64 Friday, November 11, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
An Analytical and Critical Look at The Jewish Mind'
By PETER A. MARTIN
"The Jewish Mind" by
Raphael Patai (Scribner's)
is one of the most informa-
tive and scholarly books on
the Jewish people. It is the
type of book that is kept in
one's library as an author-
itative reference book. The
author, Dr. Raphael Patai,
is a prominent anthropolog-
ist who is one of American
and World Jewry's leading
scholars.
His credentials are solid.
He is the author of the
award winning "The Arab
Mind" and co-author with
his daughter of "The Myth
of the Jewish Race," winner
of the National Jewish Book
Award and the Anisfield-
DR. PATAI
Wolf Award in Race
Relations.
In this latest book, he
studies the Jewish charac-
ter, intellect, how the Jew-
ish mind differs from the
Gentile mind, the causes of
such diversity and the
essence of being Jewish.
The result is a lengthy,
clearly written encyclopedia
piece of work that is objec-
tive and honest.
There is no attempt to
gild the lily and no attempt
to whitewash undesirable
aspects. In his work of set-
ting the record straight,
Patai debunks myths, dis-
pells stereotyped concepts,
and clarifies distortions and
misperceptions about the
Jewish people; many of
which are held by the Jews
themselves.
When a social scientist,
such as Patai, speaks of the
"Jewish mind" as different
from the non-Jewish mind,
he does not mean that every
Jew has these qualities, but
merely these qualities are
found more frequently
among the Jews than
among the non-Jews. It is
with this qualification in
mind that he discusses
"Jewish" intelligence,
"Jewish" talents, .":Jewish"
character traits, etc., as
well as differences between
the "Jewish mind" and the
"Gentile mind."
In the Yiddish idiom the
expressions are Yiddisher
kop, meaning cleverness
and its opposite, Goyisher
kop, denoting stupidity. In a
large aggregate, the sum
total of these shared mental
traits are referred to by
social scientists as
-
"national character" or
"basic personality."
It is a matter of record
that great modern thinkers
such as Einstein, Freud and
Marx have been Jewish and
Jews traditionally win more
Nobel prizes. Patai explores
the whys and wherefores of
such Jewish phenomena.
He believes an important
factor as to why the Jewish
mind differs from the Gen-
tile mind is that Jewish his-
tory presents an experience
uniquely different from any
other nation. Constant expo-
sure from a host culture
was a uniquely Jewish expe-
rience. The Jewish mind for
2,000 years has been
exposed to two equally pow-
erful forces—the Jewish tra-
dition and the Gentile
influence. The Jewish mind
is itself a product `of the ten-
sion between the two.
Patai divides the major
external influences upon the
Jewish mind into six eras.
Each influence brought
about a departure into new
realms of cultural activity
and the adoption of a new
language or its utilization as
a medium for a new mode
of expression.
Canaanite Encounter
The first was the encoun-
ter with the Canaanites
from the first patriarchs to
the Babylonian Exile (17th
Century to 586 BCE). Dur-
ing this period the children
of Israel switched from
_their ancestral Aramaic to
the "language of Canaan,"
which they soon developed
into their unique national
and religious tongue, bib-
lical Hebrew.
This first encounter was
seminal in influencing the
course of Jewish history in
the biblical period and
through the Bible, the devel-
opment of Judaism in all of
its subsequent phases.
Hellenism
This second great encoun-
ter covered the late Fourth
Century BCE to the Second
Century CE and resulted in
the superimposition of
Greek on the Aramaic collo-
quial language. It prompted
the Jews to add to their own
biblical-rabbinic tradition
important elements of Hel-
lenistic culture which
resulted in a special Hellen-
istic-Jewish variety of liter-
ary, intellectual, religious
and artistic activity.
Arabic Influence
This encounter followed
the Arab conquest of South-
west Asia and North Africa
in the Seventh Century. This
encounter made Arabic the
language of the majority of
Jews and induced the Jew-
ish mind to tackle, for the
first time, great intellectual
tasks of a secular nature.
The Spanish Jews flourished
during this era.
Renaissance Italy
early concrete formulation
groups, when compared to
in two biblical command-
similar non-Jewish groups,
ments. They are the duty
score higher on tests meas-
toward GOd; and the duty
uring general intelligence
towards one's fellow man.
and especially verbal
intelligence."
Patai states that whatever
the Jews absorbed from
If we minimize the heredi-
their Gentile environments
tary aspect in human beings
Ukraine, Poland
was never, until the Enlight-
to 10 percent and give 90
The encounter between
enment, allowed to
percent credit to environ-
East European Jews and
encroach upon them. They
ment, the Jewish culture
the Christian sectarian
remained the Jewish elixir
would explain the testing
movements in the Ukraine
of life, the source of Israel's
differences. It is Jewish tra-
and Poland influenced the
elan vital, the leitmotif of
dition that learning is
development of Hasidism in
Jewish existence. These
upheld as a supreme value.
the 18th Century. With
have been the core, the
Jewish children at the ten-
Hasidism, the Yiddish lan-
essence of Jewishness and
der age of three or four
guage became a vehicle of a
constitute a constant in the
were sent into school, the
great and vital religious
Heder, where they began to
Jewish mind which has been
development in Judaism.
informed by them through-
learn the Hebrew alphabet.
This represented a revolu-
out Jewish history.
Children are much petted
tionary departure from the
Whatever Gentile values
and pampered and a great
talmudic-halakhic trend
succeeded in penetrating
deal of affeCtion, stimu-
dominant in Judaism ever
the psychological barriers
lation, and care is lavished
since antiquity.
of the separate and self-con-
on them. One must appre-
tained Jewish existence,
ciate the role of the Jewish
Western Culture
they could never amount to
home in the intellectual
The resulting Jewish
more than manageable
development of children.
Enlightenment brought
modifications in the tradi-
The quality of the Jewish
about the adoption by the
tional Jewish value system • home environMent differs
Jews of the national lan-
whose basics remained
from the Gentile family
guage of each country
untouched, unaltered and
even if they belong to the
which, in the 19th Century,
undiluted.
same socio-economic stra-
emancipated them. It broke
This Jewish human mind
tum. It is a place in which
down the age-old social and
freed since the Enlight-
learning is highly valued.
cultural barriers which
enment period has had a
This single factor under-
everywhere had separated
global influence on all man-
lies all the other differen-
Jew from Gentile and
kind through the geniuses of
ces. The role played by Jew-
enabled Jews to become not
such luminaries of the
ish educational and
merely participants, but
human race as Moses,
intellectual tradition also
leaders and pioneers in cul-
Isaiah, Jesus, Maimonides,
contributes to the phenom-
ture of the modern West.
Spinoza, Marx, Freud and
ena of Jewish giftedness
From the standpoint of
Einstein, not to mention the
and genius. Patai states
Jewish survival, this
dozens of luminaries of sec-
that the higher mean
encounter is more crucial,
ondary magnitude. No other
intelligence became the
and fraught with more dan-
human group can boast of
baseline from which those
ger than any of the preced-
an even remotely com-
of special gifts could rise
ing five encounters. Without
parable record.
more frequently to the
the Enlightenment, Zionism
Who Is A Jew?
greatest heights of
would not have come into
intellectual power.
It is difficult to discuss
being and the state of Israel -
the Jewish mind, the
He concludes that given
could not have been born.
these conditions, it was
influences upon it, and its
But its tragedy lies in the
inevitable that the leap
influences upon the world
fearful price it has exacted
from giftedness to genius
when we find it difficult to
from the Jewish people.
should be made by the rare
answer the question: "Who
In its wake hundreds of
Jewish individuals capable
is a Jew?" even in the Jew-
thousands of Jews have left
of it precisely in those Jew-
ish state of Israel.
the fold. The inner core and
ish societies which were
Patai makes a minimal
essence of Jewishness
surrounded by, impinged
definition that a Jew is a
which had been preserved
against, stimulated and
person who believes, or
intact through millenia of
challenged by the larger
feels, that he, together with
exposure to Gentile cul-
Gentile environment.
all other Jews, is a descend-
tures, proved for the first
He shows that this was
ant of Abraham—a descend-
time in Jewish history no
true for the lergreatest Jews
ant, that is, symbolically,
longer impregnable to out-
of all time: Moses, Isaiah,
mystically and emotionally.
side influences, thereby put-
Jesus, Maimonides, Spin-
There are many com-
ting Jewish existence itself
oza, Marx, Freud, Bergson,
plications of such a defini-
in jeopardy.
Herzl and Einstein.
tion and in the ultimate
No other group in the his-
analysis, to be Jewish is a
Other factors are the
tory of mankind has expe-
state of mind. A Jew is a
religio-cultural tradition of
rienced the influence of so
person who considers him-
considering learning the
many different cultures as
self a Jew and is so consid-
highest value; the
have.the Diaspora Jews and
ered by others.
extremely stimulating char-
still survived. These historic
These two criteria when
acter of the home environ-
encounters have contributed
taken together constitute as
ment; the preference for
immeasurably to the forma-
clear a dividing line
urban living and the actual
tion of the Jewish mind and
between Jew and non-Jew
concentration in towns and
their residual effects are
as can be had.
cities; being forced by the
still at work in the depths of
Patai states that what
Gentiles to eke out a liveli-
the modern Jewish psyche.
matters is the feeling of
hood in commercial occupa-
Essence of Jewishness
belongingness, which usu-
tions in which intelligence is
Patai's search for the
ally translates itself into
a sine qua non; and the
core of Jewishness led to
efforts to pass the same
challenge of the Gentile cul-
these conclusions : The
feeling on to one's children.
tural atmosphere.
irreducible - minimum that
Herein lies the secret of
Jewish Self-Hate
informed the Jewish mind
Jewish survival.
Patai's book is so encyclo-
at all times and in all places
That Jewry survived both
pedic that there are many
were two beliefs and two
Enlightenment and
subjects which I will not
duties. The beliefs are: the
Holocaust and is now more
even mention. However, his
belief in the one God, and
vital and vibrant than it was
chapter on Jewish self-hate
the belief in the special rela-
for many a generation, is
is especially noteworthy.
tionship between God and
the most eloquent testimon y
The
Diaspora Jew has had a
Israel.
to the ability of the Jewish
strong negative stereotype
The two duties were given
mind to cope with and adapt
contributed to by the Gen-
to the most unforseen
tile country in which they
exigencies.
lived.
Jewish Intelligence
The negative stereotype
Patai investigates the
of the Galut Jew and the
question of whether the
negative image of Galut life
Jews are more intelligent
in general has a long history
than the Gentiles and if so,
behind it. One very ancient
why? Patai in his previous
feature that went into its
book "The Myth of the Jew-
making was the traditional
ish Race" found that the
Jewish view of the Exile
cumulative evidence of test-
itself as a divine punsih-
ing shows that "Jewish
ment for Israel's sins.
The Italian Jews during
this fourth period illustrated
that it was feasible for the
Jewish mind to be equally
at home in a secular culture
and in its own traditional
Judaism.
.
The fact that the arch-
etypal sin, that of biblical
idolatry, has receded into.
the distant past and ever
since the Roman Exile of 70
CE, the Jews have been
singularly devoted to God,
did not eliminate the con-
sciousness of having sinned,
of being sinful in the collec-
tive sense as a people.
The permanence of the
Galut, the failure of the
'Messiah to appear and
redeem Israel, the per-
sistence of the suffering, all
this proved the Jews guilty
in their own eyes. The
question of the Jew is
do they persecute us?" It is
typical of Jews to place the
blame on themselves and to
reply "Because we have
sinned."
DR. PETER MARTIN
However, there is an addi-
tional psychology of self-
hate in low status minority
groups in general. They
develop negative self-stereo-
types so strong that they
assume the character of
self-hatred.
The aggression 'cannot be
directed against the high
status majority, because
they are in the majority and
represent the ideal.
Patai states that late out-
croppings of Jewish self-
hate notwithstanding, the
horror of the Holocaust, the
re-establishment of the
state of Israel, the four
wars Israel had to fight
though - outnumbered 50 to
one, the plight of Russian
Jewry, and, as late as the
fall of 1975, the equation of
Zionism with racism by the,
UN, have reinforced Jewish
solidarity all over the world
and at the same time effec-
tivel y reduced to
insignificance the last ves-
tiges of Jewish self-hate.
Reading this book will
contribute to an even
stronger Jewish com-
mitment, identification and
determination to do what-
ever possible to aid in the
perpetuation of Judaism.
This is Patai's concluding
paragraph:
"Our examination of the
Jewish mind disclosed the
homo Judaeus to be a
human specimen with great
and many internal va ,"1-
tions and with signif.
differences between
and his Gentile environ-
ment. Some of these differ-
ences show him to be supe-
rior to the Gentiles; in
others he is inferior to
them. On balance, it would
seem a pity, and a loss to
humanity as a whole, if
Jewish assimilation should
lead to a stage where the
Jewish mind would- in no
way differ from the Gentile
mind. Conversely, it
appears that mankind would
be better off if it could
acquire more of the charac-
teristics of the Jewish mind
than it has- done.
heretofore."