Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

Text from Pages 1 - 128 of the 1955 volume:

7r :; .. 7 -- • ' . ' MASMID Yeshiva College June, 1955 CONTENTS Messages 4 MASMID Board 6 Faculty Divisions 8 The Graduates 12 The Class of 55 44 Student Activities 46 Class History 64 Art and Appreciation - Harold Liebowitz 74 An Introduction to Modern Literary Analysis - Henry Kressel 77 Mann ' s Faustus - Al Sutton 78 The Influence of the Bible on American Democracy • Herzl Eisen- stadt 82 Maimonides and the Karaites - Irwin Haut 84 Of Thought and Paradoxes • Harry Furstenberg 88 Impressions of Agnon - Reubin Huttler 98 Ahad Ha-am and Jewish Culture - Alvin BobrofF 104 Advertisers 106 FOREWORD It is ten years since the first atomic bomb was dropped and since the United Nations was founded. The fearful implications of the one were overshadowed by the promises of the other. Within these ten years, however, a gradual reversal of feelings has occurred. The pessimism inherent in any speculations about the atomic bomb is in- creasing while the optimism that prevailed with the creation of the United Nations has decreased. The spirit of fear has entered; fear of war, fear of liberty, fear of knowledge, fear of man ' s individuality. A new generation is inheriting these fears. We ore entering a world that has been molded by others and over which we have little control. It is a world where a pattern of thought and action is shaping from which it is difficult to escape. Yet it is our hope that the pattern will change, and that we will in some measure be able to aid thts change. rom A, s you terminate your college education at Yeshiva University, I extend to you sinceresi congratulations on your past achievements and wish you every success in your future endeavors. Above all, you should remember and be guided by the indigenous principles which characterize your alma mater. The very name Yeshiva College in itself is a symbol of our purposes and philosophy. The Yeshiva stands for the concept that theory must be translated into practice, being into doing and learning must lead to moral and ethical disciplines based upon the divine and universal law of the Torah. The teachings of the Yeshiva are primarily dedicated to the spiritual and moral purposes of our daily lives. A college of liberal arts and sciences in the accepted sense of the term is dedicated to the acquisition of human knowledge; to give the human mind opportunity to search the mysteries of the universe; to acquire a better understanding of the world in which we live; and to attain a greater perception of the lives and destinies of people among whom we live. A college of arts and sciences is primarily concerned with Man and his World. The purpose of Yeshiva College is to create a unity between the Yeshiva and College, — the Yeshiva endsavoring to give a moral and spiritual purpose to the human knowledge which the student acquires in the College. I have abiding faith that you will govern your lives by the standards of the Torah and that you will consider your education as a means to a greater end — consecrated service to G D and fellow men. Remain a ben-ha-yes iiva in spirit and deed. I wish you well-being and well-doing. CJ t-vI WiLk -Lx SAMUEL BELKIN President tne Administration o, ne of the great, if not the greatest, problems confront ' ng modern education is the utilization of the knowledge acquired in college and its application to the broad needs of modern life. A college education, it is generally agreed, should consist of more than the mere execution of intellectual minutes. The problem of relating the part of the whole, in whatever way we state it, and of the evaluation of the whole in terms of the basic goals has been the principal burden of educotioaol gatherings for some time. I know of no one who has expressed the dilemma more eloquently than Whitehead: The fading of ideals is sad evidence of the defeat of human endeavor. In the schools of antiquity philosophers aspired to impart wisdom, in modorn colleges our humbler aim is to teach subjects. Yeshiva College will hardly admit to the fading of ideals in spite of its concern with the teaching of subjects. The power of ideals, I am confident, has not been extinguished by the demands of courses at Yeshiva. The class of 1955 alone must bear witness, however, to the soundness of the synthesis undertaken by Yeshiva. In wishing members of the graduating class every success in life and career, may I add that the measure of this success will be the justification of the kind of education offered by Yeshiva. Such success will come not only with material achievement but with the fruition of the seeds of wisdom planted here. I hope, in addition, that members of the class will carry away from this institution as warm a feeling as we of the college have formed for them, during the years of their sojourn at Yeshiva. SIMEON L GUTERMAN Dean MASMID 1955 , HAROLD UEBOWITZ Arf Editor CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Herzl Eisenstadt Sheldon Kornbluth Harry Furstenberg FisJiel Pearlmutter Reubin Huttler Ralph Schuchalter EPHRAIM WE!NSTE!N Assoc a e- Art Editor HENRY KRESSEL Edifor-in-chief Gilbert Davidoff Seymour Essrog Leb Gottlieb Judah Harris Joseph Hershenov Henry Hartman Fred Horowitz Robert Klein Ellas Lauer Ray Levine Irwin Pechman Harold Richtman Stan Rosenberg Emanuel Sternberg Marvin Teichman Wolf Walter Rabbi David Mirsky, ' 42 Alumnus Adv ' ner MANUEL GOLD Co-Arf Editor GENE HORN Associafe Photography Editor VEL HULKOWER Business Manager WILUAM KOTKES Business Manager HERSHEL WEINBERGER Associate Activities Editor Dr. Karl Adier Dr. Kenneth Dar Dr. Walter Nailin Dr. Aaron Margalith Mr. Nathan Goldberg Dr. Alexander Litman Division of Social Sciences Mr. Sidney Pieskin Mr. Solomon Zeides Mr. Morris Silverman Mr. Abraham Tauber Dr. Tobias Wagner Dr. Stanley Weintraub DR. HERMAN AUSUBEL Visiting Assistant Professor of History DR. HELMUT ADLER Assistant Professor of Psycfiology DR. MARVIN L. ARONSON Lecturer in Psychology DR. ALEXANDER BRODY Professor of History and Economics DR. GOHFRIED DELATOUR Visiting Professor of Sociology MR. ELI EPSTEIN Instructor in Physical Education MR NATHAN GOLDBERG Associate Professor of Sociology DR. SIMEON L. GUTERMAN Dean and Professor of History MR. ABRAHAM HURWITZ Professor of Ph sical Education and Student Activities Director DR. LEO JUNG Professor of Ethics and Philosophy MR. GILBERT KLAPERMAN Lecturer in Sociology DR. PHILIP KRAUS Associate Professor of Education DR. ALEXANDER LITMAN Professor of Philosophy DR. JOSEPH H. LOOKSTEIN Professor of Sociology MR. JOSHUA MATZ Assisfanf Professor of Statistics DR. AARON M. MARGALITH Acfing Cfiief University Librarian Professor of Political Science MR. SIDNEY PLESKIN Director of Aucfio-V suof Service and Assisfanf Professor of Education DR. EMANUEL PACKMAN Assisfanf Professor of Political Science MR. MORRIS SILVERMAN Registrar and Assistant Professor of History MR. JOSEPH I. SINGER Lecturer in Philosophy DR. HAROLD C. SYRETT Visiting Professor of History MR. ARTHUR D. TAUBER Assistant Professor of Physical Education DR. TOBIAS V AGNER Lecturer in Education. MR. HYMAN WETTSTEIN Assistant Professor of Physical Education MR. ISRAEL YOUNG Guidance Director of Yeshiva University Assisf- anf Professor of Guicfance MR. SOLOMON ZEIDES Assistant Lifjrarian GRADUATE ASSISTANT: Library: Steven Joffe Dr. Meyer Atlas Mr. Daniel Block Division of Natural Sciences Mrs. Ida Dobkin Dr. Eli Levine Dr. Jekuthiel Ginsburg Dr. Alexander Freed Dr. Moses Isaacs Dr. Henry Lisman Dr. Arnold Lowan tAr. Perez Posen DR. MEYER ATLAS Professor of Biology MR. DANIEL BLOCK Assistant Professor of Moffiemod ' cs MRS. IDA DOBKIN Tofor in Chemistry DR. ALEXANDER FREED Medico Director of YeshiVo University Associole Professor of htygiene DR. JEKUTHIEL GINSBURG Director of (he Institute of Mathematics Pro- fessor of Mathematics DR. MOSES L. ISAACS Professor of Chemistry DR. BRUNO Z. KISCH Professor of Philosophy and History of Science DR. ELI M. LEVINE Professor of Chemistry DR. HENRY LISMAN Associate Professor of Matherr DR. ARNOLD N. LOWAN Professor of Physics DR. SIEGFRIED S. MEYERS Lecturer in Physics MR. PEREZ POSEN Instructor in Physics DR. SHELLY R. SAPHIRE Professor of Biology OR, SAMUEL SOLOVEICHIK Lecturer in Chemistry MR. MOSES TENDLER instructor in 6io ogy GRADUATE ASSISTANTS: Chemistry; Molcom Schroder Mothemofics; Jonah Mann Physics: Nehemioh Kleinman Dr. Samuel Soloveitchilt Dr. Sidney Braun Dr. Maurice Chernowitz Dr. David Fleisher Dr. Bernard Floch DR. KARL ADLER Mjsic Director of Yeshiva University Professor of Music, DR. SIDNEY D. BRAUN Professor of French DR. MAURICE CHERNOWITZ Associo e Pro ' essor of French DR. KENNETH F. DAMON Associofe Professor of Speech DR. DAVID FLEISHER Professor of English DR. BERNARD FLOCH Professor of Greet and Latin MR. ARTHUR IMPERTI Instructor in Speech MR. SEYMOUR LAINOFF Instructor in English DR. IRVING LINN Professor of English DR. WALTER NALLIN Assistant Professor of Music MR. MACY NU ' MAN Lecturer in Music DR. HERBERT ROBINSON Visiting Professor of English DR. RALPH ROSENBERG Professor of Germon. MR. EARL RYAN Assistant Professor of Speech DR. LOUIS SAS Associofe Professor of Spanish MR. CHARLES SCHIFF Lecturer in Music. MR. ABRAHAM TAUBER Assistant Professor of Speech. MR. DAN VOGEL Assistant Registrar and Instructor in English DR. STANLEY WEINTRAUB Instructor in Speech MR. HERMAN WOUK Visiting Professor of English Dr. Irving Linn Division of Languages and Literature 10 Mr. Don Vogel Dr. Irving Agus Dr. Michael Bernstein Mr. Milton Arfa Dr. Gershon Churgin Division of Jewish Studies DR. IRVING A. AGUS Aliociol Proltlior ol l iiiih HUloiy DR. MILTON ARFA Atlillant Prottltor ol Hthrnw DR. MICHAEL BERNSTEIN Altillant Prolauor ol H br w DR. GERSHON CHURGIN Profeitof ol Hobr.w DR. PINKHOS CHURGIN Oeon ol Iho T.och.ri ln%lltult and ProUttor ol Jewlih Hhlory Htbfw llltralurt. RABBI AARON GREENBAUM Imtrucfor in Bib . DR. HYMAN B GRINSTEIN Prolciioi ol Jcwiih Hitlory DR. SIDNEY B, HOENIG Proleaor ol Jewlth Hitlory RABBI MICHAEL KAT Instructor in Bible. RABBI DAVID MIRSKY Aiiiilont Proletior ol Hebrew and Bibl DR. SAMUEL L. SAR Dean ol Men and Pro eitor ol Bibh RABBI ASHER SIEV Imtruztor in Bible. RABBI JOSEPH SINGER Lecturer in Philnophy DR. SOLOMON V IND Instructor in Jewish History - f Dr. Pinkhos Churgin Dr. Hyman Grinstein Dr. Sidney B. Hoenig Rabbi Michael Katz Dr. Samuel Sar Rabbi David Mirsky Dr. Asher Siev Dr. Solomc- 11 GRADUATES ► MARVIN ANTELMAN Physics Atlantic City, N. J. I.R.S.; Pre-Medical Society Wrapped in the solitude of his own originality. MARVIN BASHKOWITZ Mathematics Brooklyn, N. Y. He travels best who knows when to return. SIDNEY BERGER Jewish Studies Bronx, N. Y. Eranos; Eta Sigma Phi; Jewish Philosophy Society G-d loves an idle rainbow no less than labouring ALBERT BERLINER Hebrew Montreal, Canada Methought I heard a voice cry, ' Sleep no more. ' 13 GERSHON BLANK Mathematics New York, N. Y. Mathematics Club; Ice Skating Club, Track Team Fibonacci, I presume? MARVIN BORGEN Physics New York, N. Y. Dramatics Society; Mathematics Club What hath Lowan wrought? AARON BOROW History Philadelphia, Pa. Le Cercle Francois; Choral Siciety; Debating So- ciety; S.A.C.; Student Council, vice-president; Pi Del- ta Phi; Student Guidebook; Varsity tennis, manager But this bold knight wHh manly strength endued She with one finger and a thumb subdued. LEONARD BORSTEIN English Atlanta, Go. I ' m from Savannah and I want to be shown. 14 JOSEPH BREZAK Chemistry Brooklyn. N. Y. Wrestling Club, Pre-Medical Society; Weightlifting Club, instructor A ;usf weight is his delight. BARRET BROYDE Chemistry New York, N. Y. Mathematics Club; Pre-Medical Society; Biology So- ciety; I.R.S. The best is yet to be. ABRAHAM BRUCKENSTEIN Political Science Bronx, N. Y. one learns as a child it is like ink wr ' rlten on clear paper. MELVIN BUHNSTEIN Psycfio ogy New York, N. Y. Psychology Club; Jewish Philosophy Society The true medicine of the mind is philosophy. f 15 LEON CHAMEIDES Pre-Medical New York, N. Y. Pre-Medical Society,- Israeli Philotelic Society; Var- sity fencing Shall iby enemy blaspheme thy name forever? JAY CITRON Varsity Basketball Mathemafics Brooklyn, N. Y. Win withouf boasting, lose without excuse. PAUL CLEEMAN Political Science New York, N. Y. Ice Skating Club; Masmid Go south young man. ft ' k ARNOLD COHEN Psychology Bronx, N. Y. Psychology Club; Deutscher Verein; Choral Society VV f is the salt of conversation. MORRIS COHEN Psychology Now York, N. Y. Psychology Club; Ico Skating Club; Art Club Make hasle slowl y. SIMON COHEN Psychology Brooklyn, N. Y. Commentator, associate managing editor; Y.U. Drive, co-chairman; Deutscher Verein, president; S.A.C.; You, the student; Co-op O cupid, how mighty is thy sway! GILBERT DAVIDOFF Polifical Science Brooklyn, N. Y. I.R.S.; Ice Skating Club; Masmid; Y. U. Drive Registrars prefer redheads. JOSHUA DAVIS English Bronx, N. Y. Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature, moderation and reason. 17 18 PAUL DIER Matbemafics Newark, N. J. No secret frufbs are from learned modesty cor)cealed. WALTER DUBLER English Brooklyn, N. Y. Leisure with dignity. ' ' ARNOLD ENKER Hebrew Brooklyn, N. Y. Commentator, editor-in-chief; Debating Society; Stu- dents for Democratic Action, chairman; I.R.S.; Stu- dent Guidebook, managing editor Read not to contradict but to weigh and consider. HARRY ESSES Physics Brooklyn, N. Y. So OS not to forget one must first learn to remember. SEYMOUR ESSROG Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. Le Cercle Francais; I.R.S.; S.A.C.; Student Council, vice-president; Commentator, sports editor; You, the Student, editor; Y.U.A.A., secretory; Moimid, man- aging editor The common people undenland nof many excellent virtues. Histor BERNARD FINKELSTEIN New York, N. Y. 1 1; - ' - I.R.S.; Israeli Philatelic Society; Eranos; Ice Skating Club; Y.U. Drive He preaches well who lives well. WILLIAM FISHMAN History New York, N. Y. Chess Club A pawn is but a king gone astray. MILTON FREUNDLICH History Brooklyn, N. Y. Eranos, president Reading is the sport of intellectuals. 19 t J l J Jk HARRY FURSTENBERG Mafhemafics New York, N. Y. Mathematics Club, president Hail celesfial light. HERSH GALINSKY Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. Eranos; I.R.S., treasurer; Eta Sigma Phi; You, the Student Labor conquers everything. MORTON GEFTER Political Science Bronx, N. Y. Debating Society; I.R.S.; Eranos; Gamma Rho Sigma The bureaucrats shall inherit the earth. DOV GENACHOVSKY Political Science Yonfeers, N. Y. I.R.S., secretary; Israeli Philatelic Society; Commen- tator Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm. 20 ALLEN GEWIRTZ Psychology Brooklyn, N. Y. Psychology Club, vice-president; Varsity basketball, captain True wif is nature to advantage dressed. MANUEL GOLD Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. Student Council; S.A.C., chairman; Young Democrats, chairman; Masmid, art editor; Dean ' s Reception, chairman; Eta Sigma Phi A jack of all trades JUDAH GOTTLIEB Political Science New York, N. Y. IR.S.; Msmid; Ice Skating Club ' Tis easy enough to be pleasant when life flows along like a dream. JOEL GREEN Psychology Brooklyn, N. Y. Psychology Club, secretary; Y.U.A.A. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. 21 LEON GREEN Psychology Brooklyn, N. Y. Psychology Club, president; Varsity basketball Every man must get to heaven his own way. LEONARD GREEN Pre-Medical Laurelton, N. Y. Biology Society, presidsnt; Pre-Medlcal Society; De- bating Society; Commentator Force is of brutes but honor conquers everything. MORTIE GREEN English Montreal, Canada Ice Skating Club, Psychology Club; Jewish Philosophy Society If music be the food of love, sing on. BERNARD GREENBAUM Sociology Brooklyn, N. Y. Sociological Society The high mountains are for the wild goat. 22 SEYMOUR GREENFIELD Biology Bronx, N. Y. Biology Society, secretary; Coop; Canvassing Com- mittee; Student Council; Varsity fencing Much study wearies ihe flesh. Bronx, N. Y. WILLIAM GRIS PolHical Science I.R.S.; J.V. basketball There is fhe silenf criticism of silence worth all the rest. JUDAH HARRIS Political Science Far Rockaway, N. Y. I.R.S.; S.A.C.; Student Council; You, the Student; Commentator; Debating Society; Awards Committee, chairman; Senior Class, president; Canvassing Com- mittee ' Yeshiva expects every man to do his duty. HENRY HARTMAN Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. S.A.C.; I.R.S., vice-president; Young Democrats Capital is the fruit of labor. 23 IRWIN HAUT Hebrew Brooklyn, N. Y. Le Cercle Francois; Pi Delta Phi, secretary-treasurer; Commentator; Mosmid And gladly would he feach and gladly learn. JOSEPH HERSHENOV Maf iemat ' cs Brooklyn, N. Y. Commentator; Student Council; Mathematics Club; You, the Student To undersfand the words of the wise and their riddles. EUGENE HORN Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. Masmid, associate photography editor; Varsity ten- nis, co-captain; I.R.S.; Class thietic manager; Music Club; Commentator Rejoice young man in your youth. FRED HOROWITZ Political Science Far Rockaway, N. Y. Eranos; Gamma Rho Sigma, secretary; I.R.S.; Stu- dents for Democratic Action This world is a comedy to those who think. 24 WALTER HULKOWER Sociology Brooklyn, N. Y. Dramatics Society; L.U.A.A.; Mosmid, business man- ager; track team A steam engine in trousers. REUBIN HUTTLER English New York, N. Y. Masmid Be yourself. SIDNEY INGBER Political Science Forest Hills, N. Y. Varsity fencing; Varsity soccer; Wrestling Club; I.R.S.; Masmid; First Aid, instructor And siill they gazed and still the wonder grew that one small head could carry all he knew. NORMAN INTRATOR Motfiemafics Newark, N. J. There ' s many a good tune played on on old fiddle. 25 HENRY J. ISAACS Hebrew New York, N. Y. Choral Society Silence is the perfectest fiera d of wisdom. NEIL ISRAEL Mafhematics Brooklyn, N. Y. Wrestling Club How vain are all these glories. ELIEZER JAFFE Sociology Cleveland Heights, Ohio Sociological Society, president; I.R.S.; Psychology Club; Choral Society; Jewish Philosophy Society; Co- op; Y.U. Drive; Student Guide Book The proper study of man is mankind. 26 r T A ft 1 SEYMOUR JAFFE History Brooklyn, N. Y. Ice Skating Club; I.R.S. Variety is the soul of pleasure. STAN JAPFE English Brooklyn, N. Y. Deutscher Verin; Eranos; Gama Rho Sigma Who whispers to him, so pantingly and close? ALLEN JOSEPHS Pre-Med Richmond Hill, New York Pre-Medical Society With a simple and pure soul I come to you. TIBOR lUNGREIS History New York, N. y. They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocation. I ■5S™ Pc i« T «r J 1 k| t 1 i HHHIi JHr ' H BOAZ KAHANA Psychology New York, N. Y. Man is the merriest species of all creation. I 27 FRED KAHANE Polifical Science Brooklyn, N. Y. ' Tis only noble to be kind. HARVEY KARTEN Pre-Med New York, N. Y. Opposition is the surest persuasion. DAVID S. KATZ English Far Rockaway, New York A gentleman makes no noise. ABRAHAM KEEHN English Brooklyn, N. Y Co-op, manager Seest thou a man diligent in his business? 28 SHELDON KORNBLUTH Physics Brooklyn, N. Y. S.A.C.; Blood Drive, chairman; Y.U. Drive, co-chair- man; Commentator, managing editor, news editor, copy editor; You, the Sudent, editor; Masmid think. Therefore I am. ik WILLIAM KOTKES Sociology Brooklyr . N. Y. Gamma Rho Sigma; ice Skating Club; Eronos; Socio- logical Society; Commentator; Masmid, business manager; Y.U. Drive; You, the Student Ah, fhe joy of going to school on o sunny morn. HENRY KRESSEL Physics Brooklyn, N. Y. Masmid, editor-in-chief; Commentator, feature editor; Le Cercle Francois, president; Mathematics club; Pi Delta Phi; Le Flambeau; School orchestra The style is fhe man himself. ARTHUR KROCHMAL French Bronx, N. Y. Pi Delta Phi, vice-president; Le Cercle Francois; Jew- ish Philosophy Society; Chess Club Brains and Broun. 29 ELIAS LAUER Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. Ice Skating Club; I.R.S.; Debating Society, treasurer; Commentator; Masmid The way to be happy is to moke others so. ' BIALIK M. LERNER Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. I.R.S.; Le Cercle Francais; Hebrew Club; Commen- tator; Review editor, Masmid, Activities editor The diri of labor rather than the saffron of indolence. HERBERT J. LERNER Political Science Bronx, N. Y. Gamma Rho Sigma, president; Eranos, secretary- treasurer; I.R.S.; Eta Sigma Phi; Student Guidebook Infellecfual passion drives out sensuality. JOSEPH LEVINE English Brooklyn, N. Y. Choral Society Music is well said to be the speech of angels. 30 BARNET LIBERMAN Polifical Science Now York, N. Y. Chess Club, president; I.R.S.; Israeli Philatelic So- ciety; Varsity fencing, co-captain Good fences make good neighbors. HAROLD UEBOWITZ Sociology New York, N. Y. Art Club, president; Sociological Society; Masmid; A frue arfisf is a rare, rare breed . . . DAVID LIFSHUTZ History Wasbingion, D. C. Varsity tennis, captain; Eranos; Ice Skating Club; Gamma Rho Sigma VanHy of vaniiies; all is vanify. NORMAN LINZER English Brooklyn, N. Y. Sociological Society; Music Club Oftiimes behind locked doors lie great treasurers. ' 31 :2f Hebr NORMAN LISS Brooklyn, N. Y. Eranos; Masmid; Track Team; Music Club Put not your trust in money, but your money in trust. ' 1 ; ALBERT MAIMON Psychology Seattle, Washington Psychology Club; Varsity soccer; Y.U. Drive A Rosie is a Rosie is a Rosie. JOSHUA B. MALKS English Bronx, N. Y. Young blood must have its Cord. PHILIP ISAAC MANDEL History New York, N. Y. The D. A. draws a circle. 32 GERSHON METZGER Chemisfry New York, N. Y. Blood Drive, chairman Something affempfed something done. MELVIN MINSTER Mathematics Baltimore, Maryland Masmid; Sociological Society Was neer prince so meek and debonaire. LEONARD JOSEPH MOGILNER Pre-Med Newark, New Jersey Pre-Medicol Society; Masmid; Commentator; Var- sity fencing; Varsity soccer There can be no disputing about tastes. ifi JOSEPH M. MAIMER Political Science ' Montreal, Canada Deutscher Verein; Ice Skating Club; I.R.S. Boot; Saddle! To horse and away. 33 HOWARD NEWMAN Chemisfry Brooklyn, N. Y. Swimming, instructor; Class Athletic Manager Love is jusf a subtle chemical reaction. JULES NORDUCHT Psychology Brooklyn, N. Y. Psychology Club; StucJents for Democratic Action; Ice Skating Club; Masmid Blessed be he who only doefh wonderous things. J. MITCHELL ORLIAN Brooklyn, N. Y. Jewish Philosophy Society; Y.U. Drive; Varsity basket- ball; Varsity soccer; Varsity tennis Here is the key to unlock all locks. Hebr 34 MARVIN B. PACHINO Psychology Baltirr ore, Maryland Jewish Philosophy Society Perseverance keeps honor bright. MARVIN MANUEL PARILMAN Sociology Omaha, Nuhra ' jka Sociology Club; I.R.S.; S.A.C.; Art Club have found naughf of befter service than silence. VELVEL PASTERNAK English Toronto, Canada Choral Society; Music Club We ore the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams. FISHEL ALTER PEARLMUTTER English Baltimoie, Maryland Debating Society, president; Deutscher Verein; Y.U. co-chairman; Commentator, managing editor; Mas- mid; Ba Sigma Phi; Eranos; Senior-Freshman Ad- visory Committee His tongue dripped mannah and could make the worst appear the better cause. IRWIN PECHMAN Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. Chess Club, vice-president; I.R.S.; Ice Skating Club; Commentator, business manager; Masmid Ah, take the cash and let the credit go. 35 ' ' r: . EMANUEL T. PHILLIPS Pre-Med Jamaica, New York Pre-Medical Society; Student Council; Masmid There buds fhe promise of celestial worfb. ' HERBERT PRAGER Chemistry New Britain, Connecticut Pre-Medical Society He that wresilss strengthens his nerves and sharpens his skill. WALLACE PRUZANSKY Polifical Science Bronx, New York I.R.S.; Deutscher Verein; Varsity basketball; Socio- logical Society Hardy sports need not affect the soul. MORTON JACOB RICHTER Political Science Brooklyn, N. Y. Eranos; Gamma Rho Sigma; I.R.S.; Sociological So- ciety; Ice Skating Club; Israeli Philatelic Society; De- bating Society; Co-op, manager; Masmid, photog- raphy editor; Y.U.A.A. Success need not be attributed to education. ' ' 36 ABRAHAM ROSENBERG Pre-Med New York, N. Y. Music Club; Chess Club; Varsity fencing; Pre-Medi- cal Society Of the importance of being earnest. FREDY ROSNER Pre-Med New Vorit, N. V. Pre-Medical Society, vice-president; Pi Delta Phi, sec- retary; Lee Cercle Francois; Y.U. Drive; Masmid, typing editor; Commentator; Swimming instructor One may smile and sfill be o scholar. MORRIS LEON RUBINSTEIN Biology New York, N. Y. The arf of reading is to skip judiciously. L English HENRY DAVID RUTMAN Cleveland, Ohio Eta Sigma Phi; Gamma Rho Sigma, secretary-treas- urer A sm 7e is an man ' s best ornament. 37 MARTIN SCHNALL Mafhemafics English MATTHEW M. SAFFERN Nsw York, N. Y. Sociological Society; Psychology Club; Jewish Phil- osophy Society To turn events into ideas is the aim of literature. ironx, N. Y. Mathematics Club; Sociological Society; Eranos; Gamma Rho Sigma; Eta Sigma Phi; Student Guide Book Speak softly and carry a big stick. ALVIN SCHREIBER Sociology Bronx, New York Society was invented for a remedy against injustice. RALPH MEYER SCHUCHALTER Psychology Baltimore, Maryland Varsity basketball; Chesterfield representative; Psychology Club, president; Commentator, exchange editor; Co-op; Sociological Society; Masmid Who says you can ' t start at the top? 38 HERBERT CHARLES SCHULBERG Psychology Bronx, New York Psychology Club; Sociological Society; Deutscher Verein; Senior-Freshman Guidance Committee, chair- man The youth must be warned. JOSEPH SILVER Pre-Med New York, N. Y. A good laugh and a long sleep are fhe best cures in a doctor ' s book. STUART SLOYER Psychology Brooklyn, N. Y. Psychology Club Many a flower is born to blush unseen. HOWARD SPEAR Political Science Dover, New Jersey Student Council, president; Varsity fencing, captain; I.R.S. Duty, not joy, is all a president ' s share. 39 MARVIN J. SPIEGELMAN Hisiory New York, N. Y. Philosophy is fhoughf but religion is life. SHELDON STEINBERG History Boston, Massachusetts I.R.S.; Jewish Philosophy Society Bos on is a state of mind. GERALD STRUM Pre-Med Brooklyn, N. Y. Pre-Medical Society; Biology Society; Commentator Did anyone call me Doc? JOSEPH SUNGOLOWSKY French Jersey City, New Jersey Le Cercle Francois; Pre-Medical Society; Pi Delta Phi, president; Le Flambeau, editor-in-chief Poeie, prend ton Flambeau; c ' est moita conscience. 40 LEO TAUBES English Now York, N. Y. Pi Delta Phi; Masmid, literary editor Nature ' s chief masterpiece is a well written story. MARVIN TEICHMAN Psychology New York, N. Y. Varsity fencing, manager; Masmid A foil, an orange, a scoresheet. What more does a man need? NAFTALI TEITELBAUM Mathematics Brooklyn, N. Y. Masmid, managing editor; Mathematics Club; Israeli Philatelic Society, president; S.A.C.; Commentator Patience and perseverance bring their own rewards. { li GERALD TRAUB Chemistry Brooklyn, N. Y. Pre-Medical Society; Biology Society in a good dentist: a hawk ' s eye, a lion ' s heart and a lady ' s hand. 41 42 JOSEPH WEINBERG Psychology New York, N. Y. Masmid Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament. HERSHEL WEINBERGER Mathematics New York, N. Y. Masmid;Mathematics Club Every mind has its choice between truth and repose. AAAURICE WEISENBERG Sociology Miami Beach, Florida Society is a masked ball where everyone hides his real character and reveals it by hiding. MOSHEH WEISS Physics Bronx, New York Mathematics Club A wise man will hear and will increase his learning. ISRAEL A. YAVNE Hebrew Brooklyn, N, Y. You, the Student; Jewish Philosophy Society An ounce of mirth is worth a pound of sorrow. ISRAEL ZUCKERMAN Pre-Med Arverrle, New York Pre-Medica! Society; S.A.C. Knowledge is not subjeci to diminishing refurns. Hebr MYRON ZUNDELL Winfhrop, Massachusetts I.R.S.; Choral Society; Eranos; Jewish Philosophy So- ciety To arms, to arms, and quick as lightning he to combat flies. 43 Class of 1955 January 1955 Berliner, Alfred Blank, Gershon Burnstein, Melvin Chervin, Jerome Cohen, Simon Esses, Harry Essrog, Seymour Fishman, William Freundlich, Milton Green, Morton Greenbaum, Bernard Greenberg, Harold Greenfield, Seymour Hershenov, Joseph Jaffe, Seymour Jaffe, Stanley Lauer, Elias Liberman, Barnet Nahourai, Ezatollah Maimer, Joseph Orlian, Jay Parilman, Marvin Rothchild, Ernest Saffern, Matthew Schreiber, Alvin Stadtmauer, David I. Steinberg, Sheldon Strum, Gerald Weinberger, Hershel Weisenberg, Maurice Yavne, Israel June 1955 Antelman, Marvin Aranov, Charles Bashkowitz, Marvin Berger, Sidney Berschling, Chester Borgen, Marvin Borow, Aaron Bernhard, Norman Borstein, Leonard Brezak, Joseph Broyde, Barret Bruckenstein, Abraham Chamsides, Leon Citron, Jay Cleeman, Paul Cohen, Arnold Cohen, Morris Cohen, Simon Davidowitz, Gilbert Davis, Joshua DeLecinskis, Noah Dier, Paul Dubler, Walter Enker, Arnold Finkelstein, Bernard Plug, Sol Freundlich, Milton Furstenberg, Harry Galinsky, Hersh Gefter, Morton 44 Genachovsky, Dov Gewirtz, Allen Gold, Manuel Gottlieb, Judah Green, Joel Green, Leon Green, leonard Green, Mortie Gris, William Harris, Judah Hartman, Henry Haut, Irwin Horowitz, Fred Hulkower, Walter Huttler, Rubin Ingber, Sidney 4 Intrator, t iormon haac, henry I ' .raol, Neil Jaffu, Eliezer Jo- ephj, Allen Jungreis, Tibor Kahana, Boaz Karten, Harvey Katz, David Keehn, Abraham Kornbluth, Sheldon Kotkes, William Kratzer, Oscar Kressel, Henry Krochmal, Arthur Kronengold, Jock Lerner, Bialik Lorner, Herbert Levine, Joseph Linzer, Norman Lisi, Nofman Maimon, Albert A lkt, Joshua Mandel, Philip Mayerhoff, Jonoh Metzger, Gershon Minster, Melvin Mogilner, Leonard Newman, Howord Nordlicht, Jules Pochino, AAarvin Pasternak, Willie Pearlmutter, Fishel Pechman, Irwin Phillips, Emanuel Prager, Herbert Pruzansky, Wallace Richter, Morton Rosenberg, Abraham Rosenthal, Amnon Rosner, Fredy Rubinstein, Morris Rutmon, Henry D. Scheinman, Harold fl| Schnoll, Martin B Schuchalter, Ralph Schulberg, Herbert Silver, Joseph Sloyer, Stuart Spear, Howard Spiegelman, Marvin Sungolowsky, Joseph Sutton, Albert Taubes, Leo Teichman, Marvin Teitelbaum, Marcel Teitelbaum, Naftali Traub, Gerald Weinberg, Joseph Weisenberg, Maurice Weiss, Mosheh Zuckerman, Israel Zundell, Myron I jyi%V ARNOLD ENKER Edifor-in-chief t PAUL ROGOWAY Copy Editor DAVID J. ZWEIBEL Business lonoger 46 Sooted: E. Fishhaut, I. Aronson, P. Rogoway, A. Enker, J. Klein, S. Ro enberg. Middle Row: H. Eisenstadt, W. Fishmon, E, Horn, J. Koplan, H. Grois, I. Borvick, Bernstein. Top Row: J. Hershenov, N. Teitelboum, A. Greenspan, M. Berlin, D. Genochovsky, Zwiebel. Commentator ended its second decade and began its third with one of its most successful years. Appearing fifteen times, including six six-page issues. The Commentafor gave greater and more varied coverage in all its departments. The elimination of large unprofitable advertisements also provided more space for items of interest to its readers. Alert news reporting brought readers immediate coverage of major student and University news. The Commentator announced the details of the Univer- sity ' s projected new million dollar dormitory and the appearance of New York State ' s Governor Averell Harriman as guest of honor at the University ' s Annual Scholarship Dinner long before the stories were car- ried by any of the metropolitan papers. Detailed reports on faculty discussions concern- ing curriculum revision were given major billing. Other items included stories on the opening of the Stern College for Women, the new course for Smicha study and fuller reports on major club activities. Complete coverage was also given to all phases of Yeshiva sports, including intramurals. The editorial column of The Commentator con- tinued the crusade for guidance - religious, voca- tional and personal - successfully struck out against what it called an illegal and undemocratically constituted dormitory council, and campaigned for t+ie abolishment of the college ruling that a teacher could not change a grade if he thought his evalua- tion of his student ' s work had been in error. An editorial series on Improving Educational Stand- ards, which discussed one-man departments, faculty and guidance, among other things, brought the year to a close. JOSEF E. FISCHER Monoging Editor Spring Term Highlighting the feature def artment wcrs a series of interviews with some of the Rabbis of R.I.E.T.S., in which they presented their views on University and general Jewish problems. Special features were devoted to the American Jewish Ter- centenary, a report on former Commentator editors and a review of twenty years of basketball at Y.U. This yeor also saw the successful revival of the Wits End humor column which had not appeared for more than ten years. The Purim issue told of Dr. Hering Egos ' startling discovery that Meshiga Uni- versity was once a theological school. Its high points were a catalog of Meshiga courses and excerpts from Dr. Egos ' book From Kugel to Kogel. Once again The Commentator was awarded the First Class rating by the Associated Collegiated Press. 47 Seated: M. Sti Middle Row: . Keehn, S. Schwartz, S. Rosenberg, pan, L. Bernstein, S. Schreiber, I. Tuchinsky, Top Row: S. Press, E. Jaffe, R. Schuchalter, M Weisenberg, Following its tradition of continuing improve- ment, the post year saw impressiv e additions to Co- op services. During the summer, the Main Store was enlarged, combining all branches of Co-op into one, and enabling the store to be open from 12 to 5 p.m. daily. For the first time the bookstore had textbooks in stock at the beginning of the term. Modern Library Editions and a larger selection of paperbacks were added to the expanded store. The co-op canteen installed an Ice-Cream machine on the fourth floor of the college, and milk, candy and cake machines in its popular dormitory annex. As in previous years, items bearing the Y.U. emblem enjoyed a popularity in sales. To the pride of the managers. Co-op was ac- cepted to membership in the National Association of College Stores, an organization of over 900 college bookstores in the U.S. Judah H. Klein ' 56 and Abraham Keehn ' 55, were this year ' s managers. Morris Stillman ' 56, was in charge of the Concert Bureau, and last year ' s managers served as advisors. These were: George Ribowsky ' 56, Herbert Lubowsky ' 57 and Chester Berschling ' 55. Le Cercle Francais Seated: I. Taubes, A. Krochmal, J. Sungolowsky, F. Rosnor, H. Slilln Standing: D. Morris, W. Hulkower, A. Asher, H. Liebowitz. Under the able guidance of Professor Sidney D. Braun, Le Cercle Francois and Pi Delta Phi pre- sented a jointly-sponsored program of lectures, films and general cultural activities. Among the guest lecturers were: Professor Germaine Bree who spoke on Andre Gide, Professor Daniel Girard who dis- cussed French Civilization through Postage Stamps, Professor Jacques Guicharnaud who elaborated on The French Cinema, and Rene Cheval, cultural attache at the French Embassy. The films featured were: Chateaubriand, Gilbert, Le Lycee sur la Colline, and many others. Several discussions, groups on modern French literary trends, conversational groups and readings of classical French drama were conducted by the students led by Joseph Sungolowsky ' 55, president of Pi Delta Phi, and Henry Kressel ' 55, president of Le Cercle Francois. As in previous years, the French groups pub- lished Le Flambeau, the nationally distributed French literary magazine edited by Joseph Sungolowsky ' 55, and for the first time the Raconter, an English-French publication under the editorship of Arnold Asher ' 57 and Edward Lilly ' 57. Assisting the respective presidents were Arthur Krochmal ' 55, vice-president of Pi Delta Phi and Fred Rosner ' 55, secretary of Pi Delta Phi and vice- president and secretary of Le Cercle Francois. The Deustcher Verein of Yeshivo College, with Professor Ralph Rosenberg as faculty advisor, pre- sents lectures and programs of interest to the stu- dents of German language and literature. In odd ' fion to the regular Beer and Pretzel parties and the Rhinelond melodies usually heard at the club ' s meetings, this year members heord several lectures from members of the faculty. These included: The German Renaissance — Dr. Chernowitz; Phil- osophy of Goethe ' s Dr. Faustus — Dr. Litmon; The German Folklore — Dr. K. Adier: History of Ger- man Opera — Dr. Nollin. The officers for the post year were: Simon Cohen ' 55, president, and Herzel Eisenstodt ' 56, secetory- treosurer. S. Fishma J. Brezok. D. Zweibel, H. Eisenstodt, Prof. Rosenberg, S. Cohen, G, Metiger, Deutscher Verein Mathematics Club 4.5At Seofed: H. Lewitan, J. Hershenov, H. Furstenberg, G. Blank, M. Weiss, H. Wein- berger. Standing: M. Luban, J, Lebowitz, J. Silverstein, N. Teifelbaum, J. Oelbaum, H. Kreuel. The Math Club, under the leadership of Harry entirely by student members of the club included: Furstenberg, president and Isaac Sadowsky, vice- Non-Euclidean Geometry , Groups of Transform- president, endeavors to present advanced mathe- afion of Geometry , Topics in Topology, Four matical topics in simplified form. Color Theorem, and Elementral Examples of Gilel ' s The topics prepared in lecture form and given Theorem . Chess Club Seated: W. Fishman, M. Katzper, S. Ingber, B. Liberman Standing: B. Broyde. 50 Sociology Society Soalod: W. Hulkowor, J. Polansky, E. Jaffoo, Prof. Goldberg, M. Woilonborg, I Hammer, S. Ingbor, S. Soavy. Middle Row.- A. Gowiriz, M. Cohen, S. Fishmun, I. Kolz, J. Choifctz, H. Donige M. Parilman, W. Kotkos, H. Schulborg. Top Row: H. Eisonstadt, R. Schucholtor, S. Sloyer, B. Rothman, E. Hollander. The members of the Sociology Society had the opportunity, this year, of hearing expert representa- tives from each field o f social work discuss the particular aspects of their work. Among these were: Mr. Robert Shulman, Chief, Child Welfare Dept. of New York State and Mr. Donald Feldstein, Group Work Director, Educational Alliance. Other meetings were devoted to topics of general interest in the fields of social problems. Speakers heard from included; Victor Geller, Y. U. Community Service Division and Dr. Frederick Bair, Chief, N. Y. Commission Against Discrimination in Education. Spearheading the Society ' s increased activities was Eliezer Jaffe 55, who also repres°nted the group at several outside conferences. He received able as- sistance from Professor Nathan Goldberg, Chairman of the Socioloay Deoartment: Meyer We ' senberg, vice-president; Joe Polansky, recording secretary and David Hammer, corresponding secretary. Seated: H. Schi Middle Stodtmt Top Ro ' The Psychology Club and Psi Chi, the National Honorary Society in Psychology, both led by Ralph Schuchalter ' 55, president, aim to serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas on Psychology ond the stimulation of individual and group projects in their field. The Yeshiva Chapter of Psi Chi was organized in December 1954. Dr. Hubert Bonner, former vice- president of the National Council of Psi Chi was guest speaker at the first meeting. Thereafter, at a joint meeting of the two groups, Mr. Nelson Storch, a graduate student at Yeshiva presented a fascinating lecture and demonstration on The Scientific Use of Hypnosis in the Field of Psychology. The other officers are Allen Gerwitz, ' 55 vice- president and Joel Green, ' 55 secretary-treasurer. M. Cohen, J. Weinberg, R. Schuchalter, Prof. Adier, J. Green, A. Gewirti, Iberg, I. Aronson. Row: L Green, S. Gluck, B. Rothman, D. Hommer, M. AdIer, R. Klein, D. v: M. Schwortzstein, A. Moimon, S. Sloyer, E. JoHe, R. Gorber. Psychology Club International Relations Society Seated: J. Kapalan, M.— Gold, H. Hartman, Prof. Margalith, J. Heller, E. Federbush, L Bernstein, J. Klein. Middle Row: M. Richter, W. Gris, M. Porilmon, E. Lauer, E. Horn, J. Naimer, S. Ing- ber, P. Cleemon, S. Schimmel, I. Tuchinsky, E. Jaffe. Top Row: S. Rosenberg, B. Liberman, G. Davidowiti, T. Jungreis, F. Kohono, A. Bruckenstein, B. Lerner, M. Zundell, S. Jaffe. The I. R. S., as usual, devoted its program to the discussion and analysis of issues of international and national importance with the ultimate aim of a better understanding and appreciation of these issues. Towards this goal several important assemblies and meetings were held and the large student attendance is indicative of their success. Among the interesting filths shown were: The Nuremberg Trials, and The Murrow-Oppenhoimer Interview. Foremost among the important speakers were New- bold Morris and Congressman Abraham J. Multar who debated before the 1954 elections, and Israeli Am- bassador Abba Ebon (in a joint meeting with the Israeli Institute) who discussed Jewish History: The Toynbee Heresy. Leading the I. R. S. during 1954-55 were Jack Heller ' 56, president; Henry Hartman ' 55, vice- president, Dov Genachovsky ' 55, secretary; and Hersh M. Galinsky ' 55, treasurer. The purpose of the Jewish Philosophy Society is to invite outstand ' ng personalities in the field of Jewish thought to speak to the students on topics of Jewish interest. Under the leadership of Melvin Zelefsky ' 56 presi- dent, Allen Bobroff ' 56, vice-president and Melvin Heftier ' 57, secretary, the society succeeded in at- tracting a large audience to its lecture series. These included: Dr. Melech Shachter speaking on Faith and Reason, Rabbi Joseph Singer discussing Major Trends in Medieval and Modern Jewish Philosophy, and Rabbi Isaac Swift reviewing The Influence of the Jew on Western Culture. Much interest yas attracted to Rabbi Israel Shor ' s lecture on Talmudic and Kaballistic Allusions in Milton. Jewish Philosophy Society Sealed: R. Gorber, M. Adier, M. Heftier, R. Klein, M. Zundell, S. Gluck. 52 Standing: M. Schwartzstein, B. Liberman, E. Jaffe. Pre-Medical Society N ? Sooted: J. Sandler, A. Rosenthol, Y. Jaffo, F. Ro«ner, C Berichling, S S)«inm ti, H. Gross, S. Fishman. Middle Row: L. Groon, H. Slono, I. Shapiro, M Dochmon, J. Koplan, W. KUin, D. Winter, G. Strum. Top Row: H. Rosenbloom, E. Weiss, J. Singer, E. Sternberg, S. JotVowiti; R. KItin, S. Kopelowitz, I. Zuckermon. The Pre-Medical Society, organized primarily to aid the student preparing for a career in medicine and allied fields, was the scene of many activities this year. In expectation of the proposed opening of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the society ' s program of aiding the student in planning his future work included addresses by Dr. E. M. Levine, Dr. Robert Hansen of the Public Health Service and Dr. Abraham White of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Several films dealing with such varied topics as Cancer and The Inside Story of Recovery were shown. Lectures on research problems were also pre- sented. Leading these activities this past year were: Chester Berschling ' 55, president; Fredy Rosner ' 55, vice- president; Seymour Steinmetz ' 56, secretary-treas- urer. The Biology Society, under the leadership of Her- bert Gross ' 56, president, and Jay Rothchild ' 57, secretary-treasurer, was the setting for several im- portant lectures delivered by students majoring in Biology. Keeping in line with the group ' s encouroge- ment of research, Robert Taub ' 56 spoke on The Design of a Brain and Harold Scheinman ' 55 gave a talk on Antibiotics. In addition, several important films dealing with Biology were shown. Of special note was the Russian film: Experimsnts in the Resuscitation of Organisms. Seated: S. Steinmetz, S. Greenfield, H. Gross, L. Green, S. H. Stillmo Standing: J. Ellenberg, Y. Jaffe, P. Schmidt, S. Fishman. Biology Society Ths Dr Louis Wo|l ity to fur Practice the grou Reception Faustus. Initiatin Rabb matics Society, reorganized this year by 58, president, saw a resurgence of activ- ler student interest in Dramatics. I experience in dramatics was derived from ' s preparations for the annual Dean ' s and the production of Marlowe ' s Doctor Dc V ) a series on Drama the World Over, d Mirsky spoke on Modern Hebrew Drama. He was followed by Professors Braun , Rosen- berg, Fleisher and Lainoff who discussed French, German and English drama, respectively. In addition, the society offered its assistance to various school functions and endeavored to run school productions for the entertainment of the stu- dent body. Larry Teitel ' 57 served as vice-president and Morris Berlin ' 58 was secretary. Dramatics Society Seated: P. Teitel. Standing: L. Wohl, W. E. Horn. M. Berlin, W. Hulkower, R. Nussbaum, S. Ingber, Young Democrats The Young Democratic Club was organized this year under the leadership of Manuel Gold ' 55, president. As its primary objsctive, the club endeavors to provide students with on outlet for political ex- pression through a program of discussion, analysis, enlightenment and dissemination of ideas. By en- couraging students to take an active interest in the organization and activities of their local and national governments, thai club hopes to promote better citizenship and government . Several films dnd recordings of importance were presented to the members who also participated in various political discussions. Assisting Mr. Gold in the Young Democrats were Jack Heller ' 56, v ce-president and Gil Davidoff ' 55, secretary. 54 Seated: J. Kaplan, H. Hartman, M. Gold, Prof. Margalilh, J. Heller, E. Lauer, B. Libermon. Middle Row: E. Horn, J. Maimer, M. Weber, G. Davidowitz, A. Bruckenstein, W. Fishman, M. Richter. Top Row: L. Bernstein, J, Klein. Choral Society Bottom Row: Prof. Adior, T. loffe i. Kopolan, A. Borow, H. Eiwnitodt, A Ath.r, i. Silverstein, D. Zwiebel, J. Lebowitz, S. Zimmelmon, H. Goldjtein. W. Kl.in. M Zundell, C. Minkus, E. Jaffe, J. Levine, H. Iiooct. Top Row. I. Dryspiel, H. Stillmon, J. Chinifz, S. Seovy, L. Wohl, B. Klein, £. Bvraer J Polansky. Strains of harmo nious music may be heard echoing from the music room every Thursday during the evening hours at the weekly meeting of the Choral Society. The Society, under the direction of Dr. Karl Adier, aims to provide students having an interest in choral music with a few leisurely hours to exercise their talents and to arouse a general interest in choral singing among the student body. The Choral Society is also of valuable service to the University by its performances at various studenl council functions such as the Dean ' s Reception, as well as meetings of the Y. U. Organization and Alumni Association. Officers of the Society for the past year were: Sidney Zimelman ' 57, president; Arnold Asher ' 57, vice-president; and Eliezer Jaffe ' 55, secretary treasurer. The Music Club was organized in order to prornote. the appreciation of good music and provide ifudents with relaxing and educational expsrieates in the world of music. Several lectures given by ProfaMOr Nallin and by students, versed in the l rowledge of music, were heard by the group. Heading activities this past year were Edward Beiger ' 58 presidwit; Joy Braverman ' 58, vice-presi- dent and EuMne Horn ' 55 secretary. A E. Horn, M. Gold, J. M. Richter. r, J. Berger, W. Kotkes W. Hulkower, W. Fithmon, Music Club 55 Gamma Rho Sigma front Row: W. Hulkower, N. Lewin, M. Katzper, M. Axelrod, E. Hollande Bock Row: M. Richter, E. Horn, F. Kahana, W. Kotkes, D. Lifshutz. 56 The Eranos Society and the local chapter (Gamma Delta) of the National Honorary Fraternity, Eta Sigma Phi, seek to popularize the study of the classics and the humanities. Under the leadership of Herbert Schreiber ' 56, president of Eranosand Nathan Lewin ' 57, president of the Eta Sigma Phi chapter, the two groups were the scene of numerous activity. At various meetings held this year members heard lectures and demon- strations such as: Roman Art by Professor Cherno- witz; Life in Ancient Pompeii by Herbert Schreiber; The Jewish Cataconds in Rome by Morton Axelrod; ' Euripedes by Nathan Lewin; Roman Law by Herbert Schreiber; Josephus Flavius by Meyer ' Katz- per and others. In addition, the society gave a dramatic reading and an analysis of Euripedes ' Ion as well as selec- tions from T.S. Eliot ' s T ie Confidenfial Clerk. P. Teitel, W. Kotkes, E. Hollander, M. Katzper, N. Le :ranos The Yeshiva College Debating Society hao completed another year as one of Yoshiva ' s most active and successful societies. The Society ' s teams, both varsity and novice, with the able advice of Professor David Fleisher, represented Yeshiva in ex emplory debat e at over thirty major universities in the eastern sector of the United States. This year, in addition to the regular varsity, the Pre-varsity or novice teams debated extensively. Yeshiva once again retained an active interest in the Metropolitan Inter-Collegiate Debate Council League which it helped form. The varsity ' s debating officers were: Jack Heller ' 56, president, Joseph Kaplan ' 56, general manager and Morton Gefter ' 55, treasurer. The Pre-varsity ' s officers were: Mandeli Granchrow ' 58, president, Joseph Singer ' 58 vica-president and Abraham Shapiro ' 58, secretary Debating Society The Student Activities Committee aims at the development of a well-informed student body, the fuller utilizat ' on and improvement of University facilities and the encouragement of a greater partici- pation in extra-curricular activities, all of which are essential to well rounded liberal education. This year the S.A.C. undertook an expanded program which included the administration of the weekly club period and the coordination of student extra-curricular activities. As a result the clup period has been brought to its greatest level of achieve- ment: there are now 24 active clubs, 8 of which were newly formed. Guest lecturers, films, discusions, and exhibitions highlighted tha programs of the various clubs. Heading S.A.C. were Manny Gold, chairman; Seymour Steinmetz, co-chairman; Henry Hartmon and Frank Hellner, vice-chairman. M. Porilman, H. Schreiber, M. Gold, H. Hartmon, L. Wohl, W. Fishn S. A. C. 57 Sealed: E. Philips, J. Hershenov, A. Borow, H. Spe Standing: H. Stone, N. Lewin, J. Fisher, L. Shapirt Y. Jaffe, S. Greenfield. Progress and cooperation best describe the work of the Student Council this past year. Council frequently initiated activities that were designed primarily to aid the work of faculty and administration. Council instituted the Senior-Freshman Guidance Program which assisted and supplemented the work of the Guidance Department. It also as- sisted in the formal orientation of the freshmen dur- ing the first few weeks of school. It created a Library Committee to help the University improve, the library. As is customary. Council produced t ' .e Dean ' s Recep tion, an administration affair, held for the first time under conditions that wers, for the most part, ade- quate. The Student Council Food Committee and its Building Repair Committee obtained various environ- mental improvements. The food in the College Luncheonette was improved and a ventilation sys- tem was installed in the College Luncheonette. Col- lege and dormitory rooms were repaired. Student Council also succeeded in resolving certain issues in which there were varying degrees of disagreement with the Administration. Among these problems were: the approach to a solution of an old dormitory problem; the programming of as- semblies and Club Hours; the attempt to violate Student Council ' s possessions and management of the Cooperative Stores, canteens, and food machines; the attempt by certain members of the University faculty to stifle student activities; and finally, the problems of individual students in which Council helped the students in their negotiations with the Administration. There was an unusual amount of student activity this year. In addition to those clubs already function- ing, several new clubs, including the Pre-Law Society and the Photography Club, were organized. More students were active in clubs than ever before, mak- ing the Student Council Club Hour a success. The Cooperative Stores were expanded. A larger, more efficient main store was open for five hours daily. Ice cream, milk, and cake machines were added to the canteens, providing the students with convenient twenty-four hour a day service. Commenator was published on a regular bi- weekly basis. The newspaper came out fifteen times, more often than usual. Council, in addition, expanded and improved its other activities, such as the Yeshiva University Drive for Charities, the Blood Drive, the Used-Book Exchange, the Freshman-Senior Smoker, Senior Rings, service awards, and the Student Council Assembly Program. The Dramatics Society brought back drama- tics to Lamport Auditorium and Fireside Chats were reinstituted. The Yeshiva College Student Council took on intercollegiate significance this year. It was re- presented in the National Students Association for the first time and it helped the students of Stern Col- lege form a student government. In both student-administration relations and student extra-curricular activities, this has once again been a year of expansion, improvement, and pro- gress. 58 Student Council Howard Spear, President Aaron Borow, Vice-president Yakov Jaffe, Secretary-Treasurer Judah Harris, President: Senior Class Emanuel Phillips, Vice-president: Senior Class Julius Berman, President: Junior Class Martin Schub, Vice-president: Junior Class Nathan Lewin, President: Sophomore Class Josef Fischer, Vice-President: Sophomore Class Leonard Shapiro, President: Freshman Class Herman Stone, Vice-president: Freshman Class Joseph Hershenov, President: Upper Ssnior Class Seymour Greenfield, Vice-President: Upper Senior Class YAKOV JAFFE Secrstory-Treosurer 59 ATHLETICS WRESTLING Bottom Row: T. Diskind, I. Berlinger, J. Polonsky, S. Ingbcr, H, Richtman, H. Chorney, I. Tuchinsky. Top Row: R. Nussboum, R. Klein, S. Hoffmon, S. Goldstein, J. Becker, S. Seovy, M. Schwaiizstein, H. Prager. Yeshiva University ' s athletic program has just wit- nessed its greatest year. Basketball, fencing and swimming led the parade. The hoopsters broke every individual and team scoring record, the duelers ended their season with the best record ever attained by any Y. U. varsity, and the aquatic program had the biggest turnout in Yeshiva history. The Mighty Mites, in their twentieth year and tenth under Coach Red Sarachek, won thirteen games, more wins than any predecessor while losing eight. At their home court. Central Needles Trades High School, they were undefeated, boasting an 8-0 record. They also scored more points, put in more field goals, and had a higher average score per game, than any previous hoop varsity. The past in- dividual scoring records were also completely wiped out of the books, all by Irwin Red Blumenreich. Irwin, who scored a record 513 points for a season, also set the single game mark with 44 points, against Paterson State Teachers College in the game that Mites totalled 110, also an all time high. Their start- ing quintet for the complete season included Red Blumenreich, Jay Citron, Allen Gewirtz, Abe Sodden and Marvin Tei cher. FENCING The biggest win of the season was against Brook- lyn College, a win which was awaited for over a decade. Big victories over highly touted Fairleigh Dickenson and Queens Colleges, were the best per- formances of the Mites as a group. Two wins over Cothedrol, and one each over Webb, Hillyer, Panzer, Rider, Pace, Cooper Union, Newark, Rutgers, and Paterson State, also helped in the making of a successful season. Two major road trips, to Connecti- cut and Pennsylvania, helped bring our Blue and White outside of the metropolitan area. 61 ahmv SWIAAMING Front Row: Irv Dryspeil, Co-captain Dove Lifshutz, Co-captain Gene Horn, Stan Rosenberg, Simi Schreiber. Bock Row: Seymour Hoffman, Aaron Borow, Joe Silverstein, Joel Kaplan, Herbie Hoffman. Yeshiva ' s fencers, under Coach Arthur Tauber, ended their campaign with ten victories, and only one defeat, coming at the hands of Brooklyn College. The wins came over St. Peters, Newark Engineering, Pace, Drew, Fairleigh Dickenson, Brooklyn Polytech, Bridgeport, Newark Rutgers and Cooper Union. Leading the duelers was their captain, Howard Spear ' 55, who boasted a record of 28 wins and only 4 defeats, and Erwin Katz ' 56, who finished the year with a 26-5 record. interest in swimming maintained a new high this year, with two pools and two types of programs be- ing run. At the G. Washington High School pool, classes ranging from beginners to advanced swim- ming were given under the able leadership of Chel Berschling and Fred Rosner. At the downtown pool, Morty Kwestel taught and supervised a Senior Life Saving class. Besides the aquatic program. Red Cross films on various aspects of swimming were shown. The tennis squad once again kept its form, opening its season at West Point against Army, then f illowing up with Drew, Maritime, Pace, L I. U., lona, Webb, Queens, Hunter and Newark Rutgers. The squadron was yed by co-captains Dave Lifshuz ' 56, and Gene Horn ' 55. The season marked the opening of the Met- ropolitan College Tennis Conference, with Yeshiva as one of its members. The raqueteers, therefore, be- came the first Y. U. varsity to enter into league competition. Front Row: P. Teitel, F. Rosner. Back Row; S. Sloyer, M. Goldberg, S. Sternmetz. SOCCER The soccer club used this year mainly for practice and rebuilding. The squad saw many new freshmen display their interest in the sport. Practice matches, against some local coilsges, helped the rebuilding and getting ready for next year. A new coach, ob- tained during the spring semester, will try and bring the group back into regular competition next year. Under the guiding eye of Coach Schoengood, the wrestling squad continued its infersquad matches in preparation for next year, at which time Coach Schoengood intends entering his squad into intef- collegiate competition. Cenfer: Ralph Schuchalter, Allen Gewirtz, Mitchell Orlian and Leon Green Left: Marvin Teicher, Norman Palefski, Jay Citron, Seymour Liebowiti. Righf: Herbie Schlussel, Irwin Blumenreich, Irv Listowsky and Abe Sodden. BASKETBALL 63 CLASS Fou HISTORY More Years Of arms and of the men who four years past Found refuge in Yeshiva ' s noble halls Virgil That which hath been is thai which shall be And that which hath been done is that which shall be done. Koheleth Like every freshman class we entered Yeshivo with the optimistic feeling that ours would be on era of new and greater things, that we would write a history full of worthy achievements. And, indeed, we started with a new record, the largest incoming class which rejected the earthly life and dedicated itself to the higher synthesis. Preparations had been made for this great influx and the old dorm was devoted entirely to college students. The younger generation was shipped to the newly erected dorm where a better record could be kept of their minyan attendance. Worried about overcrowded classes. Professor Rosenberg left hastily in pursuit of a Ford Foundation fellowship. Mr. Emanuel Maier was engaged to tackle with those who wanted to wrestle with German. The troditional Commentator editorial ex- tended the class a welcome and apprised us of our obligations and responsibilities. This was accepted with the traditional Yeshiva attitude. Some of us sprouted militant wings when Com- mie was enchained by a faculty advisor and thus was created the new crop of malcontents. Those who wanted to take full advantage of the situation ran for class offices and David Moses and Judah J. Har- ris became our first president and vice-president. To 64 placate the ruffled feelings created by the Commie episode the Dean created an honor list which was soon honored by a new adjective. The opening of an audio-visual department lead us to happy visions of a bookless education but our hopes were bootless. The only one who attempted to keep up with this tendency was Silverman who progressed so far into the future as to accept science-fiction in lieu of history. T.I. also contributed its share to history with an announcement that it was authorized to confer a B.R.E. degree. For those religious bachelors who had other interests, a Million a Month campaign was initiated in order to speed construction of the Med School. Dr. Belkin, following Cato, came up with periodic reminders that the Med School must be built. It was scheduled to open in 1952. In the midst of these great events our first col- lege finals were conquered, many with aid of high- school tricks. More difficult was the ensuing registration process which, however, in deference to Senator McCarthy was released from much of its tape. Rather to our surprise in view of the many recent tensions, a survey by Yale University showed that most Yeshiva students didn ' t have time to in- dulge in alcohol. The sampling of students was taken from the Beth Hamedrash at night. With this reali- zation of the empty existence led by students, S.A.C. was formed to instill new life into Yeshiva. Karl Adier had his own remedy and decided that if there were no wine and women, there could at least be song. From this false conclusion he inaugurated the Cantorial Workshop. Not to be outdone, future French scholars and doctors joined the newly created French honorary society and Pre-Med society respec- tively. Widespread cynicism prevailed one spring morn- ing when the entire student body and faculty crowded RIETS hall to have their lungs x-royed. Guesses as to the ulterior motives behind this deed of welfare ranged from a mass tzitzis inspection to a hopeful Chesterfield advertising stunt. The real reason became apparent when college tuition was raised $3 a credit. Evidently we were healthy enough for anything. Those of us who had not received the full bene- fit of a Freshman Orientation course and knew nothing of the Dorm Social Hall were excited when it was opened in the evenings for study and quiet relaxation. After a futile turning of the knobs on the radio and a casual glance at the art we decided it was all a mistake. There wosn ' t even a phonograph on which to play the latest Shoshano Damari records so that some valuable Saturday nights were spent seeing her in person. Whatever it was that prompted Miss Damari to say that American men were noive, T.I. took up the challenge by sponsoring study cour- ses in Israel. In an attempt to prove that here, too, there was sufficient material for study, a student committee investigated conditions in the Pollack li- brary. It found books there. This discovery, however, came too late since by now it was June and exams were deciding who could go home and who hod to stay for summer school. And so, one glorious day, the 187th St. squad- ron of the R.A.F. took off, the admonitions of Herman Wouk winging it onwards, and assurances thot the Med school would be built by next yeor ringing in its ears. 65 Th ree Whaf profii hath man of all bis labor wherein he labourefh under fhe sun? After what seemed like an intolerably long summer, Yeshiva opened its welcoming arms to a record crowd of students eager for the benefits of a religious and secular education. After being duly processed by a somewhat more streamlined machine we had a chance to look around for new faces. The outstanding face belonged to Herman ' Queeg ' Wouk who was appointed to the faculty in keeping with the school ' s policy of none but the best. And there ' s none better. Yeshiva students, however, retained their lack of respect for authority and army connections in general, and favored Stevenson over Eisenhower 16-1. An effort to find out what makes students tick or produce other miscellaneous noises caused an investigation of conditions in Stern ' s Cafeteria. The results showed an urgent necessity for the establish- ment of Yeshiva Blood Bank, and red-blooded Korn- bluth became chairman of the Red Cross bloodmobile committee. In a mood of unconscious irony a collection of the documentary history of the Paris Peace Confer- ence was donated to Yeshiva. But German trouble arose again over the dismissal of Emanuel Maier, and an honorary German fraternity was barred from Yeshiva. The Maier case awoke long dormant students ' feelings and brought forth a series of ' accuse ' s aimed in various directions. The net result was an administration decision to the effect that all three credit courses must meet three times a week. 66 More Years although not all of them had to. At this point it was thought advisable that Yeshiva be presented with a collection of the Versailles Conference Papers. Most of us didn ' t get a chance to study them through, since it was finals time again with Dr. Fleisher ' s English test the center of attraction and subject of one long sleepless night. Even this gruelling experience couldn ' t keep our attention off the food situation and selected committees presented grievances to Stern ' s and Across the Street. These were promptly ground up and served for lunch the next day. To combat any falling-off in the eating habits of students a new scholarship plan was outlined which would give deserving boys bigger and better scholarships. This proved such a morale builder that 192 students donated blood, scotching once and for all those rumors about bloodless Yeshiva men. A further survey of what comes into and goes out of Yeshiva was made by Commie which published a mammoth edition of eighteen pages containing 25 years of Yeshiva history. The historically minded members of the class decided to perpetuate their names by running for various offices and Spear made his entrance as secretary-treasurer. Harris and Gold teamed up as leaders of the class and became president and veep. Those who couldn ' t get their names into Commentator by this method did it the hard way via work, and Hoenig, Pearlmutter and Kressel made the masthead. Somehow the ' fever caught on and our Class decided to take over more activities such as the profitable Y.U. Drive headed by Schulman. In addition to this we were elected vicariously into some of the better clubi. Pearlmutter ' i talent with words got him the debating captoincy; Furstenberg alone could keep count of what he loid and presided over the Math club, while Lerner re- viewed the classics as president of Gamma Rho Sigma. The sale of Russian dictionaries showed a re- markable upsurge and some of the boys walked around the halls muttering nyet with varying degree of forcefulness. It seemed that the Russian Embassy had granted some college editors visas to cut through the Iron Curtain and see a slice of Russian life. Prof. Levine claimed that in the case of Commentator this was superfluous since Commie had its own dictatorial setup which was quite able to perpetuate itself with- out outside help. The Comintern promptly answered these bourgeois charges, without, however, resorting to liquidation which would have abolished the chemi- stry department. With an eye to the future, the chem department added another member in the form of Dr. Isaacs who resigned from his position as dean. This was the big news of the year and Commie man- aged to get a scoop over the New York Times. Every- one wondered who the next viceroy would be and whether he would carry out the policies of his pre- decessor. There was the whole summer to decide, however, and we decided to go home rather than stick out the waiting period. Once again we were cheered on our way with the proclamation that the Medical School would be built next yeor. 67 68 Two Thai which is crooked cannof be made siraighf And ihat which is wanting cannof be numbered. By the time we were ready to start our Junior year we had learnt enough to realize that next to going to college there was nothing like not having to go. It was therefore with some optimism that we watched the great billows of smoke pour through Yeshiva ' s windows. However, it only proved to be the new dean, Simeon L. Guterman, who was to earn his keep teaching history. A bit of searching into the past brought up Rabbi Bulman, an ex-dorm student, who discussed minyan attendance without resorting to violence. The administration had other ideas and attendance was placed in the hands of the registrars. Minyan became an official policy of the school and the letters of warning were sent on new stationary. Those who still preferred a late breakfast found Across the Street remodelled com- pletely, except for the food. This situation would soon be cured by Yeshiva ' s own doctors if the ground- breaking ceremonies for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine didn ' t stop at breaking the ground. Several heads came close to being broken in a bit of a to-do about chem class for non-science majors. Half of the lA boys had the breeze taken out of them by being arbitrarily assigned to a dif- ferent section. Vogel apparently thought himself a member of the Brotherhood and played with railroad schedules. Just on time there was a Dean ' s Reception held in Stern ' s, with Gold acting as chairman while Pearlmutter introduced Horn ' s jokes. The generally friendly atmosphere led to the formation of an ice- skating club which gave out Phys Ed credit for pick- ing up fallen girls at the rink. For the benefit of the fallen boys. Dr. Belkin held a meeting at which he stressed. . . oh, yes. . . synthesis. Dr. Levine felt that this didn ' t need stres- sing since his analysis showed the Y.U. student to be singularly free from doubts and conflicts concerning science, religion, ef al. Everyone concerned was grati- fied to hear this. Not so gratifying was the news that the Middle States Association would examine the University some time in the future. To us this implied a great deal of strict and useless new regulations which were grist for somebody ' s mill. The first one of these was a required entrance exam which fortun- ately was not ex post facto. Meanwhile in the business world, the Y.U. Drive was conducted by Gefter, Kornbluth, Cohen and Kotkes who wandered around the four corners of the University with outstretched hands. This capitalistic enterprise brought Norman Thomas around to talk about disarmament. After that no student brought his weapons to school, although he held on to his pen. Enker got splashed with some ink and stayed on to help the paper start its twentieth year. This happy occasion was sung by Levine whose high C entitled him to the presidency of the Karl Society. But there were to be even better things 1o sing about. A little bird whispered the news that soon Yeshiva would open up a woman ' s college. This was one area where synthesyzing would definitely be frowned upon. To lower the rising blood pressure of the stu- dent body, Kornbluth was appointed chief bloodletter for the annual drive. The stuff flowed freely and Y.U. had the best percentage of donors out of sixteen colleges in the city. But then, the incentive was great a free kosher kitchen that served coffee, milk, juice and cake. After getting a taste of this. Student Council once again realized what food wos ond complained to the local eateries about their quality. These complaints were taken with a smile while it was pointed out that the most popular college majors were Poli Sci and Pre-Med and surely if students could stomach those they could eat anything. Time came for the crucial elections for next year. Spear slid in by a landslide as Student Council president and Borow accompanied him as vice-presi- dent. Harris and Philips filled the positions for the class. Pachino had better things to do and got engaged. Other responsibilities were assumed by Enker who wanted to see more of the President ' s office and became editor of Commentator. Kressel decided that he, too, could stay up all night and took over the Masmid. Taubes joined him as literory editor while Richter, who had been popping flash- bulbs for years now, was in charge of photogrophy. Liebowitz left the Village temporarily to take on the Art Club. Schuchalter smoked his first Chesterfield and liked it so much that he started passing out samples to the people who elected him president of the Psych Club. And so the scene was prepared for next year while we took off two months to prepare for the final effort, secure in the knowledge that next year the Med School would be built. More Years 69 For in much wisdom is much vexation And he ihat increaseth fenow ec ge increaseth sorrow. This is the year the world started going round. Here we were, coming bock as seniors wise in the ways of college and with the proper disdain for matters educational. Although this was officially the year for coasting, many of us felt that it was time to make up for the last three years, especially if we wanted to go to grad school. This noble intention was hard pressed by the temptresses from Stern ' s College. A constant flood of invitations to mixed affairs deluged our mail boxes and heaven knows what the girls would have done had everyone come. Schulberg for one knew all about sublimation and channeled his efforts into the socially acceptable Senior-Freshman Guidance Committee. The food situation also became socially accept- able under the direction of Mr. Weber who fixed up the cafeteria and jacked up the prices. Eight seniors found this too novel and took off for Israel on a six month tour. The unfortunate remnant mean- while adopted itself to the new policies that were to make Yeshiva a Good School. These consisted mainly of more attendance taking and mimeo- graphed postcards advising delinquents they were overcut. There was also some talk about having us take the Graduate Record exam to see how much we knew after four years of college, but since our learning was done before the new policies it was felt we would be at a disadvantage. Still, we had to show that we were worth our soul, so Pearlmutter was appointed to represent us at the National Students Association. Dorm residents appointed their own representatives to the new Dormitory Council which was formed to aid students who had religious problems. Rabbi Pelberg, the new chief, could be seen wandering along the halls with a soul-saving expression on his face. This being the year of the Tercentenary cele- bration, the annual Y.U. Dinner was held in honor of the anniversary of the first Jewish settlement in America. These ancestors had fortunately less diffi- culty in finding a suitable place to settle than their descendents who couldn ' t find a site for the Dean ' s reception. Permission to use Lamport Auditorium was denied but thanks to doublethink, the Charles Evans Hughes H. S. was declared acceptable and Horn emceed on foreign soil. The atmosphere away from Yeshiva seemed to do the basketball team a lot of good. For the first time the Yeshiva-Brooklyn classic was won by our side and made the whole season worth while. Schnall and Schulberg tried to dig up something worthwhile by analysing the recreational life of Y. U. students but we remembered what hap- pened with Kinsey. RIETS Hall was briefly made available to students when Dr. Belkin spoke on . . uh . . synthesis. Certain that this idea would catch on, the administration announced the building of a new million dollar dorm, to be financed by a federal loan of $1,225,000. The surplus would be used to pay back-salaries. Meanwhile, back in the dorm. . . Gold ' s Young Democrats had inspired some real democratic feel- ing and the Dorm Council was declared unconsti- tutional. Berschling and. the Pre-Med Society also aired their grievances against a single letter of re- commendation from the faculty committee. When these boys get their scalpels! At the doctor ' s advice Mrs. Schechter (nee Schutz) retired from her position as secretary to the president. To forestall any conceivable recurrences along this line. Mister Ellenberg was appointed as new secretary. The change became evident one morning when half the dorm was crowded into the president ' s office to hear a brief exhortation on min- yan. A most enthusiastic audience heard Abba Ebon defend Judaism against the Toynbee Heresy at an IRS assembly. And for those who wanted to persuade their instructors not to give finals, there was a lecture on the scientific use of hypnosis. 70 At Last In answer to the repeated request for more and better guidance, Marv Hershkowitz was appointed assistant director of guidance. The Senior-Freshman Guidance Program had evidently caused a great deal of hostility; the annual smoker found only one or two seniors willing to brave hords of drunken frosh for a pack of Chesterfields. Perhaps the novelty was wearing off anyway. Commie was showing that it still hod plenty of pep by starting an editorial series with hints on how to really improve educational standards. The Dean refused to be intimidated and held a peaceful dis- cussion on religious tolerance at a Fireside Chat. TFiings really got hot when the Dramatics Society was resurrected and put on Dr. Faustus, yamelkes and all. The Senior Plaque was awarded to Dr. Freed, whose services to the students in the form of ad- vance finals was appreciated. While awards were being given out. Dr. Jonas Salk was chosen for the Bela Schick award of Y.U. Dr. Churgin, who became president of Bar Han, received a degree and was replaced by a five-man presidium, a complimerrf indeed. Some of the seniors also made good. Fursten- berg won a National Science Foundation scholarship while lesser intellects collected scholarships from various Ivy League grad schools. What remains is a graduation ceremony. It puts an end to four years of classes and cutting, of good courses and bad, of illusions and perhaps disillusion- ment. But at last next year the Med school will be open. Go thy way, eat fhy bread wifb joy. And drink thy wine with a merry heart. ONE Harold Liebowitz Art and In art there are no absolute laws, rules, or form- ulas. Bach of the arts, nevertheless, has its own set of more or less permanent principles, generally self- imposed, to which the majority of artists adhere. When these principles appear as hindrances to the free creative spirit, the artist breaks away and with the formation of a new movement there is one uni- versally accepted rule: a painting must be construct- ed or composed so as to create a sense of balance, of unity and interest. Earlier artists, though aware of this considered it as a natural corollary to their self-expression. With the development of aesthetic theories and a greater emphasis on the psycholog- ical aspects of creation and appreciation, artistic form has been more closely examined in order to discover where in lay the pleasure-producing elements of art. Contemporary artists, aware of the Importance of the compositional element, have attempted con- sciously to emphasize it more and more. It must not be imagined, however, that good composition is the sole or even the main ingredient of a good painting. One of the factors which sets man apart from the machine is his ability to intr.oject his personality into almost all of his activities. It is this personal ele- ment which constitutes the true communion between men and enables us to identify with the creations of the artist. Whether we classify him as a realist, sym- bolist or expressionist, the artist ' s task is to manifest in his work some portion of his personality, of his inner being. If the artist fails to exercise his right as a human being to think and create subjectively in- Appreciation HAROLD LIEBOWITZ stead of attempting merely to represent objectively what is visible, to all, his work will be only an indica- tion and reflection of his technical ability. The invention of the camera, however, has freed the artist from the necessity of representing nature in a realistic way. The artist can now express his concept of the essence of existence through a more spontaneous use of line and color, a more sub- jective interpretation. Abstract painters carry this line of thought to its logical conclusion and their paintings become a play of line, color and mass. This is not to imply that nature no longer has any influ- ence on the artist and is no longer an inspiration to him. Nature and environment are constantly at work on the soul of a highly sensitive being. The artist who isolates himself from life must eventually stagnate, and this stagnation becomes apparent in his work. The artist must constantly be stimulated and re- freshed by experience and contact. These experi- ences, however, are interpreted iVi the mind of the artist and his paintings are the overt expression and manifestation of the resultant abstract emotions and attitudes. The growing desire on the part of the artist to become highly personal comes at a time when al- most all of our contacts are of an impersonal nature, the accompaniment of a highly urbanized life. The artist, who is perhaps most aware of this loss of in- dividuality, is revolting against the dehumanization of life and through his paintings presents himself as an individual by revealing his emotions and atti- tudes. And these can not be communicated by a mere representation of nature. Wassily Kandinsky, the father of abstract paint- ing, was the first to dissociate painting from the ap- parent aspects of nature. In his book. Concerning the Spiritual in Ari, he writes that the representation of nature not only limits the freedom of the artist but also deprives the observer of a full appreciation. He cannot receive the emotional impact of the painting 74 since his main interest will be the clarity and faith- fulness with which the object is portrayed. The stress on keeping painting realistic, the emphasis on com- position or the intellectualism in painting, without the spiritual aspect of painting, reduces art to on ismpty shell. But how is this spiritualism, the soul of a painting, to be achieved? Painting is to a great degree a conscious act. The mere fact that one must stretch a canvas and lay out colors points to this. Kandinsky said that al- though it is the artist ' s duty to communicate emo- tions and not ideas, he must nevertheless go about it consciously. The artist must study the effects of line and especially color and exploit them to the fullest. Following Kandinsky ' s line of thought we can readily understand his claim that a good painting must bring about an emotional experience. Such an emotion can be elicited by the use of colors which have associations with certain known objects or feel- ings as deep red with blood or violence. There is, however, a more direct, physical energy emitted by colors. If an individual is exposed to red under cer- tain conditions, the color causes a quickening of the heartbeat and at times a temporary paralysis. Thus an artist, according to Kandinsky, can evidently cre- ate a spiritual atmosphere in a conscious manner. In the latter part of his book, however, he proposes an idea which is in apparent contradiction to the preceding. Painting, he says, is born of the artist in a mysterious way. In organising the elements of a painting, in creating an interesting shape, in the arrangement of spatial relations, and in the use of color, the artist is guided by what Kandinsky calls an inner force. There are no formulas to follow and the correct solution to problems usually comes spontaneously. Perhaps a general understanding of the theory of art and artistic creation can aid in re- solving this contradiction. While if may be true that painting is a con- scious activity, coniciouineis only enters to o certain degree. The general atmosphere can be consciously set, such as the execution of a painting in o blue key to convey a forlorn or religious effect. Never- theless, the true creative moment is realized through an involvement with the media and only after o series of definite statements on canvas which create certain problems that the artist must resolve. Through some inexplicable phenomenon this involvement with the materials of the medium bring about on identification which is synonimous with the creative moment. Under its spell the artist unconsciously em- ploys the technical and analytical points of composi- tion which he has mastered. The result of this mingling of conscious and unconscious forces is o spontaneous but yet controlled freedom. During the creative moment the aritst does not attempt to tell a story or portray preconceived ideas. While he may hove a notion as to the general mood or theme of his painting, this should b e secondary. Once he begins to point he must not concern himself with the subject of his paintings, for this will cause a certain inhibition. An artist would hove great diffi- culty in remembering the thoughts of his creative moments and his reasons for doing what he did. There is, indeed, little need for the artist con- sciously to seek to be expressive. What is of prime importance for him is a lack of inhibition, for then his emotions will inevitably reflect themselves in his work. At this point it would be well to bear in mind the importance of the compositional element. The prin- ciples of line, color, balance and spacing of design are still of great significance. The importance of the feeling of orderliness and security which indi- vidual gets when he identifies himself with a good composition must not be overlooked. And the ways in which the artist solves his compositional problems will help or hinder him in achieving the spiritual ef- fect. Even here, however, the artist should be guided by inner necessity and not the cold eye of intellectu- alism. With these points in mind we can understand the apparent contraditction in Kandinsky. It is the artist ' s duty to communicate with his public and he must make every f cssible attempt to speak a lan- guage which con awaken subtle emotions. At the same time he should consciously portray only the very general aspects of the spiritual nature of the 75 painting. Any attempt to execute the whole painting under the guidance of consciousness goes against the very nature of the artist. Kandinsky ' s greatest contribution to art theory is his attempt to impress upon the mind of artistsl the necessity of making a conscious effort no longer to allow native and natural forms to act as a con- straining force. He felt that one of the most impor- tant constituents of a good painting was the force of the spiritual effect or emotional power. The true artistic instinct, the artist ' s inner force, should guide him in order to strengthen the emotional im- pact, even at the expense of natural forms. If this inner force were of high quality the artist could not fail to achieve an intelligible expression of his emotions. Kandinsky thought of art as progressive, and saw in abstract painting the culmination of all artistic effort. Although many contemporary artists follow Kandinsky in denying the need for natural form as a dominant part of painting, their paintings neverthe- less lack spontaneity and emotional force. Unfortu- nately many artists of our times have become over- intellectual. They are no longer content with beipg artists but have become obsessed with the idea of intellectual equality and the findings of psychologists who are dissecting the emotions they try to express. This is apparent in a great deal of modern work which, though abstract, is too intellectual, scientific, and decorative. In many cases paintings are be- coming a visual form of mental acrobatics. This is not meant as a general criticism of modern art but rather as an approach towards the analysis of modern art appreciation. Of late there is a prevalent attitude that in or- der to be able to appreciate a painting one must know all about it, even to the life of the artist and the type of brush that he used. Hence we witness a continually greater stress put by educators on the analytical aspect of aesthetics. Music appreciation records are produced which analyze certain struct- ural elements of the composition with the implica- tion that music is its structure. This is to a great extent the result of our pre- sent day mentality. The layman no longer considers himself a layman, just as the artist is not satisfied with being an artist. And just as the artist suffers be- cause of this type of thinking, so does the observer. He is not content with viewing the painting as an entity. He must analyze it and take it apart and then put it together. He must know how the artist knows enough to follow the correct set of rules. Finally the layman who has any sort of interest in art feels that he must understand the painting. But not even the artist understands his own work. Never- theless the layman wants to grasp something; he wants to experience and retain something of what he sees. The fact that he wants to understand that which is out of his reach makes it difficult for him to approach a painting as he should. An analysis of composition and artistic problems should be of no concern to the layman, more so in that it adds noth- ing to his appreciation of art. Unless one is studying to be a cook, the enjoyment of a meal is not en hanced by an intimate knowledge of the intricate preparations from the farm and slaughterhouse to the table. Today ' s layman goes to a museum or art gal- lery and attempts to analyze a painting. Even if he is successful he will walk away unmoved, his emotions and soul unaffected. No matter how different the artist may be from the layman, yet in the manner of creation and observation there should be a certain degree of common ground. When the artist paints a picture he becomes identified with the entire paint- ing and is conscious of it as an entity. In the same way, when the observer views a painting, he should view it as a whole and identify himself with it as an entity. He should realize that while the analysis of a painting may contribute to a greater knowledge of art, it will not add to the identification with a paint- ing and a consequent enlargement of the inner fac- ulties. Paintings are not made to be understood. The question is not what the artist is trying to say. The realization that he artist is attempting to com- municate emotions, and not ideas, by means of a unified entity, should aid the observer in acquiring a more receptive mood so that he can allow the paint- ings to react upon him instead of fighting them. 76 An Introduction to Mod ern Literary Analysis HENRY KRESSEL The idea that novels and poems are written for the enjoyment of the reader and the communi- cation of ideas, is dead. Psychiatry has conclusively proved that what the writer puts down on paper is simply an expression of the obscene drives and bi- zarre complexes that inhabit- his subconscious mind. The literary anolysts are scholars trained in the use of the latest psychoanalytic techniques who discover what the writer is haunted by. Their work keeps the public from being fooled by the clever fabrications of writers like James Joyce, Franz Kafka and Henry James, who, behind innocent phrases and clever imagery, hide thoughts that would moke a truck- driver blush. Literary analysis is not a recent invention. The great analysts of the past, the monks of the Middle Ages, the Cabbalists and the English divines per- fected, long ogo, the wonderful art of finding mean- ing where none exists. But the modern analysts have transformed this art into the most pleasant of all the sciences. In other sciences deductions are considered valid only after countless experiments and demon- strations. In modern analysis, thanks to the perfection of the psychoanalytic techniques used, the tiniest clue is sufficient to track down a complex or define a perversion. A scholar busy mapping Stendhal ' s subconscious, for example, can safely deduce that he had an abnormal Oedipus complex from the fact that the words father, mother, wish and murder all appear on the same page of the Char- treuse of Parme. If they appear in the same para- graph, he can surmise that Stendhal would have murdered his father had the old gentleman lived long enough. Not even Stendhal himself could prove him wrong. If a letter were found tomorrow in Stendhal ' s own handwriting saying that he was ex- tremely fond of his father, it would only prove how desperately he was trying to hide his hatred, as he had every reason to do. It is difficult to appreciate the complexity of the techniques which must be used to arrive ot certoin seemingly obvious results. Who but a literary analyst can understand how an allusion to a man milking a cow, found in The Peasanii, hides Balzac ' s maso- chistic attachment to his mother, or how the Pleosure Dome Of Kubia Khan hides, inside its splendid ex- terior, the terrible breast symbol that haunted Coleridge all his life? The powerful mind that accomplishes these wonders of logical thought is a highly complex one. To bring it down to its simplest level, it can be con- sidered as consisting of two separate chambers. The first resembles a gymnasium and is filled with bars, trapezes, ladders and other equipment suitable for mental acrobatics where the words, analogies and metaphors found in a book are made to undergo all kinds of mental contortions, loops, spins and chins until they are so beaten that they are willing to con- fess to their true meaning. The second is a torture chamber occupied by screws, presses, racks and wheels. These are used only on the most obdurate expressions, who, after the gymnastic treatment, still refuse to betray the shameful drives they are hiding. It is clear that long years of study, preferably in Vienna, a vivid imagination and good taste ore needed to funish such a fine brain. The n;;,Tiber of men willing to devote so much effort on such a task is small. The Psychiatric Review thinks that the number of literary analysts in this country does not exceed twenty-seven. Assuming that six months are needed for the analysis of an average novel, only fifty-four 77 novels are analyzed every year. This of course, is not enough. The dozens of respected books printed every year and the tnousands poblisned in the past centuries remain unanalyzed. There are still hundreds of children ' s books which have not yet passed under the analytical microscope. Who knows what filth may be lurking behind the primness of Utile Women, the joviality of The Three Muskefeers or the monstrous fish of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea? A quicker and more efficient method of analysis i needed if the public is to be made aware of the secret depravity of the authors it reads and allows its children to read. Such a method has recently been proposed at the tenth annual convention of the Society for the Advancement of Literary Analysis. Dr. Yrne de Les- serk read a paper describing his ten ton electronic invention called the Psychoscope which when fed a novel or poem automatically unlocks the psychology of its author. It reads between lines, isolates Freu- dian symbols and mechanically juggles phrases and words. Two hours after a book is placed in it, an I.B.M. card indicates the depth of the Id, the energy of the Cathexis, the strength of the libido, the number of Parapaxes per minute, the depth of sub- limation, and the sex content of the author ' s dreams. It would take five and a half months of hard mental labor to deduce this information. This remarkable machine is not able to interpret all these facts. The ingenuity of an analyst is still needed to transform them into theories about the author ' s real intentions. The advantages of a large number or sucn wonderful devices at the disposal of our analysts are obvious. In o few years the secret vices, criminal thoughts and sinful wishes of all the major poets, novelists and even essayists of the English language will be exposed. The Psychoscopes could then be altered somewhat and set to chew French, Spa- nish, Italian, Russian, Swedish and Norwegianlwriters. This gigantic cleaning job should be finished around the year 2000. The hidden corruption of Dostoevsky, Ibsen, Dante, Shakespeare, Moliere, Milton and Cervantes will finally be exposed to the eyes of the world. Their works, and the works of the other men who have been considered great, will be banished from libraries and read only by individu als who today read pornographic magazines. Only then will the literary analysts be able to shut their Psychoscopes and say: Our job is done. Let the writer of the future beware! Mann ' s FAUSTUS AL sunoN ft is significant that Thomas Mann, the great literary figure, chose to utilize the centuries-old Faust theme as the mold for hrs novel Doctor Faustus. For Mann represents the epitome of German culture to date. He has openly, yet humbly, embraced, ab- sorbed, and assimilated the contributions of his pre- decessors—Nietzsche Wagner, Schopenhauer, and Freud, to mention but a few— and with his genius, creates an effective artistic style in the true Teutonic temper. The original Faust legend, which dates back to the Middle Ages, revolves around a presumptuous braggard whose alliance with the Devil merited his awful end. The legend was retold in many different forms, and after versions by Marlowe, Lessing, and 78 Goethe, Faust emerged as a noblo figure, a man as- piring for a greater insight into truth, a man seeking to outgrow himself and supersede his mortal limita- tions. Mann ' s novel is built around the figure of Adrian Leverkuhn, who abandons the study of theology to take up a career as a composer, thus plunging himself into music, that most mystical and metaphysical of all the arts. Arrogant and selfish, he is consumed by a feverishly driving intellect, which leads him to accept a compact with the devil. He is to receive twenty four years of genius, under one stipulation: he may not love. His twenty four years are most fruitful, but upon the termination of that period, insanity ensues, and ten years later he reaches the end of his frenzied, condemned life. When a contemporary man of letters thus concerns himself with a traditional legend of such stature, it is a truly significant coalition, a union of past and present. Yet, this union can neither be considered a modernization of the old, nor a reversion to the past; rather it Is one which stands on a level irre- spective of time. Man displays a particular affinity towards things familiar. He seeks to find the old in the new; the typical in the individual. In a study of biographies by a Viennese scholar, a similar tendency was re- vecJed. He pointed out that biographies in general seemed to embrace standard types of lives; that despite the supposed uniqueness of the individual in question, he could be sufficiently described in terms of another life pattern already known. It is as if the work received its sanction by conforming in pattern to something familiar. For example, how many dif- ferent biographies do these types bring to mind? - The struggling artist who does not achieve recogni- tion until after his death, the great beauties with their devastating effects on men, the lover and his many conquests, war heroes, martyrs, and more martyrs. Each of these types may include countless biographies, biographies where the individual scarce- ly lifts his head above the prototype he portrays. Not only famous persons, but we ourselves, how easily we fall into classes, how little there is to differentiate one from another without making use of a certain category into which he fits. And if we were to ex- amine these prototypes and look for their sources, we would undoubtedly be reverting further and further back, into the mythical and the primitive. We are all, in effect, living myths over and over. Mann developes this train of thought in an essay entitled Freud and the Future, where he writes: Cer- tainly when a writer has acquired the hobif of regarding life a , mythical and typical there comes a curious heightening of his artijt temper, a new refreshment to his perceiving and shaping powers, which otherwise occurs much loter in life; for a while in the life of the human roce the mythical Is an early and primitive stage, in the life of the individual it is a late and mature one. Whot is gained is an insight into the higher truth depicted in the actual; a smiling knowledge of the eternal, the ever-being and authentic; a knowledge of the schema in which and according to which the supposed indi- vidual lives, unaware, in his naive belief in himself as unique in space and time, of the extent to which his life is but formula and repetition and his path marked out for him by those who trod it before him. It is just this insight into the higher truth, thi$ smiling knowledge of the eternal that went into creat- ing Doctor Faustus. This insight is apparent at three different levels. There is the framework of the novel as a whole which taithfully follows the pattern of the Faust myth; there is the paradoxically deliberate OS well as subtle manner with which the author ex- poses the characters in their mythical roles; and there is that awareness of F erson that is imparted by the author to the characters themselves. We may observe the novelty with which the author, not without a touch of cynicism about having to go through the motions, deals with the standard motifs of the Faust legend. The devil ' s challenge of God is introduced through a discourse on theology by Schleppfuss, a professor of theology. He explains that God, in making man a complete creation was forced to give him free will, including the choice of being able to sin. He said that piety and virtue consisted in making no use at all of the freedom which God has been forced to grant the creature and that this piety was actually a certain existential weakening, a diminu- ation of the intensity of being, in the creature outside 79 of God. Sin, then, took on a glorious implication - that of utilizing God ' s gift of freedom, almost as a divinely sponsored orgy. The representation of the devil, rather than dwelling solely on a single figure, is a polymorphic treatment, expressing human manifestations of dia- bolic behavior. The first implication of a devil may be seen through Kumpf, a theologian who speaks a strange archaic German, and is obsessed with a phantasy of a malcon-tent guest, hovering in dark corners. Schleppfuss, whose very name suggests the devil ' s legendary limp, declared the holy to be a constant Satanic temptation, an almost irresistible challenge to violation. The devil ' s work is apparent as Doctor Erasmus and Doctor Zimbalist, in the course of curing Adrian of his self-inflicted disease, are both suddenly removed, the former by death, the latter by the police. Thus it seems as if each of these influences on his life exists solely for his diabolical contribution to Adrian ' s development. Each character plays his role like an adept actor, leaving the stage after reciting his lines. Adrian himself shows a frightening degree of consciousness. Fully aware of the consequences, he plunges into sexuality with a diseased woman and contracts syphilis. In doing this, Adrian expanded his personality, and willingly aligned himself with Nietzsche the paralytic, Dostoyevsky the epileptic, and even Beethoven whose deafness sanctioned his name on the list of infirmed geniuses. The associa- tion of genius with disease is, according to Mann, more than mere coincidence. He regards disease as a fan to the fire of genius which at times is capable of illuminating the mind with most sudden corusca- tions. Thus Adrian Leverkuhn, molding himself as an intellectual Faust, deliberately contracted his infirm- ity in return for the great compensatory productivity it might afford. There is another character who enjoys a brief appearance in the book yet who embodies the mythical concept and establishes the material for an- other concept to be discussed later. It is Nepomuk, Adrian ' s nephew, who appears with his serious old- fashioned language— mythical and timeless— a mani- festation of the ' child ' on earth. Nepomuk, who was called Nepo, could not as a child pronounce the first consonant, and called himself Echo. The name remained with him, and seemingly by chance as it happened, we cannot ignore the fact that Echo is the name of a nymph of ancient legend. The death of the child leaves a great impression on Adrian, and in his last work. The Lamenfation of Doctor Fausius, the musical style employed pri- marill is the echo effect, that polyphonic question and answer style used by musicians like Monteverdi. He was then uniting reason and magic in a tech- nique of composition that goes back to principles of medieval and primitive art. Here as nowhere else, we see the mythical idea in all its glory— the nymph being immortalized in a primitive type of music, the style of which itself bears its name. Difficult as it may be to draw the line between one line of ideas and another in this work, I shall attempt for the sake of clarity to disengage that which has been so deftly tied together, and present the second major aspect of the novel. Mann distinguishes the artist as one who pos- sesses a greater insight Into truth, one who is driven to a criminal degree of knowingness. By insight, he means psychological understanding, a recognition of the uncontrolable criminal world of the uncon- scious, Freud ' s world of the Id. And as in the Id the sexual aspect plays such a great role, so too here, in the artist ' s make-up is it a factor. The artist In- stead of ignoring this role rather invites it forth, with an open mind and an open body, and finding what he suspected, wallows in it, justified by the honesty of his behavior, by his worship of the truth. And if the artist, who needs be aware of this nature, re- fuses to accept it, and tries to suppress it, it will re- assert itself with a reaction greater than its original cause, nurtured as it was by the placenta of the un- conscious. For the awareness itself is sexual and must at least be recognized if not enacted. We may see in Death in Venice how the proud Gustav von Asch- enbach after years of moralizing and denying his sensual susceptibility finally falls a victim to it. It had been feeding on his mind waiting for the weak- 80 ening of his censorship-for the degeneration of both mind and body to rejoice itself in its destructive splendor. This criminal degree of knowingness, then, does not go unpunished, as is shown in this fxissage from Mann ' s short story Tonio Kroger: He looked back on the years that had passed. He thought of the dreamy adventures of the senses, nerves and mind in which he had been involved; saw himself eaten up with intellect and introspection, ravaged and para- lysed by insight, half worn out by the fevers and frosts of creation, helpless and flung to and fro be- tween austerity and lust; raffine, impoverished, ex- hausted and ill— and sobbed with nostalgia and remorse. It is the belief today, points out Mann in an essay, that Nietzsche ' s progressive paralysis was brought about through sexual pleasures and was of syphilitic origirv. From Dostoyevsky ' s own writings about the indescribeable bliss which preceded his epileptic attacks, combined with the knowledge of the guilt feeling he experienced, we are led to be- lieve that his illness, if not in origin, was sexual in manifestation. With this heritage behind him, along comes Adrian Leverkuhn, armed with his— also of sexual origin— artistic infirmity. His ears are still ring- ing from Schleppfuss ' s declaration of the holy as an almost irresistible challenge to violation. It is noth- ing short of unavoidable then, that he meet the pure, angelic Echo. Adrian soon became lost in the sweet depths of the azure upturned smile. And when Echo addressed his undo for the firtt time, hii words in- stead of sounding forward, seemed to be placating and making light of something, loyally reducing it to simple and friendly terms. Upon Echo ' s death, Adrian blames himself for having corrupted the child: What a sin, what a crime-that we let him come, that I let him be near me, that I feasted my eyes on himi We cannot help but draw the onal- ogy of Todzio from Death in Venice with Echo, each representing the Child, eoch being the object of a great artist ' s unavoidable depravation. In The Lamenlafion of Doctor Fauslui, Adrian Leverkuhn ' s last composition, he denounces life in a Schopenhauerion weltschmerz— because with hi whole soul, he despises the positivism of the world— the lie of its Godliness. What exactly is this lie? It is the lives of the German people, who after living in selfish sin, became grounded with sheer help- lessness, dupes of the sanguinary state which ruled them. And not alone this— for the artist himself i$ not blameless— he with his dualistic nature, struggling between austerity and lust, inevitably succumbing to the latter. The Lamenfafion represents o twofold dis- illusionment: The artist laments the German people and their situation as he laments art for its inevitable depravity. Adrian Leverkuhn dies as a martyr, but he would have it no other way. He served himself up as a sacrifice for the people, and all then will swear by the name of the great morbid genius thanks to whose madness they need not be mad. 81 The Influence of the BIBLE HERZL EISENSTADT on AMERICAN DEMOCRACY It has been customary during the Jewish Ter- centenary year to praise the United States for the many opportunities it provided the Jews since their original landing here in 1654, and to cite the im- pact that American life has made upon their char- acter. The Jews in America have indeed been changed but it must also be remembered that Jew- ish culture has had its influence on American social, economic and political institutions. This relationship has been called cultural pluralism, which conveys the idea that our American culture is a fusion of many different cultures whose dominating factors blend into a natural harmony, the American way of life. Prominent American-Jewish historians agree that the analysis of the Biblical influence on education, labor, civil rights, philanthropy, literature and the arts, to name but a few, would entail vast research and exhaustive study for years to come. We will therefore discuss one of the most important contribu- tions of the Bible, the principle of democracy. The famous inscription on the Liberty Bell, Pro- cldim liberty throughout the land and all the inhabi- tants thereof, is taken from the Biblical pronounce- ments of Israel ' s Jubilee year which proclaims the concept of freedom as a divine right and as an obli- gation imposed upon man by the Almighty. This con- cept of the rejection of autocracy, this awareness of the God of freedom who works through historical pro- cesses towards the achievement of liberty, gradually became the propelling force behind the American revolution. The Puritan fathers were greatly influenced in their personal as well as political activities by the sayings of the Bible. In the codes of the early New England colonies, which are famous as the first ut- terances of democracy in the Americas, and particu- larly in the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut and the Code of New Haven in 1655, we find many ref- erences to the Old Testament. From it, the colonists learned that anarchy, everyone doing that which is right in his own eyes, without regard to the rights of others, is a fallacious principle, and that liberty under law entails discipline and social responsibility. During the American Revolution, a stream of sermons likened the cause and aspirations of the colonists to those of the Jews during the Second Commonwealth. The heroes of the Bible were held up as models, and their history was a guide for the American people in their struggle for liberty. These sermons stressed the natural equality of men as ex- pressed in the law of Moses, and the abhorrence of foreign or unjustified kingly rule. A certain Reverend Jonathan Mayhew, calling for the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1776, refers constantly to the colon- ists as God ' s American people, and compares George Washington to Moses and Joshua. Thomas Paine used the Bible to support his arguments against monarchy: Monarchy is ranked in Scripture as one of the sins of the Jews . . . Gideon doth not decline the honor (of the kingship tendered him by the elders) but denieth their right to give it. After the British were finally expelled, there was much controversy concerning the type of govern- ment to be founded, and once again the Old Testa- ment was looked to for guidance. Ministers and learned lay leoders quoted passages on communal rights and judges, to prove that it is the right of the people to choose and designate their representa- tives from amongst themselves, and to refute the theory of the divine rights of kings. Oscar Straus, in his Origin of the Republican Form of Government, quotes an election sermon preached before the Council and House of Representatives of Massachu- setts in 1870 in which the Reverend Simeon Howard said: Indeed the Jews always exercised the right of choosing their own rulers,- even Saul and David and 82 all their successors on the throne were madu king by the voice of the people. The Rabbis had placed great emphasis on the popular approval of government. We must not ap- point a new leader over a community without first consulting it, said Rabbi Isaac. Another teacher, while preaching obedience to the government, stated the principle of religious liberty: I adjure you that if the government decrees harsh decrees, rebel not against it in any matter which it imposes upon you, but keep the king ' s commandments . . . though not If it dpcrees that you annul the Torah and its pre- cepts. The Rabbis felt that law is mandatory, but in matters of religious conscience and duty, the author- ity of the state does not and must not have control. These concepts are parallel to the bases of American democracy and may well have been determining fac- tors in th e course of theoretical thought and practical action of the Founding Fathers. These men visualized a tripartite government as being inspired by the Bible; the Executive-judges; the Judicial and partly Legislative - the Sanhedrin; and the Kruei Haeda ■ the popular voice as re- flected through the communal leaders. This idea pre- ceded the adoption of the Montesquion system of government. Chief Justice Warren, referring to the Biblical effects upon our constitution, declared; I believe that the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible, and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, dignity of the individual, sanctity of the home, equal justice under law and reservation of powers to the people. The Bible and religion in general, though not the sole sources, were an important channel by which concepts of individual worth and of the relationship of government to the individual found their way into the American way of life. In these sources are Included the doctrine of the Higher Law, and the theory that governments originate in agreements among the people concerned. Our compact theory of government is forshadowed in the Hebrew idea of the covenant between God and His Chosen People, which entails individual responsibility for one ' s acts within society as expounded in the dictum: ' The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fothers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin. The connotations of this biblically inspired prin- ciple of man ' s individuality and the consequent lim- itations of government extend to many of our boiic constitutional beliefs. It ii the Higher Lav ' to which the prophet Nathan appealed when he rebuked David after his affair with Uriah ' s wife; ond godly anger concerning public encroachment upon private property is evidenced in the prophet Elijah ' s con- demnations of King Ahab ' s disregard of a citizen ' rights when he seized the vineyards of Naboth. Pleas for social justice as a means of serving God are frequently found in the Pentateuch and the Prophets and find their highest expression in Isolah: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifice unto me, soyeth the Lord? . . . Cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless and plead for the widow. Thi is the major prophetic teaching. The equality of individuals before the law, an- other vital root in American government, undoubted- ly stemmed from biblical appeals: Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgement; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor nor favor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor; and The innocent and righteous slay thou not for I will not justify the wicked ... a gift blindeth them who have sight and perverteth the words of the righteous. In the Bible we also find sources for the philo- sophical justifications of democracy. We learn, for ex- ample, that when a murdered man is found in the fields and there is no identification present as to the slayer, the elders and priests of the nearest lo- cated city gather with elab orate ceremonies which contain statements asserting their innocence: Our hands have not shed this blood . . . Jewish com- mentators asked why the best and not the worst ele- ments among the citizens recite these declarations since they are the ones least likely to have hod a hand in the slaying. To this they answer that The best in every community are responsible for its short- comings. Interpreted from a democratic point of 83 view, we see democracy nor as a striving for the overage, not as a levelling-down process but, on the contrary, a process of improvement where additional privilege entails greater social responsibility. The ancient and medieval legalistic belief of leadership being a matter of inheritance within the families of prominent personages and rulers, was revoked at an early stage in Jewish history when leadership was transferred from the priest to the scribe and finally to the rabbinical authorities chosen from within the masses on the basis of their knowledge and ability. The Jews have always revered a man for his own personal contributions, education and potentialities. This principle is the foundation of our capitalistic philosophy and democratic mores. A seal adopted by Thomas Jefferson and Ben- jamin Franklin, on which are inscribed the words (in Hebrew) Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God conve ys the impact of the Hebraic spirit upon these founders of the American nation. This spirit was carried on by succeeding generations and inculcated in legislation such as the Homestead and Exemption laws. These are demonstrated in the Biblical passage: No man shall take the upper or nether millstone to pledge, for he taketh a man ' s life to pledge, a warning against confiscation of the means of liveli- hood as a means of paying a debt. The basic Ameri- can concept of due process of low is totally biblical in all its safeguards and ramifications, even to the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth which is motivated by due process consideration. This is in opposition to lynch law and the sway of power- ful influences over justice, as stated in the verse thou shalt not wrest judgment nor respect persons. The proud claim first voiced by John Adams (1780) that ours is a government of laws and not men is as truly and originally biblical as it is American. Jewish tradition, and the Bible in particular, while they may have been misinterpreted and par- tially distorted, have nevertheless proved a powerful influence on the development of democracy. The social democracy of the prophets, the democratic elements of Talmudic jurisprudence, the concept of nationalism based on ethical values, and above all the sanctity of the human being, these are the foundations upon which rests our democratic struc- ture. This is the essence of the Hebrew contribution to democracy and the American way of life. Maim on ides and the Karaites IRWIN HAUT Judaism has given rise to many different sects during its long history. Among the more important of these was the Karaite movement which flourished in the Arabian countries during the early middle ages. This movement developed out of the ideas of the Sadducees and Essenes whose theories arose during the times of the first and second temples. The common denominator of all these sects was their rejection of the oral tradition and Rabbinic Inter- pretation of Scripture. They aimed at all times to adhere scrupulously to the text itself. Thus the name of the Karaites was taken from the Hebrew word which means Scripture or mikrah. That is, they considered themselves to be the followers of mik- rah as opposed to the Rabbinists who followed the oral tradition as set down in the Talmud. The Karaites did not take the Rabbinist interpretation of Scripture to be authoritative but merely regarded It as the opinions of individual Rabbis. 84 The first great Karaite leader was Anan Ben David who lived in the second half of the 8th century and was considered by the Karaites as the father of their sect. His main principle of faith was Search diligently in the law and rely not on my own o- pinion. The philosophy which evolved from this at- titude soon showed that it carried within itself the seeds of its own destruction, for there came a time when it was impossible to find two Kara tes in com- plete agreement with each other. But gradually these disagreements were ironed out and the Karaites pro- duced a more or less uniform philosophy. As this consolidation was taking place among the Karaites, their conflict with the Rabblnists became more acute. Many great Rabbis defended Rabbinic Judaism and attacked the Karaites, notably Saadia Gaon whose polemics against the Karaites did much to uphold the Rabbinic tradition. Saadia ' s efforts, however, were not as successful as those of his great follower, Maimonides, who so weakened the Karaite position that they were no longer a thr:at to Rabbinic Judaism. In the time of Maimonides, the Karaites were making large gains among the Jews in Egypt. The successful spreading of their ideas was due to their more literal interpretation of Scripture which ap- pealed to the masses. To the common people it seemed as if there were two Torahs, an oral and a written one, entirely independent of each other. They often felt that the oral Torah was an unnecessary burden. The Karaites themselves believed that the oral tradition negated the simple meaning of the sentence in many instances. They also objected to the anthropomorphic referencei to G d found in the Agadafa. Rejecting the Agadata, they at the xjme time rejected the Talmud as a whole. It will be easier to underitand many of the actions and ideas of Maimonides if wo keep in mind the fact that he wished to weaken the influence of the Karaites upon the Jews of Egypt and to under- mine their basic tenets. Before exomining more specifically some of his writings, let us first see hit general attitude towards them. It is important to remember that the philosophy of Maimonides was diametrically opposed to that of the Karaites. His belief, as was the belief of the Rabbinists, is stated by his son Abraham: We do not rely on what the simple meaning of the text alone tells us but rather on what the tradition and the text together tell us. The Karaites rejected this traditional interpretation of Scripture, olthough they had to create their own oral interpretation of Scripture in regards to those things whose lows are not specified in the Torah such as ShechHah and Shobbos. Considering the radical opposit ' on of Mai- monides to the views of the Karaites, it is surprising to find that he was so tolerant towards them in many aspects. He considered them to be complete Jews and not Minim (heretics), as is evidenced by th: fact that he permitted Rabbis to circumcise Karaite child- ren on the Sabbath. He felt that it was permissible for Rabbinic Jews to have friendly relations with the Karaites, to inquire after their welfare and even to drink their wine if they were above suspicion. This, of course, only held true in the event that they did not mock our holy sages. In one of his Response, when askfd if it was permissible to stand when the ten commandments are read in the synagogue, Maimonides states: One must not stand when the ten commandments ore read so as not to give any support to those Minim who 85 claim that only the ten commandments are G d given and not the whole Torah. Thus they claim that the ten commandments are holier than the rest of the Torah. He adds there an explanation that the Karaites are not to be considered as Minim. He writes, A Min is only one who does not believe in the principles of the Torah and who says that the Torah is not G d given in part or in whole. But the Karaites are not Minim. This opinion is obviously due to the fact that they accept the Torah in its entirety as G d given. They differ with the Rabbinists only in regard to its interpretation. Thus we see that Maimonides considered them to be merely misguided Jews. His tolerant attitude towards them was in some measure due to the fact that he feared the Karaites would go over to Islam if they became entirely estranged from Rabbinic Jewry. That his fears were well founded may be borne out by tht fact that mass conversions to Islam were reported among the Karaites at one time. It was his friendliness to them which might have induced many Karaites to embrace Rabbinic Judaism in 1213. But in spite of his regard for them as individuals, he was greatly concerned about lessening their in- fluence among the Jews. In order to accomplish this, he answered their basic questions and criticisms of Rabbinic Judaism. The main point of disagreement between Maimonides and the Karaites was, as al- ready stated, the oral law. They considered the oral law to be the opinions of individuals and not coming from G d. Maimonides, as a reply to this criticism, explains the form of the Mishnah Torah for which he was later himself criticized. The organization of the Mishnah Torah came under attack for failing to In- clude opposing views on particular Halachas as was customary. He only quotes the view he takes to be authoritative. This is the criticism of the Ravid who states: This author forsook the ways of all his pre- decessors. They brought proof to their words and wrote the law in the name of the one who said it. Maimonides himself tells us that he chose this particular method of only giving the Pesak Halachah because of the Karaites. He writes that he patterned his work after the Mishnah of R. Yehuda Hanasi who also often quotes only the view he takes to be the Halachah. He intended his work to be a Hibur or code of law and not a commentary. The differ- ence, according to Maimonides, between a Hibur and a commentary is: The way of a Hibjr is to relata the laws without any questions or answers and with- out any proofs as Rebbs did in his Mishnah. The method of a commentary is to state laws and other conflicting statements, accompanying these with questions, answers, and proofs. The latter method is that employed by the Talmud which expldins the Mishnah. I, however, didn ' t make a commentary but a Hibur which is the method of the Mishnah. ' ' He chose this method so as not to give the Minim [here he refers to the Karaites as Minim] any chance to have any claims. For the Karaites say, ' you the Rab- binists, rely upon the words and opinions of indivi- duals ' . But it is not so. Myriads received these words from the mouths of tens of myriads. Because of this, I state at the beginning of my work that such and such and his Beth Din received the tradition from such and such and his Beth Din to make it known that they received from many and not from indivi- duals. This was my aim that each Halachah be found anonymously, that is, it is the opinion of the majority and not the opinion of this or that Rabbi. Otherwise a camp of Minim would come, who despise the oral Torah. For they see a law in the name of one indi- vidual and think that no one has ever said that law except for that individual alone. Thus Maimonides wishes to emphasize that the oral law is authoritative and therefore binding. He shows this by stating that the oral law was given at Sinai together with the written law and that both ore the words of G d to Moses. Therefore oral law and interpretation of Scripture were not created by the Rabbis but handed down from generation to genera- tion. In this way he refutes the Karaite claim that the oral law is the creation of individuals. Aside from Maimonides ' own words regarding the reasons for his particular organization of the Mishnah Torah, we have another indication from the contents itself which further illustrate his intentions concerning the Karaites. Rav Tzair points out that Maimonides is a rationalist when presenting his views regarding prophecy, the receiving of the Torah at Sinai, and the written Torah, in Moreh Nabuc i m. Yet regarding the oral law, he is a complete tra- ditionalist. He does not state any philosophical views about its origin. Rav Tzair offers the suggestion that perhaps Maimonides didn ' t want to enter this contro- versial question because of the Karaites. Any ration- alization of the origin of the oral Torah would immediately evoke a cry of joy from the Karaites. They would claim that Maimonides agrees with them that the traditional Rabbinist view of the oral law is false. Therefore Maimonides steers clear of the point for the good of the faith. To show that the written 86 and oral Torah are one and not two, ar. the Karaites claim, he includes them both under the word Torah. He does this in the thirteen articles of faith where he says: The Torah found now in our hands was given to Moses in its entirety by G d. Thus he in- cludes both the written and oral law in the word Torah and makes It obligatory for the Jew to accept both as G d given. Rav Tzair states further that whenever a law has any basis whatsoever in the Torah, Maimonides prefaces that law with the statement The Torah commands us. Another effort to upset the Karaite claim that the oral law was created artificially was his idea of basing the Mishnah Torah on the MHzvofh of the Torah and not on the discussion in the Talmud. He leaves the impression that there is no discussion at all in the Talmud but that these lows emanate from the Torah itself. The books of the Karaites had always been based on Scripture and the Mitzvofh in the Torah. Thus his decision to write a H bur and not a commentary was in answer to the Karaite demand to be told the source of the laws. Maimonides tied the written and oral Torahs together and showed how the oral Torah emanated from the Scripture itself. The oral law was not to be considered as an independent entity but an integral part of the written Torah given together by G d to Moses on Sinai. It is to be considered a devine inter- pretation of Scripture. Thus the Karaites had no right to argue that the oral Torah is not binding on them. The Karaite influence on the Ratbinic Jews of Egypt was weakened due to the overwhelming pop- ularity of Maimonides and due to the rapidity with which his ideas spread. He undermined the previous strongpoint of the Karaites, their attack on the oral Torah, by showing that all the laws came from Sinai. In time, the study of Mishnah Torah became wide- spread even among the Karaites who often consulted it when in doubt about a law. ' ' He was truly worthy of the statement made of him by Nachmanides who wrote: Who has hit the Sadducees who were power- ful warrrors? Who was given the Boethians to be trodden under foot? It is only the Rav for G d is with him. He has dried up the riders of their horses and has removed their strong men from Egypt. ' REFERENCES 1. Toldoth Poskim. Rov Tzair p. 197. 2. Responso of Abroham Ben Moses. FrJeman 3. Responso of Moimonides. Frlemon p. 339. 4. Responso of Moimonides. Friemon p. 360. 5. Baron. Hiitorico Outlook of Moimonides. American Academy for Jewish Research note 166. 6. Rovid. Introducfion to Mishnah Torah. 7. Responso of Maimonides. Leipzig ed. p. 26. 8. Toldoth Poskim. p. 197-208. 9. Commentary on the Mishnoh. Sonhedrin. Chapt. 10. 10. Jewish Encyclopcdio. Vol. 7. p. 4 4. 11. ggereth Kinaoth. Response of Maimoaides. Leipzig ed. p. 8. 67. Proceedings of Vol. 6 p. 84 87 Of Thought and Paradoxes HARRY FURSTENBERG Any complete philosophy of knowledge must treat two issues; the relationship between different ideas, and the ideas themselves. Although we usually think of our knowledge as being made up of the relations between ideas, the study of the ideas them- selves is becoming increasingly important in the theory of knowledge. Thus an answer to the question of how we obtain our knowledge must take both types of knowledge into consideration - how do we know facts about various ideas, and how do we come into possession of those ideas to begin with. Here the second part is by far the more difficult to answer. It is usually not difficult to determine by what means a person derives the relationship be- tween the various ideas he has. On the other hand it is quite a different matter when we search for the origin of the ideas themselves. The fundamental problem is: are ideas all arrived at empirically, through the person ' s experience, or are they innate - are there ideas independent of experience, the so called a priori concepts? To clarify the problem we should understand what suggests that some know- ledge is of an o priori nature. Actually it would be simplest to say that all knowledge is derived through experience, except for the fact that certain types of knowledge do not seem to require experience. For example, it does not seem to require experience to know that a single object cannot be both black and red, square and triangular and so forth. It is this sort of thing that we term o prion ' - we say that the mind itself supplies this knowledge. But when we have to do with the ideas themselves, it is very hard to determine what part of the conception is gained by the mind itself and what part is due to experience. As we shall see, the answer to this question not only affects knowledge theory, but it is important for science in general. This is due to the fact that when we suppose an idea to be a priori, we are actually recognizing it as irrefutable. In fact, what is it that suggests about an idea, or more generally any piece of information, that it be a priori? It is that we feel that a bit of knowledge is so commonly agreed upon, so universal, that it could not require experience for its justification. Therefore when science recognizes a concept to be o prior ' it states that no theorizing is necessary about this concept - it is fixed once and for all. It is for this reason that the need has long been recognized by philosophers of knowledge the- ory, or epistemology, for classifying which ideas, if any, are a priori. Originally if a philosopher wished to present an example of o priori ideas he would very likely name the basic notions of mathematics and some of the notions of physics: space and time. This means that he regarded these concepts as absolute and ir- refutable. We shall be mainly concerned in what follows, with showing that such a view as regards mathematics is not entirely correct without qualifi- cation. We shall see that mathematical ideas are not always endowed with such exactness and uni- versality as to be considered a priori. It is coinci- dental that this fact that mathematical ideas may sometimes be equivocal was realized at just about the same time that a similar situation was occurring in physics. The turn of the present century brought with it the theory of relativity together with a minor revolution in mathematics. In both cases the result was the same. Ideas which had been taken for granted were found to be uncertain. In the case of relativity this is rather well known. Kant, the philo- sopher who first emphasized the notion of o priori, had counted space and time among the concepts that are granted to a person a priori. This means that a person bases all his- experiences relating to space and time upon an absolute conception of the exten- sion of space and the flow of time. What character- ized this indisputable notion of time, for example, was the assumption of classical physics that two 88 events that appeared simultaneous to one observer would appear simultaneous to any other. If we look for the fundamental feature of the classical concep- tion of time, we find it in the supposed meaning- fulness of the phrase, at the same time. Two events either occur together or they do not. This is the notion that Kant considered irrefutable, not requiring any proof. And it was this notion, that was shown by Einstein to be incompatible with experiment. The theory of relativity thus shook down the notion of time from its lofty absolute position. In the case of mathematical ideas the blow was dealt at about the turn of the century by the appearance of inconsisten- cies in mathematics. These inconsistencies will form the basis of our discussion. It should be realized, however, that the situations of the two sciences were not entirely analogous. The problems that we are dealing with relate more to the philosophy of each science than to the science itself and for this reason the analogy cannot be carried out completely. For physics does not rely on its philosophy for verification of its theories - it makes use of experimental devices. Mathematics, on the other hand, (but for elementary experiments of the nature of counting apples) is wholly dependent upon its underlying philosophy for a justification of its procedures and reasoning. The result is that while in physics the change in funda- mental concepts has been agreed upon with some semblance of unanimity, the corresponding changes in mathematics have remained as unsettled issues. Let us have a look at some of these issues in mathematics. If the mathematician of a century ago had been asked to summarize mathematics, so to speak, on one foot, he would simply utter the word quantity or number. This has changed since that time. Nowadays, the mathematician con- siders the concept of set a far more fundamental concept. By the term set, we refer simply to the seemingly empty concopf of just a set of meaning- less elements. Together with the concept of let, we have the related notions of on element belonging to the set, a subset of elements contained in the set, and so on. With these seemingly trivial ideot the mathematician is equipped with oil the mochinery he needs to express himself. By possing to the more fundamental, the mathematician has found thot he is able to shed light on problems that had previously appeared obscure. In particular, the clarification of what is to be meant by infinity was made possible by passing down to the notion of set. By relating numbers in a certain manner with sets, an entire theory of transfinite numbers was developed as a natural generalization of the usual theory. The development of this theory by Georg Cantor in the last decade of the 19th century marks the beginning of a new era in mathematics, characterized by hav- ing placed set theory at the foundation of mathe- matics. Practically all the modern developments in mathematics, modern algebra, modern geometry, or so called topology, can be reduced to the study of sets upon which is superimposed some additional structure which relates to the problem being studied. Upon making the discovery of the usefulness of his new idea, the mathematician played with it as a child with a new toy. This continued until the new toy backfired; he was confronted by something that was to have been outlawed from mathemotics - the paradox. Two methods, both logical by the standards of centuries of mathematics, seemed to produce in- consistent results. The new theory introduced into mathematics brought with it not only new methods and new problems but something entirely unasked for - paradox and inconsistency. Of course, whereas theoretically the existence of real paradoxes in mathematics might have been considered disastrous, no one actually entertained any doubts as to the validity of mathematics. More- over, most mathematicians, working on more familiar and supposedly more solid ground, were able to steer clear of these paradoxes. Not until the para- doxes were analyzed from a logical point of view was it realized how close to the reasoning used in mathematics the thinking involved in the paradoxes really was. However remote these paradoxes were from ordinary applicable mathematics, they left a big hole in the structure of mathematics. Popularly, however, these problems in the founda- tions of mathematics were still regarded more as curiosities than otherwise. It is fortunate then thot 89 there are always people who cannot be satisfied intellectually with a theory, unless it appears com- plete and without gaps. In this instance the gaps fell in the domain of mathematical logic, and the result was, as we shall see, a number of viewpoints in this science. We shall describe several of these mathematical paradoxes in their modern forms, as logical para- doxes separated from mathematics. In this form they are not very serious except for the fact that the reasoning used in these paradoxes is typical of that used in important mathematical work. We begin with the following form of what is known as Russel ' s paradox. If we consider the adjectives used in the English language, say, we note that some apply to themselves and some do not. Thus, the adjective short applies to itself and the word long does not apply to itself. Again, the term abstract would while the term concrete would not. In other words, adjectives may be classified into two classes, accord- ing to whether they apply to themselves or not. In the first case let us call the adjective predicable (sometimes autological or monological ) and impredicable ( heterological ) in the second cose. Now consider the adjective impredicable. If it ap- plies to itself it is both predicable (since it applies to itself) and impredicable (since, applying to itself, it must possess the property it describes). If on the contrary it does not apply to itself it is impredicable, but then also predicable which is again a contradic tion. The original form of Russel ' s paradox appears more involved but is actually equivalent to the pre- ceding form. We obtain one from the other by mak- ing an indentification that is very important in logic: we identify an adjective with the set of all objects that it modifies. Thus red may be identified with the set of all red objects, short with the set of all short objects, etc. Moreover, an object may now be said to possess a property, if it belongs to the class of all objects having that property. Instead of deal- ing with adjectives we can then formulate our para- dox completely in terms of sets. Where we spoke about an adjective applying to itself we now refer to a set (being thought of as a single object) as belonging to itself. Thus where we would have said that the adjective abstract is predicable, we now say that the set of abstract objects contains itself. Now, a set either contains itself or it does not. Form the set A of all sets that contain themselves and the set B of all sets that do not. Every set must belong either to A or to B. If we apply this to B we again arrive at a contradiction. (If B belongs to A, it must belong to B; if it belongs to B, it must belong to A). A paradox which more closely parallels mathe- matical reasoning is known as the Berry paradox. We assume we have before us a specific dictionary and we say an object is defineable if it can be de- fined meaningfully using words in this dictionary. Now every natural number can be described in English, either by writing it out fully, or by giving it a characteristic property; i. e., seventy-five, the one millionth prime, the square of forty-eight, etc. If we restricted ourselves to descriptions, let us say, of sixty-one letters or less, we would be able to describe some numbers, but not all. This is so be- cause there are only a finite number of combinations of words in the given dictionary to form sentences with fewer than sixty-one letters, and since the totality of numbers is infinite, not every number can be so described. There will then be a specific finite set of numbers defineable in fewer than sixty-one letters. ( The billionth prime thus belongs to this set be- cause it has some satisfactory definition even though writing it out fully would probably require more than sixty-one letters.) There will also exist a set of numbers not having this property, and this set natur- ally has a least member. Consider now the least natural number not defineable in fewer than sixty- one letters. This expression, if you care to count, defines that number in exactly sixty letters which it clearly cannot do. A more humorous form of this 90 paradox asserts that each and every number must be interesting, for if any numbers at all were not inte- resting, there must be at least one such. And the first uninteresting number is very interesting indeedl We notice that in these paradoxes the notion of sets, in particular sets that are somewhat removed from reality, plays the primary role. The technical (mathematical) paradoxes are of exactly the same nature, the leading part being taken by such un- common ideas as the set of all numbers, the set of all sets, etc. It is clear that the solution ot these paradoxes will not consist in finding a logical flaw, such as making use of hidden assumptions. The paradoxes are too simple for that to have happened. If one insists upon an answer, he will be forced to admit that for some reason or other, the ideas dealt with in these paradoxes are simply too vague to lend themselves to exact reasoning. Thus the notion of predicability appears to be vague • there seem to be too many conventions that have to be agreed upon before one can determine whether or not an adjective is predicable or not. The concept of define- ability also carries with it a certain uncertainty; can one always determine the defineability of a number? The point is that the paradoxes do not depend upon knowing which adjectives are predicable and which numbers are defineable. The concept impredicable itself gives rise to a paradox regardless of which words are predicable and which are not! The fact, and it is a fact, that there will be numbers not de- fineable in fewer than sixty-one letters, no matter which numbers are, leads to a paradox! One is then led to a remarkable conclusion (which can, without further analysis, be stated only roughly): The vague- ness of an idea may sometimes force it out of exis- tence. This conclusion is surprising by virtue of the fact that the vagueness of an idea is subjective; its existence is, supposedly, objective. Nevertheless, the conclusion is almost inevitable - our inability to com- prehend an idea may effect its legitimacy. The justi- fication of this point of view will be our major con- cern. At any rate, the mathematician will consider the problem solved as soon as he is given a rule for when an idea is clear and when it is vague, and he is able to eliminate the vague idea from his mathe- matics. We shall take up these rules at a later point. The philosopher, though, is never satisfied with a rule - he wishes to know how the vagueness came about and why this subjective quality of an idea should affect its existence. We shall therefore broaden oor peripecfive and look into these matterj from a more generol point of view. What we need, first of all, is a clearer picture of how a person forms his ideas. Even here we are not on firm ground for this question is subject to a great deal of debate. But since our final solution depends more upon the spirit than upon the letter of the hypothesis we shall adopt, we go about this discussion with a free conscience. First of all, the mind sees pictures. The common, classical notion is that when the mind sees common elements in different pictures it abstracts this element to form an idea. But this appears circular, for the mind must first possess the idea to see what is com- mon to different pictures before it con abstract it. Moreover, what form does this abstracted idea take in the human mind? A better formulation is then to say that in some way different pictures strike the mind similarly and it classifies these pictures to- gether as a set - and, that is all! - The idea then consists of this complex, this totality of pictures which affected the mind similarly. For example, a person sees three chairs and three people. These two pictures affect him similarly because he is able to form a correspondence between the chairs and the people - he observes that he can associate each member of one class with exactly one member of the other. The aggregate of, pictures which would be similar in this manner, constitute in the person ' s mind the concept of three. There is reason to believe that this is exactly what takes place in the infant ' s mind in forming the 91 concept of the smaller numbers. (The concept of 3,048 ts naturally not attained in this manner, t eing of a much more complex nature so that it must be conceived of through other ideas rather than directly from pictures.) As another example, a person ob- serves a ball moving, or for that matter he observes a stationary ball from continuously varying pos itions. Each picture appears similar to the preceding picture in that it differs from it by very little. The idea of the ball is then formed from the aggregate of similar pictures, the similarity, in this case, being due to the actual closeness of the pictures. This breaking up of continuous motion into a succession of pictures is justified by neurologists. The claim is made that v hereas the image on the retina is in constant motion, the final image on the cortex is actually stationary. We thus see, in de- tail, how a secondary concept is conceived of in a group of pictures - the concept is actually identical with the group of pictures. Without going into more detail we shall suppose that this process is extended so that the mind can abstract from secondary ideas to ideas of a third order and so on to any order This is the same as in the classical formulation. What i s really required is a knowledge of what determines the similarity of pictures in general which enables the mind to classify them together. This leads to a number of views which we cannot take up at this point. There are two points that we are stressing. The first is that the concpts each person holds in his mind may be ordered into something of an heir- archy of ideas. Each idea is based upon a collec- tion of ideas of lower order or on a collection of pictures. This lays the stress on the relation between ideas. Our second point attempts to answer what an idea actually is. We assert that it is no more than a collection of other ideas or pictures which the mind has classed together. The fact that one cannot, for example, conceive of a triangle ab- stractly without giving it a definite shape indicates that the concept of triangle is no more than the totality of pictures a person has collected of differ- ent triangles. (Again, you might define a triangle abstractly in terms of the other ideas of lines and points, etc., but this is a different concept of tri- angle — one that belongs higher up in the pyramid of ideas.) This point of view deviates radically from the classical one in that we are essentially denying the mind ' s faculty for abstraction— it is only capable of classification. We recall now the parallelism that was brought out in the two forms of Russel ' s para- dox by identifying adjectives with the classes of nouns they modify. This identification no longer ap- pears as accidental, as a logical artifice, for an adjective being an abstract idea is made up in the mind of precisely the set of nouns it modifies ac- cording to what the person has experienced. In fact, it may have occurred to the reader that the corre- spondence we have made between adjectives and sets is an imperfect one. For, say for the sake of argument, that all objects that were black happened to coincide with the set of all objects that were square. Then the same set would have to correspond to two different adjectives and the correspondence would not be one to one. The answer is that, ac- cording to the point of view we have taken, if this would actually have been the case, then the con- cept of black could never have been distinguished from that of square, since the conception of one requires seeing an object that simultaneously in- volves the other. Thus the two terms black and square actually would represent only a single adjective. This is then the significance of the point of view adopted here— the objectivity of an idea has been eliminated. The fact that a person cannot dis- tinguish between two ideas implies, according to this theory, that the ideas are actually identical! Consider the following theoretical psychological question. The sensations of pain and pleasure are physiological in nature and we can therefore im- agine that a person might be created with these two sensations mixed up. Thus if wrong nerve at- tachments had been made, he would feel pleasure when he should feel pain and pain when he should feel pleasure. The question arises whether this situa- tion could theoretically occur with sensations such as red and green. Of course the person would never be aware of it, since he would have learnt to call what appears to him as red green and vice-versa. But is it not conceivable that his sensa- tion upon apprehending red corresponds to our sen- sation to a green object and vice-versa? The point is that according to our discussion this problem can- not even arise. The question would have made sense if there existed a platonic ideal red and green and normal people wre gifted with the ability to identify their sensations with the ideal con- cept. We could then ask whether some person might not always have been making a mistake. We hove attempted, though, to abolish ideal concepts exist- ing independently of thought. The concept green 92 therefore is identified by a person with a certain col- lection of objects he has seen that strike him sim- ilarly. His mind classified these objects not because they had in common a property existing in his mind o priori, but simply because it was affected similarly by them. Once the objects are classified together the class is given the name green. It is now clear that any two people with normal eyesight (that dis- tinguishes where it should and does not distinguish where it should not) will form classes consisting of the same objects since two objects that affect one similarly affect the other similarly. Their concepts of green and red are therefore, almost by def- inition, the same. The first step in our program is now complete —we have (in theory) mechanized the process of forming an idea. The classical notion of abstraction as a process of extracting from a group of objects their common element, required beforehand an awareness of the concept represented by the com- mon element. This is in accordance with a theory of fixed ideas which are recognized as the forces and the pattern in nature. A mechanistic view of the formation of ideas suggests that they are not im- mutable and depend more upon the whims of man than upon nature. The situation is now analogous to that of language. People communicate with each other by means of language and it is more or less agreed that language provides only a rough de- scription of what a person wishes to convey. Each feeling and each thought is distinct and does not come into existence with any intention of fitting in- to the existing language. Politicians and advertis- ing companies may thus be characterized as people who have become expert in using this weakness of language to their advantage. Ideas on the other hand are, in a certain sense, the vehicle by which a person communicates with himself. For a person is enabled to retain his impressions of the outside world primarily through the formation of concepts. But nature does not intend to comply with man ' s state of ideas any more than it does to the words in the dictionary. Man ' s ideas ore superimposed by himself upon nature— they form an added structure without which he would bo incapable of de ribing nature even to himself Nature coniiiti actually of a countless number of diverje phenomena— each time a ball folk to earth, for cxomple, we should rightfully consider it a separate phenomenon. Bui to predict nature under these conditions and to give rules for its operation without seeing a lim- ilarity between two events would be hopelessly im- possible. So man must make comparisons. He murt see a similarity which enables him to classify on idea. But two events ore never identicol even if they ore similar. The result is that the ideo that man formulates is never as real as the phenomena it combines. It has on arbitrariness to it which meanj that it might be possible to formulate the rules of nature without using this idea of all. It was precisely the realization of this that enabled relativity to dis- cord classical physics both in its laws and in it concepts. Many philosophers hove mode the observation that human knowledge apparently evolves by suc- cessive approximations. Not only is the total knowl- edge that appears to be granted humanity limited, but what knowledge we do have seems to be ac- curate only to a certain degree and subject to var- ious qualifications. Now if knowledge were re- stricted to facts, to answering yes or no, it would be difficult to understand the limitation on knowledge. The matter appears in a different light when we realize that knowledge hangs very heavily upon the fundamental concepts man has chosen with which to state his facts. The concepts form the material with which the scientist and the philosopher weave heir patterns. The difficulty is that we can never prove a concept to be correct or incorrect. We can only test the validity of these concepts by trying to formulate the laws of nature in terms of them. The fact that absolute truth continually eludes us seems to indicate that no set of concepts will ever be found satisfactory to express all the laws of nature. This is consistent with our view thot nature itself does not formulate its laws in terms of any fixed concepts. Thus in physics, our basic concepts are built around an essentially arbitrary system of measurement— i.e., the result of one measurement we coll the quantity of time, of another measurement, the quantity of length, etc. Our concepts, then, reflect the reaction of our senses to the phenomena of nature. There is reason to believe, though, that nature tronscends our senses so that we cannot hope for a perfect formulation of ideas. 93 The understanding of a new idea involves not only a logical derivation of the idea, but seeing it in relation to connected ideas and thoughts. It Is for this reason that we have gone somewho astray of our original discussion. We shall now return to our topic Once we have placed the blame, not only for the formation of an idea, but for the idea itself, in human hands, we can understand what is to be meant by an incorrect idea. We have described an idea (in -the simplest case) as a class of pictures that appear similar. We avoided a discussion of the general meaning of similar for the reason that there does not appjear to be a general principle by which pictures are judged similar, so we leave this for a deeper analysis. An idea, though, is useful only if it is not restricted to the set of pictures with- in a person ' s experience. That is, there exists a method for determining whether a future picture should belong to this class. Consider, for example, the concept of a triangle that an infant possesses. Now he has not attained the concept of a straight lirre and possibly of the number three, so that he does not think of a triangle as a configuration with three sides (what we referred to as the more com- plex concept of a triangle belonging higher up in our pyramid of thought). It is nevertheless probable that he is capable of determining what is a triangle and what is not. That is, even though he will have exfjerienced only a finite number of triangles, that set contains enough members so that when shown another triangle it will be similar to certain triangles of the set. On the other hand, it is possible for me to place together in one class, say a cherry, dic- tionary, table and a dog. Theoretically if I stipulated that this class constituted the entire idea, it would indeed be a legitimate, if useless, Idea. If I did not make this stipulation, the idea would still be non- existent for there is no way of determining what future members might belong to this class. Thus, if we term an idea incorrect, we shall certainly wish to include an idea of the latter type. Now consider the concept of green. A paint might be mixed hav- ing a hue exactly intermediate between green and yellow so that you could not determine whether or not it belongs to the class green. Certainly we would not wish to outlaw the notion of green an this account. The answer is that whether or not it exists, a convention is theoretically possible thai would determine absolutely whether or not an ob- ject is colored green. The existence of paradoxes indicates that there can come about notions for which such conventions cannot exist theoretically— they do not exist even in principle. This means that unwittingly we have given a name to a collection of unrelated objects and assumed that we have a clear cut idea. In actuality, though, no rule can ever be formulated that would determine for every object if it belongs to this class or not. An idea of this sort is to be counted illegal. The principal point of view that we are trying to explain is that if ideas are formed mechanically by the human mind, it makes sense to make rules for the operation of this ma- chinery. And the rule that is made clear by the ex- istence of paradoxes is, that ideas whose classes are indeterminate do not exist. Let us call such an idea intrinsically unclear. The property X for which I give the examples: cherry, table, dictionary, dog, represents an intrinsically nuclear idea. Our para- doxes show us that ideas arising in mathematics may also turn out to be intrinsi cally unclear. Earlier it would have surprised us to hear that an idea does not exist because we don ' t know to which object it refers. But our discussions of the formulation of ideas was intended to show that an idea does not make sense unless it refers (or for practical purposes can refer) to a specific set of objects. An idea is not something existing itself which we discover in ob- jects; it is something we form from the objects and if it cannot be formed in its meaningless. Of course, once this is realized, we must then formulate rules to prevent such ideas from entering our discussions. Whatever these rules may be, they must exclude at least such ideas, which are known to lead to contradiction. Our task had been to explain how there may exist such a thing as an illegal idea. Once we have done this we need no longer prove that the 94 ideas in the paradoxes are illegal - this is proven by the very existence of paradoxes. Thus we ask whether the notion predicable is legitimate. In other words, does there exist in theory a rule for al- ways determining whether or not on adjective applies to itself? If there does not, then both the words pre- dicable and impredicable are meaningless. If such a rule does exist, then both predicable and im- predicable are legitimate adjectives of which we cannot determine whether or not they apply to them- selves. Therefore predicable is intrinsically unclear. There may exist other adjectives of which it is not possible to know whether they apply to themselves (as in fact the examples we have given show that there is a certain arbitrariness about determining this) but we need no more to assure us of the Il- legitimacy of the word predicable. The parallel- ism between the two forms of Russel ' s paradox shows that even ideas about which we feel fairly secure are subject to the same vagueness. For even if the idea of predicobility is vague, who would contest the meaning of the concept of an object belonging to a set or not? Nevertheless they are equivalent- it is not always possible to know whether or not a set contains itself. Hence our sets A and B are not clearly defined. Again the Berry paradox shows thai the idea of defineability of a number is intrinsical- ly unclear. We shall see that some of the attempts to give rules for correct ideas give an insight into the source of the lack of clarity of ideas such as defineability. Our purpose has been to explain how such a thing could come about in the first place. If might have occurred to the reader that we are taking too arastic action. Does the fact that an idea fails in one case subject it to complete removal? Thus the vagueness of predicobility was exhibited only in the case of the two words, predicable and impredicable. Might it not be possible to still rescue the idea by requiring that its use be restricted rather than prohibited entirely? This is a reasonable pos- sibility which has not been widely considered— that is, when we shall give a rule for eliminating concept from mathematics, it must be eliminated entirely. The well known Epimenides paradox is one reason for considering this last suggestion. The sentence: The statement following the asterisk is false, (where we include the alternative of meaningless under false ) would indicate that the notions of true and false are intrinsically unclear. This follows when we try to apply these notions to the sentence above. But since these notions only fail in such cases. semanticists hove tried to rescue rne terms true and false by requiring the language in which they appear to satisfy certain conditions (such that the notion of truth shall not apply to a statement as above). Clearly, though, this idea runs more deeply than the need of language. We shall, however, give it no further consideration. We referred to the problem of determining gen- eral rules for avoiding illegal concepts in mathe- matics. One attempt at a solution is essentially due to Bertrand Russel and goes under the name logic- ism. In this theory, just those definitions are pro- hibited which might be expected to lead to contra- dictions. They are definitions which appear to be of a circular nature— ihey require their existence for their definition, so to speak. Thus Russel developed a theory of logical types in which each definition must be made in terms of more primitive definitions (in a manner similar to our hierarchy of ideas). If a definition is made in terms of a notion of type 2, say, it belongs to type 3. Moreover, every legitimate definition must be of some type. It turns out that restricting onesself to suuch definitions eliminates the notions of predicobility, defineability, and the general concept of truth. The final theory (some- what more elaborate) might be characterized by the fact that it avoids (precisely our paradoxes. A second view expounded by L. Brouwer ts intuitionism. This fheory removes a great deal more 95 from mafhematics than its paradoxes. The main theme in intuitionistic theory is the denial of the principle of the excluded middle, for infinite sets. If I speak about a prof erty P of an ordinary ob- ject, the principle of the excluded middle asserts that P or its negative not-P holds for that object. If we deal with a class of objects, the principle asserts that either P holds for some object in that class or not-P holds for every element— and if I disprove the latter, the only remaining alternative is the former. Brouwer claims that although this principle holds for finite classes, it does not hold for infinite classes. Now the principle of the excluded middle is the basic tool of logic, by which we recognize an inconsist- ency. This principle says that everything is either yes or no; if it is both or it is neither then it is illogical. So by denying the principle of the excluded middle, Brouwer solves one paradox by introducing some- thing that is itself a paradox. On the other hand, this denial makes more sense if we restrict it to ideas that we have been calling vague. For such ideas, we argued, it is not possible to say either yes or no definitely. In other words ,we may look upon the denial of the principle of the excluded middle as a proposition about un- clear ideasi The intuitionist now claims that an in- finite set is an intrinsically unclear idea— it is an extrapolation of our concept of finite sets but is actually beyond the realm of our experience. As an intrinsically unclear idea, we cannot speak def- initely about it— the denial of not-P does prove P. Whether on infinite set is an unclear concept is, as we might suspect, very much a matter of taste. That infinite sets do not enjoy some very basic proper- ties of finite sets will be admitted by every mathe- matician. But most mathematicians do not wish to deny more than is absolutely necessary in order to explain inconsistencies, and the infinite set is too useful a tool to deny. The so called fofmalistic theory does not deal explicitely with rules for which notions are to be permitted. It deals rather with the question of when an entire mathematical system of axioms and def- initions is to be permitted. It answers the paradoxes by eliminating our concern about the paradoxes. Our objection to the paradoxes was that they too closely simulated mathematical reasoning for com- fort. The formalist now answers that you never really used correct mathematical reasoning. Had you rea- soned correctly, your reasoning would not simulate that of the paradoxes. A mathematical theory is formally correct after you have shown that no contradiction can ever occur in the theory. This can be done and has in fact been done by Hilbert and his followers to a good portion of mathematics. Naturally, in such a system, paradoxes are definitely outlawed. Thus formalism eliminated the problem of the paradoxes by patching up the remainder of mathematics. To this, the intuitionist, for one, has two objections. First of all, a theory may be correct and I may be incapable of proving its consistency. Secondly, a theory might be incorrect, and deal with meaningless ideas, but nevertheless be con- sistent. In the course of the development of mathe- matics many explanations have been attempted of why mathematics possesses such precision of thought while all other subjects must be debated and are constantly being revised. Some of these explanations maintain that mathematics belongs to an entirely dif- ferent realm of the intellect than any other subject. Such a solution, for example, was the position that mathematical ideas are a priori. John Stuart Mill was one of the few who did not agree with this point of view. He maintained the opposite view to an extreme. His position was that all mathematical knowledge is really obtained through experience. Mill believed that the statement that one plus one equals two has no further justification than the fact that we observe that whenever we place one ob- 96 ject together with another of the same kind we obtain two of that kind. In some world yet undiscovered the result of this experiment may be different and one plus one might equal three. In one point, though, we agree with Mill. As a result of his theory. Mill was forced to view the transition from the, so to speak, inexact sciences to mathemofici as o grod- ual one. And this is the view that results from what we have been considering. Mathematics differs from other endeavors of the human mind only in the de- gree of exactness. It is not, as was once supposed, free from the prejudices and whims of mon ' s intellect. 97 Impressions of Ag non REUBIN HUTTLER Agnon has been acclaimed as the foremost He- brew writer of our century. The Israeli government, recognizing this, has conferred the Israeli Award for Literature on him. Nevertheless, this should not deter us from making a critical review of some of his works. Agnon ' s works cover three periods of Jewish history. The first period deals with Galician Jewry of the 18th and 19th century, before the advent of the Haskala. The second period deals with the de- struction of Galician Jewry after World War I, while the third period deals with the restoration of Jewish nationalism in Palestine. The essay will attempt to describe the major works which sum up these periods. One of Agnon ' s earlier books which covers the Galician period is Bridal Canopy. This book is built on the Don Quixote theme and portrays Reb Yudel Hachasid who is instructed to leave the town on a mission to collect money for his daughters ' dowries. Reb Yudel is reluctant to go since he will hove to forego learning and prayer with a Minyan. Since it is a commandment to listen to the Sages, however, he acquiesces. Agnon then takes Reb Yudel through Galicia on an extended JQurney to render a panor- amic review of Galician Jewry. Dov Sadan, a Hebrew writer from Galicia, is quoted as follows: If ten measures of Judaism de- cended upon the world then nine measures went to Galicia. He goes on to say that every new idea had its flowering and every new movement its fer- mentation in Galicia. She was the root of the Frankist movement, the hotbed of the Chasidic movement, the mother of the Haskala and the nest of Zionism. It is this energetic and dynamic Jew ry which Agnon set out to portray. Novels are usually classified in the following five ways: pedagogical, psychological, symbolic, contemporaneous, and philosophical. Bridal Canopy might be distinguished by its inability to be precisely classified. Although it is true that Reb Yudel is con- stantly moralizing, it is for purposes of description rather than for didactic reasons. The author does not attempt to dig into the unconscious motives of his characters so that it is impossible to consider the novel a psychological one in that sense. There is little symbolism in the novels since by and large the char- acters and situations are realistic. The novel treats Galician Jewry at the beginning of the nineteenth century so that it cannot be considered a contempor- aneous novel. There is little philosophising, unless we take Darshening to be philosophising. Although the novel defied exact classification we will try to characterize its method. Bridal Canopy is actually a collection of stories and tales about Galician Jewry. The vehicle the author uses to hold it together is the journey of Reb Yudel through Galicia. Although the entire novel holds together loosely, it is much more unified than Chaucer ' s Canterbury Tales because of two factors. First, there is a modest plot, ostensibly that of ac- quiring money for his daughters ' dowries and then the character of Reb Yudel dominates the entire novel. 98 Since the novel is really a collocfion of tales and short stories there is very little action. The plot is almost entirely forgotten except when Reb Yudcl receives a donation for his daughters ' dowries. It also follows from this analysis that the main char- acter, Reb Yudel, does not develope. He is essential- ly the same person from beginning to end. The in- cidents in the novel have no bearing on the develop- ment of character nor do they head for some climax. Agnon is merely introducing to us typical characters of Galicia. As Reb Yudel moves along from town to town, he comes in contact with every sort of Jew, from the modest wood choppers, tanners and inn- keepers to the saintly tzadikim. The one group does not exclude the other, for the humble turn out to be very pious in their ways. Each meeting is an excuse for Agnon to engage Reb Yudel in conversation. Reb Yudel, who is supplied with his abundant stock of tales, medrashim and halacbik remarks has an apt phrase for all situations. Where G d ' s virtues need to be extolled or any blasphemy abashed the proper medrash is invoked. In return, Reb Yudel lends an ear to the stories of the humble. Reb Yudel is really a baflan. Whether or not Agnon is satirising in the manner of Mendel Mocker Sforim is difficult to decide. He nevertheless emerges with the embodiment of a pure saintly Galician Jew. Throughout the book Reb Yudel is thoroughly un- concerned with himself. His entire b;ing is per- meated by a religious fervor and spirit so that his entire existence is a constant serving of G d. His only frustrations are those actions in the world which he feels are alien to G d. The presence of on Api- Icorus is a source of disturbance to him. His own in- ability to pray with a minyan because of his journey is a constant thorn in his side. These are the frus- trations of a saintly Galician Jew, the ones of the spiritual, not of the material world. One critic has referred correctly to Reb Yudel as a spirit floating In the world. This will be understood by the follow- ing incident occurring in the book. Reb Yudel is served rich food by his host. He will not embarrass his host by turning down the rich food and as a re- sult becomes ill. This is illustrative of Reb Yudel ' s contempt for extended material comforts. He is satis- fied with a minimum of material comforts as long as the spiritual world remains inviolate. Agnon writes with sensitivity and simplicity. There is little brutality or harshness even in the crud- est episodes in the book. His characters are humble people for the most part and are portrayed sym- pathetically. There is little strew or itrain in hi characters. Their emotional life leemi to be very stable. The tales are of folk origin but in Agnon they are told with delicacy and charm which en- dears them to the reader. Although Agnon portrays his characters in o sensitive manner ho doc. cho ' .tlie them for lock of fortitude or unscrupulousness. Agnon is interested in the foibles of his characters, such as those problems brought about by mischievous gossipers, idle Botlan- im, or immodest Rabbis. Yet, for the most part the characters are wholc.ome Godfearing pecp ' e who live upright lives. Any discussion of Bridal Canopy would be in- complete without mentioning Netah, the Baalhagala, who accompanies Reb Yudel for half the journey. Netah is the Sancho Poncho to Don Quixote of this book. He provides ample moments of laughter and interest. Some of the stories he tells to Reb Yudel, particularly about his own life, are replete with hu- mor. He is a very simple soul, not well educated and very ind.cisive. Not understanding too well the no- ture of religious piety, he is often reprimanded by Reb Yudel. Agnon seems to be set apart from the twentieth century in his works. He does not try to introspect, to understand the hidden motives, unconscious dssires and emotional instability in his characters. There ex- ists very little conflict between good and evil. There does not seem to be too much social strain be- tween good and evil. There does not seem to be too much social strain between the common f eople and the more learned. This is t efore the advent of the Haskalo and Chasidism. Galician Jewry seems to be a highly integrated collectivity. The cruder moments ore those remembrances of pogroms in the post and the Poretz who has not been too good to his Jewish populace. However, these are glossed over or cast in such delicate tones that the brutality or injustice of the moment seems to be missing. Certain characters should be mentioned for their weirdness. Reb Yudel on his trip comes in cofi- tatt with one Jew learning without his hat, another who has isolated himself from the community and demands that Jews should learn Hebrew grammar. The tale is also told of a young girl who runs away with a goy. These stories impress the reader since they break the integrated pattern one finds in the novel. Some critics have suggested that Agnon has deliberately projected these stories into the novel to forecast the future. However, it can be argued that 99 in the most integrated Jewish communities there were non-conformists who withdrew from the lot of the communit . After World War I Agnon went back to Europe to visit Galicia. The Galicia he saw was entirely changed. It was physically shattered and morally and ethically destitute. The novel To Tarry for a Night is a description and chronicle of events of a ruined Galicia. The reader is introduced immediately to the changed atmosphere in Galicia. Agnon who is writ- ing the novel in the first person asks two men for di- rections to a hotel. In the ensuing conversation, he learns that there are two left and that the one which is owned by the wife of Reb Chaim who was a very learned and pious Jew has been turned into a house for sinners. As the novel goes on a picture of despair arises; women who have lost their husbands and children, old men without chil- dren, beggars without limps, destroyed cities, crook- ery, thievery, debauchery and a general breakdown of ethics and morals. Pogroms are a frequent occurence. There is fear and distress in the people. Most of them want to get away from Galicia and have a little peace. Agnon is depressed by the thought that Galicia may be depopulated, that synagogues and Bet Medrashim which used to be full of Sforim should be left va- cant. As a symbolic gesture he accepts the key to the Bet Hamedrash which no one wants. in the novel Agnon is too often up against stiff competition arguing G d ' s side. On the whole he has a difficult time justifying the catastrophe and his stock of Medrashim do not save him or G d from the severe judgments cast on the destruction. The impression one gets is that Agnon ' s refinements can- not deal with this brutality. A stronger and harsher voice is needed to point these sentiments. Longing for Palestine plays a large role in Ag- non ' s writing. Often it is treated ip highly mysterious and mystical tones. There are several short stories dealing with the theme of Palestine, Story of a Goaf, Palesiinian Soil and Under the Tree and others. The first tells a story of a goat who disappears every night and goes to Palestine returning the next morn- ing. The old man who is the owner of the goat asks his son to follow the goat and learn where the goat disappears to. Palesfin on Soil tells the story of a young man who is asked to send Palestinian soil back to Europe by the keeper of a cemetery so that when he is buried it will be with Palestinian earth. Both stories have a haunting quality about them. If Bridal Canopy represents the summation of Agnon ' s work on Galicia, then Hearts of the Seas is the summation or the climax of the theme of mysteri- ous longing for Palestine. The Heart of the Seas is a semi-legendary tale of nine Jews and Chanania who decide to emigrate to Palestine. All of them are old men and have their ties in Europe. Yet the urge to emigrate is too great for them to remain in Europe. Agnon is aware of the difficulty of departing from one ' s adopted homeland and describes this admirably. They are saddened by their separation from their Bet Hame- drash and the river upon which they use to go tasb- lich. It is at the moment they leave their city that they begin to realize how beautiful it was. How- ever, the desire to emigrate is too great to be broken by these sentimental attachments. Agnon is really forecasting the difficulties which the return to Palestine movement encounters. The strong attach- ments of Galut patterns are enticing, but when the urge for redemption or the historical imperative to return comes about, Israel leaves everything behind to go to Palestine. The main character of the novel is Chanania. He is a mysterious wandering Jew coming from nowhere to join the group and complete the minyan. He has traveled throughout the world, been stripped naked, forgotten about Shabfcos, Yom Toy and Yom Kippur. Chanania symbolizes the Jewish people in their wanderings who have lost their faith. Yet Chan- ania will redeem himself and therefore joins the group to go to Palestine. He is the embodiment of 100 goodness. The preparations for the trip, the clean- ing of the utensils and the cushions are mode by Chanania. When the group has reached the port of embarkation, Chanania disappears in order to fulfill the mifzva of freeing an oguno from the bonds of her widowhood. As a result Chanania misses the boat and must get across the sea on his neckerchief. In the heart of the seas following the boat is the apn parition of Chanania on his neckerchief. One of the nine fzadikim refers to the apparition as the Shechina returning to Palestine. He finally comes to Palestine with the nine tiadikim and his voice is the pieasantest of them all. Agnon has symbolized the diflFiculties of Galut, goodness, Shechina and return to Palestine in the mysterious Chanania. The neckerchief being an object of endearment, it symbolizes i n the story the attachment of the Shechina to the Jews. When the Jews arrive in Palestine they kiss the earth. They find the land barren and orrid. Although It is forbidden to refer to the Holy Land in a reproach- tuf manner some of the wives complain about the desolateness and the oppressive heat. Their husbands remind them that it is sinful to talk evil about Ereiz Yisroel. Agnon is foreseeing the difficulties arising as a result of Kibbutz Galiot, namely the complaints of the dissatisfied. However, Israel, G d and his people will prevail. The opposition with their com- plaints will be reduced to a trifling nullity. Agnon ' s works move forward historically. Bridal Canopy was a description of the epic of Jewish Galicia. To Tarry for a Night, is a description of the destruction of that life and the pathos accompanying it. Yesterday and Yesteryear, Agnon ' s latest work, is the portrayal of a new awakening and movement to settle Palestine. It is an historical novel dealing with the second Aliyah to Palestine which occurred between 1900 and 1914. The topic of this novel is a concrete Palestine. None of the mysterious dteamy qualities of his previous works about Palestine is found in Yesterday and Yesteryear. Essentially it is a novel of conflicts. There is the conflict between the old and new generations, idealism and conservatism, old Jerusalem and new Palestine, and the old Pale- stinian Moshavot who ore interested in cheap Arab labor and the Cbalutz. Yitzchak Kumar who has sold stamps for Zionist causes in Europe decides to leave for Palestine. He is the oldest in the family of young children left without their mother. His father at first objects since he is a poor man who cannot afford to lose his son and to raise money for such a trip, however, seeing that Yitzchak i s not o talented merchant, it in foct a poor one, he consents to the trip. His fother bor- rows heavily for Yitzchok ' i voyoge and throughout the book the guilt attached to this occurrence lays heavily on Yitzchak ' s conscience. Indeed, he is con- stantly disturbed by the fact that he has left the children in his father ' s hands. On the way to Palestine he makes several stops. In Lemberg he visits leading Zionist officials whose names he has encountered in the mailing materiel he hod received. Yitchok Kumar who is a simple person is very uncomfortable in the fashionable quarters of these fastidious Zionists. Agnon is point- ing out the gap between practical idealism and con- servative idealism, one expressing itself in sacrifice and the other in empty, lofty phrases. Yitzchak Kumar passes through other cities such as Vienna and Trieste, but although he is witnessing new cities and different people he is blinded by his idealistic urge to settle in Palestine and does not notice them. He has practically nothing to eat on the ship and would have starved to death but for the mercy of the galley cooks. Yitzchak is impatient with the voyage as he was with the journey. Yet, the voyage is significant insomuch as he meets on old couple going to Palestine to die, by which he later attaches himself back to Old Jerusalem. Furthermore, here again is the contrast between the new gener- ation going to Palestine to build and the old to die. As Yitzchak reaches Jaffa, the shrewd inrv keepers have already assembled to welcome the newcomers and to entice them into staying at their hotels. Yitzchak, on unassuming person, whose forth in PalesTine is so complete that the prospect of find- ing unscrupulous individuals, people who ore inter- ested in their private fortunes and who do not flinch 101 from exploiting the ignorance and gullibility of the new settlers, never enters his mind. After spending most of his money Yitzchak learns his lesson. He leaves for Petach Tikva to find a job on the land. There he learns that the Jev ish plantation owners prefer to hire cheap Arab labor rather than Jewish help. Time had changed those who had originally come to Palestine with idealistic intentions. Instead, they had become a landed aristo- cracy, uninterested and entirely unsympathetic and not believing in Jewish colonization. Yitzchak ' s world began to crumble. The Palestine he had envisioned did not exist. Yitzchak had not come for comforts but to work with his hands on the soil to build and be rebuilt. Instead he had found an Idle Jaffa and a cynical landed aristocracy incapable of fathoming the pure idyllism and faith of a Chalufz. Yitzchok returns to Jaffa. After a period of time in which he nearly starves to death he receives a job as a house painter. If he has been disenchanted until now, this is his total disruption. From the time his career as a painter begins he descends from the lofty heights of his idealism.. His skill as a house painter is no little fault for his decline. Jaffa had become the center for the idle and disenchanted Chalufzim. Old Jerusalem was the center of an entrenched medieval Jewry. New Jeru- salem had become the center for the intelligentio. The plantations were run in a business-like fashion with little pretense of Jewish nationalism. Yet in all this chaos there remained one ray of hope. In the Galil they were forging a front through immense suffering from malaria and disease. Yitzchak could have fulfilled himself as a Chaluiz and abandonned the security of the paint brush. Instead he reconciled himself to living in Jaffa and fell in love with Sonia. Sonia was incapable of remaining faithful to one man and betrayed Yitzchak. This completely shat- tered his confidence since he could not find happi- ness in the compromises of the present. Yitzchak decides to leave for Jerusalem in the hope of re- capturing the spirit of the past or the old home Galicia. Finally he capitulates to Old Jerusalem, fall- ing in love with Puah who is the granddaughter of the old couple he met on his voyage to Palestine. When this happens he is doomed since he has embraced the past which has no place in a resurging dynamic nationalism in Palestine. He dies after being bitten by a dog. Yitzchak Kumar was Reb Yudel ' s grandchild. He has Inherited his love for Eretz Yisroel from his grand- father. He isn ' t an intellectual, nor has he arrived at his decision by the rational mind. Yitzchak is rather the simple soul who trusts in his instincts. In this sense he resembles his grandfather, Reb Yudel, of Bridal Canopy since Reb Yudel is essentially not a rationalist. He was a simple, pure individual who had complete faith in G d and in Israel. This idealism of Reb Yudel was transplanted into Yitzchak Kumar in the form of dedication to rebuilding the homeland. Agnon is indicating that it was the type of Jew who believed in his instincts who was capable of self- dedication to an ideal. The rational mind cannot entertain such belief. Some of the finest character portrayals are done in Yesferday and Yesteryear. There is the sensitive artist Bluekof who is suffering from tuberculosis and finally dies, and his dedicated wife. Rabinowitz was the one who had introduced Yitzchak to Sonia when he left Palestine. When Yitzchak had decided to go steady with Sonia he felt guilty of taking her away from Rabinowitz. Yitzchak ' s courting of Sonia is sensitively done. It is o delicate description of love between two indi- viduals. There is little of the intense passion found in western novels. Among the characters is Sweetfoot who lives as a recluse in his shack near the seashore and from whom Yitchak learns much homely wisdom. Finally there is an admirable description of life in Jaffa. One critic refers to the group of disenchanted Chalufzim living there as nihilistic in nature. They fitted neither into the old nor the new evolving pat- tern in Israel. Yesferday and Yesteryear is also a chronicle of events which occurred during the second Aliyah. In it we have a faithful description of the new K;fabuf- zim being settled, the building of Meoh Shearim away from the old city of Jerusalem and the build- ing of Tel Aviv. Since the major institutions of Israel were founded by the second Aliyah, Agnon ' s work is of historical value for the period. The book will also be remembered as the finest satire written in Hebrew. The satire on Meah Shea- 102 rim and contemporary events in Palestine of the second Aliyah are both highly interesting and timely. Agnon ' s satire is carried out through Balak, a philo- sophical dog whose adventures are told in a book. Some of the topics which come under Agnon ' s satire are the multitude of languages, nationalities, man- nerisms, the lack of Jewish unity, in fact virtually everything in life. The satire is mostly graceful and teasing. Yet for Meah Shearim Agnon seems to have reserved a special portion of his ire. He fiercely lashes out and scrutinizes it. Agnon, who is an observant Jew, is nevertheless a very strong critic of Meah Shearim. Meah Shearim does not contain his pure, saintly and proud Jews of Galacia. Instead, he sees in Meah Shearim a cor- ruption of all that was saintly in Galicia. He might characterise them as rabble-rousing Jews who are over-zealous and arrogant, stubborn, and full of blind hatred. The physical corruption is no less than its ethical corruption. Meah Shearim is described in its utter filth and stench. There are strong character portrayals of such negative individuals as Reb Feish, the zealous Jew who goes about putting up placards excommunicating those who differ with him on the least thing. No one will forget Yurkum Purkum who goes about Meah Shearim preaching and admonish- ing Jews for trifling matters. Besides having value as a tool of satire, the dog Balak has symbolic significance. Some critics have developed composite theories about the symbolism of the dog. It will be safer to interpret the symbolic meaning in terms of the various contexts in which the dog appears in the book. One day as Yitzchak is painting in Jerusalem he is rudely disturbed by a dog. The dog persisted in bothering him so that being exasperated by the dog ' s teasing he painted the words kelev meshugab on the dog ' s fur. The dog who is a denizen of Meah Shearim returns home only to find that he has be- come an outcast. He is forced to flee Meah Shearim since his appearance on the streets is greeted with sticks and stones. The dog then goes scurrying about various quarters of Jerusalem to learn what ho caused his alienation from Meah Shearim. The man- ner in which ho acquires his name is very interesting. One of the teachers of the foreign school of Jeru- salem reads the letters KeLeB backwords due to his ignorance. Hence the name Bolak. At the point in the story that Balak appcors, Yitzchak is a man without a land, a country, or any attachments. Even his love for Sonia has been severed. The dog ' s alienation is symbolic of Yitz- chak ' s alienation from Sonia, society and the land. The dog is unfit to live among men since he it a kelev meshugah. Yitzchak is also unfit to live among men. When Yitzchak finally succumbs to the old city of Jerusalem he is bitten by Balak and dies. Balak is the representation of Meah Shearim. The submission to the post carries with if the means to its own de- struction. When Yitzchak fell prey to Meah Shearim, Meah Shearim killed him since the post hos no place in the future. It was earlier pointed out that Yitzchak is a simple person who was mainly led by his instincts. The author therefore did not hove his main character do the philosophicol ruminations. Instead this was done by Balak. Balak, when found in such o context is a philosophical dog pondering the relationship between G d and thp world, G ' d and Israel, the nature of redemption and world history. What can we expect of Agnon in the future? At the end of Yesferday and Yesferyear, Agnon makes it clear that he intends to deal with the suc- cess of the Chalufz. Yitzchak Kumar f oints to the regeneration of Judaism in Palestine. Yet Yitzchak didn ' t succeed and consequently died. In his next novel Agnon intends to deal with the success of the Jewish pioneer and his ideals and their realizations with the establishment of Israel. With that they will have concluded a new epoch in Jewish history and will have traced Jewish life from the 18th century till contemporary times. 103 Ahad Ha-am and Jewish Culture ALVIN BOBROFF Until modsrn times the Jewish peop ' e had en- deavored to isolate themselves from the influence of the culture of the Gentile world and had clung faith- fully to their traditional culture. Because of their feel- ing of religious duty they willingly accepted the hardship and difficulty that this unique way of life brought upon them. Changing conditions in Europe in modern times squeezed the Jew out of his ghetto into direct contact with his Gentile environment. The Jews then found themselves in great difficulty in trying to adjust to their new surroundings. This problem became the concern of many Jewish thinkers, the greatest of whom was Ahad Ha-am. Ahad Ha-am is the pen-name made famous by the Hebrew writer whose real name was Asher Gins- berg. He was born in the small town of Skvire in South Russia on the 18th of August, 1856. Young Asher grew up in an atmosphere of books and his natural passion and aptitude for study received every encouragement. But study, of course, meant study of the Talmud and other components of the traditional Jewish system of higher education. Every- thing outside that charmed circle - languages, litera- ture, history, mathematics, science, Hebrew grammar - was taboo. It was not until 1886, when he was nearly thirty years old, that he cut himself loose from his family and went to live in Odessa where his real life began. By that time he had succeeded in super- imposing a considerable amount of secular knowl- edge on the vast store of specifically Jewish learning he had absorbed in his early years. He was familiar with the languges and literatures of Russia and Ger- many (it was only later that he acquired English, French and Latin), and he was widely read in history, philosophy and especially sociology. Though he was entirely self-taught, and much of his knowledge had been picked up in a haphazard fashio n, his extraor- dinary gift for assimilating and systemizing what- ever he learnt made him entirely free from the super- ficiality of the typical autodidact. Like many of his contemporaries he had suffered a rude awakening through the outbreak of pogroms in 1881 and the savage anti-Jewish legislation which followed. Until that time, so far as can be gathered from hints in his Reminisences, he had been inclined to regard European culture as the supreme ideal. Ahad Ha-am realized that as time passed re- ligion would decrease in value and importance to the Jews. For the majority of the Jews, Jewish cul- ture would decay and almost cease to exist. In hope of preventing this, Ahad Ha-am undertook to fight for the survival of Jewish culture. Yet his outlook was not what is called religious. He was a thorough- going Positivist, and there was no room in his scheme of things for the supernatural. He was a free thinker and could accept no dogma on authority. His ap- proach to history, including Jewish history, was bio- 104 logical. History is the history of nations and a nation is a human group with a corporate will to live and a definite individuality or spirit of its own. This spirit remains constant in essentials throughout the nation ' s history, and is recognizable in the character of the nation ' s reactions to its environment in the successive stages of its evolution. For him, a nation ' s real history is the history of the evolution of its spirit expressing itself in certain characteristic ways of life and brought in distinctive beliefs, habits and cus- toms. But, and this is equally fundamental in his phil- osophy, the spirit can express itself only in and through the actual concrete life of the nation, just as the spirit of an individual huma n being must work through a physical organism. A disembodied spirit is a mere fiction. Ahad Ha-am ' s biological sociology was the fruit of his secular reading, not of his study of Jewish sources. He Was, of course, not the first Jewish thinker who attempted a restatement of fundamental Jewish ideas in terms of contemporary thought. But he went further than any of his predecessors in abandoning the belief in revelation which has usual- ly been held to be cardinal. In effect he substituted the national will to live for the divine providence and the nation ' s moral sense for the divine inspiration. Ahod Ho-am was convinced that the Jewish peo- ple were and are a people with a unique genius for morality. In this essay Zionism and Hebrew Culture, he says, There is no need to demonstrate the exist- ence of an original Hebrew culture. So long as the Bible is existent the creativity of the Jewish find will remain unchallengeable. Even those who deny that the Jewish nation still exists must admit that when it did exist it was a creative nation. They must admit, too, that the old Jewish nation has left a legacy which bears the indelible impress of its original gen- ius. This being so, those of us who believe, or rather feel, that the Jewish nation still exists have a right to believe, without furhed evidence that if is still capable of original creative work. In his essay Judaism and Nietzsche he further says, It is ad- mitted by everyone that the Jewish people is pre- etinent in its genius for morality. To Ahad Ha-am the central feature of Judaism is an unconquerable belief in universal justice and in the ultimate triumph of right over might. It is histori- •xjlly a ro-.ulf of the fact (hot the ancient H brov j, o a weak people surrounded by strong neighbors, would inevitably have gone under in the jtruggia for existence if they had not found o woy of baling their national cohesion on something non phyiicol. They adopted the conviction that the Jewish people had been chosen to struggle for ultimote victory of right over might, and it must continue to live until that goal is attained. And so, when the material framework of its national life was destroyed by force, the Jewish people did not diioppear as the other nations have done in like circumstonces. Its national will to live confronted by a new challenge was able to devise a substitute for the real notionol life in the form of an elaborate code of belief and conduct which could preserve the nation in dispersion until the time came for its corporate life to be re- stored and its pursuit of the ideal to be renewed. Ahad Ha-am with all his heart and soul colled upon his fellow Jews to revive and cherish their uni- queness even though they do not feel religiously obliged to do so. He instructed them to hold on to their post as much as possible and from if extract the necessary stimulus for a moral rebirth. Ahad Ha-am wanted the majority of Jews to remain in the Goluth in order for them to be able to have a constant con- tact with the cultural developments of the rest of the world. In the past he b.li.ved the Jews to hove shown an amazing ability to re-mold non Jewish ideas into the Jewish scheme of thinking. But in order to prevent the Jews of one country from de- veloping radically different cultures from the Jews of other countries they all would have to hove o common spiritual focal point. Of course, to Ahod Ha-am this could mean only Israel, the land of their forefathers. The birthplace of the original Jewish culture would provide a basis for the synthesis of different trends and would guide the continued de- velopment of a single Jewish culture. It was not the law that would come from Zion but an inspiration for a renewed quest for the superior morality. During Ahad Ha-am ' s lifetime the Hebrew Uni- versity was founded in Jerusalem. We con only guess his feelings of joy at this event. It must have seemed to him the first practical manifestation of a hope that embraced a revitalized Jewry on fhe way to fulfilling its history. 105 V UI IIUI iirienis or — — — Samuel Koss Mr. and Mrs. H. Citron Sf. Nicholas Delicatessen Puritan Service Stations Inc. Horowitz-Ma rgoreten Young Israel of Windsor Park A Friend Fleischmann Heymann Julius Stark Mrs. Nat Salwen Blaine ' s Workclothes, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Maimon A Friend of Judah Harris Riesel Bros. Morris Aronin Rego Super Service A Friend of Eugene Horn A. Foladare, Grocer across the Yeshiva Samuel L. Ginzburg The Dier Family A Friend of Barret Broyde Wassner Sportswear Mfg. Co. Pincus Churgin Testimonial Dinner M. Steinbock Electrical Appliances Frank Bushman Kleinman ' s Kosher Meat Poultry Market Mr. Mrs. Chaim Mantel and Sons Seigel ' s Grocery Fair Deal Inc. Ben Hulkower and Family Mr. Solomon Kleinman Lowen ' s Bake Shop Kotzin ' s Drug Store The Genauers A Friend of Aaron Borow Birnbaum Wine Co. 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RALPH SCHUCHALTER — from — Mr. and Mrs. Leon Schuchalter Mr. Abraham Drobis Rabbi and Mrs. Paul Schuchalter Mr. and Mrs. Louis Drobis Mr. and Mrs. Ben Schuchalter Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Stollof Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Brooks Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Rosen Mr. and Mrs. Abe Yudell Mr. Louis Wolfe AND FAMILIES Sole Distributors — Coronet Watches M. WEISBROD Manufacturing and Wholesale Jewelers Creators of Yeshiva College Rings and Keys 91 CANAL STREET NEW YORK 2, N. Y. 108 Superb Ice For Your Skating Pleasure THE BROOKLYN ICE PALACE Atlantic at Bedford Avenues Three sessions daily: 10:30 to 12:00, 2:30 to 5:00, 8:30 to 11:00 Remember — Wednesday night is Collegiate night In Memory of ALEX SLOYER THE SLOYER FAMILY f PILGRIM PRESS CORPORATION yeorbook Div s on 124 WHITE STREET NEW YORK 13, N.Y. WORTH 6-0755 Best Wishes to . IRWIN HAUT — f rom — AUNT SARAH, UNCLE LOU, MARLENE and HOWIE 109 Compliments of . Mr. and Mrs. SAMUEL ADELSON 1709 KOSSUTH STREET Camden, N. J. 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