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 DON'T EVER FORGET IT!! ASK FOR "Morrie Sherman" Sales Manager GREAT LAKES FENCE B 16540 GREENFIELD R 3-2900 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- APPLICATIONS FOR 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 QUICK SERVICE about during the course of Phone Us Today of persecutions. During periods . the course of a difficult time FRANKLIN when Torah study and Torah MORTGAGE CORP. Approved FHA Mortgagee reading was prohibited these 915 First National Bldg. Det. 26 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 • • 15787 Wyoming - Popular Dance Orchestra - Sparkling Floor Show - same purpose as the standard • Refreshment Varieties - First Niter Sur-Prizes & a Wonderful • • prayers although appearing to • Time-and-a-half! One dollar per person. 5••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ∎ 1 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- Mail and Phone Orders-782-5199 sion especially so that the wor- I Religious Items • Gifts • Israel Imports • Cards • Paperbacks to light. tt7r-- FOR FREE CATALOG OI 11:1- 1=SEND 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. MORTGAGES VA or FHA CRITERION CLUB • • • • 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.