56 • Friday, May 27, 1977
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
`Could You Be a Messiah?' ...An Iconoclastical Theme
A Review
BY DR. PETER MARTIN
Max Dimont. popular Jew-
ish historian, claimed that
history has developed a pro-
totype of a universal cosmo-
politan Jew with four recog-
nizable traits shaped by his
ideologies. The first is that
Jews are iconoclasts, a pro-
fession dating back to Abra-
ham who undermined the
pagan world when he
smashed its idols.
Mark Jay Mirsky is icono-
clast par excellence. His
pen slashes at Jewish sa-
cred cows throughout "My
Search for the Messiah"
(Macmillan) with the fer-
vor of the ancient Hebrew
prophets. The reader may
feel that in Mirsky's fever-
ish dreams of rebuilding
Judaism in the American
Diaspora, he needs first to
destroy any part of
Judaism differing with his
own views.
The second characteristic
is that of Jews as skeptics
who never accept the say-
so of anyone, not even God.
Again Mirsky upholds the
tradition admirably, though
at times stridently.
The third acknowledged
characteristic of the Jews
is that they are the people
of the law who are forever
telling the world what is
right and what is wrong. Oh
Mirsky, here you excell!
The fourth characteristic
is that Jews have always
supported education and
general welfare—they are
humanists who speak for
the rights of all men. Mir-
sky, you've passed the
fourth test. You are a Jew
in every fiber of your body.
I am proud of you and I
like you.
If, in the past, I have
been in doubt as to whether
there was such an entity as
a Jewish writer in current
American literature or how
to define one. I am no long-
er.
If I had my doubts in pre-
vious book reviews that
I've written for The Jewish
News, Mirsky has rescued
me. Bellow, Malamud and
Roth were light reading,
quickly digested, without
moving me. But, young Mir-
sky is _different.
He cuts into my core. He
does not write as well as
they do. His style is- frenet-
ic, frenzied and frantic. But
what he writes about is Jew-
ish. It moves me. It shakes
the name given to the non-
legal material, particularly
the rabbinic literature
which embraces the spirit
of the Law, the passion of
the Law and its people.
For the most part it is an
amplification of those por-
tions of the Bible which in-
clude narrative, history, eth-
ical maxims and the re-
proofs and consolation of
the prophets.
DR. PETER MARTIN
me. I start reading Harry
Wolfson, the philosopher;
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik,
the story-teller and the
scholar Gershon Scholom to
fill in the missing pieces in
my education.
As I read of his search, I
am on familiar ground. I've
come this way before, in
my lonely search for my
roots. for my ancestors
and, like Mirsky, with love
and with pride and with
wonder and with awe.
We are kindred spirits re-
specting the Halakha, the
legal side of the Oral Law
but thrilling to the Aggada,
It is here that Mirsky is
rooted, though he recog-
nizes his need for Halakha
to constrain his passions. In
the Aggada tradition, every-
one can interpret as he sees
fit. And Mirsky does just
that.
This book is a story of a
man searching for his per-
sonal salvation. searching
for surcease from the ang-
uish of his troubled dreams
through immersion in the
waters of his ancestral
past.
Mirsky's personal search
follows the traditional path-
way taken for generations
but forgotten or even un-\
known to many American
Jews whose children turn to
exotic Far Eastern philoso-
phies for their soul search-
ing, uneducated and igno-
rant of the depths plumbed.
of the excitement, mys-
teries and exaltations dis-
covered by their own ances-
tors throughout the ages.
No religion has surpassed
in fervor that of the inde-
structible Jews whose mani-
fest destiny is to fulfill their
avowed mission of ushering
in a brotherhood of man.
Mirsky, in his disturbed
search for the Messiah,
finds him within himself.
He experiences this part of
himself as joining, in ecsta-
cy, with the female aspect
of God—the Bride, the She-
kina, the presence of God.
He experiences this union
as a sexual one. This, he
emphasizes, lies within
each of us.
He experiences for him-
self what countless num-
bers of other religious Jews
have experienced through-
out the ages. He states:
Anyone who feels, who
reads, who broods, who is
`religious,' may encounter,
as I did, with a blazing
face, the Presence of the
Messiah. And where did I
encounter that? In writing
this book."
As mixed-up and con-
fused and contradictory as
Mirsky is in this book—he
is not uneducated. The lat-
ter is an act of omission no
longer considered a sin by
many modern American
Jews. He is an intellectual,
a scholar, and a "lover"
and though this is often pre-
sented in a "meshugena"
way that might turn some
listeners off—an education
in Judaism is available to
the reader.
I should say to the "listen-
er" instead of reader. For—
Mirsky is a story telle
tells stories that diL .;,
agitate and educate.
He would be a messiah.
But he is a rabbi. A wander-
ing rabbi without pulpit or -
congregation, who will talk
to whomever will listen.
Who knows? Maybe the
Jewish _Messiah will be a
rabbi. The Christians be-
lieve their Messiah was
one.
-
There is much in his
book that can be criticized.
Much that is mediocre. But
I recommend it highly,. Buy
it. If not for yourself, then
for your lost, wandering
children.
Young New Zealanders Bridging 10,000 Miles
BY ROBERT ST. JOHN
Special to The Jewish News
(Copyright 1977, JTA, Inc.)
(Editor's note: This is the
second in a series of three
articles by the famous cor-
respondent about his recent
South Pacific trip.)
It is more than 10,000
miles from New Zealand to
Israel by the shortest pos-
sible route, and the round-
trip air fare, the cheapest
class, is more than $2,000.
Yet each year at least a
dozen young men and
women, all non-Jewish New
Zealanders, make the trip
in order to experience what
life is like in the Jewish
state.
It is a story that should
warm the heart of anyone
who is discouraged over al-
most-unanimous anti-Israeli
votes in the UN or who has
a feeling that the non-Jew-
ish world no longer has an
interest in Israel's struggle
to exist and to progress.
Somehow, despite 29 trips
to Israel in the past 30
years, I has never been told
about "Bridge". But a few
weeks ago, sitting in a res-
taurant atop the tallest
building in Wellington, we
were introduced to this
amazing organization by Is-
rael's Ambassador to New
Zealand, Chaim Raphael
(since then deceased).
Bridge is an educational
trust established four years
ago by a New Zealand non-
Jew of Scottish origin,
James McNeish, and his
wife, Helen, also a non-Jew.
Bridge has chapters in
many parts of New Zea-
land. Its members are
young people, between 18
and 30, who raise money to
finance a one-year sojourn
abroad for as many of their
members as possible. Those
who are chosen are spon-
sored by Christian min-
isters, members of Parli-
ment, university professors
and other civic leaders.
Last year there was money
enough to send 12 young
men and women. This
year's group, now in Israel,
numbers 25, carefully se-
lected from among more
than 500 applicants.
In last year's group there
was a young member of the
Wellington police force and
in every group so far there
have been Maoris, dark-
skinned natives of New Zea-
land.
What is most amazing is
that Bridge neither asks, ex-
pects nor accepts financial
help or even guidance and
advice from the Israeli Em-
bassy or from the Israeli
government; that the mem-
bership is entirely non-Jew-
ish; that those selected for
the trip are always non-
Jews.
The voyagers spend
their first four months work-
ing on a kibutz, where each
is adopted by an Israeli
family. They spend the next
two months wherever in Is-
rael they choose, in in-
timate contact with people
of their own profession or
with their own life interest.
At this time they also make
contact with Arabs and Bed-
ouins living within Is-
rael,some even staying for
a day or two in Arab vil-
lages.
Then they go for six
-months to Europe, where
they make an intensive
study of continental culture.
When they return home
they are encouraged to_re-
port first to the various
Bridge groups in New Zea-
land and then to relate
their experiences on radio
and television, and in the
press.
The enthusiasm of these
young people after their re-
turn is remarkable—espe-
cially their enthusiasm for
Israel. For example, listen
to what Rosalene Newman,
a 23-year-old non-Jewish
girl from Wellington said:
"In New Zealand we tend
to see Israel mostly from
the political and military
point of view. What we
know, we get from brief
newscasts on television and
from the newspapers.
"After being in Israel for
six months I learned that
the Middle East is not just
a crisis area, but a place
where people lead ordinary,
work-a-day lives, striving
for a modicum of comfort
and the right to bring up
their children in peace.
"People in New Zealand
genuinely want to know
what Israelis are like.
There's a tremendous sup-
port here for Israel, not
just as the underdog but
true admiration for all Is-
rael has achieved."
Rosalene's enthusiasm
for Israel did not dull her
ability to be intelligently
critical. Her visit to some
of the development towns,
populated largely by immi-
grants from Afro-Asian
countries—by those who
came from one culture to
another and have never
really adjusted to this indus-
trialized, Western-oriented
society — led her to con-
clude that not enough is
being done to educate the
children in these towns so
they can compete with their
more privileged peers.
She has only praise for
the Israeli army. "I went
there with quite an anti-
militaristic stance. Now I
haire only admiration for
the army, which does much
more than just involve it-
self in defense matters. It
is also a valuable education-
al force, helping integrate
new immigrants. It also
helps Israeli youth learn to
cope with the pressures of
the world around them,"
Rosalene found that her
pre-conceived concept of Is-
raelis as "proud people
with a great deal of get-up—
and-go" was true, but, she
adds, "I did not find the ar-
rogance I had anticipated."
She met Arabs and Bed-
ouins whose hospitality was
"overwhelming".
It is true that Israel has
always had a fascination
for young people, being the
young, pioneering nation
that it is, but it is a happy
thought that such a sub-
stantial bridge has been
built between Israel and the
non-Jews of the distant
South Pacific.
Life Goal: Religious Understanding
NEW YORK — In the
field of Jewish-Christian re-
lations, one of the most sig-
nificant figures is Msgr.
John M. Oesterreicher, 73,
who was born to Jewish par-
ents in Austria. His most
noteworthy achievement
came during the Second
Vatican Council when he be-
came the prime architect of
the landmark "Statement
on the Jews," which con-
demned anti-Semitism in its
various forms, reports Ken-
neth A. Briggs in the New
York Times.
Recently, former stu-
dents, friends and co-work-
ers in the area of Christian-
J.-nvish relations honored
the monsignor's accom-
plishments at a noon mass
and dinner that marked his
50th year as a priest.
In 1953 Oesterreicher
founded the Institute for
Judeo-Christian Studies on
the campus of -Seton Hall
University in South Orange,
N.J., and remains its guid- diocese in New York. The
result was an appointment
ing light in the development
to a parish, the beginning
of innovative programs.
of 10 years of parochial
The initial event that
plunged him into his mis- service.
During that period he
sion took place in Vienna
when, as a medical student, wrote a pamphlet called —
he began reading Christian
- The Apostolate to the
Scripture in Hebrew. "I Jews," which was to em-
,c1
read the Gospels and was broil him in a prot
captivated," he said. Short-
controversy. It took
csii.
central thesis the conviction
ly thereafter he took up
that a specific mission to
studies for the priesthood.
the Jews was justified.
The --Nazi onslaught,
which took thelives of his
To many Jews and some
parents, drove the young
Christians
the idea raised
priest to Paris, where he
broadcast attacks and the specter of forced con-
wrote articles against Nit- version and disrespect for
Judaism. In retrospect, Oes-
ler.
terreicher said he would
When Faris fell, he es-
not espouse the point of
caped to Portugal and then
view he held 30 years ago.
came to New York. Some-
- My whole theory has
how. Otto von Hapsburg,
exiled heir to the throne of
changed." he said. "I don't
the Austro-Hungarian Em-
believe now that the church
pine, learned of the priest's
should engage in any prose-
arrival and accompanied
lytizing efforts. We should
him to his first interview at
recognize the validity of
the chancery of the Arch- JudaismT"