Wealth of Literary Material, Notable Classics
Among the New Paperbacks of Jewish Interest
There was an enrichment of the
paperback book shelves this week
with the addition of many valua-
ble reprints as well as originals
issued by several publishers.
Special interest attaches to the
re-issued work by Dr. Samuel
Sandmel, "The Genius of Paul:
A Study in History," made avail-
able as a paperback by Schocken
Books. In this extensive study,
Prof. Sandmel, one of the recog-
nized authorities on Paul and his
time, goes into detail in reviewing
the conflicts in the Church over
Paulinism, and his explanation of
Paul's attitude toward Jews and
Judaism is:
"In his strictures against Juda-
ism, Paul in large measure felt
that he was dealing partly with
an internal Jewish affair. It was
Paul the Jew criticizing his in-
herited Judaism. He was no more
fair-minded to Judaism than was
Martin Luther to Catholicism, or
than the American sect, the Church
of Christ, is in its criticism of
Protestants. The allegations which
Paul makes about the Law are
subjective and one-sided; thus, the
picture of Judaism evolved from
the New Testament is a grotesque
caricature . . ."
It is interesting to note that Dr.
Sandmel takes into account the
dispute over the claims of antiquity
for the Dead Sea Scrolls. Comment-
ing on the views of Dr. Solomon
Zeitlin that the Scrolls were of
the Middle Ages and not of the
first century of this era, Prof.
Sandmel writes:
"While I do not share Dr. Zeit-
lin's unrelenting and total skepti-
cism about the Dead Sea Scrolls
being a hoax, I have enjoyed most
of the acrid style with which he
has punctured the pretentiousness
of his literary opponents; I have
occasionally felt that his remarks
would be stronger if they were
gentler. My attitude towards the
Scrolls can be summarized briefly.
Even if all they contain is truly
authentic and credible, the contents
are so vastly vague that the vague-
ness has prompted a spate of
scholarly theories which contradict
each other. It is not the deficiency
of the scholars, but their wish to
penetrate the vagueness of the
material that leads to the bewilder-
ing array of theories—of which
Edmund Wilson appears to have
known primarily . . . Material as
vague as the Dead Sea Scrolls does
not lend itself to being attached
to fixed points in history; the
identifications have ranged from
about 325 BCE to the Karaitic peri-
od of medieval history—a span of
at least 1,000 years."
stood him in good stead in acquir-
ing knowledge about basic themes
in the Talmud and the problems
of the rabbinate—has gained fame
with his books about "the Rabbi."
His latest, "Sunday the Rabbi
Stayed Home," already a best
seller, keeps gaining acclaim and
admirers with its appearance as a
paperback.
'The Philosophy of Spinoza':
Prof. Wolfson's 2-Volume Work
Major among the paperbacks
issued in recent weeks is the
Schocken two - volume product,
"The Philosophy of Spinoza," by
Prof. Harry Austryn Wolfson.
Having as its subtitle "Unfold-
ing the Latent Processes of His
Reasoning," the eminent Harvard
Issued as a Fawcett Crest Book, scholar has produced one of the
this volume implements and sup- most extensive studies on the sub-
plements his earlier works, "Fri-
day the Rabbi Slept Late" and
"Saturday the Rabbi Went Hun-
gry."
In "Sunday the Rabbi Stayed
Home" which has become a selec-
tion of the Mystery Guild and
which was an alternate selection
of the Literary Guild when it ap-
peared as a hardcover book, we
find Rabbi Small involved in syna-
gogue political shenanigans. Mur-
der, marijuana, unsavory charac-
ter sare in the theme. Temple
members' politics come into play,
in an effort to expel the rabbi. But
the rabbi's Talmudic sense again
comes into play. He uncovers a
plot and at the same time enhances
his position. There was a murder
and the police wanted to pin guilt
on one of the murdered boy's drink-
BARUCH SPINOZA
ing companions who'd left him in
the old mansion to sleep off the
beer and whiskey that had knocked ject. The two paperbacks, with a
him out. It took the rabbi's Tal- total of more than 800 pages, cover
mudic methods of detectival deduc- vast themes relating to Spinozan
tion to figure out that a cantan- philosophy.
The methods of Spinoza's ap-
kerous, staunch old Yankee, who
happens to peddle pot on the sly, proaches to theological probing,
ethical
concepts, are among the
is the real culprit. The result is a
superb blend of hair-splitting logic subjects covered.
Spinoza's
conflicts with Mai-
and hair-raising suspense that is
moniean views, his attitudes on
indisputable entertainment.
Jews and Judaism, are thorough-
Kemelman began his career as
ly outlined and given frill review
a writer with the creation of his
here.
armchair detective Nicky Welt,
Historians, philosophers, theolo-
who is almost as well known to gians will find these two works by
readers as Rabbi Small. Soon Dr. Wolfson of immense value. As
Kemelman was itching to write a paperbacks the two great works
full-length novel and discovered become accessible to a vaster read-
that what interested him most ing public.
was the Jew in suburbia. After
some trial and error he hit upon Reik's 'The Search Within':
the perfect combination—incorpo- Psychoanalyst's Experiences
ration of the detective story into
A noteworthy book by the late
a novel about the Jewish suburban Dr. Theodor Reik, "The Search
community.
Within," published as a paperback
"The solution also had the merit by Minerva Press, is being dis-
of resolving that problem of the tributed by Funk and Wagnalls.
full-length mystery novel. The mur-
Subtitled "The Inner Experiences
der would provide only one thread, of a Psychoanalyst," this immense
albeit an important one, of a 660-page book presents the author's
larger narrative. That would be recollections of his association
the story of the entire community with Sigmund Freud, it analyzes
in which the murder occurs and the basic psychiatric developments
which affects everyone involved. and offers many critical attitudes
The result ,of course, was the crea- on psychoanalytical experiences , of
tion of the 'unorthodox' mystery one of the most eminent men in his
novels featuring Rabbi David field.
Small . . .
The book reproduces a number
Harry Kemelman's 'Sunday
"In a sense, then, Rabbi David of Freud's personal messages to
the Rabbi Stayed Home'
Small can be said to be the son the author.
Harry Kemelman—his studies at of Prof. Nicholas Welt," says
Jewish humor, on which Reik
Boston Hebrew Teachers College Harry Kemelman.
had emerged as an authority in
his lifetime's efforts to analyze
the role of Jews in society ,
considerable emphasis in this im-
pressive paperback.
Israelis Patrol Lebanese Border
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Europe's Nazis, Fascists
"Nazis and Fascists in Europe
1918-1945" contained the important
data regarding that era's political
occurrences. The paperback, pub-
lished by Quadrangle Books, ap-
pears as, a New York Times Book
and was edited, with an explana-
tory introduction, by John Weiss.
Definitive articles in this volume,
by noted authorities on the subject,
deal with the rise of Fascism,
international phenomena relating
to the fascist ideas, war and pre-
paration for war under fascism
and other issues that affected
Europe during the rise of the ter-
ror in the 1930s and again in the
1940s.
It contains pearls from Jewish
literature and folklore.
There are selections from the
Talmud and the Shulhan Arukh,
notable quotations from the prayer-
book, the Psalms, Solomon Ibn
Gabirol, Bahya Ibn Pakuda, Is-
rael Salanter, Maimonides, Moses
Ibn Ezra, Saadyah Gaon and from
Elie Wiesel's "Night."
* * *
Jewish Travel Guide
"The Jewish Travel Guide 1970-
71" is being distributed in this
country by Hartmore House, Inc.,
Hartmore, Conn.
Issued annually by the London
Jewish Chronicle, it contains the
most valuable facts about places
to visit, their Jewish significance,
the community organizations in
the various centers and other im-
portant facts.
Collectively, the guide offers
Jewish historical facts that make
this small book a sort of miniature
encyclopedia about Jewish com-
munities.
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'The Trial of Dr. Spock'
A timely paperback, issues as a
Random House Vimtage Book, is
Jessica Milford's "The Trial of
Dr. Spock, the Rev. William Sloan
Jr., Michael Ferber, Mitchell Good-
man and Marcus Raskin."
Of interest is the author's dedi-
cation: "To my husband, Robert
Truehaft, who counseled, aided
and abetted the writing of this
book, and who appear in its pages
as the Old Trial Hand."
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Anthology of Poets
David Shapiro and Ron Padgett
are the co-editors of an impres-
sive analysis of modern poetry,
"An Anthology of New York
Poets," issued as a Random House
Vintage paperback.
Many eminent names are includ-
ed in this anthology. The poets
from whose works selections are
published here include those of the
two-co-editors, Michael Briwn-
stein's, Ed Sanders', Bill Berkson
and others.
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Vintage Paperbacks
Random House has issued an im-
pressive group of Vintage Paper-
backs. Included among the latest
works issued by Random House
are:
"The Economy of Cities" by
Jane Jacobs.
"The Song of Roland," trans-
lated and with an introduction by
W. S. Merwin.
"An Approach to the Asian
Drama" by Gunnar Myrdal. Sel-
ections from "Asian Drama: An In-
quiry Into the Poverty of Na-
tions," a Twentieth Century Fund
study.
"Cuban Counterpoint — Tobacco
and Sugar," by Fernando Ortiz.
Story of two important crops that
have shaped Cuban society. Trans-
lated from the Spanish by Harriet
de Onis. Introduction by Bronis-
law Malinowski.
"Good Times." Poems by Lucille
Clifton.
"Anti-Politics in America" by
John H. Bonzel. Reflections on the
anti-political temper and its distor-
tion of the democratic process.
"Allen Ginsberg in America" by
Jane Kramer.
"Political Origins of the New
Diplomacy 1917-1919" by Arno J.
Mayer. The story of Europe and
the Bolshevik revolution.
Three eminent historians are the
subpject of an important Vintage
book. In "The Progressive Histo-
rians," Richard Hofstadter de-
scribes the works of Frederick
Jackson Turner, Charles A. Beard
and V. L. Parrington.
Zim, Now in the Black,
to Invest $300,000,000
HAIFA (ZINS)—Israel's ship-
ping company Zim which pre-
viously suffered losses running into
tens of millions of dollars and
which was compelled to dispose
of 'all of its passenger ships, is now
preparing for "the revolution of
the '70s."
According to Israel's press,
Zim is now operating in the
black and has decided to make
a fresh investment for the future
to the tune of $300,000,000 in the
construction of 33 new vessels.
The Israel government will re-
main a 30 per cent partner in the
firm. Zim's present fleet al-
ready consists of 78 cargo vessels
which, together with certain leased
craft, represent a dead weight ton-
nage in excess of 1,000,000. After
Zim has completed its expan-
sion program by the addition of 33
new ships, its tonnage will have
reached 4,000,000 by 1980.
Astronomers Cooperate
to Investigate Sun Spots
PASADENA, Calif. (JTA) —
Astronomers at the California In-
stitute of Technology and the Uni-
versity of Tel Aviv are cooperating
in a unique investigation of the
evolution of sunspots aimed at de-
veloping a way to predict solar
flares, which can be hazardous to
astronauts.
Time lapse movies of the sun's
constantly moving and fiery sur-
face can be taken continuously for
as long as 20 hours through two
identical six-inch telescopes locat-
ed on opposite sides of the earth—
one in Israel and the other in
Southern California.
Harold Zirin, professor of astron-
omy at Caltech and a member of
the Hale Observatories staff, se-
lected Israel as the site for a sec-
ond telescope when he started the
program to film the sun in 1967.
Comedian Menashe Skulnik Dies
Menashe Skulnik, one of the
most popular of the Yiddish stage
comedians who in recent years
became one of the very popular
Broadway stars, died Wednesday.
circles and among the tens of
thousands who laughed at his an-
tics. He made people laugh and for
that he was loved and his name will
be cherished."
On his many appearances in De-
troit, Mr. Skulnik created a large
following. He was known as a gen-
erous man who readily participated
in many charitable functions.
A close friend of the deceased
actor, Harry Weinberg, who for
many years conducted a Yiddish
radio hour here, paid tribute to
him.
"Mr. Skulnik was the great artist,
the dedicated Jew, the lover of
Israel, whose services will long be
remembered," Weinberg said. "Mr.
An Israeli army patrol driving along the Israel-Lebanon frontier
Skulnik was a favorite here,
Wolf is a recent Bnai Brith publica- whether he appeared on the Yid-
close to where another patrol was fired upon by Arab terrorists.
tion being distributed by Bloch dish or English stage. He has left
42—Friday, June 5, 1970
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Publishing Co.
and indelible mark in theatrical
* s *
'What Is Man,' a Bnai
Brith Publication
"What Is Man" by Arnold J.
MENASHE SKULNIH