Two original editions of books written by Martin Luther are in the possession of Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman of Temple Beth Israel. The first, published in 1523, at the time Luther, whose 450th anniversary was celebrated last week, was establishing Protestantism speaks of the Jews in glowing terms. The second volume, which made its appearance twenty years later, holds the Jews in a different light as the “Father of the Protestant Church” realized the Jews would not follow him in his religion. The result was that he became bitter toward the race and said so in his second book.
The title of the 1523 edition is “That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew”. Rabbi Feldman obtained this edition from a bookdealer in Frankfurt-Arn-Main, Germany, about a year ago.
The passage, taken from the original edition owned by Rabbi Feldman, according to a free translation, follows:
“And though we are disposed to praise ourselves, we are nevertheless heathens, and the Jews are of the blood of Christ; we are strangers and they are blood brothers of our Lord. So when one takes pride in flesh and blood, then the Jews are closer to Christ than we are, as St. Paul has said. Moreover, God has manifested upon them a greater honor than he has shown any other people. For no patriarch, no apostle, no prophet came out of heathendom, in fact, few enough Christians. And although the gospel has been given to all the world, yet the Scriptures, that is the law and the prophets, He entrusted to the Jews, as Paul says in Romans LII and in Psalm 147. He imparted His Word to Jacob and His precepts to Israel. He has done thus with no other people.”
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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.
