THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
24 Friday, August 29, 1980
The Jews of Arabia Before Islam losif Begun Released From Exile
By WARREN FREEDMAN
One hundred years before
Islam came on the scene
Jews had lived in many
communiti?s in northern
Arabia. In fact, Jews had
lived on the Arabian Penin-
sula since the days of Moses.
In the year 300 the
Jewish population in Hejaz
was considerable. Centuries
later Mohammed found that
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vigorous Jewish tribes in
and around the center of
northern Arabia consti-
tuted a majority of the set-
tled population.
The Jews of Yathrib
(Medina), of Khaibar and of
Teima, for example, in the
Sixth Century pioneered in
methods of irrigation and
cultivation of the soil. They
also developed new arts and
crafts from metal work to
dyeing, and produced fine
jewelry. Their speech was
Aramaic.
Even Arab tradition
ascribes to these Jews of
Arabia the introduction
of the honey bee and
many new fruits includ-
ing the date. The palm
tree was a Jewish crea-
tion too.
These Jews also had
fairly broad intellectual
interests. Along with the
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art of writing they com-
municated to their Arab
neighbors certain rudi-
ments of their religious and
ethical outlook.
In southern Arabia Jews
also prospered, particularly
in the great civilization of
Himyara. The Himyarif
Kingdom (which first rose
to prominence in 115 BCE)
comprised Arabs who had
converted to Judaism at the
beginning of the Sixth Cen-
tury.
Their last king Dhu
Nuwas (518 to 525) em-
braced Judaism under the
name of Yusuf or Joseph.
His appellation "King of
Sabea" included most of
Southern Arabia. (In the
Bible the land was called
"Saba," and it is believed
that Judaism reached here
at the destruction of the
First Temple.)
King Dhu Nuwas
fought against the invad-
ing Abyssinians, but lost
the battles in the year 525.
Under the yoke of Abys-
sinian rule, the liber-
ty - loving Himyarites
launched a liberation
movement under the
leadership of Saif Dhu
Yazan, a professing Jew
and a descendant of Dhu
Nuwas. A Persian expe-
ditionary force defeated
the Abyssinians, and the
older Himyarites had a
new oppressor. The Ara-
bian Peninsula simply
did not turn Jewish!
At the beginning of the
10th Century, Mohammed
concentrated on the conver-
sion of various Arab tribes
to Islam. He later married
the Jewess Safiya, daughter
and bride of two of his
Jewish victims. Once
Mohammed saw his hopes of
converting Jews vanish he
became their harshest
enemy, and later genera-
tions of Muslims annihi-
lated Jewish settlements in
northern Arabia.
Today Dhofar, Yemen
still has traces of the an-
cient Jewish life: Jebel
Yahudia or "Mountain of
the Jews."
Temperate anger well be-
comes the wise.
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With shofar blasts, members of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry demon-
strated at the Democratic National Convention, calling on President Carter to
"repent on his actions to divide a united Jerusalem and to act on behalf of Anatoly
Sharansky and other Jewish prisoners in the USSR." Joining the protesters is a
stand-in "Carter" with an oil-soaked Arab headdress, as well as a real delegate to
the convention.
for the "greatest possible at-
tention" to the fate of pris-
oner of conscience Igor
Guberman.
According to the Stu-
dent Struggle for Soviet
Jewry and Union of
Councils for Soviet Jews,
the 14 declared: "All the
charges against Guber-
man, who was sentenced
to five years in the Gulag,
were proven false, but on
appeal the court blankly
confirmed his sentence."
The sentence was con-
NEW YORK (JTA) — Ac-
cording to reports received
by the National Conference
on Soviet Jewry, prisoner of
conscience Iosif Begun has
been released from exile,
completing a second term, of
three years.
He plans to meet his wife
in the city of Tallin and from
there accompany her to
Moscow.
In a related development,
14 Soviet Jewish activists
have issued a public appeal
Scientists Used New Method
to Curb Israel's Insects
Israeli scientists are suc-
cessfully controlling citrus
pests and other insects by
trapping them with the
aromatic allure of female
bugs. In an effort to elimi-
nate the use of dangerous
chemical pesticides, resear-
chers with a new slant on
romance have transferred
the war against crop de-
vouring pests to the
boudoir. -
This modern version of
the Samson and Delila story
has its origin in the
pheromone, an odorous
chemical compound
secreted by insects to com-
municate with one another.
Each pheromone carries a
Grant to Denver
•
DENVER (JTA) — The
Hebrew Culture Founda-
tion of New York has
granted $2,000 to Denver
University to help support
Hebrew language teaching
programs.
The money will be used to
help fundstudent assistants
and development of in-
structional materials in
Hebrew language and liter-
ature.
If you wish it, it is no fa-
ble.
— Theodore Herzl
tit:
1
different message including
danger and . . . the invita-
tion to mate.
Dr. Moshe Sternlicht of
the Institute of Plant Pro-
tection at Israel's Agricul-
ture Research Organization
is one of the country's lead-
ing researchers in the
exploitation of pheromones.
The technique, pioneered in
Germany and the U.S., is a
simple one, according to Dr.
Sternlicht.
During the mating sea-
son, male insects are at-
tracted by pheromones
emitted by females. This
,means that the bug popu-
lation is concentrated in
specific locations during
a specific time for the
purpose of reproduction.
Exterminating them at
the right time and place,
or even simply disrupting
the reproductive process,
enables farmers to sig-
nificantly reduce crop
destruction.
The unsuspecting male is
attracted to an extracted
pheromone which is placed
on a crop and is trapped. By
keeping count the farmer
can estimate exactly when
the bug population in his
fields is at its peak and suc-
cessfully eliminate the
problem.
ft t.
i '44
it:tsiTtir;t:Ijist
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firmed, the SSSJ reported,
because Guberman partici-
pated in the publication of
"Jews in the USSR," a
samizdat journal and be-
cause he refused to become a
KGB informer.
Meanwhile, Robert Gor-
don, president of the Union
of Councils for Soviet Jews,
announced the publication
of "Message from Moscow
V," a survey of the Jewish
emigration movement in
the Soviet Union in 1978-
1979.
It documents the contin-
ued victimization of refus-
niks and other Jews who
remain in the USSR and
points to an increased use of
the press for slanderous
propaganda.
Since the document was
prepared in Moscow, the
persecutions described have
intensified. Many new
trials have taken place and
the number of refusniks has
at least doubled.
* * *
Soviet Emigres
Protest in Israel
Over Housing
TEL AVIV — About 900
disgruntled immigrants
have taken over three gov-
ernment hostels in Hai
after a recent emigra
from the Soviet Union
committed suicide, al-
legedly to protest housing
conditions.
The immigrants de-
manded cheap government
housing so they could leave
the crowded hostels. They
expelled ministry personnel
from the hostels, cut phone
lines and canceled Hebrew
classes.
The Israel government
houses the emigrants al-
most free of charge in the
hostels, which offer
dormitory-style living and
communal dining, while the
immigrants study Hebrew
and look for jobs.
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