Three On the Jewish People

My enjoyment of the Psalms has been greatly increased lately. The point has been made before, but let me make it again: what an admirable thing it is in the divine economy that the sacred literature of the world should have been entrusted to a people whose poetry, depending largely on parallelism, should remain poetry in any language you translate it to.
~C.S. Lewis, Letters (July 16, 1940)

I've been much struck in conversation with a Jewess by the extent to which Jews see humour in the O.T. where we don't. Humour varies so much from culture to culture.
~Letters (December 6, 1956)

I might agree that the Allies are partly to blame, but nothing can fully excuse the iniquity of Hitler's persecution of the Jews, or the absurdity of his theoretical position. Did you see that he said "The Jews have made no contribution to human culture and in crushing them I am doing the will of the Lord." Now as the whole idea of the "Will of the Lord" is precisely what the world owes to the Jews, the blaspheming tyrant has just fixed his absurdity for all to see in a single sentence, and shown that he is as contemptible for his stupidity as he is detestable for his cruelty. For the German people as a whole we ought to have charity: but for dictators, "Nordic" tyrants and so on--well, read the chapter about Mr. Savage in the Regress [The Pilgrim's Regress] and you have my views.
~Letters (November 5, 1933)

_____________________________

On this day:

1956 C.S. Lewis married Joy Davidman in a civil ceremony at the registry office on St. Giles Street, Oxford. The marriage enabled her to stay in England.