44 Friday, August 22, 1975
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Book Exposes 'The Myth of Jewish Race'
By PAUL MASSERMAN
The Myth of the Jewish
Race" by Raphael Patai and
his (laughter, Jennifer Patai
JOE MILLER
and
HIS ORCHESTRA
Music For All Occostons
LI 5-1244
Wing. is the first book in
decades on this subject.
It cites many facts to
prove that the Jews are not
a separate race. but a div-
erse group of people who
resemble their non-Jewish
neighbors both in appear-
ance and genetic makeup.
The hook is published by
Charles Scribner's Sons,
Nev York.
"The systematic extermi-
nat i on o f six million J ews b y
Nazi Germany, and its sat-
ellites was the culmination
of the notion that the Jews
were a race," the authors
say. •"The Nazis claimed
that the Jews were an infe-
rior and evil race, which
must be exterminated for
the benefit of the Aryan
master race."
"The Holocaust and the
establishment of the Jew-
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ish state — events of un-
paralleled magnitude in
Jewish history — point up
the importance of the ra-
cial question for the Jews
and demonstrate the need
for a re-examination of
this crucial issue."
The race concept is of rel-
atively recent origin. Only
in the 19th Century did the
idea gain •currency that
mankind was divided into
numerous groups, each with
physical and mental traits
which were genetically de-
termined and which set it
apart from other such
groups.
The Nazi genocide was
the culmination of a racial
anti-Semitism, which arose
in Europe following the
spread of Enlightenment.
Before that time, differ-
ences between Jews and
gentiles were perceived
mainly in religious terms.
Racial anti-Semitism has
sought to justify itself by al-
leged Jewish personality
traits and behavioral fea-
tures. Thus the authors
quote a ditty used by -Ger-
man and Hungarian anti-
Semites:
"In the Jew the foul
digrace
Is not religion but the
race."
Franz Boas, the father of
modern American anthro-
pology, is quoted by the au-
thors as writing- , "even in
antiquity while the Jews
still formed an independent
state. t hey represented a
thorough mixture of diver-
gent racial types . . . three
elements (the Aremenian
type of Asia Minor, the
Arab type of the Arabian
Peninsula, and the Kurdish
type of Asia Minor), were
represented in the ancient
Jew."
According to anthropolog-
ist Alfred Kroeber, quoted
in this book, "The Jews ever- .
ywhere considerably ap-
proximate the local gentile
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non-Jewish cultural envi-
ronment."
The book concludes that
the explanation of the dif-
ferences between Jewish
and non-Jewish intelligence,
special talents and charac-
ter traits must he sought"
not in the genetic area, but
in enviromental factors.
There is no evidence for-the
assumption that Jews are
genetically more intelligent
than non-Jews, but there is
ample evidence that envi-
ronment influenced the
Jews, in every generation
anew toward cultivating
RAPHAEL PATAI
their intelligence to the ut-
type. In Algiers they tend to most.
"The Jews were forced by
resemble Mediterranean; in
the inimical gentile world
Turkey, Armenoids; in
in which they lived to rely
north Germany, Nordics."
on
their brains in order to
The authors analyze all
aspects of the question of survive".
The authors claim that
Jewish "race"—historical,
"looking
Jewish" is due less
psychological and genetic.
The hook discusses•the ex- to inherited physical traits
tent of gentile conversion to than to "certain culturally-
Judaism, of Jewish-gentile acquired habits of expres-
intermarriage and other sion, — facial, vocal, muscu-
forms of inter-breeding, of la• and mental." They say'
slavery and concubinage that "looking Jewish" is a
and analyzes their effect on "rapidly disappearing phe-
nomenon in America".
Jewish "stock".
In Israel, too, the phe-
It probes into the ques-
nomenon of "looking Jew-
tion of psychological dif-
ish" is on its way out.
ferences between Jews
and gentiles, including "The experience of living
the much debated issue of in their own country and
thus masters of their own
Jewish intelligence.
It is pointed out that the fate . . . has wrought a
Jews were a minute element most remarkable transfor-
in most countries of Europe mation."
in the Middle Ages. In 1300 The book discounts the
there were only 260,000 theory. of general Jewish
Ashkenazi Jews in the diseases, saying that Tay-
midst of about 38 million Sachs disease, Nieman-Pick
gentiles, while in 1490 they disease, Gou•her's disease,
numbered 270,000 among 50 Bloom syndrome and fami-
million gentiles (not count- lial dysautanomia are as
ing Spain or Portug- all. For- rare among Oriental Jews
cible violations of Jewish as they are among non-
women by gentiles were not Jews. There are no diseases
rare, as Jewish communi- which are characteristic of
ties were tiny. As late as all Jews.
1800 there were only 8,000
The authors also contend
Jews in England.
that a high or low incidence
Throughout the 3,- of cancer or diabetes in
500-year history of the characteristic of certain
Jews, many proselytes groups of Jews rather than
joined them either individu- of Jews in general.
ally or in groups. According
"The Myth of the Jewish
to the authors, who cite the
Race" is a carefully re-
German historian Paul
S•hurer, "in Hellenistic-Ro- searched and fully docu-
man times the number of mented study of the Jewish
people from biblical times
those who joined the Jewish
community, was very great to the present. It is \yell
. . . Israel felt itself the worth reading and reward-
ing for anyone concerned
teacher of the world of na-
about identity and inherit-
tions."
In a controversial chapter an•e.
Raphael Patai, an anthro-
on "The Jewish Mind," Dr.
pologist and historian, is the
Patai and Dr. Wing con-
•lude that "there is a higher author of more than 20
percentage of individuals
works. His daughter, re-
with a high general intellig-
ceived her PhD from the
en•e among Jews than non-
University of Michigan and
Jews'', that on the whole,
has taught at Yale Univer-
sity.
Jews are superior to com-
parable groups of non-Jews,
especially in verbal intellig-
Pro-U.S. Feelings
ence.
Down in Israel
"As to the existence of
differences in specific tal- JERUSALEM (JTA) —
ents or abilities between The Public Opinion Re-
Jews and non-Jews, our search Institute of Israel
answer, too, is affirma- released a poll that says an
tive, but with a greater increasing number of Israe-
measure of uncertainty", lis believe that the United
the
authors
write.
States is becoming less pro-
"Especially in scholarly,
Israeli.
intellectual, literary, and
The institute said that
artistic pursuits, the Jews
while 36.7 percent of Israe-
seem to be proportionately lis polled in April thought
over-represented . . . the U.S. was more pro-Is-
Specific Jewish abilities mei than pro-Arab, the fig-
appear everywhere as the tire has now slumped to 18.2
product of the particular percent.