`Jews and Arabs' Reveals Roots of Two, ,Cultures
_
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
S. D. Goitein in "Jews
and Arabs" (Schocken Books)
traces eloquently and reveal-
ingly the roots and evolution
of two cultures and their
contacts with each other.
Though the book is popu-
larly written and easy to
understand, some of its con-
cepts present a psychological
problem which the reader
must overcome. To succeed,
he has to free his mind of
already learned facts and
ideas, and learn new facts
and meanings. He has to re-
learn that:
Hebrew is not a Semitic
language; Iszmael was not
the forefather - of the Arabs;
t h e Israelites, Assyrians,
Babylonians, and other Mid-
dle Eastern peoples did not
emerge from the Arabian
Peninsula; the patriarchs
were not Bedouins and Arabs
and Hebrews are not cou-
sins;
"Semitic" does not denote
race, but is a linguistic de-
vice invented in 1781 by a
German scholar, for the pur-
pose of grouping together
certain related languages,
and not to promulgate sense-
less theories, such as Hebrew
originated with Shem, the
son of Noah.
As a matter of fact, "in
the Bible Hebrew is rightly
called `Sefath Kena'an,' the
language– of Canaan." Since
the Bible regards the Canaa-
nites the descendants of
Ham, their language natural-
ly would be Hamitic and not
Semitic.
Neither is there any men-
tion in the Bible that Ishmael
was the forefather of the
Arabs. Ishmael, as the au-
thor points out, "was a very
ancient tribe which vanished
soon from history."
Incidentally, the names
Ishmaelites and Midianites
are used in the Bible inter-
changeably. "Thus, for ex-
ample, the Midianites, whom
Gideon fought, are called
Ishmaelites (Judges 8:24).
This also possibly accounts
for the strange fact that
Joseph was sold apparently
twice, to both Midianites and
Ishm a elites."
Incorrect also is the theory
that the Arabian Peninsula
was the cradle of the ancient
peoples who spoke Semitic
dialects. "It is a mere theory
derived by a false analogy
from the conquest of the Mid-
dle East by the Muslim
ArabS."
Neither is • there historic
proof to the claim of the so
called Pan-Arabists that the
Israelites originally were an
Arab tribe, and that the He-
NEW YORK—A group Bar
Mitzva of Jewish patients
was held last week at the
Brooklyn Development Cen-
ter.
More than 30 young men,
who had been unable to pre-
pare for Bar Mitzva at age
13, chanted the traditional
blessings, according to Rabbi
Solomon .Wulliger, chaplain.
The chaplaincy program,
in which Rabbi Wulliger par-
ticipates, is under the aus-
pices of the New York Board
of Rabbis.
brew patriarchs were Arab
sheiks.
The fallacy of this claim is
obvious, as there can be no
doubt that the patriarchs
were semi-nomads who
raised sheep and cattle "in-
side a sedantary area,"
whereas the Bedouins were
camel-breeders. "Bedou in
Arabic means 'outside'—who
live far out in the desert,
where alone good camels can
be raised."
Finally, the reference to
Arabs and Jews as being
cousins "dodanim" (from
dod, uncle) is nothing more
than a "pun on the name of
the Arab tribe Dedanim,
mentioned in Isaiah 21:13."
Although Arabs and Jews
are not cousins, still there
are close affinities between
them. Both have national re-
ligions. And both faiths have
influenced great numbers of
people. The Bible, for in-
stance, has become the
sacred book of hundreds of
millions and the Koran of
millions of people.
On the other hand, also
great dissimilarities exist be-
tween Arabs and Jews. Fore-
most, is the historic contrast
between their religions.
"Israel began to develop
its unique religion at the
very dawn of its history,
when it was still nothing but
a small people. Islam came
to the Arabs as an almost
complete system, at the time
when they already had be-
hind them a history of, over
1,500 years and had occupied
not only the whole peninsula
of Arabia, but also pene-
trated into the neighborhing
countries of Southern Persia,
Iraq, Syria, and Egypt."
Furthermore, the religious
observances and practices of
the two peoples differ. The
Sabbath, for example, "the
greatest gift of Judaism to
the world," is the Jews' day
of rest. Mohammed and his
successors, however, rejec-
ted the Sabbath as a day of
rest. They reasoned that a
weekly day of rest would in-
terfere with Arab trade; and
the Bedouins, they figured,
can get along without one,
as they rarely overwork
themselves.
Neither do the Mohamme-
dans have a prayer book that
remotely corresponds to the
Siddur. Their "service is
short and consists of a few
impressive prayers and for-
mulas, repeated as often as
13 to 20 times a day."
Another striking differ-
ence between Arabs and
Jews is their attitude toward
1 a n g u a g e and literature.
Whereas the Arabs empha-
size linguistic elegance, the
Jews stress ideas.
To the Arab it would be
inconceivable to read the
Koran in any other language,
but Arabic. The Jews, in
addition, to reading the Bible
in Hebrew, also read it in
other languages. In fact, they
themselves translated it into
Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, and
other languages.
Incidentally, the K or an
mentions the name of Moses
more than a hundred times;
and among its other refer-
ences to the Jewish faith,
customs, and mores, the
Koran contains a number of
legends ("midrashim"),
probably of Jewish-Arabic
origin.
According to one legend,
fish would come to a Jewish
seashore village "only on
Saturdays — as long as the
people observed the Sabbath
—because the fish, of course,
knew very well that Jews
cannot do without fish on the
S a b b a t h." According to
another- legend, "Sabbath-
breakers were transformed
into monkeys."
It should be noted, that the
Arabian Peninsula contained
many Jewish settlements
which, no doubt, influenced
the Prophet and his religion.
Some of the communities
were ruled by Jewish kings.
"Through the discoveries
of Gonzague Ryckmans of
Belgium, we are particularly
well informed about Dhu Nu-
was As'ar, the last Jewish
king of Himyar. The inscrip-
tions referring to this king
depict him as a monotheist
who called his God Rachman,
the all-merciful, as was the
Jewish custom."
The minuscule Jewish mon-
archies existed for many
years prior to being con-
quered by the Muslim cru-
sading hordes. Their origin
and how long they actually
lasted are unknown, though
there are many theories
which have never been sub-
stantiated.
Nonetheless, as soon as
Islam became the victorious
and predominant religion,
the Jewish communities
throughout the Arabian Pen-
insula deteriorated and their
status became precarious.
In Yemen, for instance, the
Jews, who had lived there,
according to archaeological
evidence, since the second
century CE were forced to
wear yellow badges (later
imitated by Christian coun-
tries in Europe); _ Jewish
women were not allowed to
wear shoes of the same color.
They had to wear one black
shoe and one white shoe.
Jews could not be witnesses
against Muslims. They could
not touch Muslim dishes.
They had to be smashed.
Worse still was the law forc-
ing Jewish orphans to con-
vert. Moreover, Muslim
schoolboys were allowed to
stone Jewish people.
"When the Turks con-
quered Yemen in 1872, - an
envoy was sent from the
Chief Rabbi of Istanbul to
inquire what grievance the
Yemenite Jews had against
their neighbors. It is indica-
tive that the first thing of
which they complained was
this molestation by the
schoolboys.
"But when the Turkish
Governor asked an assembly
of notables to stop this nui-
sance, there arose an old
doctor of Muslim law and
explained that this stone-
throwing at Jews was an
age-old custom (in Arabic
`Ada') and therefore was un-
lawful to forbid it."
Is it surprising that the
Yemenite Jews en masse en-
thusiastically left the country
where they had lived close to
two millenia?
S. DI Goitein in "Jews and
Arabs" explores, analyses
34 Friday, Dec. 6, 1974
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
114.1111101 111Will
Group Bar Mitzva
Held—in Brooklyn
—
TRAYS
s2
..per pers.
.
ED'S.MINI DELI'
543-6073
osa
and interprets two cultures
and their mutual contacts.
The book is interestingly
written; it is a serious, in-
formative and instructive
work.
Goiten is professor emeri-
tus of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem.
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