Zeitlin's Revised 'Second Commonwealth'
History Defines Facts About Pharisees
Dr. Solomon Zeitlin, the recog-
nized outstanding authority on the
history of the Second Common-
wealth, sketching the name and the
origin of the Pharisses, contends
that "the Pharisees came into
-being as opponents of the Saddu-
cean ideology long before the time
of the Hasomneans." His declara-
tion appears in an appendix to his
revised edition of his first volume
of "The Rise and Fall of the Ju-
daean State—A Political and Social
and Religious History of the Second
Commonwealth," published by the
Jewish Publication Society of
America. The revised edition was
issued by JPS last week.
Dr. Zeitlin, who holds the chair
of professor of rabbinic law and
lore at Dropsie College, points out
that "In addition to the many stu-
dies on the Pharisees by Jewish
theologians there is a general ex-
tensive literature on the subject by
Christians due to the fact that
Jesus, according to the Synoptic
Gospels, had disputations with
them." He explains: "In Acts it is
stated that Paul said he was a
Pharisee. The Church Fathers, ill
their references to the Pharisees,.
always assumed a hostile attitude
towards them. They considered
them arrogant individuals, who, foi
the sake of ritual cleanliness. sepa-
rated themselves from the bulk of
the people."
Refuting these claims, Prof. Zeit-
lin explains that Pharisees—Peru.
shim —separatists — are mentioned
in the Talmud as "men who made
a point of separating themselves
from particular objects for some
reason;" that "after the destruc-
tion of the Second Temple there
were many Perushim who separat-
ed themselves by not eating meat
nor drinking wine as a sign of
mourning for the destruction of the
Temple."
Asserting that the term Peru-
shim was not the original name
adopted by a group of sages but
rather a nickname applied by their
opponents, the Sadducees, Dr.
Zeitlin makes this interesting com-
ment:
"The name Perushim, originally
coined as a term of reproach and
contempt by their opponents, be-
came at a later time one of respect.
An analagouous use of contemptu-
ous terms in names mey be found
throughout history. In the 18th Cen-
tury there came into existence a
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In his analyses of the origion of
the Pharisees, Prof. Zeitlin de-
scribes the role of the Zadukim,
the sons of Zadok, and he observes:
"It is understandable that those
who argued that the oral laws were
on a par with the Pentateuchal
laws, and that Yahweh was not
only the God of Judaeans but the
God of all peoples, were considered
heretical in the eyes of the high
priestly family, the Zadukim.
Those who held these heretical
views were nicknamed Perushim,
Pharisees, separatists, individuals
who cut themselves off from the
Judaean people and from the God
of the Judaeans. The word Peru.
shim was a nickname created by
the Zadukim shortly after the can-
onization of the Pentateuch, as a
term of reproach and contempt. It
may be argued that if the Phari-
sees and the Sadducees came into
being at this early period why then
TEL AVIV — An inspector of
the U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture worked in Israel for many
weeks in order to enable American
Jews to have Ethrogim from Is-
rael this Sukkot.
I
I Russian Anti-Semitism
`Dwindles Hopes' of Jews
I
I
NEW YORK (JTA)—An Ameri-
can rabbi said hopes for more
liberal treatment of Soviet Jews,
I raised by last spring's visit here
of Moscow's Chief Rabbi Yehuda
I Leib Levin, have been "blotted
I out" by renewed Soviet anti-Semi-
tism. According to Rabbi Israel
I Miller, chairman of the American
Jewish Conference on Soviet
Jewry, official anti-Semitism in the
I USSR manifested itself recently
in charges of "Zionist conspiracy"
in Czechoslovakia and the beat-
ings of Soviet citizens protesting
• the Czech invasion by police
" "howling `Zhid (Jews), beat them."
I Rabbi Miller announced that dem-
I onstrations would be held in 20
• cities on Oct. 13 to protest the
I Soviet anti-Semitism.
•
Other signs of officially inspired
I anti-Semitic incitement, according
I to Rabbi Miller, were an article
in the Soviet Army daily Red Star
I which accused Soviet Jews of dual
I loyalty and charges of "Zionist
conspiracy" in Komsomolskaya
I Pravda, the Communist youth
newspaper. Rabbi Miller said that
a new anti-Semitic tract appeared
last week by the former Nazi col-
laborator Trofim Kitchko, whose
anti-Semitic volume, "Judaism
Without Embellishment," was
several years ago by So-
I banned
viet authorities.
I
did Josephus refer to these sects
as the time of Jonathan the Has-
moneans. But Josephus in his ac-
count of the sects which existed
during the time of Jonathan did not
say that they arose at that time.
He wrote: 'Now at this time there
were three schools of thought
among the Judaeans, which held
different opinions concerning hu-
man affairs.' The expression 'there
were' indicates that these sects
were in existence before that time.
Josephus had no occasion to refer
to the Pharises and the Sadducees
previously. The reason that he
refers to these sects at the time of
Jonathan is that the Essenes came
ino being at that time."
Dr. Zeitlin also emphasizes that
the Talmud shows that "there were
disputations between the Pharisees
and the Sadducees long before the
Hasmonean period."
* * s
Prof. Zeitlin's first volume of his
monumental work, "The Rise and
Fall of the Judaean State," deals
with the Judaean-Hellenic conflicts,
with the role of Judaea as an in-
dependent state, with the social and
religious developments in Judaea
in the third and second centuries
BCE.
There is emphasis on the Has-
monean rulers, on the society that
functioned in that era, on the per-
iod of the last Hasmoneans with
particular reference to the episodel
occurrences involving Salome and
Jannaeus Alexander.
The second volume of Dr. Zeit-
lin's Judaean history during the
Second Commonwealth was pub-
lished by the Jewish Publication
Society last May. It, too, dealt with
the Perushim and with the Zadokite
ideology.
of $29.5 Million for 1969
The U.S. Agriculture Department
inspector who arrived in Israel
in July personally supervised the
implementation of this special ar-
rangement worked out by the Agu-
dath Israel leader.
Every Ethrog destined for the
United States was inspected by
Israeli- and American Agricul-
ture Department officials, after
a 10-day incubation period. Be-
cause of this eye inspection, the
American government agreed to
f or ego the required chemical
fumigation of Bach citrus fruit
imported from the Middle East,
which would have rendered the
Ethrog unfit for ritual use.
As an additional precaution, all.
the Ethrogim were boxed and
stored in a sealed warehouse, with
the U.S. inspector holding the keys
until they were released and trans-
ported to the docks for shipment
by boat to the United States.
AJCongress, ACLU Sue
Federal Govt. for Giving
Funds to Church College
HARTFORD—The first test case
challenging the allocation of tens
of millions of dollars in federal
funds to church-controlled colleges
was launched last week in the U.S.
District Court for Connecticut.
Sponsored by the American Jew-
ish Congress and the Connecticut
Civil Liberties Union, the suit was
brought by 15 Connecticut resi-
dents seeking an injunction to halt
the flow of tax-raised funds to
Sacred Heart University, Fairfield
University. Annhurst College and
Albertus Magnus College, all in
Connecticut.
The action filed Sept. 26 in fed-
eral court in New Haven charges
that grants made by the U.S. De-
partment of Health, Education and
Welfare under the 1963 Higher
Education Facilities Act violate
both the intent of the law and the
constitutional guarantees of reli-
gious liberty and church-state sep-
aration contained in the First
Amendment. The issue is expected
to be ultimately decided by the
U.S. Supreme Court.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
12—Friday, October 4, 1968
NEW YORK (JTA)—Three hun-
dred Jewish leaders contributed
$4,120,000 last week at a dinner
launching the 51st annual cam-
paign of the Federation of Jewish
Philanthropies for a record goal of
$29,500,000 for its 130 affiliated so-
cial service and medical institu-
tions.
Federation officials said the goal
was the largest ever sought by any
voluntary group in any American
city. The federation represents the
largest group in the United States
of sectarian-sponsored health, wel-
fare and recreational agencies,
which serve nearly 1,500,000 person
of all faiths annually in the Greater
New York area.
The officials said that federation
allocations represent about 10 per
cent of the budgets of the affiliated
agencies, which spend about $200,-
000,000 a year.
Do
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E throgim Okayed for Export to U.S.
After Probe by Agriculture Dept. Aide
This service followed a special
arrangement worked out with the
Agriculture Department by Rabbi
Moshe Sherer, executive president
of Agudath Israel of America,
after
new American government
d
regulations in effect banned the
I import of Israeli Ethrogim clue to
the fear of Mediterranean fruit fly
infestation.
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sect named Hasidim. The Jews
who opposed their theories were
nicknamed by them Mitnagdim, a
term of contempt. The opponents
of the Hasidim did not at first call
themselves Mitnagdim, but did so
at a later date when it ceased to
be a term of contempt. In the 16th
century reformers arose against
the Pope. The Catholics termed
them Protestants, a name of con-
tempt. Later the term Protestants
was adopted by all Chrisians who
opposed Catholicism. . . . History
is replete with examples of this
ncknaming propensity. Similarly,
the word Perushim eventually took
on an aura of respect and its orig-
inal disparaging meaning was lost.
Josephus, who used the term, prob-
ably did not know how it arose."
* *
NY Federation Sets Goal
JERRY STEIN OLDSMOBILE
15205 East Jefferson
Just E. of Alter Rd. • VA 1.5000
COLLEGE OF JEWISH STUDIES
Under Auspices of
METROPOLITAN DETROIT
FEDERATION OF
REFORM SYNAGOGUES
at TEMPLE EMANU-EL
14450 West 10-Mile Road, Oak Park
Classes Will Be Held On:
October 9. 16, 23, 30; November 6, 13, 20
December 4, 11, 18; January 8, 15, 22, 29
Courses Offered-7:50 to 8:40 P.M.
EDUCATION
Rabbi Philip Berkowitz
HISTORY
Cantor Arthur Asher
HEBREW
Rabbi David Jessel
POST BIBLICAL
LITERATURE
Rabbi Ernst Conrad
Courses Offered-8:45 to 9:35 P.M.
EDUCATION
Rabbi Berkowitz
HEBREW
Rabbi Jessel
HISTORY
Cantor Asher
JEWISH RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
Rabbi Robert Benjamin
Courses Offered-9:40 to 10:30 P.M.
CONVERSION STUDIES
Rabbi Berkowitz
HEBREW
Rabbi Jessel
BIBLE
Rabbi Leon Franz
JEWISH RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
Rabbi Benjamin
The College of Jewish Studies is open to members of the con-
gregations and their friends. The enrollment fee is $7.50 per
course.