Judaism as Historical Process
Festivals of the Jewish Year.
by Theodor H. Gaster.
Sloane. 308 pp. $4.00.
There have been many books published about the observance and history of the Jewish festivals: little books of questions and answers for those who want to learn Torah while standing on one foot, collections of sayings from Scripture, and thick anthologies of stories, songs, services, and children’s plays. They all end, however, where Dr. Gaster’s book begins. They write of present-day Judaism in terms of the past. Dr. Gaster discusses the past of Jewish observance in terms of the future.
It is Dr. Gaster’s belief that non-observing Jews have left the fold, not because they did not know how to remain in it, but because they did not see why they should continue ancient customs that held no personal meaning for them, either in their earlier or latter-day forms. He focuses attention, therefore, on the basic concepts, hidden by archaic expressions and practices (or by present adaptations or vulgarization), yet often as meaningful today as two thousand years ago. Dr. Gaster believes that it is what the Bible conveys, not what it says, that is important. He sees Judaism, “not as a creed to be determined or imposed . . . by a sanhedrin or college of rabbis, but the spirit of an entire people attuned to hear a Voice . . . and ready . . . to answer together, ‘we will do and we will hear.’”
Aware that such acceptance can only come out of deep love and understanding, he hopes to increase the understanding. He does not address himself to those whose rejection (or acceptance) of Judaism is merely emotional and unreflective, but to those who want to understand and will listen if the explanation is honest, makes sense, and meets their deep needs.
_____________
Traditional Judaism considers the festivals ordained by God. Modern understanding finds their development from pagan festivals God-inspired. Though the traditional-minded person may find it disrespectful to look objectively at sacred institutions, fearing that the beauty and wisdom may be lost if their primitive origins are shown, Dr. Gaster’s book would prove that the direct opposite actually happens. And, indeed, his descriptions of the spiritual ingenuity of Jewish teachers and scholars in transforming the customs and ideas of other peoples only increase one’s awe of their wisdom. A day of taboo was turned into a day of study and renewal. The fear of physical evil developed into fear of moral sin. Physical purgation was replaced by spiritual atonement. Lamentations for the fallen temple of a defeated goddess had a counterpart in a lament for a sinning people and a God who had forsaken them. The value and meaning of the result is repeatedly enhanced by the knowledge of the raw material from which it was fashioned.
If the Jew is, as Dr. Gaster describes, in the larger world, influenced by those close to him and influencing in turn, we can profitably examine the connection between Shavuoth and Whitsun, Purim and Carnival, Lag B’Omer and the Witches’ Sabbath. Dr. Gaster repeatedly distinguishes between imaginings and facts; yet he gives respectful weight to legends and stories that have been accepted and cherished by so many generations, granting apparently that they acquire a truth of their own that cannot be dimmed by scholar’s theories and archaeologist’s discoveries. He gives some understanding of the way that historians piece their puzzles together, the final version never sure. The scholar’s humility in the face of the difficult task of unearthing the truth is always apparent.
Dr. Gaster insists that certain basic human reactions to life and nature appear very much the same in all eras and in all parts of the world, however much his descriptions of Jewish festivals emphasize the differences between Jews and other peoples. In the chapter on Succoth, therefore, we find information about a primitive Mara tribe in northern Australia. The chapter on Yom Kippur contains not only an explanation of the difference between a day of purgation and a day of atonement in our modern understanding of the holiday, but, along with translations of the most moving prayers in the service, we find discussions about customs of purgation among the Greeks, the Japanese, the Bechuana of Central Africa, the Dinkas of the White Nile. Such marshaling of historical parallels from diverse, un-Jewish sources may tend to make the traditional-minded person unhappy, yet Dr. Gaster so uses his miscellaneous information as to get the last drop of understanding for the basic religious reactions he describes, and for their relevance and meaning as they appear in Judaism. The primitive rites of purgation, for example, in their simplicity and drama, tell us more than the kind of modern philosophizing explanations, in terms of “basic ideas,” concepts, and essences that we have had offered to us as “keys” to the understanding of a Judaism that actually evolved from such early celebrations of the presence of God in nature, history, and the life of man.
Dr. Gaster holds that all Jewish festivals have a universal aspect as well as a particular Jewish significance. Yet he finds the Jewish expression of universal truth and ideals so unique that to combine or equate it with any other is to lose its essential meaning. The history of the festivals is important to him because they contain the history of the Jewish spirit and give us a sense of the Jewish community as it has existed in its continuity through the centuries. But their meaning is to be spelled out not merely by the past, but in the future. The festivals provide an opportunity for those who would rededicate themselves to timeless virtues, to goals still unattained and values that have not yet gained acceptance. Particularly Passover, Purim, and Chanukah are such festivals.
_____________
The book, accordingly, focuses throughout upon the living meaning and the value of the festivals, not on any theories about the origins or development. The theories are there not to expose but to explain. And they so explain as to build understanding and identification, not reduce them. In Judaism, reason and faith are not in competition.
Seen together in this way, the festivals belie the impression that Judaism is a sad and forbidding religion. We mistake seriousness and maturity for somberness. Dr. Gaster tells us that the festivals celebrate God’s providence; the fasts, his anger. The modern overwhelming emphasis on the solemn High Holidays in contrast with the festivals only reveals Jewish attitudes today. Dr. Gaster also tries to lighten the load of Jewish suffering by distinguishing between oppressions brought about by discrimination and anti-Semitism and those which are the lot of all—as groups and individuals in society.
The freedom with which Dr. Gaster discusses the theories he presents, even if they may not be conclusive, is enormously stimulating. When Judaism is accepted as a historical process and not a “philosophical formula,” it can attract creative minds and sensitive spirits as it has in the past. Rigidity, on the other hand, excludes free spirits. Judaism, as we know, has often run the risk of dying of suffocation in the embrace of those who loved it too dearly.
Festivals of the Jewish Year offers many things to many people. One who already appreciates the festivals can find new insights into their meaning. Those who purposely separate themselves from Judaism will not be able to ignore Dr. Gaster’s honesty, scholarship, and respect for Jewish thought. Those who simply do not know will find this a fascinating first book with a bibliography for further study and an index of the poetry that is lavishly quoted in translation from the Ashkenazic and Sephardic prayer books. Few people will be able to read the book without reevaluating their views about Judaism and the world in which it has developed. Dr. Gaster writes with the belief that without such reevaluation, no commitment is possible for many modern Jews. Few recent books contribute more to opening the way for such commitment.
_____________
