THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial
Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 48235 Mich.,
VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign $7.
Second Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This SabbatiCthe ninth day of Ab, 5724, the following Scriptural selections will
be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Deist. 1:1 - 3:22. Prophetical portion: Isaiah 1:1-27.
Licht benshen, Friday, July 17,
Page Four
VOL. XLV. No. 21
7:47 p.m.
July 17, 1964
Historic Myth Exploded by Vatican Debate
More confusion than enlightenment has
come from numerous quarters in recent
months over the issue of the proposed schema
"on the Jews" resulting from Ecumenical
Council discussions. The reports from the Vat-
ican, which have been followed by vague de-
nials, that the entire matter still is "under
study," cause the New Republic to comment
editorially that "if in fact the expectations
raised by the Catholic Church that this tragic
historical injustice will be righted are proved
to have been false, hopes for a new era of
good feeling between Catholics, Protestants
and Jews will be badly bruised."
Thereupon, the New Republic reviewed
the Catholic-Jewish issue and made these
editorial comments:
.
Historically, there is not a shadow of a doubt
that it was the Romans who crucified Christ. Some
of the members of the Sanhedrin condemned
as blasphemy his assumption of the role of Mes-
siah. But neither the Sanhedrin as a whole nor
the few who delivered Christ over to Pilate had
the power to pass sentence of death. Crucifixion
was a Roman, not a Jewish, death penalty; and
the accounts of Pilate's compassion and Jewish
Christocide date from a later period when Rome
was strong and Israel weak. As one of the
greatest historians of the period, Joseph Klaus-
ner, has pointed out: "The Jews, as a nation,
were far less guilty of the death of Jesus than
the Greeks, as a nation, were guilty of the death
of Socrates. . . . Yet these 1900 years past the
world has gone on avenging the blood of Jesus
the Jew upon his countrymen, the Jews, who have
already paid the penalty, and still go on paying
the penalty in rivers and torrents of blood."
The words were written a dozen years before the
Third Reich began putting into effect its "Final
Solution" of the "Jewish Problem."
It was also long before the advent to power of
Adolf Hitler that the saintly priest who was to
become Pope John XXIII, began to think of some
way of righting this wrong. If Pope John had
lived, the schema on the Jews, in which he and
Cardinal Bea took a deep personal interest,
would surely have been voted by the Vatican
Council in a form that at the very least would
have lifted from all generations of Jews any
burden of collective guilt. But the second session
of Vatican II was a pale and faint echo of the
first; and if a schema on the Jews comes before
the third session and is voted on, it may not be
the one Pope John wanted.
If the heart is torn out of the schema on the
Jews, as some predict it will be, the reason would
be essentially political, not theological; for the
theological point is conclusively covered in the
statement: "Father, forgive them (whoever they
may be), for they know not what they do." The
most obvious reason would be the open and pas-
sionate opposition of the Islamic countries, par-
titularly those of the Near and Middle East.
Pope Paul might not react to such opposition as
firmly as President Johnson did to the message
of the 13 Arab ambassadors who protested the
President's decently hospitable reception of Is-
rael's Prime Minister in Washington this month.
During Pope Paul's precedent-breaking visit
to the Holy Land last January, Arab statesmen
tinctured their cordiality to the head of Catholic
Christendom with scarcely delicate reminders
that they control most of the shrines particularly
sacred to Christendom, and that, moreover, they
can, if the Jews are "helped" in any way, influ-
ence not only Islamic but governments of other
countries which harbor Catholic institutions or
missions. The Orthodox churches would be even
more seriously affected because they are strongest
and their flocks most numerous in eastern Eu-
rope, the Middle East and westarn Asia: and
since Paul has continued John's effort to narrow
the gap between the Catholic and the Orthodox,
the possible fear of Islamic reprisals becomes a
political consideration.
Cardinal Ottaviani of the Congregation of the
Holy Office, leader of all the opponents of John's
modernizing efforts in the Roman Curia and
throughout the world, was and is a vigorous
antagonist of the whole schema on the Jews.
He objects even to a mild anodine version repeat-
ing again the Roman Church's repudiation of
anti-Semitism. There have been signs of late that
the "Ottavianisti" have been flexing their muscles.
Since there are other schemata to be voted on
at the third session, some of greater significance
to Pope Paul, his desire to win votes in advance
may play a part in diluting the schema on the
Jews. As Stalin was once said to have asked how
many military divisions the Holy See had, so
the Pope's advisers may consider that the oppo-
nents of Israel have greater political strength
than the Jews.
Daniel Dialogues by Buber:
Old Work Edited by Friedman
A distinguished authority on the works of the eminent philosopher
and interpreter of Hassidism Martin Buber, Prof. Maurice Friedman,
makes available a new translation of one of Buber's earliest works.
"Daniel—Dialogues on Realization," which first was published
in Germany in 1913. has just been issued by Holt, Rinehart and Win-
ston (383 Madison, NY1.7), in Prof.
Friedman's translation, with an im-
portant introductory essay by the trans-
lator.
Dr. Friedman explains that this is
an important sequence in Prof. Buber's
thought "from his earliest essays in
1900." The translator states that " 'Dan- ,
iel' shows the influence of the religions
of the Orient — in particular, Taoism,
Buddhism, and the Hindu Vendanta."
He indicates that the mystics of other
faiths "provided a bridge for Buber to
The New Republic made the additional Jewish "It mysticism."
is not Jewish mysticism in
comment that the "profoundly moral and general," Dr. Friedman states, "but
spiritual challenge" in the proposed schema Hassidism, the popular communal Jew-
now "is in danger of being weighed on the ish mysticism of 18th and 19th Cen-
scales of political prudence," and there is a tury East European Jewry, which had
influence on the develop-
warning that "the Pope will not be able to the greatest
ment of Buber's philosophy, and this
remain 'above the battle'."
Prof. Buber
is evident in `Daniel'."
The issue that has been stirred was not
"Daniel" was written in the form of five dialogues, and in it
of our making. It came from conscientious Daniel and his friends explore philosophical problems on the rela-
Catholics and it had the encouragement of tions of man to God.
"The sum of life," the discussants assert, "is the sum of its un-
Jewish leaders. It began as a matter of
conditionedness."
church conscience and must continue as
Prof. Buber, who became famous for, among other works, "I and
such. The developing discussions, however, Thou,"
brings forth the idea that "man takes upon himself the tension
are of great merit. When, as indicated by the of being and becoming, and the soul experiences worldwide its own
New Republic, the historic truth is presented, stillness and its own movement, its own fixity and its own whirl, its
explaining the origin of the crucifixions, own continuance and its own transformation. The two aspects of the
which were not Jewish policies, and pinning great nature stand with each other in the outstretched heaven of the
blame where it belonged, the record is finally living soul. Thus the world lives its duality from within: in the man,
being set straight on an historic injustice who wills to create the unity."
"To live the tension of the world is the highest test of our \---
against our people.
being," is one of the lessons in "Daniel."
The philosophic dialogue affirms: "There is in reality no
except the I of a tension: in which it brings itself together. No pole,
no force, no thing—only polarity, only stream, only unification can
In Israel, whose population is expected to become I."
At one point, a note of bitterness is discerned in Daniel. Asked
exceed 3,000,000 by 1970, the Oriental-Occi-
producers, he said:
dental clash presents a problem that could to define
"Those who seek work without being, who give what they do not
become comparable to the race issue in South possess,
who triumph where they have not fought: the pet children of
Africa and the United States, but such an appearance. They shun realization from of old or have renounced it
eventuality is being averted by the vision of when they take leave of their youth. But they slo or make things
those who, like the ORT directorate, provide such as once came only out of realization, or at least deceptively similar
educational media and training facilities things . . . God once created' the world in six days, but since then we
which tend to raise the standards of living have learned the technique of creation. With its help the apes of
of all new settlers, regardless of their na- God makes the world in one day, and it is more interesting . . . "
Prof. Buber had refused to give consent to an English translation
tional origins or their skin pigmentations. of "Daniel,"
but he was induced by Prof. Friedman and Arthur A.
ORT's work in Israel, in European and
to permit it although he stipulated that
Cohen
Afro-Asian countries and in Latin America, Prof. Friedman should "write an introduc-
attest to efforts that are based on the experi- tion explaining, even at some length, that this 4„,
ences that were gathered since the move- is an early book in which there is already*,
ment first was founded to be of assistance expressed the great duality of human life,
to persecuted and distressed Jews in Russia. but only in its cognitive and not yet in its
Now the needs embrace larger areas. The communicative and existential character."
is obviously a book of transition to
forced migrations are responsible for an in- This book
crease in the number of people who must a new kind of thinking and must be charac-
as such.
look to ORT for retraining and re-education. terized
Adhering to this condition, Prof. Fried-k
Fortunately, the movement is prepared to man wrote the lengthy introductory essay
apply its experiences to the needs. It must which fully evaluates the Hassidic character
be upheld and given courage to carry on the of Prof. Buber's life work, his mysticism, his
vital tasks in many lands by those who are intent in "Daniel." Thus this new work
s"•:
in position to provide sustenance for its train- emerges as another noteworthy addition to
Dr. Friedman
the
large
library
of
Buber's
works.
ing institutions.
'Sinking New Roots: Problems Faced by ORT
Challenging facts presented by ORT in its
annual survey of conditions in areas where
this Organization for Rehabilitation through
Training is functioning reveal "a vast human
tidal wave" which has altered the Jewish
map.
Repatriates from Algeria now living in
France, a flood of immigrants from many
lands who are now "sinking new roots" in
Israel and in several other countries, con-
tinue to present problems that demand
speedy solution, and one of the means of
relieving the tragedies that have been im-
posed upon hundreds of thousands of people
who have been forced to flee from their
homes is through training for new occupa-
tions and the acquisition of knowledge that
should guide them towards happier futures
in freer environments.
The ORT report emphasizes not only the
problem with which it is grappling in France
where Jewish newcomers must be taught
new skills in order to train them for means
of earning a livelihood, but also the condi-
tions that have been created in Israel by
"the unfinished work of integrating a million
new immigrants."
r-/