LENIN AND THE TALMUD [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Snt,—A review of a book on Lenin, written by L. Trotsky, appeared in the Spectator of April 4th, 1925, and closed with the words :—
" Let us quote one more striking sentence,- remembering that naiveté is not a Jewish characteristic. Trotsky writes of Lenin, naturally he was further removed than anyone from a super- stitious adherence to formal oaths.' " - -
The following extract from Aspects of Jewish Power in the United States (published 1922) explains his attitude in this connexion :— • - .
" The Nidre ' is a Jewish prayer named from its npening-
wards, All vows,' It is leased on the declaration of the Talmud : ' He who wishes that his vows and oaths shall have no value, stand
up at the beginning of the year and " All vows which I shell make during the year shall be of no value." It would be pleasant to be able to declare that this is merely one of the curiosities of the darkness which covers the Talniud, but the fact is that Kol-Nidre ' is not only an ancient curiosity, it is also a m °dein practise. In the volume of revised Festival Prayers, published in 1919 by the • Hebrew Publishing Company, New York, the prayer appears in its fullness All vows, obligations, oaths: or anathemas, pledges of all names, which wo have vowed, sworn, devoted_or bound our- selves to, from this day of atonement, until the next day of atone- ment (whose arrival we hope for in happiness) we repent, aforehand, of them all, they shall all be deemed absolved, forgiven, annulled, . void and made of no effect ; they shall not be binding, nor hive any power • the vows shall not be reckoned vows, the obligations shall not be obligatory, nor the oaths considered as oaths.' If this strange statement were something dug out of the misty past, it would scarcely merit serious attention, but as being part of a revised Jewish prayer book printed in the United States in 1919, and as being one of the high points of the Jewish religious .ceie- bration of the New Year, it cannot be lightly dismissed after atten- tion has been called to it.. . . This article does not say that all Jews thus deliberately assassinate their pledged word. It does say that both the Talmud and the Prayer-book permit them to do so, and tell them how it may lie accomplished."
Previous page
