THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS • 64 Friday, July 20, 1919 Talmud Fragments Pieced Together in Scholar's 17-Year Study NEW YORK — The case of the Talmud fragments, 427 eroded, jigsaw shaped pieces of Talmud that were originally written between the 7th and 11th centuries, has finally been closed. Dr. Abraham I. Katsh, former president of Dropsie University, recently pub- lished the last of three vol- umes in his 17-year study that sheds new light on the Talmud, according to a story in The New York Times. For the past 100 years, the fragments, originally found in Cairo, have been lying in boxes in Russia, well-kept but rarely scrutinized. The recently studied - material, Katsh said, illustrates what scholars and Jewish religious savants had to deal with when faced with an enigma or contradic- tion in the Talmud. There was always a belief that a different version existed, but never proof. "Now the different ver- sion is in writing," Katsh said. "For instance,_ in Ethics of the Fathers, it is written that one should not converse too much with a woman. However, . . . throughout the Talmud, the woman is protected. "Now comes this new material and two words are added, to the effect that one should not speak too much to a woman while she is menstruating. That adds a lot and reinforces ethical practices and traditions about staying away from a woman at that time." In another instance, Katsh found fragments re- fering to Jesus, who is not mentioned in the present Talmud. The search took Katsh to the Soviet Union six times, during which he not only established a rare scholarly rapport with Soviet librarians but also viewed a wealth of Judaica stored there. The Talmud pieces were among 1,200 other items of the Antonin Geniza Collection in the Lenin- grad Library. Cambridge University acquired about 100,000 fragments while 150,000 fragments went to bib- liophiles and researchers in many parts of the world. The Antonin Collection has not been easily accessible to Western scholars. The first two volumes of the set were published in 1970 and 1975. Katsh has annotated and catalogued the collection in English. (It was published in Hebrew.) Katsh explained that many of the variants in the Talmud were the result of government censorship in Europe and the East, where certain names and refer- ences were deleted. Although the study has been completed, Katsh is not taking much time to bask in the light he has shed. "There is a lot more material from the Jerusalem Talmud and I also found manuscripts DR. ABRAHAM KATSH written in Arabic," he said _ . "There is much to be dor Zionist Efforts in S. America U.S. National Seder of Freedom Becoming Critical for Students Ties to the Founding Fathers Proposed for the Fourth of July By ABRAHAM KATSH (President Emeritus, Dropsie U.) (Editor's note: The fol- lowing is excerpted from the first Sol Feinstone Lecture delivered by Dr. Katsh at Dropsie Univer- sity in Philadephia in 1978.) As we celebrated Passover, I found myself thinking: If only on the tional Fourth of July a Na Seder would be instituted by the American people. All Americans might better ap- preciate their constitu- tional rights and privileges. Because the event of the Exodus which the Jews re- cite on Passover is the first act of emancipation , in the history of the world. - Ever since the Jews went out of Egypt to accept a con- cept of ethical monotheism and freedom, in spite of all the tragedies of the past 2,000 years of persecution, their survival was a,protest, a cry for freedom and eman- cipation, a message of lib- erty for the world. And it will continue that way until we do attain universal free- dom. So it would not be so out- landish to have a July Fourth Seder ceremony and narrate the words of the Puritans which they recited upon arriving here, similar to the words in the Hag- gada: "Ought not, and may not the children of these fathers rightly say: our fathers were Englishmen, who came over this great ocean and were ready to perish in this wilderness, but they cried mite the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity . . . "Yea, let them who have been redeemed by the Lord show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppres- - sor, when they wandered in the desert wilderness out of the way; and found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them therefore confess before the Lord his loving kindness and his wonderful works be- fore the children of men." I call your attention to that last phrase — they found no city to dwell in . . . You are all familiar with the words on the Liberty Bell, and you know that they come from Leviticus 25:10 "And thou shall pro- claim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabi- tants thereof:" The Hebrew word for "Liberty" in this text is d'ror. The talmudic sages asked themselves: What is the significance of this word d'ror? Their an- swer is of particular impor- tance to us at this point, be- cause the root of d'ror means to dwell," and the sages ex- plained poetically, It means that one may dwell unmolested wherever be he." Even in Skokie. Freedom, therefore, to the Founding Fathers of this country — and to us today — contained the significant element of "living in peace beneath your vine and fig tree," and as the prophet said — there shall be no one to make them afraid. Indeed a National Seder celebration on July 4 would not really be a new idea for. America. Back in our early days, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson drew up a design for the seal of the newly established United States of America. It portrayed Pharaoh and all his host, passing in an open chariot through the divided waters of the Red Sea in pursuit of the fleeing Israel- ites, while Moses, with beams of heavenly light radiating from his head, stands on the farther shore with hand outstretched over the sea, causing it to over- whelm Pharaoh and his host. Beneath this repre- sentation is inscribed the motto: 'Resistance to Tyr- ants is obedience to God." Unfortunately, today nations decide issues not on their just merits but by means of political blocs. A communist bloc. A Moslem bloc. An Afro- Asian bloc. But a July Fourth Seder might usher in an era where hearts would beat with new sympathy toward all humanity, where i new spirit would evince- the recognition that we are all brothers, where this new heart and this new spirit would join together for world freedom and world peace. Then the world would realize that one can be a slave even in freedom, one can be spiritually in bon- dage even while physically free. Because in every gen- eration there is a feasibility that a ,new king may arise "who did not know Joseph," and who will forget that our ancestors laid down for us, all their work and struggle that we might live in a free world. Cultural Zionism The movement for the re- turn to Zion was motivated by various forces of which one of the most powerful was cultural. Cultural Zionism, expounded by the philosopher Ahad Ha'am (1856-1927), maintained that Jewish cultural creativity could only de- velop when the Jews lived in their own Land. By BARBIE ZELIZER JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Zionist movement is guilty of the sin of neglect towards the Jews in South America, the head of the World Zionist Organiza- tion's student division told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency following his one- month trip to the region. "We are totally avoiding a world which desperately needs our help." Dror Zeigerman, head of the 10-month-old student division, contends that some 70,000 Jewish stu- dents in South America constitute Israel's best market for aliya in the college-age group — if they can only be reached. "The money and the power are in the U.S.. . . But it's time we looked southward," says Zeigerman. "Jewish youth in South America is in a state of so- cial and spiritual' depriva-. tion. The Zionist movement and the Jewish community are one of the few places in which he can freely express himself." Following an extended visit to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia, Zeiger- man is convinced of the need for an organized call for aliya there. The regimes, he says, pre*ent the youth from thinking and the campuses are physically decentralized so as to prevent social ac- tivities. "Just in that light alone, Israel has much to offer the South American Jewish student," he says, adding that the new college-age generation would readily respond to a call of aliya — if the call were made. As it stands now, efforts directed by the WZO at the South American continent are poorly organized. "We have to stop thinking and speaking English," con- tends Zeigerman, pointing to the surplus of written material on Zionism which goes unused in South America simply because it is written in the wrong lan- guage. The same situation applies to outdated visual material, which is cast aside due to its lack of relevance. . The problem, however, says Zeigerman, does not pertain only to South America, where it is felt most strongly, but to the WZO's-approach to students everywhere. "The WZO has largely overlooked the student in its aliya efforts for a number of reasons," observes Zeigerman. "First, it is dif- ficult to locate and organize students. Second, on an ideological level, all activi- ties of the Zionist movement seem to stop at high school graduation. Third, a whole series of objective difficul- ties, such as the rise of th& left and the Vietnam War, have prevented a more effi- cient link with Jewish stu- dents throughout the world. The Zionist movement just couldn't compete on the campuses with these movements." Now, he contends, Zionism can attract stu- dents — both because competition has died down and because of the contemporary search for roots. "Jews are return- ing to their Judaism," he says. Also, the situation has somewhat improved with the creation of the WZO student division. Until this year, Jewish students were taken care„ of by the youth and hehalutz department where, he contends, they were severely overlooked. against the PLO, against anti-Semitism, in support of Soviet JeWry, then it's only a small step to magnifying their-interest in Israel and aliya," Zeigerman observes. He also wants to estab- lish aliya groups on the campuses and increase Jewish student partici- pation in educational programs in Israeli uni- versities. "This year, we have 2,000 Students enrolled here from the U.S. and another 2,500 from South America. As far as the student is con- cerned, this is the real key to bringing him closer to Zionism," he says. Zeigerman does not ex- pect his division to "conquer the student world," but he expects it to work efficiently with small numbers of stu- dents who would in turn build wider Zionist action circles around themselves. If we have an active core, things will roll from there by themselves." The division head urges that steps be taken quickly: "The situation is more seri- ous than most people realize. Who will provide the Jewish nation with quality leadership in an- other 10-15 years? As it stands now, there is no corn- ing generation in the Zionist movement . . . Things have to be altered now." "In 1978, students were allocated only $400,000, three percent of the de- partment's $10 million an- nual budget," Zeigerrnan notes. Now, with the crea- tion of the separate student division, some $1 million has been allocated. "It's still only 10 percent of youth and hehalutz, but it's a definite improvement over the prev- ious situation." Legion, Hagana Founder Recalled With the proper assis- tance, Zeigerman envisions a situation in which Zionist nuclei could be established on campuses throughout the world and up to 100 stu- dents on each campus would be responsible for involving others in issues relevant to Israel. "If we can get stu- dents involved in the fight NEW YORK — The 39th yahrzeit of ZeeN Ja- botinsky, the founder of the Jewish Legion and Hagana, will be comme-_ rated on July 24, at the Bier Auditorium in New York in an observance sponsored by the United Zionists- Revisionists of America. Jabotinsky founded the Jewish Legion, the first Jewish army to exist in more than 1,800 years, dur- ing World War I to aid the British in freeing Palestine from Turkish control. In 1920, he formed the Hagana as a defensive body to pro- tect Jews from Arab at- tacks.