A Book of Art—Christological
A Review of Asch's 'The Prophet'
By NOAH E. ARONSTAM
Behold the magnum opus, or yet, there is a rub! Asch seems
Tatb.er the Novum Organum of to be constantly in love with the
Sholem Asch, complementing his
trilogy of the Nazarene, the
Apostle and Mary! It . is an ar-
achne spun with subtle finesse
in the form of a novel. It is not
a consecutive narration of the
Babylonian Isaiah, nor is it an
historical novel per se as we un-
derstand this term.
The first chapter begins with
a paraphrase of the Book of Dan-
iel and the Writing on the Wall.
Then it abruptly ceases at that.
The volume must have been writ-
ten loosely at various intervals,
as' there is no nexus, or orderly
sequel in it. Nor can this be des-
ignated as a sort of commentary
or exegis of Isaiah. In brief: It
complements the fourth line of
a square added to the above men-
tioned trilogy. This reviewer has
no quarrel with the so called
"Higher • criticism" of the two
Isaiahs, e.g., the Babylonian and
PaleStinian, respectively.
At first sight the book bears a
resemblance to the Masoretic or
traditional; then it abruptly de-
teriorates; in Asch's rendition one
may recognize two dominants,
viz., one that challenges, the
other that consoles. One univers-
al in its scope, the other specif-
ically Jewish.
This book will be read by thou-
sands, both Jews and non-Jews,
who will interpret the vision3 of
the second Isaiah to suit their
_ concepts. To this reviewer it
seems far from the Masoretic.
Asch very cunningly plays to both
houses; with profound sagacity
he satisfies both fields of dogma
and belief—to the Jew, the Mes-
sianic Era and to the Christian,
the advent of Christ. Yet, taken
all in all, if you really fathom the
quintessence of the book, you
will be forced to the conclusion
that it is a purely Christological
creation.
From a literary standpoint the
Prophet is a book of art. the por-
traiture of Babylon is masterful-
ly and adequately painted, and
words: "The man of sorrows."
(Who is that man of sorrows?)
Let me quote some of his utter-
ances taken from the Babylonian
Isaiah. The real meaning remains
an enigma to this reader. I shall
point out a few.
"The people that walked in
darkness have seen a great light
. . . the Man of Sorrows (in capi-
tals) has ceased to be a man ..
He is a man of redemption, the
sponge that absorbs all the suf-
ferings of Israel and the whole
world ; . . his dominion is an ev-
erlasting dominion . . . he is
bruised for our iniquities: the
•chastisement of our peace and
with his stripes we are healed
. he bore the sin of many
and made intercession for our
transgressions ... he was brought
as a lamb (bold 'mine) to . the
slaughter, as a sheep before the
shearers . . . he is the light of
Israel, the hope of the world ..
he is the Law and the preserver
. . . the isles expect him and wait
for his arm . . he is dispersed
and rejected by men, a man of
sorrows . . . surely he hath borne
our grief . . ."
These quotations are too nu-
merous and used ad libidum, for
a purpose. This review lacks
the scope to single out the betes
fortes that subscribe to a purely
Chistological basis. As this
writer remarked before; he very
astutely plays to both houses
with the accent ( upon the Chris-
tian concept.
When Asch wrote his "Moses,"
he strictly adhered to the Jewish.
historical interpretation — the
Masoretic — and this reader was
in the hope that Asch has expi-
ated his Trilogy. Behold, how-
ever, he added another line to
it and the square is completed
q.e.d. Dixi!
(Sholem Asch's "The Prophet"
was published by G. P. Putnam's
Sons, 210 Madison, N. Y. It was
translated from the Yiddish by
Arthur Sane Super.)
Half of Security • Co uncil Meetings
In 1955 Dealt With `Palestine Issue'
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y.,
(JTA) — The pertinacity of the
`Palestine Question" as an agen-
da item which continues stub-
bornly to come up before the
Security Council was dramati-
cally illustrated by data issued
by the United Nations Secre-
tariat. The data shows that, in
1955, more than half of the
Council's sessions were devoted
to discussions of Israel-Arab con-
flicts.
There were 23 Council sessions.
in 1955 and, since one of the
meetings was of a routine charac-
ter, dealing with the body's an-
nual report, only 22 were devoted
to substantive matters. Of these
22 meetings, various aspects of
Israel-Arab conflict took up 12
sessions. Eight dealt with com-
plaints and counter-complaints
by Egypt and Israel as a result
of the Gaza raid of last Febru-
ary; two of the sessions took up
Israel's recurrent complaints
against the Egyptian blockade of
the Suez Canal. The year's final
two meetings took up Syria's
complaint and Israekls answer in
connection with the attack on
December 11 against Syrian, gun
positions which had shelled Is-
raeli fishing and police boats on
Lake Tiberias. The latter issue
is still unresolved and is sched-
uled to come up before the
Council for further discussion
next Tuesday.
Labor Zionists in
New NW Location
All activities of the Labor
Zionist Movement in Detroit
were conducted with increased
zeal, as this week affiliate groups
moved into their new building,
at 19161 Schaefer.
The new Labor Zionist Center,
as the building is officially
called, was opened on Jan. 1.
Immediately beginning opera-
tion is the United Jewish Folk
Schools, operated by the Labor
Zionist Movement, which will
open its second semester classes
in its own wing of the building.
The Schools is currently ac-
cepting registration for the new
term. Parents of chillren 31/2 to
5 are invited to enroll their
youngsters in the nursery and
kindergarten. Elementary grades
are taught to children 7 to 13.
Registration is held from 12
noon to 5 p.m., Monday to Fri-
day, at the Center; near W. 7
Mile Rd. Information may be
_obtained by calling UN 4-6319,
UN 4-6320 or TO 8-9280.
Three Authors Win 1955
Kessel _Literary Prizes
MEXICO CITY, (JTA)—Yitz-
chok Berliner, Mexican Yiddish
poet, Jacob Pat, New York Yid-
dish author, and S. Shalom, a
Hebrew poet residing in Israel,
have been named winners of the
Zvi Kessel prizes . for Jewish
literature for 1955. Each of the
prizes is in the amount of $250.
The current awards Mark the
ninth year since the foundation
of the prizes by Mr. Kessel, a
Mexican Jewish industrialist.
Mr. Berliner was awarded a
prize for his book, "Gezang Fun
Mensh," while Mr. Pat's award
was for his work, "Shmussen
Mit Yiddishe Shreiber." The
honor for _Mr. Shalom was
awarded for his "Hayinu Kech-
olmim."
22—DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
`Frank Diary' Producer
Friday, January 6, 1956
To Get Award from Hias
The board of directors of Un-
ited Hias Service, the Jewish in-
ternational mig-
ration agency,
has voted to pre-
sent the global
agency's 1955
Award of Honor
to Kermit Bloom-
garden, producer
of "The Diary of
Ann e Frank,"
current Broad-
way dramatic
hit which force-
fully portrays
the Nazi perse-
cution of Jews, Bloomgarden
it was announced by Ben Touster,
Hias president. The award, an
illuminated and engraved scroll,
will be presented at the Hias
annual meeting, Feb. 5.
"Going to Miami
Beach"?
STOP AT THE
"STRATFORD
. BY THE SEA"
HOTEL
ON THE OCEAN AT
MIAMI BEACH
Strictly Kosher Cuisine
In a Friendly
Atmosphere
Air Conditioned rooms
Dining Room & Lobby
Your Hosts
JOSEPH WALDMAN
and Family
The Best of
FLORIDA
150 rooms and suites all with
private both • 18 hole golf
course on premises • Pool •
11 mile lake • All water sports
• American plan — 3 meals
daily • Entertainment and
dancing nitely.
GOLF IS FREE
Special low rat."
- Jon. 3 so Jan. 23
On the ocean at 90th Street
Hotel Rooms, 1-Bedroom Apts.,
2-Bedroom - 2 Bath Apts.
Private Ocean Beach—Informal at-
tire. Sto pin and see your Detroit
friend.
David R. Jacobson, Mgt.
wider Matt
Joseph J. (Joe) Weiss
For Brochure, write the "Stratford"
or call WO. 1-0006 in Detroit.
1;t
ev
le
- •4".
Loke•Ridge Region, Sebring, Ha.
Write For Reservations
'".
Miami Beach's New
100% Air Conditioned
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CAB ALA
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CLUB
er sooenc.
Private hack • Coffe
Shop keirtp9. double
•
Egfiligagniffli?
Planned "ErtOteirtlailn:e
enl
Free Parking
From Jon. 20th
t, Write for Color Brochure to March 20th
.. te
DIRECTLY ON THE OCEAN • 16th ST. & COLLINS
CLEAN AS LIGHT
Hebrew Teachers College
Joins Assn. of Colleges
BOSTON, (JTA)—The Hebrew
Teachers College, of Brookline,
Mass., has been accepted as a
member of the New England As-,
sociation of Colleges and Second-
ary Schools. Announcement of
the college's acceptance was made.
by its president, Benjamin A.
Trustman.
Award for Aid to Handicapped
George Barr,
chairman of Illinois
Governor William
G. Stratton's Com-
mittee on the Em-
ployment of the
Physically Handi-
capped, and a Bnai
Brith leader, re-
ceives a citation for
his devotion to the
cause of the physi-
cally handicapped.
The award was
given by Bnai Brith
District Six and
Greater Chicago
Bnai Brith Council
at the Palmer House
in Chicago. Participating in the ceremony are, left to right, Elmer
M. Imber, president, Greater Chicago Bnai Brith Council; Ben Z.
Glass, executive secretary, District Six; Barr; Maurice Senner,
chairman, Americanism and civic affairs commission of the
Chicago Council; Albert P. Mitnick, vice president, District Six;
and William X. Kaplan, executive director, Chicago Council. Barr,
a member of Chicago Lodge, is himself handicapped. He operates
G. Barr and Company in Chicago, where people are given a
chance to prove that they can lead productive and valuable lives
despite their physical lirititit lions,
.
12th ST.
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