64 Friday, August 5, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
`Jewish Legends of the Second Commonwealth'
PHILADELPHIA — The
Jewish Publication Society
has issued "Jewish Legends
of the Second Common-
wealth" by Judah Nadich, a
volume encompassing the
history and lore of the
Jewish people during the
most significant period of
their history, from the re-
turn to Zion in the Sixth
Century BCE to the de-
struction of the Temple by
the Romans in 70 CE.
Meticulously researched
and written, "Jewish
Legends of the Second
Commonwealth" is a
unique presentation of the
intertwining of the spirit of
a people with the great tidal
wave forces of empire and
conquest, of power and per-
suasion, that swept across
the Mediterranean basin
and brought civilization to
the last stages of the An-
cient Era.
Using a wide range of
sources — ancient rabbinic,
including Talmud and Mid-
rash, as well as a wealth of
historical material — Rabbi
Nadich documents the ture, such as the Apoc-
heroes and the villains, the
rypha; the building of the
triumphs and the tragedies, Second Temple in
the values and principles Jerusalem; the estab-
championed and those re-
lishment of the Great As-
jected, often on pain of sembly and the Sanhed-
death, all of which contrib-
rin; and the emergence of
uted to the formation of a
the great academies of
the Oral Law.
people that would survive
the "graveyard of an-
The era was also marked
tiquity" and be launched
by dramatic political de-
velopments in the Jewish
into the medieval and mod-
state: the remarkable turn
ern world.
of events surrounding the
During the Sec-
ond Jewish Common- return to Zion under the
wealth, four great em- Persians; the Judean rap-
pires of antiquity — prochement with Alexander
Babylonia, Persia, the Great and with Hel-
JUDAH NADICH
Greece, and Rome — lenism; the heroism of the
reached the zenith of Maccabean revolt and the wealth." The legends of
their powers and counted vicissitudes of the Hasmo- Alexander's journey to
the Jews among their neans; the emergence of the Jerusalem are recounted, as
subject peoples. Con- rabbis as a force, vying with_ well as those surrounding
trary to the experience of the priestly class and with the creation of the first
many other subject the aristocracy_ for control translation of the Bible, the
states, these centuries over the nation, the three Septuagint, and a careful
witnessed an extraordi- forces preparing i it, for bet- analysis of its unique re-
nary flowering of Jewish ter or for worse, for the nderings. The heroism and
achievement, including catastrophe that lay ahead. the foibles of the Hasmo-
the creation of the last
Readers will find both neans are vividly portrayed
books of the Bible and its spirit and substance in the and the period is brought to
canonization; the writing pages of "Jewish Legends of life with a retelling of the
of post-biblical litera- the Second Common- tales of the Apocrypha. The
glory of the Temple is pre-
sented through an account
of its practices and organ-
ization, along with many
legends concerning the
miraculous events that it
witnessed.
Perhaps the most impor-
tant part of the book con-
sists of the generous sec-
tions on the sages who
founded the schools and be-
queathed the intellectual
and spiritual legacy that
was to evolve into the Tal-
mud and rabbinic Judaism.
The greatness of Simon
the Just, the last of the
men of the Great Assem-
bly and the last righteous
man to hold the post of
high priest; the heroism
of Shemaia in standing
up to the young, sword-
brandishing Herod; the
charming stories of Honi
the Circle Drawer and of
the young Hillel lying
frozen on the skylight so
as to hear the teachings
of Shemaia and Avta-
lyon;. the loving rivalry
Paradise Found: Was Kibutz Site of Garden of Eden?
By DVORA WAYSMAN
World Zionist Press Service
JERUSALEM — The
rather whimsical story
began in a British science
magazine, whose headline
proclaimed: "Garden of
Eden may have been near
Afikim" which of course
caused ripples at Kibutz
Afikim in the Jordan Val-
ley. The report claimed that
the estimated age —
700,000 years — of fossils
and tools found at the
nearby excavated site of
Ubeidiya indicated that
they may have served as the
setting for the biblical story.
Kibutz Afikim was
quick to quote reactions in
its internal newsletter, such
as mothers knitting fig
leaves for their families;
bachelors requesting that
no apples be served in the
dining-room; warnings
against poisonous snakes;
and watchmen being posted
at the gates with flaming
swords and wings.
But what do we . really
know about the Garden of
Eden? It is described with
great beauty in Genesis, as
part of the story of creation
— a garden planted by the
Lord and the first dwelling
place of Adam and Eve. The
name "Eden" is Sumerian
and means "plain."
In the Midrash
between the schools of
Shammai and Hillel, who
differed on virtually
every issue — even on
whether man should
have been created! — yet
treated one another with
the utmost love and re-
spect; the poignant last
moments of Akavyah ben
Mahalalel, the "great dis-
senter," who, on his
death bed, bade his son to
renounce his father's
teachings and follow the
will of the majority.
Also, the all-suffering
faith of Nahum of Gimzo;
the great and profound wis-
dom of Rabbi Johanan ben
Zakkai, who, with Rabbi
Akiba, saw the Jewish
people through the catas-
trophe of conquest and dis-
persion. The closing chap-
ters on the siege and de-
struction of the Temple by
the Romans contain some of
the book's most compelling
and dramatic material.
In "Jewish Legends of the
Second Commonwealth,"
Rabbi Nadich has, in the
words of Robert Gordis,
editor of Judaism magazine,
. . . followed in the
footsteps of Louis
Ginzberg's magisterial
work, "Legends of the
Jews," and has made the
vast religious and ethical
literature that emerged
from the most creative
period of Jewish history ac-
cessible to the modern
reader, both Jewish
Christian."
HaGadol, it states: "Eden
and the one described in Jewish and Christian doc-
is a unique place on
Genesis was not the first trine. The latter subscribe
earth, but no creature is
creation but the beginning to Original Sin, accom-
permitted to know its
of new cycle. The dinosaurs panied by vilification of
exact location. In the fu-
and skeletons of primitive woman as the author of
ture, during the Mes-
men were the remains of death and all earthly woes.
sianic period, God will
creatures from a previous Judiasm rejects this, believ-
reveal to Israel the path
cycle. ing man was always mortal
to Eden . . . Just as
More recently, Rabbi and death did not enter the
heaven is lined with rows
A. Kook (1865-1935) de- world through Eve's trans-
of stars, so the Garden of Oared that the theory of gression.
Eden is lined with rows of
evolution was in full ac-
Instead of the Fall of Man,
the righteous who shine
cord with Kabala, with
Nadich is the rabbi of the
like the stars."
the whole creation striv- wep reach the Rise of Man Palk Avenue Synagogue in
.
.
.
each age being capable
Contrary to popular be-
ing to express itself in
reaching the highest New York City, serving in
lief, there is no difficulty in
ever higher forms even-
this post since 1957. He is
of a moral and
reconciling the creation
tually leading to God. He P eaks
.
the author of "Eisenhower
spiritual
life.
story with Darwin's theory
maintained that there is
and the Jews," the editor
of evolution. It really is un-
no conflict because of the
Whether the magazine and translator of "The
important if the narrative is
creation narrative be- has correctly identified the Flowering of Modern He-
literal or figurative —
longs to "the secrets of site of the Garden of Eden or brew Literature" by
Judaism admits that the
the Torah" which must not, the kibutzniks of Menahem Ribalow, and
Bible often conveys deep
not be understood liter- Afikim have the last word. editor of "Al Halakhah Nie-
truths of life and conduct by
ally.
They maintain: "We always Aggada," a volume of He-
means of allegory. The rab-
The Garden of Eden led to knew that we lived in brew essays by Louis
bis often taught by parables
different interpretations in Paradise!"
Ginzberg.
and eminent Jewish
thinkers like Maimonides
and Nachmanides interpret
this chapter as a parable,
with the serpent and the
personification of man's sin-
ful tendencies.
World Zionist
Press Service
According to the theory of
comers arrived from ical events and nationalist
evolution, the long slow
JERUSALEM — Jews Greece, Turkey, Iraq and - Arab pressures; and the
climb from the amoeba to have been living in small
Syria and began to play Six-Day War hastened the
man took place over mil- numbers in Lebanon since an important role in rate of emigration. By the
lions of years. In the literal ancient times, mainly
commerce.
summer of 1982, only a few
interpretation of Genesis, engaged in farming.
However, from the 1960s dozen Jews remained, and
all things were created In
In the 1860s, when Leba- the Jewish population some of these have left as a
six days, less than six non became a semi-
dwindled as a result of polit- result of the Lebanese war.
thousand years ago, and independent state, there
man came "from the dust of • were Jewish communities
the earth."
in Tripoli, Beirut and Sidon,
Rabbi Israel Lipschutz as well as in rural areas
(1782-1860) in his famed such as Dayr al-Qamar and
Mishnah commentary Aley in the Shouf moun-
"Tiferet Yisrael" relies on tains.
the kabalistic theory that
When intercommunal
there are cycles of creation, fighting broke out in the
area, most of the Jews in the
villages left for Beirut. The
only remaining Jewish
community in the interior
was Hasbayya, on the slopes
of Mount Lebanon, whose
members left at the end of
the century for Eretz Yis-
rael.
As modern Lebanon
Pictured above is the large prayer hall of the
developed, its Jewish
Bhamdoun synagogue in the Sidon Cas bah, Lebanon.
community grew. New-
Synagogue Attests to Longtime
Jewish Residence in Lebanon
Was this peaceful spot near Kibutz Afikim in Is-
rael the site for the biblical Garden of Eden, as a
British magazine suggests?