Church Influence in Dreyfus Affair: When the French Defied Powerful Corporate Bodies Read Commentator's Column on Page 2 E JEWISH NEWS A Weekly Review 'KOHELETH': Dr. Robert Gordis' Brilliant Commentary of Jewish Events on the Book of Ecclesiastes Review on Page 4 VOLUME 18--No. 17 708 David Stott Bldg.—Phone WO. 5-1155 Detroit, Michigan, January 5, 1951 7 $3.00 Per Year; Single Copy, 10c Mizr chist to be Jerusalem Mayor; Pla Inflation Fight —Direct JTA Teletype Wires to The Jewish News The Gospels as Sources Prof. Zeitlin Corrects Errors in Jesus Story The four versions of Jesus' life, as depicted in the Four Gospels of the New Testament, are analyzed by Prof. Solomon Zeitlin in this section of his book Who Crucified Jesus?" He points out the discrepancies in the different versions and sug- gests reasons for such differences. This condensation, by Ruth L, Cassel, is published through the courtesy of Prof. Zeldin and Harper and Bros. Third Installment from "Who Crucified Jesus?" By PROF. SOLOMON ZEITLIN The Gospels are not primarily historical books. Their authors were not interested in the cold, historical facts. Not only were they not trained historians in our sense of the word, but the whole technique of writing history in the Jewish tradition was that of tendenz, or interpretative narration. Since the major concern of the Jewish mind was with the meaning of events and personalities from the point of view of divine intervention in human affairs, necessarily human history became the stage on which God played his role before the eyes of mankind. Fortunately, there are four Gospels to aid the historian to ascertain the historicity of certain events in the nar- rative of the crucifixion. The first three (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are known as "the Synoptic Gospels," as they are in agreement generally each with the other. The fourth Gospel (John), however, is known as the "non-Synoptic Gospel" because it is, in many instances, in disagreement with the first three. • In so important a matter as the date of the crucifix- ion of Jesus, there is a wide discrepancy between the Gospels. Accordinc, to the first three, Jesus was crucified on the first day of 6 Passover, but according to the non- Synoptic Gospel he was crucified on the eve of Passover. Undoubtedly, there is not real confusion of dates. There is difference of theological accent on events. The authors of the Gospels, in relating the historical events of the crucifixion of Jesus, represented different theological conceptions of Jesus as the Christ Messiah. The Synoptic Gospels, on the one hand, conceived of Jesus as the Saviour,. personifying the idea of salvation in the Passover festival. They emphasized the fact that he suffered death for the sins of the people, hence fulfilling, in his death and resur- rection, the words of the prophets of Israel. On the other hand, the fourth Gospel presented the theological view of Jesus as the Redeemer, personifying the Paschal Lamb. Just as the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed on the eve of . Passover, so they conceived Jesus the Messiah to have been crucified on the eve of Passover to redeem the world from ..Original Sin. The authors of the Gospels wrote for Jewish Chris- tians and Gentile Christians. The early followers of Jesus were Jews who established a church in Jerusalem ; these ad- herents of the new faith have come to be known as Jewish Christians. Later, many Gentiles accepted, the teachings of JeSus, and these are named Gentile Christians. The consensus of opinion among the New Testament scholars is that the Gospel according to Matthew was written by a Jew for Jewish Christians. The Gospel accord- ing to Luke was also written for Jewish Christians. Both these Gospels insist on the observances of the Old Testa- ment law. Both Luke and Matthew traced the geneology of Jesus to King David, for they -were writing for Jews who expected a Messiah descended from the family of David, In reference to the Gospel of Mark, there are various opinions among New Testament scholars. Some maintain " that this Gospel was written for Gentiles. They base their contention on the fact that Mark uses explanatory remarks to elucidate Hebrew terms, customs and geographical places in - Judea. However, the Gospel may, indeed, have been com- posed for Jews, and his remarks may receive another inter- pretation altogether. The Jews of the Diaspora were not well asquainted with the new laws and customs which had been introduced in Jewish life in Judea. Since early Chris- tian tradition placed the writing of this Gospel in Rome, it is perfectly possible that the author sought to clarify these laws and customs for the Jews outside Judea. The Gospel according to John was written for • Gentile (Continued on Page 16) JERUSALEM—A call for a national wage freeze to "halt the spiral of inflation" was voiced here Tuesday, during a Knesset debate by Yaacov Geri, non-party minister for trade and industry. Mr. Geri immediately made it clear that he was speaking for himself alone, not for the cabinet. The statement is viewed here as especially significant because the Histadrut will begin within a few days an internal discussion of its future wage policy and its wage and social welfare demands in new contracts. The discussion has been forced by the fact that union after union has demanded substantial wage increases in the face of the Labor Federation's announced policy of "holding the line." It is reported that Golda Myerson, Labor Minister, and Pinhas Lubianiker, Agri- culture Minister, both of whom are top leaders of the Histadrut, are seeking a formula which would preserve the present wage scale but offer bonus payments for increased production. The formula is not expected to be acceptable particularly to the metal trades unions which is led by leftwing Socialist Mapam. The right-wing councillors in the Jerusalem Municipal Council Tuesday night concluded an agreement whereby S. Z. Shragai, Poale Mizrachi leader, will be elected Mayor of the city and Eliahu Eliashar, General Zionist leader, will become Deputy Mayor. The agreement, unlike an earlier one, does not depend upon the outcome of coalition agreements in any other city or /town. At a meeting of The Municipal council last night, called by Daniel Auster, the out- going mayor, only the 12 rightwing councillors attended. Mr. Auster, who had publicly expressed his indignation last week over the extended negotiations among the rightwing parties, opened and adjourned the meeting in the same sentence. He explained that the adjournment was necessitated by the "need for further consultations," the reason given by the rightwingers for requesting adjournments last week. After Mr. Auster walked out of the Council room, the councillors remained seated for some time waiting for a further explanation. They only received it when one of their number telephoned Mr. Auster, who informed him that the time and place of the next meeting would be announced "in due course." In Ramat Gan, another satellite city of Tel Aviv, the former Mayor, Abraham Krinitzi, was re-elected. He was the candidate of the General Zionist Party. A Gen- eral Zionist mayor, I. M. Grushkevich, was elected in Kfar Motzkin. In the following town Mapai candidates were elected to head the municipal administrations : Holon, Dr. H. Kugel; Lydia, Pesach Lev; Hedera, David Berman; Kfar Saba, A. Keren. Hista- drut candidates—Mapai and Mapam in coalition—were elected in Tiberias and Na- hariya. They were M. Weill and Gershon Tatz, respectively. A review of the year published here establishes that the population of Jerusa- lem has increased by 2'7 percent during 1950. There are now 127,000 residents in the Jewish section of the city. The population increase is due chiefly to the arrival of new immigrants. The re- turn of government employees from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem—since the proclamation of the city as Israel's capital—has also contributed to this increase. The hardships which the city faced as a result of the water shortage have been removed during the year by the completion of an additional water pipeline. The restric- tions on the use of water have now been lifted. The city is enjoying an unprecedented building boom with 3,000 dwelling units being built in various sections of the Jewish part of Jerusalem. Riot Started By Nazi. Film A film popular in the days of the Nazi reign of terror, -the infamous "Jew Seuss," was met by protests and rioting in Berlin as angry Jews clash with po- lice. The film was adapted from a play which enjoyed considerable popularity dur- ing the violent anti-Semitic waves in pre-war Germany.' —Sabra Photo Bimehe Gift To Israel Girl Pen pals with the famed American statesman Ralph Bunche, who played a lead- ing role in arranging the Palestine armistice, nine- year-old T z e f i r a Zarhi, daughter of a Haifa news- paperman, displays the let- ter she received from Dr. Bunche in which he en- closed some stamps the lit- tle Israeli girl requested. Dr. Bunche, in his letter to Tzefira, admitted that he, too, was a stamp collector. He explained the trouble he experienced in hiding his collection from his over- anxious children. ................