New Britain Herald Newspaper, June 7, 1917, Page 5

¥ ' American Jews in particular, BOSTON SOCIETY 10 STUDY TALMUD Great Hebrew Work to Receive Full Gonsidemtion Boston, June 8.—In line with the recent remarkable revival of interest in Jewish history. philosophy and tra- dition is the establishment of & so- « clety in Boston called the Talmud so- Its primary object is a fuller lterary work, the Talmud, which according to some Jewish authorities has been the greatest factor not only in the preser- vation of the Hebrew literature and clety. understanding of that vast the Hebrew law, but even of the He- brew race. It is therefore but natural that the scope of the soclety should be en- larged at its very inception. It not only encompasses the study of mat- ters relating to Jewish religion in gen- eral, but likewise that of everything elsq that pertains to the Jewish race at a time when Jews in general, and have been aroused as never before to their interactive force &s a people and a ‘world factor. time tlLls realizatjon of their power by American Jews affects thelr loyal Americanism simply to strengthen it. ., It is surprising how little is known among educated people outside of the At this epoch-making ! ! time when so many of the Talmud's ancient enemies have become its ! friends, there has been a strong in- terest manifested in the aims and pur- poses of the Talmud society by Roman Catholic colleges, clergymen and laity as well as by Protestants. That the work is of vital interest to men and women in various lines of professional work was pointed out i some years ago'in a report of the U. | 8. Bureau of Education which spoke of the Talmud as f the greatest sclentific importance,” stating It is not only of practical value to the lawyer, teacher and physician of modern times, but also to students of various branches of science, including political economists and sociologists. The views of its authors on the labor question, for instance, are remark- able as having been advanced ocen- turles before the dawn of our indus- trial ‘era. - The article mentioned as appearing over forty years ago in the Quarterly Review was copled by leading Ameri- can magazines, and through its many astounding statements, such as for in- stance, that the Talmud had at that very time epeatedly been sum- moned to appear in courts of law to give evidence,” created a real sensa- tion. It was then that a great Hebrew scholar, being assured of the assist- ance of some of the leading American authorities on Semitic lore, decided to devote the rest of his life to giving the English-speaking world a transla- tion of the great work, and also to preparing a history aof its numerous persecutions including the burnings at the stake it received in several Euro- pean countries. This task took forty Yyears-—the time of the sojourn of the Israelites in the Wilderness. A splendid edition of this, the only Emnglish translation of this great work, is now being brought out in ten volumes by the Talmud society. To translate the Talmud into | English from the original is a gigantic task that can be hardly appreciated Jewish race concerning the Talmud, | by those who are not aware that the which is certainly in many ways the ' Jmost unigue literary work that has ever been produced in all history. JFarticularly is this the cuse because 4he¢ Talmud has for centuries heen in Jeéwish households ‘‘their lecture room, their theater, their library, their mewspaper, their studio, their one-in-all." This Is also the more remarkable because the Talmud is not merely a religious ' work, but one of especial interest to the citisen of the world, 'which the Jew, with gll his devotion ‘to’ the religion of his race, has of ‘Tecessity been throughout his long history. It is no wonder, therefore, that ‘when, over forty ycars ago, the Quar- terly Review published an artic with the title “What is the Talmud?” the literary and scientific world was startled to find how little it' knew about a work that has been and still is so intimately known and loved by those for whom it was Writtén, Here was & work that was mréiifestly in " many ways the most remarkable pro- Quct in all the history of literary and scfentific thought, and yet was.prac- tically unknown among HEnglish- speaking people! " Still greater was the surprise among Christian mipisters and other stu- dents.6f the Christian religion to find that a study of the Talmud was of vital importance to them as supple- mentary to and in many cases explan- story of the Bible. It is true that one of the most famous Christian He- draists, the broad-minded Doctor Lightfoot, so far back as the begin- ning of the seventeenth céntury, rec- ommended the Talmud to Christians in these strong words: *Christians by. their skill and industry may render Talmudic writings most usefully serv- fceable to thoir students, and most eminently tending to. the interpreta- tion of the scriptures’ This was, of course, in keeping with the dictum of. Tylor that “he who only knows one religion can no more understand that religion than he who only knows one lahguage can understand that language.” In fact, some of the leading Amer- fcan scholars in praising the new edi- tion of the Talmud have stated that it is of the greatest interest and value to Christians who would seek to un- derstand such doctrines as that of the atonement and original sin. That American Christians have awakened to the importance of such institutions as the Talmud society and those with similar aims, was made strikingly evident in Boston lately. Half a century ago who would have believed that a large congregation of orthodox Christians would gather to- gether in a Jewish synagogue, sitting at the feet of Gamaliel? And yet this is exactly what happened in the Tem- ple Israel, Boston largest synagogue. where Rabbi Henry Levi discoursed for several houra to a Christian aud- jence on Jewish rites, customs and ceremonial objects. This audience was composed of several clergymen and many members of various socle- tles of the high and low divisions of the Episcopal church. After the address appreciative ches wers made by the clergym made of the entire synagogue, and many questions were asked concern- ing the appurtenances of Jewish wor- ship- The addresses made by the clergymen at the close of the meet- ing were warmly expressive of ‘benefit derived shore from which one launches his | bark on “the sea of the Talmud” | is oppugned by a solid wall of break- ers composed of thick Hebrew and | Aramaic consonants without a vowel i from the first word of the volume to the last word of the last. As one of the leading Talmudic scholars of America has ‘informed me, “Had the teaching of the Talmud been entirely interrupted during the life of a gen- eration—had the tradition been once lost, it would be well-nigh impossible to recover it.” i The translator was naturally greatly helped by the wonderful Commentary of Rashi, which is included in this translation. In the original questions whose complete enfaldment would take lines are indicated by a single term. In the words of “Hudibras,” the original Talmud is . . . “a parti-colored dress, { Of patcher and piebald languages, Which made some think, when it did gabble, They'd heard three laborers at Babel, Or Cerberus himself pronounce A leash of languages at once.” However, the new edition is in Eng- lish that is classic in its simplicity and force, and the text is greatly im- proved by the amission of repetitions { and arguments that were so unessen- tial to the point at issue that they proved ‘a Weariness to the flesh” to even the most persevering scholars. The Talmud Soclety’s edition in- cludes a volume on the history of the Talmud which gives a complete ac- count of the many vicissitudes of a work that after having taken nearly two thousand years to complete, has at length achiéved the triumph of a | universal recogmition. The Telmud contains two distinct departments, vis; the “Mishna,” the text of the oral law, and the “Gem- ara, he completion.” The “Mishna" was completed iIn | Palestine by the wealthy, learned and beneficent Rabbi Jehudah ha-Nast (literally “the Princ who was the head: of the great Sanhedrin or su- preme council at the beginning of the second century of this era. The Gemara consists of Halaka— expositionsy discussions and reports bearing upon the Law, and Haggada —records, legends and parables, doc- trinal and ethical teachings; and free interpretations of the Scriptures, The Hi a is #0 placed as to brighten many 'a grave discussion. The de- | bates from which the Gemara grew were carried on for five centuries in colleges established in Babylonia for this purpose. It took nearly eight hundred years (from 300 ‘before to 500 years after the Christian era) for an army of authors and tireless debaters to un- ravel the thought and fancy not only of these centuries, but also that which was handed down from remote ages. During this time the Talmud was not committed to writing. It took nearly eight hundred years more to put into permanent form this vast body of learning and speculation with the additional observations born of ‘a tour was | the wide thought of those years. The Talmud is therefors, far from being the work of a single uthor. It is also by no means a work alone by Jewsa. [Early Jewish Christians ‘and the wise men of pagan races—Epicur- the | eans, Romans, Chaldeans and Per- from the rabbi’s teach- | ssans—freely contributed to its pages. It s one of the most democratic liter- u";" such a “getting-together” as this | ary works ever produced. head prevailed during former there would probably ages be but Httle of | successtul men of this century, were Its authors, like many of the most the racial and religious prejudices and | doers, had lived their literature. Con- misunderstandings that have caused | tributions from the unlearned but ob= ‘the world's wars. The Talmud has suffered greatly servant artisan, farmer, soldier, sailes and burden carrier are found among throughout many centuries because | the essays of the rabbis and acknowl- its enemies did not know what it was There was never a work—not even ¢! edged sages, As a literary production the Tal- van Winkle, and such tales as “The Kid that Wouldn't Go" 'and “The House that Jack Built” have their un- mistakable prototypes in the Rabbini- cal legends. One can even meet in the Talmud the unmistakable ances- tors of Brer Fox and Brer Wolf. AFTERNOON !EDDING Howard Pascoe of Warehouse Point Takes Miss Gertrude Stroguer as His Bride at 4 O’clock. The marriage of Miss Gertrude 1i. Strosser, daughter of Dr. Herman E. Strosser of 53 Forest street, and Howard Pascoe of Warehouse Point was solemnized at 4 o'clock this aft- ernoon at the home of the bride. Rev. F. C, Wunder, pastor of the Eng- lish Lutheran church, officlated. The scene of the wedding was in the family parlor, which was dec- orated for the June bridal season and the effect was carried further by the bride’s bouquet, which was of wkite roses and lilles of the valley, wkile the bridesmald carried Mrs. Aaron Ward roses. A brother of the groom, Allan Pascoe, was best man and the bride’s sister, Miss Viola Strosser, was bridesmaid. The flower girl was a cousin of the bride, Miss Frances Luhrs of Mt. Vernon, N. Y. The wedding march was played by Miss Irene O'Brien of Bristol. To his bride, the groom presented a dlamond crescent. To the best man he gove gold cuff links. The bride presented her husband with a dlamond stick- pin and to her bridesmaid she gave a sapphire and pearl set brooch. Miss Strosser’s wedding gown was of white satin and Georgette crepe with pearl trimmings and she wore gold stripped Georgette crepe with g0ld satin trimmings and a picture hat. The flower girl was dressed in white and carried yellow Marguerites. Following a reception the bride and groom will leave on a wedding trip. On thelr return they will make taeir home on Trinity street. WOTHER SHIP FOR BIG_SEAPLANES Vessel Formerly in Atlantic Ser- vice Now Hunts for Submarines New York, June §.—Passengers ar- riving yesterday at an American port from England stated that a former transatlantic liner of considerable size, which was converted into a mother ship for airplanes and took part in the North sea fight, was now being used by the British admiralty in its new campaign to overcome the German submarine menace. This vessell carries a number of airplanes and cruises round the Brit- ish coast, waiting to pick up news of the undersea craft. Men are posted at the lofty mastheads on the lookout with powerful glasses, and directly a submarine is sighted an aviator goes up in a seaplane and drops bombs on its track. In addition the captain of the sea- plane ship is kept posted on subma- rine activities by wireless from the naval stations at various points, and | also reccives 8. O. 8. calls that are sent out by the steamships which are being attacked. In her record-breaking days on the Atlantic the vessel could average twenty-one knots easily and her speed now is only two knots slower, which is faster than any submarine can steam on the surface. One American passenger sald that he saw the mother ship send out three seaplanes in the English Chan- nel after two submarines that had been reported attacking a big liner about twenty mlles away. The day was calm and clear and it was a re- markable sight to ses the machines leave the surface of the sea and wing their way aloft like huge albatrosses. The United States destroyers had proved of great service, he said, in protecting merc! {ateamships ar- riving from this ry, loaded with grain and food suppHes, which were badly needed over there. No. figures had been given out by the admiralty as to the number of submarines sunk, but the passenger was told at Chatam that the toll averaged twenty-five & month, which was, it was said .,ten more than the Germans could manufacture and place in the water during that period. The most thing was that few- er ships were being sunk when he left England, and the naval officers he met were very cheerful on the sub- Ject and assured him that the good ‘work would go on. \ The summer is the best time for catching submarines, according to ex- perts, as the daylight continués 'to nearly ten o'clock and the ' ‘motor boat'chagers can go out some’ distance from land tb attack their enemies with bombs and deck guns... Smoke bombs and drums, which are dropped overboard and emit dense clouds of smoke after striking the water, have proved very effective in cases where steamships have been pursued by sub- marines. Practically all the American and British steamships are equipped with them now. SOLACE CHARGES ARE PROVED UNTRUE Tovestigators Say Mistreatment Story Was Exaggerated ‘Washington, June 7.—The commit- tee of civilian experts appointed by Secretary Daniels to investigate com- plaints of conditions on the naval hos- pital ship Solace, made in a round robin signed by thirty enlisted men, and which was presented: to the senate by Senator Calder of New York, flled & unanimous report late yesterday in which it brands the charges of insanitary conditions as ‘“untrue” and ‘“exaggerated.” ‘While the ship was found to have ! mirably.” been overcrowded at the time of the NEW. BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1017. complaints, the experts tound there was no lack of care or medical attendance, but the patients suffering from infectious diseases were care- fully segregated, that the sanitary regulations were qpserved and that the entire ship and its effects were sterilized after every trip to the hos- pital. It concludes that the ‘round robin was composed by one person, who wove into ‘it complaints from various sources” and that most of it “rests on gossip and hearsay."” The committee reported that the care of naval patients could not be improved upon, and praised the ship's doctors and those in charge of the naval medical service, It praises. most highly Dr, Norman J. Black- wood, the medical inspector in charge of the Solace. It reports that there was “no lack of kindness and intelli- gent care on the part of Dr. Black- wood, the medical inspector in com:- mand of the Solace or his assistants” that “they were dealing with ‘an uny precedented emergency and in hand- Hng it they acquitted themselves ad- It concludes that Surgeon General Braisted, Dr. Blackwood, and that| Dr. Pickerel, medical director in charge of the naval hospital, and their assistants are “all entitled to the highest praise for their devated and untiring efforts and for the success which they achileved under extremely difficult conditions." The committee, composed of Dr. Willlam H. Welch, director of the School of Public Health, Johns Hop- kins University; Dr. Abraham Flex- ner, secretary of the general educa- tion board and author of ‘‘Medical Education in the United States and Europe,” and Nathan Straus, the philanthropist, went to the fleet, where every opportunity for observa- tion was afforded, and spent an en- tire day on the Solace, cross-question- ing the members of the staff and the patients and examining conditions an the hospital ship. They visited one of the largest naval hospitals ,training station and navy yard, inspected the facilities and sanitary conditions, and individually interviewed all measles patients, sick or convalescent, who had at any time been aboard the Solace. They also made a careful in- srectior of the two battleships, - DESIROUS OF GOING TO. W. Boston, -June ‘7.—Troop’ first squadron of M o : alry, known as the Natfonkt: whose brilliant uniforms have prominent in many parades, ¥o night to afMiiate with the:thtrd . lery regiment of the National G The other three troops in.the ron are expected' to follow thix'A ample, in the hope of seeing service in the war. A TO BUY MACHINE GUN. Cambridge, June 7.—The first talion of the Harvard reserve: training corps has undertaken to funds for the purchase of & gun to be used in the ins the corps. The three batts now taking turns at rifle p the range at Wakefield. Newton, June 7.—Boston : & “‘v graduated its largest class today W 92 meniors were given diplo Cardinal O'Connell. moving picture impresario, says: “l filfl B e % : JESSE A LASKY, the famous that chewing Adams P Gum is about the most ) 3 % 0. ES cheers me and relieves nerve ) that was so relentlessly perse- g:nl:—l-h'l"ouxhout the ages as the Tal- mud, and by so many sects and na- tions. However, the Talmud had its de- fenders, one Pope of Rome (Clement V.) refusing to condémn the book be- fore he knew something about it. He pro| "chairs for the teaching of Hebrew, Chaldiac and Arabic at the Universities of Paris, Salamanca, “Bologna &nd Oxford with' the princi- “Pal purpose of obtaining a transla- tion of ‘the mysterious work. psummation never came to #t is worthy of note that at g %, mud Is of intense interest. The U. 8. Bureau of Education has advanced the opinion that it surpasses in poetry the Iliad of Homer, and Professor Btowe states that its descriptions of heaven and hell are as weird as the poetry of Dante. In fact, as the Tal- mud Soclety’s History points out: “Many of the legends of the Middle Ages, to be found in the works of Dante or those of Boceaccio, Cervan- teg and Milton, are taken, consclously or unconsciously, from their original ‘Dass; | sOUrce—the Talmudic or * The Talmud bas its Rip ‘some habit I ever acquired. 's 1004 on the tem. 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