Kesher Talk

Jews in odd places: Italy: This fall, Annie Sacerdoti — the editor of Milan’s monthly Jewish magazine, Il Bollettino — published a new, revised and updated “Guide to Jewish Italy,” which combines tourist itineraries with an overview of contemporary Jewish life throughout the country, including addresses of kosher restaurants and other useful information.

Some 30,000 to 35,000 Jews live in Italy today, out of a total population of 60 million people. More than two-thirds of Italy’s Jews live in Rome and Milan.

Jewish history in Italy dates back to ancient Roman times, however, and at one time or another over the past two millennia Jews lived and often left their traces in hundreds of towns, cities and villages up and down the peninsula.

Synagogues and Jewish quarters were abandoned when Jews were expelled from cities and regions over the centuries, but also — as in the United States — when Jews moved from small towns to big cities as part of demographic shifts. About 8,000 Italian Jews were deported to their deaths in the Holocaust.

Richly illustrated with color photographs, Sacerdoti’s book — which will appear in English early in 2004 — looks at 2,000 years of Jewish heritage and culture from top to toe of the Italian boot.

The aim, Sacerdoti said, was to present a real tourist guide, including only sites that could easily be visited. It covers sites in 45 towns and cities, ranging from ancient catacombs in Rome to a medieval mikvah in Sicily and more than a dozen glorious baroque synagogues in the northwest region of Piedmont, most of them in towns where few or no Jews live today.

posted by William @ 2/13/2004 08:56:00 AM links to this post  

New Jews. Despite, or perhaps because of, the rising tide of antisemitism, lots of people still want to join us. I found it striking that so many converts quoted in this article converted after years and years of marriage to or other relations with Jews. Further evidence that intermarriage doesn't have to result in a loss to the Jewish community, if it's handled right. More on ancient versions of Jewish identification and what they can teach us today.

UPDATE: For example. Another example.

posted by Judith @ 2/12/2004 10:30:00 PM links to this post  

Kol Isha. The annual conference of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance starts this Sunday, here in NYC.

Many [Orthodox] Jewish feminists want to take part in every aspect of religious life unless there is a halachic restriction. That’s what bothers some traditionalists. Yet what makes these women different from other feminists is a deep respect for tradition and an ultimate acceptance, rather than rejection, of Jewish law, and the authority of the rabbis. . . . Blu Greenberg, a founder of JOFA and of the Jewish feminist movement, says that other feminists have “criticized us for worrying about what the rabbis will say, but that’s what distinguishes us. We’ve never said we’ll sever our ties with authority.” She said JOFA is seeking a balance, and partnership, “between women and men, and between women and rabbinic authority.”

The article also mentions the proliferation of minyanim pushing the envelope on women's participation in the service.

[Shira Hadasha] maintains a mechitza for separate seating between the sexes but allows women to lead parts of the Shabbat service, including reading from and being called to the Torah. Hartman will be speaking at the JOFA conference about the congregation, which has spawned several similar, increasingly popular prayer groups in the U.S.

She says the biggest surprise to her about the success of Shira Hadasha (A New Song) is how easily people adjust to change — “as long as it has integrity,” she says, “because people are looking for an integrated religious experience.”

(I previously wrote about the Orthodox feminist and gay activist "dance with halacha" here.)

UPDATE: Steven Weiss of Protocols is blogging from the conference. Scroll up for more posts.

posted by Judith @ 2/12/2004 05:32:00 PM links to this post  

A student learns the importance of Israel:

Importance of Israel - By Roy Sasson

January 9, 2004

Hi, my name is Roy Sasson, I am currently a senior at the University of Florida majoring in Digital Arts & Sciences. I was born in Israel, and moved to the states at the young age of six. I?ve gone back to visit several times since, however my most recent trip allowed me to look at Israel through a completely different perspective.

Over the past two weeks, I embarked on a memorable trip that has left an imprint in my life. Eighty students including myself from some of the most prestigious universities in the United States including Cornell, Penn State, Stanford, Columbia, The University of Florida (of course) and others, were invited to attend a trip to Israel to educate us in respect to the technology and business within the country. My expectation was simply ?another free trip to Israel??I had no idea what I was in for.

Prior to the trip, my perception was that Israel was practically a 3rd world country way behind its time, only a source of violence and turmoil. I saw first hand that Israel is in fact one of the major reasons as to why our modern world has become what it is today. Our trip was comprised of visits to top notch Universities, biotechnology companies, an aircraft development company, the stock exchange, meetings with venture capitalists, economists, business men, entrepreneurs, and prestigious professors. Some of the brightest students today had the opportunity to listen, interact, and most importantly question, some of the most amazing developments in technology. We witnessed these developments first hand, and got a chance to have them explained, not by their low level representatives, but by the actual scientists, professors, and business men themselves, and I have to say, it was nothing short of inspiring?

Let?s just list the facts?

80% of biotechnology in the entire world comes from Israel. The Entire World. I?m talking about technologies that will revolutionize the world. One such account was a biotechnology company who will in three months time be approved by the FDA to perform operations to remove tumors without even penetrating the skin! Every laptop that you use from now on is powered by the new mobile centrino processor, a technology developed in Israel. A 3D face recognition technology was recently developed here (to combat terrorism) that is so sophisticated it can tell apart identical twins. Teva Pharmaceuticals developed the most effective drug to counter Parkinsons disease. Israel is home to a pill that when taken, captures images inside of the body. File formats such as gif and zip files that you use everyday, developed here. Smart cards for credit cards, the chips in your digital cameras. It is in large part due to Israel that the internet is where it is today. Many of the problems that we were facing on the internet in regards to communication, bandwidth, and security, had already been implemented in the Israeli Army. The first Instant messaging software, the first firewall...the list is endless?

Huge companies such as Microsoft, HP, Intel, and IBM, establish major research and development centers in Israel looking to capitalize on the breakthroughs, genius, and talent. The US forces Israel to sign agreements not to adjust F15 and F16 fighter planes Israel buys from the United States with superior radar and other advanced technologies Israel possesses. Over 100 Israeli companies are listed on the NASDAQ, third only to Canada. Israel is the world leader in environmental research, high-tech, and the arts. It is in Israel where students cracked the GSM cellular phone network encryption code.

Not surprisingly, over 50% of Israel?s economy is driven by technology, and there are various reasons for this; their local market is only 6million (really small), I doubt that any of their neighbors (mostly Arab countries) would like to do business with them, eliminating a regional market. So when they develop these companies, technologies, and advances, they are built with the hopes and aspirations of making a difference in the world. It is a country where the entrepreneur has become the hero, and making an impact on the world is not uncommon.

Israel is a country built around art and education. When an Israeli is successful it does not simply affect his household, but the entire country, bringing up the economy, honor to the country, and a strong sense of pride. Just imagine if our capitalist society was focused on building companies and technologies to make a difference in the world, instead of making a difference in our pockets. Imagine the possibilities with an educational system enforcing the idea that you, the young and bright, can make a difference in the world, in a country where we do not have to worry about violence and terror as Israel does to maintain its survival.

One professor told of us of a story of a child who asked his father, serving in the Israeli Army ?why do you fight?? His father answered,? I fight today so that your generation will have the opportunity to learn and be educated so that you may be engineers, so that the generation that follows yours may live to be poets and artists.?

I wasn?t told to write this, and I?m not exactly the most eloquent of speakers. I am writing this because I see it as my responsibility, privileged enough to have experienced these things first hand. I tell you all of this not to show you the importance of Israel from a Jewish perspective, but to show you the importance of Israel as part of the human race.

Roy Sasson

posted by William @ 2/12/2004 08:43:00 AM links to this post  

The fashion for fences. Saudi Arabia just decided it needs to install a fence on the border with Yemen. I demand that this oppressive racist violation of international law be taken up by the International Court of Justice in the Hague!

These fences too.

UPDATE: A solid majority of the American people think the Israeli fence is a good thing.

posted by Judith @ 2/11/2004 02:02:00 PM links to this post  

Jews in odd places: Iraq: Prof. Sasson Somekh, a 70-year-old Israeli translator and researcher of Arabic literature, recently published his autobiography, "Baghdad Yesterday." The book recounts his childhood in Baghdad, where he lived until immigrating to Israel at age 17.

"It began with the chapters I published in Haaretz newspaper, about my childhood as an Arabic Jew who grew up among Arabs," Somekh relates. "In the book, I also wrote about such topics as how a man's emotions develop, his personal tendencies, his loves and his joys, but mostly I wrote about the background in which I grew up. I feel that I am the last Arabic Jew."

posted by William @ 2/11/2004 09:05:00 AM links to this post  

The spread of Jewish rock: Christian rock has a huge audience world wide. Now, Jewish rock is growing in Israel:

Jewish religious music has also undergone a process of renewal and development in the past 10 years, and religious rock groups are no longer an unusual sight. However, a comparison between Christian rock and religious rock in Israel will show that the differences between them are almost as great as the differences between the two religions, in both audience and content. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Hasidic and traditional Sephardi music dominated the religious music market in Israel. Only in the mid-'90s did rock and roll begin to penetrate religious circles.

The pioneer in this trend was Adi Ran, a Tel Aviv musician who became religiously observant, continued to maintain his unique style, combining fringe rock and rough humor, even after he became a Bratslav Hasid. He continued to appear at the Barbi club in Tel Aviv and attracted many religious and ultra-Orthodox fans.

Inspired by Ran, other musicians who became religiously observant also began to combine rock with their religious new world. One of the similarities between religious Jewish rock bands and the Christian ones is the attempt to obscure words and symbols having distinct religious significance in order to win popularity among secular audiences. This blurring is often reflected in ambiguous texts. The American group, Evanescence, for example, one of the most popular Christian rock groups in America, obfuscated the image of Jesus in the words of the song, "Bring It Back to Life," making it possible to interpret the meaning of the words as referring to Jesus or to a lover.

... Jewish rock also contains many cases of deliberate obfuscation. In one example, the "Bnei Yisrael" band wrote a song called "Redemption on the Way," which contains the words: "Sister, wake up / Don't give in to yourself / You are a princess, beloved / All your honor is inside / Redemption is on the way." The song could be addressed to the divine spirit or to a woman. The song is also indicative of a new phenomenon: In Jewish rock and roll, the words tend to be more personal rather than based on verses from the prayers and the Bible. Another important difference between Jewish and Christian rock is in the missionary intent behind the songs. Rock bands like Evanescence, Creed or POD tend to preach on the importance of Christian morality. Jewish rock groups, on the other hand, like Madregot [Stairs] or Bein Hashmashot [Twilight] hardly preach at all. These bands immerse themselves in spiritual content, touching extensively on New Age-ism, and even complete skeptics can feel comfortable with them.

... The Christian rock bands contain quite a few women. Especially remarkable is Amy Lee, the soloist of Evanescence with her velvet alto voice. On the other hand, due to the prohibition on hearing a woman singing, Jewish rock bands did not have a single female singer until recent years. Now there are a number of religious women musicians, and they typically appear only before female audiences (such as singer Neshama Carlebach and the women's bands, Tofaa [Phenomenon] and Neshot Hava [Women of Eve].) The exceptions are few; they are willing to appear before men such as the traditional musicians Shifra Peretz and Neta Hirsch of Bein Hashmashot.

posted by William @ 2/10/2004 08:27:00 AM links to this post  

It was 40 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play . . . I saw that show. It was right after my 11th birthday. I became a screaming Beatles fan immediately. From there I moved on to fake Correges white leather miniboots, Mary Quant haircuts, red paisley Nehru jackets, and faded hip-hugger bellbottoms with American flag patches on the butt. Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . .

posted by Judith @ 2/09/2004 11:43:00 PM links to this post  

"Let's Do Lunch" = "I'll Pretend to Care About You for the Next Five Minutes": A specific category of forbidden speech is called "genaivas daas," stealing someone's mind. This is not an ancient vision of some science fiction monstrosity; this is about deceiving people with our words. If we inquire about someone's life and we're really not interested, that's stealing his or her mind. We're creating an illusion of caring.

If we invite an acquaintance over for dinner and a) we never really intend to have them over ("Still remodeling your kitchen, Doris?") or b) we know for sure they're not available, we're stealing their minds. We're trying to satisfy an obligation without really...satisfying an obligation. We're trying to create an impression of friendship and good will without any of the effort involved in created true relationships.

posted by William @ 2/09/2004 09:10:00 AM links to this post  

Jews in odd places: Mexico: The late-January-early-February sold-out Jewish Film Festival in Mexico City is one of only a handful of Spanish-language Jewish film festivals in the world.

“We are looking at this festival not as a Jewish event,” said Aron Margolis, director of the non-profit Mexico International Jewish Film Festival. “This is an excellent opportunity for Mexican society to get to know the Jewish community. The Jews in Mexico are known as a community that is very closed and doesn’t let people in to get to know us. But the more they know us, the more they understand us.”

posted by William @ 2/08/2004 08:59:00 PM links to this post  

Support Iraqi women. Send letters protesting the imposition of sharia law in Iraq.

It's from an international feminist site. You know - those feminists some people think don't care about women's rights in the 3rd world.

(via Eve Tushnet)

posted by Judith @ 2/08/2004 11:43:00 AM links to this post