Volume on Job Presented as 'Supreme Achievement
of Hebrew Wisdom' in Gordis' Book of God and Man'
Dr. Robert Gordis, already
famed for his great classic in-
terpretive commentaries on "Ko-
heleth" and "The Song of Songs,"
adds greatly to his r e c o r d of
scholarship with his newest work,
"The book of
God and Man: A
Study of Job,"
just published by
the University of
Chicago Press
(5750 Ellis, Chi-
cago).
Being the fruit
of his teaching
of Job for a
quarter of a
century, this
great study is
presented by
Rabbi Gordis as
"a new concep-
tion of the mean-
ing" of Job, "de-
rived largly from
recognition of its Dr. Gordis
architectonic structure and its in-
ner unity."
The eminent author of this
volume states that the translation
he has prepared for this volume
"cannot claim to possess a tithe of
the passion and power of the orig-
inal."
Dr. Gordis commences by in-
dicating the difference between
Job and Plato. Stating that the
latter's "Dialogues" are "the
expression of an indecisive
spirit, seeking to establish the
proper norms of human conduct
through the exercise of reason,"
he indicates: "Nowhere on Job
does the author undertake an
analysis of the nature of right
and wrong. What the Greek
philosopher sought to discover
through logic, the Hebrew poet
knew through instinct. It is not
merely Job's antagonists in the
debate who are certain that
right is right and wrong is
wrong: Job himself never dif-
fers with them on the nature of
righteousness.
Deploring the "failure to rec-
ognize the strong intellectual
content of the Book of Job," Dr
Gordis asserts that "the trial of
Job . . . is an intellectual exper-
ience as truly as it is a moral
challenge," that "if Job did no
more than raise the issue of 'the
prosperity of the wicked and the
suffering of the righteous' in a
world created by a just God, its
value would be immeasurable . . ."
The literary greatness of Job
is viewed as the less important
element of its universal appeal.
Its enduring significance, Dr.
Gordis explains, "lies in its theme,
for it is concerned with the most
agonizing issue confronting men
—the 'mystery of evil."
It is no wonder," Rabbi Gor-
dis adds, "that two such dis-
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tinguished exemplars of rational
thought as the medieval phil-
osopher Moses Maimonides and
Manuel Kant utilized the ancient
Book of Job as the springboard
for their own philosophical re-
flections on the bipartite pro-
blem of God, man and evil in
the world. Where piety found
the warmth of ..faith, . reason
discovered the light of truth—
and both were right. For in Job
poetry and philosophy, passion
and truth, are united in one of
the supreme achievements of
the human spirit."
Dr. Gordis corrects the miscon-
ception that Job was a "patri-
arch" advanced in years. He is
depicted here still the vigorous
man who, • after his restoration,
begot a large family.
The book of Job, in spite of its
universal character, is described
as "the product of a specific time
and culture," and Dr. Gordis shows
that "the decisive influence came
from the third intellectual cur-
rent of ancient Israel, that of
Hokmah or Wisdom." The chap-
ter devoted to "Wisdom and Job,"
in which the Hokmah element is
analyzed, is in itself a highly
scholarly portion of Dr. Gordis'
study of the Book of Job.
Analyzing Hokmah (wisdom)
strands, as cultivated by the
sage—hakam—or elder—zaken
Hias Re-Elects
Gurfein; Fisher
Elected a V.P.
NEW YORK (JTA)—Murray I.
Gurfein was re-elected president
of United Hias Service. His term
of office is his ninth consecutive
tenure as president.
Max M. Fisher, of Detroit, and
Daniel Ifshin were elected vice-
presidents. Fisher is national
chairman of the United Jewish
Appeal. Ifsbin continues to serve
as chairman of the United Hias
council of organizations. A new
post, associate secretary, was cre-
ated by the meeting, and Thomas
Baer was chosen to that office.
Other re-elected officers includ-
ed Carlos L. Israels and Ben Tous-
ter, associate chairmen of the
board of directors; Harold Fried-
man, treasurer; Edwin Rosenberg,
chairman of the national council,
and Daniel G. Ross, vice-chairman
of the council.
President of Alliance
PARIS (JTA)—Prof. Rene Cas-
sin has been re-elected president
of Alliance Israelite Universelle,
and Baron Edmond de Rothschild
was elected vice-president of the
organization.
Prof. Cassin is one of the elder
statesmen of France, being honor-
ary head of the French Council
of State. One of the world's lead-
ing proponents of human rights,
he represents France on the Unit-
ed Nations Commission on Human
Rights and is also chairman of the
European Court of Human Rights.
Baron de Rothschild is a grand-
son of the father of Jewish coloni-
zation in Palestine.
Other officers elected by the
Alliance Central Committee are:
Admiral Louis Kahn, deputy
president; Marcel Franco, former
Premier Rene Mayer and Jules
Braunschvig, vice-presidents; An-
dre Golder, vice-president-treas-
urer; Raymond Leven, associate
treasurer; and Eugene Weill, sec-
retary-general.
Rush on Marriage in Egypt
ANKARA (ZINS) — An onrush
of marriages is now taking place
in Egyptian villages. This develop-
ment is the result of a rumor that
the number of weddings will be re-
stricted in order to check the popu-
lation explosion, according to the
Egyptian newspaper "El Ahrem."
and drawing upon the Proverbs
and Ecclesiastes to illustrate
the mashal, the proverb, and the
hidah, or riddle, Dr. Gordis ex-
plains that "the teachers of
Wisdom insisted that the appli-
cation of human reason and
careful observation to all the
problems of life 'worked,' that
it brought men success and hap-
piness." He states that when
Wisdom teachers "insisted on
applying observation and rea-
son to the ultimate questions
(unwilling to rely on tradition
and conventional ideas). they
courted tragedy — but achieved
greatness." But he maintains that
"the author of Job . . . possessed
a far deeper emotional involve-
ment in the joy or misery of
his fellow men. He was roused
to indignation, not by man's
intellectual limitations in a
world he had not made, but
rather by man's suffering in a
world into which he had not
asked to be born."
"The Book of Job," Dr. Gordis
states, "represents the supreme
achievement of Hebrew Wisdom.
In form and approach, as well as
in background and content, its af-
finities with both conventional
and unconventional Wisdom teach-
ing are striking."
"Hebrew Hokmah," he declares
"is one element in the cultural
and spiritual activity of the Heb-
rew genius during its most crea-
tive era. The Book of Job rep-
resents the high-water mark of
biblical Wisdom, imbodied in a
unique literary genre of extra-
ordinary power and originality.
The author's roots lie deep with-
in his people and his class; yet
the specific locus standi of the
poet impugns neither the truth nor
the relevance of his insights for
every manner and condition of
men. For his masterpiece is en-
dowed with two qualities which
know no limits of time or space,
nation or class—a sensitivity to
human suffering and a love of
truth."
Referring to some claims that
the Job theme is based on other
than Hebraic sources, Dr. Gordis
states "it must be kept in mind
that Hebrew Wisdom drew upon
the same ancient sources and
fundamental concerns which agi-
tated the sages of Babylonia and
Egypt." He submits that "there
are many points of similarity be-
tween Job and extra-biblical
writings" but all these are "un-
iversal elements of human ex-
perience .... " His concluding
thought is:
"In sum, it is clear that prien-
tal Wisdom literature is inval-
uable in supplying the back-
ground for Job and in shedding
light on countless details of the
book. There is, however, no
direct contact between Job and
the earlier exemplars of oriental
Wisdom; Job remains unique
not only in Hebrew literature but
in the literature of the world."
Dr. Gordis' review of the tale of
Job, of the role of his friends, the
debate, of Job and the mystery of
suffering, offers the readers of
"The Book of God and Man" a
classic in narrative and scrip-
tural literature. The mastery of
the theme by a man who now
emerges as much authority on
Job as he is on Koheleth makes
this a superb account of a great
book and of a superb moral lesson.
Added chapters dealing with the
use of quotations in Job as a high-
ly important element of the auth-
or's style; of "the rhetoric of
allusion and analogy" in Job; of
Job "in the Canon and in Legend,"
add many gems to the already
rich evaluation of a great theme.
Then there is the splendid trans-
lation by Dr. Gordis and the ex-
tensive explanatory notes.
"The book of God and Man: A
Study of Job" is, indeed, a great
work. It is among Dr. Gordis' out-
standing masterpieces.
P. S.
Love, grief and money cannot be
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
kept secret.
—Spanish Proverb 18—Friday, March 11, 1966
`Jordan River Partition' Describes
Avoidance of 'War Over Water'
"Jordan River Partition" by
Georgiana G. Stevens, published
by Hoover Institution Studies,
Stanford University, S t a n f or d,
Calif., is an enlightening resume
of the water problem in the Mid-
dle East and the struggle over
utilization of the Jordan River
waters by both Israel and the
Arabs.
As an historical analysis, with
reference to the earliest plans,
the proposals on behalf of the Ei-
senhower administration by Eric
Johnston, the desallination experi-
ments, as well as the Arab-Israel
controversy, the Stevens brochure
is most valuable,
In a discusion of "delayed con-
frontation" on the issue, the author
of the pamphlet states:
Mrs. Stevens describes the inte-
rest in atomic-powered desalting
processes by Egypt as well as Is-
rael and calls it "a realistic inte-
rest in water development as such."
"Israel's reaction to the Arab
summit decisions has been moder-
ate. The government continues to
stress the deterrent value of Is-
rael's military superiority over the
Arabs. Beyond this, Israel, while
keeping a watchful eye on the
northern headwater region, seems
preoccupied with desalting and
with the creation of 'a second
Jordan River' within the country.
So far Israel has shown no disposi-
tion to take some of the sting out
of her water withdrawals by mak-
ing any moves to compromise on
other issues, such as that of the
Arab refugees . . ."
She adds that "the years of tem-
porizing over the water issue have
not been wasted," that "they have
provided a clearer understanding
of the actual, as opposed to the
theoretical potential of the Jor-
dan waters?'
She states that "Ambassador
Eric Johnston's efforts stimulated
the Arabs to submit, for the first
time, a plan for water-sharing."
She maintains that Johnston "also
helped Israel to see that her ex-
pansive dreams of a parade in the
desert might be fanciful." The
de-facto partitioning of the Jor-
d an River system, she believes,
"has prevented a 'war over wa-
ter, and given the Middle Bast
time until technology can rescue
it."
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