V„. 2 Friday, January 7, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Purely Commentary A Personal Tribute to the Great Scholar Solomon Zeitlin, With Emphasis on the Great Gifts he has Left for Jewish Scholarship as Teacher and as Noted Historian By Philip Slomovitz Solomon Zeitlin's Passion for Unpolluted Facts in Writing Jewish History Solomon Zeitlin had one great passion: he wanted Jewish history to be treated factually, truthfully, unhindered by guesswork or fables. He did not hestitate to challenge any one, regardless of rank or power, when realism was besmirched in historical writings. This was only one of the many great qualities of the very great scholar whose death occurred in Philadelphia on Dec. 28. He was a mild and modest man. He was devoid of venom. He was compassion- ate. This in spite of the very nature of the scholar who wanted history to be dealt with honestly. He was harsh on those who deviated from fact in treating historical occurrences, yet he was kind and gentlemanly when he confronted them as man to man. He had no hatreds in his heart, even though those he criticized were un- kindly to him. These contrasting factors in the man who was unquestionably the outstand- ing authority on the Second Commonwealth period in Jewish history was in evidence during the debates that were rampant over the antiquity of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls continue to serve the purposes of Christian and Jewish scholars who maintain that the documents under dispute date back to pre- Christian times. Dr. Zeitlin had written extensively to prove that the scrolls which were found in a case in Israel were of later times, that they could have been of the Sixth or Seventh Century of the present era and not of the First or Second Century before the Christian era. In truth, it takes only one man to be right. It was the philosophy of the famous philosopher-economist John Stuart Mill, and Dr. Zeitlin proved it to be applicable to himself when he exposed distortions in studies on Josephus and later was proven correct in spite of condemnations by scholars in many lands. Philip A. Hart, Genuine Liberal, Staunch Supporter of Zionism Philip A. Hart left a legacy for liberalism and philo-Semitism for the generation of legislators who follow him in the U.S. Senate. He was a genuine liberal and he was never motiviated by personal gain or glory. An interesting history in efforts in support of the Zionist libertarian ideal preceded him. U.S. Senators Robert Taft, Arthur H. Vandenberg and Robert Wagner headed the national American Christian Palestine Committee and supported the Zionist hopes and aspirations during their senatorial careers. The Michigan chapter of the American Christian Palestine Committee first was headed by the late Judge Frank Picard. He was succeeded in that post by Senator Hart's chair- manship of the important American Christian Pales- tine Committee, in which were enrolled many of the very prominent non-Jews in Michigan, coinciding with his being Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. It was during that time that he and the then Governor of Michigan, G. Mennen Williams, also a member of the American Christian Palestine Committee, were honored with a Jewish Na- tional Fund Forest planted in Israel's Hills of SEN. PHILIP HART Menashe. The appropriate tribute to the memory of Senator Hart is the addi- tional JNF Garden of Trees to be planted in the Hart-Williams Forest in Israel. Upon Israel's rebirth Senator Hart always staunchly labored in behalf of the Jewish state, sup- porting all legislation aimed to assist Israel economi- cally and militarily, and he was a familiar figure at all important Jewish public functions in Detroit. He re- ceived many honors, all greatly deserved, from Jewish groups. Very few supported him. One Christian scholar in England, a Yeshiva University professor, another hand- ful backed him up. This commentator is in the ranks of that minority. He bases his conviction that Prof. Zeitlin was right on the many points, especially in relation to the Hebrew in the discovered scrolls which was concurrent (as he proved) in relation to usage of the time under discussion. Another volume in the series Dr. Zeitlin had written for release by the Jewish Publication Society, on the his- tory of the Second Commonwealth period in Jewish his- tory, is to appear soon. The scholarly works, his several volumes of collected essays that have appeared under the title "Studies in the Early History of Judaism," his editorship of the Jewish Quarterly Review, his many monograms and essays — all collectively speak volumes in tribute to a very great scholar. For this commentator the passing of this great man is a personal loss. Only a few weeks ago Dr. Zeitlin hosted this writer and his wife at a dinner in Philadelphia. He was already _very weak, he walked slowly supported by a cane, but he spoke with great conviction about issues of merit and seriousness for Jewry and the world. He had the same charm that distinguished him in his long life. Zeher tzaddik livrakha — blessed be the memory of this, a saintly man. Those who worked with him also enjoyed his friendship, and they considered it something to cherish. His labors for just causes were always appreciated and will never be forgotten. Israel's Enemies on Campuses: Annihilqtion Still the Motto Arab students on the campuses contribute to the skepticism over the new talks about an impending peace in the Middle East. How could any rational person possibly accept the "gestures" for an accord when the PLO in Beirut, the Habash faction in Lebanon and in Syria and students on the campuses in the free countries of the world keep harranguing about an end to Israel? Many thousands of Arab students in the United States are a force behind the Arab scenes who propa- gate Israel's annihilation. In England there are 5,500 Arab students on the campuses of universities who reportedly have the support of an additional force of 21,000 Moslems who keep chanting anti-Israel slogans. At one of their ral- lies their signs read "Palestine Not Israel — Revolu- tion With Victory." Yet there are the gullible who be- lieve a Sadat-Assad alliance will bring some sort of accord with Israel. Only direct talks between Israel and the Arab rul- ers of the states on her borders can be viewed as a possibility of some sort of workable armistice. And there is the added fact that Israel must deal with each country individually if there is to be realism in peace talks. The tragedy of the Middle East realities can not be treated lightly and the forces striving for loopholes which might lead to "pressures" by the U.S. upon Is- rael must not find renewed foxholes for a renewed warfare. Israel's battle for a secure life is one of cau- tion whether dealing with the Arab rulers or the PLO or their propaganda armies on the campuses. And the caution multiples every time there is evidence that someone, in State Department or elsewhere, plans pressure upon Israel. State House Speaker Crim Tours Israel Bobby Crim, speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives studies the Chagall windows in the synagogue of the Hadassah-Hebrew Uni- versity Medical Center in Jerusalem. Crim was among 15 U.S. legislators who re- cently toured Israel on a fact-finding mission. At the end of his tour of Hadassah, he commented: "Hadassah has been im- portant in the progress of health care, research and medical training in Is- rael, and plays a major role in the health care pro- grams in the country." e. DR. ZEITLIN Testing the PLO: Waskow's Views Under Scrutiny by Colleagues Arthur Waskow is slated to be one of the speaker ,: at the conference engineered by the Quakers aimed at inducing the administration of Jimmy Carter to press for the inclusion of the PLO in whatever negotiations may be conducted to deal with the Middle East issues. It is therefore important that the Waskow role should be understood. Waskow's impressions of a Jewish-PLO dialogue held in Washington recently were already quoted and commented upon in these columns. His article on the NYTimes Op-Ed Page on the subject of that dialogue inspired a reply from another participant in that dialogue, Herman Edelsberg of the Bnai Brith Inter- national Council. In a letter to the NYTimes, Edelsberg differed with Waskow, exposed the bitter- ness and animosity of the PLO spokesmen and stated: Let me cite a few of the PLO statements made at the meeting that aggravated suspicions. If the PLO professes to accept Israel as a soverign state — an obvious precondition to being taken seriously — why doesn't it say so publicly, we asked. Mr. Issam Sar- tawi's answer was that recognition was the PLO's "trump card," which would not be given up without Israeli concessions at the bargaining table. We said that the PLO mission came at an awk- ward time for them because that morning's newspap- ers carried the report of the Baghdad conference with its scurrilous attacks on Zionism, and PLO offi- cials did attend that meeting. Sartawi replied, "Let's be frank, when it comes to Zionism, we are your enemies." Sartawi talked of a Palestinian state composed of the West Bank and Gaza— and some "small parts" of Egypt and Syria. We said there is is genuine concern that such a state would not be viable and would have an inherent necessity to strike first against Jordan and then against Israel. Sartawi virtually interrupted to blurt out, "Of course, Jordan, it's ours." Mr. Jiryis added more gently that 70 percent of Jordan's population is Pales- tinian. And that is all they said on the issue of whether theirs would be a peaceful state or a staging area for aggression. After its naked aggression and disasterous de- feat in Lebanon, the PLO arranged meetings in Paris, New York and Washington with Jews who were led to believe that Lebanon had produ- a genuine change in PLO policy. Unfortunat& ie evidence suggests only a change in PLO tactics, not in basic objective. When there is a genuine change, the PLO should be able to make it known at the right addresses — the governments involved. While Jewish participants in a session with the PLO were criticized for meeting with such avowed enemies, in spite of their having done so as individuals and not as official representatives of their organiza- tions, the Edelsberg- statement proves that the meet- ing with the PLO had some merit. It revealed the true intentions of the avowed enemies. It is important that their views be known and understood. Meanwhile, we have another demonstration of untrue liberalism from ranks like the Quakers whose aims are to give status to a group that is bent upon destroying Israel. That men like Waskow and General Matti Peled should be slated as participants in a con- ference that aims to dignifiy the PLO is at best appal- ling.