[NGFP-BookClub] Re: [NGFP-BookClub]sabato

[David FISHER]

> Indeed, some of his [Sammler's] sentiments may send us into shock:
> "I was saying that this liberation into individuality has not been a great
> success. For a historian of great interest, but for one aware of the
> suffering it is appalling."
> This observation, from the speech that Sammler gives in response to Dr.
> Lal's inquiries, turns inside out one of the holiest of modern
assumptions.
> The novel amply demonstrates at what cost individuality has been won.

Sabato's protagonist returns to the same simple faith as Tevye. He appears
to have rejected the liberation into the individuality of modernism. He is
thoroughly immersed in Jewish tradition. In addition he is completely
committed to the State of Israel. However, one can question whether this
attitude is a reasonable one for a citizen of a modern state. Simple faith
is great for fighting wars or bearing up under oppression. It is moot
whether it is suitable for one who is the citizen of a democratic state and
must make decisions or leave those decisions to others to make.

Jews and Judaism hopefully will survive whether or not there is a state of
Israel. One reason we have survived so long is that we have had a Diaspora
for over 2700 years since we were exiled to Babylon. We have survived
because we had a religion, a culture and a tradition. Those peoples who have
attached themselves to a piece of territory have gone down with it. The
Roman Empire, ancient Assyria, Nazi Germany and all our enemies have
disappeared while we are still here.

We have survived precisely because we were not limited to a particular
territory. It is as Jews that we have survived - not as citizens of a
geographic entity.

In 'Adjusting Sights' a verse from a hymn sung on a bus:

"O'er the mountains, where he rests,
The giant of his age, I spy
Enshrined upon its sacred ground,
The tomb of Yohanan Ben-Zakkai."

Yochanan ben Zakkai did not believe the Jewish people could live by the
sword and established a basis on which they could survive. The nations who
opposed the Jews at that time have disappeared long ago, and Jews are still
around so his insight appears valid. He opposed the war with Rome and,
according to tradition, had himself smuggled out of the besieged Jerusalem
in a coffin. The Romans conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and ended
the existence of the Jewish state.

The zealots at Masada fought bravely but finally committed mass suicide in
preference to being overwhelmed by the Romans and having their survivors put
into slavery. the story of the siege of Masada disappeared from Jewish
consciousness, and the story has been resurrected in the last century from
non-Jewish sources to become part of the ideology of the state of Israel.
That is unfortunate as Masada contributed nothing to Jewish survival. The
loss of Jerusalem, the Temple and the Jewish state did not mean an end to
the Jewish people. The Maccabees were somewhat different. They were
concerned with the survival of Jews as Jews. Jews of that time were adopting
the Hellenistic culture. They participated in quasi-Olympics games naked and
even in some cases tried to have foreskins sown on. It greatly amuses me
that what is now called the Maccabee games is an imitation of what the
Maccabees were fighting against. However, the Maccabean struggle did
not contribute to Jewish survival since they were fighting more against
Hellenism than for Jewishness.

Yochanan ben Zakkai was the key to Jewish survival.

Many Jews today equate the state of Israel with the Jewish people. Yochanan
ben Zakkai knew better. He knew Jewishness was in the ethos, learning,
tradition and religion and not in territory. Yochanan ben Zakkai was a
Pharisee, one of a group of Jews who have been maligned in the New
Testament. The Sadducees whose existence was bound up with Temple worship
disappeared as a separate entity with the fall of the Temple. The high
priesthood came to an end, and the rulers of the house of Herod ceased to be
spokesmen for the Jewish people.

Yochanan ben Zakkai got permission from the Emperor Titus to establish a
school for the study and exposition of traditional lore. This was
established at Jabneh (Jamnia). The most eminent of scholars gathered round
him. The Sanhedrin was reconstituted with members chosen for erudition
rather than influence or wealth. With the fall of the Temple the synagogue
became the centre of Jewish life.

It is uncertain when it happened, but some scholars think that the present
Jewish Bible was formed at the synod of Jabneh in 70 CE (about the same time
as the destruction of the Temple). It was collected from a selection of
existing Jewish writing.  At any event the Jewish Bible would not exist had
it not been for ben Zakkai and his school. Without the synagogue and the
Bible Judaism would not have continued for very long after the destruction
of the Temple.

Yochanan ben Zakkai was a man of his time. He wanted Jewish continuity and
realised it could not be based on the reconstruction of past glories. He was
reviled in his time as one who fled Jerusalem, collaborated with the hated
Romans and discarded the past in not working for a new temple. He worked
very successfully for a new Judaism.

There are many in the Jewish community now who are interested in
resurrecting the past. Some wear eighteenth century stremls. Some want to
regain the kingdom of David and Solomon. Some even want to rebuild the
Temple.

Yochanan ben Zakkai realised the past was gone. He based Jewish continuity
on realising the time he lived in. There seems to be a sterility in part of
the Jewish community. For many a primitive nationalism about Israel has
replaced a religion they can no longer follow wholeheartedly. Others have
immersed themselves in that old time religion. Others embrace both the
nationalism and the strict religion. I regard our ethical heritage as more
important.

However, I want Israel to survive. It is here. Jews have constructed a
nation with much to be proud of. Yet I believe neither the state of Israel
nor simple faith is the key to Jewish survival.

Sabato tells of a Syrian who clambered aboard the tank with two grenades.
Vagman killed him. The Syrian had guts. He possibly also had simple faith in
his cause.

To survive we need more than that. Arafat has stated a willingness to
sacrifice 70 of them for one of us. A war of attrition is a winning
strategy if one has the resources. Attrition can shed the blood of
the brave Israelis and continue the transformation of Israel into a garrison
state. All one need do in wars of attrition is to win the last war.

Is there a modern ben Zakkai with a winning strategy?

David Fisher