Sephardic Heritage Update 531
David Shasha
Friends,
I would like to wish our readers a Happy Shabuot holiday.
Before we get underway I would like to note what has become a very common practice of slighting Sephardic Jews in historical presentations of Jewish achievement. The following article from the New York Times on an exhibit at the Yeshiva University Museum provides an excellent example of incidental anti-Sephardi racism:
The article states that “During the Middle Ages, European Jews were instrumental in the spread of medical knowledge, translating many important medical treatises from Arabic to Hebrew and other languages.”
While the article accurately identifies the national origin of the Muslim sage Avicenna as being Persian, the assertion that “European” Jews were responsible for the diffusion of medical knowledge is less accurate. Implying by the use of the word “European” that it was Ashkenazi Jews who were the agents of progress, the article completely ignores the Sephardim as native Arabic speakers and as Sephardic intellectuals and religious figures as the ones who adapted this medical literature for use in Jewish culture. Ashkenazi Jews did not know Arabic and the characterization of Sephardim as “European” because Spain was a part of the European continent is somewhat misleading. Spain at the time these medical texts were being translated by Jews – and by Christians as well – was under Arab-Muslim rule and was more closely connected to the Arab East and North Africa than it was to a Europe which had for many centuries prevented Jews from living openly.
The attempt to valorize European, read: Ashkenazi, Jewry at any cost is an affront to the Sephardic heritage and represents the ongoing evisceration of our cultural history. It is little wonder that Ashkenazim write such articles and are the individuals in charge of the programs being reported on. It is a matter of grave urgency to Sephardim who remain inert and apathetic in the face of the onslaught.
We begin this week’s newsletter with two articles on the recent spate of books on Judaism and Christianity. The matter is of great concern as a number of prominent Jewish scholars and intellectuals have been undermining traditional Jewish views of Christianity in favor of the idea that Rabbinic Judaism is actually less authentic in Jewish terms that Trinitarian Christianity. I hope to elaborate on this in the coming weeks.
The scholar Ghil’ad Zuckermann presents an important and fascinating discussion of contemporary Israelis’ relationship to the Hebrew Bible. Knowledge of the Hebrew Bible in Israel is not what you might think it is.
Yehudah Mirsky reviews the important new book Make Yourself a Teacher by our good friend and teacher Susan Handelman.
Shmuel Rosner presents us with criticism of the Zionist bona fides of the Liberal group J Street.
Nathan Jeffay reports on the intimate connections between fundamentalist Christians and the West Bank Settlers.
The ever-reliable Right Wing reactionary Dennis Prager questions whether the poor are actually poor.
On the other end of the economic food chain, David Sirotta looks at the lavish lifestyles of the super-rich.
David Shasha
New Discussions of the “Jewish Jesus”
By: David Shasha
Book Review: Is Jesus Really Kosher?
By: Lawrence H. Schiffman
Do Israelis Understand the Hebrew Bible?
By: Ghil’ad Zuckermann
Book Review: Make Yourself a Teacher
By: Yehudah Mirsky
Gilbert Kahn: ‘Many in J Street are Pro-Peace First and Pro-Israel Second’
By: Shmuel Rosner
Christians Called to Serve Jewish Settlers
By: Nathan Jeffay
Are the ‘Less Fortunate’ Less Fortunate?
By: Dennis Prager
How the 1% Live
By: David Sirotta