I PURELY COMMENTARY
Book Burning
Continued from Page 2
demned (city). I can no more
find any paved way, for the path
(which led) straight (to the)
highway is obscured.
The tears mingled with my
drink shall be sweeter than
honey, indeed would that your
shackels be tied on to my own
feet. Let it be pleasant for my
eyes to absorb the waters of my
tears, till (the wise men) who
clung fast to your apron strings
were gone. But they would dry
up (as soon) as they run down
my cheeks, for my heart yearns
over the wanderings of your
(Divine) Master. He took his
treasure with him, (and when)
he went far away did not your
(protecting) shade vanish?
And as for me, alone without
your great ones, I remain
bereaved and forlorn, like a sole
beacon on top of the mountain.
No more do I hear the voice of
singing men and singing
women, for the strings of your
(wind) instruments are snapped.
I will clothe and cover myself
with sackcloth, for your slain
ones, whose lives were so very
dear to me, have multipled more
(numerous) that the sand. I am
indeed astonished that the day's
luminary shines (bright) in all
(directions), but to me and you
it grows darkness.
0 cry to the Rock with a bit-
ter voice, for your catastrophe
and your anguish; 0 that he
would remember the love of
your betrothal-day! Gird on
garments of sackcloth for that
devouring (fire) that burst forth
to divide you (into many por-
tions), and has utterly swept
away your store (of tradition).
May the Creator comfort you
according to the days of your af-
fliction, and may He restore the
captivity of the tribes of
Yeshurun, and raise your meek
ones (from their lowliness).
You will again adorn
yourself with ornaments of
scarlet; you will take up timbrel
and lead the circling dance, and
rejoice in your revels.
Then shall my heart be
uplifted at that time when your
Creator will afford you light,
will brighten your darkness and
illuminate your (sorrowing)
gloom.
This is a lamentation filled with
anguish. It is a protest to the Almighty.
It nevertheless resorts to self-
comforting and it leads to a resumption
of faith in reverence to the Talmud and
the sanctity of a devotionalism that
defies destruction.
It is the recollection of the many
years of book burning, of the evil in the
record of a church humiliations that
have been so agonizing. It is sad to have
a reminder of it. Nevertheless it is not
erasable from history as a University
Jewish Encyclopedia account of cruel-
ty to the Talmud:
Despite the mass of restric-
tions imposed on the Jews by
the Church in the political,
46
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1988
social, and economic spheres,
and the attacks on the Oral Law
by Christian theologians, the
campaign to proscribe Jewish
literature was not launched un-
til the 13th century.
An attempt had been made
to prevent teaching of the "se-
cond tradition" by Emperor
Justinian in 553, and in 712 the
Visigoths in Spain forbade con-
verts to Christianity to read
Hebrew books.
The first condemnation of
the Talmud to burning was
preceded by a period in which
new forces of rationalism had
made their appearance in
Western Europe as well as an
upsurge of sectarian movements
such as the Cathari or
Albigenses. Such trends were
countered with strong measures
by the Church.
In 1199 Pope Innocent III
declared that since Scripture
contained lessons too profound
for the layman to grasp, Chris-
tians should rely wholly on the
clergy for its interpretation. The
Church also directed its atten-
tion to Jews as potential subver-
sive elements. One outcome of
the suppression of rationalistic
tendencies was the burning of
Maimonides' Guide of the
Perplexed at Montpellier,
southern France, in 1233. The
Guide was originally denounc-
ed to the Dominician inquisitors
by Jewish leaders who opposed
the study of Maimonides' works.
Although the connection bet-
ween the burning of the Guide
and the subsequent burning of
the Talmud is tenuous, it set a
dangerous precedent.
Through the centuries, between
1226 and the 1500s, there were many
documented incidents of Church-
ordered burnings of the Talmud.
The last auto-da-fe of the
Talmud took place in Poland, in
Kamenets-Podolski in the fall of
1757, following the spread of the
Frankist movement in Podolia.
Bishop Nicholas Dembowski in-
tervened in the controversy bet-
ween the Frankists and Jewish
leaders and ordered a disputa-
tion to be held between them.
He subsequently condemn-
ed all copies of the Talmud
found in his diocese to be seiz-
ed and burned after they had
been dragged through the
streets in mockery.
A search was made with the
aid of the clergy, the police, and
the Frankists for the Talmud
and other rabbinicial writings.
Nearly 1,000 copies of the
Talmud were thrown into a pit
at Kamenets and burned by the
hangman.
It was not only the Talmud that was
burned. Treasured manuscripts were
destroyed. The works of Maimonides
were burned. Jewish apostates were
among the guiltiest in these criminal
and inhuman acts.
These were the occasions for
religious hatreds that marked the in-
stitution of the "Disputations" which
were aimed at increasing bigotries that
led to the physical and cultural violence
ordered to be imposed on Jews.
It is tragic to recall such ex-
periences. Those who now weep over
Kristallnacht must also remember the
beginnings of the Nazi terror. The suf-
ferings, those of the Middle Ages and
those that occurred in our century, must
be remembered with a determination
always to be vigilant in the battle for
justice to our people and our history.
This remembrance must remain Item
One on our calendar for action.
Traveling Platforms
In Anti-Israel Circuit
I
t proved most aggravating for the
United States and Israel — the
courageous decision by Secretary of
State George Schultz to bar the leader
of the terrorists from the United States.
The field became wide open for con-
demnation of the two nations standing
alone in an area of venom. The Arabs
gloated.
The Wall Street Journal was among
the limited voices that kept being heard
in warnings of terrorism when it stated:
PLO Chairman Yaser Arafat
says the U.S. decision to deny
him an entry visa is a "sheer
violation of international law"
This one statement provides
as good an explanation as any
for saying no to Mr. Arafat. it
takes a certain brass after all
these years of PLO-supported
terror for Mr. Arafat to start
bellowing about violations of in-
ternational law.
Suppose Mr. Shultz had said to
Arafat, "You can have a day in our
midst; we'll take you to the United Na-
tions; you can deliver your speech; we'll
take you back to the airport for a return
trip." Would it have made a difference?
Would press and diplomats have
villified the United States and Israel
less? It's doubtful.
There is always a means and an ex-
cuse for condemnations of the two
disliked nations. The speech in Geneva
or wherever the Arafats travel are the
same as in New York: U.N. quarters
wherever they are always provide a
platform for hatred of Israel and the
United States is the available partner
of the abused Israelis as the target.
Targets for hatred — wherever or
whenever — always have targeters.
The on-again, off-again coalition talks may be affecting personal relations between Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres of the Israel Labor Party and Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Likud.
The two were attending a tenth anniversary memorial service for former Prime Minister Golda
Meir on Nov. 27. Although standing together in this photograph, reporters at the service said
the two neither spoke to nor looked at each other.