' Once-In-a-Lifetime Task

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91 Congressmen Sponsor
New JPS Revised Translation of the Bible Arms-for-Israel Plank
JPS has sold 625,000 copies of
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
(Copyright, 1956, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
the current JPS Bible, and that In Democratic Platform

American Jewry is in the
process of performing a task
that recurs "only once in a life-
time." Thanks to the Jewish
Publication Society, a board of
distinguished scholars soon will
begin the job of preparing a
new, revised English translation
of the Bible.
The "once - in - a - lifetime"
phrase was coined by the JPS
president, Edwin Wolf 2nd, who
thus explained the project:
"For over a generation, the
Jews of the English-speaking
world have been grateful to
the Jewish Publication Soci-
ety of America for its trans-
lation of the Bible. This trans-
lation has until now repre-
sented Bible scholarship at its
best and the Jewish spirit at
its finest.
"The time has come to re-
vise this translation in line
with the latest scholarship and
with current English usage.
Only thus can the Bible con-
tinue to be a living book and
a constant source of inspira-
tion.
"It will be an arduous and
expensive undertaking, but it
is a task that has to be as-
sumed if we are to remain
true to our responsibility. Our
self-respect as Jews demands
it. We owe it to our heritage
and to the world of faith and
spirit."
Editor-in-Chief of the Project
is Dr. Harry M. Orlinsky, of
the faculty of Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Re-
ligion, who was the only Jewish
scholar on the Revised Stand-
ard Version Committee that
prepared the new Protestant
Bible translation, Serving on
his committee are distinguished
scholars, representing Ortho-
doxy, Conservatism and Reform
—Dr. Max Arzt, Dr. Bernard J.
Bamberger, Dr. Harry Freed-
man, Dr. H. L. Ginsberg and
Dr. Ephraim A. Speiser. Ex-
officio members of the commit-
tee are Mr. Wolf, Dr: Solomon
Grayzel, editor of the Jewish
Publication Society, and Judge
Louis E. Levinthal, chairman of
the JPS publication committee.
The JPS Bible translation
currently in use was, published
in 1917. The translation began
in 1898 and was completed in
1916. The new project is not
expected to exceed six years.
Linked with the first JPS
Bible translation are the names
of American Jewry's most dis-
tinguished leaders of the first
half of the present century.
Among them were Dr. Solomon
Schechter, Dr. Cyrus Adler, Dr.
Kaufman Kohler, Prof. Israel
Friedlaender, Dr. Joseph Jac-
obs, Dr. Samuel Schulman, Dr.
David Phillipson, Prof. Max L.
Margolis and others.
* * *
Leaders' Testimonials
The wide acceptance of the
JPS project for a revised Bible
translation is indiCated in tes-
timonials from the heads of the
three major American Jewish
theological seminaries.
Dr. Samuel Belkin, president
of Yeshiva University, which is
associated with Yeshivath Isaac
Elchanan, had this to say:
"Translations of the Bible are
always subject to revisions in
light of the advancement of
Hebraic scholarship and a bet-
ter understanding of the lan-
guage into which it is trans-

Lesser Zussman

lated, provided such transla-
tions remain true to the Masor-
etic text.
"I am, therefore, delighted to
hear that the Jewish Publica-
tion Society is contemplating
such a revised edition of the
Book. By the publication of the
revised edition, the Society is
rendering immeasurable service
to the English speaking people
throughout the world, and par-
ticularly to our co-religionists
who wish to avail themselves of
an English translation which
remains true to the Masorah."
In a statement addressed to
Mr. Wolf, Dr. Nelson Glueck,
president of Hebrew Union Col-
lege - Jewish Institute of Re-
ligion, wrote:
"The Jewish Publication So-
ciety is to be highly com-
mended for having undertaken
to provide a new translation of
the Bible according to the tra-
ditions of Judaism. Previous
Jewish- translations into English
have had many merits, but very
often the language itself of the
translation has made the task
of the reader difficult, and has
been a barrier between him and
the majesty and inspiration of
the sacred text.
"I am certain that the new
translation will eliminate that
barrier and that this exciting
project will be one of the great
achievements of this generation
of American Jews."
In an endorsement of the un-
dertaking, Dr. Louis Finkel-
stein, Chancellor of the, Jewish
Theological Seminary of Amer-
ica, said:
"In undertaking a new trans-
lation of the Bible to be pre-
pared under the auspices of em-
inent Jewish Bible scholars, the
Jewish Publication Society is
rendering an invaluable service
to the English-speaking peoples
of the world and to civilization
as a whole. Advances in under-
standing the Biblical text are
continually a n d necessarily
making the older translations
obsolete. If this were not so,
Biblical scholarship would in-
deed be at a low ebb. Our in-
creasing knowledge of Hebrew
philology and of Semitic lan-
guages and of the ancient world
is constantly helping us to un-
derstand better the word of God
as revealed to the Hebrew pro ,.
phets of old. At the same time
changes in English vocabulary
and habits of speech make con-
tinual revisions of translations
indispensible. Finally, Jewish
scholarship sees the Bible in the
perspective of a long tradition
of interpretation, all of which
ought to be reflected in a Jew-
ish version of Scripture. The
forthcoming translation of the
Bible to be issued by the Jew-
ish Publication Society, utilizing
the latest research in philology
and archeology, rendering the
Sacred Word in more familiar
cadences and drawing on the
wealth of interpretations by the
classical Jewish commentators,
will prove a real asset to mod-
ern literature as well as a ve-
hicle for multitudes to whom
the Hebrew original is not ac-
cessible."
* * *
Only a few weeks ago, it was
reported that the Bible is the
world's Best Seller and 25,-
000,000 Bibles are sold annually.
The JPS executive secretary,
Lesser Zussman, reports that

Dr. Orlinsky

Edwin Wolf II

40,000 copies were sold in 1955.
The Bible therefore retains its
status as a Best Seller in Jewish
ranks. It is thanks to the Bible
that the Jewish Publication So-
ciety is able now to remain in
the black, while pioneering in
publishing outstanding schol-
arly Jewish books as well as
notable fiction items and chil-
dren's books.
Now available in translations
in hundreds of languages and
dialects, the Hebrew Bible's
first translation, known as the
Septuagint, first appeared in the
Greek in 250 B. C. Oriental
Jews used the Aramaic versions
of Onkelos and Jonathan—the
Targum.
The Vulgate edition, as the
translation used by the Catholic
Church is known, is the Latin
translation of 400 C. E. The
Catholic Church, too, now is
preparing a revised translation
of the Bible into which modern
English terms are to be incor-
porated. Several books of the
new Catholic Bible translation
already have been published.
Arabic - speaking Jews have
been using the Arabic transla-
tion of the Bible that was pre-
pared by Saadia Gaon in the
10th century.
The JPS Bible translation
now in use was greatly influ-
enced by the King James Old
Testament version of 1611.
New terms are needed, to sup-
plement those in use and to
eliminate the foreignisms that
make the present Bible a
closed book to new genera-
tions. The Editor-in-Chief of
the new Bible translation
committee, Dr. O r l i n s k y,
stresses the . need for intelli-
gible language, so that the
Bible may retain its place as a
living force in Jewish life.
"The past 50 years," Dr. Or-
linsky said, "have witnessed
such great changes in our coun-
try and our language that a new
man has emerged, one who was
not raised on the language of
Shakespeare, of the King James,
the JPS translation, the earlier
American translation written by
Isaac Leeser, nor on the Hebrew
text of the Bible. It is the duty
of this new man to prepare a
different garb and a different
method of expression for what
is most sacred and most dear
to him.
"The English language has
undergone rapid change, far
more since the days of World
War I than through the entire
19th century, and our knowl-
edge of the background and text
of the Hebrew Bible has in-
creased since World War I by
such enormous leaps and bounds
that scores of passages in the
older translations are now to
be understood differently and
more correctly than ever be-
fore."
The Revised Protestant Bible,
published in 1952, already has
sold 2,500,000 copies. Total Bible
safes for this year are expected
to exceed 6,000,000. A new Jew-
ish Publication Society transla-
tion of the Bible into English
should more than double Bible
sales among our people.
Throughout the country, keen
interest is being shown in the
JPS Bible translation. Sponsors
of the project already have
been enlisted in the hundreds
—the initial movement in sup-
port of this effort having been
launched in Detroit, during the
community's A n n,u a 1 Jewish
Book Fair, when more than 150
people enlisted as $25-a-year
supporters of the effort, for a
six-year period. Similar en-
rollments now are being made
by special committees in Phila-
delphia, New York and Cleve-
land, and the movement is
spreading.
The Jewish Publication So-
ciety has earned the gratitude
of all English-speaking Jews
for the task it has undertaken
—to prepare a new Bible trans-
lation that will be more easily
understandable by young and
old.

Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News
CHICAGO. — A platform plank pledging defensive arms
to Israel was proposed Tuesday before the resolutions com-
mittee of the Democratic National Convention in the name of
91 Democratic members of Congress. The current policy of
the U. S. Government of failing to provide such arms to Israel
was sharply criticized at committee hearings. The proposed
plank submitted for the group by Rep. Thomas J. Dodd, of
Connecticut, reads:
"We shall strive to avert war in the Near East by vigorous
leadership in the UN, by strengthening our commitments in
the 1950 Tripartite Declaration, by security treaties to give
effect to that declaration and by making defensive arms avail-
able to Israel to enable her to defend herself from Communist
weapons which now form a steel ring around her frontiers.
"We will not countenance boycotts and blockades in the
Near East which deepen the conflict there, which violate UN
armistice agreements and principles of the UN Charter and
which interfere with the rights of American citizens.
"As true friends of both peoples of Israel and Arab coun-
tries, we shall encourage all peoples of the region to concen-
trate their energies and resources not on military pursuits but
on economic development and technical cooperation, to raise
living standards, to utilize water and land resources, to remove
causes of tension and unrest and to strengthen democratic

institutions.

"We shall foster and support an effective humanitarian
program for resettlement of Arab refugees. We shall work both
in and outside the UN to bring about an Arab - Israel peace
settlement based on mutual agreement.

"We will not condone any practices by any government
which discriminates against the rights of American citizens on
.,he ground of race or religion and we will oppose any agree-
ment which in any way sanctions or permits such practices."

(Editor's Note: The anti-Zionist, anti-Israel Council for
Judaism addressed a statement to the platform committee of the
Democratic Convention again raising the issue of dual national-
ism and calling upon the platform committee not to accept the
"Zionist definition of American Jews as invested by Israel with
a separate nationality because of their religion." Their state-
ment, while raising a cry that has long been exposed as mis-
stating the true facts, nevertheless applauds the resolution
against discrimination adopted by the U. S. Senate, but it
asks for "non-partisan implementation of the principle in-
volved"—again distorting facts by giving the impression that
Arabs, too, are being discriminated against. See Editorial,
Page 4).

A resolution presented to the annual convention of the
Massachusetts Federation of Labor in Springfield by Jewish
Labor Committee national vice-president Philip Kramer, of
Boston, asked the AFL group to condemn the "policy of gross
and flagrant discrimination practiced by the governments of
the Arab states against American citizens of the Jewish faith."
In addition to describing the actions of the Arab nations
as "in utter violation of fundamental American principles of
religious liberty and equality of citizenship," the resolution
goes on to call upon the President, the Congress and the State
Department "to reject any treaty or executive agreements which
shall permit other governments to forbid the advantages of
travel, employment, trade or service to their nation to American
citizens because of their race or religious affiliation."

Detroit Bachelor Bequeaths
Estate to Israel's Children

When he died last year, Detroit bachelor Harry Steingart
left no heirs. What was left of his modest estate of $8,500 he
willed to his favorite cause—Israel. In so doing a modest man
who hoped some day to help Israel's development achieved his
goal, even though it was in death. Mr. Steingart's will, as ex-
ecuted by Dr. Milton Golden and Samuel Rubiner provided
$4,250 for Hadassah Youth Aliyah in Israel and a like amount
to Batei Avot, a children's home located at Bnei Brak, Israel.
Accepting checks from Dr. Golden (left) and Rubiner, which
will be forwarded to authorities in Israel, are Mrs. Norman
Rom, president of the Detroit Chapter of Hadassah; and Rabbi
Leizer Levin, representing Batei Avot. Both beneficiaries have
announced plans to memorialize Mr. Steingart to perpetuate

his memory.