•
N I
re,
Toyilibee's Vicious Attacks Challenged by. Scholars
"Prof. Toynbee fails to shed
ligion with erudition has helped to make Toynbee one of the idols
of our new illiteracy . . . I have no quarrels with the virtues any light on the cultural inter-
Toynbee advocates. 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands relationship between the rise of
monotheism among the Jews
are the hands of Esau.' "
The review of Frederick E. Robin, in Montagu's symposium, and the religious life of the
warns of the "dark legacy" in Toynbee's pronouncements, and neighboring people," Samuel
of the possible reaping of a "terrible new hate." He exposes the charges. He points to Toyn-
TONYBEE AND HISTORY: Critical Essay and Reviews. Edited by M. F. "unrelieved severity" of Toynbee's judgment about the Arab- bee's errors in his interpreta-
Ashley Montagu. Porter Sargent, Publisher, 11 Beacon St., Boston.
tions of the position of Jo-
AN HISTORIAN'S APPROACH TO RELIGION By Arnold Toynbee. Oxford Israel conflict and exposes the injustice of- Toynbee's attacks on
hanan ben Zakkai by bracket-
University Press, 114 5th Ave., New York 11.
Judaism
and
Israel.
He,
too,
resents
Toynbee's
description
of
JUDAISM: Fosil or Ferment? By Eliezer Berkovits; Philosophical Library,
ing him with Jesus: "To speak
Judaism as "a fossil."
15 E. 40th St., New York 16.
of Johanan ben Zakkai's 'con-
THE PROFESSOR AND THE FOSSIL: The Confusions, Prejudices, and
Two
of
the
volumes
repudiating
Toynbee
are
by
Jews.
Both
Toynbee's
"A
Study
of
History."
version' to the way of non-vio-
Intellectual Disto'rtions in Arnold J.
By Maurice Samuel. Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher, 501 Madison, New Berkovits and Samuel render valuable services in presenting the
lence is an ingenious piece of
York 22.
facts.
nonsense. There is not a shred
Prof. Arnold J. Toynbee is being hailed as the world's
Rabbi Berkovits, referring to Toynbee's charge that the Mac-
greatest living historian. People marvel at the erudition of his cabees deserted religion for politics, shows that "there is no of evidence that Johanan ben
"Study of History," at the vast amount of knowledge displayed in such thing" as "Maccabean Judaism" — a term used by Toynbee Zakkai had to be converted.
his works. Yet, no man in our time has been as guilty of distor- —"and there never was. The Maccabees were neither teachers He and his school had always
represented the traditional, the
tions, omissions, prejudices, as this distinguished scholar.
nor interpreters of Judaism. In matters of religion they were fundamental order of Jewish
In consequence of which, he is being challenged by noted followers and not leaders." Other misstatements and misinter- ideas. He did not 'break with'
authors, Christians and Jews. He is on the defensive, and his pretations are blasted by Dr. Berkovits. He elaborates on Toyn- the militancy inaugurated by
latest work no longer displays his bias. But he is on record, he bee's approach to Judaism as Christianity's "original" sin and Judas Maccabaeus. The Pharis-
has not apologized, although he pledged himself to give consider- declares:
ses had always been at logger-
ation to the issues involved, and his unwise attacks on Jewry
"Toynbee, having built up such a powerful case for the heads with the Hasmonean
have earned the condemnations contained in reviews and in separation of Christianity from Judaism, nevertheless retains Maccabean) conquistadors and
books.
the association between them that derives from his earlier, theo- with the worldlings who came
In his latest work, "An Historian's Approach to Religion,"
logical interpretation of Judaism . . . Toynbee provides the after them; and far from being
University
of
Edinburg
lectures),
Prof.
f952-53
(based on his'
`scholarly' backing for'what the Nazis knew instinctively, namely, a lone figure, ben Zakkai had
Toynbee does not resort to his earlier slurs on Jewry. He does that 'the Jews are our misfortune.' If only Christianity had been about him a great galaxy of
not use the term "fossil." Nevertheless, even here there is more careful with whom it kept company in its early youth!" teachers and a mighty follow-
evidence of a continuing attitude of • resentment toward Jewry,
Rabbi Berkovits describes "the vileness of the Toynbeean in.g . ."
especially when he writes about the "Chosen People" theory. distortion of `Deutero-Isaiah'; "Nothing more clearly shows
Samuel condemns Toynbee's
Thus, dealing with this subject, he writes about "the moral Toynbee's intellectual dishonesty than his misrepresentation of "double-talk" in the discus-
effect, a fortiori, of those latterday Western ideologies, such as tleutero-Isaiah,' the prophet who created the immortal_ figure sions of Jesus. He accuses
Communism and National Socialism, in which the Judaic belief of 'the Suffering Servant of the Lord.' .. . Nevertheless, when Toynbee of missing .its• mean-
in being a 'Chosen People' has been retained while the com- our author tries to determine the place of the same Deutero- ing when viewing "the Jewish
plementary Judaic belief in the existence of an Almighty God Thaiah' in Judaism and Jewish history, he calls him a 'day- Bible as a static document
dreamer' who exposes himself 'with a vengeance to the censure' rather than as the dynamic
has been discarded."
This is reminiscent of Toynbee's attack on Israelis as being of a psychoanalyst. One cannot help wondering what becomes record of a long, painful, ever-
as guilty in their treatment of the Arab refugees as were the of the christological testimony and Toynbee's own savior, if a unresolved struggle."
Nazis in their treatment of the Jews—a matter dealt with in few sessions with a psychoanalyst might have been enough to
Toynbee's view of Jewry
the repudiations of the Toynbeean prejudices.
cure `Deutero-Isaiah' of his 'escapism.' Is `Deutero-Isaiah' a as a "going" and disappear-
In his latest approach, Toynbee makes it a point also to day-dreaming, anxiety-ridden ,neurotic only when he testifies
ing element is effectively
assign to Judaism imperial aspirations: "The Messiah was to be against Toynbee's pet theories? Does he became a divinely ridiculed. "Jewry and Juda-
the founder of an oecumenical empire in which the Jews were inspired witness and prophet only when he appears to fit into ism are still very much • on
to take the Persians' or the Romans' place as the World's im- the Toynbeean universe?"
the scene," Samuel reminds
perial people."
Toynbee's unfortunate references to Jewry's "fossilized"
him.
Toynbee, as in his earlier works, singles out Johanan ben existence and survival receive the contempt they earn in Dr.
The brilliant Jewish writer
Zakkai as the hero. Others are forgotten, as indicated in the Berkovits' analyses.
makes this important point:
expose of his errors by Maurice Samuel and several participants
"Toynbee's sweeping condemnation of the Zionist Jews is
"As the modern world opens,
in the book edited by M. F. Ashley Montagu. The historian under tantamount. to a 'debauchery' of righteous indignation," Dr;
Jewry and Judaism are still
scrutiny also spoke of exploitation by the Maccabees: "there was Berkovits asserts. "Since, however, in so far as it has any
very much on the scene. A
a cultural as well as a political side to the exploitation of Juda-
relation to the world of facts, Toynbeean judgment is based
fascinating historical drama
ism by the Maccabees." This is another of his viewpoints that on Toynbeean promise that the Jews set up a state in Pales-
is revealed: The auctioneer
is open to dispute.
tine by force of arms, . . . it is obvious that Toynbee badly
is time, the buyer Oblivion.
His major error is in his attack on Zionism and_ on Israel, and needs his righteous indignation ... (he) clings to his dist6r-
The peoples come up on the
that, too, is dealt with by his critics.
tions and to his indignation against the 'Zionists' for the sake
block, one after another, the
* * *
hammer is lifted, the estab-
of his own peace of mind."
The critical essays and reviews edited by Montagu deserve
"One may well sympathize with Toynbee," the Rabbi writes lished formula is intoned:
particular attention. They are vitally important not only because in his analysis of the distorted "fossil" interpretation of Judaism.
`Going! Going! Gone!' But
they include the highly scholarly address, "The Toynbee Heresy," "He is fighting, not very successfully, for his intellectual and
there is one people that ap-
by Israel's Ambassador to the U. S., Abba Eban, delivered at the spiritual survival. He is like the beggar whose garment is much
pears on the block regularly,
Israel Institute of Yeshiva University, in New York, but because too small to cover his body. Pull as he might, his nakedness and over it the words `Go-
of several other essays by non-Jews who have seen through the will show."
ink! Going!' have been re-
biased and fallacious viewpoints of Prof. Toynbee.
"Nothing is easier than to blame the Jews," the Rabbi con- peated again and again; again
Toynbee's "cardinal ommission of facts," the injustice of his tinues; "nor is there anything cheaper than that. Today, as in
and again it has looked like
likening Zionism to Nazism, his attack on the Restoration, the the past, it is a sign of moral' bankruptcy . .. Toynbee's offen-
a sale: but the third word
meanness of his "fossil theory" are outlined by Eban who de- sive and deliberately humiliating treatment of both Judaism and
has never been pronounced
veloped the traditional Jewish viewpoints in his address.
Jewry must be understood as a desperate attempt to stifle a over it."
In Montagu's volume, there are several essays of special in- suspicion in his own heart that, perhaps, there might be some-
Samuel is especially effective
terest to students of history and the Bible. The Rev. Hugh Trevor- thing right with Judaism after all."
in his repudiation of Toyn-
*
'*
Roper, in his review "Testing the Toynbee System," said, for
bee's anti-Zionism. Toynbee's
instance: "He compared himself with the Prophet Ezekiel; and
The classic indictment of Toynbee and his distorted ideas is views emerged as pure non-
certainly, at time, he is just as unintelligible." Trevor-Roper con- in Maurice Samuel's "The Professor and the Fossil." Here Sam- sense flavored with a deliber-
demns Toynbee's "perversion of history."
uel, one of our most brilliant writers, is at his best. He not ate attempt ' to besmirch and
Lewis Mumford, on the other hand, while stating in his re- only refutes charges: he analyzes history, delves into the classics, misrepresent a great cause. We
view, "The Napoleon of Notting Hill," that Toynbee was handi- makes a thorough study of the Biblical and other eras, and the quote Samuel again: "The Jew-
capped by "philosophic narrowness," nevertheless writes that "A result is a devastating smashing of all the false theories that ish people had a task to com-
Study of History" "will stand out as a landmark, perhaps even have been developed by Toynbee.
plete and would not quit in the
a turning point."
middle. . . Zionism is the ac-
Samuel felt at once that he was "being pushed around
To Rushton Coulborn, Toynbee is "an artist," "an idealist," by someone with a vast amount of miscellaneous information."
tivation by worldly means of
this subject is the whole career of man."
He found himself in disagreement "with the 'facts' and the the Jewish longing for the re-
Prpf. Pitirim A. Sorokin views Toynbee's works, in spite of spirit" of Toynbee's "A Study of History." 'He suspected at the creation of the Jewish State in
their- shortcomings, as "significant . . in the field of historical outset that that work "was both biased and inaccurate."
Palestine. . , . The creation of
and social science." He, too, however, exposes Toynbee's fallacies.
It stands to reason that Samuel was outraged by Toynbee's Israel is perceived as an event .'
Then we come to the direct repudiations of Toynbee's falla- condemnation of Jews as "fossils," by his grouping us into a in the history of civilization;
cies. While Hans J. Morgenthau says "his achievement belongs to "Syriac Society," by his unwarranted attacks on Zionism.
and such it was felt to be by
the ages," Prof. Walter Kaufman gets to the root of the problem.
"The informed reader," Samuel states, "is left with the sus- millions of gentiles of varying
Commenting on Toynbee's use of the term fossil, he asks:
picion that though the author (Toynbee) has certainly heard of degrees of religious conscious-
"What will he say about Jehuda ben Halevy, Gabirol, and Maimonides, ibn Gabirol, the Mishnah, the Talmud, Spinoza, and ness." -
Maimonides' relation to scholasticism? Alas, he does not so much
Chassidism, he either does not 'know what to say about them or
Samuel states that Toyn-
as mention any of them. He might, of course, plead that he is prefers not to mention them, while the uninformed reader is
bee's "bracketing of Jews
mainly concerned with 'The Modern West and the Jews,' though
left with the impression that the last 2,000 years of Jewish his-
and Nazis disqualifies him
in view of his implausible thesis he ought to say something tory have been a spiritual blank; and, of course, if the Jews have
from pleading in any court
about events which seem to refute them so clearly. What, then, not produced a Talmud and Chassidism, a Maimonides and a the cause of the ' wronged
does he have to say about Spinoza? Again, not a single refer- Spinoza, they are a fossil people."
Arabs."
ence in 334 pages of indices. Perhaps Spinoza is not modern
Delving into all details of
If Toynbee was right, Samuel points out, then Jews had no
enough. What happens when we come to the 19th and 20th
right to fight oppression or to ask for cultural minority rights in Toynbee's distortions, Samuel
centuries? What will Toynbee say about the remarkable be- Poland or to continue a living spiritual heritage through Zion- renders the service of flashing
havior of this fossil after the emancipation, about the scores of ism, because "fossils have no cultural rights." Samuel thereupon the searchlight on a history so
Jewish scientists and thinkers, about the way in which the Jews
points to Jewish creative efforts and creative men—from the f u 11 of misrepresentations —
suddenly entered into Western Civilization and made major Bible to Baal Shorn, from Weizmann. and Bialik and Shrnarya often emerging as deliberate
contributions? Nothing, absolutely nothing. If medieval Spain
misstatements — that one won-
Levin to a host of others.
does not fit his scheme, he ignores it; and if the Jews are a
One of Toynbee's most ridiculous fables, that Chaim Weiz- ders whether Toynbee actually
living refutation of his theories, attack is the best defense."
mann was "converted" to Zionism, gets the treatment it deserves is free from anti-Semitic bias.
Prof. Kaufman, commenting on Toynbee's constant lumping from Samuel.
Falsehood after falsehood is
of Jews with a "Syriac" group, asserts: "Specifically, no 'Syriac
"The Fossil Creates a Language" is a remarkable chapter exposed by Samuel. Toynbee
Civilization,' for example, ever existed, though it may possibly in which Samuel, refuting the reference by Toynbee to Yid- emerges a shabby figure from
be convenient in some contexts to lump together the many king-
dish as nothing more than a "dialect of German," proves "The Professor and the Fossil."
doms that existed between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia and
conclusively that Yiddish was a great Jewish creative achieve- Samuel also teaches Toybnee a
to give them some such name as this.",.
lesson in "Aliveness - in - His-
ment.
The Crusades represent one of the bloodiest chapters in Jew-
In this chapter, in itself a splendid contribution to research tory." Toynbee not only owes
ish history. Jews were murdered, they were herded in synagogues
in Jewish cultural attainments, Samuel shows how there have apologies to Jewry: he also
and burned en- masse. Curiously enough, Prof. Kaufman points developed, in Yiddish, specific Jewish terms, remarkable sayings, owes mankind a rewritten his-
out: "When our gentle scholar comes to the Crusades, only 25
tory based on facts, not fic-
pages after his indictment of the Zionists, he develops all the peculiar idioms. "A whole cultural complex is involved here," tions, prejudices and distor-
Samuel
asserts
.
"On
its
merits
Yiddish
is
an
instrument
of
enthusiasm of a Sunday-morning quarterback as he pictures the
tions. Samuel, more than all
victories that might have been, if only the Crusaders had followed great beauty and force. It is remarkable, too, for the ingenuity the other critics, forces that
with
which
it
has
woven,
from
its
constituent
elements
the
proper
his strategy." It is no wonder that Prof. Kaufman concludes:
conclusion. —P. S.
a living people.."
"The fashionable taste for a mixture of almost any kind of re- garb, fitting like a glove, for the spirit Of
c=1 Historian's Fallacies Exposed
• By Samuel, Eban, Berkovits,
5 Group of Non-Jewish Writers
'
ea
s.
14