Dr. Jacob B. Agus, rabbi of century. "One-third of the Ben' movement, reaffirming the
Beth El Congregation of Balti- lin Jewish community forsook intrinsic value of the Jew-
more, has to his credit several Judaism in the single decade ish community."
Secularism, "distinctly a new
volumes in which the philoso- of 1802-1812," he points out.
phy of Jewish thong_ t is evalu- "While an honest intellectual phenomenon in- 'Jewish
ated with such skill and scholar- like David Friedlander wished Thought,' created by the im-
ly insight as to elevate them to make certain that he was pact of rationalism, assumed a
among the most significant con- not asked to swallow any Chris- Jewish garb under the influence
tributions to Jewish literary ef- tian dogmas in the process of of ethnic romanticism," Dr.
conversion, most people were Agus writes.
forts in our time.
Many of the attacks on Jewry,
With his latest work — "The not so squeamish. A wave of
Evolution of Jewish Thought: conversion engulfed the Jewish branding them — as Karl Marx
masses of Germany, aided by did — as dollar worshipers, and
From Biblical
the continuing disabilities of other- accusations, are branded
Times to the
Jews in most German states as "nonsense," and Dr. Agus
Opening of the
points to the defenses of those
and European countries."
Modern Era"
For survival, a new concept who extolled the Jewish "gen-
—published by
of Judaism was needed. Al- ius," as for example:
Abelard - Schu-
though "it seemed for a while
"Abraham Geiger, with all
man, he has
as if Judaism would not be his liberalism and sober ra-
risen to new
able to withstand the double- tionality, wrote of the exist-
heights in his
headed challenge of the new ence of the Jewish 'genius'
exposition of
era — the challenge of the for religion, shared by no
Jewish philo-
spirit of rationalism to the faith other people; Samuel David
sophical cur-
of the individual and the chal- Luzzatto asserted that pity
rents.
lenge of the new secular society was the unique quality of the
This volume
to the communal structure of Jewish soul; and Ahad Haam
is a survey of
Jewry," Dr. Agus shows how, maintained that the rational
30 centuries
"as happened so frequently in quest for the dominion of
of Jewish
the past, Judaism never rose to absolute justice was the un-
thought. It
such noble heights as when its derlying impetus of the Jew-
commences Dr. Agus
with "The Philosophy of the very existence was questioned. ish mind." In criticism, Dr.
Agus asks: "Need poison be
"It's amazing vitality," he
Old Testament" and continues
countered by antipoison drugs,
through "The Age of Reason," states, "was demonstrated in
or can mankind be educated
through the periods of Mendels- the 19th century by the rise
to dispense with the drug of
sohn, Spinoza, the Paris San- of two massive movements
collective egotism and learn
hedrin, the Haskalah and the in Judaism, each reasserting
to take life as it is, without
the worth of tradition in
hope of Zion.
the sinister solace of artificial
its own way: the Reform-
In the process of evaluat-
concoctions?"
Conservative movement, de-
ing the 3,000 years of Jewish
This is how Rabbi Agus leads
fending the faith of the in-.
philosophic thought, Rabbi
dividual, and the new Zionist his readers to thinking, to re-
Agus reviews the various his-
torical facets, the Messianic
hopes of Israel, the influ-
ences of Hellenism upon Ju-
_ claim, the emergence of
Christianity, the Kabalah and
Hassidism.
The roles played by the great
Jewish leaders and the leading
scholars in the various eras
under review are analyzed
scientifically, always with a
rationality that lends added sig-
nificance to this study.
In his study of the faith that
is Jewry's, Dr. Agus declares
that it is "life from the Jews
and 'a light unto all the na-
tions.' " He declares that "the
significance of the Jewish tra-
dition transcends the limits of
the Jewish community" and
adds:
"The Jew does not claim to
be the sole custodian of
eternal truths, but he does
set for himself the endless
task of applying eternal
truths to the changing prob-
lems of life. The Jewish peo-
ple are heirs of a long tra-
dition of truthful search.
Within this tradition, we find
different approaches to the
solution of those perennial
problems of a living faith,
which every generation en-
counters afresh."
Rabbi Agus's explanations of
the universality of Israel are
among the basic ideas in his
extensive 430-page study. In
this connection, his view of the
debatable issue of the "chosen-
ness" of Israel is worth noting.
He writes:
"The problem of a 'chosen
people' is not peculiar to
With two hundred years of
Judaism, since every religious
tobacco experience behind them—
tradition of necessity accords
supreme significance to the
you
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of nationalism, which in mod-
ern times has achieved, more
than once, the devotions due
religion."
There are thought-provoking
sections in the book dealing
with the age of reason and the
resurgence of humanism, as
well as on the issues revolving
around rationalism and the
philosophic discussions and lit-
erary works that emerged in
the periods of change in Jew-
ish life.
Discussing the effects of
emancipatory developments, Dr.
Agus comments upon the num-
© 1960, P. LORILLARD CO.
ber of Jews who accepted Chris-
tianity in Germany and France
in the first part of the 19th
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.
view issues and to adopt ration-
ality in facing Jewish problems.
In his preface to this import-
ant book, he declares: "Small
in numbers and weak in or-
ganization, the Jewish people
loomed neither large nor im-
portant in the political and
military affairs of the concert
of nations. But their faith and
culture are imbedded inextri-
cably in the texture of Western
civilization. Judaism may well
be regarded as the spiritual
`heartland' of Western man. It
has been loved and appreciated
or maligned and hated, but it
could never be ignored by the
master-builders of our culture."
It will be ignored even less
after the masterful analysis in
Dr. Agus' "The Evolution of
Jewish Thought."
Arabs to Intensify
Boycott of Israel
LONDON, (JTA)—The Arab
states boycott committee has
decided to intensify efforts
aimed at blocking the develop-
ment of economic relations be-
tween Israel and African and
Asian countries, it was reported
from Tripoli, Libya, where the
committee concluded a three-
week conference.
Other measures to be applied
by the Arab states in their eco-
nomic war against Israel include
the blacklisting of 24 additional
foreign companies and of cer-
tain films by movie stars "who
work for Israel's interests."
The committee also decided to
"resist" the "Zionist-Israel or-
ganization established to work
against the Arab boycott or-
ganization."
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13 -- THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, July 15, 1960
Rabbi. Jacob B. Agus' 'Evolution of Jewish Thought'
Is Masterful Review of 3,000 Years of Philsophies