Understanding the New-Testament Helps
A Jew to Fathom His Neighbor, Writer Says

(Editor's Note: The follow-
ing reprint from American
Judaism, official publication of
the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, is written by
Dr. Samuel Sandmel, professor
of Bible and .Hellenistic liter-
ature at the Hebrew Union
College — Jewish Institute of
Religion. Dr. Sandmel, who
teaches courses in the New
Testament at the school, has
written a book, "A Jewish Un-
derstanding of the New Testa-
ment," which will be printed
this year.)
* * *
By SAMUEL SANDMEL

Nothing is more natural than
for a Jew to approach the New
Testament with a feeling of sus-
picion. He knows that it is the
seed and the source of much of
the unreasoning hostility which
he and his ancestors endured for
long centuries.
He vaguely believes that the
book is taboo to him; and even
when aversion is not felt there
is the notion that he ought to
keep away from the New Testa-
ment because it contains some-
thing alien, the sancta of an-
nother faith.
But it is time for those appre-
hensions to go. Living in the
modern world, mingling freely
with his neighbors, the Jew who
wants to understand the Chris-
tian must become familiar with
the beliefs of the Christian. Let
us therefore discover for our-
selves what these books contain
and mean.
Old Testament and New Ttest-
ament, in their vary titles, sug-
gest some contrasts. Technically,
of course, we Jews do not ac-
knowledge that the Jewish Bible
is an "old" Testament or that
the "new" one constitutes Scared
Writings, but we cannot resist
the Niagara of common usage , .
therefore it is inescapable to use
the ordinary names.

I

This effort rested on the mis-
taken notion that the early pro-
phets were primarily foretellers
and that what they foretold was
specifically and limitedly fo-
cused on Jesus. The Romans were
courted in other passages. Thus,
Pontius Pilate, admittedly the
one who sentenced Jesus to cru-
cifixion, is washed of responsi-
bility and guilt.
One other fact must be borne
in mind, and that is, that the
crucial events of the New Testa-
ment are described only in the
New Testament; nothing is
known from excavations, or from
Graeco - Roman historians. We
have no prbof, other than the
New Testament, that Jesus ever
lived, no more than anything has
been discovered to authenticate
the existence of Moses. Doubts
that either lived are, however,
not justified.

The problems or the reliabil-
ity and accuracy of New Testa-
ment accounts are acute. For
example, there is a brief pas-
sage in a book by the Jewish
historian, Josephus, which ex-
alts Jesus; what Josephus wrote
about Jesus is not by Josephus
at all, but a later interpolation.
Again, Christian scholars have
noted that New Testament
writings provide both varia-
tions in details and even con-
tradictions.

the New Testament, although
this is not the order in which
they are written .
The "first" gospel is Matthew;
then come Mark, Luke, and John.
The first three are known as
"synoptic," from the practice of
printing segments of them on
narrow, adjoining columns so
that the eye can quickly see what
each of them records about a
given topic. The fourth gospel,
that of John, differs widely in
style and tenor from the other
three; hence it is seldom printed
parallel to the other versions of
the life of Jesus.

The celebrated Epistles are
letters written by Paul and
others to explain church prob-
lems and doctrines. Some are
addressed. to groups, that is,
churches, and others to indivi-
duals. Another book, the Apo-
calypse of John, with its ob-
scure symbols and cryptic lan-
guage, resembles in form the
Book of Daniel. It is often re-
ferred to as the Revelation of
John, or simply Revelation.

Obituaries

FANNIE BILLER, 2225 Blaine,
IsHILIP GORELICK, 64, of
died Sept. 6. Services at Hebrew 1440 W. 7 Mile, a builder, theater
Memorial Chapel. Survived by owner and an active worker in
her husband, Solomon; and a Jewish communal movements,

sister.

died last Friday. Funeral services
were held Sunday afternoon at
PAULINE FRIEDENBERG, Menorah Chapel on Puritan. Sur-
3202 Webb, died Sept. 7. Serv- viving him are his wife, Fannie;
ices at Hebrew Memorial Chapel. two sons, Oscar and Ralph; five
Survived by three daughters, brothers, two - sisters and six
Mrs. Max Klein, Mrs. Jack Rife grandchildren.

*

* *

and Frances Lasky; eight grand-
children and eight great grand-
children,
• * *

JOSEPH HIRSCH, 9810 Law-
ton, died Sept. 7. Services at He-
brew Memorial Chapel. Sur-
vived by his wife, Rose; two sons,
Paul and Theodore; three daugh-
ters, Mrs. Isadore Pollak, Mrs.

,

Herman Heilbronne and Mrs.
Raymond Rendon; a brother,
eight grandchildren, and three
great grandchildren.

* * *

NATHAN " WALTMAN, 3967
14th, died Sept 11. Services at
Hebrew Memorial Chapel. Sur-
vived by a daughter, Rose; a
In much of the New Testament son, Barney; a brother; a sister;
holiness in large measure par- and two grandchildren.
* * *
takes of asceticism and abste-
ABRAHAM NATHAN, 9331
miousneSs. Jesus is depicted as
possessing such holiness in great- McQuade, died Sept. 4. Services
er meaure than any of his earthly at Hebrew Memorial Chapel. Sur-
predecessors . in the Old Testa- vived by a daughter, Mrs. Louis
Rachman; a sister; seven grand-
ment.
He out-Moses, Moses, is more children; and three great grand-
self-sacrifical than Isaac, com- children.
* * *
bines the majesty .of his fore-
bear, David, with the insight of
ISRAEL SHULAK, 20203 Mans-
Isaiah. He is pictured as gifted field, died Sept. 5. Services at
with magical powers, often used Hebrew Memorial Chapel. Sur-
to verify his divinity. He is meek, vived by his wife, Eva; a son,
unearthly, defiant of domestic Norman; four brothers, and a
links, a n d contemptuous of grandchild.
* * *
worldly matters fro mmarriage
to money. He is portrayed as
CHIANI SCHEIMAN, 11501
predicting the coming of another Petoskey, died Sept. 5. Services
world; he accepts the existence at Hebrew Memorial Chapel.
of Satan and satanic rule. He Survived by a son, George; two
makes use of the parable, which daughters, • Mrs. Abraham Gins-
is the Talmudic mashal or anec- berg and Mrs. Sam Blecher; eight
dote, to clarify his teachings. He grandchildren, and eight great
is brought into contact with much grandchildren.
of Jewish lore, but there is much
* • *
that, surprisingly is not men-
JAMES
SHARP,
2129 E. Jef-
tioned, such as Rosh Hashanah
ferson, died Sept. 4. Services at
and Yam Kippur.
As has often been said, there Hebrew Memorial' Chapel. No
seems to be a marked difference survivors.
* * *
between what Jesus says he is
MINNIE
FINE,
20220 Mark
and what Paul
the makes of
him. In Paul, the process of dei- Twain, died Sept. 12. Services at
fying him has begun, and the Hebrew Memorial Chapel. She
progression from the meek Jesus leaves three sons, Sol, Isadore
to the Apotheosized Christ is and Harold J., of Bridgeport,
reflected throughout the rest -of Conn.; a daughter, Mrs. Emanuel
Rothman; three brothers, three
the New Testament.
grandchildren.
There is much else to be de- sisters and seven
* * *
rived from a scrutiny of the
MORRIS L I S H A W, 18512
pages" of the New _Testament.
Lack of space prevents further Griggs, died Sept. 12. Services at
elaboration. For more informa-. Menorah Funeral Chapel, on
tion, see the books themselves Puritan. He is survived by his
and attend the next course in wife, Anna; two sons, George and
comparative religion given by Harold; father, Nathan; three
brothers, two sisters and three
your own rabbi.
grandchildren.
* * *
Remains of Dr. Magnes
MARION LEWINSON, of Lans-
Re-Interred in Jerusalem
ing, Mich., died Sept. 7. Services
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The at Clover Hill Park Chapel, ar-
remains of Dr. Judah L. Magnes, ranged through Ira Kaufman
rabbi, educator and one-time Chapel. She leaves her husband,
president of the Hebrew Uni- Leonard; a son, Dennis; two
versity, who died in New York daughters, Frances Kay and Shir-
in 1948, were re-interred in the ley Ann; - her parents, Mr. and
Sanhedria Cemetery, here, Sept. Mrs. Oscar Meyers, and a brother,
Carl, of Flint.
6.
Thousands of friends and for-
mer associates of the widely re-
spected educator attended the
services, including a long list of
notables headed by Chief Rabbi
Isaac Herzog and Supreme Court
Justice G-1 Frumkin. Represen-
tatives of every political party in
Israel from the far right of the
Herut to the Communists, came
to pay their last respects, as did
Arabs • from nearby villages,
members of the Knesset and the
entire academic staff of the He-
brew University.

The New Ttestament- contains
27 books, constituting documents
assembled about 175 CE, in which
the rising Christian church at-
tests before the world to its con-
viction that in Jesus (believed to
be the anointed one, or, Hebrew,
mashiach, or Greek, Christo) it
has uniquely received a revela-
tion of God more recent and
therefore more climatic than that
manifested to Moses and the pro-
phets of the Jewish Scriptures.
The book presents four types
of writings.
First, there are the accounts of
The Old Testament is a col- the life of Jesus known as Gos-
lection of writings by dozens pels (good news); second, a
of authors which accumulated
group of letters (mostly by Paul-
over the course of about 1,000 called Epistles; third, a semi-
years. The "New" was created
historical work known .as Acts
over a much shorter span of
of the Apostles; and finally, a
time, and contains fewer writ- book of revelation, known as
ings by fewer writers. The
the Apocalypse. of Jahn.
Ohl Testament has one all-over
The Gospels, though in large,
purpose, the lifting up of man
general agreement, disagree with
so that he will live more like one another and sharply, with
the One in whose image he was respect to details in the life of
made. But it has a multitude of Jesus. Each gospel is attributed
- themes.
to a special writer, and each is
The New Testament, with a referred to by its position in
similar p u r p o s e, has fewer
themes. In the New Testament
purpose and theme virtually Eisenhower Calls for
combine into one; the glorifica- Nationwide Support of USO
tion of both Jesus himself and
President Eisenhower, meeting
also of his significance as the at the White House with top
long awaited Jewish Messiah.
USO leaders, _accepted the hon-
In their zeal to promote their orary chairmanship of USO and
new faith, the writers of the called for support of the agency
New Testament were at times di- because of the "great contribu-
recting their efforts at two ma- tion it has made, and• is still
jor groups: the Jews and the making, to the well-being of the
Romans. The Jews are addressed men and women who serve in
in frequent passages, sometimes our Armed Farces."
pathetically artimicial, designed
The President's tribute to
to show that the events in the USO, which, he stressed, "means
life of Jesus were fulfillments to the men and women of the
of Old Testament predictions.
Armed Forces that they have a
host of friends in the homes of
America," was contained in a
Full-Length Israel Film
letter given after the meeting to
In International Festival
PARIS, (JTA)—Israel will be Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., chair-
man of the board of USO. JWB
represented at the International
is
one of the seven member
Film Festival in Cannes this
agencies of USO.
year by "Hill 24 Doesn't Answer,"
a feature length film, it was an-
nounced by the Israel Embassy 2 New JIVB Booklets
here.. The film has been describ-
NEW YORK--"Lincoln's
ed as Israel's first bid to enter Birthday," a 94-page anthology
the world film market.
of program material that under-
Directed by veteran British lines the relationship between
film director Thorold Dickinson, Abraham Lincoln and American
the picture had its world pre- Jewry, was published by the
miere in Jerusalem this month. Jewish Center Division of the
It is the first full length film National Jewish Welfare Board
to be produced entirely in Is- as part of its contribution - to the
Mrs. Jacob Kohn Dies
rael at recently completed lab- observance, in 1954, of the ter-
LOS
ANGELES, (JTA) — Mrs.
oratary facilities there.
centenary of Jewish settlement
in the U. S. Dr. Louis A. Warren, Jacob Kahn, a founder of Hadas-
Philanthropic Predicament
director of the Lincoln' National sah, the Women's Zionist Organi-
A small boy was sobbing dis- Life Foundation, calls the book- zation of America, died here at
consolately, when Jerry Lewis let "by far the best brochure of the age of 74. She also was a
asked the cause of his tears. source material . . . for Lincoln founder of the Worrien's League
of the United Synagogue of
""My pa's a millionaire philan- birthday programs."
thropist," he replied brokenly,
"Jewish Music Concert Pro- America, a Conservative organi-
-"Well, well! That's nothing to grams," a new booklet contain- zation.
cry about!" said Jerry. "It ain't, ing complete programs of Jew-
Judge Lazansky Dies
eh?" sobbed the boy. "Then you ish music selected from among
dont know my pa. He just those performed in various cities
Former Judge Edward Lazan-
promised :to .give .me ,$5• for my, over the F country in 1953; .also -sky, of Brooklyn died. Monday at
birthday, provided raise' a was published this week, i by the age,of ,82. was a leader in
JWB.
similar amount."
many Jewish movements.

Lumberman Dies After
Speaking for J N F

-

A few minutes after he had
delivered an appeal for the
planting of a special lumber-
men's forest in Israel, through
the Jewish National Fund, Halms'
lett A. Hamlin had a heart at-
tack and died, on Monday after.
noon.
Mr. Hamlin, prominent lumber
dealer, had addressed the Hoo
Hoo Club, international fraternal
order of lumber dealers, at the
Sheraton Cadillac, in behalf of
a project for the JNF Israel
forest.
He was one of the group of
Christian leaders who became
deeply interested in tree plant-
ing in Israel, after Rev. Malcolm
Dade had returned from Israel
with an enthusiastic report.
In tribute to Mr. Hamlin's
memory, the Detroit JNF Coun,
cil has planted trees in Israel.

Carl Friedberg Dies

Carl Friedberg, noted pianist,
died Sunday, at the age of 83,
at Merano, Italy.

22 Soviets in Israel
'-
JERUSALEM (JTA)—A party

of 22 Jews has arrived here from
Hungary, bringing to 87 the total
number of immigrants from the
Soviet Union and satellite coun-
tries since July.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

91

CARD OF THANKS
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brady
Parents of the Late

t y

Bobby K. Brady

Acknowledge with grateful ap-

I preciation the

Many kind ex-
pressions of sympathy ex-
tended by relatives and friends
during their recent bereave-
ment.

I

1

In Memory of My

Dearly Beloved Husband
and Our Devoted Father

Jackob Gorman

Sadly missed by his wife
Freda
And Children
Eddie, Manuel, Josephine,
Shirley, Norma

MENORAH

gun,eral ekapel

• CENTRALLY LOCATED

Only. Jewish Chapel in

the Northwest district

• SPACIOUS FACILITIES

Largest Jewish Chapel
in Detroit

PURITAN cor. DEXTER

UNiversity 1-7700
C. W. Moore, Mgr.

BROUJI1 & 11111GCH CO.

17125-27 VAN DYKE AVENUE

Opposite main entrance to Mt. Olivet Cemetery

DETROIT 34, MICH. • TW. 1-7220

DESIGNERS • MA- NUFACTURERS

MONUMENTS • GRAVE MARKERS • MAUSOLEUMS

GRANITE. •

-

Friday, September 16, 195

BRONZE •,JAA.RBLE

WE ERECT WORK ANY i'LACE - .IN:THE liNITkDeSTATES1