c.c.

KJudy Hershcopf
Iseiah Terman

July 15. 1961*.

Rabb! Marc M. Tanenbaum
Samuel *atz

Enclosed analysis of "The Lord Jesus"

! have been struck b/ the perhaps unusual and soeciai Instance of

Interrelationships between the New England o f f i c e , our nationa!
headquarters, and our Pf?r!s o f f i c e , In reference to the overal!
process of the development of the American edition of The Lord
Jesus, Accordingly, 1 met with Thomas Gilshannon end was able
to borrow his lone copy of the criminal French version,"Le
Seigneur Jesus." ! then sat down with AI Kutzlk and explored
with him my thoughts as to the most effective manner in which
we could wj ite up both the interrelationship enong ths three
offices but, most importantly, H« significant and historic
contribution toward better understanding of Jews by Catholics
which had been made possible by the AJ'"'s collaboration with
the American publisher, AIlyn ft Bacon.

We worked out a preliminary outline of how the ami lysis could

be developed, and Al was given the assiin ment of preparing the
d r a f t . He has done an effective job.
The corrected draft is enclosed. In my opinion, this analysis
has a great deal of significance for us In i l l u s t r a t i n g , In a
w s t concrete and specific way, the nature and depth of the AJC's
work In furtherance of interrelIgious emlty.
I would appreciate your thoughts as to what disposition should be
made of this analysis. One idea which I have Is to reprint this
under the "tmpramatur" of the New t n gland o f f i c e . I feel reasonably
confident that I could get the coat of the publication met by one or
two of our members so that no budget item would be involved.

Please let me have your reactions and recommendations.

Cordial regards.

Enc.
 DRAFT July 9,

THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE AND "THE LORD JESUS"

In the spring of I 9 6 I , AjC's Department of I n t e r r e l I g l o u s A f f a i r s learned

that en American publisher had arranged to publish a t r a n s l a t i o n of a series of French

Cethollc c h i l d r e n ' s textbooks by Canon Andre Boyer which would largely replace those

presently being used In American Cethollc parochial schools.

Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, Director of the Department of I n t e r r e l I g l o u s A f f e l r s ,

asked Zacharlah Shuster, AjC's European D i r e c t o r , to have the textbooks evaluated by

someone w i t h an a u t h o r i t a t i v e knowledge of Catholicism who is also sensitive to Jewish

concerns. Mr. Shuster located t h i s seemingly impossible combination of competencies In

the French Jesuit scholar. Father Paul Demann. After several months of study of the

textbooks and t h e i r companion exercise books and teachers' guides, Father Demann a r r i v e d

at the general finding that while "the a t t i t u d e of the author toward Judaism and Jews Is

not knowingly or systematically h o s t i l e , " i t is characterized by"a lack of the sense

of h i s t o r y . . . a n d a certain lack of s e n s i t i v i t y . " The author, according to Fr. Demann,

"shows no deep Interest in the Old Testament or In Judaism; and present-day Judaism and

the concrete r e a l i t y of Jews seems t o be e n t i r e l y outside of his perspective. He ignores

them. Nothing shows t h a t he is aware of the problem of a Christian a t t i t u d e with regard

to these r e a l i t i e s . Nowhere does he react against r o u t i n e and conventional views,

against the abuses of language Inherited from the p a s t . " Among such views and
 ?

lanpuape, Father neTann cited these exannlest "Jesus suffered particularly because of

the hyoocrlsy, the oerfidiousness and the implacable hatred of the "'heriaees, whom he

found in hit way everywhere, and who fought on every occasion to conoromise him and to

brinp about his downfall" and "Coricniered In the desert, Satan withdrew for a while,

but he will use apainst Jesus the Scribes and "^hariseea who, jealous of Jesus' influence

on those of ^ o d faith, will not ston denipratinp: him and setting traos for him until
i
the final olot which delivers bia into their hands." father Oemann found that both

''Pharisees'' and "Jews" were always used in a Pejorative sense.

Father remann felt that this prejudiced view of T ews ^ was co-rnounded by the

negative orientation of the teachers' p-uides and students 1 exercise books, for exa-role,

one of the mides states "'^he men (of Israel^ are satisfied with Merlfldng anitrals

(to Tod}., .rather than nractMlnp commandments;'1 "JesriS. . . when he dersired to nray,

withdrew alone to the mountain. . . The Jews had the habit of reciting their nrayers

. . . ' ' aftd, naraphrasinp the structures in '"atthew VI, 7-8 on pa ran nrayer, '"."hen you

pray do not jabber like the Jews.*' Tn one of the exercise books, the student is asked

such questions as these: "What were the principal causes of the aufferine of Christ?"

"Who were his no«1 inveterate enemies0" ""hat was the cause of the last olot?" "How

does i t co^e about that the enemies of Jesus did not believe in the works which they

witnessed?" Finally, Father r«mann noted M an all-too-lopical conclusion in the same

exercise book the M«lp»«nt, "Kake a "*aD of the captivities punishing rod's people for
 _ ?a -

not havinr re cornier! the all-oowerfulness of Jehovah." On the basis of a full

evaluation, father Perr.ann nessimistieally concluded? "Certainly, one could correct and

f i l l in many noints in these ^an-:als, but they cannot be nositively transformed and

sufficiently broadened without a co-nolete reworking, and a radical change in their

wry s p i r i t . " This i s precisely what, the fieri c*r Jewish Committee rew.d»d to help

brinr about — ' k complete Mworking and a radical change in their vary s o i r i t . "

Since the Boston firr? of /-llyn and "aeon if the tacrleon miblisher concerned,

the AJC'3 :iew "-3,.and Berional office had been alerted to the possibility of necessary

action ttom tbo very f i r s t . If soon M Father ^omann's evaluation had been, received,

Samuel Kat?, I.E. Kepi.onal Director, was asked to annroach 'llyn and -aeon to communicate
 - 3 -

AJC's concern and offer i t s consultative assistance, / t a meeting with the firm's too

management on November ?, 19^1, Mr. Katz interoreted Ajr's nurnoee as a sharinp of

information based on i t s extensive experience in improving interrelipious relationship

and, in particular, the findinrs of the studies i t had snonsored of ^rotestantytw"^ &

a» Yalw-am^St.
^S Louis University andj^ronsie r ollep».

Once the ccwrnetence and non-censorinp, confidential approach of the American Jewish

Committee were made clear, Allyn and Bacon warmly welcomed i t s assistance. During

the next few months, staff of AJC's department of TnterrelifLous Affairs r>articioated

in numerous conferences with the editors, translators and various church officials in

locations ran pin p Arm the ^ius XII delirious 'Education Resource Tenter in 'cnroe,

T
A t t d f M , and the Catholic University of £rerica in Washinrton, . C , to the offices

n
of the French publishers, Les Editions de V cole, in aris.

The first fruits of this historically unoaralleled collaboration is the

recently published nrimer, The Lord Jesus, based on the first of the Canon Poyer series,

Le Selpneur Jesus. Of this^vtflume, Father TilhiMWl had said "he (the author)feels no

need to attach the "ew T,-stament to the Old, Christianity to Judaism, Christ and the

Church to the Jewish milieu from which they spring. Thus, from /brahar* he poes

directly on to Christ...and h© sees the Old rrestat>ent as nothinp but a source of

•selected nieces' (chosen for apologetic mirnoses) and of edifying exarrnles of 'heroes

to be admired'....» ,
 -u-
/ comparison of the French version (F?) and the /merican version (p.v)

indicate how such deficiencies were rectified.

The first allusion to Jew3 in F7 is on p&ee sixteen with a nicture of a

stately burnoose-clad man with a staff yf entitled, "God chose a oeoole. He called

Abraham to be its father." On the left of the same nape, is another oicture of a f^

of peoole traveling, with a laden camel and donkeys and a aemmk herd of sheen under

which are the words, "Leave your land, (and) your family and come into the land which

I will show you," while on the right is a sky full of stars with the words, "Recause

you did not refuse Tie ycur son, T will rive you descendants as numerous as the stars

in the sky." The next nape shows a man of Palestine and • scene with Palestinian

homes, animals aid veritation. In addition to the place names on the man, the only

text is, W0od chose, for this neople, a country: Palestine."

Even before kV reaches this ooint it has introduced a Judaic element by en-

titling a oicture of Adam and Eve with the Hebrew phrase in Hebrew characters "Kselem

Slohim Para Oto," *which the teacher's Guidebook translates for the teacher "In the

imaoe of Qod created he them." PV has no nicture at this po'nt, merely the same

ohrase in French. It does depict Adam and Eve being banished fror den. ^he

accomnanyinp text — in French, as is the entire BX book, excoot for an occasional

Latin word — includes, alonp with sowe lines on man's disobedience to f~od, "you are

dust and you shall return to dust." The title of the similar picture in A? renders

T -r
 - $ -

this in Hebrew and — a subtle but oositive chanpe — unlike the French, in which

J, t *v i »
Fve's hair ia jml&aB&a&it&Zinvi, both /da-n and Sve are brown-haired.

A? has a nicture of Abraham, with other neonle and sheer* but he annears to be

leavinp than and the Latin t i t l e i s translated a s , "Leave your country and your kinsfolk.

Tt i s not fortuitous that ^-od's promise to "Miltioly the descendants of

Abraham in repayment for his v i l l i n p n e s s to s a c r i f i c e his son i s omitted. For the

AV teachers' r. u id e book advises t h a t , desoite i t s e x w n l i f i c a t i o n of complete love of

t:
Qod, the story of the s«-acriJW.ce of Isaac receive only indirect and very delicate

mention in t h i s grata."

Then, extrapolating fror* the few thin lines of FV, AV t r e a t s the story of

Abraham as follows?

Hod called .Abraham. Ood s a i d , "Leave your country.

Torre into a far country. You will be father of a
new neonle. They will be the oeople of °od."
Abraham listened t o Cod's word. He believed in "od.
r
He obeyed God. Je traveled to the far country. I
will be l i k e Abraham. I w i l l believe in Ood. I will
t r u s t Him. I will always love him and obey Him. I
D
w i l l say "yes", t o Hod. God led Abraham to alestine.
Palestine was a s^all country.

The oeonle of Palestine worked hard. Some of them

were farmers. They worked in the fields where they
grew wheat and prar>es.
 _ A _

Some of %tMM were sheoherds. ^hey took care of aheep.

Hod chose Palestine to be the country of the Savior.

&
I t is evident thafThe sympathy of the student is bein<? directed not only
ft

to words Abraham and Palestine but towards the naonle of Palestine - - the .Tews.

Immediately following i t s treatment of Abraham, FT shows Mar1/ being preeted

by an an pel with the t e x t "in t h i s country and from among t h i s people, Hod chose a

mother for the Savior." Mext car>e$a nicture of a woman (Elizabeth) saying to Mary

'Ton are blessed amonp a l l women'.' Mr follow s u i t exceot that the l a t t e r aooears i n

••'ebrev, i . e . , the mother of Tesus converses in u ebrew. I n both versions t h i s i s

followed by a nicture of Joseph and Mary with child beinp turned away from the i n n .

Ftf has a "semitic" tyoe closing a door in Joseph 1 ! face, A? shows only the com-

passionate faces of two Jews, one of whom i s apoarently saying t o Joseph and Mary

T
(in Hebrew characters) "For there was no room for them in the i n n , " he s t i n p i s

further removed in the tejlt which s t a t e s that "•Tod chose for ( t h e b i r t h of) his Son >

a cave." The text 'wooo-on in the following vein:

"Ood chose a neonle for the Savior...Ho called ibraham.

God said to Abraham, 'Leave your country and your home
Come into t h e ^and T will show you. 1 And Abraham said
•yes 1 to Cod. He l e l t his country and h i s home. He
set out for the Land which Pod would show him. Tod
chose a country for the S a v i o r * , , I t i s t h e country of
Palestine, rod chose a mother for the Said or,..Mer
name i s Mary.
 - 7 -

While the first half of FV s t?Tn this country and MMf Ibis neople, God

chose a mother for the Savior," could be interpreted either oositively or negatively

(e.p. "this peoplel"), only a nositive reading of Av" is oossible: "God chose a neoole

for the savior...Hod chose a country for the savior...Hod chose a mother '"or the savior...

"•ositive is too mild a word since XMB God's choice of the Jews and Palestine i s olaced

on a nar with the choice of 'lary.

FV shows Mary and Joseph standinp before a bearded elder in Arab-like

fifarwents, who holds the infant Jesus. In the background are two arches, meant to

sugrest the Temple. Joseoh holds doves which he has brcupht to sacrifice. The t i t l e

reads, Tfcay carried Him to Jerusalem to offer Him to the Lord." With essentially the

same content, AV shows a priest with a t a l l i t - l i ke head-dress and in the foreground an

onen torah-scroll unon an unmistakable (albeit anachronistic^ nulpit. Unlike FTP a

concention of a fair-haired Jesus and Joseoh, here the Holy Family are shown with the

same dark hair and akin as the Driest. An* the Hebrew t i t l e translates; "And a glory

for thy peonle I s r a e l . " In PV the Jewishness of Jesus is further brcufiit out by a

nicture, which does not aooear in TV, of Jesus in the T'e-nple discussing "orah with the

rabbis, standinr near a hupe Star of r'avid with the T!ebrew lettering overhead for "And

a l l who were listening to Him were amazed."

T, the crucifixion is treated with no awareness of i t s potential for the

creation of anti-Semitic attitudes. Jesus is shown nailed to the cross with a single
 -1 -

Poman soldier and a multitude of Jews lonkinr on. Some of the Jews are obviously

sorrowing, others, aims raised, aooear to be anrry> s t i l l others merely watch* A

central fipure is shouting what could either be laments or i n s u l t s . Tht text in i t s

entirety reads "Father, forfive them, they know now what they do." There i s no other

explanation whatsoever. Tn P7t an untltled oicture shows Jesus carryirp the cross

followed by two mournful Ten. Another Picture with Latin t i t l e ("Truly, he was a just

man") has a mounted Roman soldier and proun of sorrowful Jews facing three crucifixes.

The text roadst

Jesus knew that His Father had sent Him to make ur> for the
sins of a l l nan...He prayed,"Father, Your will be done. I
will suffer and die to save "ien." Whllt Jesus was orayinp,
the soldiers ea^e to arrest Rim. Jesus let the soldiers
take Him to '"Hate. Ptlat* said that Jesus must suffer and
die on the cross, ""he soldiers .-ave Jesus the heavy cross
to carry. Jesu3 fell r*stny times under the heavy cross.
Jeans loves us. He suffered to make no for our sins. He
suffered to win new life for us. ...Jesus let the soldiers
nail His hands and '•fis feet to the cross. On the cross,
Jesus nrayed, Tatter, for rive the sins of a l l ^en"...Jesus loved
and obeyed His Father. He did the work Hia Father sent Bia
to do. lle f:'ied on the cross to nake uo for our sins.

The next two Pictures, neither of which appear in FV, have their

chrivfcolopical Tessares in Hebrew, demonatrstinr the continuing connection between

rhristianitv and the Jews.

Finally, arain without narallel in FT, AV rMaphMiMi divine will and

universal sin as the causes of Jesu» death throuph the story of "two friends of Jesus'"

who "were sad because Jesus had been crucified." Jesus appears to them and saya, "Do

not be sad. Dan*% you know that the Savior had to die for the sins of man?"
 •

The 3tory concludes:

LjESll friends were hapoy. They knew that Jeans had made uo for the

sins of men.

C^ 1 w i l l thank the risen Jesus for -nakinR up for my s i n s . "

The teachers' Guidebook underscores and develons the oositive comnor.ents in

h •*• •"

the textbook. For exa-nnle, the teacher is told to use Abraham as a model of "faith,

hope and love" of Ond, of the "attitude of a true child of nod," As elsewhere in the

Guidebook, arang the suprested ways of achieving the lesson's objectives the teacher

is orovided with a detailed model lecture. In the lecture Abraham is presented as a

veritable saint and the orobletnatical sacrifice eoisode — which could be treated as

heartless co«nnliance with a merciless demand — is treated in the moat ocsitive oossible
manner:

Now /'brahaT loved his son, .,: saac, whom God had riven him.
But Pod wanted fbrahatr> to show that he loved Him, His
heavenly Father, T.ore than anything; yea, even more than
his son, I s a a c . So Prod apain ar>oke to /hrahan, "Abraham,
Five your son back to me."-

Abraham was very sad. He loved h i s 8on, Isaac,. But he

loved Cod even Tore. He loved God above a l l t h i n r s . He
believed God knew what was best for hi?r. £t once he said
to '-od, "Fere i s <vy son, I s a a c . I am willing to sdve him
back to you."

Now C-od saw that Ibrfthtti was obedient. God saw that
Ahrahan r e a l l y loved lTiw above everythinp. And so "od sent
his messenper to Abraham, "'he messenper told Abrahan that
Pod was nleased with Ida because he loved God and trusted
Him 30 much. The rressenrer told /brahair that Hod wanted
him to keen his son, 3saac. Abraham was very happy. He
thanked " o d . . .

And the lecture concludes?

 - 10 -

Abraham became the father of the "ebrew peoole, Tt

was from these chosen oeonle that thecavior was bom."

them surpests the followinr "be stated by the teacher as the

lesson's ""essare":

God called HtwtlW. Abraham listened to God's word. He

believed in Pod. fit Cod's co'^-iand, Abraham traveled to
a far country. Abraham trusted God to take care of him.

Ood rewarded Abraham. He blessed Abraham. He oromised

Abraham and his family would be the rteoole of Cod.

One need hardly ooint out the positive effect on the student an*-* the teacher

of this equation of the Hebrew oeople," "the chosen peoole" and "the oeo->le of God."

^ h e fo^ebook follows this lesson on tf0od Chooses a n eople for the Savior"

with one on "Hod Chooses a Country for the c avior." The ooeninp; line of i t s model

lecture i s indicative of +he treatments

Ood said to f'raham: 'Leave your country, your home, and

come into the country that I will show you.' "his country
to which Cod led Abraham, this land, 'promised* not only
to him but also to his children, i s PALSSTPi1 . "

In the next lesson, "Pod Chooses a '••'other for the Savior," i t i s sup-nested

that the teacher may "tosh to identify the neonle of Palestine as the descendants of

«braha*%" "n a l a t e r lesson the teacher i s advised not to t e l l "fantastic stories

about miracles which aoocryohal writers have attributed to the divine infancy.

/Snnarently, the life of Jesus of "azareth was like that of every I s r a e l i t e of His

time." This annroach i s exemnlified in a lecture which bertns: "When Jesus was

twelve years old, LTe w#nt to Jerusalem with His parents. I t was a holiday, the feast
 - 11 -

of the ''assover, and there were many neoole in the Te^ole.1' Similarly, another

lecture on the Last Supper notes that it was olanned to COT© at the Jewish holjrj-'ay

•fc

called the ' :3 assover'." "\assover i s , in fact, included in the l i s t of "docr'ir.al t e w s "

which are renuired to be taupht the student.

After this kind of nrenaration, in the thirty-fifth lesson AV deals with the

(Math of .Tesus. The Guidebook prefaces this lesson with a special half-page "Note to

the Teacher," cautioning concerning the difficulties involved. One of the "general

directives" i t urpes on the teacher is *fkeer> constantly in mind the aim of this lesson

on the Cross of .Tesus: .Tesus1 free aceentanee of death in order to renair the

caused by man's sin, and to «£ve him the new l i f e of a son of Cod the Father." The
model lecture reiterates this the»-e that Jesus, and all mankind SUP* resnonsible for
r- ^ 4

the crucifixion.

He already knew that to save men He must suffer and die...

He-wanted to suffer to save men...Jesus let the soldiers
nail His hands to the cross. Jesus let the soldiers nail
His feet to the cross.

directly responsible for Jesus' death are a specified few: "some

who did not believe that r*e was the Savior ea>re to take him prisoner... These men led

Jesus to "Hate... They said to ">ilate, 'Crucify this Manl... "^ilate condemned Jesus

to suffer and die." Later anonp the questions the student is to be asked we finds

"Why did Jesus suffer so much?" "Who came to take Jesus

nrisoner?" "Jho condemned Jesus to death?"

'Hie "Hote" and lecture nrovlde a framework for the answers. Mot so in FV, whose
 - 1? -

Questionnaire l i limited to such questions and answers ast How did the" Lord .Jesus

obtain pardon for our sins? By offering bis Father the sacrifice of Calvary. What

T
do we c a l l the mystery of Jesus Christ's death for our salvation? he rnystery of the

F.edemntion. What was the preat victory of the Lord Jesus? The victory over death,

the day of '"aster.

The crucial unforrulated questions are left to be posed and answered by the

teacher or student. OtM may assume the "traditional" nature of the answers as rerards

the criminal involvement of a l l Jews past and oresent in the crucifixion.

Elsewhere, the FV Questionnaire asks "Who i s the Lord Jesus? and answers "The

Son of pod made tian," while the kf r-uidebook asks i»»wr aAiwa, lr
lho was to be born from

+
he oeonle of Abraham?" Similarly, where the Questionnaire sinnly asks, "MM was the

mother of the Savior?" and answers "The Holy Virgin," the Guidebook aaks M the third

of i t s series of questions on the subject, ""There did JhVJ live? /mong what neo'-le?"

Both the text and Pictures of P,v as well as the Huldebook have fiven the answer*; on page

after ->ape: Jesus and "•'ary were -Tews, ths Jev/s are not those v/ho killed Jesus but rave

l i f e to him, the Jews are "the oeonle of rod."

Tht beauty and morality of "he Lord Jesus i s apnarent even to readers who

can not accent certain of i t s relifd-oua teachings. I t s treatment of Tews and Judaism

i s objective, respectful and symnathetic. The authors, Sister R« Elizabeth, I.I.M. and

T
Sister M. Johnice, . H . " . , have not only tiet Father Penann's challenpe for "a complete
 - 13 -

reworking, and a radical change In (the) very s p i r i t " of be Seigneur Jesu-. They hove

created a new work,* embodying the best traditions of Catholicism and democracy, inspired

not only by Canon Andre Boyer but Pope John X X I I I . Typical of reaction to i t s publication

is that of the Detroit Free ress which called i t both " d e l i g h t f u l " and a "loud revolution

. . . . a milestone in i n t e r f a l t h r e l a t i o n s . "

Many assisted the authors, including Rev. Bernard J . Cooke, who served as con-
*
s u l t a n t ; ten loading Catholic clergymen who formed en advisory committee, the management

of Allyn and Bacon and others, including the s t a f f of the American Jewish Committee.

The assistance of the American Jewish Committee was considered so useful that

as a result Rabbi Tanenbaum hes been appointed consultant tc the Pius XII Religious

Education Resource Center, a major American i n s t i t u t i o n for the development of Catholic

educational materials. This is a development unparalleled In the many centuries of

Catholic-Jewish r e l a t i o n s .

The American Jewish Committee is j u s t i f i a b l y proud of the part i t played In

the production of The Lord Jesus and i t s continuing assistance to Catholic educators

working for the eradication of the sources of anti-Semitism in the teachings of the Church.

• The I l l u s t r a t o r s , Alice and itortln Provensen, contributed substantially towards t h i s .

Both the content and quality of the I l l u s t r a t i o n s morit the month-long exhibition of
the original paintings held In Boston May-June I9&+ under the sponsorship of the
Botolph Society.
 •

Canon Andre Boyer, Le Seigneur Jesus. Paris, Editions de L'Ecole, 1958

Canon Andre Boyer, Questionnaire for Le Seigneur Jesus

Sister i. Elizabeth, I.H.M., and Sister M. Johnlce , I.H.M., The Lord Jesus.
Boston, Allyn and Bacon, Inc., \96i4. ~"

Ulster M. Elizabeth, I.H.M., end Sister M. Johnice, i.H.M.,

The Lord Jesus; Guidebook, Bible, Li fe ano WorsMp Series, Book I,