An anti-Jewish book about the Talmud published last year in the Soviet Union, was criticized in the latest issue of “Science and Religion,” a Soviet atheist magazine, for insufficiently assailing “the ideology and practices of modern Judaism,” it was reported here today from Moscow by the New York Herald Tribune.
The book, “What is the Talmud,” by Moise Solomonovich Belensky, a Jewish Communist who has written a number of books and articles attacking Judaism, was praised by the magazine, however, for giving a “clear picture of the negative role of the Talmud.” Propagandists, the article added, “will find it useful material for their work.”
The review also lauded the book for its description of the Talmud as teaching that God “allotted to the rich and those knowing the Holy Scripture–that is the clergy–with the qualities that make them virtuous.” The Tribune report noted that the review, with its anti-Jewish overtones intended for internal consumption, comes at the same time that the Soviet Government has started a large-scale campaign to convince the world it has no official anti-Semitic line.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.