Judaism
Sir: Others, no doubt, will deal with the anti-Israel aspects of Patrick Marnham's article 'Is Israel racist ?' (6 March). I should like to comment on his misrepresentations of Judaism. Here Mr Marnham draws on the allegations of Dr I. Shahak.
'It is apparently the accepted teaching of the Halakha that medical experiments can be carried out on gentiles, and this ruling is taught in Israel today .. .' This nonsense is a misreading of a ruling of Rabbi Moses Isserles (1520-1572) in his commentary on the Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh Deah, 158: I). What Isserles said is that medicines which are being tried out 'in case they may help' should not be withheld from idolaters. The position is exactly the same for both Jews
and idolators with respect to such medicines; there is no suggestion that they should be tried out on idolaters only. The medicines were expected to be either helpful or harmless. The idea of a 'medical experiment' in the modern sense should not be ascribed to a pre-scientific period.
There are certainly some Jewish rulings which forbid aid to idolaters; this particular pronouncement was intended to mitigate such rulings. It is important to point out that 'idolaters' and 'gentiles' arc not synonymous terms. The same Rabbi Moses Isserles had this to say: 'The prohibition against idolaters does not apply to Christians, since they believe in revelation and the holiness of Scripture and direct their hearts to the Maker of heaven and earth; all the more so as our present rulers show us kindness and desire our friendship (Orah Hayyim, 156: 1).
Mr Marnham makes the routine disclaimer of anti-semitism, yet his charges against Judaism have been part of the stock of anti-semitic arguments from the Talmud: baitings of the Middle Ages to the Nazi propagandists. These ignorant attacks have been refuted again and again, both by Jewish and non-Jewish scholars, and it is a great pity that Mr Marnham should choose to repeat them.
Hyam Maccoby
Leo Baeck College, 33 Seymour Place, London W1
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