At Least They Haven't Forgotten
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
SIDNEY SHMARAK
CARMI M. SLOMOV(TZ
Advertising Manager
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE HYAMS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath. the 6th. day of Adar, 5726, the following scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion: Exod. 25:1-27:19; Prophetical portion: I Kings 5:26 - 6:13.
RPM ,0%10Vk
ME FA
Licht benshen, Friday Feb. 25, 5:58 p.m.
VOL. XLIX, No. 1
Page 4
Feb. 25, 1966
Mounting Threats to Israel: 'Travesties on Justice'
On the eve of Israel's 18th anniversary,
new troubles are brewing. Large supplies of
arms going to the Arab states that are sur-
rounding Israel represent a threat that should
concern all peace-aspiring peoples. The
Middle East could well become another
world trouble spot, were it not for Israel's
ability to repel attacks. Yet the doubletalk
of balancing strength based on the limited
supplies of arms going to Israel increases
the concern of all who are interested in
assuring the peace of that area.
The New Republic properly analyzed the
Herzl's Historic Role
Inevitably, every book of importance
dealing with the historic events that preceded
the First World War and had their effects
upon the second tragic conflict, resulting
from political conditions in France, make
mention of one great movement that de-
veloped out of the turmoil of the last years
of the last century: the Zionist idea as it was
formulated by Theodor Herzl.
It was at the infamous Dreyfus trial,
which was covered by Dr. Herzl as a
member of the foreign press corps in France,
that Herzl's Jewishness was awakened. It
was the publication of his pamphlet "The
Jewish State—An Attempt at a Modern Solu-
tion to the Jewish Question," on Feb. 14,
1896, that set into motion the effort to create
the world Zionist movement, that resulted
in the calling of the First World Zionist
Congress in Basle, Switzerland, in August of
1897 and the creation of the World Zionist
Organization.
In his diary, under date of Sept. 3, 1897,
Herzl stated: "I founded the Jewish State in
Basle."
Fifty years later, as he had predicted,
this augury became reality and the Jewish
State became a fact.
That is why the 70th anniversary of the
publication of "The Jewish State" by the small.
Viennese publishing firm of Breitenstein is
of such vital historic importance.
Herzl's contacts with the Jewish masses
began after he had written his historic
pamphlet. It was then that he turned his
attention to Eretz Israel, recognizing the
links of the People Israel with the Land of
Israel.
"The Jewish State" concluded with an
appeal to the Jewish people in which Herzl
asserted:
The Maccabeans will rise again! The
Jews who so desire, will have their
State!
But prior to the appearance of "The Jew-
ish State," Theodor Herzl wrote a play. It, too,
was the result of the shocks he experienced
at the correspondents' section in the court-
room where the innocent Alfred Dreyfus
was being tried. It was called "The New
Ghetto" and in it one of the actors cries out:
"I want to get out — out, of the
ghetto."
It was this cry that reverberated. Only a
portion of world Jewry responded promptly
and properly to Herzl's appeal, but time
proved the wisdom of his call, the need for
action, the validity of Zionism.
The 70th anniversary of the appearance
of "The Jewish State" is a reminder of the
genius of Dr. Theodor Herzl.
World Jewry has cause to take note of
the pamphlet which marked a turning point
for the Jewish people, which helped to
straighten the bent backs of a persecuted
people, which brought succor to the oppres-
sed who found refuge in The Jewish State
that became a territorial reality in the ancient
Eretz Israel, thanks to the vision of a pro-
phetic Viennese journalist who rebelled
against injustice in a Paris courtroom.
existing situation when it stated editorially
under the heading "Arab Handicrafts:"
Why did Lebanese newspapers think President
Johnson's brother-in-law, Antonio J. T ay 1 or of
Santa Fe, was not, as Washington said he was, a
special consultant on how to mark e t Jordanian
handicrafts, but was a secret arms salesman? The
most plausible explanation is that unresolved con-
flicts have produced a new armaments race in the
Middle East, and along with it, rising irrationality.
The three monarchies, Iran, Jordan and Saudi i
Arabia, are drawing closer together because of pres-
sures at work in the whole area. Egypt, greatly
weakened by the stalemate in the Yemen but eager
nevertheless to make her influence felt in Libya and
in the Eastern Arab countries, continues to get mas-
sive arms from the Soviet Union. Food supplies sent
to Cairo by the U. S. enable President Nasser to
pledge more of his own country's resources as pay-
ment for Soviet arms. Syria and Iraq have hopefully
applied to the Pentagon for arms, but no answer has
yet been forthcoming. So President Aref of Iraq,
ever an optimist, sent his brother, Major General
Josephus' "Jewish Antiquities" remain among the major sources
Abdur Rahman Aref, Deputy Chief of Staff, to the
dealing with the
of
information
regarding Jewish historical events
Soviet Union for arms. Syria too has asked Russia
of
the
present
era.
Harvard
University
Press has issued
first century
for military hardware.
Library.
a new set of Josephus works as part of the Loeb Classical and has
Saudi Arabia has placed a large contract for air-1
The ninth volume of the series contains Books XVIII-XX
craft and radar equipment in Britain, with the bless- t been issued in a translation by Dr. Louis H. Feldman, associate pto-
ing of the U.S. Jordan is getting 100 Patton tanks. fessor of classics at Yeshiva University. It is a significant work
Israel, surrounded by this flood of arms, is negotiat- because of its authoritative commentaries and its references to the
ing with French private firms for cooperation in Jewish sects of Josephus' time and the activities of Jesus and the
building rockets. Iran has long been supplied with death of John the Baptist.
American weapons.
There is, in this volume, an account, with Prof. Feldman's com-
Why do the Arabs want more planes, guns, rock- mentaries, of the four sects of Josephus' time—Pharisees, Sadducees,
ets, tanks? Because of Israel in the first place, in Essenes and the Fourth Philosophy. Josephus, who was born in
the second place against each other, and thirdly for Jerusalem in 37 C. E., was the soldier-statesman who wrote in Greek
material
fighting minorities like the Kurds.
and who is regarded as the major source of Jewish historical
the
Jewish
the
biblical
accounts
and
especially
in
the
time
of
There is a fourth reason. No Arab regime can after
revolt against Rome. He became a Pharisee, the sect which counted
survive whose armies have been defeated in the
among its adherents the leading rabbis of his time.
field. The Jews defeated King Farouk; Nasser was
In the Feldman translation, Josephus' references to the sects
only saved by the temporary American - Soviet
alliance. General Kassem of Iraq Was overthrown are interesting. Josephus wrote: "The Pharisees simplify their stand-
ard of living, making no concession to luxury. They follow the
because his armies had been bruised by the Kurds.
Significant Study of Josephus
Edited by Prof. L. H. Feldman
guidance of that which their doctrine has selected and transmitted
as good, attaching the chief importance to the observance of those
The Iraqi President has accused the Persians of
supporting the Kurdish rebels. Teheran contemp-
commandments which it has seen fit to dictate to them. They show
tuously denied this. The fighting goes on. Iraq is
respect and deference to their elders . . ." The translator's attended
in a weak position because the Russians are reluc- note states that "a similar point of view, reflecting Pharisaic belief,
tant to spoil their improved relations with Iran
is found in the Talmudic sayings" and he quotes from Abot and
for the sake of the Iraqis. As for President Nasser,
Berachot.
American experts who have just been to Yemen
Then Josephus proceeded to say that "the Sadducees hold that the
say whatever happens there will be a disaster for soul perishes along with the body. They own no observance of any
him. If he has to withdraw his defeated troops, he sort apart from the laws; in fact they reckon it a virtue to dispute with
will have them on his hands. resentful, underpaid the teachers of the path of wisdom that they pursue . . ."
and contemptuous of their officers. If he lets them
"The doctrine of the Essenes," he wrote, "is wont to leave every-
fight on they will again be defeated. New skirmishes thing in the hands of God. They regard the soul as immortal and
have already started in and around Baidha.
believe that they ought to strive especially to draw near to right-
In Jordan, meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation eousness . . ."
Then: "As for the fourth of the philosophies, Judas the Galilean
Army continues to conscript young men, and the
UN is going to reduce its Scandinavian force in the set himself up as leader of it. This school agrees in all other respects
vital Gaza strip by 200 men, to save money.
with the opinions of the Pharisees, except that they have a passion
Handicrafts, anyone?
for liberty that is almost unconquerable, since they are convinced
The entire Middle East would have been
an inferno today, with the Arab states in-
volved in struggles for power among them-
selves, had it not been for Israel's stability
which is part of the Jewish State's ability to
forestall attacks from the Arabs. Yet, the
Great Powers policy of kowtowing to Arab
dictators forces Israel to pursue a course of
seeking added armed strength, and that
serves to perpetuate the arms race. Thus, the
dangers of conflicts in the Middle East are
never ended, and the guilt lies with those
who appease warmongers.
Meanwhile, as was exposed by our Wash-
ington correspondent last week, the State
Department continues to discriminate against
American citizens of the Jewish faith who
are kept from joining either our diplomatic
or other overseas services because the Arabs
would not accept a Jew. This is, as has been
charged, an insult to basic American princi-
ples and it adds to the difficulties that face
Israel.
Additionally, Israelis seldom are permit-
ted to play major roles on United Nations
commissions because of Arab boycotts and
threats. And this is called progress in inter-
national relations! What a travesty on justice!
that God alone is their leader and master . . ."
Regarding Jesus of Nazareth, Dr. Feldman states in his com-
mentary notes that Josephus' text is partially correct but that it is
partially the result of an interpolation that was made later by
devotees to Christianity. Dr. Feldman states: "Josephus, as a loyal
Pharisaic Jew, could not have written that Jesus was the Messiah
. . . The most probable view seems to be that our text represents
substantially what Josephus wrote, but that some alterations have
been made by a Christian interpolator."
The Josephus text itself, in this volume, reads: "About this time
there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a
man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a
teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many
Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When Pilate, upon
hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had
condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come
to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day
he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had
prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him.
And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this
day not disappeared."
These are among the scores of items of great importance in
ancient times that cause Josephus to remain authoritative, while
students have detected interpolations such as referred to by Dr.
Feldman.
This volume is of immense importance in the study of Josephus
and of the history of his time, and in Dr. Feldman's version we have
a most authoritative compilation.
Dr. Feldman, who received his masters at Trinity College - and his
doctorate at Harvard, was a member of the faculties of Trinity and
Hobart colleges before joining the Yeshiva University faculty.