Rutgers'World History of the Jewish People' Starts With 'At the Dawn of Civilization' "A monumental series tracing the history of the Jewish people, in all lands, from the days of Abraham to the present," has be- gun to appear from the Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, N.J., and the first of projected 21 volumes already is available under the title "At the Dawn of Civiliza- tion." Prof. Ephraim A. Speiser of the University of Pennsylvania is edi- tor of the first volume, and gen- --.- eral editor of the first volume, . . ,which includes distinguished schol- '----/ars as contributors, is Prof. B. Netanyahu of Dropsie College. There is an interesting back- ground to the publication of this momentous series. Believing that the two previous histories by the eminent Heinrich Graetz and Simon Dubnov are "now outdated," a need was felt for "a new history which should not only bring the story up-to-date as regards recent events, but also present both to scholars and to the general reader the results of the latest research in all fields of Jewish history." In the late 1940s a group of scholars convened and "agreed that such a project, to be fully reliable and on the highest possi- ble scholarly standard, could no Th longer be the work of a single ) person but must now be a collec- tive work." Two committees of scholars were formed in 1952—in Israel and in this country—to develop the pro- jected history. Now this effort is bearing fruit, and work is pro- gressing on 11 volumes, to appear in Hebrew and in English, with the most distinguished of the world's Jewish scholars as partici- pants. Thus commences the Rutgers "World History of the Jewish Peo- ple." An explanatory editors-pub- lishers note explains: "In the past, nothwithstanding all efforts (and sometimes brave declarations) to the contrary, Jewish history has tended to be treated as if it were in a vacuum, paying little attention to the fac- tors of general history which conditioned it and which in turn it influenced. In the present work, particular care has been taken to ensure that the Jewish history is placed within its proper historical perspective in the field of general history. Thus not only is it shown how general history affected the course of Jewish history, but also—sometimes with surprising effect — how Jewish history af- fected the general world about it. The work is thus a contribu- tion of first importance to his- torical studies in general, not only to those dealing specifically with the Jewish people. — that Israel took on was to coun- teract that vaccum. Once ac- cepted, this mission was pursued with unparalleled dedication and single-mindedness of purpose. The all but universal acceptance of the results is a true measure of the success attained." ■ PROF. E. A. SPEISER At the Metropolitan Detroit Bnai Brith Israel Purim Festival hosted by Pisgah Lodge and Chapter, Phillip Stollman (second from left), Israel Bond steering committee chairman, was presented with a scroll by the Israel Bond Organization. Others in photo are (from left) : Elias Goldberg, Pisgah Israel Bond chairman; Alex Gersuk, Bnai Brith Council Israel Bond chairman, and Louis E. Levitan, Detroit Israel Bond director. The meeting resulted in Israel Bond niirehacpc_totaling 550.000. Lew Norman was the guest entertainer. (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) BRUSSELS—The Belgian min- ister of health submitted to the cabinet a draft bill awarding to Belgian citizens who were victims of the Nazis $20,000,000 in compen- sation paid by West Germany to Belgium. In submitting the bill, the gov- ernment turned down a request by Jewish organizations that part of the funds should be earmarked specifically for Jews who were forced to wear the yellow Star of David or for the time they spent in hiding from the Nazis. The government rejected the re- quest on the grounds that it would also have to award compensation to all Belgian citizens who had been forced to live in hiding for any reason. In pursuing the task of outlin- ing civilization's dawn, several au- thorities, including Prof. W. F. Al- bright who writes on "Prehistory," deal with the environmental fac- tors — Israel and lands to the north. The writers include Drs. A. J. Brawer, author of four of the essays; M. Avnimelech, D. Ashbel, MUSIC ! ENTERTAINMENT M. Zohary, F. S. Bodenheimer. This first part of the book, too, concludes with an essay by Prof. Speiser, as editor, on the subject "The Regional Environment." and his orchestra Prof. Speiser has four essays in UN 3-6501 If No Answer Call DI 1-6847 the second portion of the book de- voted to the ethno-linguistic fac- tor. Other authors, who join in writing on Semitics, Akkadian, Egyptians, Sumerians, Hittite s, Ammorites, Canaanites, include Drs. H. Polotsky and S. N. Kramer. The first portion reveals the Corsets-Brassieres introductory zeal of the spon- sors of this world history. It in- Expertly Fitted cludes analyses of the flora and 20127 W. 7 MILE RD. fauna, climate, geology, mor- It is essential to the triumph of 538-5575 phology. reform that it shall never succeed." Parking in Rear —William Hazlitt. Planned to appear almost si- multaneously in Hebrew and in English, the new world history's ATTENTION: ALL SINGLE MEN AND WOMEN Hebrew editions will be published THE BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL CHAPTER OF B`NAI BRITH by Massadah Publishing Co. of INVITE YOU TO ATTEND THEIR ANNUAL Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The English volumes are being pub- INSTALLATION DINNER AND DANCE lished by Jewish History Pub- Sunday, March 28th, 1965, at the GOLDEN NUGGET lications Ltd., one of the 14 pub- 15921 W. 8 MILE RD. AT RUTHERFORD ST. lishing enterprises controlled by With the music of the TOWNSMEN the Pell family, leading pub- Women: by Reservation only lishers of books in Hebrew. The 5.00 Men: For the dinner and dancing at 6 p.m. publishing enterprises controlled 2.00 For the Dancing only at 9 p.m. by the Peli family include: FOR RESERVATIONS CALL, Myna Moss 342 1280 Encyclopaedia Publishing Co., Mollie Foster UN 3-4885 which publishes the Hebrew En- cyclopaedia in 32 volumes and has 72,000 subscribers; Massadah Publishing Co. which has produced EXPECTING OUT OF TOWN GUESTS more than 1,000 titles; and Mas- sadah — P. E. C. Press Ltd., lead- FOR A WEDDING OR A BAR MITZVAH? ing publisher of Judaica in various European languages. Dr. Cecil Roth, Reader Emeritus in Jewish Studies at the University Is Conveniently Located at of Oxford, has been named co- 20500 JAMES COUZENS ordinating editor of the new world (8 Mile & Greenfield—Across from Northland) history project. Call 342-3000 For the Finest Accommodations! Work already is progressing on Dine at the SCOTCH & SIRLOIN RESTAURANT 11 volumes, two to be published Airport Limousine Service Available each year but work to commence at once on the entire projected history. In a statement about the next volume in the series, with which he will pursue his assignment in this great undertaking, Prof. Roth declared: "While Jewish historiography has previously inevitably devoted a disproportionate space to the history of persecution on the one hand and to religious, intellec- tual and literary history on the other, in the 'World History of the Jewish People' particular care has been taken to pay due attention to social and economic history in accordance with the concepts which now prevail in general historiography." The first volume speedily con- firms that the aspirations of edi- tors and publishers are being realized. Enriched by 86 halftones, six maps and two line drawings which serve to explain the texts to which they are appended, the volume devoted to "The Dawn of Civilization" deals with environ- mental, ethno-linguistic and cul- tural factors. In the third portion, Prof. Speiser writes on "Mesopotamia— Evolution of an Integrated Civiliza- tion," devoting himself to histor- ical frameworks and cultural com- ponents. The second portion of that part of the monumental work is devoted to "Egypt—The Kingdom of the 'Two Lands,' " authored by Prof. J. A. Wilson of the University of Chicago. An epilogue by Prof. Speiser, which concludes the third part, makes the following important ob- servation: "Thanks to our vastly in- creased knowledge of the an- dent Near East, which this volume has attempted to sum- marize, we know now how much Israel had learned from both Egypt and Mesopotamia. If it had not been for their prior labors, Israel might not have fared so well in going on from where they left off, or in start- ing afresh where they had failed. The very strides that had been made in material, soc- ietal and intellectual fields help- "When some six years ago I was ed to emphasize the existing asked to take as my special responsi- spiritual vaccum. The mission bility in the World History of the Stollman Honored at Pisgah Bond Fete West, partly to Moorish Spain, partly to Northern France and the lands bordering on this area. There is hardly a single figure of first importance in Jewish cultural life in the course of the past ten centuries who was born other than in Western Europe, or at all events of Western European stock. But cultural life does not exist in a vacuum: it is dependent on a dense and self-sufficient social life to nurture it, and a dense population to support it. An American parallel can illustrate my point: had Benjamin Franklin been born in New England a hundred years before, his genius would have been the same, but his influence would have been negligible- "The period 700-1000 hence witnessed not only the transference of Jewish culture, but also of the great mass of Jewish population, from East to West. How did it happen? What caused it? It is perhaps one of the most important facts of all Jewish history, but histori- ans hitherto have paid little attention to it: they have accepted the change without attempting to explain it. In the volume that I am editing in World History of the Jewish People, and which should appear later in the present year, the phenomenon is receiving for the first time the attention that it deserves as a factor in general as well as in Jewish history. A number of dis- tinguished experts have turned their attention to the problem and to various aspects of Jewish life as they developed in Europe during the period in ques- tion, setting the scene for the drama and tragedy and achievement of Jewish life in Europe in the course of the Middle Ages and into modern times. Much still remains problematical or dubious. But I feel that I can say that with the appearance of this volume the foundation has at last been laid for the knowledge of this period." Belgian Cabinet Gets Bill for Funds to Nazi Victims Jewish People' the volume, (XI), deal- ing with the Dark Ages in Christian Europe (essentially the period from 700 to 1096) I accepted with a curious mix- ture of reluctance and and alacrity. Re- luctance, because although I knew about the period approximately as much as most of my colleagues, my knowledge was sketchy and the gaps in it distressing: alacrity, because the editing of this volume in the series constituted a remarkable challenge. in question is one of the most important in Jewish history, particularly as re- gards the area in question: for it wit- nessed the beginnings of the European- ized Jewry that has conditioned Jewish history for the last thousand years and has been responsible during the past generations for the greatest achieve- ments of the Jewish people, whether cultural or political, whether domestic or external. Einstein, Freud, Brandeis, Weizmann, Disraeli, Ben-Gurion, Car- doso—all 'western' Jews—are a random selection of the names that will il- lustrate my point. Now, this Euro- peanised Jewry came into being pre- cisely in the period in question. We do not know how it happened, nor pre- cisely when it happened. All that can he said is that in the year 700 the mass of the Jewish people and almost the totality of the Jewish cultural tradi- tion was still concentrated in the Middle East, in the lands that had produced the Bible and the Talmud. 13y 1100, and perhaps by the year 1000, the centre of Jewish culture had transferred itself to the lands of the THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, March 26, 1965-27 SAMMY WOOLF goun,dations Ly mouth - Cranbrook House Motel IT'S DECORATING TIME AT FLOOR COVERING ALL the newest patterns and colors IN VINYL FLOORS -* ** ***** *** ***** *** ***** ** ****** ** ****** *4- *4u EXPfRT INSTALLATION BEFORE EASTER Call ICE 5-1000 18245 W. 8 MILE OR COME IN Just W. of Southfield OPEN MON.-THURS. AND FRI. TILL 9 P.M.