa, where the syn agogues have their largest weekly attendance at Kabolath Shabboth services, the rabbis as a rule deliver sermons both on Friday evening be fore Kiddush and on Shabboth morn ing before Mussaf. Accordingly, on Friday evening I spoke at Beth Hamedrash Hagodol, of which Rabbi Kossowsky is the spiritual leader. My discourse dealt with the test of afflu ence and riches, especially in connec tion with the education of our young. The following morning, attending services at the Berea Synagogue, which has no official spiritual leader, I spoke on Divine Providence and the miracle of existence. Shabboth afternoon, I attended the Minchah services of the B’nei Akiva group, which meets in the Beth Din room. The Beth Din and the offices of the Federation of Synagogues oc cupy a one-story structure in a resi dential street. I was asjked to give the Shiur on Pirkey Ovoth and accepted with pleasure. The B’nei Akiva Move ment is one of the great hopes of South African Jewry. Observant and idealistic, its members have had a considerable impact upon the entire

JEWISH LIFE

year before, leaving only the Cape Province communities unaffiliated. The need to form an all-inclusive congregational body was pointed out in my evaluation of the Federation Conference. The Durban leadership undertook to utilize its excellent con tacts with Capetown Jewry to achieve the joining of the Capetown Province communities with the Federation. Since Durban also has a university attended by many Jewish students, and since among the members of the Executive Council are some promi nent educators, attorneys, and physi cians, the discussion turned to student problems. There was a general con sensus that the orthodox community has failed, so far, to make an impact on students. The most striking com ment I heard that evening was that the religious leadership had not spoken out on the most burning prob lem occupying the mind of thé young, namely the problem of the apartheid, and had not given them any guidance. Aliyah-centered Zionism also pro vides no answer for those who intend to continue living in South Africa. University youth, therefore, to a large extent is adrift and prey to assimila tion. In this connection, my brief report on the development of the American Yavneh student society and its rapid growth evoked a great deal of interest. On Thursday morning I visited the Sharona School, operated by the United Hebrew Schools of Durban and located in a large, exceedingly well-appointed structure with sports grounds of its own. I addressed the student assembly. It was an impres sive picture to see the more than 500 young boys and girls dressed uni formly and cleanly in their character istic school garb, with the upper “forms” or grades identified by speNovember-December, 1963

cial blazers and hats. All social events and lectures of the Durban Jewish community take place in this Jewish Club, the com munal center building located near the ocean. This structure, too, be speaks the wealth of the community. It was there that I delivered on Thurs day evening a public address. Within the framework of my as signed topic, “Parents and Children,” I stressed the personal example of observance and morality parents must give to their children who represent their physical immortality. What values are transmitted to the young by their parents’ Chillul Shabboth, by spending the leisure of the priceless Shabboth hours on the bowling greens and the golf courses where so many Jews engage in South Africa’s favor ite sports — or by driving to shool, rather than walking the brief distance? How shall our children experience the sanctity of Jewish existence if our most sacred observances are disre garded and exchanged for fleeting, inconsequential conveniences and pleasures? RIDAY morning we returned to Johannesburg. It was then that I could study the reports of the Jewish press on the Conference. I found these reports generally fair, very favorable in tone and also in editorial comment. All papers unanimously expressed the thought that the Conference had made a great impact upon the Jewish com munity and that the Federation had greatly risen in prestige. My schedule for this second Shab both of my South African visit in cluded a discourse Friday evening at the Great Synagogue, another on Shabboth morning at the Yeoville Synagogue, followed by a Kiddush

address to its Women’s Guild, and a Pirkey Ovoth shiur for the B’nei Akivah group. The Great Synagogue, Johannes burg’s largest, is a monumental struc ture and one of the show places of the South African Jewish community. Over 700 people attended the Kabolath Shabboth service, and such attendance is not unusual. The congregation has been without an official spiritual leader since the de parture for Israel of Rabbi Louis I. Rabinowitz, who had served as the Chief Rabbi of Johannesburg. I was introduced to the congregation by Rabbi Lapin, the spiritual leader of the Yeoville synagogue. I was the guest of Rabbi and Mrs. Lapin for the entire Shabboth, a most enjoyable experience. The Great Synagogue, The Yeoville Synagogue, and the Oxford Synagogue constitute the United Hebrew Con gregation of Johannesburg, which has appointed Rabbi Bernard Casper as its new Chief Rabbi. While Rabbi Casper had been expected to arrive in time for the Conference, it de veloped that he could not leave Jeru salem before the end of August. Addressing that evening a Melavah Malkah function of another congre gation established by German immi grants, Etz Chaim, I took occasion to dwell upon the specific heritage of German Jewry and its spiritual con tributions to world Jewry. I stressed the role which Etz Chaim, represent ing this heritage, must play, under the leadership of its recently chosen spiritual leader, R abbi J. Fogel, within the South African Jewish com munity. The next day, Sunday, was marked by an address at a Siyum Sefer Torah at the Sydenham-Highlands North Synagogue, whose spir 44

itual leader is Rabbi Altshuler. This synagogue is another of the South African community’s numerous re cently-built, lavishly appointed struc tures, with a sanctuary seating over 1,500. I learned that in the United States such a building could not.be erected and furnished for even double the local costs. Upon the urging of my hosts and of Rabbi Joseph Weinberg of New York, an emissary of Lubavitch whose visit to South Africa had coincided with mine, I had agreed to add to my already crowded program another public lecture on Sh’mirath Shabboth. Their feeling was that every empha sis must be placed on this crucial issue. Accordingly, this lecture took place on Sunday evening, at the Cranbroke Hotel. The audience was un expectedly large. Outlining first the different schools of Jewish thought concerning the pur pose of Creation, I pointed to the moral consequences of a world-view based on the acknowledgement of a Creator and of universal existence being evoked, maintained, and guided by His will and wisdom, and thus led to the significance of the Shabboth Kodesh in Jewish thought and prac tice. Tracing the eroding consequences of Chillul Shabboth in the actuality of Jewish life, I told my audience that I felt compelled to make the com munity aware of the results of these transgressions, which have made the Sabbath a veritable orphan in South Africa for whose adoption I pleaded. Afterwards, several people, non observers of the Shabboth, discussed with me the practical implications of my talk, admitting that the financial sacrifice involved should not be per mitted to interfere with a decision to JEWISH LIFE

introduce Sh’mirath Shabboth into their lives. My Durban experience was thus repeated and I left the lecture hall greatly strengthened in my con

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viction that the call to observance is not resented by the non-observant, if presented in a spirit of Jewish brother liness.

E D U C A T IO N A L

P U R V IE W

N MONDAY morning, I visited dents study six hours daily, for a O the King David School, a He period of four years. But this golden brew Day School operated by the opportunity, too, seems to be wasted Jewish Board of Education. We ar rived at 7:45, in time to observe the various classes at morning services, for which a twenty-minute period is allotted each day. The girls hold serv ices of their own. The institution now occupies a large tract of land, has splendid buildings, up-to-date equip ment and seems, in the technical sense, extremely well organized and well run. The Jewish content, how ever, seemed minimal. Even the boys of the graduating class have at best only one period of Talmud a week. The main accent is on Hebrew lan guage and literature. I observed a class in which the teacher discussed one of Bialik’s poems. Every word was analyzed as to its meaning and its importance. In my conversation with Rabbi Klavansky, one of the supervisors of the Board of Education who guided me through the school, I expressed my pity for the young sters whose precious gifts and time are being wasted by not acquainting them With the real sources of Jewish life and thought. I pointed out that even from the point of view of one interested mainly in Hebrew litera ture, knowledge of these sources is indispensable. Of course, the lack of qualified teachers is critical. There exists a Teachers Seminary in which the stuNovember-December, 1963

by concentrating on externals. The graduates are not equipped to teach, for instance, Mishnah and Talmud or, in the case of the female students, to teach laws and observances from the original sources. Rabbi Klavansky told me that he had recently sug gested that the male graduates con tinue their study in the Ministers Training School. The King David School has a total of 1,800 students in its main insti tution and two branches, as I was told by Rabbi Goss, the recently-appointed director of the Board of Education who is in charge of the entire network of schools, including Talmud Torahs, which are under the jurisdiction of this body. He told me that he is work ing towards the steady increase of Torah content in the curriculum of the King David School and the other institutions. The Board intends to invite in the near future a leading American ortho dox rabbi for a series of lectures and I was happy to be of some assistance in this matter. To my friends in the Federation, too, I strongly recom mended that guest lecturers be invited more often. Pointing out that there had been in my case so many requests for lectures which the Federation had to turn down, I urged that budgetary provisions be made at least for an45

nual visits of four weeks duration, assuring them that there are many orthodox rabbis in the United States who are in a position to make large contributions to the South African community and who would volunteer their services without any fees in volved. Rabbi Nachum L. Rabinovitch, who had visited South Africa in 1961 and who had left a deep and last ing impression, as I was told by the rabbis and the lay leaders of the Fed eration, was a case in point.

I spoke on the Jewish concept of eternity,; connecting this topic with the issue paramount in the minds of all listeners. The discussion was on a gratifyingly high level, with no acri mony and in a spirit of earnest search. At the social hour which followed* the lecture these discussions were con tinued until almost midnight. I was especially impressed by a group of young women active in the local Women’s Guild, who wanted advice on the proper approach to disinter ested young families, on religious T NOON, Mr. Kagan and I went guidance for the adolescents, and on by car to Krugersdorp. This city, some other incisive problems of per about thirty miles from Johannesburg, sonal nature. has a Jewish community of 300 fami On Tuesday morning, August 20th, lies. Its delegates and its spiritual lead I met with the Ministers Association. er, Rabbi Weinberger, had strongly Several rabbis and ministers from outurged that a visit be inserted in my of-town communities were present at schedule and agreed to call a luncheon this reception. Rabbi Altshuler pre meeting, since no free evening could sided and Rabbi Kossowsky intro be found. duced me. I spoke about concentrating Upon the request of the officers, I rabbinic activities on the individual had chosen as my topic “Torah versus and his family rather than aiming at Deviationist Ideologies.” I saw that the masses; about the need to estab they had indeed correctly gauged the lish a Hebrew day school, to serve as interest of their constituency, for at the preparatory for the Yeshiva Col least 200 people were present. A lively lege; and likewise about the urgent discussion followed which had to be need for the establishment of a Beth terminated only because most of the Jacob-type high school for girls. I men had to return to their businesses. frankly stated my opinion about the In the evening, we left for Springs, level of education in the King David about an hour’s travel from Johannes School, whose standards would cer burg. There, the Jewish community tainly also rise if there were a of about 300 families was, as I had Yeshivah Ketanah in the community. been told by my hosts, badly in need of “Chizzuk.” Discussion was rife on EWISH education was again the the establishment of a Reform con topic of my address that evening gregation. The prevailing controversy at the Emerantia Synagogue. The con had been welcome ammunition for gregation was invited to special serv the small but influential group advo ices which drew a large attendance. cating such a step. My lecture was Since this congregation conducts, in originally scheduled to take place in conjunction with the Jewish Board of the social hall, but the size of the Education, a steadily growing Talmud “standing room only” audience neces Torah and since some of its leading sitated a move to the 1,000-seat shool. members are very active in the Yeshiva 46 JEWISH LIFE

College, the welcome opportunity was recommended strongly that this com afforded to give a report on develop promise be urged by the national ments in the United States in this area. organizations on both the orthodox Addressing a group of Jewish stu Rabbinate and the Reform. dents at the Johannesburg University On Wednesday evening, I left with the next morning on ‘‘Jewish Leader Mr. Kagan for Pretoria. Minister ship,” I found them very interested Pratt had invited a small group for to learn about Jewish life on American a reception in the Israeli Legation. college campuses. I left with the offi It proved to be a very interesting eve cers of the group some material which ning and, aside from the gracious I had received from Yavneh leaders toast presented by Mr. Pratt, refresh for this purpose. The questions in the ingly without any official speeches. discussion period centered around in Returning to Johannesburg, my Thurs creasing the Jewish content of their day program included an evening activities, a point I had stressed very lecture at Congregation Adath Yeshumuch in my remarks. run. Before this specific group, all of On Wednesday afternoon, I met them observant, I spoke of the obli with Mr. N. Phillips, the President gation of drawing wider circles closer of the Jewish Board of Deputies, Mr. to Torah and Mitzvoth, while main G. Saron, the Executive Director of taining the proud heritage and specific the Board, and Mr. E. J. Horwitz, the approaches by which German ortho President of the South African Zionist dox Jewry had made such great con Federation. As mentioned before, the tributions to Jewish life. Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation were placed in a difficult position by the request of the Reform ATER the same evening, close to group for parallel rabbinic recogni 200 invited guests gathered at tion of its minister at public functions. the Wyntonjoy Hotel for a farewell These three gentlemen wanted to dis reception tendered to me by the Fed cuss the situation with me, with a eration of Synagogues. Dr. I. Bersohn, view to my suggesting a solution who presided, expressed the appreci acceptable to the orthodox Rabbinate, ation of the Federation for my visit. in order to preserve communal har Rabbi Kossowsky spoke on behalf of mony. the Beth Din and Mrs. Lewis, the During the remainder of the week, newly-elected President of the South I met several times on this matter African League of Synagogue Wom with Rabbis Kossowsky and Lapin en’s Guilds, on behalf of her organi and also had a number of conversa zation. Others, too, were generous tions with Dr. Bersohn. I finally sug with accolades and I was presented gested in writing to Mr. Horwitz, and with various mementos, tokens of informed Messrs, Phillips and Saron the appreciation of the community. of this by copies of my letter, that In my reply I thanked my hosts for “the most the community can expect the friendship and hospitality extended from the orthodox Rabbinate and to me during my stay and expressed Ministry, is their presence for the the hope that the Almighty would sake of communal unity when Re grant us to meet again in His service. form ministers bring official greetings I pledged to them the continued co on behalf of their constituency.” I operation of the Orthodox Union in

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our common, sacred task, and told them that during the coming Yomim Nor aim orthodox Jews all over the world, mindful of the difficult and exposed position of South African Jewry, would pray for their safety and continued welfare. The last Shabboth of my South African visit included discourses at the Oxford Synagogue and the Greenside Synagogue. The first-mentioned, of which Rev. H. Abt is the minister, occupies one of the most impressive buildings I saw in South Africa. Its large membership has great influence on South African Jewish affairs be cause the congregation includes an unusual intellectual elite. Rabbi RoTH E

C O M M U N I T Y ’S

gut, the newly installed spiritual leader of the Greenside Synagogue, is South African-born and reared, and accord ingly has special understanding of the interests of the Jewish youth of the community. On this Shabboth the B’nei Akiva group was in charge of the services and I dedicated my talk to youth. Following a most enjoyable Shab both meal in the home of Rabbi and Mrs. Rogut, Mr. Saron, a member of the Greenside Synagogue, accom panied me on the long walk back to the Oxford Hotel. This afforded me the opportunity to learn more about the precarious and deteriorating poli tical situation of South African Jewry. STATU S

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Israel and the Zionist movement. Furthermore, some Israeli spokesmen publicly urged South African Jewry to emigrate because there is, in their opinion, no future for Jews in South Africa. Naturally, this reflected on the status of South African Jews. While there has not occurred as yet any overt act, some of the press remarks have been most cutting. The second reason has been the unfortunate prevalence of people bear ing Jewish names among the leaders of the South African underground movement, which is generally viewed as Communist-inspired and Commu nist-led. Important personages close to the leadership of the ruling party have expressed their displeasure and disappointment that no spokesman of the Jewish community has ever dis avowed these people and that by its very silence the Jewish community evokes the impression of being sym pathetic to them and opposed to the government.

JEWISH LIFE

T IS well known that some of the present leaders of the South Afri can government were outspoken Nazi sympathizers during World War II, which explains why South Africa was almost totally sealed against Jewish immigration during the most crucial years. It is generally conceded that this was based on anti-British rather than on anti-Jewish feelings. Still, the relations of the government to the Jewish community were always cor rect and even friendly, and unusual cooperation was extended to Israel during the War of Liberation. The government also certainly does not desire to set apart whites from whites. Especially cordial were the relations with the religious Jewish community, which was always given every desired cooperation. The deterioration set in for, two reasons. One is the position of Israel in her votes against South Africa in the United Nations. The South African Jewish community is openly and strongly identified with

NDER these circumstances, the ister Hendrik F. Voerwoerd publicly U very loyalty of the South Afri denounced Israel for this action at a can Jews has been questioned in some high government circles. Understand ably, this is a matter of gravest con cern to the Jewish leadership, whose thinking was that the acts of indi viduals should not be commented upon by the Jewish community be cause any comment might, so to speak, beg the question and the very disavowal give rise to the thought that there exists some identification, be cause otherwise why should the Jews feel called upon to deny such identity. Confidential high-level talks have re cently taken place. While they have been helpful in clearing the atmosphere, the public image unfortunately has not as yet been changed. For instance, the head of the South African Intelli gence Service stated at a public debate, in answer to a question, that the un derground movement is either led by Jews or Jewishly inspired. The Board of Deputies immediately reacted to this Antisemitic slur. The statement, widely carried on the front pages of the daily press, was withdrawn and modified, the speaker claiming to have been misquoted. (Since then, Israel has called back Mr. Pratt from his post in South Africa, to join the Israeli delegation at the United Nations. The South African government has been notified that he will not be replaced and that a consular officer would act as charge d’affaires. South African Prime Min

November-December, 1963

political rally on September 28th— Yom Kippur. He told his followers, as reported in the JTA News Bulletin of September 30th, not to act against South Africa’s Jewry. “It would be unfair to take revenge on them for what others have done to South Africa,” he stated. He also noted that “some people” were inclined to at tack the Jewish community when occasionally a Jew is seen among “Afro-Asian agitators.” These remarks of South Africa’s most influential political leader are ominous, indeed, in their implications and bear out the correctness of the analysis of the situation which Mr. Saron shared with me. (I found, by the way, identical views prevailing in other informed Jewish circles). OTZOE SHABBOTH I spent in M the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kagan, who had invited several friends

for a Melavah Malkah. Over dinner, we tried to summarize the results of these hectic three weeks during which I had delivered a total of thirty-two public addresses and lectures. On Sunday, I had lunch in the home of Rabbi Ruch, from where I left for the airport. A large delegation had come to see me off. I took with me their warm wishes for a safe flight and their sincere and fraternal greetings to their Jewish brethren in the United States.

A S to ry Mr. Bones By SHOLOM STAIMAN

HITCHED the horse to the wagon, a chore I had not attempted in many years, and found that the task came as easily as it had in the past, in the days when, as a small boy, I used to ride on the junk wagon. I guided the horse down through the scrap yard on the muddy narrow paths between the huge piles of scrap iron, by-passing the office and the truck scale, and onto the city street. “Hey,” said George Harrow, the policeman, “back on the horse and wagon, Ben? Boy, I know the junk business is bad, but I didn’t think it was so bad that Moe Gorin would send you back on the road. At least he could’ve given you a truck. This is a little old-fashioned, isn’t it?” “Just a special favor for an old friend, George,” I said. “Just a little errand. And don’t let Moe Gorin hear you talking about the ‘junk’ business, either. It’s ‘scrap’ business, remem ber?” “Sure, Ben. I’ll remember when I see Moe. In the meantime, better get that piece of modern transportation moving along. It isn’t exactly expe diting traffic on this street.” I snapped the reins and clucked to the old horse. “C’mon, Old Pete, let’s get where we’re going.” I shook my head, still a little un believing of the chain of events that

led me, Benjamin Stiskin, to be riding a junk wagon through the streets of town in a day and age when junk wagons are no longer to be seen in our city. I, Ben Stiskin, weighmaster for the Moe Gorin Company, one of the largest and most successful scrap yards in our part of the state, driving a horse and wagon! No wonder the policeman had chuckled. “Well,” I said, half to myself, “I wonder if this is it. The end of the line? End of the line for Mr. Bones?” R. BONES was David Birnbaum, M better known in the synagogue as Reb Dovid Birnbaum, elder of the congregation, reader of the Torah, Talmudic scholar. In the scrap yard, however, David Birnbaum’s only name is “Mr. Bones,” or “Old Bones.” The nickname comes from the time when the horse-and-wagon peddlers used to go around the streets calling, HRa-a-a-ags, ra-a-a-ags! Any rags, any hopes, any old gum shoes today?” Mr. Bones, whose musical rendition of the old-time call would have done credit to a cantor, was Gorin’s oldest customer, of forty-six years standing, or ever since Moe’s father gave up his own horse and wagon to start the then-small yard. Mr. Bones was the last of the horseand wagon peddlers to sell his wares JEWISH LIFE

to the Moe Gorin Company. It had the prices are so low that even the been just about a year since last he Scouts won’t bother with it. On this trundled his horse and wagon across you can make a living?” our scales, and since I flipped the “The scrap business in general is lever of the scale for the last time on very depressed, Reb Dovid. Maybe one of the old man’s loads. As the when things pick up, they’ll pick up weight-a-graph registered the weight for you, too.” of the wagon, Mr. Bones entered the “Look at me straight, Ben. It’s office. He was tall and thin, proudly been depressed, as you call it, for too erect, and his short white beard many years. I’m an old man, my day waggled as he greeted me. “Nu, Ben, is done. I know the men around here how are you? Haven’t seen you in a think I ’m an old nuisance. Listen, couple of days. I had a little cold.” there’s no reverse gear on a horse, for “I’m sorry to hear that, Reb seventy-five cents worth of paper he’s Dovid,” I replied. “We missed you.” only in the way—and I know your This was not polite conversation— yard man doesn’t like cleaning up I am proud to regard David Birn- after him. Old Bones is only in the baum as my friend. “Well, Reb Dovid, way.” what’s on the wagon, today? Load of “Nonsense, Reb Dovid,” I pro newspapers, looks like?” tested. “You’re always welcome here.” Mr. Bones laughed. “Yes, big load. “Thanks, Ben. My daughter Ida Maybe three hundred pounds. An and my son-in-law Nathan want me other fifty or seventy-five cents.” to retire. They say it’s no good for “Not like the old days, Reb an old man to be riding out on the Dovid.” wagon in all kinds of weather. They “Not like the old days at all, Ben. want to support us, nu. They think I You know, I used to be one of Moe don’t know that they have been giv Gorin’s father’s best customers, and ing Mama money right along, which one of Moe’s best customers, too. Mama doesn’t tell me about. My Whole wagonloads of copper I used arithmetic is still good enough to to bring in. Not any more. Now realize that we’re not eating and pay seventy-five cents worth of old news ing the rent on seventy-five cent loads papers is a load.” of newspapers. Well, I’m holding up “I remember those loads of copper, two trucks from coming on your Reb Dovid. Times certainly do scale. Real customers. I’ll go out and change.” unload the papers; then when I come Mr. Bones sighed. “Ben, there was back, I want you to buy the old wagon a day for the house-to-house peddier, for junk. The horse they’ve already but that day is gone. I used to have arranged to sell to a farmer.” As Mr. industrial accounts, too, but today Bones left the scale room, the proud you can’t handle industi;yj&§yith a shoulders seemed to sag just a little. horse-and wagon. I know it, don’t think I don’t. All that’s left now is the house trade, and what can you QUICKLY weighed the two wait get from houses except a little paper ing trucks, then entered Moe and rags? The Boy Scouts come along Gorin’s private office. “Nathan Brom with paper drives, so the only time I berg and Ida are turning Mr. Bones even get the paper and rags is when out to pasture, Moe. They’ve sold the

November-December, 1963

horse, and you are about to become owner of the wagon.” Moe raised his eyebrows. “Old Bones retiring? That’s a milestone, isn’t it? And what’s this about the wagon?” “You’re buying it from him for junk.” “I am? Ben, you know darn well that it’s mostly wood.” “Ten bucks, Moe. Ten bucks for old times’ sake.” “Ben, where’s the charity? Nathan Bromberg has more money than I have.” I pondered. “Well, Moe, it’s not really a matter of charity. More like salvage maybe. Salvage of a little bit of pride, or of a little bit of a life’s work. Ten bucks.” “Sure, Ben. Ten bucks.” I have been weighmaster at Moe Gorin Company for many years. I don’t suppose that I’ll ever be any thing more than a weighmaster, and the year-end bonuses aren’t nearly what they used to be before business went entirely to pot, but the security is great and I can talk td the boss like that. Moe Gorin is my brotherin-law. “Ben,” said Moe Gorin. “Park the wagon way down in the corner of the yard where I can’t see it.” “Not on account of the ten bucks, Moe?” “No, maybe on account of memo ries.” Mr. Bones returned to the scale with his empty wagon. I paid him seventy-five cents for the paper and ten dollars for the wagon, and shook his hand. “Good-by, Reb Dovid. We’ll miss you.” “No, Ben,” he smiled. “I’ll be see ing you. I’ll see you in shool.” T was not hard to keep track of Reb Dovid. I saw him on Shabbos 52

in the synagogue, where I joined the study group following the services. “Well, Reb Dovid, how does it feel to be a man of leisure?” “It has its rewards, Ben. We learn Gemora three, four hours every day. This is certainly more profitable to the soul than sitting on an open junk wagon in the cold.” The old men around the table con curred. “It’s a lucky retirement for us,” said one of them, Abe Feinberg. “Now we have the true scholar of the Talmud with us every day, instead of only on Shabbos.” Reb Dovid seemed thoroughly to enjoy the study sessions. It was a sur prise to me therefore, when Abe Fein berg called me at the office a few weeks later. “Ben,” he said, “what’s with Reb Dovid? Two days this week he hasn’t come to learn. Last week also one day he missed.” “I’ll see what I can find out, Mr. Feinberg. I’ll stop in and see him.” As an old friend, it was my habit to call upon the Birnbaum’s occa sionally, so it was not out of order for me to stop in on my way home that evening. “Hello, Reb Dovid, Mrs. Birnbaum. They told me you haven’t been to learn the last few days. Not feeling well, perhaps? A little cold?” Mr. Bones sat stiffly in his chair, looking at me almost blankly for a long time before he answered. “No, no cold, Ben. Maybe just old age. I’m tired, Ben.’’ “They need you for the Talmud class, Reb Dovid.” Again it was a long time before he replied. “Well, they got along with out me before, I guess they can man age.” Although I tried once or twice more to continue the conversation, there JEWISH LIFE

was no further response from Reb Dovid. Mrs. Birnbaum looked at me almost apologetically. “He doesn’t talk much these days, Ben.”

within a few days he had been ad mitted to an institution for treatment, and my at-first frequent inquiries to his family about his welfare became less so. Their answers were evasive and discouraging, and I realized that even the inquiries seemed to be sources of embarrassment to them.

FEW days later, on Shabbos, I entered the shool and encoun tered Abe Feinberg. “Did he come back to the shiur?” I asked. Feinberg shook his head. “The day N a town like ours, however, no after we talked, yes. One day. Then information is entirely private, and again, not. And even the one day— I did hear that Mr. Bones had been it was—not right, Ben, something not in and out of two different hospitals right.” over a period of months, with inter “That’s too bad—” I began, and mittent stays at home. Feinberg interrupted me. Once I called at his home. Ida “And look around you, Ben, look Bromberg came to the door. around. He’s not here today. It’s “Does Reb Dovid feel up to a visit, Shabbos, and he’s not here!” Ida?” On the way home from the syn “I’m afraid not today, Ben.” agogue, I stopped again at the Birn “Well, I’ll stop back in a few days,” baum home, where Reb Dovid sat in I said. stony silence, and gathered around “No, Ben, wait. Wait until I call him wearing looks of deep concern you. I’ll let you know when.” were his wife and his daughter and As the weeks passed, nothing fur son-in-law. ther was heard from the home of Reb “You try to talk to him, Ben,” said Dovid Birnbaum. One day as I visited Nathaq Bromberg. in Moe Gorin’s office, he asked about “Reb Dovid, we missed you in the old gentleman. Shool today,” I said, but there was “What do you hear lately about no response in the staring eyes. Mr. Bones, Ben?” “Reb Dovid,” I tried again. “Mr. “Same nothing, Moe. The family Bones— .” won’t even let anyone visit him.” “It’s ho use,” said his daughter Ida. IniVToo bad, too bad,” said Moe. “It “He’s sick, Ben. Mama, we’ré just all started with that old wagon, didn’t going to have to send him away for it?” treatment.” I looked at him for a moment. Nathan Bromberg turned to me “Maybe it did, Moe. Maybe it just sadly. “Ben,” he said, “you won’t be did.” lieve it. Yesterday, for the first time I called Nathan Bromberg that eve since his Bar-Mitzvah, my father-in- ning. “Nate, I would like to sit down law neglected the duty of putting on with you and Ida and Mrs. Birnbaum t’fillin. He absolutely refused to put for a few minutes.” them on! Can you imagine, Ben?” “Sure, Ben, any time,” said Nathan. I left the house, not knowing that “This evening, at Reb Dovid’s?” I this was to be my last sight of Mr. suggested. Bones for many months. I heard that “Let’s make it this evening at my

November-December, 1963

house. Mama Birnbaum can come over. We have a nurse for the old gentleman.” ALF an hour later we were all sitting in Nathan Bromberg’s living room. “I’ll get right to the point,” I said. “I don’t suppose I’ll ever get any medals for minding my own business, but Reb Dovid is just as sick as ever, right?” Ida shrugged. “We don’t especially try to advertise it, but you’re right, of course. We haven’t meant to shut you out, Ben. You’re an old friend and a good one. It’s just that there’s nothing you can do. He doesn’t re spond to treatment.” “All right, I’m no psychiatrist, and I’m not a miracle worker, but I have an idea. It may not be worth any thing, but if nothing else has worked, maybe it rates a try. Will you listen?” “Of course,” said Ida. “O.K. Now, when did Reb Dovid get sick? It was shortly after he re tired, right? Or more accurately, when you forced him to give up his horse and wagon. Well, why not give it back to him? Let him go back to peddling junk—maybe this is the kind of ther apy he’ll respond to.” They looked at me thoughtfully. Nathan Bromberg said, “Don’t think we haven’t thought of this, Ben. We’ve realized all along that his retirement may have triggered his illness. We’ve even thought of trying what you have suggested.” “It didn’t seem too hopeful a pros pect,” added Ida, “and we were try ing other treatment. But—at this stage —yes, I think we ought to at least try it.” “Ben is right,” interposed Mrs. Birnbaum firmly. “This is what we must do now.”

“All right,” said Nathan, “where can we get hold of another horse and wagon?” “Nope,” I said, “not another horse and wagon. We still have the old wagon in the scrap yard, which my boss will be very happy to donate back to Reb Dovid. And I think it is very important to our plan to get his old horse back.” Nathan nodded, and picked up the phone. A few moments later he said, “It’s all right. The farmer still has the horse. He’ll rent it to us for a day for five dollars, or if we decide we want to buy it back, it’s twice what he paid us for it.” He grinned. “Pretty good bargain, too. I hope we get to buy it back.” “How do we get the horse and wagon to Papa?” asked Ida. “Get the farmer to bring it over to the scrap yard in the morning,” I said. It was my turn to smile. “And I guess I’m elected to drive the rig to the house. I don’t think anyone else around has a driver’s license to drive a horse these days.” N the morning, I told Moe Gorin the story. “I’ll need an hour, Moe. Will you take over the scales?” Moe winced. He had long since gladly relinquished the daily battle with the peddlers and truckers, and disliked this phase of the business in tensely. This is one of the factors that makes for my own job security. “Sure, Ben, sure,” he sighed. “The things I do for old friends, old customers, and an old brother-in-law!” The farmer delivered the horse and it was then that I led the sad old creature to the far end of the yard, hitching him to the wagon and stirring the memories of my boyhood rides on the junk wagon of Moe Gorin’s father, may he rest in peace. I was so

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preoccupied with my errand that the gaze of the curious scarcely bothered me. Finally, as I pulled up in front of the home of Reb Dovid Bimbaum, I shook away my reverie, and rang the old bell on the wagon loudly. The door opened, and Ida looked out. A few minutes later, she, with her husband and mother, led the old man to the doorway. I was shocked at his appearance—he had become much thinner and older since I had last seen him. “ Look, Papa, look! It’s your horse and wagon!” cried his daughter. “Yes, Dovid, it’s for you to keep. We want you to go back to peddling,” added Mrs. Birnbaum. Mr. Bones stood in the doorway for a long, long time, staring blankly at the horse. Finally, his face seemed to change and a half-smile came, more to his eyes than to his mouth. Unaided, he walked over to the old horse and patted it on the nose. “Good old Pete,” he said, “good old Pete.” Ida Bromberg gasped. “He spoke! The first words he’s said in months.” Reb Dovid turned away from the horse and walked back into the house. We all followed. He sat down, and the blank look seemed to return to his eyes. Nathan prompted his mother-inlaw. “The t’fillin, Mama! Try the t’fillin!” Mrs. Birnbaum rushed over to the bureau, opened a drawer and took out the phylacteries. She held them out to her husband. “Here, Dovid. Wouldn’t you like to davven?” Mr. Bones looked at his wife for

November-December, 1963

a long time, before he opened his mouth and spoke. “The law says,” Mr. Bones said slowly, “that when a man is not in his right mind, he is not allowed to put on t’fillin.” “Too late,” he murmured to him self. “Too late, old horse, too late, Old Bones.” Outside the door the horse neighed loudly. Reb Dovid lifted his head, got slowly to his feet and shuffled out the door. He patted the horse’s nose once again. “It’s too late, Old Pete,” he said, shaking his head. The horse tossed his head, and the flicker of a smile crossed Mr. Bones’ countenance. “Hah!” he said, “maybe Old Pete doesn’t think so. Is the horse smarter than the master, Old Pete?” Once again a long moment passed as Mr. Bones stood squarely before the horse and the old junk wagon. Finally he spoke. “All right, old horse,” he said. “I don’t know if it will work—I really don’t think it will -b u t we’ll try it your way.” E turned away from the horse and wagon, his shuffling step somehow more alive as he re-entered the house. He looked at the clock, and turned to his wife. “It’s a quarter to ten, Mama!” he said. “That’s not too late to davven. Give me the t’fillin.” It was quite a distance back to the scrap yard, but I decided not to call Moe for a ride. Except for walking to shool on Shabbos, I really don’t get enough exercise. The walk in the fresh air felt clean and cool and good.

The 1924 Rabbinical Delegation Visit By AARON ROTHKOFF

ODAY it is an accepted phe nomenon on the American Jew ish scene for leading rabbis from abroad to visit us, usually in order to gain financial support for the re ligious institutions that they represent. Familiar as this practice has become, it was not until the foundations of European Jewry were deeply shaken that the potential of American Jewry was brought into view. In 1924 one of the earliest and perhaps the most successful of such visits took place and it might be of interest to recount the story of this pioneer mission, the visit of the first Rabbinical Delega tion to the United States of America. The visit was occasioned by the disastrous impact of the first World War on Jewish life in eastern Europe and the Holy Land. The outbreak of the war, in August 1914, started a process which completely uprooted much of European Jewry. The yeshivoth in Europe not only suffered from lack of funds at this time, but many of them were forced into exile as well. The Jewish settlements in Palestine also suffered greatly during

this period. As soon as Turkey joined with the Central Powers, the Jews in Turkish Palestine became subject to a reign of oppression that did not end until Palestine was finally conquered from the Turks by British forces, commanded by General Allenby, on December 11, 1917. Financial aid was cut off from the Palestinian yeshivoth during much of this period. S early as October 4, 1914, the Central Committee fôr the Relief A of Jews Suffering Through the War l

was organized by leaders of American orthodox Jewry. This was the first organized program for overseas Jew ish relief undèrtaken under American Jewish auspices. From it, the entire vast overseas Jewish aid activities of succeeding years, down to the present day, ultimately sprang. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, under the leadership of its founder, Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, and his successor as president, Dr. Bernard Drachman, was the parent of the Central Committee. Leon Kamaiky, publisher of the Jewish Daily News, JEWISH LIFE

was president of this committee, while Harry Fischel was treasurer and Al bert Lucas and Morris Engelman were secretaries, all of these being leading figures in the UOJCA. The Central Relief, as it was commonly referred to, collected many thousands of dollars which were distributed to the war sufferers. Dr. Mendes and Dr. Drachman devoted great effort to the campaign, visiting communities near and far throughout the United States to raise funds, accompanied by Morris Engelman. Shortly after its own establishment, the Central Relief joined with other units in establishing the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and utilized this new body as its dis tributive arm. In the post-war period, the general relief program of the Cen tral Relief was absorbed into the “Joint,” with the orthodox agency focussing on aid to Torah institutions. After the end of the war, much was accomplished towards resettling the Jews in Europe and Palestine. By the early ’twenties, the physical rehabili tation of European and Eretz Israel Jewry was well advanced. However, the relocation of yeshivoth was just beginning at that time. Many of the European yeshivoth were returning to their original homes. Some of these

had to rebuild their original sites. A number of yeshivoth reopened in en tirely new locations. The relocation process was strained also by the volun tary emigration of yeshivoth from Communist Russia, under the need to reestablish themselves in friendlier surroundings. Furthermore, upon the termination of World War I the yeshivoth in Europe and Palestine found them selves with a large influx of new stu dents. With conditions returning to normal, many more young men sought the opportunity for yeshivah study. Because of these factors, by the year 1923, the yeshivoth of Europe and Eretz Israel were in a serious financial plight. It was at this time that the Central Relief began to function primarily as a committee to collect funds for the aid of the yeshivoth and other Torah institutions of Europe and Palestine. With the physical rehabilitation going forward, this orthodox group realized that a spiritual reawakening must be sought as well. To check the general letdown that follows a successful accomplishment, the Central Relief sought some means of attracting and arousing the interest of American Jewry in the spiritual rehabilitation of their brethren overseas.

THE DELEGATION

T this time, in late 1923, the Coincidentally, the Central Relief g Rosh Hayeshivah of the Slabodka Committee concluded that it was A Yeshivah, Rabbi Moshe Mordecai necessary to bring to America some Epstein, decided that a fund-raising trip to Great Britain and the United States was the only solution to the financial problems of his institution. November-December, 1963

leading rabbinic luminaries who would be able to revitalize the enthusiam of American Jewry for the support of the European and Palestinian Yeshivoth. 57

They therefore undertook to invite a delegation pL outstanding rabbinic leaders to visit America for this pur pose, under the sponsorship and direc tion of the Central Relief. This was duly arranged and the leaders of the great Torah centers designated three of their foremost figures as the delegation: Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land, Rabbi Moshe Mordecai Epstein, Rosh Hayeshivah of the Slabodka Yeshivah, and Rabbi Abra ham Dovber Kahane-Shapiro, Presi dent of the Agudath Harabbonim of Lithuania and Chief Rabbi of Kovno. The Central Relief formulated plans for their arrival in the spring of 1924 and for a large fund raising drive to be conducted at that time. Early in 1924, Rabbi Moshe Mor decai Epstein arrived in New York. He was accompanied by Rabbi Jacob Lesin, a founder of the Slabodka Kolel: (Rabbi Lesin is presently the Mashgiach Ruchani of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University.) No official re ception was held upon their arrival, as it was decided to begin the cam paign when the entire Rabbinical dele gation had arrived. On Tuesday night, March 18, 1924, the S/S Olympic docked at Battery Park, New York. On board were Rabbis Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook and Abraham Dovber KahaneShapiro. At eight o’clock the next morning, Wednesday, March 19, some ten thousand people were present at Battery Park to greet the arriving Rabbis. There were numerous repre sentatives from the various Jewish organizations, yeshivoth and syna gogues’ of the greater New York area. Scores of cars were parked along the Battery decorated with Jewish and American emblems. 58

A committee consisting of Rabbis Moshe Zebulun Margolis, Meyer Ber lin, Aaron Teitelbaum, Herbert S. Goldstein, Israel Rosenberg, and two prominent laymen, Harry Fischel and Leon Kamaiky, escorted the visiting dignitaries off the ship. Rabbis Kook and Shapiro were joined by the earlier arrival, Rabbi Epstein. The visitors were escorted to cars, while the sur rounding throng applauded and cheered. Rabbi Shapiro was accom panied by Rabbi Abraham Faivelson, Secretary of the Agudath Harab bonim of Lithuania. (Rabbi Faivel son is presently associated with the Vaad Harabbonim of Greater New York.) Although it is known that Chief Rabbi Kook, too, was accom panied by a rabbinic escort, the name of the latter is not recorded. From the pier at the South Ferry area of Battery Park, a large caval cade of cars escorted the Rabbinical Delegation to an official reception at City Hall. There, Mayor John P. Hylan welcomed the rabbis and pre sented them with the “freedom of the city.” The Mayor said, “I am very glad of this opportunity which per mits me officially to welcome to this city distinguished Jews from the Old World. In Rabbis Kook, Shapiro, and Epstein we are privileged to greet teachers and spiritual leaders whose intellectual achievements are in them selves worthy of special recognition.” After the mayor spoke, Chief Rabbi Kook delivered a brief address in Hebrew, which was translated into English by Rabbi Herbert S. Gold stein. Afterwards, the cavalcade pro ceeded from City Hall, through Fifth Avenue* to the Hotel Pennsylvania. OR the next few weeks the Rab binical Delegation stayed at the Hotel Pennsylvania. There they were

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consulted regarding the tours planned for them and the final itinerary was completed. The Rabbinical Delega tion also received many committees from the various synagogues, educa tional institutions, and Zionist and other Jewish organizations of greater New York. Many newspaper and magazine reporters interviewed the rabbis during their stay. On Purim, Thursday, March 20th, the Rabbinical Delegation dined at the home of Rabbi Moshe Zevulun Margolies. Rabbi Margolies was one of the leaders of both the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of

America and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, and he was also active in the administration of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Dr. Bernard Revel, President of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theo logical Seminary, and Rabbi Dr. Hillel Klein, Rabbi of Congregation Ohav Zedek, were also present at this din ner. During the course of their visit, the members of the delegation were invited to deliver guest lectures at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, which was then located at 301 East Broadway.

THE CAMPAIGN

N Wednesday night, April 2, Relief Committee to publicize the O 1924, the Central Relief Drive drive. The central theme of the cam for the European and Palestinian Yeshivoth officially began in the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Astor, at a re ception, in honor of the visiting rabbis. About 2,000 people were present at the dinner and $50,000 was pledged for the campaign. Rabbi Margolies presided at the dinner, while all three of the visiting rabbis spoke, expressing their thanks for the previous aid of the Central Relief and reporting how the money was spent. Rabbi Shapiro explained that 1,300 European yeshi voth of all types were supported by the funds received from the Central Relief. Chief Rabbi Kook also told about the rebuilding of Palestine and he urged American Jewry to take an active part in the rebirth of Eretz Yisroel. A one million dollar goal was set for the campaign. Various announce ments were published by the Central November-December, 1963

paign was: “The blood spilt for the Torah should not have been in vain.” Mr. Harry Schiff made available to the Rabbinical Delegation a house at 304 West 76th Street, between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. The rabbis moved there, after spending two weeks at the Hotel Pennsylvania, occupying this house until their de parture from America. On Tuesday, April 15, the Rabbini cal Delegation was received at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge. The Delegation was accom panied by Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, secretary of the Central Relief Com mittee. During this visit Chief Rabbi Kook also received clarification of the views of the U. S. Government on the Balfour Declaration. After the reception at the White House, Rabbi Kook was visited by the British Am bassador to the United States, and 59

they further discussed the Balfour Declaration and the Palestinian situ ation. By this time, the drive was in full swing, and the Rabbinical Delegation visited the various sections of New York City. The last day of Pesach, Shabboth, April 26, was proclaimed Central Relief Day. Synagogues all over the nation made appeals for the campaign. On Monday, May 5, the Rabbinical Delegation was received in Montreal, Canada. The day was proclaimed a holiday for Canadian Jewry and the rabbis were received at Montreal’s City Hall by the Mayor. The Rabbini cal Delegation also visited numerous U. S. cities with large Jewish popula tions such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, as well as many communities in areas adjacent to New York City. Wherever the visiting rabbis went, they were welcomed by the local gov ernmental dignitaries. They usually spoke at rallies held in the synagogues of the local communities, and pledges were generally made for the Central Relief drive at these rallies. Prior to the arrival of the Rabbinical Dele gation, Committees comprised of the local orthodox rabbis and laymen in coordination with the Central Relief Committee planned the agenda in ad vance of each visit and took care of all the necessary technical arrange ments. By the fall of 1924 the campaign was coming to its close. The major segment of American Jewry had been

reached by the campaign and the visiting luminaries were anxious to re turn to their responsible positions in their respective homelands. Rabbi Ep stein authorized the reprinting of one of his scholarly publications, “Levush Mordecai,” by a New York publisher, with the stipulation that the proceeds were to go to the Central Relief Campaign. On October 28, Mr. Harry Fischel presided at a farewell dinner for the rabbis at his residence. On November 12, the Rabbinical Delegation departed for their homes. The Central Relief Campaign had raised over $400,000. Although the goal originally set had not been reached, the sum collected neverthe less represented a substantial amount in 1924. The Central Relief sent checks to yeshivoth located all over the world, helping numerous institu tions to reestablish themselves i or to reduce their burdensome indebtedness. American Jewry had also shown that it knew how to honor the Torah. The visiting rabbis were shown the greatest respect and admiration by all segments of American Jewry. The honor accorded to the rabbis by gov ernment dignitaries helped to raise the prestige of orthodox Jewry in Amer ica. Years later, Rabbi Kook, while reflecting upon his visit to America, is reported to have said, “I have known different types of suffering in my life . . . but in America I en countered a new type of suffering. I suffered from the excessive amount of honor accorded me.”

RESULTS OF THE VISIT

HE visit of this trail-blazing Rab binical Delegation had many posi tive results. Most important of these

T 60

was the financial success of the Cen tral Relief Campaign. Many yeshivoth were actually saved from extinction JEWISH LIFE

by the funds they received. agement and inspiration. A number of The visit of the rabbis also made American young men were influenced American Jewry realize its responsi to continue their studies in the more bilities towards the spiritual centers famous European yeshivoth. In par of Europe and Palestine. This visit ticular, Rabbi Epstein, the Slabodka set a precedent and in the years that Rosh Hayeshivah, influenced some followed many famous rabbis visited American students to depart for ad America in behalf of the overseas vanced study in Europe. Torah institutions. These dignitaries The Zionist movement, especially were always favorably received. the Mizrachi Organization, received The Rabbinical Delegation also impetus and encouragement from spurred the development of the young Chief Rabbi Kook’s presence in American yeshivah movement. Yeshi- America. During his numerous ad voth Rabbis Isaac Elchanan, Ghaim dresses, Rabbi Kook again and again Berlin, Jacob Joseph, and Yeshivath acclaimed the rebuilding of Eretz Torah Vodaath received new encour Yisroel.

November-December, 1963

Book Beviow A Pictorial Presentation of the Jewish Story By PHILIP W. ZIMMERMAN

THE GRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE JEW ISH HERITAGE, Edited by Pinchas Wollman-Tsamir, Shengold Publishers, Inc., New York, 1963. $15.00.

HERE may be areas in which one picture is worth ten thousand words. These, however, are not gen erally evident in traditional Jewish texts. The lack of pictures, however, does not extend to diagrams and similar presentations, which have been used from the earliest times. Many of the Rishonim added dia grams to their commentaries. The Ritva’s commentary on Eruvin, for example, contains forty-nine dia grams to aid the student of that difficult tractate. In more recent times the Torah Umesorah organization has issued diagrammatic material on the

RA BBI PH ILIP ZIM M ERM AN, who served as a U .S. Army Chaplain in Korea is the author of numerous articles on Jewish literary topics.

weekly Torah portions. Poalei Agudah in Israel has recently put out a most useful chart on the offerings of the Land. However, the most ambitious attempt at a complete graphic and diagrammatic presentation of our multi-faceted Jewish tradition must be credited to Pinchas WollmanTsamir in his “Graphic History of the Jewish Heritage.” Mr. WollmanTsamir has planned (according to the Master Chart which accompanies this volume) what would seem to be an almost impossible task: the pres entation of the entire Jewish heritage from the earliest times till the pres ent in graphic form. The present volume covers the Biblical period, and must be rated as most successful. Few would be the scholars or laymen who could not gain much from this work. Mr. Wollman-Tsamir has re lated that a noted Jewish educator (nameless here) was unacquainted, for example, with the fact that there were seven prophetesses until he noted same in GHJH. JEWISH LIFE

The present volume is studded with graphs, charts, chronological tables, and diagrams on many aspects of the Biblical period. Especially interesting are the synchronical tables which re late events in the two kingdoms of Judah and northern Israel. The edi tor has wisely avoided Chiddushim (novelties) and has kept to the main lines of tradition. He has produced a work of unsurpassed value as a teaching device for educational groups on all levels. A Hebrew edi tion (the book was originally written in the Holy language) is also planned, which should be of value to those who wish to study in the original language of the Torah. N the interest of historical accuracy it must be pointed out that the present volume does not mark the first time anything “in this line has been produced for teaching Jewish history and literature,” as is stated by one of the scholars endorsing this book. In addition to the works already mentioned, very substantial work has been done by the Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch of the Lubavitch movement along similar lines of graphic pre sentation. For example, in the Yid dish magazine “Schmusen” (Vol. Ill, No. 6 (31), Sivan 5704) a chart was presented which was quite similar in design to the Master Chart of Mr. Wollman-Tsamir, although not as in clusive. This chart has been repro duced in the booklet “Torah Veyisroel —40 Centuries,” published in many languages, as well as in a Lubavitch Siddur. This chart is the work of Dr. Nissan Mindel, who also pro duced a “Table of the Course of Tradition” in the English companion of the “Schmusen” called “Talks and Tales,” (Sivan, 5704). Further work

November-December, 1963

of the Lubavitch movement along these lines is found in the excellent “Our People, History of the Jews,” by Jacob Isaacs, 1946, which has one feature which Mr. Wollman-Tsamir might well adopt: a bar-graph chart “From Creation to Mount Sinai” showing which personalities of vari ous periods were contemporaneous. The same work also features a pic torial chart covering much of the material found in the Synchronical Tables of Mr. Wollman-Tsamir. These examples are not given to in any way denigrate Mr. WollmanTsamir^ achievement, but merely to illustrate what a great gaon said when he was told that a precious vort of his had been said by a sage of the previous generation: “When one goes on the right path, one meets good company.” HE editor has modestly requested the pointing out of shortcomings in his work. Bold indeed would be the reviewer who would say that he has checked out every reference in this work to which the author has devoted so many years of loving labor. If some corrections are sug gested, it is with the understanding that they are meant primarily for the improvement of future editions of the volume (which should surely be required). Mr. Wollman-Tsamir has utilized Biblical, Talmudic, Midrashic, and later authorities for his work, and in many cases has indicated the sources for his presentations. A more thorough listing of references would seem desirable. The editor has also used non-traditional Jewish (Dr. Zunz) and non-Jewish sources (such as Samuel Arrowsmith). If there was a need for such sources, the type

of listing found in the Hertz Pen tateuch and Haftorahs clearly classi fying commentators as to their back ground (Jewish Ancient, Non-Jew ish, etc.) seems indicated. Under the heading “Later Authors and Com mentators” in this volume there are grouped together Rashi, the Gaon of Vilna, and the Interpreters Bible and Barnes’ Biblical Dictionary. The novice may be led to think that all these sources are equally authentic, when, of course, a fervent lehavdil is to be uttered between them. The editor’s quest for completeness has led him to include some material of a doubtful nature, mainly on the Master Chart. This is all to the good, but one hopes that mention of “The Five Temples” will not be included in the final work. Whatever may be said about the “House of Chonya” (as it is called in the Mishnah, Menchoth 13) it does not deserve to be listed as the Temple of Onias along with the Temple of Solomon as ap parent equals. Great care will also have to be taken with the Apocryphal and Hellenistic literature, which Mr. Wollman-Tsamir has listed on his Master Chart, not to go beyond the bounds of “The Written Law and the Oral Law in their Descent,” as this chart is subtitled. In spite of these shortcomings, we can all be thankful that the editor has completely avoided the quicksands planted by those whose aim it was to “rob Israel of its halo.” No doubt his being forced to leave Nazi Germany in 1936 has given him a deeper insight into the final result of that critical school of Ger man scholars who have unfortunately been followed by many of our own people. There are several omissions which seem worthy of mention, with the 64

hope that future editions will include them. The Seven Mitzvoth of the Sons of Noah, forming the basic law code of all civilized humanity, while touched on in the Synopsis of the Pentateuch on p. 75, have not been listed as such, nor given the proper, emphasis. The excellent genealogical tables merit tremendous study. One name which seems to be lacking in the appropriate table is that of the wife of Aaron, Elisheva, who, the Talmud tells us, (Zevochim, 102a) had five genealogical “joys” : her brother-in-law was the King (Moses); her husband was the High Priest (A aron)• her son was the vice-High Priest (E leazar); her grandson was the Anointed for War (Pinchas); and her brother was the Nasi of his tribe (Nahshon). O pains have been spared to make the physical appearance of this volume a pleasure. One suggestion might be of aid: the many fold-out pages should be reinforced to prevent what one hopes will be the wear of many satisfied students of this work. One looks forward with anticipa tion to the future volumes in the series. In a certain sense the future volumes of the Talmudic and postTalmudic periods will be more infor mative to the general reader than the present volume, of which most people have some grasp. How many people have any knowledge of “The 120 Men of the Great Assembly, the 360 Tannaim, the 762 Amoraim,” all of which and much more Mr. Wollman-Tsamir has promised to elucidate for us in his Master Chart? This reviewer would be remiss in his duty if he did not end with a salute to the editor, who is evidently an enthusiast who has devoted the

JEWISH LIFE

better part of his life and means to the project at hand. May there be many like him in Israel. His enthusiasm has been passed over to his work, and will inspire many who have

little or no knowledge of our heritage, If the initial high standard will be kept up in future volumes, a work of major value for Jewish education will be the result.

On Eichmann in Jerusalem By ELIAS COOPER

EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM: A Report on the Banality of Evil, by Hannah Arendt. Viking, New York, 1963. $5.50. M r p HE old manipulators of logic JL were the concern of the philos opher, whereas the modern manipula tors of facts stand in the way of the historian . . . History itself is de stroyed . . . whenever facts . . . are misused to prove this or that con tention.” Every modern historian would agree with these canons, al though they were expressed in her “On the Origins of Totalitarianism” by Hannah Arendt, who has recently done more violence to them than any serious writer would ever dare. The great consternation caused by her more recent “Eichmann in Jerusalem” would have been avoided had the peculiar views she expressed on Anti semitism in her earlier work been ex posed for what they_ are—tortuous rhetoric and sophistry. One can hardly ELIAS COOPER, a Fellow in the Department of History at City College o f N ew York, is completing work toward his Ph.D . at Columbia University.

November-December, 1963

be surprised to find that Miss Arendt now places the blame for the annihi lation of the Jews of Europe equally on the victims and the murderers, if one recalls that in her earlier work she found the scapegoat theory of Antisemitism inconsistent because it “discharges the victim of responsi bility.” After much teleological research, Miss Arendt long ago concluded that Jews contributed their share to Anti semitism by refusing to disappear. The Jews refused to assimilate, and some of them, Miss Arendt declares, assumed that eternal Antisemitism implied the best guarantee of a sepa rate Jewish existence. It is a fact that Antisemitism has prolonged Jewish separateness, but the notion that as similation is the answer to Antisemi tism is not new. Assimilation was popular among German Jewish in tellectuals, on practical grounds, from the time of Moses Mendelssohn, and that tradition is also Miss Arendt’s intellectual heritage. The Nuremberg Laws ought to have put an end to this notion, but convictions die hard, especially when they are proven to be false. We are not yet at the core of 65

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Hannah Arendt's revision of the theo ry of Antisemitism. “The remarkable similarity of (Antisemitic) arguments and images,” she wrote in “On the Origins of Totalitarianism,” “which time and again were spontaneously reproduced, have an intimate relation ship with the truth they distort.” Thus the fact that the French house of Rothschild was equally loyal to the governments of Louis Philippe, the Second Republic, and Napoleon III is supposed to have given credence to the notion that Jews were disloyal to the nation even when they were loyal to a government. “In Germany, this sudden and easy change was sym bolized, after the Revolution of 1918, in the financial policies of the War burgs on one hand, and the shifting political ambitions of Walter Rathenau on the other,” she wrote. And for proof of the conception of a Jew ish world government one had only to look at the five branches of the Rothschilds in the five capitals of Europe. Certainly Antisemites could use certain facts or such oddities as Ben jamin Disraeli's “Israelite” race mys ticism, and distort them to their ad vantage, but the fact that otherwise authoritarian nineteenth century re gimes on the Continent permitted such distortions does not at all in validate the scapegoat thedry of Anti semitism. What, after all, motivated the French General Staff in choosing to victimize Alfred Dreyfus? It is noteworthy that the generals and their reactionary allies failed in their smear campaign in the only European country that was a democratic re public at the time. Not to grasp this point is to deny the political nature of Antisemitism. In the twentieth century Antisemites have not dis torted “reality.” They have promoted November-December, 1963

hatred by pure fabrications, but al ways with definite political ends in view. The Nazis, contrary to Miss Arendt's fulminations about their “different” brand of Antisemitism and her castigation of the Jews for not recognizing this “difference,” do not form an exception to this rule. Where the Nazis differed was in the imple mentation of their racial policy, but then they were the first group of that kind to gain control of a country, and one that was a major power.

N “Eichmahn in Jerusalem” Miss Arendt deals mainly with the Jew ish disaster in Europe and only secondarily with Eichmann. She offers a new interpretation of the Naziwrought catastrophe: It would have been impossible for the Nazis to have been so successful in their diabolical program had not the “recognized Jew ish leaders . . . almost without excep tion, cooperated in one way or another, for one reason or another, with the Nazis.” By “recognized Jewish lead ers” Miss Arendt means those ap pointed by the Nazis to the Councils of Jewish Elders (the Judenrate). But these people were usually not the recognized leaders of the Jews, and Miss Arendt is aware of this and betrays that knowledge in a paren thetical remark on the situation in Poland—“ (The) Nazis had extermi nated a large proportion of the Jew ish intelligentsia, at the same time that they had killed Polish intellec tuals and members of the profes sions.” The Jewish councils were picked by the SS, who in their selec tions for these bodies, as well as for the Jewish police in the ghettoes and cooperative workers in the camps, had a predilection for the supine and the criminal element. To be sure

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JEWISH LIFE

the Nazis at times appointed men with some independent standing with in the communities to the Jewish Councils. These usually displayed a lack of heroism, but it is impossible to find any treasonable intent in their actions. They did not know the ulti mate function they were performing for the SS in governing their Jewish communities and making lists of their people and their property. It is quite true that in so doing they kept the Jewish populations docile, made it easier for the SS to confiscate Jewish property, and finally to “deport” the communities to death factories. But did the Nazi-appointed “Jewish lead ership” have any knowlege of the colossal crime the Nazis planned— a crime in which the “Jewish leaders” were among the victims? The systematic extermination of the Jewish people began suddenly in August, 1942. Prior to that date the Jews had everywhere been pauper ized. The lucky ones were forced to work in German plants. They worked although they were beaten and humil iated and sometimes wantonly mur dered. They worked and suffered, most just suffered, because they always hoped that the nightmare would end. For most it never did. In the fall of 1942 reinforced SS units entered the cities and towns of Eastern Europe to initiate the “final solution,” that had l?een mapped out in January, 1942 at an interministerial conference at Wannsee, in which Eichmann par ticipated. Now the SS scum rounded up the Jewish populations for “de portation.” Those who didn’t move fast enough to the waiting trains were shot on the spot, as were those who refused or could not move. Some of those who had work cards were al lowed to remain in the ghettoes. No special trains called for these people. November-December, 1963

They were shot by the truckloads near the local cemeteries until the ghettoes were no more. The Jewish Councils had no knowl edge of the Wannsee Conference. No one did until after the war. The Councils were motivated by the same hopes that paralyzed the rest of the Jewish population. All believed until the end that they might somehow survive. A Jewish sector would be created, the Allies would win a quick victory, revolution would break out in Germany, and so on. The plain fact, in Miss Arendt’s own words, is that “the Jews had never before been confronted with genocidq.” We may add that it was a thing impossible to imagine in 1939. What Jews did after the Fall of 1942 in the concentration camps, where things were known de spite the shower signs on gas cham ber doors, and in the ghettoes, where things were also known despite SS promises of emigration to the occu pants of the doomed truckloads, they could no longer be held morally or legally responsible for. The inhuman had conquered. There were some genuine Jewish leaders whom the Nazis used. But it is impossible to support Miss Arendt’s thesis, as she tries to do, by noting that Dr. Leo Baeck, certainly a promi nent German-Jewish leader, continued to act as leader in the Thereisenstadt concentration camp. Baeck could do nothing there. In Hungary the SS, including Eichmann, negotiated with a leading Zionist, Rudolf Kastner. But here they had to do so, because Hungary’s Fascist regime continued to enjoy domestic freedom of action until mid-1944, and the traditional Jewish organizations were allowed to function until the relatively late Ger man occupation. Kastner tried his best to get emigration permits for 69

Vastly Outnumbered by the mighty Syrian forces which were supported by armored Elephants, then the most awesome instruments of war, the fearless Maccabees finally

drove the invaders from the land of Israel. Here, the opposing armies are pictured on the plains of Azotus, near Jaffa, by the great 19th century French artist, Gustave Dore.

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Hungarian Jews. In the end he failed. His failure as a leader was even more distastrous because he failed to or ganize a Jewish resistance at a time when Auschwitz was no secret. He was not a hero, he did not deserve a position of leadership, but he was not a traitor. For a person with Miss Arendt’s knowledge to state that Kastner’s assassination, on a Tel Aviv street in 1957, was committed by two survivors of the Hungarian Jewish catastrophe seems outright prevarication. Kastner was a man made ill by a drawn-out legal action contrived and exploited to the utmost by the more wild-eyed members of the power-hungry Herut Party. He was assassinated after his acquittal by two youths who were members of the most rabid fringe of Israeli national ism, the successors of the old Fighters for the Freedom of Israel (the Stern Gang). The same group was at the time involved in a farcical armed plot agajnst the state. PART from giving a twist to A | certain facts to strengthen her thesis, Miss Arendt displays a brazen disregard of facts that are surely well known to her. Consider, for in stance, her assertion that the Jews of Denmark and Bulgaria were for the most part saved because, in con trast to other countries, there were no Jewish Councils there. The Danish Jews were saved because the Danes, from the King down to the majority of the common people, obstructed the German deportation orders and made it possible for the Jews to escape to neutral and unoccupied Bweden. The Nazis failed in Bulgaria not, as Miss Arendt would have it, because “they abandoned all hope of enlisting Jewish leadership for their own purposes,” but because the local popuNovember-December, 1963

lation opposed the anti-Jewish meas ures. Instead of rounding up the Jews of Sofia on German orders, the Bulgars dispersed them in the country. The Chief Rabbi of Sofia found sanc tuary with the Metropolitan of Sofia! The crucial factor determining the Nazis’ success against the Jews lies in the difference between the Danish, and West European, and Bulgarian attitudes toward Jews and those prev alent in most of Eastern Europe. One of the chief factors in Polish nationalism was and is Antisemitism, and it constitutes the sole consistent element of what exiled Ukranian pro fessors call “Ukranian nationality.” Herein is the obvious reason for the installation of the worst death camps in Poland, and for the earlier ship ments of Jews for mass shootings to the Ukraine. In France the Jews con tributed their energies to the Resist ance. The Warsaw Ghetto, which withstood the German onslaught much longer than the whole Polish Army, received no aid from the Fascist Armia Krajowa, which tried, after the war, to carry out a mop-up operation for the Germans with mur derous raids against Jews who had survived. Half of Rumania’s 800,000 Jews were murdered by the local Fascist state without any German help and its concommitant systematic organization, and without Jewish Councils. The Jews were betrayed and victimized, but not by the Judenrate. NSOFAR as Miss Arendt deals with Eichmann, she accepts in essence his own defensive position, namely that he was doing his duty to the state and that none of his actions could be considered illegal since in Germany the Fuhrer’s word had been law. As for the proceedings in JerU-

salem, the whole thing, according to Hannah Arendt, was a show trial. Eichmann was not given his due, be cause Eichmann could only have been tried “for what he has done, not for what he has caused others to suffer,” while the case “was built on what the Jews had suffered, not what Eich mann had done.” This position re quires no comment. It is sufficient to recall that the connection between Eichmann and what the Jews had suffered was sufficiently proven. We have come to associate show trials with ridiculous confessions on the part of the accused, but this is cer tainly not what happened in Jeru salem. Great public interest does not by itself constitute a show trial. Miss Arendt’s incompetent legal fuss is

due to a faintly veiled contempt for Israel and its leaders. Considering that Hannah Arendt’s quite fallacious analysis of both the trial in Jerusalem and the Jewish disaster in Europe appeared first as a serial in a mass circulation mag azine, her work may itself be con sidered as a piece of academic exhibitionism well edited, an act of acrobatics in which facts are made to do tricks. Sophism should be con fined to learned journals or special ized magazines whose audiences are equipped to recognize the fallacies that a clever juxtaposition of words weaves. The whole business is then less odious, because it is made in nocuous.

ONf T H E O Q E A N AT 4 3 r d S T R E E T , M IAM I B E A C H

JEWISH LIFE

L etters te the E ditar THE TERAPHIM New York, N. Y. I have read with great interest Ben Amittay’s penetrating and competent review of the second volume of my “Universal Jewish History” in the September-October issue of J ewish Life .

Since my statement about Rachel has provoked his severe criticism I would like to offer a short clarifica tion. I have stated that the fact that Rachel took the teraphim of her father indicates how difficult it was to re main unaffected in a completely poly theistic environment. It is true that according to the tradition Rachel intended to prevent her father from worshipping idols. The question, however, remains why she took the teraphim along and did not destroy or hide them away as she surely should have done. (See DVorim 7:25, 26). Ibn Ezra on B’reshith 31:19 raises this question and, obvi ously because of it, does not accept the traditional explanation. It also seems significant that later on Jacob had to request the members of his family and his followers to hand over the idols which they had in their possession. (B’reshith 34:2,4; see also Joshua 24:23.) November-December, 1963

All this tends to show how difficult it was at all times to resist the over whelming influence of a polytheistic environment. I have pointed out fu r thermore that the sweeping statement that the forefathers of Abraham wor shipped idols should be taken only in the restricted sense that they too, to a certain degree, were influenced by their polytheistic environment (Vol. II, p. 23). Rabbi P hilip B iberfeld

B en A mittay answers:

In B’reshith 34:2,4 we are dealing with idols captured by the sons of Jacob in the battle of Shechem, like wise in Joshua 24:23 with objects captured in the course of the invasion of Canaan. These might have been objets d’art which were treasured by their captors because of their mone tary value and not because of any polytheistic influences. Most probably this was also the reason why Rachel did not wish to destroy her father’s teraphim. She may have intended to return these precious objects to Laban after her father had convinced himself of the utter impotency of his idols who could not even protect themselves against theft. 73

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JEWISH LIFE

Rachel, one of our four “Mothers” —the Talmud (Yerushalmi, B’roehoth IX, 5) calls her a prophetess—is to us the epitome of saintliness. We bless our daughters mentioning her name. She shared Jacob’s life, and was im bued with the same absolute faith in the one and only true G-d. To think otherwise is a sacrilege. It is beyond me how the eminent author, an orthodox Jew, seems to insist that Rachel, after all, was not able to resist powerful polytheistic influences, i.e., that she actually be lieved in these idols and therefore took them along and feared to destroy them. Rachel’s tomb is at present under Arab jurisdiction—no Jew is allowed to pour out his heart in prayer at this consecrated shrine. Let us at least not give the saintly Mother Rachel another cause to “weep over her children.” SUNDAY LAW CASE POSTSCRIPT Washington, D.C. As a postscript to my article “Have the Sunday Law Cases Been Over ruled?” (September-October, 1963), may I note the Supreme Court’s re cent action in the case of Mrs. Owen Jenison of Minnesota. She was con victed in the Minnesota state courts of contempt of court for refusing to serve as a Juror. Her reason, as she explained it, was that such service would violate her religious convic tions since she believed literally in the precept of “judge not, that ye be not judged.” On October 14, 1963, the first day of its 1963 term on which decisions were issued, the Supreme Court unanimously voided her con tempt conviction and sent the case November-December, 1963

back to the Minnesota courts Tor further consideration in light of Sherbert v. Verner.’ This is often the Supreme Court’s method of hint ing subtly that if the State court does not sustain the claim made by the person who was convicted, the Supreme Court will act itself. The Supreme Court’s action in the above case demonstrates exactly how live the issue of the constitutionality of Sunday Laws as applied to Sab bath observers may be. N athan Lewin

RE: EDUCATIONAL JUNGLE New York, N. Y. In his article entitled “The Jewish Education Jungle” (September-0ctober 1963), Dr.. Ill Graeber refers, among others, to the Metropolitan N. Y. Commission on Talmud Torah Education. As professional consultant of this Commission from its very in ception, I feel obliged to call atten tion to a number of inaccuracies and misstatements of the writer pertain ing to the Commission, orthodox Tal mud Torahs in Greater New York, and J.E.C. services to both. In cavalier manner the author pro nounces his austere, authoritative verdict to the effect that “the Metro politan New York Commission is neither geared nor equipped to guide and service New York Orthodoxy’s five-day-a-week Talmud Torahs with 130,000 enrolled! A creation of the Jewish Education Committee of New York, the Metropolitan New York Commission has had a minimum of one and a maximum of three con sultants to guide and supervise its affiliated Talmud Torahs dotted throughout the five boroughs of New York.” (My italics.) 75

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Send resumé, Box 66, Middle Village, N. Y.'

CONTINENTAL CH O CO LA TES You’ll find the @ on every box of Barton’s candies and pastries. JEWISH LIFE

We might expect of one venturing on the hazardous journey of explora tion of our “Talmud Torah Jungle” to at least evince a fair and reliable knowledge of the scene of his investi gation. Regrettably, indeed, he is neither acquainted with the facts, nor has he taken the trouble to arm himself with trustworthy information on the subject, as is evident from the following: a. The total number of enrollees in orthodox Talmud Torahs of Greater New York (including Westchester and Long Island), we are sorry to report, is not 130,000 but around 25,000. The entire enrollment in all types of schools of Metropolitan New York is only a little over 150,000. At that Orthodoxy holds a commanding postion in this respect, considering the fact that over 95 per cent of day School attendance (over 37,000) is in orthodox schools. b. Only 35 per cent of orthodox Tal mud Torahs are on a five-day-aweek schedule, the balance maintain ing three- or four-day weekly ses sions. c. The number of J.E.C. consultants servicing orthodox Talmud Torahs in Greater New York is, contrary to Dr. Graeber’s cryptic, misleading mathe matical calculation of a “minimum of one and a maximum of three” an exact figure of six: four servicing exclusively orthodox schools, and the other two devoting a major part of their time to orthodox schools. In addition, orthodox Talmud Torahs share in the various other services offered by J.E.C., including teacher consultants, specialty (arts) consult ants, Testing program, pedagogic seminars and conferences, etc. The J.E.C. Department of Yeshivoth is, November-December, 1963

of course, serviced by a separate staff of consultants. d. The Metropolitan N. Y. Commis sion on Talmud Torah Education is not “a creation of the Jewish Educa tion Committee” but an autonomous agency organized by orthodox syna gogue leadership and sponsored by Yeshiva University’s Synagogue Coun cil—Community Service Division. Like Commissions of other ideological groups, it is affiliated with and serv iced by the Jewish Education Com mittee. The Commission sets policy and standards for its affiliated schools, now numbering over 130 in four boroughs and suburban areas. In the six-and-a-half years of its existence the Metropolitan New York Commission on Talmud Torah Educa tion has: 1. Succeeded, in a large measure, to organize and unify orthodox Tal mud Torahs in Greater New York. Membership has more than tripled. Unified standards of education and practice have been adopted for the guidance of schools. Regional Councils or associations of the Commission have been established in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Southshore. An articulate leadership, both lay and professional, dedicated to the promo tion of Talmud Torah education in Orthodoxy is coming to the fore. 2. An Accreditation program has been launched (1960) to certify schools maintaining approved standards. 3. An Awards Program has been instituted (1959) to encourage scho lastic achievement, attendance and continuation beyond the elementary grades. 4. B’nai Hillel Honor Society, an inter-school student fellowship, has been established (1961). It is the aim of this Honor Society to build an elite 77

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JEWISH LIFE

Youth Movement dedicated to Torah. 5. This year the Commission will launch its publications program with a text and resource book on Chumosh, prepared in accordance with curric ular aims and requirements, formu lated by its committee on curriculum standards. Other publications to fol low will include curriculum and syl labi for Talmud Torahs as well as texts and pedagogic materials for all major areas in the program of studies. 6. Promotion of Hebrew High School education has been a major function of the Commission. Through the initiative, direction, and assist ance of the Commission, Hebrew High School programs have been estab lished in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and this year in Southshore (F ar Rockaway). In most cases these are afternoon Hebrew High Schools maintaining depart ments for both Talmud Torah and Yeshivah Graduates. The Commission has also pioneered two unique He brew High School programs of an all-day type: a) Yeshivah Mechinah classes for Talmud Torah graduates connected with Yeshiva University High School for Boys. b) Ezra Academy, an all-day (Ye shivah) Junior High School for gifted Talmud Torah students, located in Brooklyn (Kingsway Jewish Center). This school, now in its third year, has an enrollment of over 80 students, originating from 31 Talmud Torahs. 7. Perhaps the most ambitious proj ect sponsored by the Commission is a Camping Program. A campsite has just been acquired in the Poconos, in cooperation with the Rabbinic Alumni of Yeshiva University. In all these ventures, and many others not mentioned for the sake of November-December, 1963

brevity, the Commission has received the whole-hearted cooperation, sup port, encouragement, and guidance of the Jewish Education Committee and, of course, its sponsor, CSD of Yeshiva University. Perhaps, better than any pronouncements ex-cathe dra, these basic facts give us an inkling of Metropolitan New York Commission’s efforts in the service of orthodox Talmud Torahs. Morris B. B enathan , Consultant, Metropolitan New York Commis sion on Talmud Torah Education D r. Graeber replies:

The dust and pebbles Mr. Benathan tosses are quarried from faulty facts, faulty conceptions, and much wishful thinking, and are aimed with little attention to the subject of my article Jl-the Jewish Educational Establish ment. The inaccuracy of my statistic on New York Hebrew School enroll ment would not change by one iota the basic facts insofar as Mr. Benathan’s area is concerned. But if Mr. Benathan will redefine the Talmud Torah a la ’63, he will find his own figures incorrect. The real figures are much higher. Among Greater New York’s 1,000 orthodox congregations, many conduct schools which are not accounted for in the Jewish Educa tion Committee computation. The evidence presented in my article, which constitutes only part of a major study that I had conducted over a two-year period for a nationallyknown foundation, has come to me from hundreds of Jewish spiritual leaders, two-thirds of them orthodox rabbis. This information was supple mented by interviews and discussions with professional personnel of the Jewish Education Committee and 79

other bureaus, and was evaluated on discern the features of this revital the basis of my experience as a Jewish ization. educator, sociologist, and researcher. 4. While it is pleasing to learn And now for the central points that the Commission on Talmud Torah Education “will launch” its raised by Mr. Benathan: publications program, the education 1. My trustworthy informants are bureau record does not w arrant giving the authority for the fact that, con advance credit for such an undertak trary to Mr. Benahan’s assertions, ing. It is no secret that the Chumosh not six but three area supervisors resource book to which Mr. Benathan have “serviced” the orthodox constitu refers has been warming drawers for ency of the Jewish Education Com? a good many years, and the fact re mittee. The puzzle still remains as to mains that as of now, after over six how three area supervisors can effec years, the Commission on T.T. Educa tively “service” the 130 schools which tion has neither a curriculum nor a Mr. Benathan says are affiliated with syllabus. It should be noted too that the Commission. the Commission taxes affiliated schools 2. The records at my disposal 40^ per enrolled pupil. There is no reveal beyond doubt that, contrary to parallel for this odd practice on the Mr. Benathan’s assertion, the Metro part of the Reform or Conservative politan New York Commission on education commissions. It would have Talmud Torah Education is the crea been to the credit of the Commission, tion of the Jewish Education Com however, if it had published muchmittee. To the credit of the J.E.C., it needed texts with the money received should be stated that it filled the from this source (an estimated $6,000) vacuum left by the inaction of the rather than on organizational tech orthodox organizations. niques and development, inter-school 3. Meritorious as may be the Com rallies, and so forth. 5. The Ezra Academy is partially mission’s organizational achievements, the results obviously do not w arrant subsidized by substantial contribu the claim that the Commission has tions from a number of orthodox “succeeded, in large measure, to or synagogues. But why then $600 an ganize and unify orthodox Talmud nual tuition, when Maimonides, a Torahs in Greater New York.” The highly credited Jewish high school in affiliation of 130 schools is quite tenu Brookline, Mass., charges $400? ous for the most part, and in any 6. The fact that only about nine event these are but a minority of teen schools affiliated with the Com orthodox afternoon schools. Nor did mission have been certified as meeting the Commission establish Talmud its requirements speaks louder than' Torahs, as is implied by the term any recital of organizational program “organize” ; traditional Jewish educa as to the quality of the Commission’s tion is not newly in process of forma work in fulfilling its essential func tion. It needs revitalization on its tion. This is the central fact with existing foundations. I have yet to which I have been concerned.

JEWISH LIFE

W e've been in fhe travel business a long time. In the beginning, it w as sink or swim. W e swam. Until about 15 years ago, when w e started to fly. In 1948, w e had one used DC-4, two ex-war aces and plenty of doubts. N o w w e have a whole fleet of new Boeing 70 7 and 720-B jet airplanes. W e also have multitudes of pilots (including one named N o ah) and no more doubts. W e fly one of the w o rld ’s longest non-stop flights: N e w York to Tel Aviv. The shorter EL AL non-stop flights (N ew York to London, Paris and Rome) are sim ply milk-and* honey runs to us.

O ne thing in particular that tickles us is that nobody notices when an EL AL jet puts down in Athens or Zurich or Istanbul. It’s absolutely routine. W e go to places you’d expect: Brussels,Vienna, Munich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt. And some that you might not expect: Teheran, N airobi, Nicosia and Johannesburg. At close to 600 miles on hour, there are very few places we can’t get you to in 6 or 7 hours. Think where w e could get you { in 40 days and 40 nights. C a ll your travel agent or us

Peace! With the coming of another year, we wish you and your loved ones the greatest of man’s blessings— a peaceful world in which to enjoy our health and happiness: M ay you be inscribed for a good year! ’’

‘‘

H . J . H einz C om pany (M any of the