'PURELY COMMENTARY

Jewish Identifications: Their Multiplicity

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor Emeritus

A

historically recorded story
about one of the famous Jewish
personalities of the 18th cen-
tury comes to mind at this time of
religious controversy in Israel. It
relates to Moses Mendelssohn
(1729-1786), one of the most admired
philosophers and linguists of his time.
He mastered mathematics, Latin,
French and English, and the German
of his native land, having been born in
Dessau, Germany. He also mastered
Hebrew and his literary works includ-
ed the published, annotated edition of
Eccclesiastes and a commentary on
Maimonides "logic" entitled Millot Ha-
Higgayon. He wrote a German transla-
tion of the Pentateuch in five parts. In
1749 he attempted to publish a Hebrew
weekly, Kohelet Musar, but it failed. He
also translated the "Song of Songs."
Mendelssohn, who was hunchback-
ed, lived in that horrible time of severe
prejudice against Jews and a denial of
their basic rights in European coun-
tries, especially Germany. Greatly ad-
mired for his literary genius and
authoritative works on the Bible,
Mendelssohn became a protected Jew.
He had the respect and admiration
of government officials, leaders in
academia and especially among
theologians. There were some in the
educational fields and in theological
circles who sought his friendship. There
were some in academia who had con-
verted from Judaism in order to over-
come prejudice and gain admission in-
to universities. One such person of
eminence met with him often to ex-
change scholastic views. Once, on a
walk with Mendelssohn, the theologian
from a Christian seminary sought in-
timacy. He said: "Herr Mendelssohn,
we have been good friends. I have kept
something from you. I'd like to make a
confession. I am a Jew." Mendelssohn

Moses Mendelssohn

thanked him and said: "I appreciate
your being so frank with me. I also have
a confession to make. I am a hun-
chback."
There is no hiding identity.
Would the two in this dialogue
qualify for the right to settle in Israel
and acquire immediate citizenship
there? The "convert" admits to having
been a Jew and says, "I am a Jew." Com-
ing to Israel he repents, and he un-
doubtedly qualifies as a penitent. Moses
Mendelssohn would not be hailed in the
yeshivot but he was glorified as scholar,
philosopher, devoted to Scriptures.
Therefore, both fit into the Law of
Return.
At this point the qualification for
the Law of Return is only partially
alluded to. There is a vastness to the
Jewish communities which make up
the Peoplehood of Israel. It is an aim for
a unity, for the realism of Am Ehad —
One People. In that sense they match
and include Israel.
Every segment matches the whole
and there is a likeness in most com-

munities. Sampling Detroit will ac-
count for the totality.
Here we have the representatives of
those who insist on complete adherence
to Halacha. We have the Orthodox in
many forms, including a liberalized fac-
tion. There are the Conservatives,
Reform, Reconstructionist. There are
the humanists who substitute Adam —
Man — for Deity. There are the
secularists.
Therefore recognition and accep-
tance for all become demanding. In the
disputes over the Law of Return, little
has been said about the secularists.
They are numerous and they adhere to
a Jewish identification. Having taken
Detroit as an example, it is well to in-
dicate that the secularists here are vital
in communal alignments; they do not
attend synagogue services and even
have Holy Days events of their own.
They do not "daven" but they celebrate
the festivals and the Holy Days by sing-
ing folksongs, reciting Hebrew poetry,
making holidays of the Holy Days.
But this is a minor factor in the pro-
of that secularists can not be ousted
from Jewish society. In the experience
of Zionism and state building, most of
the leadership has been secular.
Chaim Weizmann was not a
religious Jew. David Ben-Gurion began
visiting synagogues upon the establish-
ment of the Israel Bonds investment
movement.
Ahad HaAm certainly was not an
observant Jew. Neither were most of the
great Jewish writers. Yet some sat shiva
when their children intermarried.
True: Weizmann's successor to the
presidency of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi,
attended services and led in Talmud
studies and teachings. His successor to
the Israel presidency, Zalman Shazar,
took a deep interest in the spiritual
devotion but ordinarily he was the Yid-
dish poet.
The point is that in the unity of the
People Israel no one can be ejected. All
must be accepted with dignity.

How then does one explain the over-
whelmingly sensationalized demand by
a real minority that has attained a
political bargaining power, that
Halacha should dominate the statehood
of Israel.
To approach an understanding of
the troublesome political situation that
is challenging the spirituality of Jewry
to a threateningly extensive domina-
tion, it is necesary to understand
Halacha. The New Standard Jewish
Encyclopedia provides this definition:
(Heb. "law" derived from
halakh "to go" "follow"): The
legal part of talmudic and later
Jewish literature, in contrast to
Haggadah or AGGADAH, the
non-legal elements. In the
singular, halachah means "law"
in all-inclusive, abstract sense,
or else a specific regulation: in
the plural, halachot refers to col-
lections of laws. Halachah refers
especially to the ORAL LAW, i.e.,
the accepted tradition of inter-
pretation of the written law.
Collections of oral laws ex-
isted long before the compila-
tion of the Mishnah at the end of
the 2nd Century C.E. Various
tannaim had their own collec-
tions of halachah
The Mishnah was not
basically a formulation of bin-
ding law, for (at least in its pre-
sent form) it contains many con-
flicting halakhot, but its main
object was to given an orderly
presentation of the halachah as
such, without necessarily
deciding which version of any
particular law was binding.
The Mishnah became the
prime text of discussion in the
academies both in Palestine and
Babylonia, the amoraim for-
mulating rules to determine the
binding version of the halachah,
Continued on Page 40

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Transliteration: Literary Compulsion

roper pronunciation, like correct
spelling, is vital to literature. In
the treatment of quoted terms
from foreign languages, transliteration
is of the utmost significance. That is

p

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December 16, 1988

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1988

why most currently published classical
works have special annotations explain-
ing the manner in which the words
from other languages are used by
author, translator and publisher. It is a
means of attaining perfection and of
avoiding corruption in language con-
struction. It is the way to assure proper
spelling and acceptable pronunciation.
Hebrew and Yiddish make special
demands for correct transliterizing. The
tendency to borrow from the German,
a practice which is now generally aban-
doned, is proof of a danger to sink into
language corruption. That's why
transliteration became a compulsion for
authors and publishers with a sense of
responsibility for proper linguistics.
Many examples are available to pro-
ve the validity of the transliteration de-
mand. When used as a German term
the "ch" is proper. Best proof of it is in
Kristallnacht. When it is strictly a

Hebrew word, like Hamish in Hamisha
Asar B'Shvat, "ch" for the "h" could
lead to pronunciation that would hide
the meaning of the Hebrew word.
Many Hebraic and Yiddish words
would become unintelligible unless pro-
perly spelled and clearly pronounced.
"Hanukah" serves as an example. I ac-
cept this spelling for it results from
many studies and an interesting deci-
sion on the subject of transliteration
that was reached by a committee acting
more than 30 years ago on behalf of the
American Jewish Press Association.
Leo Frisch of Minneapolis and Albert
Blom of Pittsburgh worked with me as
a committee of the AJPA.
"Hanukah" is more convincing. The
moment that the "H" is replaced for the
"Ch," there is the immediacy of the
Hebrew word being pronounced as
"Thhanukah," as many non-Jews did
until the Hanukah was compulsively

ascertained.
Take the word "Haham," the
Hebrew for wise man. If it were spelled
"Chacham," what is there to prevent its
being pronounced as "chacham?"
There is justification for using "ch"
in a Yiddish word like "krichen," to
creep because there is the German
"krich" in it.
There is another element in
transliteration. In many important ap-
plications to proper use of Hebrew
terms, the "kh" is the scholarlarly
usage. The explanation for its is best
describd in the now frequently heard
reference to "Halakha."
The attention now called to
transliteration reopens a long-delayed
discussion of the subject. Translitera-
tion, if used properly, can be a useful
purpose and will surely stimulate
greater interest in Hebrew and Yiddish
pronunciations and correct spellings.

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