Frill4, February 7,19754-25
THE' DETROIT JEWISWNEWS
Success, as Shakespeare
and Sophocles understood it,
is the persistence of man's
potential nobility in the teeth
of circumstance and up to
tragedy and beyond it.
—Henry Seidel Conby
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Mr. & Mrs. Club of
Congregation Beth Achim
invites you to
"MEET THE EXPERTS
71
Rabbi James I. Gordon of Young Israel of Oak-Woods
Rabbi Seymour Rosenbloom of Adat Shalom Synagogue
Rabbi Ernest Conrad of Temple Kol-Ami
Dr. Stanley Kupinsky,
Assistant Professor in Department of Sociology
at Wayne State University
Rabbi Milton Arm— Moderator
Discussing
"SHOULD RABBIS
OFFICIATE AT
MIXED MARRIAGES?"
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1975, 8:00 P.M.
No Charge
Everyone Welcome
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"Tahkmon);:" Poetry
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
The Hebrew poet Judah Al-
Harizi lived during the early
part of the 13th Century. His
magnum opus "The Tahke-
many" (Raphael Haim Cohen
Ltd., Jerusalem) consists of
50 chapters of makamas
whose subject matter varies,
but the main characters re-
main the same. These are the
narrator. Heman the Ezra-
hite and the hero, Heber the
Kenite.
The name "The Tahke-
many" (the wise one) was
adopted from II Sam. xxiii:8.
It reads, "These are the
names of the mighty men
who David had: Josheb-bass-
hebeth a Tahchmonite, chief
of the captains . .. he lifted
up his spear. against 800
whom he slew at one time."
According to Rabbi Reich-
ert, the translator of the book
Al-Harizi chose the name
"The Tahkemony" to indicate
. . . that he too, like the
ancient warrior of the Bible,
was seeking to lift a mighty
sword in defense of the sac-
red tongue, Hebrew." The
book is printed in both Eng-
lish and Hebrew.
"The Tahkemony," though
its contents are original, its
form, the "makama," is mod-
eled after the Arabic poet
Hariri. The makama, accord-.
ing to the Jewish Encyclo-
pedia, is a "curious species
of rhyming prose, with its
desultory leaps and coinci-
dent assonances, its verbal
quips and countless conceits."
The makamas, moreover, are
interwoven with poems —
some sublime.
Interesting, too, are the
topics of the makamas, such
as "In Praise of Wine," "Dis-
pute Between Day and
Night," "The Pen and the
Sword," "Love-Sickness and
Its Cure."
It should be noted that the
makamas are prefaced by
the narrator. A good illustra-
tion is "The Jerusalem Ma-
kama": "I journeyed from
Memphis in Egypt land to
Jersualem's heights that are
fair and grand. Fate tossed
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Prose With a Mes'sage
and whirled me like a ball
from its hand . . . Now when
I came to her borders feeling
I must, and through her
thinned-out palaces my path
I had thrust, then I kissed her
ruins covered like rust and
fondly embraced her dust."
Heber, the hero, of "The
Tahkemony" plays a differ-
ent role in each of the narra-
tives. In "A Tourney of Seven
Poets," he is the judge of a
poetic contest of seven par-
ticipants.
Judge Heber's decision:
"Know that the poetry of all
of you is equal, and your
utterances are delightful and
lively."
"Makama of the Seven
Virgins," trickster Heber dis-
guised himself as a damsel
and together with six other
maidens decided to tempt
Heman.
The seven maidens, whose
faces were covered with
veils, "were of lovely stature
. . . Their height was as
Standing cedars carved from
the quarry of beauty and cut
from the trees of Eden."
However, to Heman the open
field where he met the maid-
ens appeared as the Garden
of Eden for as soon as he saw
the maidens, he became in-
fatuated with them, especially
with the one for whom "ev-
ery heart melts, and all the
hands grow weak."
Heman, the more he be-
came infatuated, the more
his will-power weakened and
his desire grew. No longer
able to control his emotions,
he broke down and began
pleading, ". . . Have pity on
one, the lust of whose soul
has sold him and whose eyes
have handed him over into
the prison of love. Pray, have
compassion on him and turn
in grace to him . . ." The
maiden remained unmoved.
But the damsel, whose face
was-completely covered,
turned to him and said,
"Wonderful is your love for
us. Therefore, it is fitting for
us to grant your request and
to fulfill your entreaty."
The maiden, nevertheless,
still hesitated. Excited, He-
man exploded, ". . . now,
pray, if I have found grace
in your sight, take off the
veil that is upon your face,
and restore my spirit, and
with this request, renew my
strength. I will go out from
my imprisonment, and my
soul shall live."
This time, his request was
granted. The damsel took off
her veil and before Heman
stood Heber, the Kenite.
Tricks, no matter what
their disguises, unfortunate-
ly, have become a condition
of life.
In "Blunders of the Haz-
zan of Mosul," Heber be-
comes a world traveler. He
travels to Geshur (Aram)
and thence to Mosul (site of
ancient Ninevah). In Mosul,
he attended the Sabbath-Eve
services at the local syna-
gogue.
There he sat down beside
two elderly men with long
beards and "bellies as heaps
of wheat" who praised the
hazzan as "meek and shy
and bashful; rotund and sleek
as the rams of Bashan. His
prayer is sweet, his company
is loved, and his chanting is
beautiful.
"While listening to the old-
sters, the hazzan made his
appearance. Frontlets (tefi-
lin) are on his forehead, and cave . . . within there were
on his head there is a shin- . . . stags, small ones and
ing white turban, 200 cubits large; the dam with its suck-
high. The sweep of his beard lings. The little ones were
reaches down to his navel. cuddling against the bosoms
He is covered with a prayer- of their mothers, suckling
mantle. He drags its fringes their teats, huddling warmly
along the ground and almost to them. The dam was hover-
ing over them or sporting
stumbles on his skirts."
At the sight of the hazzan, with them . . . As for the
Heber be ca m e speechless little ones, now they sleep
with awe. However, as the against her bosom . . . now
hazzan began intoning his they dance before her in their
melodies, Heber gradually attachment for the bosom of
regained his composure, and their mother . . . Now the
began counting the mistakes dogs surround them on all
the cantor made. He counted sides. ,
"more than 100 clear and
"One seizes their tail. An-
evident mistakes, besides the other bites their heel. One
others it is not meet to men- snaps, another draws, still
tion."
another tears and gnashes
Sabbath morning H e b e r until death• comes to some
again went to the synagogue, of them. They are taken in
and the hazzan again slaugh- their calamity. The dogs rip
tered the "tefilot" (prayers). apart their flesh with their
Commencing the service with jaws, pull out their entranls,
the "hundred benedictions" and lap up their blood with
he recited,
their tongues, although their
"Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord, victims are without violence
who has created man a and were innocent crea-
beast."
tures."
"And in the verses of
How did the poet feel about
Psalms he makes so many the Holocaust? Ibis feelings
mistakes that they could not are expressed in these
be counted."
verses:
This makama illustrates
"0 creatures whose life is in
Harizi's distaste for ignor-
the death of others . . . This
one
devours that one. the
ance and conceit.
strong the weak — for so
The makama "Description
God has created them through
all that time . . . The
of the Hunt" is an ellegory
strong injures others but at
symbolizing the cruelties per-
the end is himself injured...
May God be blessed Whose
petrated by the strong and
wonders are inaccessible and
lawless on the weak and in-
none can know what is hid-
den in their deeds.
nocent. Though the narrative
Judah Al-Harizi is unique
was written more than 750
years ago, it can be applied as a poet and story teller. He
to our contemporary situa- is profound, witty and often
sarcastic. His poetry, none-
tion.
By merely changing or theless, acks the refinement
paraphrasing a few words, and gracefulness Judah Hal-
we get a frightening picture levi's or Ibn Gabirol's poetry
of a Hitler pogrom. By sub- has.
The translation is good.
stituting stormtroopers for
dogs, people for deer, and The translator, Victor Eman-
home for cave, the symbol- uel Reichert, is Rabbi Emer-
ism of the hunt becomes evi- itus of Rockdale Temple,
Cincinnati and author of
dent:
"Now in the rock of the "Highways Through Juda-
mountain, there was a great ism."
U.S. Agency Opens Registration
for Claims Against E. Germany
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
The U.S. Foreign Claims Set-
tlement Commission, an in-
dependent federal agency,
has announced the beginning
of the official registration
period for claims for the loss
of property owned by U.S.
nationals in the German
Democratic Republic (East
Germany).
The claims, accordine to
a press statement issued by
the commission dated Feb. 1,
are those which arose prior
to or since 1945 and which
have not otherwise been set-
tled. The deadline for the
five-month registration period
is July 1 of this year.
The Jewish Telegraphic
Agency was informed at the
commission that, in general,
non-property claims such as
those resulting f r o m Nazi
persecutions and murder of
Jews are not included in this
registration, "as a general
rule."
Robert Maddex, a lawyer
in the office of the commis-
sion general counsel, said of
the registration, "property in
question had to be owned by
a U.S. citizen at the time of
loss." He noted that the Con-
ference on Jewish Material
Claims Against Germany is
handling other types of
claims. The conference is at
15 E. 26th St., New York,
At the time the U.S and
East Germany initiated dip-
lomatic relations in S e p t .
1974, State Department of-
ficials said that the confer-
ence and an organization to
be set up by East Germany
would negotiate the claims
against Nazi Germany.
Maddex said that the claims
the U.S. commission would
review include personal real
property confiscated prior to
or since 1945, including
stocks in companies that were
nationalized.
The claims, he said, are
strictly confined to American
citizens.
The registration of claims
is for the purpose of provid-
ing information for the nego-
tiations with East Germany.
The registration of a claim
at this time will not constitute
the filing of a formal claim
against the German Demo-
cratic Republic nor will it
ensure such a claim will be
covered by f u t u r e agree-
ment, the statement said.
It urged "individuals and
businesses that suffered prop-
erty losses in East Germany"
to contact the commission's
Washington office whose zip
code is 20579.