Richard Ellmann's New Masterful Analysis
/ N
of oyce s U l ysses' and ts Jewish Hero
No other authority on James
Joyce could possibly have pop-
ularized the eminent Irish author
Richard Ellmann has succeeded
in all his works about him. Ell-
mann. former Detroiter. son of the
late Judge James I. Ellmann and
of Mrs. Ellmann who now resides
in Fort Lauderdale. Fla., is pres-
ently Goldsmiths' P r o f es so r of
English Literature at Oxford Uni-
versity. His newest work, "Ulys-
ses on the Liffey." an Oxford
Press book, is another gem in the
series of Ellmann books on this
subject.
To the Joyce story, the River
Liffey that flows into Dublin Bay
and has a role in this review of
the characters and the character-
istic of the "Ulysses" that has as-
sumed such great significance,
Prof. Ellmann has added valuable
interpretations of the Jewish as-
pects of a story about the chief
character. Leopold Bloom, that has
enchanted a growing audience.
a trumpety enthusiasm, a desire
not to live in the present but to
live in a petrified past and speak
a dead language."
This is said tkv Ellmann in con-
nection with his reference to
Bloom's interest in Passover: - In
ruminating about Passover. Bloom
was reminded by the way printers
read backward, of how his father
iced to read the Hebrew of the
Passover service. 'Pesah. Next
year in Jerusalem. Dear, 0 Dear:
All that long business about that ,
brought us out of the land of Egypt
and into the house of bondage
alleluia.' This bloomisin is moti-
vated by his unsentimental percep-
tion that Moses did not free the
Jews from bondage, that they have
gone from captivity to captivity."
We have, as an example, in a
description of one of the episodes
in "Ulysses," Prof. Ellmann's
comment that "Joyce . . must
have Bloom, nominally a Chris-
tian, avow himself to be a Jew,
and so at the expense of prud-
ence."
Prof. Ellmann dissects Bloom's
other Jewish attitudes, the con-
cern with the Zionist idea. There is
the message transmitted to Bloom
in Dlugacz's butcher shop:
strasse, Berlin) — the Hebrew
term is confusing—Edit.)
"The most Olympian messages
arc those which come to Bloom
from the heavens, first by the
agency of a cloud, then by the
agency of the sun lie has let his
mind dandle Palestine as the
promised land. crowded with olive
trees, citrons, oranges. Though not
a Zionist—he considers DMgacz an
enthusiast and has an 18th-Cen
fury suspicion of enthusiasm as
of superstition—he feels a slight
sympathy: 'Nothing doing. Still an
idea behind it.' But a moment lat-
er a grey cloud covers over the
sun, the same cloud which made
Stephen see the ocean as a 'bowl
of bitter waters'. Bloom deflates
Zionism as Stephen elsewhere de-
flates Irish causes. The promise
of the promised land has long
since been broken:
"Bloom realizes from the Zionist
leaflet Agendath Netaim, a re-
development project in Palestine,
with headquarters at 34 Bleibtreu.
OltitillOded
The characters take a deep in-
By BEN GALLOR
terest in Jewish affairs, as indicat-
(Copyright 5972, JTA, Inc.)
ed by Eilmann: "Bloom and Ste-
A leading Conservative rabbi.
phen discuss various examples of
examining the impact of the
duplicity, false allegation, and er-
"rapidly-changing soc i et y" on
ror such as 'Bacon and hamlet,' American Judaism. has predicted
ritual murder by Jews (the Pro- that the huge congregations pre-
tocols of the Elders of Zion). cases sently housed in the "large, corm
of forged identity (the Tichborne • Plex, all-inclusive" synagogue will
claimant)."
soon he replaced by "much smaller
❑ nits," in which "a hundred or so
At the very outset Ellmann notes: families join together in a felloW-
"Joyce could have made his Jew- ship of Jewish living."
ish hero Orthodox, an archaic sur-
The prediction was made by
vivor from a past older then Hom- Rabbi Max J. Routtenberg. a for-
er into an unfamiliar and gentile mer president of the Rabbinical
world. But while the antiquity of Assembly, the association of Con-
the Jews undoubtedly attracted servative rabbis. Rabbi Routten
.foyce. he had no real interest in ',erg prefaced prediction with
Judaism as a r..digion, and gave 'he assertion that "the day of the
Bloom none. The models he prob- biz conglomerate synagogue has
ably had in mind for his hero were just about run its course. There i.
conspicuously remote from reli
a arossina• realization in .our so.
a
gious zeal: Alfred Hunter ws
.1
ciel y, in 'general, and in ,m r
- it ,.
o ropod
li
lIongarian .to
. 7 0 sag '
r
I'tt 71. mos'
frongartan ,
.%Ith .1mAtsli
c icarac"orc-I., ,
'‘The dialectic of the two images
in Bloom's mind. of Zion and
Sodom, may be illustrated -
r-
SVIlacroUllle
Called
scarcely Jewis h. and Ettore
ti hinitz (Balt) Stevol had !named
Because of .117%re'
I' Mtian.
m
liking for fact. the history of Mole
is not irreles tnt wmo
No. not like that A barren land.
bare waster. Volcanic lake. the dead
sea: no fish. weedless. sunk deep in
the earth. No wind would lift those
waves. grey metal, poisonous fogy'
waters. Brimstone they called it rain-
ing down: the cities of the plain: So-
dom, Gomorrah. Edom.
istitation:,
n
p.77- 7colar.
I7v 7:e i- is net ',niter !7' '
ha!
-
ZION
Illeibtreustrasse
BeaPale stine heas enited
utification ( enthusiasm
The Perfect
False Life (Heaven)
stmom
Students' Network Plans National Conclave in June
NEW YORK (JTA)—The North which are its voice in the corn.
munity.
For over a year the JTA has.
been supplying the Students' Net-
work with its daily and weekly
publications f o r dissemination
through the student newspapers.
The announcement said that If
students are expected to - attend
WHEN YOU 'Ac A COCKTAIL
the convention representing the en-
tire spectrum of the Jewish student
movement in the U.S. and Canada.
The program will deal with the fu-
ture of the movement including
swig 00010100 • 000,00 0 S • • '2 0•10.
the 60 Jewish student newspapers
American Jewish Students' Net-
work announced that it will hold
its third annual convention June 9-
11 at Camp Moshava in Indian
Orchard, Pa
RI:exact/lig
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51011y •ample hedwarmed rpsh .
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Non-Zionist/Non-Sodomist
With his "Ulysses on the
Prof. Ellmann has additionally en
ached his library on Joyce---an , :
his writings on the subject indeed
begin ti• fill more than a sing! ,
library shelf. Analytically, the new
work is among the most enlighten,
ing in Joycean studies and it mark ,-:
a new, glorious chapter in the
scholar's career.
At
r •
on this inflated !clot
•
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I •'
Irishmen may be cmoparod -
always ilein7 7 so ter •-•rat
doNee
•
poNT Aciogi
,s
Stettlien indicates
.7. stood in his zilch:7'7ot, 7i •
tkm, just as, being a Christian
convert. he is post-Judaic and
being Judaic-Christian he is post-
Joyce's honk compre-
flomeric.
hends layer upon layer of the
past
-
•
Having taken Bloom to a Chris_
lion country, Ellmann also points I
to the Jewish-Irish relationships.
Ellmann refers to John F. Taylor's
oration in defense of , the Irish tan-
guage. He states that "the analogy '
drawn by Taylor between Jew and
Irish will not sustain a confidence
in the national mission of either
people" and he adds: "Jews anti
I
••
•
• • •
• •
‘`Iv/,- NEW 1972
.a.
Pm: itittom
'
17,7
3oth Century man. and
.Ins or. therefore conterred upon
him the 'race of unbelief. As a
freethinker, B 1 oo m is post - Chris-
•
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Palestine infernaltred
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Friday, May 26, 1972-13
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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10 PER MILE
III
the Tortin roadtn4 forming' the
basis for weekly lessons and di ,
eussions. S u h congregational
'.zroups, he contended, ". ill not re I
quire the services of a salaried
rabbi and will he largely self sit
icient - lie suggested that the
only other programs in the syna-
gogue would be classes for adults
and holiday celchrations for the
Cal/
.0•""
congregational family, with all
0/110.1.
being "pros riled by
various agencies in the commu- 000°
pity."
other services
Rabbi Routtenberg also asserted •
that the "second basic shift" in
the next 10 to 20 years would he
from the congregation to the corn-
moody - as the unit of organized
i s h life Historically, he
e
I he
noted. "the 1.'0[1111'111[711y
aruvl
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all Jewish concerns resolvc , i
MIKE MILEN
354-1515 0353-4700
"LuAt
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28845 TELEGRAPH AT 2 MILE RD SOU HE E D
/ I 1 1111111V
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