Ethical _Jewish Studies Extensively
Formulated in Agus' Vision and Way'

Religious humanism in the sacred
literature of the Jewish people is
being explored in the thorough
fashion of Rabbi Jacob B. Agus'
scholarly approaches in his "The
Vision and the Way" which has been
reissued by Frederick Ungar Pub-
lishing Co. in a paperback.
In this extensive study, the emi-
nent Baltimore scholar offers "an
interpretation of Jewish ethics"
and explores the "ideal society"
and "the ideal personality."
Urging that "we learn to distin-
guish betwen the substance and
the shadow of religion," Rabbi
Agus encourages, as a loyalty to
religion, that there should be con-
tinuous criticism and he maintains
that "the duty of Jews is to main-
tain particularly high standards of
morality in their personal and com-
munal life."
Drawing upon the thinking and
writings of a number of world
Jewry's outstanding scholar s —
Buber, Ahad Ha-Am, A. D. Gordon,
Luzzatto, Hermann Cohen, F. Ro-
senzweig and others — Dr. Agus
elaborates upon them and developg
a theme that enriches the studies
of Jewish ethical teachings.
National tensions receive spe-
cial consideration. Dealing with
contemporary issues, Dr. Agus
makes the point that "worldwide
experience of the Jewish people
demonstrates the dangers as well
as the potentialities of ethnic en-
claves within a nation."
He makes an interesting point
that is applicable to inter-faith
relations and Jewish-Christian dia-
logue when he states:
"If Jewish history teaches us
anything at all, it is the need*of
actively cultivating feelings of fra-
ternity with the host-nation, and
the dire disasters that are sure to
follow the failure to attain the con-
sumation."
Applicability of the Golden Rule
"to social groupings as to individ-
uals" is emphasized and Rabbi
Agus makes this significant com-
ment regarding peace and the in-
ternational order:
"The Hebrew prophets projected
the vision of a united society man-
kind, in which all 'the families of
the earth' will join together to
eliminate the scourge of war, in-
justice and povery. Yet, in the
Jewish tradition, pacifism finds
little support, for we must not im-
agine at any one time that the
millenium is already here. We are
called upon to strive for the reali-
zation of the dream of human per-
fections if it could be achieved
tomorrow. But we must begin with
the existing patterns of internation-
al relations and work from there,
taking a step at a time.
"Nevertheless, individual Jews
may incline to the edge of spec-
trum and become 'conscientious
objectors.' They may draw their
convictions from the mystical
stream in the Jewish heritage,
which asserts that all is in the
hands of God. All that man can do
is to refrain from evil. Or they may
come to feel that, as Jews, they
stand outside history; they have
been assigned a unique task and
consigned to the realm of eternity.
Hence, they must not immerse
themselves in the power struggle
of the nations. While in our judg-
ment such views may seem 'ex-
tremist," we have to recognize

that in the dynamic polarity of
Judaism, some small groups will
cling to either one of the two poles.
Such people should be allowed to
serve the nation in ways that
are in accord with their religious
convictions."
On scores of other matters Dr.
Agus expresses views based on
his deep research that must
arouse thinking, wide discussion
and further study. For instance
current world problems involving
Vietnam, communism and reli-
gious extremism, he asserts:
"Crusades are perversions of re-
ligious idealism.. If the moralistic
fig leaf were torn away, these
struggles, exposed in their naked
brutality, would soon simmer
down. In the hybrid union of
idealism and national interests,
the real interests of the nation
are distorted by the pious patina
of propaganda."
On the question of nuclear war-
fare and in matters involving hu-
man life, Dr. Agus asserts:

"Long ago, the rabbis laid it
down as a governing principle, 'All
sins a person may commit if the
alternative is the loss of life, ex-
cepting these three—idolatry, sex-
ual immorality and murder.' In
other words, a person does not
have the right to cause the death
of an innocent individual in order
to save his own life. By way of ex-
planation, the Talmud adds, 'Why
should you think that your blood is
redder than that of another?'"
This is an important point since
it has relevance to the discussion
regarding order-taking, akin to that
which was claimed in the Adolf
Eichmann defense and which was
offered last month in the mild sen-
tences imposed by an Athens court
upon two Arab murderers who at-
tacked an El Al plane and killed
an Israeli.

The significant ethical study adds
"The Vision and the Way" to the
significant works produced oy the
Baltimore Jewish scholar.
—P. S.

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