THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday,

Purely Commentary

One of Great Poems of All Time: Grace Goldin's 'Come
Under the Wings: A Midrash on Ruth
In the inner circles of the publication committee of the
Jewish Publication Society of America, there was quite a
stir during the last 18 months over an exciting poem that was
submitted for consideration by Grace Goldin, the wife of
Dr. Judah Goldin, who until recently was associated with the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America and who has just
been named Professor of Jewish Studies at Yale University.
In her own rights, Mrs. Goldin had already made her
mark with her numerous poetic works that have been
published in many important magazines.
The work she submitted to the Jewish Publication Society,
a Midrashic poem based on the Book of Ruth, immediately
aroused great interest. The country's leading scholars
welcomed the work and likened Mrs. Goldin to Joyce and
Yeats.
This week the poem comes off the press. It is called
"Come Under the Wings: A Midrash on Ruth." It fulfills all
the encomia that were ,showered upon the manuscript.
Mrs. Goldin has followed closely the text of the Book of
Ruth. But she did much more: she resorted to the Midrashic
legends, to the "Midrash Rabbah on Ruth," and to Louis
Ginzberg's "Legends of the Jews."
What moved her especially was the following, from the
commentary on the Book of Ruth by Rabbi Eliezer of the
second century:
"Boaz played his part. and Ruth played hers. and Naomi
played hers, whereupon the Holy One blessed be He said
I too must play mine."
Thus inspired, Mrs. Goldin wrote a poem with such
vitality that her work must be considered as one of the most
stirring that has come off the presses of the Jewish Publication
Society in its 70 years' existence. "Come Under the Wings"
is a type of work that will live.
So much trash is being printed today that it is relieving
to read a work so strong, so inspiring, • as Mrs. Goldin's
Midrashic poem.

An introductory essay to "Come Under the Wings" was
written by the most eminent Jewish writer of our time,
Maurice Samuel. He evaluates in it "Midrashic contrivance"
and he states: "The charming poem which Grace Goldin here
presents to the public is an ingenious exercise in one of the
oldest and most persistent creative literary forms known to
the Jewish people, a form of which it is the peculiar and
paradoxical merit that in order to appreciate its freshness
one must first get the feeling of its antiquity."
The new poem not only inspires a second reading: it
will encourage the delving into the creative Jewish literary
forms referred to by Samuel.

*

Quotations, no matter how lengthy, can serve no purpose
at this point in explaining the merits of Mrs. Goldin's
Midrashic poem. The work should be read for a full under-
standing of its values. There are, however, many portions that
emblazon themselves in the reader's memory. There is
particular strength in the discussion between Ruth and
Naomi, when the latter urges her to return to her Moabite
people. Naomi already had induced Orpah to go back. There
follows this:

"You were too harsh with Orpah," Ruth declared.
Had you but coaxed her as she dared you to
She might have gone the difficult way with you."

"We are forbidden bribery, my Ruth,"
Replied Naomi, marching steadily now
Down a curve of white, ill-populated hills,
"Since only those who come with extreme love
For heaven and heavenly things, and love of God,
Are welcomed to be Jews"

"What kind of welcome?"

"Beloved are proselytes before the Lord."

"Naomi, Mother, will you make my soul,
Will you become my mother in all truth?"

Thus it goes on. Naomi, the Jewish mother-in-law, warns
Ruth of the pitfalls for proselytes. Ruth pleads nevertheless:

"Entreat me not to leave you, dearest heart,
Or to return from following after you.
I'll have the blessing; let me bear your curse;
Sin not against me, I would rightly share
Your suffering."

"Then do you know our laws?
A pagan woman is exempt from them
Save for the larger laws of decency:
These I am confident you would observe
In Bethlehem or Moab: basic laws
Not to blaspheme, or rob, or kill, or live
Either in incest or adultery;
A Moabitish princess can remain
Well an the safe side of such laws as these
And undisturbed may live, and at her death
Sleep in a white, perpetual white sleep."

"But if I were a Jew?"

"A Jewish woman
For any one of three infringements, shall
Meet death in childbirth; and their full 'detail
Would take a full day for me to specify:
If she forget to light the Sabbath lamps,
Or will not guard her monthly purity
With ritual bath and with all due restraint,
Or even if one Friday she forgot
While kneading Sabbath twists, to pinch a piece
And cast it in the fire for sacrifice,
For that minute omission, she may die
A. woman's frightful death."

•
•

Inspired Jewish Poets...
Creative Works of Grace
Goldin and Karl Shapiro

By Philip
Slomovitz

Ruth insists: "Dear Mother, whither you shall go I gO."
And the dialogue continues:

"A Jewish daughter, Ruth, will never go
To drunken theaters or circuses
Or any pagan show."

"Whither you go I go."

"A Jewish daughter will not dwell
In a house where they have not put up mezuzas
On every door."

"Where you shall dwell I dwell."

"You must eradicate idolatry
Within yourself: we have one God, one Law;
Our Torah is our one word of command,
And the eternal God is our one God."

"I am not worthy of these obligations;
Yet if you will permit me, Naomi,
I would accept your people for my people,
And I would want your God to be my God."

In a mere 82 pages of poetry—additional to the author's
preface and Samuel's introductory essay—Mrs. Goldin's tells
the story of the weak Elimelech and his and Naomi's equally
weak sons, Chilion and Mahlon; and the strong Naomi, Ruth
and Boaz; of the .Prophecy of the birth to the latter two of
the Messiah—

"For David's sake, was God's will brought about? . . .
1\Teither for David nor . for Ruth, but for
His glory on/y, hath the Lord done this:
Whatever He does, be sure His reason is
That all men may perceive Him, and adore.
Extolled and blessed be the Name of the Lord:
Honored, exalted, glorified, adored!"
In this glorified spirit concludes an exalted poem. It is
to the credit of the Jewish Publication Society that so valuable
a book has been added to its accomplishments.

*

*

Another Excellent Work: Karl Shapiro's 'Poems of a Jew'
• While on the subject of poetry, let us pay deserved honors
to another distinguished Jewish poet, Karl Shapiro, whose
"Poems of a Jew" has just been published by Ramd.om House.
Now professor of English at the University of Nebraska,
Shapiro is not a newcomer in poetic literature. He was a
Pulitzer Prize winner for his poems in 1945. He has won
deserved acclaim, and he now . adds to his accomplishments
with the 70 pages of poems in his new volume.
Shapiro's introduction is as intriguing as his poetry. He
undertakes to define the term "Jew," and he comments that
defiance of definition of this term "is the central meaning
of Jewish consciousness."
There may be considerable debate over his assertions that
"to be a Jew is to be in a certain state of consciousness which
is inescapable. As everyone knows, a Jew who becomes an
atheist remains a Jew. A . Jew who becomes a Catholic remains
a Jew. Being a Jew is the consciousness of being a Jew, and
the Jewish identity, with or without religion, with or without
history, is the significant fact. The Jew is unique among
mankind, once he accepts this identity, and the word Jew
retains its eternal shock, a shock that has nothing to do with
Christ or the Crucifixion."
Is this really so? When Disraeli and other concerts are
listed as Jews, there are always elements in our midst who
question such identification. The debate goes on—and becomes
intensified by the positive assertions of Karl Shapiro.
Meanwhile, his "Poems of a Jew" take their place among
the very very effective poetic interpretations of Jewish values.
His opening verses on "The Alphabet" offer an inkling of
this poet's literary power:
"The letters of the Jews as strict as flames
Or little -terrible flowers lean
Stubbornly upwards through the perfect ages,
Singing through solid stone the sacred names."
His "Israel" is a loving poem he recited in his home city
of Baltimore on the occasion of the founding of the Jewish
State in 1948.
"The 151st Psalm" is a poem he was commissioned to
write on the Tercentenary of American Jewry.
In one of the longest poems, "The Synagogue," he sings
of the
virtue of philosophy,
Past love, and have our devious reward.
For faith he gave us land and took the land,
Thinking us exiles of all humankind.
Our name is yet the identity of God
That storms the falling altar of the world."
High degree poetry is in his "Travelogue for Exiles" in
which he writes of "The heavens are taken, the waters are
taken, the earth is taken: this is not your home."
His "Messias," "Confirmation," "The Jew at Christmas
Eve," "Teasing at Nuns," "Five Self-Portraits," "My Grand-
mother," "The Murder of Moses," "Shylock," "The Concert,"
"Adam and Eve," are truly great products of a great poet's
pen.
"Teasing the Nuns," he explains, has its setting at Loyola
University, Chicago: "The theme of the poem is the essential
inability of the Jew to speak to the nuns." "The Murder of
Moses" he based on Freud's "Moses and Monotheism."
"My Grandmother" moves his mind "in context of sorrow"
"Whether erect in chair, her dry and corded throat
harangued by grief,
Or at ragged book bent in Hebrew prayer,
Or gentle, submissive, and in tears to strangers;
Whether in sunny parlor or back of drawn blinds."
Such are the works of Karl Shapiro—full of feeling,
strengthened by Jewish sentiments. His works are unforgettable
his name will be known for a long time—his age• (he is 45)
assuring us of very many great works to come.

Poor Taste USSR
`Jokes' Told at
Israel's Expense

By MILTON FRIEDMAN

.

(Copyright, 1958, JTA, Inc.)

WASHINGTON — Soviet Am-
bassador Menshikov almost, but
not quite, spoke the same lan-
guage as Israeli diplomats at a
recent Israeli diplomatic recep-
tion in Washington.
The new Soviet Ambassador
found himself conversing in
Russian with an Israeli diplo-
mat at the crowded party. Af-
ter the usual banalities were
exchanged in Russian. the So-
viet Ambassador whispered,
"aren't you one of ours?"
The Israeli quickly replied
"No, I'm one of theirs."
On that occasion the good-
natured joke was on Ambassa-
dor Menshikov. But jokes told
at Soviet Embassy functions
sometimes reflect vicious inner
attitudes. One witticism cur-
rently making the rounds on
the Vodka circuit pertains to
newsreel shots of the Israeli
10th anniversary military par-
ade.
"Yes," says the Communist
joker with a twinkle, "Jewish
bravery is well-known in the
Soviet Union. Our Jews in the
great fatherland war actually
captured Tashkent." This bit of
derision pertains, of course, to
the fact that Tashkent was a
safe rear area.
Another such "joke" told at
an Iron Curtain Embassy party
here had to do with the short-
wave radio broadcasts of Kol
Israel. The raconteur employed
a rather poor mimicry of an
Israeli radio announcer. He said
"this is the short wave service
of the Israel Radio broadcast-
ing on 35.3 megacycles. But we
will make you a special bargain
discount and let you have it at
33.3 megacycles."
Washington's diplomatic col-
ony generally considers. this
Iron Curtain "wit" not only in
dismally bad taste but com-
pletely lacking in humor.

`Eternal Light' Airs
Broadcast Honoring
Late Maxwell Abbell

The Jewish Theological Semi-
nary will featUre a special Eter-
nal Light radio drama, "In His
Father's House" by Marc Siegel,
based on the childhood of the
late Maxwell Abbell, at 10:30
p.m., Sunday, over radio station
WWJ.
The script tells of the youth
of Maxwell Abbell in Chelsea,
Mass., and of
his early man-
hood in Chi-
cago. The
story hig h-
lights the in-
fluence of the
teachings o f
his father
which later
proved vital
to the devel-
opment of his
career.
The life of
the late Max- ..
w e 11 Abbell, . Mr. Abbell
attorney, financier, philanthro-
pist, was marked by continued
service to country and commu-
nity. For a number of years, he
headed President Eisenhower's
Committee on Government Em-
ployment Policy which worked
to eliminate discriminatory hir-
ing practices in government
positions.
He was a past president of
the United Synagogue of Amer-
ica and a leader in the Jewish
Theological Seminary, National
Ramah Commission, the Zionist
Organization of America, the
Hebrew University of Jeru-
salem, American Friends of the
Hebrew University and UJA.
Maxwell Rabb, former Secre-
tary to President Eisenhower's
Cabinet, will be the guest
speaker.

