THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, January 14, 1977 35

Battle Against Prejudice in Dictionaries Continues

By RABBI JACK GOLDMAN

In the wake of recent
efforts to expunge anti-
Semitic slurs in the "Ox-
ford English Dictionary,"
anti-Semitic canards and
distortions in "The
Courtis-Watters Illus-
trated Golden Dictionary
for Young Readers," is-

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sued by the Golden Press,
should also be disclosed.
The "Golden Dictio-
nary" made its first ap-
pearance in 1951. It was
authored by two indi-
viduals whose back-
ground and experience
qualify them for produc-
ing a text expertly suited
to the needs of children.
They are Stuart A.
Courtis, professor of edu-
cation at the University
of Michigan, and the au-
thor and compiler of a
wide variety of educa-
tional materials for chil-
dren, and Garnette Wat-

ters, for more than a
quarter of a century the
director of the language
department of the Ham-
tramck, Michigan, Public
School System.
The most objectionable
aspects of the "Golden
Book Dictionary" are that
in spite of the fact that the
dictionary is intended for
general use and is overtly
non-sectarian, it lays a
very heavy emphasis on
Christian life in America,
specifically upon Roman
Catholicism, and is con-
spicuously silent or dis-
torted in all matters per-
taining to Jews, Judaism,
Israel, Zionism, or any
phase of Jewish life in
America.
Furthermore, com-
monplace words that
enjoy a non-religious
usage are given a specifi-
cally Christian or Roman
Catholic meaning, either
through the presentation
of a very narrow defini-
tion, or a highly re-
stricted example of word
usage, or through an il-
lustration in which the
Christological implica-
tions are unquestionable.
The overall impression
is that the authors — con-
sciously or unconsciously
— contrived an educa-
tional instrument
marked by the fervor of
missionary zeal to Chris-
tianize, wherever possi-
ble, in an age group most
vulnerable to that kind of
influence.
Under the word "al-
tar," the Golden Dictio-
nary offers "A raised
place at the front of a
church." The accompany-
ing illustration shows a
monk, kneeling before a
crucifix. "Belfry" is illus-
trated by the steeple of a
Gothic church.
For "choir" the dictio-
nary offers, as an example
of the use of the word,
"The choir will sing
Christmas carols tonight."
The illustration shows 10
boys and girls, wearing

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RABBI GOLDMAN

robes of purple and white,
singing in a choir loft of a
church. Cathedral win-
dows are in the back-
ground.
In illustrating the in-
nocuous word "emblem,"
one of the emblems is a
large cross.
For "peak," the "Gol-
den Dictionary" provides
a simple definition: "The
very top point." To illus-
trate usage, the dictio-
nary offers "The peak of
the mountain is covered
with snow." But in the il-
lustration, we see the
snow-capped mountains
and, in the valley, the in
escapable Church, with
its Gothic windows and
the cross on its steeple
looming over the Ameri-
can flag.
The word "town" comes
with a three-inch illus-
tration of a town, in which
the most prominent posi-
tion is given to the
church.
The "Golden Dictio-
nary's" desire to impose
Christian images is al-
most obsessive.
For "approach," the dic-
tionary offers this exam-
ple: "Christmas is fast ap-
proaching." For "bazaar,"
we read "The church is
having a Christmas
bazaar."
This engrossing preoc-
cupation of the
lexicographers Courtis
and Watters with Chris-
tian definitions and illus-
trations is sharply offset
to other faiths.
There are entries and
illustrations for Jesus,
cathedral, Christ, chris-
ten, Christian, Chris-
tianity, Christmas,
church. However, there is
no listing for Moses,
Mohammed, or. Buddha.
There is no entry for
Jew, Jewish, Judaism, or
.Hanuka. The words "syn-
agogue" and "mosque"
are also absent from the
7,500 listed in the dictio-
nary.
"The Golden Dictio-
nary" was revised in 1972,
after being reprinted in
1961 and in 1965. The 1972
edition contains rnortlian

10,000 listings and "over
3,000
helpful illustration-
s. ,,

However, the overrid-
ing concentration upon
expamples and pictures
with Christian themes
remains the same, al-
though there have been
some changes such as the
inclusion of a flag of Is-
rael. The definition for
"rabbi" is somewhat im-
proved: he is now "A pas-
tor of the Jewish faith."
But,there is still nolist :

ing for Israel, Judaism,
Hanuka, (or any other
Jewish holiday), Moses, or
synagogue, and entirely
too much of an emphasis
upon Christian themes in
a dictionary which is in-
tended for general use by
American children of all
faiths and nations.
In the meantime, there
is an alternative: "Webs-
ter's New Elementary
Dictionary" (G. & C. Mer-
riam Co.). While it is not
perfect, it is unbiased,
unprejudiced, and
scholarly in its attempt to
meet the lexical needs of
the grade school child.
* * *
A letter by Alex Faulk-
ner in the London Times
of June 12, 1976 recalls
the detailed discussion of
the word Jew and its var-
iations by H. L. Mencken
in "The American Lan-
guage." —
"I have only the fourth
edition, corrected, en-
larged and re-written ,
which was published in
1936, but even at that late
date it makes odd reading
for the contemporary
Englishman to find him
saying: ". . . They con-
tinue to use the word Jew
freely, and even retain
the verb to jew in their
vocabulary."
In the U.S. he recalls,
certain Jews petitioned
the publishers of Webs-
ter's and Worcester's Dic-
tionaries as long ago as the
early 1870s to omit their
definitions of to jew.
"I see that Webster's
`New Twentieth Century
Dictionary,' 1963,
nevertheless includes the
verb, but describes it as a
`vulgar and offensive ex-
pression', while the more
recent 'American Heri-
tage Dictionary,' first
published in 1968, ducks
the problem by omitting
both verb and adjective.
"Its editor in chief,
William Morris, in his
`Harper Dictionary of
Contemporary Usage'
says firmly that `to use
jew down to mean bar-
gain for the purpose of
reducing price is to be of-
fensive not only to people
of the Jewish faith but to
anyone of good taste..: "

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Jewish Agency
Budget is Down'

JERUSALEM (ZINS)
— Aryeh Dulzin, Jewish
Agency treasurer, re-
ported that the budget of
the Jewish Agency for
1976-77 will be reduced
from $502 million to $450
million. He added that the
original budget was
based on a projected aliya
of 35,000, but it appears
that this year only 20,000
immigrants will come to
Israel. Another reason
for the reduced budget is
based on the difficulties
that the Agency encoun-
ters in collecting money
overseas.
In reply to the question
about the veracity of the
rumors that he will pre-
sent his candidacy for
Mayor of Jerusalem, Dul-
zin said "I was surprised
to read these rumors; my
public plans are in
another direction al-
together." - .

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