Kesher Talk

Communication. Israeli and Arab journalists are collaborating on a new venture called Duet.

Ben Lynfield writes, "Leading Jewish and Arab members of Israel's fourth estate are coming together to alleviate ignorance and mistrust between their communities. The joint venture, a newspaper to promote coexistence and equality, comes amid the near collapse of other bridging efforts strained by the charged climate of the second intifada."

Read about it here. (From the Christian Science Monitor.)

posted by Rachel @ 4/14/2004 11:57:17 AM  

Bamidbar. Pesach ended today at sundown, and here's an essay on one of the seder rituals to mark the occasion. (Today is the 8th day of counting the omer.)

UPDATE: Patrick is also celebrating the end of Pesach, with bread recipes!

posted by Judith @ 4/13/2004 11:01:02 PM  

Of interest. The new issue of Bad Subjects includes a number of articles which might be of interest to Kesher Talk readers, among them Loolwa Khazzoom's excellent American, Iraqi, Jewish: So It Makes Sense for Me to Live in Israel and my own Diaspora Grrl.

I also think Michael Hoffman's The Nation, the State, and Travel after 9/11 is both interesting and relevant.

posted by Rachel @ 4/13/2004 08:11:02 AM  

Jews in odd places: Tunisia:

The leader of the Tunisian Jewish community is an associate of the country’s autocratic leader and sometimes prefers a Friday-night drink rather than a Sabbath meal. Roger Bismuth is the modern-day version of the shtadlan, a Hebrew term given to the Jewish leaders in 18th century Europe who functioned as important interlocutors between the community and the government.

... His prominent public role outside of Jewish life in Tunisia qualifies him as a faithful spokesman for the government of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. When Bismuth talks about topics such as the Arab-Israeli conflict and democratic reform, it highlights how critical it is for the tiny Jewish community in Tunisia to meld its interests with those of the government.

Ben Ali became indebted to Bismuth two years ago when he rescued the president from an embarrassing diplomatic misstep that followed the bombing of Djerba’s El-Ghriba synagogue. Bin Ali had angered foreign governments by telling them the explosion was nothing more than a car accident. Assurances from the industrialist, an honorary member of the American Jewish Congress, that the Jewish community felt protected by the government and had been updated by the government diffused the crisis.("The ‘Shtadlan’ Of Tunis", The Jewish Week)

posted by William @ 4/12/2004 08:51:32 AM  

While it's still Pesach. . . Matzoh jokes!

Q. Why was the Matzah so anxious?
A. He was afraid that he was cracking up.
Q. How did the Matzah feel about becoming the Afikomen?
A. He was all broken up about it.
Q. Why did the Matzah quit his job?
A. Because he didn't get a raise.
Q. What is the difference between Matzah and cardboard?
A. Cardboard doesn't leave crumbs in the rug.
Q: Why do we have an Haggadah at Passover?
A: So we can Seder right words.
Q: What do you call someone who derives pleasure from the bread of affliction?
A: A matzochist.

Q: Why are these jokes on a thread about Arafat's red binder?
A: Why not?

UPDATE: More on matzah.

posted by Judith @ 4/11/2004 01:21:09 PM  

Jews in odd places: Tunisia: This weekend, the island of Djerba will mark the second anniversary of an al-Qaeda terrorist bombing of an ancient synagogue that rocked this normally quiet resort.

But Youssef Uzon, head of the tiny Jewish community in Djerba, isn’t planning a ceremony to note the April 11 desecration of the El-Ghriba synagogue and the murder of 19 German tourists and Muslim workers.

“We Jews are always making ceremonies to remember what happened to us. Every day on the radio we hear about memorials for people killed in attacks,” Uzon said. “There is enough misery in the world. Why do we need to add misery upon misery?”

Undeterred by the attack, the 900 Jews of Djerba have put the bombing behind them and continued to preserve what is one of the last remaining Jewish outposts in the Arab world.

Although hundreds of thousands of Tunisian Jews abandoned the country after the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967, those left behind in Djerba doubt immigration to Israel or France would make them any safer.

In the alleyways of the city’s Jewish quarter, young boys scurry to Hebrew school in yarmulkes amid whitewashed walls and a rainbow of sky-blue windows typical of Tunisian houses. With the surge in children — some 300 kids attend the Djerban schools — a nursery is being added to the local yeshiva. The stone frame of a half-finished community center stands alongside two synagogues that are more than 300 years old.

“There is Judaism on the street, in the home and in the synagogue,” said Uzon, 45, who owns a small jewelry retail shop in Djerba’s central market. “There’s Torah in Djerba and that’s what’s protecting us.”

Since the bombing, the Tunisian government financed the refurbishing of the burned interior of El-Ghriba, an 80-year-old, single-story whitewashed building erected on a site of worship believed to be more than 2,500 years old. Outside the synagogue, policemen from the presidential guard of Tunisian ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali man barricades put up to prevent future attacks.

posted by William @ 4/11/2004 09:02:42 AM