George Eliot's Quest for Moral Values, Her Interest' UN Deletes 5-Year-Old Complaint
in Jews Outlined in Dr. Paris' Experiments in Life by Argentina Against Eichmann Case
GEORGE ELIOT
Wayne State University Press
has just issued an impressive work
dealing with the writings of George
Eliot and her "quest for values."
Entitled "Experiments in Life,"
this study by Dr. Bernard J. Paris,
professor of English at Michigan
State University, offers critical
a n d historical evaluations of
George Eliot's novels and makes
interesting comments on her views
on the Jewish issues.
"Realism and moralism were the
strongest demands of her culture
and of her nature," Prof. Paris
states. It was as Marian Evans, be-
fore she adopted the pen name
George Eliot, that she broke with
Christianity, but she "did not im-
mediately arrive at the purely
secular humanism that character-
izes her nature thought and art."
Dr. Paris adds that she did not
go at that point "to a meaningless
universe in which life is to be ex-
perienced blindly and disconnect-
edly from moment to moment."
From her many readings "she de-
rived a pantheism which permitted
her to retain many of her old
values dispite her rejection of the
authority of the Bible."
George Eliot's views on Jews,
on Jewish traditions and aspira-
tions, on many factors in Jewish
life, are in her "Daniel Deron-
da" and in her protest against
anti-Semitism, "The Modern
Hep! Hep! Hep!" The quota-
tions from Deronda are lengthy
and are accompanied by explan-
atory references to the novelist's
Jewish views.
"According to George Eliot,"
Dr. Paris points out, "it is because
the Jews have 'a feeling of race,
a sense of corporate existence,
unique in its intensity' that they
have retained many virtues and a
surprising vitality despite the fact
that they have lived many cen-
turies under extremely demoraliz-
ing conditions."
To Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe,
George Eliot had written that "not
only towards the Jews . . but
towards all Oriental peoples with
whom we English come in contact,
a spirit of arrogance and con-
temptuous dictatorialness is ob-
servable which has become a na-
tional disgrace to us." Therefore,
she explained, she "felt urged to
treat Jews with such sympathy
and understanding as my nature
and knowledge could attain to."
According to Prof. Paris,
"George Eliot's object in 'The
Modern Hep Hep ! Hep !' is to
defend the worth of Jewish sep-
arateness, to oppose the argu-
ments of Jewish and non-Jewish
assimilationists, and to advocate
Pravda Approves Moderate Faction
of Split Israeli Communist Party
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
TEL AVIV—Pravda, the official
organ of the Soviet Communist
Party, approved in Moscow Tues-
day the resolutions adopted at the
convention here last week of the
moderate faction of the split
Israeli Communist Party led by
Shmuel Mikunis and Moshe Sneh.
The convention of the more ex-
treme faction led by Meir Wilner
and Tubik Toufi also held here
last week was completely ignored
by Pravda.
The Mikunis faction called for
Arab-Israel peace, condemned any
calls for Israel's destruction, ad-
vocated unimpeded access for
Israeli shipping in the Suez Canal
and also urged that Israel receive
use of a fair share of the Jordan
River waters.
While ignoring the Wilner-
Toubi convention, Pravda publish-
ed the text of the Kimunis-Sneh
resolution accusing the rival fac-
tion of "factionalism" and "bar-
ren dogmatism" in "opposing the
just national aspirations of the
Jewish people." Greetings to the
Mikunis faction, which continues
to call itself the Israel Communist
Party, were received at the con-
vention from most Communist
countries and Communist parties
in the west.
The greetings from Moscow
said that the "Israel Communist
Party is true to the principles
of equality of Jews and Arabs."
The convention opened with the
singing of Hatikvah and the In-
ternational.
Wilner opened the national con-
vention of his faction with a
speech considered surprisingly
moderate.
He declared Israel has as much
right as any other country to exist.
He condemned "any call for
Israel's destruction." He stated
that Israel has a right to its fair
Share of the waters of the Jordan
River.
Toubi told the 273 delegates,
Arab and Jewish, attending the
parley, that their group constitutes
the "true Communist party of
Israel" because of its binational
character.
A platform including all of the
very points made in the Wilner
speech had been adopted earlier
by the competing faction.
It was reported that both groups
expect to send delegations to Mos-
cow to explain their differing
points of view.
Hearing on B-G Expulsion
Postponed by Mapai Heads
TEL AVIV (JTA) — The Mapai
Party leadership decided to post-
pone "for technical reasons" a
previously announced hearing be-
fore the party's court of honor
against ex-Premier David Ben-Gur-
ion and six other leaders of his
Israel Labor List.
The "big seven" of the secession-
ist group had been ordered expelled
from the party. However, they
claimed that the order was not
valid because it referred to them
as members who had "expelled
themselves" by forming an opposi-
tion list for the forthcoming elec-
tions to Israel's Knesset (Parlia-
ment). In response to those claims,
the leadership had planned to
bring the seven before the party's
court of honor for final action.
The postponement of bringing
Ben-Gurion and his six leading fol-
lowers before the party's court
among leading members within the
Mapai to abstain from holding a
public trial against the "big seven"
of the secessionists. Ben-Gurion
insists on public hearings if his
case is brought before Mapai's
court of honor.
the establishment of a Jewish
national homeland in Palestine.
Here she utters in her own voice
the sentiments and ideas she had
given to Mordecai in 'Daniel De-
ronda.' Mordecai, like Daniel's
grandfather, advocates separate-
ness with communication not on-
ly for the sake of the Jews, but
also for the sake of the world:
`Each nation has its own work,
and is a member of the world,
enriched by the work of each.'
. . . In 'The Modern Hep I Hep
Hep !' she asserted that the fu-
ture of the Jewish race depends
largely upon the guidance of
men of heroic stature, 'upon the
hope that among its finer speci-
mens there may arise some men
of instruction and ardent public
spirit, some new Ezras, some
modern Maccabees.'"
In "The Modern Hep ! Hep !
Hep !" George Eliot dealt with the
plight of Jews who had lost their
sense of identity and had not
gained "that inward identification
with the nationalty immediately
around them which might make
some amends for their inherited
privation." Dr. Paris writes that
Deronda "suffered from the root-
lessness of the cosmopolitan man,"
that "his life entered upon a new
epoch when his mother, her rebel-
lious spirit weakened by illness,
fulfilled her duty to her father and
to her race and told Daniel of his
Jewish birth."
It is the aspiration for Jewish
nationhood in Palestine that has
major significance in "Daniel De-
ronda" and the quotations from
the novel assist the reader of this
interesting critical work in gaining
an acquaintance with the noted
pre-Zionist sentiments expressed
by a non-Jew.
Deronda's mother wanted him to
escape the stigma of being a Jew.
But his father, Dr. Paris shows,
"had hoped she would have a son
who would carry out his Jewish
ideas, but he died before Daniel
was born, and Daniel's mother was
then free to do as she wished. But
Daniel's grandfather had his will
in the end, for her memories of
him acted as a law for Daniel's
mother in her prolonged final ill-
ness . . . Her Jewish heritage,
which remained with her even
though she had been baptized, was
a force for good in Deronda's
mother, compelling her to bend
her selfish nature to a higher law.
Prof. Paris has written a re-
markably thorough and most in-
teresting review of George Eliot's
search for moral values, her inter-
est in Jews, her role as a Zionist
I precursor to Herzl. "Experiments
in Life" is a credit to the publish-
ers for having made its publica-
Eichmann case, filed Jun 15, 1960.
Issues of which the Council_ is
"seized" are very rarely taken off
the slate. There are items on the
Council's log dating back 15 or 18
years. In the case of the Argentine
grievance the Council held several
meetings in 1960 at which Israel
virtually apologized for its decision
to try Eichmann after he had been
kidnaped in Buenos Aires.
However the Council remained
"seized" of the issue until Wednes-
day's dissemination of a list of
"Christian Advisor" to Nazis items formally before the Council,
which, at the request of the Buenos
in Canada Can't Raise Bail Aires government, did not contain
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
the anti-Israeli complaint.
to The Jewish News)
TORONTO — Charles Thompson,
We sell tickets to Tel Aviv by Jet
28, a self-styled Pentecostal minis- Air,
costing Round Trip $535. We sell
ter who says he is the "Christian steamship
tickets on Zim Israel Line
to Haifa, the cost varies, account
advisor" to the Canadian Nazi
location of berth and class of travel.
Party, completed a month in jail
Arrangements for Hotel room should
be made at once, as very many are
Wednesday still unable to raise
traveling to Israel for the High-
bail. He was arrested exactly a
holydays.
If desired we arrange trips within
month ago on a charge of public
Israel and other Countries. We ar-
mischief.
range Honeymoon Trips.
reserve hotel rooms in Miami,
The public prosecutor told the We
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; in West
Palm Beach, • Florida. We arrange
court that Thompson must post
Trips, to Mexico—Acapulco, boat
$500 cash or property before his tickets
on the Mississippi.
Boat Tickets to Bermuda.
release because there is every rea-
son to believe he would leave the
HIRSCHFELD Travel Agency
city if he were to be released
811 Park Ave., corner Adams
without such bail.
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. — An
Argentinian compla i n t against
Israel filed with the Security Coun-
cil more than five years ago in
connection with the kidnaping of
the late Adolf Eichmann was wiped
finally from the Council's agenda
Wednesday. The government of
Argentina requested the Secretary
General to delete from the items
of which the council is "seized" its
grievance against Israel on the
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For reservations and further information call Detroit, EL 70761.
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•
lami
Histadrut Nurses Strike
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
DELTA
JERUSALEM — A nationwide
three-day strike of nurses and ad-
ministrative staff members of Ku-
pat boffin, the sick fund of the
Histadrut, Israel's Labor Federa-
tion, ended Wednesday after His-
tadrut officials promised that the
demands of the strikers would get
swift consideration.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, August 13, 1965-15,
41:---
""b1:=D '
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8:15a
Arrive
11:48a
11:32a
Jetourist day $73.40, night $57.60
•
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10:25p
plus tax.
10:55p
2:12a
10:00p Week-Ender,
12:24a Fri, Sat, Sun.
Call WO 5-3000 or see your Travel Agents
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