Bitter Commentary on Psalms

C. S. Lewis' Subjective Views-
Show Christ°logical Attitude

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C. S. Lewis, the witty critic,
reflects with a great deal of
resentment against some of the
Psalms in "Reflections on the
Psalms," published by Harcourt,
Brace & Co. (750 3rd Ave., N.Y.
17). He is especially bitter
against "t h e cursings" in
Psalms, and he, while he ac-
cepts many of the joyous
paeans, he is frank in express-
ing some revulsion.
While he pulls no punches,
he states at the outset that he
is neither ancient historian
nor archaeologist nor even
Hebraist. He explains the pres-
ent undertaking as that of "one
amateur to another," discussing
the Psalms with "ether inexpert
readers," "comparing notes,"
"not piesuming to instruct."
And so, "even on my ama-
teurish level," he proceeds to
analyze the - songs, beginning
"with those characteristics of
the Psalter which are at first
most repellant."

* * *

Dealing with "judgment" in
the Psalnis, he asserts, before
analyzing "the cursings," that
"we need by no means assume
that the Psalmists are deceived
or lying when they assert that,
as against their particular ene-
mies at some particular mo-
ment, they are completely in
the right . . .to be wronged
does not commonly make peo-
ple amiable."
Then comes the resentment
against "the cursings". He con-
demns the beating of babies
brains contained in Psalm 137,
"the malice" in Psalm 69. He
goes so far as to say: "One way
of dealing with these terrible
or (dare we say?) contemptible
Psalms is simply to leave them
alone. But unfortunately the
bad parts will not 'come away
clean'." .
"Hatred did not need to be
disguised for the sake of social
decorum," Lewis states, and he
speaks of the men of ancient
cultures whom he criticizes _as
"ferocious, self-pitying, barbar-
ic." "It is monstrously simple-
minded to read the cursings of
the Psalms with no feeling ex-
cept one of horror at the un-
charity of the poets," he de-
clares.
* * *
He follows it up with a com-
parison between Christians and
Jews. He calls "the reaction
of the Psalmists to injury . . .
profoundly wrong. One may try
to excuse it on the ground that
they were not Christians and
knew no better. There are two
reasons why this defense will
not go far. The first is that
within Judasim itself the cor-
rective to this natural reaction
already existed." At this point
he makes a strong point of his
view that "the whole religious
history of the pre-Christian
world" anticipated the coming
of Christ, and he states that up-
on reading the Old Testament
he discovers "a tissue of quo-
tations from it in the New Tes-
tament," and that constantly
"our Lord repeated, reinforced,
continued, refined and subli-
mated the Judaic ethics."
The second reason he calls
more disquieting: "one's first
impression is that the Jews
were much more vindictive and
vitriolic than the pagans." He
finds no fury in pagans.
Not being an historian, it is
puzzling that Lewis should have
undertaken to delve into Phari-
saic and other historical issues.
* * *
Perhaps he gives away his se-
cret with his statement that
"Judaism without the Temple
was mutilated, deprived of its
central operation; any church,
barn, sick-room, or field, can be
the Christian's temple." Appar-
ently C. S. Lewis has never
heard of the "minyan," — the

great democratic Jewish institu-
tion which enables any ten Jews
to form a congregation any-
where; and he may not be
aware of many other Jewish
ideas of which he speaks dis-
paragingly. "The most valuable
thing the Psalms do for me is
to express that same delight
in God which made David
dance," he writes, but he is
quick to add that it is not as
"profound a thing as the love
of God reached by the greatest
Christian saints and mystics."
Always, Judaism is belittled,
Christianity is elevated—all at
the expense of critical analysis
based on a personal polemical
hunch: the historical values are
lacking!
The layman who is review-
ing this book finds the Lewis
arguments biased. They are so
slanted towards a christological
viewpoint that they emerge with
a total lack of objectivity. We
would wager that Lewis has not
read Dr. Solomon B. Freehof's
"The Book of Psalms: A Com-
mentary," else he might have
been a bit less bitter about the
very bitternes in the Psalms.
For, one must understand their
content.; within the complex
structure of the historical
events when they were written
and sung.
Lewis writes so well, that his
subjective, christological views
may do damage to Jewry. What
a pity that such should be the
work of an accomplished writer!
The Pslams are hymns of
praise. In the Psalter, which
has become a major element in
religious services in Christian-
ity as well as Judaism, are
contained the songs of high in-
spiration. William 0. E. 0 es-
terley, the English Orientalist,
wrote about the Psalms:
"The triumphant strains re-

Wave of Immigration Assures Israel 'Normal Security,' Peres Says

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Large-
scale immigration is increasing
Israel's population and is bring-
ing nearer "normal security
relationships" between Israel
and the Arab countries, Shimon
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Speaking earlier at a sym-
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at the Weizmann Institute of
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He placed ephasis on "prac-
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science, and urged the scien-
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ing standard.

Order Psalm a Day Sung
in Israeli Public Schools

JERUSALEM, (JTA) — A
five-minute period of Psalm
singing will begin each day in
the Israeli public schools, the
Ministry of Education decreed.
Designed to "create a suitable
atmosphere for learning," the
singing periods will feature a
different Psalm daily.

Dr. Amos De Shalit, head of
the department of nuclear re-
search at Weizmann Institute,
challenged the government's at-
titude toward the scientific
community. He said the govern-
ment had failed to make use
of Israel's scientific capabilities
and had not helped extend this
scientific potential.
Specifically, Prof. De Shalit
blamed the government for "ne-
glecting" atomic research and
for failing to enforce coopera-
tion among the three leading
institutions engaged in nuclear

research—the Weizmann Insti-
tute, Haifa Technion and He-
brew University. Instead, he
continued, the government set
up a "fourth institute" devoted
to atomic research.
Prof: Joel Rakach, a member
of the Atomic Energy Commis-
sion, supported Dr. De Shalit's
views, claiming that much
energy and skill devoted to
nuclear studies was wasted by
duplication among the various
institutions. Dr. Rakach called
for speeding up the work of
the Atomic Energy Commission.

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sounding in this Hallelujah
finale (ps. 150) make a noble
and, fitting conclusion to the
Psalms, the grandest sym-
phony of praise to God ever
composed on earth."

Is it possible that Lewis was
unaware of the general accept-
ance of the Psalms, that he
overlooked the grandeur of the
finest hymns, when criticizing,
while choosing to find a way of
elevating Christianity above
Judaism, in his criticism?
Rowland Edmund Prather°,
another eminent English
author,- said of the Book of
Psalms that it "contains . the
whole music • of the heart of
man."
Would that this music had
penetrated into the heart of
Lewis the critic who writes so
magnificiently but who criti-
cizes so bitterly. —P.S.

IN TOMATO SAUCE

KQE

5 7 LA F?/ET/E- 5

WARUVACTIJIUD IM

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•

H.J.HEINZ CO,PITTSBURGH

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Castro Condemns Bias;
Urrutia Greets Press

HAVANA, Cuba (JTA)—Dr.
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here through a personal note to
the correspondent of the Jew-
ish Telegraphic Agency extend-
ing "cordial" wishes to the
Jewish publications.
Dr. Fidel Castro, leader of
the revolution in Cuba, told a
press conference here that he
condemns racial and religious
discrimination. "Our revolution
would not have been entitled
to call itself a people's revolu-
tion if it- were not opposed to
all forms of racial discrimina-
tion," he added.

Berlin Gives Equipment
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