Canadian University Ends Queries on Religion Maccabaean Era Among Historical Periods Discussed in 'Jews: Alexander to Herod' Commentaries on Canonical and extra-Canonical book, on apocry- phal and Qumran literature, form a major portion of a very scholarly work, "The Jews From Alexander to Herod," by Prof. D. S. Russell of Northern Baptist College, Man- chester. It is part of the New Clarendon Bible series published by Oxford University Press and it uses the text of the Revised Stan- dard Version. In this extensively illustrated book the eminent Christian scholar includes among his commentaries discussions of and annotations on the books of Maccabees, Esther, Canticles (Song of Songs), Zecha- riah, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Enoch, Isaiah, Jubilees and the Psalms. Assuming special significance at this time is the volume's thorough review of the period of the Maccabees, of the Macca- baean revolt, the events that marked acquisition of indepen- dence by Jews and its eventual loss under the Romans. Because of its issuance during the Hanuka week, Dr. Russell's historical review deserves more than passing attention. While his account also extends to the Dis- persion, to the role of the Romans and to the various Jewish exper- iences extending over a period of some 500 years, the data regarding the Maccabees is primarily im- pressive. Thoroughly informative in its en- tirety. the Russell volume has a most interesting account of the relationships between Alexander Herod's rule, the personality of the great but cruel king, the court introgues, family squabbles, mur- ders, the eventual loss of state- hood by Jews—these form another important part of the historical account brilliantly analyzed by Dr. Russell. Dr. Russel deals most interest- i ngly with the Dispersion. He pre- LONDON, Ont. (JTA)—The Uni- versity of Western Ontario here announced Tuesday that it will remove questions on religious be- lief from registration verification forms that are filled out by en- rolling students. The announce- ment, by university president D. Carlton Williams, was in response to students' complaints that the question was an infrigement of their civil liberties. Dr. Williams said that the in- formation on religion was kept for These references point to a growing influential population, some of whose members were yet to play an important role in public life, particu- larly in the later years of the first century A.D. "By far the most important center of the western Dispersion, however, was Egypt, and especially Alexandria. Jer. 44' records that a company of Jews and migrated there shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., whilst Ara- maic papyri discovered at Elephantine show that a Jewish military colony was stationed there as early as the sixth century B.C. No real cultural or religious significance, however, attaches to this Jewish community until the time of Ptolemy 1, who, as we have observed, is said to have transported there 100,- 000 Jews whom Ptolemy IL subsequently set free." sents illuminating sets of figures hat deserve study regarding the growth of the Jewish population i n both Palestine and the Diaspora —figures that have great merit The section in Dr. Russell's book comparatively in studying the re- cent declines and what could have dealing with the religion of the Jews, with Judaism's foundations, been an overwhelming Jewish pop- is of great value in understanding ulation. Indicating the influence of Gen- the origin of the synagogue, the functions of the religious centers, tile culture and belief upon Jewry, the Egyptian form of Hellenization the services and the manner in which they were conducted, adher- and other factors that affected ence to dietary laws, hatred of Jewish life, Dr. Russell states: "Although t h e fundamental idolatry, etc. This section alone and the merits tenents of Judaism remained un- changed, this exposure of the of the interpretive approaches to Jews to the Gentile world—both Jewish religious ideas elevate Dr. in the Dispersion and in Pales- Russell's work to great signifi- tine—left a deep impression on cance. Few works of its kind eval- their thinking and reveals itself uate synagogue worship as clearly in not a few of the writings of as does this book. Then there are the explanatory this period. Many of the books issued at this time had a polemic notes about the canonicity of the and apologetic aim—they attack- Prophets and the excerpted sec- ed the religions of the heathen tions from apocryphal works as and exalted the religion of the well as the annotations that give God of their fathers. None, how- this book great merit. "The Jews ever, could compare in influence From Alexander to Herod" is a with the Septuagint translation noteworthy volume, from the point of the Scriptures, which unlocked of view of history, religion and the treasures of the Hebrew re- biblical explorations. the Great and the Jews. The re- ception that was givn by the Jews of Jerusalem when they opened the city's gates to Alexander obviated a possible state of war. It created friendship. Jews retained their re- ligion to the whole Gentile world. This, together with the vast net- work of synagogues in every part of the Dispersion and the many thousands of `God-fearers' not yet fully committeed to the Jew- ish faith, prepared the way as nothing else could have done for the advancement of Christianity and the remarkable growth of the early Christion Church." Prof. Russel, in his chapter on "The Dispersal," presents an in- ligious freedom. It was introduc- tory to the era of the Ptolemies under whom Jewish scholars met to translate the Bible into Greek, the 70 gathered scholars in Alexan- dria having produced the Septua- gint. It introduced a period of syna- teresting set of population figures, indicating among other facts the gogue-building and of the estab- following: ment of a large Alexandrian "Attempts hare been made to assess colony. Dr. Russel explains in the total population of the Jews in the aatf itglzuerebzin, ningto of ig thhet retalion to the Septuagint that it Roman C hris tia n was "for the benefit of the millions often being given. The len- Alexandrian Jews who were no li te eRa credof fig tzit' r e„so Trzi arl■ e is ' gg gZf„ gar:sact;i longer able to read Hebrew and ment a hazardous undertaking. Jo- for example, suggests that there for whom the translations in the sephus, touttl Gali- ft ree . million s in Cali- synagogue services were quite lee alone fr ar III. iii . 2), whilst Philo reckons that there were a million inadequate." in Alexandria, comprising one-eighth and occupying Thus it was a period of Ilelleni- of the total imputation city ire Dr. Russell draws extensively upon Josephus, although he indi- cates that the Jewish historian of the 1st Century often was in error. He presents a thorough account of the jealousies among the Maccabaean ruler s, the search for power, the resort to friendship with Rome in order to over Syrian influences and Hellenistic power. That is how Rome gained a foothold and eventual control of Palestine. passage he tells of Jews living in Mace- donia, Greece. and the Mediterranean Islands. In Cyrennica, to, and in places much further to the west, Jewish COnt- munities had been known from Ptole- maic times. limner and Cicero indicate, moreover, that across the sea in ROM° there were Jews to be found during the first century 13.C., whilst Philo re- cords that in the time of Augustus there was in that sante city a consider- able Jewish community of freed-men who possessed their Ot•71 synagogues (cf Embassy to Gains xxIll. 155 ff.). Later, still, after the death of Herod, It is reported that a Jewish deputation to Rome was met there by more than men (cf 8,000 Jews, presumably W ar I; U. vi. Antiquities roll. xi. eciJe212, Jeeettifte- the convenience of others, espec- ially chaplains and was not used by the university. The university's Murry 8G Shirlee Koblin Ben-Shari-Carolyn-Richard THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, December 29, 1967-5 U.S.ScienceBookExhibit Appeals to Israel Youth JERUSALEM—Noting the inter- est in science books among young people in Israel, John A. Congleton, U.S. cultural attache, said at the opening of a U.S. Science and Technology Book Exhibition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem that this accounted for the fact that a large part of the exhibition was of elementary and secondary school level. The exhibition is presented by the U.S. Information Service in co- operation with 54 contributing American publishers and includes 850 volumes published in the U.S. during the last 2-3 years. zation. But the emergence of the t(7,. gaecthiL 43i. There can tb'ee not as oppressions. Soon the period of doubt that the Jews, though prolific as these figures suggest, were religious freedom ended and: "The nevertheless very numerous and in cer- tactics of Antiochus made it clear tain countries made up a fair propor- 1 to many of the faithful in Israel tio.! rir i ' Sreth ea'S'' n "I lnit-' „T"„wish commun- Mesopotamia, for that the antagonism between Hel- . ity in Babylonia and example, tracing back its origins to lenism and Judaism was not the deportations front Judaea in 586 II, who R.C. (cf. Antiquities merely a matter of social standing a well-organ iced community or culture: where their religion formed close contact with Palestine. The Book is that background and their Law were concerned it of Esther, whose iDispersion , was from now on a matter of life aq le t he t " Tarut I t11 ac titT a " te of the Jewish community in these ports and death." Thus there soon began the strug- gle against persecutions by the however, until the emergence of the Babylonian Talmud about the begin- Syrian rulers and the subsequent ning of the Sixth Century A.D. In Syria , strong, triumph of the Maccabees. Helen- too the Jews were numerically especially in Antioch and Damascus. As ism had made inroads in Jewish Ire have seen. Onins III lived there for tradition, time and. according to one a life. The domination of Antiochus A ti t ne ,ant./1 ,near met IV who called himself Epiphanes- s u gg es t s, "Tile reference is to be taken literally, the God-manifest — and who was the en4Lm. or branded by many of his people that Cen tr"y B.C, members of the Qum- migrated to Damascus. who despised him as Ei ) i lll anes- ran eornmunity , ictligty.to,,ocItoi ,Inly Jiejt y :Lerebul:latiltst z rd 2i,,Ageor, the mad, sought the total destruc- where, tion of the Jewish faith. This is in and Asia Minor xless i where the Maccabees, Mattathias to-f. ;3141. to the(' 4tac sr ex .1."2T5',2s 1: 1 1 ‘ , ■ t the end of the Dine (forwards the From sons, stepped in to and his five prevent defilement of faith. It was g't!eradt "L"p":;gtend C.2.000n S= "Pa';:ilinees to Lydia and Plirygia to serve in his the beginning of an era of rulers army their numbers_ grew rapidly. As who, in turn, sought domination, Philo remarks, 'as far as Bithynia ad the Jew- resorted to cruelties, were guilty the remotest parts of Polity.' m- ish people were to be found (cf of misdemeanors. bossy to Gains xx.r•l. MIL In the same faculty club announced that it would hold no official functions on the grounds of clubs that were dis- criminatory in membership policies. '68s IMMEDIATE DELIVERY See Larry Stern LARRY & HARRY Harry Abram NO FALSE PROMISES — JUST GOOD DEALS "WE SELL BECAUSE OF OUR REPUTATION" JOE MAY CHEVROLET 12555 GRAND RIVER near Meyers TE 4-4440 BR 2-2470 LI 8-4119 CHEVROLET THIS HANUKA Give HIM a Gift That's Sure to Please ! Choose from our fine selection of nationally advertised Sweaters, Turtle Neck Shirts, Knit Wear, Sport Coats and Toiletries. Visit our gift bar for the unusual! If in Doubt, Give Him a Mr. Roberts Gift Certificate FORMAL WEAR & RENTALS. COMPLETE ACCESSORIES. I APPAREL FOR GENTLEMEN AND YOUNG MEN 25246 GREENFIELD, N. of 10 MILE Phone: 542-8636 (Greenfield Center) SECURITY CHARGE, MICHIGAN BANKARD and DINERS CLUB HANUKA SUPER SPECIAL GIFTS AT SPITZER'S BEST SELLER BOOKS: "OUR CROWD' THE CHOSEN" . A Novel by Chaim Potok Reg. '$3 69 $4.95 By Steve Birmingham Reg. $8.95 $ 6 95 "BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD" By Dr. Haim G. Ginott $'4% $3 95 CLEARANCE OF ALL HANUKA PAPER GOODS, DECORATIONS & MENORAS Up to 50% OFF SPITZER'S HEBREW BOOK & GIFT CENTER 542-7520-1 24900 Coolidge Corner 10 Mile, Oak Park IN THE DEXTER DAVISON SHOPPING CENTER OPEN SATURDAY NIGHT — ALL DAY SUNDAY