An American Bicentennial Literary Gem

WSU Press Issues Dr. Jacob R. Marcus' Three-Volume
Historical Record, 'The Colonial American Jew 1492-1776'

Jacob Rader Marcus is a
name so indelibly recorded
among the most noted his-
torians of our time, his life's
labors in perpetuating the
basic facts about the history
of .American Jews is so in-
timately linked with the
American nation as a whole,
that whatever studies will be
made of the subject he has
honored will inevitably refer
to him.
Wayne S t a to University
Press, therefore, shares a
great honor by publishing his
three- volume "The Colonial
American Jew 1492-1776." It
is really-only part of a much
vaster and all-inclusive his-
tory he has compiled, .cover-
ing the decades and centuries
that followed the Colonial
period.
Meanw:iile, in this vast
work, Dr. Marcus provides a
positive answer to a question
posed at the outset in the
preface to this voluminous
effort. He - has given proof
that 'American Jewry does
have a distinctive, significant
history.
Appearing at this time,
when the nation prepares to
celebrate the American Bi-
centennial, the publication of
this notable work is timely.
It marks one of the initial
contributions to the celebra-
tion.
Prof. Marcus' collective
works are not new. The
present three-volume ency-
clopedic history has been
published before. Dr. Mar-
cus's introductory chapter
prefacing the work was
written in 1967. But appear-
ing together, the previous
works now available in a
single trilogy provide an im-
mense opportunity for stu-
dents of American Jewish
history to have the available
data in a single compilation.
A previously quoted state-
ment by the eminent his-
torian defining his views on
Jewry historically is worth
reusing. Dr. Marcus de-
clares:
-"The basic premise, the
essential fact to which I am
committed in my work, is
that the Jews constitute a
'people.' Since their earliest
days on these shores, they
have been an organized
group, united by common in-
stitutions, traditions, beliefs,
an inspiring past, and an un-
usually strong sense of kin-
ship. Where ,ier possible, they
have tended to live in close
proximity to one another. As
a tightly-knit fellowship, they
have shared common experi-
ences, and the totality of
these makes up' American
Jewish h is tory.
For a proper introduction
into the tory of the Ameri-
can Jew, it is essential that
the hist r i c background
should be fully known and
understood. Therefore, Dr.
Marcus devotes a good por-
tion of the first of these three
volumes to the earliest Jew-
ish. periods in Palcstine and
Mesopotamia, leadirw 1p to
the £71:11e. to :iti! migrations,
tO, the Spaniy.... period and
•
56 — Friday, May 24; 1974

DR.

JACOB R. MARCUS

the role of the Marranos who
came to the Americas.
Thus, the remarkably total
coverage of the records of
Jews who settled in South
American countries make the
Marcus volumes doubly valu-
able. He has provided not
only a history of the Ameri-
can Jews but of the Jewries
of all of the Americas as
well.

were attained, the freedoms
that distinguished the colo-
nies, provide fascination as
the reader reaches the sec-
ond volume in which the
readers are introduced to the
economics of the new era, to
the industrializations in which
Jews played their roles, to
the social life and the re-
ligious experiences of Amer-
ican Jewry.

That's the road he has
trekked to reach the colonial
settlements that formed the
beginnings of U. S. Jewry.
All of the 13 Colonies are
under review, the struggles
of the JeWs to attain religious
and political freedom.
The summation, about the
franchises and how they

What did American Jewry
actually produce in litera-
ture? How effective has been
the religious involvement?
Who were the leaders in the
several spheres involving the
spiritual - cultural role of
American Jewry? The sec-
ond volume offers evaluative
information to serve the re-

searchers, the students of
history and literature, Amer-
icans of all faiths—not Jews
alone — who are interested
and involved in knowing the
story of America as related
to a progressive element
whose activities have left in-
delible marks on this land.
Jews in all walks of life
are depicted in the process
of integration in the periods
under review in these works,
and the third volume covers
the vast sphere of Jewish
acculturation.
The distinguished person-
alities who emerged in the
Colonial period, the battle to
overcome prejudices and the
triumphs in attaining roles
of dignity in American life,

Haftmann's Chagall': Notable Abrams Art Work

"Chagall" is the enchanting
name and Harry N. Abrams
is the very enterprising pub-
lisher of art works who
makes available, under that
title, one of the most impres-
sive works about the great
artist.
It is an immense book of
160 pages, with 140 reproduc-*
tions of Chagall's paintings,
line drawings, charcoals and
characterizations. In addition,
there is a real treat in the 49
large full color paintings that
truly glorify the book.
The running story about
Mark Chagall is by Werner
Haftmann, director of the Na-
tionalgalerie of Berlin, and
the translations from the
German are by Heinrich Bau-
mann and Alexis Brown.
The book was published to
mark Chagall's 85th birthday,
July 7, 1972. The Haftmann
stories — in addition to the
major essay about Chagall's
life, struggles, achievements
—each of the colorplates is
accompanied by an explana-
tory article defining the art,
the color effects, the effects,
that had stimulated Chagall's
theme.
While in some respects the
descriptive aspects may be
subjected to criticism, some
of the themes may even be
viewed as injecting Christo-
logical views which may or
may not have been in the
mind of the great artist, in
its totality the Haftmann
story is effective and impres-
sive.
Primarily, Ha f t m a n n
sought to give a proper ac-
count of the Jewish back-
ground in Chagall, and it
should be stated that he did
succeed. Tracing the hasidic
a id other influences, Haft-
mann comments: "Chagall
does not care for too much
emphasis to be laid on the
religious aspect, yet it must
not be left out of considera-
tion, because it concerns his
specific outlook on life and
the specific store of images
from which his paintings
came into being. The matter
must also be seen in a wider
context: it is with and
through Chagall that Juda-
ism, which for thousands of

years had eschewed all pic-
torial art, found its own indi-
vidual artistic expression in
pictures. Out of special cir-
cumstances of modern paint-
ing, which generally was
turning from outer to inner
inspiration, he helped to
cause the buried springs of
imagery in the Jewish soul to
flow at last, and Jewish per-
ception of the world, which
had been confined to words,
to be released in visual ex-
pression. This is an achieve-
ment of secular rank, and is
there for all to see in the
stained glass windows of the
Hadassah synagogue near
Jerusalem."
It was inevitable that Haft-
mann's view thus evaluating
Chagall's Jewishness should
be fortified by the frontis-
piece, the Chagall Hadassah
synagogue window "The
Tribe of Benjamin," as well
as many other Jewish Cha-
gallisms.
There is, as another ex-
ample, the full color magnifi-
cent "Jew in Green." The in-
teresting full-page essay that
faces this gem, which is ac-
companied by Hebraic quota-
tions from Scriptures, con-
cludes:
"In a discussion with Jac-
ques Lassaigne, which Las-
saigne recalls in his book
published in 1957, Chagall
himself, with special refer-
ence to 'Jew in Green,' has
described the circumstances
of the painting very precise-
ly: 'I start from the initial
shock of something actual

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

MARC CHAGALL

and spiritual, from some def-
inite thing, and then go on
towards something more ab-
stract . . . This is what hap-
pened to "Jew in Green,"
whom I- painted surrounded
by Hebrew words and script
characters_ (this is no sym-
bolism, it is exactly as I saw
it, this is the actual atmos-
phere in which I found him)
. . . I believe that in this way
I arrive at the symbol, with-
out being symbolistic or liter-
ary.' "
Another of the remarkable
full color large paintings,
"Moses Receiving the Tab-
lets of the Law," also has sig-
nificant annotation in the ac-
companying Haftmann essay,
which explains in part:
"In the shadows of the rock
are two singular figures. To
the right sits a Jew with the
Torah scroll. He has every
right to be there, because in
the Torah the archaic Law is
preserved and completed.
But at the lower left we find
the painter himself, em-
braced by a figure from his
pictures. He too has a place
in the golden circle of the di-
vine Law; although it is very
obscure and marginal, it is
still nearer to the holy one
than that of the marveling
people in the light. The same
is true for the man with the
Torah. This metaphorical
marginal note shows us how
much the painter as a person
felt himself involved in the
religious picture of his cycle.
Out of the close interaction
between life and faith, as the
enveloping aura of existence,
an art, which grows out of
both, has developed the
strange personal iconography
which distinguishes Chagall's
religious pictures and makes
him unique in the history of
religious art."
"Clowns at Night," "Land
and the Village," "The Holy
Coachman," "The Promen-
ade" and the other full color
pictures all invite similarly
valuable explanations. Spe-
cial attention must be given,
however, to "White Crucifix-
ion." It is the great protest,
the condemnation of the per-
secutions by the Nazis, of an-
ti-Semitism everywhere, in-
cluding France where Cha-

gall made his home after
leaving the Russian shtetl
and where he created nearly
all of his great works. To
Haftmann this represents the
"symbol of the martyred
Jewish people," and there is
this partial explanatory note
from the essay about the pic-
ture:
"The Hebrew inscription,
`Jesus of Nazareth, King of
the Jews,' together with the
loincloth cut from a Jewish
prayer shawl, points to the
Jewish origin of the crucified.
Hence we find at the foot of
the cross the Jewish temple
candelabrum in shining glory,
and floating above the cross
lamenting figures from the
Old Testament."
The painting is much more
than that: the flight of the
Jews depicted here, the at-
tempts to rescue the Torah
scrolls, the burning Jewish
homes and synagogues, attest
to the protest in "White Cru-
cifixion."
The immensity of the Ab-
rams-published Haftmann-au-
thored "Chagall" makes it a
volume to be cherished. It
enriches the art libraries.
*
*

Rattner at Work

Harry N. Abrams has just
issued another notable work—
"Abraham Rattner" by Allen
Leepa.
Painter, poet, protester and
prophet are all excellent de-
scriptions of Abraham Ratt-
ner.
Rattner draws his narra-
tive (sometimes semi-ab-
stract and sometimes corn-
bined with superb calligra-
phy) from contemporary
events. Old Testament themes
and the endless panorama of
the human condition. In an
age that dehumanizes, Ratt-
ner paints our highest hopes
and aspirations as well as our
tragedy and despair.
Illustrated in this new vol-
ume are over 200 of the art-
ist's finest and most repre-
sentative works; 50 full-color,
hand-tipped plates transmit
the undiluted power of his
color and bold forms.
The author, Allen Leepa,
professor of art at Michigan
State University and noted
artist in his own right, is Ab-
raham Rattner's son.

are among the elements of
significance described in the
third volume.
A summation of extreme
interest winds up a story
filled with drama, deter-
mination, creativity. Describ-
ing the "no choice" condi-
tions for Jews who were
compelled to leave the ''''' - a-
ropean lands of tortur
search for freedom, and
traveled westward, Dr. Mar-
cus outlines the procegses
Jews went through in estab-
lishing their new American
homeland. He is realistic.
He envisions the facts and
they denote the difficulties
that were encountered.
In the early years, prior
to 1776, Jews did not enter
the medical profession or
practice law, "Jews would
not have been permitted to
practice in the courts." There
was no literary creativity,
"the typical colonial syna-
gogue goer, an immigrant,
was too busy learning the
language and making a liv-
ing to achieve any facility or
distinction in English let-
ters."
To the non-Jews, then,
"Jew" was still a dirty word
"and it was hardly rare to
see the Jews denigrated in
the press." Cemetery dese-
crations were not uncommon
and on one occasion a funeral
cortege was attacked. When
Christians learned to know
them, they accepted the
Jews: "Christians in the vil-
lages and towns of the coun-
try discovered, sometimes to
their dismay, that the. Jews
did not wear horns, and that
if they had devil's tails and
cloven feet, they certainly
were not visible."
Did the Jew accept Amer-
ica? The logical answer is
defined and Dr. Marcus de-
scribes how the Jew who
came to this country from
Slavic and Germanic coun-
tries "learned to dispense
with Slavic obsequiousness
and Germanic servility.
There was no need for him
to be submissive." The new-
comer "moved Europe
across the Atlantic . . . Syna-
gogues, schools, charities, a
`community' were trans-
ferred here . . . A dozen
families in 17th Century New
York laid the foundation for
a 20th Century community
of nearly 6,000,000 Jews . . .
The pioneers of the 18th Cen-
tury succeeded in making an
exemplary transition from a
still medieval European
ish life to the new Ame
world of modernism and
personal freedom."
Thus the story, if unfolded,
portraying the Jew in Amer-
ica through the middle of the
18th Century, providing an
introduction to the American
Jewish community of today
with its more than 6,000,000
members.
Dr. Marcus's encyclopedic
work is a distinct contribu-
tion to Jewish history and is
major in delineating the
American Jew. In the Bi-
centennial of the land, it
emerges as one of the chief
contributions to 'American
scholarship.