56 Friday, May 26, 1918 THE DETROIT JEWISH IBIS Fourth Volume in Series by Dr. Gutmann Idols: Their Place and Destruction in World's Major Religions By BERNARD GOLDMAN struction of these images is iconoclasm, the subject of this book. (Editor's note: Dr. Goldman is director of the Wayne State Univer- sity Press.) Joseph Gutmann, profes- sor of art history at Wayne State University, organized a group of distinguished historians to study and re- port on the causes and meaning of the destruction of religious images for a meeting of the Society of Bi- blical Literature in 1976. This book, "The Image and the Word: Confrontations in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam" (Missoula, Montana, Scholars Press), records the talks, looking at the atti- tudes toward images held by the three major religions. Jews are accustomed to the absence of statuary in their prayer halls. Portraits of past presidents and com- munity leaders, and even works of art, may decorate the foyers and recreation halls of the synagogues and temples, but the sanctuary itself holds no graven im- ages, and every Jew knows why: the biblical injunction against images forbids their use. In the Catholic church it is quite otherwise, for carved and painted statuary dominates the building in- side and out; figures from BERNARD GOLDMAN the Bible people the walls and shine in the stained glass wind.ws. The Protes- tant churches, as if to show their stricter adherence to the words of the Bible, ousted such sacred art from their buildings. The world of Islam, which accepts the sanc- tity of the Bible, also eliminated human repre- sentations from its shrines and mosques. In- stead of such images, the Moslem religious build- ings are covered with abstract and floral deco- ration, and with con- spicuously inscribed passages from the Koran. The study of the use and meaning of sacred fig- ures is called iconog- raphy; the willful de- Dr Gutmann and his fel- low authors discuss the var- ious appearances of iconoc- lasm, the sources and con- sequences of prohibiting religious images, and they explore the political, social, and economic, as well as the theological reasons for image breaking. The dominant theme that comes through in these seven studies is that the elimination of the graven image in synagogue, church, and mosque cannot be explained away simply as adherence to the deuteronomic prohibition. That is the good reason, but seldom the real reason, and rarely the only reason. Dr. Gutmann opens with a review of Josiah's action in the suppression and de- struction of images as part of a "sweeping program of political, economic, reli- gious, and juridical cen- tralization in_ _Jerusalem." The reasons were socio- political rather than conservative-theological. Paul Finney (Univer- sity of Missouri) attempts to marshall the evidence for Christian iconoclasm pre-fourth Century CE that led to full-scale pro- "popular piety filled the churches of Europe with a diversity of sacred art," and the Church contin- ued to view these idols as the "Bible of the un- learned." Sporadic out- breaks of iconoclasm were due to different cir- cumstances, per- sonalities, and localities in which image breaking occurred. hibition by the Byzan- tines. Although there is a paucity of evidence for this early period, Finney argues that the earliest Christians, hoping to maintain and spread their creed, could not af- ford to antagonize their neighbors by holding strictly to the words of the Bible. As we now know, chiefly through the recovery of pic- torial mosaics from the floors of early synagogues in Israel and the remarkable painted walls of the Third Century CE synagogue in Dura-Europos, there was no consensus of opinion on the use of images in early Judaism. In the same manner, argues Stephen Gero (Brown University), there was no agreement among the Christian Church Fathers. The east Christian sphere of Byzantium went through an image-breaking period as a result of "revul- sion at, and resentment to the upsurge of image- worship," and not for secu- lar reasons. Anthony Welch (Univer- sity of Victoria) takes up the use of images in the world of Islam, distinguishing be- tween the figural art found in the palaces, as decoration JOSEPH GUTMANN on luxury items, and on Moslem coins, as opposed to the use of calligraphy for decoration in the holy build- ings which was the result of the wishes of the caliph. Welch holds that the ab- sence of images in the mos- que is due less to Moslem opposition to "idols" as such, as it is to the fict that the theology of Islam is rooted in symbolic, non-figural images. The apology for using images in churches for those who cannot read the scriptural lessons is examined by William R. Jones (University of New Hampshire). While the theologians of the Middle Ages argued over the dis- tinction between repre- senting saints and God, Carl Christensen (Uni- versity of Colorado) demon- strates this thesis with a case study of Protestant iconoclasm in the cities of Strasbourg and Basel in the 16th Century. William Malty (University of Mis- souri) in the final essay of the book dissects a single instance of the iconographic plague breaking out in one year in the Netherlands of the 16th Century. _- While these essays were not written for the casual reader, they are easily ac- cessible to the student of history, religion, and phi- losophy, and he should not be put off from taking this valuable book in hand by the pedantic multiplication of backnotes. This is the fourth volume in a continu- ing series planned and edited by Joseph Gutmann on the theme of art and reli- gion. Major Public Conference Next Week Hearing Integration Day at Center to Educate on Hearing Issue The Jewish Community Center and the Mitchell Buddy Workshop for the Hard of Hearing, Deaf and Hearing will sponsor its first workshop 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the main Jewish Community Center complex. Coordinating the work- shop will be Dr. Morton Plotnick, Jewish Commu- nity Center executive direc- tor; Beverly Mitchell, ad- viser and coordinator; Ei- leen Bluestone, coordinator, and Mimi Alspector, consul- tant. There will be 14 display booths by professional agencies and organizations, a movie and speakers. They include: Mrs. Jerome Hauser, who will introduce the panel; Rabbi Irwin Groner of Cong. Shaarey Zedek, who will discuss "Religion and Hearing Im- pairment"; Dr. Mary Rose Costello, audiologist, Henry Ford Hospital, the medical view; Jerome Trainor, pro- gram director, PBS Cap- tions for Television; Dr. Richard Baldwin, director, State Department of Educa- tion, "A Personal and Gov- ernment View of Hearing Impairment"; and Bernice Trabman, principal, Detroit Day School for the Deaf, and Edith Deitch, nursery de- partment, Detroit Day School for the Deaf, the communication view. Coordinating the Hearing Integration Day work- shop to be held 1P..30 p.m. May 31 at the main Jewish Community Center complex, are from left: Mrs. Sid- ney Bluestone, Mrs. Jacob Alspector and Mrs. Richard Mitchell. There will be display booths to edu- The workshop, cate the public on hearing and hearing loss and entitled, "Hearing Inte- speakers who will speak on various viewpoints re- gration Day," will be yarding hearing impairment geared primarily to hear- mg people. The focus will be on the importance of understanding hearing impairment and improv- ing communication, inte- gration and friendships between hearing and hearing impaired people. The following organiza- tions and speakers will be on hand at the display booths: Detroit Speech and Hear- ing Center, Raymond Lin- dahl, executive director; Michigan Bell Telephone Co., David Bassett, super- visor; Jewish Community Center, Mrs. Taminy Chelst, audiologist; Women's American ORT and School for the Deaf, Morocco, Mrs. Robert Mor- rison, Mrs. Benjamin Bolin; Public Broadcasting Sys- tem WTVS Channel 56, Jerome Trainor, program director, TV captions growth; Jewish Home for the Aged, Evan Fishman and Mrs. Marvin Fleis- chman; Bnai Brith, Mrs. Charles Ruben and Rabbi Howard Addison; Detroit Motion Picture and TV Council, Mrs. James Whitehead, Mrs. Stewart Linden and Mrs. James Euwer; Oakland County Schools, Mrs. Beth Young, director Project TALK. Also Jewish Family Serv- ice, Mrs. Tova Millensky; Young Israel Sisterhood, National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY), United Hebrew Schools, Jewish education for the hard of hearing and deaf, Mrs. Meyer Mandelbaum, Mrs. Milton Duchan, Miss Janet Fink, Mrs. Sidney Kaye, Mrs. Jacob Axelrod, Mrs. Walter Littmen and Mrs Harold Berry; League of Jewish Women's Organ- izations of Greater Detroit, Haddasah Speech and Hearing Clinic, Mrs. Carl Schiller and Mrs. Joseph Eder. According to Mesdames Alspector, Bluestone and Mitchell, the workshop will emphasize the following: Hearing impairment effects everyone, the speaker who has a hearing loss, as well as the listener, 20 million or one out of every 10 people in the U.S. has or eventually will have a mild or severe hearing loss and for every one person who wears a The Mitchell Buddy hearing aid, three more Workshop for the Hard of should be fitted for one, ac- Hearing, Deaf and Hear- cording to the Department ing basically reflects the of Health, Education and feelings of the late Welfare; from birth to Richard David Mitchell, senior citizens, hearing who felt the importance problems should be recog- of respecting people for nized, accepted and treated their abilities, looking for when symptoms appear: an their positive qualities infant who does not babble, and concentrating on necessity to turn radio and promoting friendships TV louder, having to ask through shared activities people to repeat or rephrase in the community, be- their conversation or hav- tween the hearing im- ing to strain harder to hear paired and hearing chil- what is being said; hearing dren and adults, Hillel's problems do not respect "love thy neighbor as class, creed, or religion; and thyself," and team coop- many of the hearing im- eration between the paired feel oral communica- home, school and com- tion— the use of lipreading, munity as stressed by the speech and captioning TV Alexander Graham Bell programs is easier than the Association, Washington, use of sign language. D.C. • Mitchell's philosophy was The public is invited at no to "Respect people with a charge, however, reserva- hearing loss for the things tions are required. For they can do and look beyond reservations or informa- the things they can't do for tion, call Tilly Brandwine, none of us is perfect. We, the 557-9251; Naomi Eder, hearing and hearing im- 861-4407; Ruth Redstone, paired can have a friendship 342-2155; Pearl Monello at through activities we share the Center, 661-1000, or in the community." Joanne Zuroff, 626-8957.