Purely Commentary

Republican Newsletter's Approach to the Issue
of the Death Penalty . . . The Many Scriptural
References . . .. A Policy Long Abandoned by Jewry

By Philip
Slomovitz

President's Apologists Resort to Scripture in Defense of Capital Punishment . . . but the Jewish View Is Twisted

An impressive eight-page bulletin called Monday is published by the Republican
National Committee. Because of its nature, it is, typically, the apologist for the Presi-
dent. Therefore it published an article defending the President's atttitude on capital
punishment. While the full-column editorial was aimed at proving, as the article was
headed, that "N.Y. Times Errs in Editorial on Capital Punishment," the author also
resorted to Scripture to emphasize his viewpoint.
Capital punishment is not a party matter. Many Democrats have abandoned
opposition to the death penalty because of the violence in which many large American
cities have been engulfed. But the present concerns are over the firm stand taken
by the head of our government, and the Republican defender of his policies in Monday
has gone so far as to state in a subhead of the article referred to that Biblical Scholars
(are) Unanimous. Therefore, the defense of the death penalty also represents a chal-
lenge to Jewish traditions and needs special attention.
The Monday article referred to reads in its entirety:
In the coming debate over President
Nixon's recent anti-crime proposals, par-
vised Standard Version and in the Jeru-
ticularly his advocacy of capital punish-
salem Bible alike) refers, in the context
ment to deter certain types of crime, many of the Hebrew Bible, to murder; it was
arguments will be heard pro and con.
not intended to forbid those forms of kill-
But one argument that ought to be laid
ing authorized in ancient Israel, i.e., war
to rest once and for all is the assertion
and capital punishment. The latter is
that capital punishment is in conflict with
clearly stated in Genesis 9:6, "Whoever
the Sixth Commandment, "thou shalt not
sheds the blood of man, by man shall his
kill."
blood be shed.' (The Hebrew law codes
This erroneous statement of fact was distinguished murder, a capital offense in
made in an editorial in the NY Times
most cases, from homicide or man-
on March 13 headlined "Thou Shalt Not
slaughter, for which the penalties were
Kill." Said the Times, in part: "The ques-
generally less severe.)"
tion of morality should not require either
Also, according to Hastings Dictionary
argument or advocacy in a civilized so- of the Bible:
ciety. One need not be soft on murders to
"According to the Old Testament, asy-
believe that a criminal's actions do not lum could be found only by the man who
absolve the government from the stric- had shed blood unintentionally, the man
tures of the Sixth Commandment against
into whose hand 'God let the victim fall.'
killing."
A man who wilfully attacked another and
Indeed one need not be "soft on mur- treacherously stained his hands with blood,
derers" to believe such a thing, one need
could not find refuge at God's altar; he
only not know what one is talking about.
could be taken from it to his death or he
According to Charles Whittier, a re-
could be put to death at the altar, as
searcher in the Library of Congress' Gov-
happened to Joab. The community, as a
ernment and General Research Division, whole or through accredited representa-
capital punishment is not prohibited by
tives, came between the fugitive and the
the Sixth Commandment. Says Whittier:
avenger of blood, and decided whether he
Biblical Scholars Unanimous
should be handed over to death. In other
"All biblical scholars recognize the
words, what we would term a proper
fact that the Commandment in question
administration of justice came into being
(translated 'You shall not kill,' in the Re- and every case was duly heard and tried."

Defenders of the Nixon stand on capital punishment could have utilized another
instance and an additional scriptural quotation. When Adolf Eichmann was sentenced
to die for his multiple crimes, there were appeals for clemency to the then President
Itzhak Ben-Zvi of Israel. One of the appeals was from Eichmann's wife, Vera. She

asked for mercy for the "mother of four children." All these pleas were rejected and
on the margin of Vera Eichmann's telegram Ben-Zvi wrote the quotation from I Sam-
uel 25:33: "As thy sword bath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless
among women." This was a reference to the last words of Samuel before he "hewed
Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal."
Nevertheless, in spite of the scriptural evidences, the capital punishment agita-
tion is not Jewishly acceptable, nor do our traditions condone the death penalty.
While there were, indeed, four ascribed methods of punishments by death, in
ancient times — stoning, burning, slaying and strangling — basic Jewish idealism
rejects resort to the death penalty.
There is a basic principle, and it affects all our actions It is affirmed in
Mishna Makkot (1:10), which is quoted below by Prof. Moore.
It is related in the traditions set forth in the Talmud that the death penalty had
not been imposed in ancient Israel since the year 30 of the present era — some 40
years before the destruction of the Temple.
Even according to the strictest interpretation of ancient Jewish law which nre-
scribed death for various offenses, such a verdict could be rendered only by a ,'
of 23 judges, and if one of them dissented the sentence could not be imposed. Thc –Aw
also required that two witnesses had to be produced who actually saw the criminal
commit his crime.
Discussing codes of justice in Jewish traditions, Prof. George Foote Moore, in
his classic three-volume "Judaism," reviewed ancient procedures followed by Jews,
and he also referred to the Mishnaic comments we have quoted. He made these inter-
esting analyses of the penalties, convictions and the imposition of the death penalty:
"In the deliberations of the judges considerations tending to acquittal were
given precedence. The decision was by a majority; a majority of one acquitted,
but for conviction there must be a majority of at least two. Even when the con-
demned man was on the way to the place of execution, if he or any one else had
anything to offer in defense, he was recalled and the new evidence taken. Once
acquitted, however, he could not a second time be put in jeopardy, whatever new
evidence against him might come to light.
"It is clear that with such a procedure conviction in capital cases was next
to impossible, and that this was the intention of the framers of the rules is
equally plain. The Mishna itself brands a court which executes one man in seven
years as ruinous. R. Eliezer B. Azariah said "one in 70 years.' R. Tarfon and R.
Akiba said, 'If we had been in the Sanhedrin, no man would ever have been put
to death,' on which R. Simeon ben Gamaliel makes the obvious reflection, 'They
would multiply murderers in Israel.' It should be observed, however, that when the
court was convinced of the guilt of the accused, though the evidence did not war-
rant his conviction and execution, they might imprison him on bread and water."
There are the phrases "obvious reflection" and "the intention of the framers" in
the explanatory notes by the eminent Christian which indicate the firm intent of the
rabbinic procedures against the death penalty. Prof. Moore's interpretive comments
add weight to our contention that capital punishment had no place in Jewish traditions,
and the intentions of Jewish courts of law were to rule against it.
With all due respect for the view of President Nixon, which is gaining con-
siderable ground, the arguments of his apologists in Monday or wherever they were
uttered are groundless. Scripture was misinterpreted by his defenders. Jewish tradi-
tions rule out the death penalty and capital punishment can not and must not have
Jewish endorsements, under any circumstances.

Prof. Andrews"Siegfried's Curse' Reviews German Literary Aspects of Anti-Sem i tism

Two disparate Germanys
are portrayed in "Siegfried's
Curse!" by Dr. Wayne An-
drews of the Wayne State
University faculty whose no-
table work, published by
Atheneum, is subtitled "The
German Journey from Niet-
sche to Hesse."
The title of the book stem-
med from "In murdering me
you have murdered your-
self," with which Siegfried
cursed Hagen in "Nibelung-
enlied."
It was a curse in the Middle
Ages, but it is applicable in

the studies conducted in this
immense work by a distin-
guished authority on Ger-
man literature. It deserves a
long-lasting place among
non-fiction best sellers.
This work will prove of
special interest to Jews be-
cause of its many revela-
tions of attitudes not gen-
erally known. For instance,
there is the Thomas Mann
role. He was viewed as a
great liberarian, as a philo-
Semite. There is one para-
graph in Andrews' work that
sets the Mann photo in a

Chile, Israel Team Up
to Study Irrigation Plan

SANTIAGO (JTA)—Israeli
water irrigation experts have
been invited to Chile to help
this country study ways and
means of irrigating arid land
and improving present irri-
gation methods, it was re-
ported by Israeli Ambassador
Moshe Tov.
The Israeli envoy told the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
that several months ago
President Salvador Allende
sent the Chilean minister of
development to Israel to
meet with Israeli water irri-
gation experts.
After several days of in-
tense work, the minister and
the president of the Institute
of Arid Zones in the Negev
came to an agreement, along
with the Latin American In-
stitute for Economic and
Social Planning, to conduct a

one-year study program.
Tov said that the program,
expected to begin in May,
will be conducted for five
months in Israel and seven
months in Chile. The pro-
gram will be a practical on-
the-spot application of Israel
water irrigation methods to
arid areas in northern Chile.
Meanwhile, T o v added,
Shaul Alozoroff, one of Is-
rael's leading experts on
water problems, was invited
by the University of Cline to
present a series of lectures
on this problem.
Presently, the Israeli en-
voy said, there are some 200
persons from Israel in Chile
who received fellowships in
Israel to come here and
work in other countries to
provide technical aid in agri-
cultural problems.

2 Friday, April 20, 1973

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

—

proper frame. Quoting An-
drews:
"Were the Jews to blame
for the rise of Hitler? This
thought occurred to Mann
immediately after the Blood
Purge of 1934. 'The Jews
who are being driven out of
Germany and denied their
rights are," he reflected, 'so
naively patriotic that they
are referred to in Paris as
les bei-uns . . . In good mea-
sure they are responsible for
the antiliberal trend of Ger-
man politics.' One Jew whom
he found particularly repre-
hensible was Karl Wolfskehl,
the jovial member of the
George (the famous poet
Stefan George) circle, who
by then was blind, a refugee
in Italy bound for perma-
nent exile in New Zealand."
On the other hand, Fried-
rich Nietsche, who "briefly
flirted with anti-Semitism"
under the influence of the
anti-Semite Richard Wagner,
took a strong stand, as out-
lined by Prof. Andrews:
"Anti - anti - Semitism was
rapidly becoming the one
cause to which Nietsche
could give something ap-
proaching loyalty, and
imagination Wagner the..: w-
baiter would soon take the
place of Wagner the musi-
cian. There was a hint of
this in August, 1874, when he
paid a call at Wahnfried,
the composer's new and hid-
eous villa at Bayreuth. With
him he brought a gift which
could only be interpreted as
a deadly insult.
"Although Wagner had not

yet labeled the Aryan Johan-
nes Brahm's 'a Jewish czar-
das player' he had already
made a number of unpleas-
ant references to his rival
in his essay of 1869 on the
art of conducting. These ref-
erences cannot have escaped
Nietsche's attention: the
present he brought the mas-
ter was the piano score of
Brahm's `Triumphlied,' a
composition for eight—part
choir, baritone solo and or-
chestra, in honor of the Ger-
man victory of 1870." Wag-
ner's sister is, who shared
her brother's hatred for Jews
is quoted that Wagner didn't
welcome that gift.
Several other incidents re-
lating Nietsche to Jews are
made by Andrews. For ex-
ample, the critic states in
"Siegfried's Curse" that Ger-
mans never dared criticize
and Nietsche is quoted: "I
really don't like the Ger-
mans. I have found that the
Jews may be subtle — Ger-
mans, never . . . You can
imagine my opinion of the
Germans, when even my own
friends can't tell the differ.
ence between me and a liar
like Richard Wagner."
It is worth noting Andrews'
concluding comments:
"If Germany is to acquire a
past in which neither the cun-
ning of Frederick the Great
nor the brutality of Bismarck
are more than minor inci-
dents, the German enchant-
ers must have their say.
Great authors are never in-
tended for the role of school-
masters. They can hint, how-
ever. Nietsche is there to re-

mind the Germans that anti-
Semitism is a stale and stu-
pid business, and that des-
pising the French is merely
the proof of a mediocre mind.
Fontane (Theodore) is there,
too, to tell the Germans how
vulgarly they behaved in the
days of Bismarck and Wil-
liam II. Then there is Hugo
von Hofmannstahl, who knew
no frontiers. Finally there is
Hermann Hesse, who was as
honest as he was generous.
"If the Germans are to
'correct the future and re-
deem the past,' to quote
Nietsche once again, they
might begin by carefully
reading their own classics.
`Become what you are!' said
Nietsche. For all we know,
the summons may one day
be answered."

Annotations in Andrew's
work show how anti-Semi-
tism posed problems by the
eve of World War I. The
Jewish painter Max Lieber-
man's un-Jewishness, the
role of Walter Rathenau, Al-
bert Ballin's reluctince to
empoy fellow Jews—scores of
other historical incidents are
recorded here.
"Siegfried's Curse" is a
brilliant analysis of German
literature and authors, with
the many references to the
anti-Semitic trends. Prof An-
drews' is unquestionably one
of the most significant works
dealing with a notable por-
tion of German literature,
the writers of the era under
review and the statesmen
who figured historical''
that period.

Hebrew as the Holy Tongue

By RABBI SAMUEL FOX

(Copyright 1973, JTA, Inc.)

Nahmanides (in his com-
mentary to Exodus 30:13)
explains that Hebrew is re-
ferred to as the "Holy
Language" because Scrip-
tures were written in He-
brew and because the Al-
mighty used the language
of Hebrew with which to
communicate with His people
and through which to make
His will known to the
people through the pro-
phets.
Maimonides has another
explanation. He claims that
the Hebrew language is to
be regarded as the "Holy
Tongue" because the He-

brew language contains no
direct words for such objects
as, for example, the genitals
of either sex. When these
objects are referred to they
are mentioned in the form
of words which may allude
to their existence- without
mentioning them with a
proper name. (Guide to the
Perplexed 3:8).
Hebrew is, therefore, a
holy language either because
it was the language used by
the Almighty in revealing
His will or because it is a
language which has remain-
ed guarded with reservation
so as to allow human speech
to express only what is
clear of temptation.

