JEWISH NEWS-,

19 58-THE

O

Purely Commentary

Heinrich Heine on Moses

Last week, your Commentator made reference to Henry
George's eulogistic comments on Moses. Brief reference was
made in that column to Heinrich Heine's fascination with
Mosaic ideas.
The manner in which Heine was captivated by the powerful
figure of Moses and the strength of his messages is described
in a splendid book on Heine—"Heine: The Artist in• ReVolt,"
by _Max Brod, published by New York University Press.
bate -in life, Heine became less cynical, less irreligious.
Brod calls attention to the fact that in a letter Heine wrote
in 1850 to his old friend Heinrich Laube he developed his
opposition to "Hegelian . godlessness," the "dogma of an actual
personal God who exists outside Nature and man's mind":
"Hegel has gone down greatly in my estimation, whereas old
Moses is doing splendidly."
Through his study of Moses' social legislation, Brod
indicates, Heine corrected his historical error "of regarding
Judaism as being essentially a 'Nazarene' religion that flees
the world, that denies the reality of existence here below.
What Heine now expressed, without actually using these words,
was the 'here-below-miracle' of Judaism, the combination of a
concrete nationhood and a universal faith; a synthesis to
which just as much injustice is done if it is robbed of its
national content as if it is deprived of its universal,
metaphysical content."
Heine's reading of the Bible, Brod explains, "led him to
an understanding of Judaism. No longer did he dilute it to
a simple 'temper' lacking a national basis. Previously he
himself had not always avoided the mistake, which he so
emphatically condemned, of spiritualizing . . . He saw Moses
as legislator to a real community which he remodelled realiter
in accordance with the loftiest moral principles."
"Now," Brod proceeds to tell us, Heine "also understood
the 'Jewish love- of freedom,' the early greatness of Israel'
in the midst of nations who held slavery to be just. In Moses
he saw a Socialist who, -
"as a practical man, sought only to refashion existing
customs, particularly in relatiOn to property. instead of wildly
decreeing the abolition of property, he endeavored to make it -
more moral, he sought to bring property into harmony with
morality, with justice genuinely based on reason, and he
achieved this by introducing the year of jubilee whereby all
alienated hereditary property, which in an agricultural nation
always consisted of land, reverted to the original owner, no
matter in what way the property had been alienated
originally. This institution was in complete contrast to the
.`limitation' of the Rom.ans."
Thus, in his Confessions, Heine formulated an interesting
conception of Moses. Brod describes Heine's "paean to Moses
(`And he is my best hero' had already come before, in
Vitz/iputz/i), his tribute to the 'master-builder' who steps on
to Sinai (and how small Sinai seems to the poet when Moses
stands on it!)." And Brod quotes him:
"Previously I had had no great love for Moses, probably
because the spirit of Hellenism predominated in me, and I
could. not forgive the legislator of the Jews his • hatred of
all pictorial representation, of all plastic art. I failed to see
that Moses, in spite of his hostility to art, was nevertheless
a great artist and possessed. a true artistic spirit. Only, in
his case, as with his Egyptian compatriots, this artistic spirit
was directed solely to the colossal and the indestructible. But
unlike the Egyptians he did not fashion his works of art out
of brickwork and granite but built human pyramids, he
sculptured human obelisks, and he took a poor tribe of
shepherds and from it created a nation that like the pyramids
and the obelisks would defy the centuries; a great, eternal,
holy nation, God's nation that could serve all the other
nations as a pattern, could serve all humanity as a prototype;
he created Israel. With greater justice than•the Roman poet
can this artist, the son of Amram and Jochebed the midwife,
boast of having built a ?monument that will outlast all works
made of bronze. Neither of the master-builder nor of his
work, the Jews, have I spoken with sufficient veneration -in
the past, and no doubt this was again due to my Hellenic
temperament which found Jewish asceticism uncongenial. My
predilection for Hellas has diminished since then. I see now
that the Greeks were only handsome youths, whereas the
Jews were always men, valiant, unyielding men, not merely
then but up 'til now, in spite of 18 centuries of persecution
and misery. I have learnt to appreciate them better since,
and were not all pride of birth a foolish contradiction in
the champions of revolution and its democratic principles
the writer of these pages could be proud that his. ancestors
belonged to the noble house of Israel, that he is a descendant
of the martyrs who gave the world a God and a moral code
and who have fought and suffered on all the - battlefields of
thought."
•
Thus spoke Heine. Inspired by Moses' creative spiritual
genius, he learned to admire again the people from whose fold
he became estranged.
These views have special bearing on Passover. The Moses
saga, although it is not reviewed in the Haggadah, nevertheless
dominates the Festival of Freedom.
In the Max Brod story of Heine, the Moses angle assumes
special significance, although it cannot be singled out as a
major factor in a splendid book.
Moses was the hero of many novels and biographies. Many
essays have been written about Moses. The outstanding one was
by the great Jewish philosopher Ahad Ha'Am (Asher Ginsberg),
who called Moses "the Master of the Prophets," and stated:
"The Cabbalists well have said that Moses is re-incarnated
in every age; and there is in fact no period of our sombre
history in which a Mosaic spark cannot be detected."
Again we pay tribute to the genius of Moses, on Passover,
by recapitulating the great saga of the Master of the Prophets.

M:e
d s,Ha/M
A :t. er - Builder,
A

as Viewed by Heine and

By Philip
Slomovitz

Chicago Press (5750 Ellis Ave., Chicago 37), is so important.
This collection is especially valuable because it was edited
by one of the outstanding authorities on Lincoln, Paul M.
Angle, now the director of publications of the Chicago
Historical Society. His introduction to this book is a most
scholarly essay on Lincoln and his times.
The editor of this book indicates correctly that the
struggle, in which Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas
were involved, still goes on. He quotes Lincoln's comment
in one of his speeches on the "eternal struggle" between right
and wrong: "That's the real issue," he had said (we quote from
the introduction). "That is the issue that will continue in this
country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself
shall be silent." His .prophecy was sound, yet the "poor tongues
still speak," Angle writes.
Indeed, many of the issues of that time still are subjects
for debates. For instance, there .is -frequent comment on the
mixing of the races. In his speech in Chicago, July 10, 1858,
Lincoln had this to say:
"We were often—more than once at least—in the course
of Judge Douglas' speech last night, reminded that this
government was made for white men—that he believed it
was made for white men. Well, that is putting it into a shape
in which no one wants to deny it, but the Judge then goes
into his passion for drawing inferences that are not war-,
ranted. I protest, now and forever, against that counterfeit
logic which presumes that because I do not want a negro
woman for a slave, I do necessarily want her for a wife.
(Laughter and cheers). My understanding is that I need not
have her . for either, but as God made us separate, we can
leave one another alone and do one another much good
thereby. There are white men enough to marry all the white
women, and enough black men to marry all the black women,
and in God's name let them be so married. The Judge
regales us with the terrible enormities that take place by
the mixture of the races; that the inferior race gets the
superior down. Why, Judge, if we do not let them get
together in the territories they won't mix there. (Immense
applause)."
That's how it went on. There was much acrimony—in that
campaign for the Illinois Senatorship. Lincoln lost the battle,
but it may have been in great measure responsible for his
election to the Presidency, two years later, because it
popularized him so much.
Douglas' contention was that it was for each state to
decide whether it was to have slavery or not. He insisted on
"sovereign rights" for states. His views were echoed many
times, then and since. The point then primarily stressed was
with regard to the phrase "all men are created equal" in the
Declaration of Independence. Douglas challenged Lincoln's
view. He said in Springfield, July 17, 1858: "Mr. Lincoln goes
on to argue that the language 'all men' included the negroes,
Indians, and all inferior races . . . He thinks that the negro
is his brother. (Laughter.) I do not think that the negro is
any kin of mine at all. (Laughter and cheers.)"
Lincoln .had the better of the argument, in the midst of
tensions that nearly split this nation asunder. During the
bitterness of the debates Lincoln was nervous and often inter-
jected impatiently . during Douglas' speeches. Often his friends
had to calm him down. History attests to his emergence as
the victor - in a terrific civil struggle.
The value of the debates lies in some measure also in
that, 100 years ago, Lincoln did not go as far as we do today.
He, too, believed in white supremacy. In his speech on Sept.
18, 1858, in the course of - his debates with Douglas, he said:
"I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in
favor of bringing about in any way the social and political
equality of the white and black races–that I am not, nor ever
have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor
of qualifying them to hold office, nor to inter-marry with white
people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical
difference between the white and black races which, I believe,
will forever forbid - the two races living together on terms of
social and political equality. And, inasmuch as they cannot so
live, while they do remain together there must be the position
of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in
-favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.
"I say upon this occasion that I do not perceive that because
the white man is to have the superior position the Negro, should
be denied everything. I do not understand that because I do not
want a Negro woman for a slave I must necessarily want her for
a wife. My understanding is that I can just let her alone. . .
I will add one further word, which is this: that I do not under-
stand that there is any place where an alteration of the social
and political relations of the Negro and the white man can be
made except in the state Legislature—not in the Congress of
the United States . . ."
Here you have proof that it was necessary for us to span
another century in time's supreme lessons to supersede even
Lincoln's concessions and inconsistencies.
In the Passover story, we do not quibble. "We were slaves
and we were drawn out of it by an Almighty power. . . . " It
was the strength of man that played a vital role in the struggle
for freedom. Man's strength gave to the Pesach historic signifi-
cance.
The Lincoln-Douglas debates have great value in the study
of the battles against slavery and "Created Equal?" assumes an
important role in such studies. We are not being facetious when
we say that there is some justification for renewing such study
on Passover—when freedom permeates our thinking.

Inlet' in Brandeis University Calendar:
'Good Friday' Listed, But Not Passover

Brandeis University annually issues an attractive Engage-
ment Calendar. We have before us the 1958 edition. It lists "Good
Friday" but there is no mention of Passover. It records all the
civic holidays—and "Valentine's Day"—but none of the Jewish
religious days.
'Created Equal?'—The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
On every page of the Brandeis University Engagement
The continuing battle for equality and for freedom for all
peoples gives permanent value to the debates on the issue Calendar is reproduced the Brandeis University emblem which
of slavery that captured the interest and attention of the carries the message: "Truth Even Unto Its Innermost Parts,"
and in the center is the Hebrew word "Emet"—"truth." This •
American people a century ago.
That is why "Created Equal?" containing the complete is the sole Hebrew word in the Engagement . Calendar of the
Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, published by University of Jewish-sponsored university in Watham, Mass.

Arabs Get 3
Submarines
from Soviets

WASHINGTON, (JTA)—The
United Arab Republic has re-
ceived three additional subma-
rines from the Soviet bloc, ac-
cording to information received
by United States officials.
The new submarines report-
edly arrived in Alexandria after
a trip from Gdynia, Poland, un-
der radio silence and off the
regular sea lanes. The Soviet
bloc previously provided three
submarines to Egypt following
the Sinai war. At that time
President Eisenhower expressed
a view that the submarines
would not contribute toward
regional peace.
According to information re-
ceived here the three new un-
dersea craft were manned by
Egyptian crews. They were be-
lieved to have been constructed
in either the Gydnia naval yard
or at Leningrad.
In Cairo, naval authorities
of the United Arab Republic
confirmed the arrival at Alex-
andria on April 1 of three
new submarines provided to
the UAR navy by the Soviet
bloc.
(The newspaper Al Ahram
reported that the United Arab
Republic is planning a world-
wide airline using Russian TU-
104 jet airliners. The Soviet
Union agreed to sell the planes
to the UAR on favorable terms,
according to the report. UAR
pilots are in Russia being
trained to fly the TU-104's.)
Sen. Alexander Wile y,
ranking Republican on the
Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, warned on the
Senate floor that "we must
keep our powder dry when
dealing with Nasser."
The Wisconsin Senator
charged that "Nasser has been
trying to play both ends against
the middle." He said the
American position toward Nas-
ser's United Arab Republic
"should be one of friendship
but caution. We must be alert."
Sen. Wiley took note of Nas-
ser's forthcoming visit to Mos-
cow. He told the Senate• that
the Egyptian official radio had
broadcast "inflammatory prop-
aganda" against not only Eng-
land and France but also the
United States.

Flying High

—International Photo

Yael Finkelstein, 25, of Tel
Aviv, Israel, has the ;distinc-
tion of being the world's first
female commercial airline pi-
lot. She was the first woman
pilot in her country's air
force and is now the most
famous jet ace in Israel. By
the time she was 20 years old,
Miss Finkelstein was licensed
to fly seven different types of
military aircraft.

N

N

N

