“Nothing surprises me any more after listening to the barrage of falsehood and consistent distortion of history–particularly Jewish history–at the United Nations.” This was Israel Ambassador Chaim Herzog’s reaction to the report that a verse from the 21st Psalm, in which Israel is mentioned, was omitted from a cantata which is due to have its premier on Friday, United Nations day. The omitted verse, the fourth, says: “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
The Austrian composer, Gottfried von Einem, said the omission was inadvertent, He said he worked from a 1781 German Bible and had not realized until now that it was an abridged version. The omission came to the attention of the Israeli delegation when a program for the cantata showed that only six of the seven verses of the Psalm were used. Some noted that if the verses had not been numbered in the program not many people other than Biblical scholars might have noted the omission. Herzog. however, maintained that it was not surprising that an effort would be made “to amend the Bible.”
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.
