16 Friday, December 24, 1982

The

SHE. ROTT

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Christianity and Judaism: 19 Centuries of Oppression

By DR. MILTON J.
STEINHARDT

other cheek vs. the so-called
Judaic idea of Lex Talionis,
(Editor's note: This re- "an eye for an eye."
view by Dr. Steinhardt is
Rabbi Hillel Silver said,
his second article on the "It is one thing to be forbear-
book "The Deacon and ing and forgiving. It is an-
the Jewess" by Samuel other to turn the other
Meyer, published by cheek to the oppressor. If
Philosophical Library.)
one comes to kill, you are
"The Sermon and the justified to kill him first."
Synagogue," another essay
The strict pacifist doc-
iii Samuel Meyer's book, trine is totally hypocritical
may be considered a re- as no one ever follows it. The
Cutexperary—Big Band Sands
sponse to 19 centuries of "eye for an eye" concept was
Featuring
abuse, libel and oppression not meant literally, and
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that the Jews suffered at the there is no record of it ever
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hands of the Christians. being put into practice. One
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meaning of turning the tion of "let the punishment
fit the crime." The Talmud
refers to it as pecuniary
compensation similar to the
law of Torts.
Hillel put the ethicAl
concept in the negative
when he stated, "Do not
do to others as you would
not be done by." He rea-
soned that the beginning
of all love is not to hurt.
To do no wrong is the first
step to doing it right.
It is pertinent to note that
love as elaborated in the
New Testament is limited,
in that salvation can come
only in the right faith, right
dogma and creed. One may
wonderhow to reconcile this
love if so conditioned.
While Judaism is based
on deeds, Christianity
makes faith the principal
criterion.
Basically, Meyer con-
cludes, there is no gap be-
tween the Sermon on the
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The author further de-
lves into the early prac-
tices of Christianity as
revealed in the new
manuscripts discovered
in 1958, derived from the
writing of Clement of
Alexandria, 150 CE. One
is the important role of
secrecy. The others are
baptismal service and
montheism, followed by
the Passion and Resur-
rection.
Apparently Jesus be-
lieved he was the Messiah,
and for obvious reasons kept
it a secret except from his
close followers. In Jewish
law impurity is removed by
immersion, sin by prayer
and repentance; whereas
Jesus forgave sins without
repentance. He performed
the baptisms in secret,
equated his own blood with
wine which he urged his fol-
lowers to drink to bind them
closer.
Magic, considered an of-
fense, was secretly prac-
ticed by the Christians as
was exorcism. The most
common form of magic was
the love-charm, so that
magic and adultery were
combined. Since the follow-
ers of Jesus did not wish to
represent him as a magi-
cian, they preferred to call
him the "Son of God."
The opposition to early
Christianity was based on
the supposed practices of
magic, human sacrifice,
cannibalism and incest.
There was ritual copula-
tion, as expressed "give to
him who asked of thee."
The novel and chal-
lenging essay in Meyer's
book is the discussion of -
"The Sacred Mushroom
and the Cross," pub-
lished by John M. Al-
legro, which sheds light
on the early Christians.
In short, the secret Chris-
tian group maintained
common activities, one of
which was the ingestion
of certain mushrooms
which resulted in visual
and auditory hallucina-
tions. Could anyone im-
agine that the early
Christians were drug
pushers and acted with
fanatic frenzy?

tilized by thunder, by th e
word of God. The resultan t
creation was the "son o f
God." Here in the tin y
mushroom was Jesus born
of the Virgin.
When purged from pas t
sin they sought to be born
again and apprehend
God in a drug-induced
ecstasy. Much of Chris
tian rituals and dogma
are thus explained by this
world authority on the
Old Testament.
As previously noted, the
Christian Era started with
Emperor Constantine in the
Fourth Century by the
power of the sword. The
Church assumed temporal
as well as spiritual power.
Judaism and other religious
heresies were persecuted
and exterminated.
Despite talks of tolerance
and ecumenism we find as
recently as 1954 in the
"Evanston Report" claims
that "eventually all Jews
must become Christians."
The French theologian
Danielou states, "We can-
not give up trying to convert
you Jews."
Rabbi Berkowitz re-
sponds in 1975: "To be told
after 16 centuries of perse-
cution that the Jews are not
a people accursed by God is
an offense not so much to
the Jews but to God." The
rabbi believes that dialogue
must be based on equality
and mutual respect, not
condescension by one that
regards itself as the re-
spository of truth.
"All we want of Chris-
tians is that they keep
hands off us and our
children." "It is not reli-
gious understanding that

.

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Israel Has New Missile

TEL AVIV (JTA) — The
Israel Aircraft Industries
(IAI) announced it has a

new sophisticated sea-to-
sea missile in advanced
stages of development.
It is the Gabriel Mark 3
sea-to-sea missile — a new
development based on the
IAI-designed and produced
Gabriel sea-to-sea missile,
which has had a great suc-
cess in Israeli sea battles,
with a very high hit rate.
The new missile can be
launched from a wide
variety of aircraft at an un-
disclosed maximum height.
Fitted with a radar target-
seeking device, the missile

The evidence presented is
overwhelming. It may suf-
fice to state that John Al-
legro was a lecturer at the
University of Manchester
on the Old Testament; that
he was appointed to the in-
ternational team to study
the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Allegro concluded that
WASHINGTON —
"Christos" was the name of Newsweek magazine says
a mushroom worshipped by that Israeli officials believe
the earlier sect. Through his that new Soviet SAM mis-
extensive philological siles have been placed by
knowledge he found that Syria in Lebanon's Bekaa
secret Greek and Semitic Valley.
names were referred to for
The Israelis, says News-
fecundity, womb and vulva week, believe that the
in the mushroom cult. Al- Soviet Union wants another
legro makes the bold state- chance to take on Israeli jets
ment that the real purpose after the Soviet equipment
for the secret Christian was embarrassed by the Is-
societies was the mushroom raelis in the recent fighting
kick, and that the Jesus in Lebanon.
religious story was just a
Newsweek says Israel
cover-up to avoid persecu- may refrain from attacking
tion.
the new Soviet missiles in
The creation of the mush- order to avoid damaging the
room without seed must be troop withdrawal negotia-
that the womb had been fer- tions in Lebanon.

New SAMs

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mankind needs but in-
terhuman understand-
ing."
Charles
Guignebert
states, "Jesus was born
among Jews on Jewish soil.
His message was for Jews
alone. Christianity is there-
fore a Jewish phenomenon."
Samuel Meyer sums up
the unparalleled animosity
to the Jews over the cen-
turies: "Pogroms, mass ex-
pulsions, inquisitions,
forced baptism, blood libel,
host desecration, crusades,
black death and events
culminating in the
Holocaust with the deafen-
ing silence of the Vatican,
the Arab-Soviet gang-up on
Israel. Is it possible that this
book reflects a stiffer
backbone on the part of
Jewry to nearly two mil-
lenia of abuse and oppres-
sion by the Christian world?
If so, it is indeed a welcome
sign."
• to have
One would prefer
the new data presented to a
wider public, not only to
Jews, scholars and theolo-
gians.
One must also admit
however, that Christian
anti-Semitism is not based
on religion alone but on the
more mundane socio
economic, xenophobia, ra
cial enmity and the emo
tional factors of envy and
jealousy. There is no doubt
however, that the lies
spread by the early Chris-
tians in pandering to the
victorious Romans with the
vicious deicide charge and a
"perpetual curse" did much
to sensitize the world for the
tragic event of the
Holocaust.

drops to near sea level and
can then continue to its
traget in either one of two

ways.

It can be sent in the
general direction of the
target with its course
amended by the aircraft
pilot, or it can be fired to
use its radar to seek its
target independently of
its launching aircraft
which can then leave the
area.
The range of the Gabriel
Mark 3 is over 36 miles. It
strikes its target just above
the waterline. It is fitted
with a 150-kg warhead.

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