Sephardic Heritage Update 438

[David Shasha]

Friends,

 

            Before we begin, I would like to alert our readers to the following video clip:

 

http://matzav.com/video-rav-amnon-yitzchak-blasts-use-of-holy-words-to-unholy-songs

 

The rabbi in question is indeed Sephardic and his view runs directly counter to the Sephardic tradition.  From the time of the saintly musical master R. Israel Najara until the Pizmonim sung by the Aleppo Jews, the Sephardic tradition has always adapted foreign melodies for use in our songbook.  I was recently watching an old Henry King movie called “A Bell for Adano” and during a party sequence I started to unconsciously hum the Italian song being played.  The song was called “Margarita” and it was known to me from the Hebrew “Magen Yish’i.”  Non-Jewish songs are found throughout the Syrian Pizmon book – one of my favorites of the European songs is the adaptation of “Frere Jacques” called “Ram le-Hasdakh”!  I have been informed on good authority that Ashkenazi Jews also adapt non-Jewish melodies for their sacred music.

 

            The statements reflect the further radicalization of the Sephardim.

 

            We begin this newsletter with an interesting article by our friend Mira Baz on the remaining Jews living in Yemen.

 

            Jason Epstein provides us with a fascinating portrait of his friend Ben-Zion Netanyahu.  It should be remember that Professor Netanyahu is a scholar of Sephardic history and has taken a very interesting way of presenting that history.

 

            Alana Newhouse weighs in the ongoing controversy over the Conversion bill in Israel.

 

            Anshel Pfeffer discusses the Jewish commemoration of Tish’a Be-Ab from a very Zionist point of view.  The article articulates an idea that reframes Jewish history from the redemptive standpoint of Israel.

 

            Abigail Pogrebin writes a profile of Rabbi Avi Weiss.  In the article we get to see the many sides of Rabbi Weiss who stands as both a fervent Right Wing Zionist as well as a progressive Orthodox reformer.

 

            Sefi Rachlevsky provides us with some perspective on Israeli leadership and its inability to confront many of the difficult issues facing that country.

 

            Kobi Nahshoni reports on the recent arrest of Anat Hoffman who had the temerity to carry a Torah scroll on the woman’s side of the Western Wall plaza.  The group Women of the Wall has been continually persecuted by the Israeli police at the behest of extremist Orthodox factions who seem to hold a great deal of power in Jerusalem.

 

            Yair Alpert discusses the recent letter sent by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.  The letter deepens the enigma presented by Rabbi Yosef whose many racist pronouncements on Arabs have stigmatized him as an Arab-hater and Islamophobe in many quarters.

 

            A fascinating article by Eddy Portnoy looks at the deaf in Jewish tradition.

 

            Another cautionary sign of the times: Meghan Daum reports on the social networking entity called “RentAFriend” which – for a fee – will get you a friend.

 

            In these difficult economic times, Marilyn Johnson takes a look at the perilous state of the Public Library in America while David Brooks discusses the importance of books and reading.

 

            As we welcome the new three-volume Penguin Books translation of the classic Arabian Nights, a report from Amro Hassan and Jeffrey Fleishman shows us the lengths to which fanatical Muslims have taken their anti-intellectual crusade.  The attempt by contemporary Muslims to censor the Arabian Nights is more evidence that Arab culture is under assault.

 

            We end with Johann Hari’s important discussion of the decrepit financial predator Goldman Sachs and its malignant role in the world food market.

 

 

 

 

David Shasha

 

 

 

Dwindling in Number but Defiant: Yemeni Jews Cling to Their Roots

By: Mira Baz

 

My Friend, Benzion Netanyahu

By: Jason Epstein

 

The Diaspora Need not Apply

By: Alana Newhouse

 

It is Wrong to Fast on Tisha B’Av

By: Anshel Pfeffer

 

The Rabbi and the Rabba

By: Abigail Pogrebin

 

A True Peace from True Leaders

By: Sefi Rachlevsky

 

Women of the Wall Leader Arrested

By: Kobi Nahshoni

 

Chacham Ovadia Sends Wishes for Good Health to Hosni Mubarak

By: Yair Alpert

 

Silent Minority: How Jewish Tradition Marginalized the Deaf

By: Eddy Portnoy

 

Not Sold on RentAFriend

By: Meghan Daum

 

U.S. Public Libraries: We Lose Them at Our Peril

By: Marilyn Johnson

 

The Power of the Book

By: David Brooks

 

Egyptian Group Wants to Censor Arabic Classic

By: Amro Hassan and Jeffrey Fleishman

 

How Goldman Sachs Gambled on Global Starvation

By: Johann Hari