THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
62—Friday, December Id, 1970
Kehila History
Related in Goren
Book on N.Y. Jews
Rising crime rates, an ineffective
educational system, poverty and
labor conflict in the Jewish sec-
tions of New York prompted Jew-
ish leaders to try a singular ex-
periment in community organiza-
tion by establishing an American
kehilla, a replica of the community
government that for European
Jews assured stability, autonomy,
and mutual cooperation.
"New York Jews and the Quest
For Community" by historian Ar-
thur A. Goren, to be publned by
Columbia University Press Nov. 4,
traces the growth of the kehilla
from its founding in 1908 to its
demise a short fourteen years
later.
Dr. Goren analyzes the attempts
of this little known institution to
harness the resources of the city's
Jewry to solve its neighborhood
problems, providing a relevant
study of a struggling ethnic group's
progress against urban problems
similar to those of today.
The kehila's successful ventures
in the areas of philanthropy and
education are explored, and much
attention is given to the men,
such as Jacob Schiff, Joseph Bar-
ondess, Bernard Semel, and especi-
ally Judah Magnes, who guided the
kehila during its short existence.
Blessed Israel
MOSHE H. ZIRIN
Land of wheat .. .
By
Prof. Katsh's Complete Geniza Misnna.
Published in Hebrew Text in Jerusalem
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How do you know? Simple, the
Bible tells us so; and for the bene-
!=
fit of the "From Missouri" type,
it is in Deuteronomy, chapter 8,
verse 8. Now a statement in the
;
Bible is taken seriously nowadays.
even by the non-believer; scien-
,i
bi
Vg$1
V,'
Dt4
tists, especially archeologists, have
proven time and again the veracity
of the Bible.
* P., a •
Of course, there are always the
hard-core skeptics. For their sake,
let us look at some facts:
Not too long ago, Israel's aver-
I;R:tri) . Dejlittk
age wheat grain yield per dunam
(a quarter of an acre) was 180
kilogram (a kilogram equals 2.-
. : •
2046 pounds.) Since then, the co-
operation between the enthusiastic
farmers and the dedicated scien-
tists has contributed to tremendous
a
increases in the yields. Last year
A Geniza fragment of the Mishna dating back to the 9th Century, is one of the 350 photographs in the
the farmers were encouraged to
"Ginze Mishna" by Dr. Abraham I. Katsh, president of Dropsie University. It Is the first complete study
participate in "Operation 700"—an
of all the eight tracts from the Talmud that comprise the Mishna, originally found in the Cairo Geniza and
all out effort to harvest an aver-
presently stored in a state library in Leningrad.
age yield of 700 kg per dunam.
PHILADELPHIA—The first com- dent of Dr. Katsh's father, who only person permitted to micro- the Talmud was studied by oral
Unfortunately, last year the
drought had a serious effect on plete and definitive study of the was chief rabbi of Petah-Tikva in film the Mishna material along transmission and not from a writ-
the crop, and the highest yield of Mishna, originally from the Cairo Israel.
with other invaluable Geniza col- ten book," said Dr. Katsh.
The Mishna is a compilation of lections in other state libraries in
those participating in the "opera- Geniza, is the newest Work of Dr.
"Some of the variants can also
Abraham
I.
Katsh,
president
of
eight
tracts
from
the
Talmud
that
tion" was only 676 kg to the
the Soviet Union, Poland and Hun- be traced to deletions as the result
codifies the orally transmitted gary.
dunam; one third of the fields Dropsie University.
of constant governmental censor-
This work, with 350 pages of legal rules deriving from the Bible,
registered harvested above SOO kg.
ship. The Talmud, it is remem-
Dr. Katsh's entire microfilm col- bered, has been a constant object
Now, what about the yields in the photographs, titled "Ginze Mish- and Dr. Katsh's book will be of
U.S.? The department of agricul- na," was published in Jerusalem value to scholars throughout the lection is now housed in Dropsie's of attack and misquotation. It
ture figures for 1969, which was a in Hebrew by Mossad Harav Kook, world who are now engaged in re- Microfilm Center of Rare Manu- survived official burning no less
better than average year, quote a the leading publishing house in storing the Talmud as it was origi- scripts, and the material is now than six times in a single century,
for the first time available to stu-
yield of 28.4 bushels per acre; con- Israel.
nally edited.
and caused many disputations."
dents and scholars in this country.
*,* *
verted to the Israeli units, this is
In dedicating the book to Zal-
The Geniza Mishna fragments
equal to 194 kilograms per dunam. man Shazar, president of Israel,
Each photo in "Ginze Mishna"
The first copy of the "Ginze
which Dr. Katsh edited come
Not bad at all for Israel.
it was pointed out that the Israeli
includes
annotations
and
compari-
Mishna"
by
Dr. Abraham I.
from the important collection of
Land flowing with milk . .
chief executive was a former stu-
manuscripts acquired from Catro son of variants with the generally Katsh (right), president of Drop-
(Deuteronomy 11:9)
in the mid-18th Century by the available Mishna printed texts, in- sie University, published in Jeru-
In fact, we don't need a refer-
Russian Archimandrite, Antonin cluding the editions of Lowe, David salem, is presented to Zalman
ence; we just know it, we always
Kapustin, who served as a priest Kaufman of Hungary, the Muen- Shazar, president of Israel, to
sing it: "Eretz Zavat Halav—clap,
in the Holy Land from 1865 until chen Edition, the Babylonian and whom this first complete study
clap—Halav Udvash."
the Palestinian Talmud, as well as
of the Cairo Geniza Mishna is
his death in 1894.
Facts? Last year the average
The Geniza material, which has the rabbinical authorities of earlier dedicated. President Shazar was
yield of milk for registered cows
times.
in
earlier years a talmudic sill-
been proven to be of immeasura-
in Israel was about 7,000 quarts.
dent of Dr. Katsh's father, who
Many of the Geniza fragments,
ble scholarly importance, had been
In the U.S.? As of now, the depart-
was
chief rabbi of Petah-Tikva
stored in a concealed chamber of said Dr. Katsh, differ completely
ment of agriculture preliminary
in Israel.
from the printed text in the order
the Fostat Synagogue in Cairo.
figures for 1968 (apparently not all
"Geniza" means "stored away" of material, while numerous pass-
cows have yet filed their 'return.s')
in Hebrew, and the manuscripts ages are omitted entirely from
quote an average yield of about
are considered to be very close to some fragments. Certain historic
4,000 quarts per cow; the final fig-
-
the original sources because they names such as Alexander the
ures for 1967 were even lower.
have never been subjected to the Great, which appear in the avail-
It Is obvious that in this respect,
censorship and error that came able printed texts, are not found
Israel's cows are in a completely
with the introduction of printing. in the Geniza fragments. There
different league. In fact, the
For that reason, this newest work are also significant variants per-
"World Series" is over and the
will have to be reckoned with in taining to legal matters, which
Israeli cows are the undisputed
reflect the points of view of rabbis
all future Talmudic scholarship.
champions of the world. Officially
It took 13 years and five trips in Spain and France, such as Mai-
so.
to
the
Soviet Union for Dr. Katsh modines and Rashi.
So things are not too bad. The
to complete his "Ginze Mishna"
problem Is that Israel needs more,
"There is every indication that
The perfect guest is one
from the Geniza collection In the the material in the Geniza frag-
many more, of those dunams, of
who says, "goodnight," and
those cows, and of those who im- Zalman Shazar (left) and Dr. Saltykov-Shechedrin State Public ments appears to have been writ-
goes."
Abraham Katsh.
Library in Leningrad. He was the ten at a very early period, when
prove them. And it takes .. .
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