HOPES AND FEARS
SIR,—Although only an occasional reader of the Spectator, I have always regarded it as a periodical in the highest traditions of well-informed journalism. Your leading article entitled.'Hopes and Fears' in the issue of December 22 must have been greatly dis- turbing not only to myself as a Jewish minister but to all, both Christians and Jews, who are Working for a reconciliation based on mutual understanding and knowledge of each other's faiths. The assertion that before the rise of Christianity, there had been only 'the powerful but barbaric revelation of Job' is, I submit, wholely misconceived, In fact the message of the book of Job stresses resignation to and absolute trust in the Will of God. It is a sincere attempt to grapple with the ever-recurring contrast of the suffering of the righteous and the apparent prosperity of evildoers. What is even more saddening in the article is a complete disregard of the con- tribution of rabbinic Judaism to the development of Christian teaching. There are, for instance, com- petent scholars, Jewish and non-Jewish, who trace the Sermon on the Mount to its Jewish sources.
In a world where the whole religious idea is being subjected to denigration by the proponents of godless materialism, it is more important than ever that leaders of Christian and Jewish thought should seek to foster true knowledge and appreciation of our respective heritages.
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