that is, by accepting the obliga- inevitability of individual moral
tions of the Covenant—might responsibility toward all men,
enjoy the fruits of God's bounty not merely neighbors and fel-
in the manner that God prom- low Israelites.
ised His -own people Israel
The Biblical verse "And
through His prophets. • In this you shall love your neighbor
called to include them." So that universalism, Biblical Israel and as yourself; I am the Lord"
the position of tiny Israel "led her prophets were unique in the
(Lev. 19:18) was incorporated
the prophets to an outlook that ancient Near East.
in
was universal in its ultimate
ern tr.
, n trans-
When the Jewish descendant
implications. Believing firmly
mitted
age
to age with
of
the
prophets,
during
that their God, the only God
he treme ous impact.
in existence, would ultimately Hellenistic and especiall
It is to the prophetic tradi-
deliver them from all threats Roman periods, becam more tio
a
ther source
from other nations, so that no fully aware of living in single th
ation owe
at en-
more wars would come upon great unified society
nc
them, consciously aware that compassed all of th known
so
obligation
world,
they
drew
upo
and ex-
the Torah, their religion, was
ndividual hu
f the
the only code of laws and life panded the universalis
by which man could live, the prophets. The prophetic
prophets expressed the convic- cept of the Covenant had aimed
tion that all the peoples of the at making all men—of the Is-
universe, after they had been raelite society, to be sure—
through stress and strain at equal in their essential human
Almost Everything in Wear-
ing Apparel from Size 40
the hands of each other through dignity. This concept, in turn,
Extra Long to 66 Stout.
the will of God, would come led to one much broader in
to realize that Israel and her scope, of the universality and i jerry BAKER'S 1
dy 2-2104
religion and her God and His
abode on Zion—tha
stituted the
.roe
way
Friends and Investors of Ampat
of life in
ntire
ld.
are invited to attend the
it was the civilization
ael which the prophets
uld advocate for the other
ations, and while nothing of
the gentile cult es
RSDAY EVENING, OCT. 5, 8:30 P.M.
sidered worthy
tion into the I
At The Home of Mrs. Dorothy G. Turkel,
life, the p icula
2760 West 7 Mile Road
Israel and h
spokesm
did
Mr. Abraham Dickenstein, Ampal's President
foundation
cept of universality.
Will Discuss the Subject:
Gradually •
me to be
"A Generation of Investments in .Israel and the Future"
lieved
mankind, by
For Reservations Please Call: WO 1-3260
g the principles of
Israelite belief and practice
The Prophets and Their Contemporary Relevance
Isaiah' s Universalism
Editor's Note: This impor-
tant essay by Prof. Orlinsky
was part of the text of his
recent 'national radio address in
the Message of. Israel series.
nations,
He shall decide between many
peoples;
And they shall beat their
swords into ploughshares,
And their spears into pruning
hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword
against. nation,
And they shall learn war no
more.
A-s I had occasion to write
in my book "Ancient Israel,"
"Read wishfully, this majestic
passage might be construed,
as it so often has been, to
imply a desire for the
brotherhood of man and for
universal peace on earth.
In hard fact, the context pre-
cludes this sentimental inter-
pretation. Isaiah and Micah
rigidly predicate any such peace
on the triumph of Israel; 'Out
of Zion shall go forth the Law
they say, 'And the word of t
Lord from Jerusalem'." Yet i
short of the whole truth
assert that the interest of Is
and his fellow prophets "s
ped short with their own pe
Israel . . . For Israel, dwel
among other nation's, was
mately and constantly affecte
by their actions, and the proph-
ets' attention was repeatedly !
"%="1"" "u"
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* *
By Dr. HARRY M. ORLINSKY
The 8th century B.C.E. was
one of great ferment in West-
ern Asia. Two rather smallish
kingdoms, generally equal in
strength, lay between the Med-
iterranean Sea and the Jordan,
the kingdom of Judah and the
kingdom, of Israel. And east
of them, on the other side of
the Jordan, lay the kingdom
of Aram, of Syria.
Unfortunately for these three
states, they w e r e relatively
small in size and in population,
a n d of no
great conse
quence in nat-
ural resources
or accumulat
ed wealth.
Even more, it
was their mis-
fortune to b
located geo-
gr a p hically
such that they
cons tituted,.:-.:.,
the land Dr. Orlinsky
bridge between Asia and Africa,
More specifically, between the
empires of Babylonia and
Assyria in Mesopotamia on the
east, and the empire of Egypt
along the Nile river on the
west. This meant, that from pre-
historic times down to our own
day, whenever any of these
mighty countries found it feas-
ible to expand beyond their
national borders, it was the
regions of Judah, Israel, and
Aram that became immediately
involved. They were simply
unable to determine their own
destinies: their more powerful
neighbors were masters of their
fate.
Accordingly, the history of
Biblical Israel, virtually from
beginning to end—the lone ex-
ception was the 10th century
Israelite Empire under David
and Solomon, which dominated
Western Asia—was one of in-
volvement, invariably unwanted,
forced involvement. Independ-
ence was but a wishful idea, a
state which was not to be theirs
in the forseeable future. And
involvement, for Biblical Israel,
meant invasion or threat of in-
vasion; conquest; captivity;
tribute; slavery; destruction.
The prophet Isaiah, in the
8th century B.C.E., was born
into such a period. Assyria
was on the march once again.
The petty kingdoms on both
sides of the Jordan were jus-
tifiably apprehensive. In trep-
idation they began to form
alliances; what else could
they do?
The prophet Isaiah knew
that these alliances and pacts
were basically of little account.
So far as he was concerned, the
Aram-Israel coalition w o u l d
cease to exist before long, for
Assyria would not tolerate any
cooalition aimed at her. As for
the Judean monarch Hezekiah,
even the Assyrian king
Sennacherib's general Flab-
shakeh, warned him (in the
celebrated 36th chapter of the
book of Isaiah), "On whom do
you now rely, that you have
rebelled against me? You are
relying on Egypt, that broken
reed of a staff, which will pierce
the hand of any man who leans
on it. Such is Pharaoh, King of
Egypt to all who rely on him."
Israel's greatest need was
peace from her more powerful
neighbors. And the ultimate so-
lution for this little nation,
Isaiah recognized, was, bluntly,
the cessation of war. It was not
that Isaiah, or the other great
prophets, or the people of Israel,
had any great concern for the
welfare of Egypt, Moab, Baby-
lonia, Phoenicia or Aram. Is-
rael's one concern was to be
left alone, and it was this over-
whelming desire that Isaiah—
and Micah and Joel and others—
expressed in the famous lines:
The Lord shall judge between