Purely Commentary

Israel and the Eneniy: Meeting Menace Head On
It would be utterly ostrich-like for any one to ignore the menacing

situation facing Israel. All who say "there is no chance of a war now -
know• that a war is going on, that the cease tire has been ignored.
that Israel's security and very existence are being threatened, that
Israel won't take anything lying down, - that the present generation
ul Jews asserts: there won't be another holocaust !
This sounds pretty goodnbr a fund-raising campaigner. Yet it has
merit based on reality for the student of history. The fact is that the
order to cease fire had been ignored almost from the very•beginning,
shortly after the Six-Day War: that Israel wa7. ---Ficcaised of aggression
because- she has the upper hand and it is so easy to sympathize with
the underdog--- and suddenly the oil-enriched Arab states that are
reputed to have throv n in some S3,000.00(000 into a campaign to
undermine Israel's existence are the underdogs! With money from
Saudi Arabia. Kuwait and the oil interests. Israel has -suddenly been
placed into a position of defender of inherited historical rights.
Yet, there are factors in the situation that complicate matters
for Arabs as much as for Israel. There is t .ffe devisiveness among
Arabs that has hindered their efforts to destrOy the Jewish state.
Almost immediately after the imnassioned call fora jihad — for a holy
war—there was a cooling off. Was it fright or a realization that these
things don't work as fast and as easily as a call to hatred.
Perhaps the Al Aksa Mosque fire was not as suitable for a- call
to hatred as it appeared on the surface. There have -been fires in
many holy places—two of them having broken out in churches in
Jerusalem in the past few years—but it would not have lerved a
purpose to start an anti-Israel campaign when fires occurreli during
Jordanian rule over Jerusalem. But it was so easy to call for hate
against Israel ! Even so notable a newspaper as the Washington' Post
blundered at the time with the editorial. comment that the Al Aksa
fire "has severely embarrassed Israel's claim to he a reliable protector
of all holy places in Jerusalem." 111!)w blind can an editor be? Didn't
ie realize that only Israel has been assuring freedom of religiousi
oliservonce- and absolute liberty for all church groups„ after ousting
Jordan fr•,i• 'a position of prejudicial action that was especially en-
forced agains, .lows and Judaism?
There is nut iinly tension among the competing guerrilla groups
whose only unifying :deal is the aim to destroy Israel. Soon after the
hijacking of the ,TWA "lane UPI reported from Cairo that "a majority
of Arab guerv rilla leaders Meeting here t Sept. 3) declined to support
attacks that endanger the lives of innocent civilians.” Judging by the
hornbill! , of El Israel Embassy and Jewish mercantile offices in a
number bf countries, such a decision must he treated with suspicion.
Yet Arabs have found it necessary to utter it for the sake of an im-
pression of decency. Which goes to prove that an expression of public
resentment against banditry and terrorism can and does bring occa-
.
•
sional good csu
Of course, there is still the El Fatah. There is much damage, from
this guerrilla force. It has invaded American universities: (We' -sa w

Theologic Conflicts in Potok's New Novel;
Middle East Cauldron and Israel's Troubles

By Philip

Siomovitz

A genuine pufzle in defining the popularity of novels is posed by the second book by Dr. Chaim
Potok, who is the editor - of the Jewish Publication Society of America.
Dr. Potok's ''The Chosen" was first published in MO by Simon and Schuster. It went into to print-
ings and was a Literary Guild selection. It-was issued by Fawcett World Library
as a paperback. A story about two boys. both from very religious families, one
an ardent Hasid, it caught the imagination of the reading public, non-Jews as

well as Jews.
Now, in the sequel—"The Promise - -just issued by Alfred Knopf, Dr.
Potok continues the story of Reuven Halter and his friend Danny Saunders,
their families, the; rabbis in the seminaries with whom they become involved,

the Hasidim of Williamsburg.
Could this story possibly retain the interest first aroused in "The
Chosen?" Many wondered how two boys who are engaged in the study of
the Talmud could have captured the imagination of discriminating readers.
Yet, it happened, the story stayed on the best seller list for more than two
sequences
years. retaining a strong interest in the popular paperback. But the
in "The Promise" are meeting with obstacles among reviewers, and while Chaim Potok
reviews do not always influence a large reading public — just as theatrical critics frequently find
that plays they condemn become the most popular on and off Broadway — the first reactions are

worth studying.
Thus, in Time, an unsigned review, in the current issue, strikes hard at Dr. Potok. It is sort of revealing
in its approach in that it indicates that Potok?s first effort at novel-writing was a dragged out affair, that
Potok had written 800 pages in the original manuscript and that it had to be cut to a minimum for Simon
and Schuster by RoberPCottlieb for the "The Chosen." Resorting to the term "the mavin" (authority) bor-
rowed from "Joys of Yiddish" (Leo Rosten), the Time reviewer makes much of the Gottlieb gene and
brands "The Promise" "stultifying" and "hothouse." Worse: the unnamed reviewer tries to make much of
the Midrashic quotation "All beginnings are difficult" in Potok's book by asking how much more of
the Potok manuscript Gottlieb may still have (as a matter of fact the new novel is not a Simon-Schuster
publication but Knopf's) and that for some writers it is difficult to know when to stop.

Then' came another bit of needling in the first of two reviews in the New York Times in which Potok
is advised to, stop because "enough is as good as a feast," but the second and much longer review in
NYTimes is more favorable, shows understanding, indicates that the reviewer (Hugh Nissenscin) is forti-
fied with a background of Jewish knowledge.
Now we shall have scores of other reviews, and and there will no doubt be the judges in both ranks
—the flattering and the approving and the revoltingly critical.
This reviewer's prediction—if a prediction in the form of a guess is permitted — is that Potok will
fool them ail. that "The Promise" will also be a hest seller, that the publishers' gamble of a first print-
ing of 100,000 was not too risky. For good reasons:
It is true that Potok drags and repeats and keeps emphasizing some phrases perhaps ad nauseam
and doesn't have much sex in the story even if there is the love story and Danny's marriage to Rachel,
and all there is of sex is reference to the character in Joyce's "Ulysses" often quoted by Potok — "Molly
Bloom big with seed.". (Here this reviewer resorts to the repetitive use of the and in a very long sentence
—something that is being severely criticized in Potok—yet it is not so horrifying because that is not the
entire approach to a tale that has greater merit in other fields than has been acknowledged until now.)

The ract is that Potok's new novel introduced a most interesting theme — the struggle between

modernism (he even uses the term humanism) and what some may term as fanaticism. The point is
that in this -novel we are faced with the talmudically argumentative, with the struggle between Ortho•

-
doxy and Conservatism and Reform—between the admantly observant who will not tolerate research
samples (2•1' it at Wayne St•te University earlier this year). It claimed to
and analysis and new thought and those who insist upon groping for new ideas, new views, interpreta•
have orientated some, 150 .youths from Europe. America, Africa, and
tive in the talmudic and biblical even if the texts must be questioned.
'Asia in special classes and even claimed that nine Jews were among
the 150. This must be taken with a grain of salt—as much as the re-
We are faced here with the problem of excommunication—with the herem—with the writing out of
port that had come from London that El Fatah had influenced Jewish- Jewish life of those who will not follow tradition blindly.
students in a Jewish hoarding school, But the principal of Carmel Je
Reuven is preparing for the rabbinate, he must be examined for semiha — for ordination — and his
School in London denied it and pointed-to evidence of interest among
- Nevertheless we must not teacher — Ray Kalman who has survived Maidanek and who had fought with the underground against
Jewish students in Israel to the contrary.
New Leftists have been harmful to Nazism — had just condemned Reuven's father's book' as sacrilege. Rav Kalman indeed threatens Reuven
.o•erlook the truth that Jewl4ft
not to grant him semiha. He yields. He is overruled by another teacher in the seminary and by the dean
The exchange of aerial attacks Within •a week on the Egyptian and who convince the teacher who had tortured Reuven not to place stumbling blocks in the path of the best

Jorilanian borders, Israel retaliatory action against guerrillas operating student in the yeShiva.
But it is much more: there are other conflicts, another herem, against a man Reuven dares to visit
!rm Lebanon, point to the dangers that have not subsided. A report
listing the number of incidents involving guerrilla action against in defianCe of Ray Kalman. The latter yields when he learns that Reuven visits the man Rav Kalman
Israel showed that there were 71 attacks from Jordan and the Syrian despises because of a desire to help cure that man's son, Michael, who is introduced in the story as a silt--
and Lebanese sectors between Ally 27 and Aug. 2—besides 125 in- ferer from delusions and who is being treated byDanny Saunders, now the specialist in psychological ther-
cidents in the Suez area in the same period. Is it any wonder that apy. The story is not as mixed up as it sounds, even if Michael's role is not so important. But the strug-
gle between the talnuidists, those who grope for new ideas through research and those who insist upon
Isfael must act quickly every time there is an attack?
Israel is suffering many -losses—and the Arabs many more: This the letter of the law, and the conflict between a yeshiva and a seminary, are major in the topic that
fi re and a serious causes some thinking relative to the merits of the discussions which dominate the text.
is deplorable. Only complete adherence to the cease

effort for peace will end the killings. But peace appears far, far off
Thus, the hook by Michael's father, Abraham Gordon, which hasbeen placed under a herein, which
at this point. The gap is xvidening rather than reducing. And the has inspired excommunication, poses such questions as: "Do you believe the .world was created in six
Unit•d Nations, in its ineptitude order U Thant who so often evinces days? Do you believe in the order of creation. given in the Bible? Do you believe Eve was created from
enmity towards Israel. offer na hope whatever. for a better future. Adam's rib? Do you believe in the biblical accountof the Revelation at Sinai? . .." etc., etc.
o!lv • Israel's ability to ‘... - itlisiand danger assures prevention of the
And because Dr. Potok stems first from Yeshiva University. later having been ordained at the Con-
., :dl-out war.
-servative Jewish Theological Seminary, it is not unfair to ask whether the characters presented are true

to the experiences of the author — or others, for that matter who may have become involved in Orthodox-
Conservative disputes. (It could not be Reform because those placed in herem in the Potok story are not
The .lewish Defense Lea sues already having created - a problem
traditionally non-obServant: on the contrary are very devout, but they question!)
by threatening vigilante act;on.s against those who threaten their
-
So — here we have a story filled with action that may irritate those who do not understand hasidiut,
s ecurity on the sti- eets of New York, are responsible for another
1,:stie thaNuis evolved at the FN. Arab.statemen found another ex- Jewish observances, indeed perhaps also Williamsburg which is so vividly described by Potok: but it is
1•11,:e for protests and fears: they 'c,laim the would-be Jewish vigilantes nevertheless a story based on realities in Jewish life — of strict adherence to Jewish laws by those who
• threatened their lives. That, of course, is a pack of nonsense. There would not he questioned, and the queries of a group that seeks to modernize, to grope for views that may
are no menacing Jewish groups. It's a- poor excuse to says Jews enlighten those craving- for a new idea of life without abandoning faith and tradition and Torah.
tlireatened them at a time when the Arabs are utilizing 13-year-old.
It is fascinating to.learn - from Potok's story that in the Slohodka Yeshiva of old, one of the most

The Vigilante Problem

youths to throw bombs at Jewish public offices. and are endanger- famous. there was a similar struggle over would-be heresy, and a rabbi who was mild, and genial and
ine Jewish lives in European capitals.
friendly suddenly became embittered and leveled a herem„against his students who became the persecuted.
While resorting to kidnaping' and-to abuse of rights under inter- We learn that the Vilna Gaon had a student, Menashe of Ilye, who was a great authority on the Talmud
national law by condoning hijacking of planes,• the Arabs are playing and who also was a mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, but he taught Talmud in the Gaon's
the martyr role at the UN. Why don't the Big Powers put an end method, and while the Gaon's liberalism could not he challenged, Mena she was persecuted and was
to such nonsense instead of being partners to false attacks . upon. denied teaching positions.
Israel because of a mosque, fire and matters in which Israel strives
•
In "The Promise" we have scores of such incidents of conflicts, and Potok will be questioned con-
to provide protection for holy places and relief for whatever ills
tinally whether the rabbi subjected to herein was a certain Reconstructionist and whether the counter-
-
Arabs may 'stiffer from in Israel?
part of a Ray Kalman in real life might not he a very prominent contemporary, a famous authority on
A Study in Calendars
' Tamu
l
d - •
'Commencement of a New Year provides an opportunity for study the
of art in calendars and the utilization of the Hebrew luah for promo-
Indeed, there will be very many questions relating to this struggle — and they are more valid
tional purposes. While wide distribution of calendars is part of fund- and more vital than the taunting of Potok by superficial reviewers.
raising schemes, there also is the earnest desire to produce artistically
Because it reveals a struggle — whether it is humanism versus fanaticism does not matter because
and to issue yearly reckoning tabulations that inspire an interest in . .
it is not a question of terminology but of an idea in conflict — "The Promise" has a challenging mes-
cultural and historical matters.
. Sure, it . drags a bit. But the emphasis is not
harmful. We have here a most interesting approach
Jew- 'soage
From Israel have come some very impressive calendars. The Jew-
t a serious issue, and the novel will draw attention. Perhaps it is a book mostly for Jews: time will-tell.
ish National Fund usually produces an interesting product,
Potok's story is about two young men (and their elders of our own generation). How many of
A traditional art calendar comes annually from the National Fed-;
eration of :Temple Sisterhoods (Reform). This year's is an especially
this type are there to be concerned with? Are there so many Hasidim and such an abundance of de-
interesting one, containing the sculptural illustrations of the sculptural
vout who, even when they question, nevertheless are supremely concerned about the faith? Even if
corks of Moissaye Marans.
Marans'
interpretation
of
the
Jewish
peace
•
they
are the few, they nevertheless portray a condition that is worthy probing, and Potokqould be
Especially fascinating is
taunted with an "enough already" but he need not collapse under it. The best seller list soon will prove
' hope, in hig‘sculpture "Swords Into Plowshares." Complementing it is
this bap( comfort to the able delineator o1 Williamsburg theology and philosophy.
his "The Rook Against the Sword:" The entire selection was made

with appreciation and understanding and the women in the Reform •
• ... • • • .
. •
Jewish_ Movement will.dclight in this

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• • Z.-Friday, September- 19, 1969

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

