Sephardic Heritage Update 479

[David Shasha]

Friends,

 

            Very often I am dismayed by the exclusionary aspects of the Jewish institutional world, particularly when it comes to Sephardi inclusion in matters having to do with discussions of Israel and Zionism.  I was therefore quite thrilled to learn of the following conference on Israel Studies that will be taking place at Brandeis University next month:

 

http://www.eventact.com/AIS/Membership/AIS2011_Program_5.20.pdf

 

The program provides an astonishing amount of diversity in its choice of topics and speakers.  There are panels featuring our good friends Sami Shalom Chetrit and Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber that are devoted specially to Arab Jewish issues and the overall balance that has been achieved by the organizers is quite commendable.  It is a model of how such a conference on Israel should be conducted and is to be applauded.

 

            An edited version of my recent article on Paul Simon has been published by The Forward:

 

http://www.forward.com/articles/138099/

 

We begin this week’s newsletter with my discussion of the recent brouhaha over Hannah Arendt’s view of the trial of Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann.  The anniversary of the trial has led to much analysis which has sought to undermine Arendt’s assertions.

 

            Regina Keil-Sagawe looks at the life of the late Moroccan-Jewish writer Edmond Amran el-Maleh.  Sadly, none of his many writings is available in English translation, but the article provides some important information about his importance in the Middle Eastern cultural world.

 

            Yoel Meltzer presents his understanding for the Jewish claim on the land of Israel.  This presentation, as has become all-too-common in Jewish religious circles, ignores the realities of history and the long culture developed by Diaspora Jews.

 

            Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar provide us with an analysis of West Bank Jewish politics that references the ideas of Franz Kafka.  It often strikes me that the Settlers and the Palestinians have more in common than they might realize.

 

            The radical thinking of Martin Peretz is on full display in his demonization of Richard Goldstone in the wake of Goldstone’s Washington Post op-ed.  On the other side of the political fence, Ilan Pappe laments Goldstone’s change of heart in the article.

 

            A much-discussed article by Daniel Gordis looks at the change in Zionist and pro-Israel sentiment among young American rabbinical students.

 

            Micha Odenheomer interviews the Jewish magnate and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt.

 

            A very interesting article recently reposted by the American Jewish Historical Society recounts a non-Kosher meal served at an event sponsored by the Reform Jewish Hebrew Union College.  It is a uniquely Ashkenazi story which shows the tensions inherent in Jewish ritual observance.

 

            The faux-Centrist David Brooks applauds the recent attempt by Republican radical Congressman Paul Ryan to undermine our social safety net in his extreme budget proposal.

 

 

 

 

David Shasha

 

           

 

Hannah Arendt, Eichmann, Deborah Listadt, and Anti-Sephardi Racism

By: David Shasha

 

Edmond Amran el-Maleh: A Moroccan Jew with Arabo-Berber Roots

By: Regina Keil-Sagawe

 

Our Claim to the Land of Israel

By: Yoel Meltzer

 

Kafka at Netzer

By: Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar

 

Goldstone Recounts a Blood Libel

By: Martin Peretz

 

Goldstone’s Shameful U-Turn

By: Ilan Pappe

 

Of Sermons and Strategies: Anti-Israel American Rabbinical Students

By: Daniel Gordis

 

“We Have Lost Our Values”: An Interview with Michael Steinhardt

By: Micha Odenheimer

 

The “Trefa Banquet” and the End of a Dream

By: American Jewish Historical Society

 

Moment of Truth: Paul Ryan’s Budget Proposal

By: David Brooks