History Noted in t he Genizah
By S. J. GOLDSMITH
(JTA Correspondent in
London)
(Copyright, 1963, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
LONDON — It was known
since the end of the last cen-
tury that part of the Cairo
Genizah, which Dr. Solomon
Schechter had brought to Cam-
bridge University some 65
years ago, .contains priceless
documents of great value to
historical, linguistic and theo-
logical research. But most of
it, though well kept, as befits
Cambridge, and accessible to
specialists, is not catalogued as
yet. Only now, the documents
are being transferred from
their original crates into car-
ton boxes and roughly listed.
- Dr. Shelomo Morag, lecturer
in Semitics at the Hebrew Uni-
versity (he was at Brandeis for
two years) came to Gambridge
to do research work for a few
weeks at the University Lib-
rary. In the course of his work
on the Cairo Genizah docu-
ments, he came across several
manuscripts which nailed his
attention both &mil the point
of view of their Hebrew and
their contents.
ran Sect (or the Dead Sea
Sect, as it is sometimes call-
ed), the people of the Dead
Sea Scrolls. One of these
manuscripts is a set of laws
and regulations, and another
is a historical survey of the
Jewish people from early
times to the period of the
Sect.
Israeli Police Get Cabinet Mandate
for Action Against Violent Religionists
According to Dr. Morag, this
manuscript includes some re-
vealing passages, which may
be decisive in fixing the exact
period in which the Sect flour-
ished. It is relevant here to
remember that over fifty years
ago, some other documents,
also of the literature of the
Quamran Sect, were found in
the Cairo Genizah, at Cam-
bridge. Those are known today
as the "Damascus Covenant"
(in Hebrew, "Brith Damessek"),
or the "Zadokite Documents,"
the titles under which they
were published, in 1919, by
Prof. Solomon Schechter.
The true significance of the
"Damascus Covenant" came to
light only with the discovery
and the deciphering of the
Dead Sea Scrolls. Dr. Morag
points out that the newly dis-
covered documents are, to a
large extent, complementing
• A closer scrutiny showed
him, as he puts it, that they
the "Damascus Covenant" and
deserved further investiga-
other Quamran writings of the
tion. It soon transpired that
Sect available to us.
- the manuscripts belong to
It is his view that the set
the literature of the Quam-
of laws and regulations which
he has found among the Cairo
Genizah documents may be the
book, "Principles of the Cov-
enant of the Sect" (in Hebrew,
Yessodei Habrith), which is re-
MEXICO CITY (JTA) — ferred to in the "Damascus
Cuba's Jews are in need of He- Covenant."
Cuban Jews Need
Rabbi, Calendars
cabinet members heard a report
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The schools in Jerusalem, Jaffa and
by Foreign Minister Golda Meir
cabinet instructed Israeli police Haifa and to employ the strict-
authorities to take all measures
necessary to bring to justice
those those responsible for the
demonstrations last week
against Christian missionary
Weekly Quiz
By RABBI SAMUEL J. FOX
(Copyright, 1963, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
How did the various poetic in-
sertions in our liturgy originate?
FENCE
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on the reactions abroad to last
week's incidents as well as an
account of the events by Police
Inspector General Joseph Nach-
mias.
British Charge d'Affaires Des-
mond Pakenham called on Chief
Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim to dis-
cuss the demonstrations against
the British school in Jaffa. Pa-
kenham had already met with
Religious Affairs Minister War-
haftig on the same issue.
There are various theories
as to the origin of these poems
or "Piyyutim" as they are
called. We witness them es-
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pecially during the course of
the holidays and special Sab-
baths, in our present day pray-
ARE NOW BEING TAKEN
ers in the synagogue. One
On New or Existing Homes
theory holds that they came
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about during the course of
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of
persecutions.
During
periods .
the course of a difficult time
FRANKLIN
when Torah study and Torah
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reading was prohibited these
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poetic passages were inserted
WO 3-4896
as a hidden substitute. They
described and commented on
the Biblical portion of the par- V••••••00•000•00•0000000•0000000 00 •••••••••••
•
ticular Sabbath or festival. • •
During another difficult period •
•
invites all to its premiere event of the New Year
many formal prayers or some- •
•
•
YOM KIPPUR NITS BALL (Informal)
times all formal prayers were e
disallowed and these insertions • Sat., Sept. 28, 9 p.m., Knights of Pythias Hall :
were used to accomplish the •
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same purpose as the standard • Refreshment Varieties - First Niter Sur-Prizes & a Wonderful •
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prayers although appearing to • Time-and-a-half! One dollar per person.
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be mere poetry.
E.3
Another line of reasoning
101
DI
contends that these poetic in-
Ncl OW AVAILABLE
sertions were the result of the
If Dr. Morag is right—and
THE NEW TRANSLATION of the
demand and perhaps the need
very
cautious
scholar
he is a
for self-expression. Our basic
who wields expertly t h e
philological instrument by prayers are standardized out of
by
way of being an authority on the necessity to preserve their
MOSES MAIMONIDES
original
structure
and
to
pre-
Semitic languages—then we
twelfth century philosopher and
vent the intrusion of foreign
are at the next stage in our
biblical scholar
material by heretical sects. Yet,
understanding of the era and
. . . acclaimed by Jewish, Christian and
from
time
to
time
there
were
Arabic
scholars
as the greatest gem of
our comprehension of the
theological thought. Classic Jewish texts
historical episodes and deep
and philosophic ideas of Plato, Epicurus,
Jews of the Quamran Sect,
feelings which craved for ex-
Galen and particularly the use of Aris-
who exercise an influence of
totelian logic to support the belief in
pression in our liturgy. These
far-reaching consequences on
God, were absorbed in the GUIDE. Form-
found their way into the
ative element in the thinking of many
Jewish thought and ethics.
Scholastics including Duns Scotus, Al-
bertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and
This discovery may also shed liturgy through these poetic in-
leading Jewish and Christian scholars
more light on early Chris- sertions on the festivals and
. . Startlingly applicable to modern
special Sabbaths by rabbis who
times.
tianity.
served
as
cantors
in
olden
This' beautifully bound
Dr. Morag told me he in-
00 edition is indispensable
tends to publish soon docu- times and were gifted with
to theologians and all
ments he has found at Cam- literary ability as well as schol-
students of philosophy
arly acumen coupled with au-
bridge.
and religion.
The drama of an archeologi- thoritative reliability. On ordi- CI FREE gift wrapped—FREE delivery—each volume personalized FREE
cal dig yielding sensational nary Sabbaths or week-days,
finds may be missing here; it we do not use poetic insertions
is nevertheless a "dig" of an- because of the lack of time on
the week-days and the reluc-
other type. But for this chance
OF CHICAGO
discovery by a scholar, who tance to overburden the wor-
was actually, he admits, look- shiper on ordinary Sabbaths.
ing for something else, another On special Sabbaths and festi-
half century might have pass- vals, the spirit of the occasion
127 N. DEARBORN—In the Heart 01 the Loop
ed before the documents came called for some special expres-
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sion especially so that the wor- I
Religious Items • Gifts • Israel Imports • Cards • Paperbacks
to light.
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shippers get the feeling that
ICII
there was a special occasion
Beth Abraham Couples at hand and the prayers were
thus amplified.
Plan Cocktail Party
* * *
The Young Marrieds Group
brew calendars and would like
to have a rabbi and a ritual
slaughterer (schochet), accord-
ing to a request received here
from Havana by Rabbi Abraham
M. Hershberg, president of the
Rabbis of Central American
and Caribbean Area.
The letter, signed by Aaron
Geitzholtz and Azriel Weic, pres-
ident and secretary of the Ha-
vana Jewish Community, stated
that there were sufficient He-
brew prayer books and Bibles
on hand, but at least 300 He-
brew calendars were needed by
the community - for year 5724.
The community has long enter-
tained hopes that a rabbi and
ritual slaughterer might come
there, the letter stated. At pres-
ent, marriages in accordance
with Jewish ritual are being
consecrated by the "old scho-
chet," the leaders reported.
It was learned at the same
time that a new organization
uniting all of Havana's remain-
ing Jewish religious and cul-
tural organizations has just
been formed. Jacobo Adato was
chosen president of the new or-
ganization, and Azriel Weic,
secretary. The address of the
new organization was given as
Prado, 260, Havana. The Jewish
population of Cuba is now esti- of Cong. Beth Abraham will
hold a cocktail party 8:30 p.m.
mated at approximately 3,500.
Sunday at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Feldman, 23421
Harried, Oak Park. The year's
program will be announced and
new members will be initiated.
For an invitation or informa-
tion, call Mr. and Mrs. Nathan
Polasky, president, at LI 6-6579,
Nobody
or Vice-President Mr. and Mrs.
Jeff Garton. Membership is
UNDERSELLS
open to non-members of the
congregation.
GREAT LAKES
FENCE CO.
est measures in the future
against unlawful assemblies and
acts of violence.
The first proceedings against
the demonstrators began when
nine youths detained in the
Jaffa incident were brought be-
fore a Tel Aviv Magistrate on
charges of criminal trespass-
ing. Next Monday, 104 others
will face similar charges in con-
nection with their demonstra-
tion at the St. Joseph's Con-
vent School in Jerusalem.
The government decision fol-
lowed a vote of unaminous sup-
port by the members of the
cabinet for Prime Minister Le-
vi Eshkol's censure last week
of those taking part in the
demonstrations. At the same
time, the government decided
to defer consideration of a pro-
posal by Religious Affairs Min-
istre Zarah Warhaftig that the
cabinet deal with the general
question of missionary activities
in Israel.
Before the decisions, the
'Who's Minding the Store?'
Jerry Lewis gets red-haired,
shapely Jill St. John (Oppen-
heimer) as his leading lady in
his latest slapstick comedy,
"Who's Minding the Store?"
currently before the cameras at
Paramount, with Frank Tashlin
directing. In the film, Jill por-
trays Jerry's fiancee and an ele-
vator operator who, unbeknown
to Lewis, is due to inherit the
big department store where
they both work. Screen play is
by Tashlin and Harry Tugend.
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1 — 1
"THE GUIDE OF THE PERPLEXED"
'JEWISH BOOK MART
'Oa' Favisr- rprectsures lit juctialca
Hannah Cohen Presents Check to Yeshivah
Why are many of the addition-
al poems written in the form of
acrostics?
The acrostic served two pur-
poses. Where the 1st letter of
each verse runs alphabetically,
it serves as an aid to remem-
bering the sequence of the
verses. Where the sequence 1st
letters of each verse spell out
the author's name, it serves to
identify the author of the
poem (in the liturgy the name
of the author of the prayer is
never specified in traditional
prayer books. His anonymity
indicates not only a spirit of
humility on the author's part;
but it also gives the feeling
that the prayers and the poetry
are not to be recited as litera-
ture but as a means of com-
munication with the Almighty).
Emphysema
Emphysema is one of the
leading disabilities of old age.
Statistics show that about 95
per cent of those who contract
this ailment, which shortens
the breath and strains such vital
Four flags have flown over organs as the heart, are smok-
Michigan — French, English, ers. It is almost never found
in the non-smoker.
Spanish and American.
Mrs. Hannah Cohen, travel consultant, associated with Glynn
Travel Inc., 21601 Grand River is presenting a check of
$1,213.13, three months earnings, to the President of Yeshi-
vah Beth Yehudah Day School, Mr. Max Biber. Mrs. Louis
Thav, bookkeeper to the Yeshivah, also present, is an active
worker.