Purely Commentary
Our Ancient Rite and Michelangelo's 'David'
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Callfor,Curl, awitabbie-Ali
`Spiritual Drain' on Diaspora 13eliftled
NEW YORK (JTA)—A Conser-
It all began with an article by Harnes in the Journal of the
American Medical Association. In comment upon which Dr. P. Ciaglia vative rabbinical leader disputed
the contention of some delegates
of Utica, N.Y., wrote a letter to the JAMA. The editors captioned to last week's World Conference
the letter "The 'David' of Michelangelo or (Why The Foreskin?)." Dr. of Sygnagogues . and Community
Organizations in Jerusalem that
Ciaglia's letter reads:
The article by Harnes reminded me of a visit to Florence, Italy. aliya of rabbis must be curbed
because a spiritual drain is de-
In this city, famous for its art treasures, the "David" of Michelangelo veloping in the Diaspora.
towers over all of them. Although I am far from a "conoscente," this
Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, executive
17-foot statue of "David" filled me with awe and admiration. Never- vice president of the (Rabbinical
theless, I immediately made an observation that aroused my curiosity Assembly, insisted that there is
and I whispered it to my wife—who was immediately outraged. I. had no shortage of rabbis available to
serve "viable" Jewish communi-
merely pointed out that "David" was not circumcised. To me this ties in the United States and
detail was of great social, political, and religious significance. Was abroad.
Michelangelo so ignorant that he did not realize his error? We think
He charged that "It is either
not! Michelangelo was thoroughly versed in the Testaments. Did he
irresponsibility or press release
fear the displeasure of the Church, since the statue would bear a pandering which prompts state-
ments about curbing allya or
visible sign of Judaism? The ideal of manhood would be presented as
not even being a Christian. Or was it Michelangelo's own willful other remedies for an ailment
omission? Was it that he meant to present the idealization of man which has been _ insufficiently
analyzed and for which Obsolete
without any particular identifying feature? Dear reader, take_ your
remedies are recommended."
choice or make up your own answer or forget it! -
At the world conference, French
Three versions of Michelangelo's "David" exist. 'A colleague, a
urologist, has-a- small reproduction , of -The' David in his office which
he was-given as a gift. He reports that his David is indeed circum-
cised."This was completely unexpected and most intriguing; evidently
he possesses the Judeo-American version. No doubt, some outraged
Zionist had felt that 400 years was enough to suffer this indignity to
the House of David, and therefore had acted to correct it.
The third version of Michelangelo's "David" is strictly early
American. A fig leaf placed with Puritan strategy protects the beholder.
Nothing escapes our dynamic advertising executive and able com-
munity leader, Leonard N. Simons. He not only clipped this letter
but also found a follow-up on the subject in Travel and Leisure Maga-
zine which published an article on the subject by Aubrey Menen.
A photograph of the "David" statue was appended to the Mennen
article together with this explanatory editorial note:
"Michelangelo's statue of David is in the Galleria dell' Accademia
in Florence. Carved from a single block of marble between 1501
and 1504, it stands 13 feet, 5 Inches high, excluding the base. Michel-
angelo, 29 years old at the time it was finished, made two prepara-
tory models, which are still to be seen In the Cam Buonarroti, a
house the sculptor bought for a relative. A copy of the 'David' stands
in the Piazza della Signoria, the main square of Florence, where the
original once stood until removed to the Accademia• for protection
against the weather. The copy was made with the use of the sculp-
tor's 'pointing' device, a measuring machine. But the final details
were, of necessity, done by hand and eye, and are much inferior in
execution."
Captioned "The incredible piece of sculpture that started out as
Goliath and ended up as DAVID," the Menen- article reads:
The contract which the Florentines had signed with the young
artist has been preserved. "1501, die XVI augusti," it begins.
"The Lord Overseers have chosen as sculptor the worthy master
Michelangelo . . . to the end that he may make, finish, and bring
to perfection the male figure known as the Giant. . . . already
blocked out in marble by Maestro Agostino of Florence, and badly
blocked." For this work, to be done in two years, Michelangelo
was to receive "six broad florins of gold in gold each month."
It was honest contract: "gold in gold" means that they were
not going to fob him off with barrels of wine and measures of
corn, as some patrons did, and it was a good, if not generous
payment. "Badly blocked" meant that Agostino had been given a
splendid piece of marble to make the statue of a giant. He had
started on the block, and botched it badly, so badly that no other
sculptor but this young man was willing to put chisel to it after
him.
Unfortunately, Agostino had begun with the legs. The cuts he
had made set the pose of any statue that could be made from the
block. In the second place, he had been commissioned to make a
giant: so it was a giant's legs that had been sketched out. Mi-
chelangelo wanted to make a David. But as all the world knew,
when David killed Goliath with a stone from his slina. he was a
young boy. Michelangelo's revered predecessor, Donatello, had
made an exquisite statue of him: slender, fragile, and adolescent,
bringing out beautifully the point of the story.
Michelangelo solved the problem by ignoring it. He decided
to sculpt David as a stalwart young man. If he was criticized, we
may be sure it did not worry him. And no objections were
raised when the David was finished. The Florentines were over-
joyed. Not only had they got what was plainly a masterpiece, but
they had recovered their outlay on the marble. Florentines were
businessmen, and a florin saved was a florin gained. They appointed
a committee of the best artists in the city to decide where the
statue should be placed. The committee chose a perfect site in
the principal piazza, where the great pillar of white marble was
set off against the warm brick of the communal palace. In the 19th
century, it was moved from there to protect it from the weather,
so now we must see it in a sort of Victorian glass conservatory.
Even that does not destroy its astonishing beauty.
All the same, it remains that David was a boy when he killed
Goliath, not a man. One day after looking at the statue, I returned
to my hotel. Opening a drawer, I found a Bible inside. I thought
I would read the story of David's fight, a thing I had not done
since I was a boy. I turned to the 16th and 17th 'chapters of the first
Book of Samuel. To my surprise, I found that Michelangelo was
correct—or, at least, half correct. According to the text, when
David threw the stone, he was both a boy and a man. We are
first told how be was brought - to King Saul as "one of _ great
Jewish leaders said that emigrants
to Israel in recent years included
five or six chief rabbis of cities
with large Jewish communities as
well as Jewish scholars, doctors,
lawyers and others who had par-
ticipated in the spiritual leader-
ship of their communities.
It was reported that in 122 Jew-
ish communities affiliated with the
Jewish Consistory of France, there
are only 60 rabbis left and 80
reverends.
Some delegates to the confer.
ence advocated that a rabbi, sho-
het or mohel in the diaspora who
wishes to settle in Israel should
not be allowed to do so unless be the Jewish religious community in
France, had noted that France has
finds a replacement for himself.
Jewish ipopulation of 550,000
Rabbi Kelman, who recently a
which faces an acute danger of
completed a study on the spier, Antimitition
air Its leaders settle
gogues and the rabbinate for IA - in Israel.
American Jewish community, said
Baron
De
Rothschild
said the
that "in recent years, enough rab-
bis of all persuasions and denomi- consistory has sent an "ambas-
national loyalties have become sador" to Israel in the person of
available to meet the needs of vir- Rabbi Paul Roltmann who will
tually every viable community try to form a cadre of French-
which is prepared to request and raised religious leaders here to
take turns going to France to
elect a rabbi."
take care of community needs
He said a viable community
there.
is one which can afford a rabbi
Dr. Maurice Jaffe, president of
and where there are enough ac- Israel's
Union of Synagogues, pro-
tivities, including a Hebrew posed
that an exchange service be
school, to keep a rabbi busy.
established for-sending out rabbis
Rabbi Kelman stated that "the and, other religious functionaries
readiness of rabbis to serve com- from the larger communities
munities which actually need them abroad for fixed periods of time
is particularly true overseas. I such as three years.
do not know of any community
One resolution adopted by the
abroad, whether in Europe, Latin conference called upon every Jew
America, Iran or elsewhere, which to become a -member of an Israeli
has been denied the services of synagogue and thus establish a
a rabbi because of the unavail- personal link with the Holy Land.
ability of rabbis from American,
Israeli or European seminaries or Another -resolution called on the
yeshivot ready to serve them," he government of Israel to adhere to
halakha in all matters pertaining
said.
to personal status including con-
"Insofar as there is a shortage," version (the law gives some lati-
Rabbi Kelman noted, "it exists tude of interpretation in the lat-
primarily in communities which ter by not mentioning that con-
are in the process of dissolution version must be performed in ac-
because of changing neighbor- cordance with halakha).
hoods, emigration and other irre- The spiirtual - needs- of new im-
versible factors."
migrantsal -clafiereference to the
Baron Alain De Rothschild, controversy surrounding Georgian
president of the Jewish Consistory, Jews--should be taken into great-
the officially recognized agency of er account, a resolution stated.
Suspects Questioned in Killing of US. Nurse;
Lebanon to Account for Border Terrorism
TEL AVIV (JTA) -- Suspected
terrorists were arrested for ques-
tion;ng in the Gaza Strip following
an ambush attack on a private car
Sunday night in which an Ameri-
can nurse was killed and an Ameri-
can Baptist minister and his daugh-
ter were wounded.
The victims were Mavis Pate,
46, of Ringgold, La., who died
of bullet wounds in the head, and
Edward Nicholas, 49. of Austin,
Tex. and his daughter, Carol,
17, who were treated for injur-
ies at Beersheba Hospital.
The car which Nicholas was
driving was peppered with ma-
chinegun bullets near the Jabaliya
refugee camp. Police said it was
apparently mistaken in dusk for a
military vehicle.
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan
visited Nicholas in the hospital as
a widespread manhunt was launch-
ed by Israeli authorities for the
attackers.
Meanwhile, a wanted -terrorist
who was apprehended by a security
patrol in Gaza threw a hand gre-
nade at the patrol in an attempt
to escape. He was shot and killed.
The grenade did not explode, and
there were no Israeli casualties.
Tension continued to mount along
the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Katyusha rockets launched from
Lebanese territory hit fields near
Kfar Giladi and Misgav Am, two
Israeli settlements in the northern-
most finger of Israel in the upper
Galilee. No casualties were re-
ported.
During the past few weeks, ter-
rorists have carried out a series
of raids on Israeli civilian areas
either from Lebanese _territory or
from Israel itself after crossing the
border from Lebanon.
Retenaling agalust the terror. -
fats! activities, Israeli soldiers
attacked terrorist strongholds in
Lebanon Jan. 19. le was the first
raid into Lebanon in many
nrinhs. Two Israeli soldiers were
killed and one was wounded, and
Israeli accounts indicated that
the terrorists suffered heavy
casualties. -
Israeli sources indicated that
firmer action will now have to be
taken to push the terrorists deeper
into Lebanon. The sources said that
while Lebanese authorities pretend
to take action to prevent attacks
against Israel from Lebanon, the
Lebanese army allows free move-
ment to terrorists.
At the United Nations, Yosef
Tekoah, Israel's ambassador to
the United Nations, warned that
his government will "take all the
necessary measures for self-de-
fense" against the acts of ag-
gression by terrorists carried out
against Israel from Lebanese ter-
ritory.
In a letter to Abduirahim Abby
Farah of Somalia, this month's
Security Council president, Tekoah
stated that " in recent weeks there
has been a marked increase in acts
of terror warfare." As in the past,
"the armed attacks from Lebanon
are directed in particular against
the civilian population," Tekoah
stated.
helps him fight the Philistines. But by this time he has changed
inta arallettherd_balc, PlabtlY, tntottnikts. or Perhaps legends, have
been confused.
Like Michelangelo's marble, the Hook of Samuel has been
botched. But there was no genius to put things right.
—AUBREY MENEN
Leonard Simons doesn't let matters end at that. He has a view-
point, and an historic sense and he wrote to Travel and Leisure
Magazine:
Gentlemen:
Aubrey Menen's article on Michelangelo's David claims that
Tekoah noted that the Leban-
the Bible stories regarding David were confused. I say, so was the
genius of Michelangelo, because he certainly knew that all Jewish ese government has "repeatedly
males are circumcised. This is the covenant between God and the proclaimed its support for the
Israelites . . . and David was a Jew who surely was circumcised terror organisations and their
or he never'could have been King of Judah and later King of the campaign of alfgresdell."
The latest instance, he said, was
whole of IsraeL
So, how come Michelangelo incorrectly showed David as he on Jan. 1 when Radio Beirut
might have appeared if he were not Jewish? Seems to me he quoted the Prime Slinister of
botched this deter soben he did not take this piece off this master- Lebanon as having declared: "We
always endeavor to' help our
piece! If he had, he would have "put things right"
fedayeen brethren and to supply
P.S. Christ was circumcised, also. The "Festival of Circum- them with whateverwe possess."
cision of Christ" is January 1.
It is the dui, 0 - the Lebanese
Historically, and jai. art lovers,•the , clarifications, especially the government to put an likeMete
Simons letter, have - temshlerable agent.,Thik_111lehelangelo Incident end to such.anned reMili*-agsdast
Las beenaoledaMr firs net as idtttl
addiwit.
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strength and a- man fit for war." He joins Saul's entourage, and we now Aiiiirejtegr
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2—Friday, Mummy 21, 1972
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