Friday, June 29, 1956—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-2

Purely Commentary Dead Sea Scrolls' Antiquity Claims Upheld

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Theodor Herz! and the Pope

Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern political Zionist
movement, favored the extraterritorialization of the Holy Places.
He recognized the interest of the Christians in Palestine as the
Holy Land, and he was ready to make concessions in order to
secure international recognition of Jewish claims. But he refused
to make unreasonable concessions to the Pope. He rejected a
proposal by Conte Lippay, who arranged his audience with the
Pape, that he should present his idea as being "the Catholic
point of view," and he told him: "I am going to the Vatican not
as a proselyte, but as a political spokesman for my own people."
He also rejected the Conte's request that he propose that the
Pope should assume a protectorate over Palestine.
These are among the interesting facts revealed in "The
Diaries of Theodor Herzl," translated and edited by Marvin
Lowenthal, published by Dial Press (461 4th, NY 16).
Herzl recorded these impressions of the meeting with the
Pope which took place Jan. 25, 1904:
"He received me standing and held out his hand, which
I did not kiss. Lippay had told me I had to do it, but I didn't.
I believe that this spoiled my chances with him, for everyone
who visits him kneels and at least kisses his hand."
Herzl briefly outlined his program. What he wanted
was a statement that the Vatican was not objecting to Zionism.
'But annoyed perhaps by my refusal to kiss his hand, 'he
answered in a stern categorical manner: . . . 'We are unable
to favor this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews from
going to Jerusalem—but we could never sanction it. The ground
of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified
by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot
answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized our
Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people'."
They spoke in Italian and the above quotation appears both
in Italian and in the English translation in the Diaries. Herzl
wrote in his memoirs, immediately after quoting the Pope's
statement, • that "the conflict between Rome and Jerusalem was
once again under way."
There follows this interesting record of an historical experi-
ence in which the Catholic view became thoroughly evident:
Herzl states in his Diaries:
I said that we based our movement solely on the suf-
ferings of the Jews, and wishes to put aside all religious
issues.
"Yes, but we, but I as the head of the Catholic Church,
cannot do this. One of two things will likely happen. Either
the Jews will retain their ancient faith and continue to
await the Messiah whom we believe has already appeared—
in which case they are denying the divinity of Jesus and
we cannot assist them. Or else they will go there with no
religion whatever, and then we can have nothing at all to
do with them. The Jewish Faith was the foundation of our
own, but it has been superseded by the teachings of Christ,
and we cannot admit that it still . enjoys any validity. The
Jews who should have been the first to acknowledge Jesus
Christ have not done so to this day."
It was on the tip of my tongue to remark, "It happens
in every family: no one believes in his own relatives." But,
instead, I said: "Terror and persecution were not precisely
the best means for converting the Jews."
His reply had an element of grandeur in its simplicity:
"Our Lord came without power. Era povero. He came
in peace. He persecuted no one. He was abandonato even
by his apostles. It was only later that he attained stature.
It took three centuries for the Church to evolve. The Jews
therefore had plenty of time in which to accept his divinity
without duress or pressure. But they chose not to do so, and
they have not done it yet."
"But, Holy Father, the Jews are in a terrible plight. I do
not know if Your Holiness is aware of the full extent of
their tragedy. We need a land for these Harried people."
"Must it be Gerusaletnme?"
"We are not asking for Jerusalem, but for Palestine—
for only the secular land."
"We cannot be in favor of it."
"Does Your Holiness know the situation of the Jews?"
"Yes, from my days in Mantua, where there are Jews.
I have always been in friendly relations with Jews. Only
the other evening two Jews were here to see me. There
are other bonds than those of religion: social intercourse,
for example, and philanthropy. Such bonds we do not refuse
to maintain with the Jews. Indeed we also pray for them,
that their spirit see the light. This very day the Church is
celebrating the feast- of an unbeliever who became converted
in a miraculous, manner—on the road to Damascus. And so,
if you come to Palestine and settle your people there, we
will be ready with churches and priests to baptize all of you."
At this point, the Conte appeared, and we read again in
Herzl's Diaries: "Lippay stayed on his knees for an unconscion-
able time and never seemed to tire of kissing his hand. It was
apparent that this was what the Pope liked. But on taking
leave, I contented myself with shaking his hand warmly Wand
bowing deeply. The audience lasted about 25 minutes. While
spending the next hour in the Raphael stanze, I saw a picture
of an Emperor kneeling before a seated Pope and receiving the
crown from his hands. That's how Rome wants it."
But that wasn't how Herzl wanted it, or how Israel wants it.
This is one of the most poignant commentaries on Zionism.
Before he had met with the Pope, Dr. Herzl expressed
pessimism over the Catholic attitude on Zionism. In his Diaries,
under date of Dec. 27, 1899, he records a conversation, in Vienna,
with Oscar S. Straus, the then U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. He
described the American Jew, who was the first to hold a Cabinet
post, under President Theodore Roosevelt, as "a short, thin
man; a reddish, sparse beard, hook-nose, Jewish projecting ears,
hair running thin; 48 years old, dry, 'smart,' and yet at the same
time prepossessing because of his honest eyes." Ambassador
Straus favored Messopotamia for Jewish settlement. Herzl
stated in his Diary, with reference to Straus:
"He considers Palestine impossible of attainment. The Greek
and Roman Catholic Churches would not let us have it. I told
him that I considered only Rome to be a serious opponent. I
forgot to give him my deeper reason: that Roman Catholicism
is as oecumenical as Judaism. Rome is the rich brother who hates
the poor brother; other Churches are national and can dispense
with Jerusalem as an Archimedean n_oint of leveraae."

(Continued from Page 1)
years, which means a range of
time between 165 B.C. and 235
C.E., with a mean date of about
35 C.E.
In the course of further 'ex-
ploration by scholars and illegal
searches by bedawi shepherds
nine more caves were investi-
gated (caves 2Q-10Q; there have
been reports of the discovery
of additional caves), all of
which, with the exception of,
4Q, contained large or small,
and even tiny, fragments of
manuscripts on leather or papy-
rus. A summary report of prog-
ress made in the treatment, de-
ciphering and study of these (up
to the end of August 1955) has
been lately published in the Re-
vue Biblique, Vol. 63 (1956), 1,
pp. 49 foil. This report lists
fragments of Oyer 400 works in
Hebrew and Aramaic, many of
them in several copies, apart
from numerous copies of all
books of the O.T. (with one
accidental exception—the Book
of Esther).
Cave 4Q contained the two
rolled up copper strips inscribed
in the square Hebrew script. It
has been reported that scientists
of the Manchester University
have succeeded in cutting one
of the rolls without damaging
it, so that its contents can now
be read. Lately news agencies
have circulated so far unsub-
stantiated reports that the cut
roll contains information on the
hiding place of the treasures of
the sect.
It seems that the state of af-
fairs described in the above
summary in Revue Biblique al-
lows us to surmise that caves
1Q and 4Q were used as hiding
places in which jars containing
mss. or copper strips rolled up,
were hidden to save them from
imminent danger. The other
caves seem to have been used
rather as a "Geniza," for the
disposal of torn and worn out
scrolls and fragments, which
were of no further use, but
could not be simply thrown out
onto refuse heaps, for religious
reasons.
All archaeological clues for
fixing the date when the scrolls
were hidden in Q1 and the rolled
copper sheets in Q4 lead us,
therefore, to a date round the
middle of the 1st cent. C.E.,
most probably to be connected
with the burning (?) of Khirbet
Qumran after the destruction of
the Second Temple (about 70
C.E.). The mss. themselves
would of course be earlier, but
could not probably antedate this
event by more than 2-3 genera-
tions.
* * *
We now come to the group
of documents belonging to the
time of Bar Kokheba, mainly
coming from excavated caves in
Wady Murabba'at, though some
of them were acquired from
Badawi tribesmen so that the
exact spot where these were
found could not be ascertained.
Prof. Zeitlin's objection to the
authenticity of these documents
is based, among other reasons,
on the argument that the usual
introduCtory epistolary formula
is "X to Y," and not "From X
to Y" as in the case of the so
far published documents of this
g r o u p. That this statement
is erroneous has been amply
proved, and quite independently,
both by Prof. R. Marcus and the
present writer. The former pub-
lished in the Journal of Near
Eastern Studies XIII (1954), p.
51, a series of introductory sen-
tences from Greek letters writ-
ten between the IInd cent.
B.C.E. and the IInd cent. C.E.,
chosen at random, which exhibit
the formula "From X to Y";
the latter pointed out at least
one Hebrew example of the
same wording (`Atiqot I (1955),
p. 95).
Moreover, the Israel Depart-
ment of Antiquities has orga-
nized lately three expeditions to
the Judaean Desert, SW and
NW of Eyn-Gedi (Nov.-Dec.
1953, May 1955, March 1956),
which definitely proved that
several caves On that part of
the Judaean Desert were in use

during the war of Bar-Kokheba.
In the case of Nahal Hever
(Wady Habra), two caves were
discovered, one in each of the
opposite sheer rock-walls of the
deep canyon. Exactly over each
cave on top of the plateau, in
which the wady has cut the
canyon in geological time s,
there are remains of small Ro-
man camps, which were obvi-
ously intended to keep watch
over the caves. Certain details
in the construction of the camps
suggest that they were erected
later than those around Massa-
da, and the latter are definitely
dated to the last phase of the
war that resulted in the de-
struction of the Second Temple,
i.e. 70-73 C.E. The only later
occasion on which temporary
Roman camps could have been
built in such a secluded spot in
the desert, where no frequented
paths were to be found, would
be the last phase of the war of
Bar-Kokheba (about 135 C.E.).
In the caves themselves, recent
Jordanian marauders, whose
visit was attested by empty Jor-
danian cigarette boxes, preceded
the expedition of the Israel De-
partment of Antiquities (the
caves are in close proximity of
the boundary of the State).
Though they have disturbed the
debris in the cave, and if there
were any written documents in
the caves, certainly removed
them, they have not done ir-
reparable damage. Soundings
made in the two caves have
proved that these were occupied
by large numbers of people for
some time in the IInd cent. C.E.
Fragments of large water and
storage jars, wooden bowls and
utensils, mats and rushes, pieces
of linen and leather boots (chil-
dren's) and soles (women's —
judging by size) were among
the finds. In the southern cave
a gruesome sight presented it-
self to the expedition. Numerous
disturbed bodies were strewn
about the cave, many of them
preserved under the dry cli-
matic conditions of the desert
to such an extent that skin and
hair were still intact. Among

these were remains of many
women and children. There was
a ghastly and most unexpected
confirmation of a story pre-
served in midrashic literature
(Ekha Rabba, Ch. I, para. 16)
about remnants of Bar-Kok-
heba's defeated army that took
refuge in caves and rock-shel-
ters and perished there from
hunger and thirst rather than
surrender to the Romans. In an-
other wild creek north-west of
Eyn-Gedi above the upper wat-
erfall of Nahal David (Wady
Sidr) a detailed survey revealed
a spacious cave, the entrance
of which was so skillfully con-
cealed that no one not knowing
this hiding place would suspect
its existence. The cave contained
a large water reservoir fed by
an ingenious and camouflaged
system of tunnels collecting
flood waters. The cave contained
potsherds of the early Roman
period (Ist-IInd cent. C.E.).
Here, too, was unexpected con-
firmation of Dio Cassius' state-
ment on the war of Bar-Kok-
heba concerning the use made
of caves and tunnels in storing
weapons and provisions in prep-
aration for the war. There is,
therefore, every likelihood that
documents found in similar
caves elsewhere should belong
to the troubled days of Bar-
Kokheba's leadership.
Summarizing one may say
that even a cursory glance at
the archaeological e v i d en ce
lately collected in the Judaean
desert strongly supports the au-
thenticity and antiquity of any
documents found in the caves,
all the more so since a major
part of such has been uncov-
ered as a result of proper exca-
vations conducted by fully
trained and experienced archae-
ologists. And if some of the
phrases or statements in these
antique documents do not square
with preconceived notions of
scholars primarily nurtured and
reared in the traditions and
methods of purely literary criti-
cism, well—tant pis pour leer
systeme.
Jerusalem
7.VI.56

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
... and Me'

(Copyright 1956,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Domestic Problems:

A graphic picture on how the Jews in the South are affected
by the tension developed over the issue of integrating the Negro
was presented in a private report by the National Community
Relations Advisory Council. . . . Jewish merchants and employ-
ers of Negro labor find themselves inexorably involved in the
economic squeeze between the white supremacists and the Negro.
... These Jewish businessmen are confronted with a cruel choice.
. . . Either to go along with the White Citizens Councils and
lose the Negro patronage, at the same time becoming objects of
Negro enmity. . . . Or defy the Councils which represent in many
places the entire power structure of the community. . . The
choice is often made the more galling by the fact that some of
the White Councils are openly anti-Semitic, while others re-
peatedly repudiate responsibility for anti-Semitic propaganda
peddled at their meetings. . . . The local White Citizens Councils
are tending toward federation, and such a federation will be
unique among demagogic organizations of its type if it does not
take on anti-Semitic coloration. . . General identification of
Jews with the dominant white elements tend to feed anti-Semitic
feelings among Negroes not only in the South, but also in other
parts of the country. . . . Actually there have been variations in
Jewish attitudes in the South. . . While the public school cases
were in litigation, there was apprehension over the possible con-
sequences to Jews of an open conflict over segregation. . .

Summer Issues:

The question whether Jewish schools should be closed for
the entire summer like the public schools is being debated
among Jewish leaders interested in expanding Jewish education.
... It is pointed out that it would be illogical to insist on in-
creased Jewish education, while at the same time keeping the
Jewish schools closed for a full quarter of the year. . . . During
these three months, it is argued, the children forget a good deal
of what they have learned in the Jewish schools. . Further-
more, these three months offer a golden opportunity for in-
creased Jewish education, because the children, having no pub-
lic school, can attend the Jewish school not in the afternoon but
in the morning hours. . . It is stressed that with the acute
shortage of teachers in Jewish schools, it is a sinful waste not
to use available teachers for a quarter of the year. . . There
is the argument that some of the children obtain their Jewish
education during the summer in Jewish summer camps. . .. To
this the counter- argument is that not all Jewish children are
sent to summer camps because of the cost involved, and many of
those who are fortunate enough to go to camp, remain there for
only two weeks.