"I Am the Lord ..."

There is still a God in Israel, but He is subject to opposition from socialists, compromise by politicians, and interpretation by Ruth Goldschmidt, public relations expert.

In May, when Zionist leaders in Tel Aviv were drafting Israel's Proclamation of Independence, they got into a sharp dispute over whether to mention God in their text. The story, which leaked out last week, revealed much that the world did not know of the struggle between religious Zionists and secular Zionists for dominant influence in the new state. Very clear was the fact that modern Israel bore little relation to the biblical Jewish theocracy.*

When the proclamation was being considered by the State Council, grey-bearded, scholarly Rabbi Juda L. Fishman spoke for the Mizrachi, or orthodox Jews. He asked that the word Elohenu (Our Lord) be used. Agricultural Minister Aron

Zisling of the left-wing Socialist United Workers Party objected to the inclusion of any profession of religious faith. Arguments were brief, but warm.

Premier David Ben-Gurion suggested a compromise: Tsur Israel (Rock of Israel). Zisling still objected. Said he: "Let it not be imposed upon those who believe otherwise ... to say faith in the Rock of Israel . . . The present wording forces upon us an expression of belief to which we do not subscribe." Ben-Gurion had the last word: "Each of us in his own way believes in the Rock of Israel as he understands it. I know what is the Rock of Israel upon which I rely. I am sure that Rabbi Fishman knows well in whom he believes and I know the way in which my friends [the leftists] on the other side believe."

The English translation of the proclamation was a rush job entrusted to Foreign Minister Moshe Shertok, whose English is perfect and who has been called one of the three top authorities on modern Hebrew. After an all-night session with three assistants in his Tel Aviv flat, Shertok came to the last paragraph, which contained the phrase "Rock of Israel." He started to translate it that way, but met an objection from the girl at the typewriter. Ruth Goldschmidt, an English-born Israeli who heads the official government news agency, said Rock of Israel would mean nothing to non-Jews. She suggested that the phrase "Almighty God" be used. The weary Shertok demurred, for fear of offending the United Workers Party. Miss Goldschmidt, however, won the argument and the English translation of the last paragraph begins "With trust in Almighty God, we set our hand to this Declaration .

*When the U.S. Constitutional Convention was in labor, old Benjamin Franklin moved that a chaplain be appointed to ask God's help before each session. Alexander Hamilton opposed the motion. According to one account, he made a flowery speech lauding the talents of the assembled delegates, expressing confidence in their wisdom and concluding that he did not see "the necessity of calling in foreign aid." While George Washington stared stonily at Hamilton, the convention carried Franklin's motion. Nevertheless, God is not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, although He is named in the Declaration of Independence.

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