By CHARLOTTE HYAMS
.The newsmaking clashes of
the Middle East received a
scholarly snub from eight acad-
einic VIP's at the Wayne State
University Conference on the
Literary Heritage of the Near
East Sunday through Tuesday.
Conference chairman Ephraim
A. Speiser, renowned orientalist
and chairman of the University
of Pennsylvania Department of
Semitics, stated at the opening
session that the purpose of the
conference was'to probe,
through literature, "into the
minds and hearts of those who
made history," to explore the
thoughts of ancient peoples who
lay in the "cradle of civiliza-
tion." -
The success of the unique
conference led Speiser to com-
ment at the noon luncheon
Monday that its stature is over-
whelming in proportion to the
size and limited scope of WSU's
young Department of Near East-
ern Languages and Literatures,
sponsor of the conclave.
But Dr. William V Mayer,
acting associate dean of the Col-
lege of Liberal Arts, cited the
progress made in the four years
since Dr. Abram Spiro, father
of the three-year-old parley,
took the departmental reins.
Dr. Victor A.
for internati '
de-
stu i.
Dr. Alfred Kelly, chairman
of the History Department at
WSU, said the "university's
dream for greatness" received
a boost from the conference
and its noted participants, and
Leonard Kasle, a member of
the Detroit Board of Education,
lauded the conference in its
"search for origin, making our
ancient sources intelligible."
The Sunday evening discus-
sion featured short talks on
"The Wisdom of the East—Con-
nections and Contrasts." Speak-
ing on the Biblical aspect, Prof.
Harold L. Ginsberg of the
Theological Seminary of Amer-
ica, said Israelite wisdom
differed from that of other peo-
ples because "it was strictly
monotheistic and lent more
prominence to ethics and
religion."
While the bulk of the Bible
is "covenant literature," de-
scribing the relationship be-
tween God and man, Ginsberg
cited the "ethical serenity" • of
Proverbs,. the "agonized doubt"
of Job and the "r esigned
skepticism" of Koheleth as ex-
amples of the "humanistic
literature" in the Bible.
Spiro, on wisdom themes
in Rabbinic literature, em-
phasized the practical aspect
these writings which ex-
to
d from the second cen-
tur
.C.E. through the ninth
dared th
priva
citizens
cent
C.E. -"Rabbinic wis-
little
terest in
show t
dam
he said, insists that
endow
pub
institutions.
"ma must be appreciated for
raham and Tom or-
Yet
his wn worth." Such works
ma were praised
r
eir
a
he Proverbs and Ethics
co ibutions to the
art-
the Fathers were written
t throu
an
an age (Messianic) that
r Eas
res, two
was not concerned with the
of which
Peld Sund
same problems as were Bibli-
a Mon
enings
cal authors, Spiro said.
eh ge to
public
Other talks were by Drs.
Samuel N. Kramer, Sumerian
7ORN ITURE scholar
from the University of
"`, SERVICE Pennsylvania; John A. Wilson,
Refinishing. - Restoring director of the Oriental Insti-
tute at the University of Chi-
Furniture
cago, on Egyptian wisdom
Repaired &
Refinished in" themes; Franz Rosenthal of
Any Color of
Yale University, on Aramaic
Your Choice.
Antiques - Old and Arabic; and Albrecht
Furniture Made
Like New. Cig- Goetze of Yale on Akkadian
arette Burns Re- literature. -
N I SH ING
ick SPECIALTY
paired. All work
Rev. Prof. John L. McKenzie,
:gAtORS TO CHOOSE guaranteed.
S.J., of Loyola University,
City Wide &
Suburban
Larry Paul Ginsberg and Speiser discussed
Free Estimates
"Elusive Aspects of Biblical
Literature" at the 8:30 p.m.
U14.4-8440
1322-3 W. Mc N ocHOLS
session Monday.
Cage
— MI
NEW
.
. and
EXCLUSIVE
VE i t °SPITZER'S
9"x11"
WHITE LEATHER
J. SPITZER
CONFIRMATION
M
Witt place for pho-
tographs, guest au-
tographs & memos.
I
I
1
I
I
I
We also arry
and gill
ELET
CHARMS 1
SPITZER'S
the Pentateuch. Contrasting "J"
with the other Biblical writers,
"E," "P" and "D," Speiser said
that "J" had the "wonderful gift
of characterization. His por-
trayals of Adam and Eve, Abra-
ham and Joseph, for example,
are earthly, live, three-dimen-
sional."
At the noon luncheon Tues-
day, Rabbi Mo
spiritual
g.
Shaa
, discussed
ritie in the Bible
almu r ." He stated that
ile the Bible is a national
literature, it is not
down by self-glorificio) but
rather
praisals
meats .
purpose,
0
criticize."
ed under the law
and under the divine mandate to
serve ethical ideals," Adler
stated. "When other countries
were defeated, their gods were
defeated with them. But for
the Jew, a defeat was a judg-
ment upon him."
"Society rests on three im-
portant pillars, acording to the
Bible," Adler concluded. ',..They
are truth, justice and peace. ,
When justice is done there is
truth, and when justice and
truth are done, there is peace."
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Arab Infiltrator Gets
20-Year Term; Others
Killed by Israeli Patrol
!mimed. Delivery
on all models
I'm as near as your phone
IV 1-0600
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — An
Arab infiltrator from the Gaza
Strip who was captured during
a clash with an Israeli patrol in
which three of his comrades
were killed, was sentenced to 20
years' imprisonment by the Dis-
trict Court here. At the time of
his capture, the infiltrator was
found in possession of a Karl-
Gustav submachine gun, hand
grenades and ammunition.
After pleading not guilty in
court, the infiltrator said he was
on his way from the Gaza Strip
to Jordan. He declined to explain,
however, how it happened that
all four of the infiltrators were
equipped with identical arm
and ammunition and w
group began firing
raeli patrol whit
their hiding pla
The Israel
announced,
Egyptian in
a clash wit
Yad Mord
edge of
miles insid
ael territory. The
spokesman s
the incident was
reported to t
Emergency Force hea quarters
in Gaza.
Res. LI 8-4119
How's Your "Rainy
Day" Coverage .. .
Moroccan Radio Praises
Jews of Fez for Warm
Welcome for King
Your best umbrella on a financial
"rainy day" is cash which is quickly
available to you in your Guardian
Savings account.
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
CASABLANCA—The Moroccan
National Radio broadcast a pro-
gram paying warm tribute to
SPE
• * * I the Jews of Fez, the country's
Large s
ction of sow' 14k gold bracelets and
ms, and an
religious capital, for the manner
exquisit
•llection of Israeli pins, brooches, br
is and genuine
cultured
arls.
in which they acclaimed the visit
Solid 14K
olid 14K
1 to that city of King Hassan. The
monarch returned from a visit
to Fez.
Reg. $
Reg. $5 to $75
At the same time, it became
I
known the government radio,
I which is now avoiding the broad-
cast of anti-Semitic sentiments,
50% °FF
I refused
to broadcast a com-
munique
from
a group of Moroc-
HEBREW BOOK
can. Jews who oppose the forma-
& GIFT CENTER I tion of_ a council of Jewish
communities in this country.
"The House of Bargains"
I Those opposed to the establish-
Where You Always Get $1 Off on All Best Sellers
ment of the council are being
18295 Wyoming
UN 3-0543; UN 3-1557 I termed "assimilationists" by the
ME ME WM MN ME ME ME MS MR MI UM MN MN NM ME ME MS II, council proponents.
I B
I
o
On the poetry of the Old
Testament, Fr. McKenzie said
the religious impact of Israelite
poetry makes it difficult to
judge its literary influence, but
that "the poetry of ancient Is-
rael has moved more people and
farther than any other poetry."
To prove that early He-
brew poetry is "neither in-
sincere nor trivial," he cited
the Song of Songs ("Only
Israelite poets have sung of
God's love for Israel, His
spouse"), the 23rd and 18th
Psalms ("The power and judg-
ment of God and the con-
vulsions of Nature are po
trayed with great visio
imagination and language'
and the Book of Job ("Fe
poets have conveyed so fore
fully the tragedy of life").
Ginsberg pointed out the
main concerns of the Hebrew
Wisdom Books are morality and
religion. A book like the Bible
could not have been written
outside Israel at that time "be-
cause in the non-Israelite world
divinity wasn't synonymous with
goodness."
He added that
ook of
Job, "the
cient
orient
rat
and wis
cou
.ave be produced only
srael where the spiritual
ieu was based upon the
lief that Wi
is the love
of God." T
that "Go
cause H
em.
The er "J"
subject f Speiser's t
on-
day evening, "J"
esenting
e of the
n writers of
Current Rate
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Downtown: CADILLAC SQUARE Corner RANDOLPH .
Northwest: 13646 WEST 7 MILE Corner TRACEY
Both offices open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
Northwest office open Thursday Night till 9
Downtown Friday till 6
$ — THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, May 12, 1961
Probe Literary Heritage of Near East