Wischnitzer's Posthumous `History of Jewish Israel Backs Peace-Keeping Work
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (JTA) "intimate concern" with certain
peace-keeping operations. He
Crafts, Guilds' Demolishes Anti-Semitic Libels —Israel voted here with the vast TIN
was referring in that context to
An old canard is demolished in
"A History of Jewish Crafts and
Guilds" by Prof. Mark Wisch-
nitzer, published posthumously by
Jonathan David (131 E. 23rd, NY
10)
Proof that Jews were not, as
charged by anti-Semites, reluctant
to do manual work, is provided ex-
tensively in this scholarly work.
Dr. Wischnitzer, who was pro-
fessor of Jewish history and in-
stitutions at Yeshiva University,
was on leave from his teaching post
when he died in Israel in 1955.
This book was just about com-
pleted when he passed away, and
it was edited for the press by his
widow, Rachel Wischnitzer, and
Dr. Werner Cahnman. At her hus-
band's request, Mrs. Wischnitzer
did the chapter on arts and crafts
in Poland and. Lithuania.
A moving tribute is paid to
Dr. Wischnitzer by his friend,
Dr. Salo Baron, in a foreward
to this volume.
In his introductory essay, a very
valuable addition to the Wisch-
nitzer study, Cahnman points out
that "whereas a sizeable Jewish
artisan class existed, the typical
anti-Semitic image of the Jew as
an idle exploiter and a money-
monster could not arise." Never-
theless, "this did not prevent dis-
criminations, persecutions and ex-
pulsions." Thus, we are introduced
to a Jewish artisan class that be-
came "the antagonist of the Jew-
ish moneylender."
Excluding the Jewish craftsmen
who served internal Jewish needs
—tallit and tzitzit weavers, parch-
ment -makers,etc.—Cahnman lists
among Jews who were productive
artisans bookbinders, cartograph-
ers, minters, jewelers, tailors, re-
pairmen.
Summarizing, he asserts that
"the history of Jewish crafts
and craft guilds disposes of the
prejudicial image of Jewish
economic activities as chiefly
those of hucksters and usurers
—with an upper layer of bank-
ers—which had grown out of
the earlier fixation of social
historians on the history of the
Jews in central Europe. If the
history of the Jews in Mediter-
ranean countries, on t h e one
band, and in eastern Europe,
on the other, is taken into proper
consideration, the importance of
Jewish artisanship becomes ob-
vious."
Prof. Wischnitzer's study com-
menced with an outline of ancient
Israel's trades and guilds, of the
extent of Jewish craftsmanship in
biblical tithes. Similarly, the
crafts and guilds of the Second
Commonwealth are outlined in de-
tail and their . importance in
ancient Israel is emphasized. Pur-
suing the analyses of traditional
Jewish productive labors, there is
an account of labor legislation as
well as the crafts in Palestine dur-
ing the early years of Christianity
—the development of textile crafts,
of pottery and glass blowing,
armor making, basketry, building
trades. Apprenticeships were im-
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portant. The influence of Mishnaic
teachings is indicated.
Review of Jewish artisanship in
the Diaspora commences with the
period of 323 BCE to 640 CE and
is pursued in subsequent ac-
counts in the Near East, the By-
zantine Empire, the Ottoman Em-
pire, in Italy, Bohemia, Moravia,
Western Europe, Poland, Lithua-
nia and other areas.
Many are the indicated crafts
pursued by Jews in Rome. Tech-
niques specially pursued by them
painting on glass, Prof. Wischnit-
zer pointed out: "The color is
made of different ingredients in-
cluding powdered glass and lead,
the plumbeum vitrum, Judaeum
scilicet (crystal g 1 a s s, namely
Jewish glass)."
Relative to the Near East,
Prof. Wischnitzer showed that
Jews of the caliphate manufac-
tured paper. Pointing to another
trade, he stated that "Benjamin
of Tudela noted that the Jewish
cobblers of Baghdad were
among those paying the lowest
taxes." Also: "The Arabic
geographer of the tenth century;
al-Maqdisi or al-Muquaddasi,
noted that in Syria most of 'the
assayers of coins, the dyers,
the bankers and tanners were
Jews.' Benjamin of Tudela who
visited Antioch and Tyre in
the 1160s reported that in
Antioch there were ten Jewish
residents, all glassmakers; in
Tyre he found 400 Jews (or fam-
ilies), some shipowners among
them, and makers of 'that fine
Tyrian glassware which is prized
in all countries.' "
Arts and crafts in Medieval
Palestine, among Jews in Egypt,
were multiple. Similarly, in the
Byzantine Empire, serving as a
bridge between East and West,
there was the transmission of silk
weaving, dyeing and jeweling, and
Jewish craftsmen carried on a
silk industry.
Thus t h e record continues
throughout the areas enumerated.
Viewing the expansion of Jewish
artisanship, satisfies are quoted
to show the productivity of Jewish
craftsmen. An interesting table is
included, for example, to indicate
the size of the Jewish artisans'
group in Prague in 1729. Lists of
Jewish artisans in Provincial Bo-
hemia and in Mikulov in Moravia
are impressive, both for the num-
bers given and the type of trades
indulged in.
Similarly records are produced
for the Jewries in Central and
Eastern Europe. Describing the
spread of Jewish handicrafts in
Poland-Lithuania after 1648, Prof.
Wischnitzer made this important
observation:
"The wars that ravaged Po-
land from 1648 through the first
quarter of the 18th Century, and
their repercussions in the Jew-
ish part of the civil population,
brought a b o u t. considerable
changes in the distribution and
the economic stratification of the
Jews. As one result of these
changes, the trades in which the
Jews were active diminished in
number and variety. The domi-
nant position the Jews acquired
in the wearing apparel industry
was not due to underselling, or
the general decline of a craft
abandoned by the guilds and left
to bunglers, but to the advanced
production methods the Jews
introduced, their organizational
skill and their ability to turn
out superior. work. Their con-
tribution lay in starting mass
production, which was to revolu-
tionize one of the basic indus-
tries, and in doing this in an
economically backward coun-
try.1'
.
There ensued the struggle for
the Jews' right to work. Jews
were n o t eligible for guild
wardens' posts. "Petty frictions
between Jewish and Christian
artisans could n o t be entirely
avoided" and then there was "the
repugnant practice" for pious Jews
to adhere to the rule of stand-
ing bareheaded before wardens at
registration. Besides, there was
"the almost 'traditional' harass-
ments inherited from centuries of
anti-Jewish feeling, such as when
Gentile masters would intrude
upon the premises of the Jewish
workmen and damage their tools
out of sheer malice."
"The Jewish fight for the right
to work," Prof. Wischnitzer wrote,
"had lost much of its vehemence
by 1795, the year of the final
liquidation of the independent king-
dom of Poland. A rather uncom-
fortable mode of co-existence had
been secured in some places, with
Jewish labor at least partially in-
tegrated into the fabric of the
Christian guild. How little the ac-
ceptance and belonging to the
guild really meant, may be in-
ferred from the contemptuous
terms 'Lent fellows,' or 'quarterly
fellows,' used to designate the
Jewish members of the guilds, ow-
ing to the fact that they made their
payments to the guild either quar-
terly or during the period of
Lent. Some degree of real solidar-
ity was probably achieved in situa-
tions of emergency, as when both
Christian and Jewish members
were fighting itinerant journeymen
who undersold them and threaten-
ed their very existence."
But the status of the artisan
in the Jewish community was_
low. Nevertheless, while Jewish
merchants seldom belonged to
Christian merchants associations,
Jewish artisans were associated
with Christian craft guilds with
varying degrees of juridical al -
legiance.
Valuable appendices, showing
the charter of the Jewish Shoe-
makers' Guild in Saragossa in
1336; an agreement of 1386 of the
apprenticeship in Aragon, in 1386;
a similar agrement in Rome in
1544 and another in Cracow in
1650; statutes of the Prague Jew-
ish Taylors' Guild, 1690; and a
privilege granted by the Tuscany
Grand Duke to operate workshops
in Pisa and Leghorn, in 1663, sup-
plement the book's important data.
Prof. Wischnitzer's "A History
of Jewish Crafts and Guilds" of-
fers significant , evidence of the
productive skills of Jews, of ar-
tisanships and craftsmanships. It
demolishes many labels. It is a
distinct contribution to Jewish
civic protectiveness;
Compassion Asked
for Ex-Detroiter
TEL AVIV—Dr. Nelson Glueck,
president of Hebrew Union Col-
lege—Jewish Institute of Religion,
heads a group of prominent leaders
who have urged a court to be
lenient to former Detroiter Allan
Feinberg who is to receive sentence
Jan. 9 on a - charge of arson at the
Supersol headquarters.
Falsification of Supers o 1 ac-
counts is part of the charge against
the accused who already has paid
off insurance costs in the f ire
losses.
Dr. Glueck commended. Feinberg
as an outstanding and reputable
archaeologist of high character
who already has atoned for a youth-
ful blunder. He predicted a bright
future for the former Detroiter if
the court acts compassionately with
him.
50,000 Israeli Children
Compete for Reduced
Fees in High Schools
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Fifty
thousand pupils in the top grade
of Israel's elementary schools
began last week the "Seker" exam-
ination to determine which ones
will have the right to reduced
fees in high schools.
Those who do not pass will have
to transfer to vocational schools
because the existing high schools
are overcrowded. The examination,
which is standard for all the pupils,
includes a variety of topics, in-
cluding the Bible.
majority of United Nations mem-
bers to instruct a special commit-
tee to continue its efforts to work
out guidelines for support of peace-
keeping operations, and to estab-
lish a United Nations trust fund
to aid the victims of apartheid and
their families in South Africa.
Prior to the vote, taken by the
General Assembly's Special Politi-
cal Committee, Ambassador Mich-
ael S. Comay, chairman of Israel's
delegation here, reminded the
117-member body that Israel had
the United Nations Emergency
Force, which guards the Israeli-
Egyptian borders on the Egyptian
side of the Gaza Strip and at
Sharm el-Sheikh, overlooking the
Gulf of Akabah, where Israeli ship-
ping now has freedom of mov
ment to and from its part of Eila
A special commission named
Secretary-General U Thant h
been investigating UNEF's opera-
tions and budget, and is expected
to report its findings to the
assembly this week.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
New 12—Friday, December 17, 1965
NEW YORK (JTA)
York's famed Times Square was
renamed "Workmen's Circle" for
FOR SALE
Dec. 9 to mark the 6'5th anniver-
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
sary of the establishment of the
LARGEST JEWISH
Jewish fraternal order. Mayor Rob-
BAKERY IN TOWN
ert F. Wagner designated last
(THERE ARE ONLY 2)
Sunday as Workmen's Circle Day
Illness
in the family makes
and a celebration of the an-
niversary will be held in Hunter this very fine Jewish Bakery
available in beautiful
College Auditorium - on Sunday
afternoon.
Phoenix, Arizona. Volume
Workmen's Circle Square
—
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BROKER COOPERATION INVITED
The Association of Hebrew Teachers
and Principals of Detroit
Are Happy to Announce That There Will Be a
Hanukah Party, Saturday, Dec. 18 at 8.30 p.m.
In the Auditorium of the Esther Berman Branch
United Hebrew Schools, 18977 Schaefer
All Hebrew Teachers, Hebrew Speaking People
and Their Families Are Invited
Refreshments, Will Be Served — Donation $1.50
Jewish National
Fund
s r
MONTH
January 22 to February 20, 1966
JNF Sabbath Saturday February 5
Tasks:
• To avow full solidarity with the State
of Israel on its 18th birthday.
• To focus attention on the activities of
the Jewish National Fund in building
the Land of Israel and strengthening
its security with special emphasis on
the new and first Detroit Development
Area project in northern Galilee, on the
borders of Syria—the reclaiming and
rebuilding the settlements of Gadot and
Mishmar Hayarden.
• To deepen JNF sentiment among the
masses of the Jewish people.
• To mobilize the broadest possible sup-
port for the JNF through the widest
possible use of JNF's traditional col-
lection methods.
• To place another thousand Blue-White
JNF Boxes in Detroit and Michigan
Jewish homes.
• To plant more trees in the Michigan
section of the John F. Kennedy Peace
Forest, which is being planted by the
Jewish National Fund of America - as
a living tribute to the gallant memory
of our martyred President, and which
will be dedicated to peace and friend.
ship of the people of America and the
people of Israel. The John F. Kennedy
Peace Forest will be located in the
American-Israel Freedom Forest.
• To remind Jews to remember the JNF
in their Wills, thus linking their names
forever with the Land of Israel.
PHONE NUMBER:
UN 4-2767
PLANT TREES
FOR
ALL
OCCASIONS
A JNF BOX
IN EVERY
JEWISH
HOME
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
18414 WYOMING AVE.
Detroit 48221
ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO JNF ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE