Purely Commentary
Passover: Festivil of Freedom for All Mankind
Since Passover spells freedom it is well to take into ac-
count some of the factors involved in our freedoms— the
truths and the distortions, the roots of realities and the
myths that affect mankind and each of us individually as
part of the human race.
We should be proud of a major factor in our quest for
the liberties that give us the right to speak frankly on all
subjects.
Last week the communications media were agog with
rumors about the king of Jordan. Perhaps it was evident at
the outset that all the tales that were spread by Dame Rumor
would be demolished quickly. Yet, the press reports served
their purpose: the basic facts soon were on the record.
Take the matter involving Josephus Flavius, the Jesus
interpolation in his writings, the doctored Slavonic Josephus:
a great scholar (Solomon Zeitlin) knew how to get at the
root of myths and thanks to him historical data have been
clarified.
There is so much confusion about neighborhood
changes, school curricula, Zionist conflicts, leadership
jealousies: as long as we discuss them, we'll get places;
as long as free speech is not suppressed, we'll be able
to hold our heads high and backs straight.
There was a good example of free expression
. at the
.
White House, w hen Jewish newsmen spoke their nun s an
Nixon representatives exchanged views without equivocation.
With no punches pulled, there were sessions on equal grounds
between citizens and their elected officials. What better hope
for perpetuated American principles?
When people adhere to ideals and refuse to deviate or
make too many concessions, they have a chance to emerge
free. That's the Passover aspiration. We who are in a free
society are obligated to demand it for all others. When Pass-
over is, thereby, universalized, it becomes the great Festival
of Freedom not only for ourselves but for all mankind.
•
•
•
By- Philip
Siontovitz
Historical Data vis-a-vis Josephus and the .Myth
Interpolated by Early Christians . . . Prof. Zeitlin's
Slavonic Josephus Expose Recalls His* Scholarship
The Josephus Forgery and Dr. Zeitlin's Pioneering Research
.
o f the Roman period in Jewish history. He
•
Josephus Flavius is frequently referred to by is •
is the authority on Masada, the interpreter of conditions dating back to the destruction of the Temple, the
Exile, the era of Herod and the Judean revolt that has been recorded as one of the most Courageous events
in human
Now history.
Josephus has become a subject for discussion in relation to a paragraph that had been inserted
in his writings to give the impression that he was confirming the Gospels and the role of Jesus in
religious history. It had been known that the quoted paragraph from Josephus about Jesus was a Christian
interpolation. Noted Christian scholars challenged the statement ascribed to Josephus.
Two Hebrew University scholars (Profs. Shlomo Pines and David Flusser, have discovered a
version which is presented as being closer to what Josephus may have written. It is an Arabic text
and, contrasted with the Greek which has long been declared a forgery by Christian scholars, is
presented. together with the interpolated distorted one, as
follows:
And
the tribe of Christians, so called after him,
GREEK TEXT: About this time there lived
has still up to now not disappeared.
to
call
him
Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought
. .
ARABIC
TEXT: At this time there was a
g
a man. For he was one who wrought surprisin
wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct
teacher
of
such
people
as
accept
and
was
a
feats
was good, and (he) was known to be virtuous.
the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and
And many people from among the Jews and*other
many of the Greeks. He was the messiah. When
nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned
Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the
him to be crucified and to die. And those who
highest standing among us, had condemned him
had become his disciples did not abandon his
to be crucified, those who had in the first place
discipleship. They reported that he had appeared
came to love (him) did not cease. On the third
to them three days after his crucifixion and that
clay he appeared to them restored to Life. For
he was alive; accordingly; he was perhaps the
the prophets of God had prophesied these and
messiah
concerning whom the prop hets have
myriads of other marvelous (things) about him.
recounted wonders.
The puzzle is that those who now review the historical data have
failed to take into consideration the actual facts that had been presented
by the outstanding -authority on the Second Commonwealth, Prof. Solomon
Zeitlin, 40 years ago.
In 1931 Dr. Zeitlin published a book, "Josephus on Jesus: With
Particular Reference to the Slavonic Josephus and the Hebrew Josippon.
College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning—now
Learng—now Dropsie Univer-
sity—of Philadelphia, where Dr. Zeitlin has taught for more
than 40 years, published this study. It is now reproduced in the volume
published by Dropsie. University and Bitzaron tinder the title "Solomon
Zeitlin: Scholar Laureate," which contains the annoted bibliography of
Prof. Zeitlin's writings. Included in the bibliographical notes is the
following relating to "Josephus on Jesus":
The Jewish War was Josephus' official report of his Galilee activity,
and Antiquities was written to demonstrate the ancient glory of the Jews.
In Vita, written later, Josephus divulged his true position in Galilee.
In Contra Apionem, he aimed to refute the then current anti-Semitism.
It is wrong to say that the Slavonic Josephus is a Khazar translation,
or that it was based on a book called "Capture of Jerusalem," presumably
Honoring Lubavitcher Rebbe's 70th Birthday
written by Josephus for the Parthian Jews. Syrian-Macedonian names fo
Hasidism has scored so many triumphs in recent years, so many the months found therein would not have been used in reference to
books have been published on the subject, the research into the hasidic the Parthians. No such book existed. Neither the Church Fathers nor the
Dr. Solomon Zeitlin
ideology has been so extensive that it was possible to believe that Talmud mention it. The Russian (Slavonic) version merely translated
as witness the
during the past two or three decades the mitnagdim—the opponents
the text from the Byzantine Greek of Josephus, which in turn paraphrased Bellum;
There
are
no
traces
of
Hebraisms
the Slavonic MSS.
of the movement had vanished.
use of the term. "Latins" instead of "Romans."
The Slavonic text made use of the Latin Hegesippus and the Hebrew Yosippon. The writer was ac-
They may not have vanished, but there has been such a marked
quainted with the Apocryphal Gospels, the Church Fathers and the "Acts of Pilate."
increase of interest in the movement that it has gained interest in
sources, but not of
The author of Yosippon, penned in the 5th Century, was aware of tanaitic
many quarters, among ncn Jews as well as Jews.
the Talmud. A Byzantine Jew, he also made use of the Greek Church Fathers. He does not mention
The writings and the fascinating narrations of Martin Huber con-
the Temple dedication for Hanuka, but obtained the story of the fire on the altar from Maccabees.
The early
tributed greatly to this growth of interest in Hasidism. Many modern
Many additions to Yosippon were made later. There is no Christ passage in Ur-Yosippon.
writers have turned to the subject and much—if not most—of the
Byzantine Greek text did not have the Christ passage. It was translated into old Russian in the 12th
first
fascination stemmed from the inspiration that came from the Luba-
Century. The "Christ passage" in Josephus' Antiquities was interpolated by Fusebius. He was the
to use the phrase "tribe of Christians," found in the James context.
vitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menahem M. Schneerson. -
Josephus always repeated a characteristic phrase in any of his narratives: "this is the same
The Lubavitcher, as he is referred to in the intimacy that makes
be found
man," as when uniting of Sameias, Judah of Galilee, and Menahem. Such a phrase is not to
a Hasid a humanizer in dealing with the spiritual as well as the
Church Fathers always refer to Josephus. Were the Christ passage authen-
the
Christ
passage.
The
in
secular, comes close to his followers. When a message is read from
tic, they surely would have mentioned its source.
him, the audience stands until it is completed. When he makes an
Until the destruction of the Temple, Jews did not believe in a supernatural Messiah; they
appeal, he gets adherents.
held that deliverance would be by God Himself; Josephus also believed this. Messianic expectation
the Messiah in the Apo-
We must atune ourselves to the reality of the Lubavitcher's 70th
was only popular with the Apocalyptists (cf, no. 7). There is no reference to
crupha and in tanaitic literature before the destruction of the Temple.
birthday. He is much younger in spirit. He is a dynamic personality.
of
Dr. Zeitlin had exploded the myths in the "Slavonic Josephus". after his thorough Stu
and while he is mostly heard and is seen only when he is with hi s
hasidim, he is reckoned with as one of the major Jewish personalities the document in Russia where he was permitted to make use of the original documents. The Zeitlin scholar-
in America. To such an inspirer of an enormous and a growing corn- ship seems to have been overlooked in relation to the new revelations which were sensationalized in the New
.
munity of followers go the greetings of Jews not only in this country York Times and a Time magazine feature-article.
Dr. Zeitlin's scholarship has been ignored in his charges that the Dead Sea Scrolls do not belong
but from all areas throughout the world where the Lubavitcher
Dynasty has established an aura based on devotion, inspiration, dedica- to antiquity but were written in the Middle Ages. He was attacked for his expose of the "Slavonic
Josephus" and soon was prolWto be correct on that score. He may yet be proven r ig ht in his inter-
tion to a happy and dedicated Jewish life.
,
pretations of the Dead Sea Scrolls authenticity.
THE JEWISH NEWS
incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue
of July 20, 1951
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•
•
•
Zeitlin'i Proposal for Scholarly Historical Studies
In the annotated bibliography, "Solomon Zeitlin: Scholar Laureate," published by Bitzaron and
Dropsie University Alumni Association, there is an excerpt from Dr. Zeitlin's comment on "The Need
for a Systematic Jewizb History." It was from his review of the first volume of the Rutgers University
"World History of the Jewish People." In his comment, Dr. Zeitlin stated:
Heinrich Greets, although the greatest of Jewish historians since Josephus, relied only on the
literature of scholars—he did not have a profound knowledge of the original sources. S. Dubnow drew
from Graetz, and also from Isaac Hirsch Weiss, who lacked historical vision, (see also No. 171). Jewish
history cannot be written by one man. It is a continuous development, and-musthe writtten as a unit and
can be done correctly only by the united efforts of a group of specialists in their own fields. Unlike the
Cambridge History, Jewisii history must be systematic and unified. The edition of the World History of
the Jewish People demonstrates this in that articles on diverse items are not coordinated. An example
is the essays on the activities and the work of Rashi. The problems of writing Jewish history should be
discussed by an international society of Jewish historians.
Much earlier, writing in 1949 in the Menora Journal on the subject "Needed: A New Jewish
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
History," Dr. Zeitlin did not hesitate to call attention to errors in the histories of such noted authorities
This Sabbath, the 10th day of Nisan, 5732, the following scriptural as Graetz -and Dubnow. He wrote, in his 1949 essay:
An analysis of Heinrich Graetz' volumes reveals that the work is now antiquated. New discoveries
selections will be read in our synagogues:
could have mastered all the
Pentateuchal portion, Levit. 6:1-8:36. Prophetical portion, Malachi in the Geniza have added enormously to our knowledge. No one man
courses
of Jewish history.- Graetz was mistaken in writing that Judith was anthored in the time of ,Trajan;
3:4-24.
the Apostolic Father Clement of Rome (ca. 100 CE), mentioned the book much earlier. Simon Dubnow
Fast of First Born, Wednesday
His
did not believe, as did Graetz, that literary productions should be the signposts' of Jewish_ history.
own approach was a national-sociological one, not that of a classical halalthic scholar, Cecil CRotiv imitated
Passover Scriptural Selections
"Binyamin"
that
Pentateuchal portions: First Day, Thursday, Exod. 12:21.51, Num. Graetz and Dubnow and even adopted some non-Jewish notions, such as the theory
was the name of a priestly family. The Sicarii and the Zealots are incorrectly identified as being the
28:16-25. Second Day, Friday, Levit. 22:26-23:44, Num. 28:16-25.
same. Josephus never confused the two parties.
Prophetical portions: Thursday, Josh. 5:2-6:1, 27. Friday, II Kings
Much is being written; a great deal of research and collaboration by scholars Is vitally needed.
23:1.9, 21-25.
Dr. Zeitlin's criticisms have not been challenged. Will it - be possible, in our generation,: to stixan-
Candle lighting. Friday. March 24, 6:30 p.m.
14e sufficient interest in research and historical studies to assure treater concern for =mistaken and
March 24, 1972 authoritative history that will prevent both exaggerations and distortbinst "
Page Two
VOL. LXI, No. 2