Resources and Articles by Sharonah Fredericko

Journalism as Literature:  Journalism and Cultural Stereotypes
Sharonah's latest offering explores the world of journalism, anthropology and of course, Israel. Amongst other things, she argues that journalism can reflect the culture in which it operates, just as well as a good book. [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions > Literature
Israel > Advocacy
Media and the Press

Analysis of an Orthodox Myth :  Did Reform Judaism Lead to Assimilation?
It is commonly accepted that liberal streams of Judaism lead to assimilation. Fredricko debunks this myth and puts the blame squarely on Orthodoxy. [Full article...]
Judaism > Jewish Identity
Judaism > Streams of Judaism

Homosexuality, King David, and Israeli Pop:  A Dilemma Judaism Prefers to Ignore
Was King David gay? This article explores homosexuality in Judaism and modern-day Israel. [Full article...]
Israel
Judaism > Jewish Identity

A Jewish Dilemma:  Human Sacrifice, Jepthah’s Daughter and Al-Quaeda
Killing in the name of religion- an ancient, modern, and utterly Jewish issue. [Full article...]
Peace Process > Terrorism

Notes from the Middle East:  Musings on Religious Fundamentalism
I set out to write a historical survey, and instead I am going to give you all a bit of a collage. Within that collage of thought and action and some of the most horrible events that I can remember in recent years, I am going to work in more than a bit of history. Keep in mind that I have lived in Israel, for more than twelve years-though, thank God, with frequent jaunts to both North and South America. (Some of you are probably raising your eye-brows-why does she say "thank God"? That doesn't sound too Zionist! Of course it doesn't-ideology at one point has to give way to reality….and you will find very quickly that the ones who come here, touting Zionist ideology to the four winds, are the first to run. Because the situation in the Middle East is simply too horrendous for their nice Vienna-bourgeoise dream ideology. Not that I care whether they come or go. I just wish they would be a bit less hypocritical about their reasons. If I ever decide to go, I'll leave-with no fan fare. I don't need the world orchestra of the Jewish people wishing me goodbye.) [Full article...]
Peace Process > Terrorism

Panic and Internet-Based Lies and Nonsense:  Nostradamus and the September 11 Nightmare
In this opus, Sharonah takes on (with a battering ram!) all that rubbish about the September 11th attack being somehow foretold by the seer Nostradamus. And in so doing, she reveals Nostradamus' greatness as a social critic. It's a relevant note to sound in these rather hysterical times that we are living in. Internet pseudo-intellectuals , BEWARE!!!!!! [Full article...]
Peace Process > Terrorism

Israeli Rock:  Natasha's Friends: Radio Blah-Blah
The texts of the now defunct Israeli rock group, The Friends of Natasha, take us on a voyage through modern day Israeli society and all its ills, on both the social and individual level. Their music conveys: postmodernism, alienation, immigration, discrimination, oppression and depression. The personal history of the group shows us clearly that one can find a way out of the morass. Yes, one can escape. [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions > Music

Culture and Politics in Israel:  An Alternative Vision of Reality: A Rightwinger on Left-Wing Israel Radio
Any attempt to create dialogue between the secular wing of Jewry and its more Orthodox counterpart pales in comparison to the popular Israeli Army radio station's "The Last Word". On that show, a secular left-wing Israeli daily confronts a right-wing religious Jew, usually on issues related to current events. Secular spokespersons are a flourishing breed; the right-wing participant is, on the radio show, always the same. That makes him quite a rare bird in the left wing world of Israeli media. [Full article...]
Judaism > Israeli Judaism
Media and the Press

The El-Aqsa Intifadah:  A Certain Tendency to Choose Disaster
The Palestinians are finally beginning to understand that the use of violence in the El-Aqsa Intifadah has not brought them the results that they had hoped for. And now, other voices are beginning to be heard, voices which tout moderation and political reason, and shatter the solid consensus within the Palestinian Autonomy. The price that the Palestinians have had to pay for their faulty political reasoning has been dear-since the beginnings of the Intifadah, many of their illusions have been destroyed, and no end is in sight. [Full article...]
Peace Process > Terrorism
Peace Process > The Palestinians

Sharonah's history classes:  Ramses and Nebuchadnezzar: Model Enemies for Modern Times
Following a series of brutal terror attacks, in which innocent people who were not involved in any political posturing in the Middle East Conflict were killed, we attempt to get on with our lives. In order to do so, we continue to study Jewish texts in the overall context of History: these books continue to provide us with fascinating windows on the present. [Full article...]
Jewish History > @ Beginnings of time - 70: Biblical Age
Judaism > Jewish Texts
Peace Process > Terrorism

Sharonah's history classes:  Ramses and Nebuchadnezzar: Model Enemies for Modern Times
Following a series of brutal terror attacks, in which innocent people who were not involved in any political posturing in the Middle East Conflict were killed, we attempt to get on with our lives. In order to do so, we continue to study Jewish texts in the overall context of History: these books continue to provide us with fascinating windows on the present. [Full article...]
Jewish History > @ Beginnings of time - 70: Biblical Age
Judaism > Jewish Texts
Peace Process > Terrorism

Sharonah's history classes:  The Ten Lost Tribes: When Dreams Die
In times of trouble, the Jewish people have held steadfastly to their myths.. One of these is the ten Lost Tribes, whose discovery will supposedly guarantee the coming of the Messiah. It is intertwined with the very idea of Jewish solidarity, a postulate which Sharonah questions. In today’s class, Sharonah unleashes a no-holds barred attack against those who preach Jewish solidarity, but do not practice it. Watch out for the barbs! [Full article...]
Jews Around the World > Lost Tribes
Judaism

Sharonah's history classes:  The Ten Lost Tribes: When Dreams Die
In times of trouble, the Jewish people have held steadfastly to their myths.. One of these is the ten Lost Tribes, whose discovery will supposedly guarantee the coming of the Messiah. It is intertwined with the very idea of Jewish solidarity, a postulate which Sharonah questions. In today’s class, Sharonah unleashes a no-holds barred attack against those who preach Jewish solidarity, but do not practice it. Watch out for the barbs! [Full article...]
Jews Around the World > Lost Tribes
Judaism

The Palestinian leadership confesses:  The El Aqsa Intifadah: Everything Was Planned
For reasons which are related to simplicity and over-simplifying-certain major facts regarding the El-Aqsa Intifadah have been omitted by the world press. Statements made by the Palestinian Minister of Media and Telecommunication: Imad Al Faludji, demonstrate a pre-meditated design, on the part of the Palestinian Autonomy. This upsets the easy equation of Palestinian stone-throwing children up against Israeli soldiers, armed to the teeth. [Full article...]
Peace Process
Peace Process > The Palestinians

Sharonah's history classes:  Freud and the Jews
For our rather irreverent scholar in residence, the Judeo-Zionist world would do well to vindicate Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis. However much he may have been an assimilated Jew in the already assimilated intellectual circles of Vienna, Freud took stock of his Jewish roots in the fashion he knew best - psychoanalytically - and produced his opus "Moises". Criticizing, in a Freudian manner, (of course), certain myths. Nonetheless, compared with his critique of Christianity, the barbs he hurled at Judaism could almost be termed "affectionate". [Full article...]
People > 1860-1948: Early Zionist Age

Sharonah's history classes:  Freud and the Jews
For our rather irreverent scholar in residence, the Judeo-Zionist world would do well to vindicate Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis. However much he may have been an assimilated Jew in the already assimilated intellectual circles of Vienna, Freud took stock of his Jewish roots in the fashion he knew best - psychoanalytically - and produced his opus "Moises". Criticizing, in a Freudian manner, (of course), certain myths. Nonetheless, compared with his critique of Christianity, the barbs he hurled at Judaism could almost be termed "affectionate". [Full article...]
People > 1860-1948: Early Zionist Age

A Highly Unorthodox Opinion:  Sanctity, Sovereignty and Jewish Identity
During the preceding months, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been monumentally transforming itself from a political-territorial clash, into a cultural-religious one. And as opposed to land-and even private dwellings-which can be divided in a relatively just fashion, THE TRUTH, as well as the rites and symbols which are its auxiliary, cannot be shared, particularly by those who view themselves as its sole legitimate representative. [Full article...]
Israel > Jerusalem
Peace Process

Contextualizing Jewish History:  The Tenth of Tevet
In the overall context of seminal events in Jewish history, the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Teveth does not occupy one of the better known issues. Yet, as Artie's latest entry makes clear, date-the date in which the prophet Yechezkel received the revelation of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian forces, serves as one of the landmarks in Jewish tradition, a date whose overall impact and importance can be likened to the shattering effect of the Kennedy assassination in the United States. [Full article...]
Jewish History

Food for thought at the gates of the new millenium:  Tragedy, Indifference and Hope
The last century has been both the bloodiest and the most promising period in Jewish history. The following article attempts to strike a balance between both sides of the coin, and reflects upon what will be the likely trends characterizing the Jewish people in this new millenium. [Full article...]
Jewish History

Sharonah's history classes:  Middle East-Nationalism with a Human Face: The Impossible Dream?
The constant waves of terrorism and reprisals which Israel is at present enduring, lead us to ponder the nature of nationalism itself. For Sharonah, nationalism has always been a perverse version of Midas and the golden touch- touching collective identity, it turns it to dust. We are not talking about getting rid of national identity. The question is how can we humanize it. [Full article...]
Israel
Judaism > Jewish Identity
Peace Process > Terrorism

Sharonah's history classes:  Middle East-Nationalism with a Human Face: The Impossible Dream?
The constant waves of terrorism and reprisals which Israel is at present enduring, lead us to ponder the nature of nationalism itself. For Sharonah, nationalism has always been a perverse version of Midas and the golden touch- touching collective identity, it turns it to dust. We are not talking about getting rid of national identity. The question is how can we humanize it. [Full article...]
Israel
Judaism > Jewish Identity
Peace Process > Terrorism

Jewish Culture:  Heine:Father of Secular Judaism
A new book which details the life of one of the great poets of German Romanticism, offers a new angle on Heine's conflictual attitude towrds his own Judaism and to Jews in general. This poet, who did not return to Judaism, since he claimed to never have abandoned it,was an involuntary forefather of the Emancipation: he paved the way for secular Judaism. [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions > Poetry
Judaism > Streams of Judaism
People > 1789-1860: Haskala (Emancipation)

The El Aqsa Intifadah:  The Use Of 'Excessive Force' By The Israeli Army
The term "excessive force", when applied to the Israeli army, should be applied on the basis of balanced standards of international criterion. There is no need to summarily view our Arab neighbors, who do not hesitate to erase the remains of thousands of their own citizens when the latter are deemed as a threat to the regime. And even in comparison to the more "progressive" First World nations, Israel adheres to a strikingly moderate military policy. All this and more-although none of it seems to affect CNN's Middle East ratings. [Full article...]
Israel > Advocacy
Media and the Press
Peace Process

A Media War:  Please Don't Blame the Guilty
If you don't read the news you'll be uninformed, and if you read the news you'll be badly informed…….Mark Twain In this article the author takes a critical look at the media and its coverage of the violent outbreaks in the territories. As the Anti-Defamation League of the Bnai Brith insisted, we are not asking the media to always defend Israel's position-we are asking it to be objective. But the field of international communications only communicates the Palestinian view. [Full article...]
Israel > Advocacy
Media and the Press

Human Rights in Palestine:  Crime and Punishment in the Palestinian Autonomy
We all know that the primary cause of death in the first Intifadah was the PLO’s murder of suspected Palestinian collaborators. Once the Oslo process had begun, and the Palestinian Authority was an established fact, then summary executions, the liquidation of undesirables at the behest of more or less regular militias, became regular facts of life in the nascent Palestinian state. Palestinian human rights activists would be well prepared to study this document for reference in the very near future. [Full article...]
Peace Process > The Palestinians

On the front line:  The Arab Boycott: Economic War Against the State of Israel
During the first thirty years of Israel’s existence, the Arab boycott had a devastating effect on Israel’s economy. Many large multinationals succumbed to boycott pressure, refusing to do business with the Jewish state. And despite its current lack of effectiveness, the issue of the economic boycott is one again taking center stage in the current round of confrontations. [Full article...]
International Relations
Peace Process

Sharonah’s history classes:  Syria, Assad's Son And All The Rest Of Us
With the death of the Syrian dictator Hafez el Assad, who paralyzed the Middle East and in particular, the peace process, through the use of totalitarian control and terror, the region enters a new phase. His son Bashar may eventually involve himself in that process, or he may continue to remain aloof, as he has done. And all this uncertainty was the subject of our talk for this month. [Full article...]
Peace Process

Sharonah’s history classes:  Syria, Assad's Son And All The Rest Of Us
With the death of the Syrian dictator Hafez el Assad, who paralyzed the Middle East and in particular, the peace process, through the use of totalitarian control and terror, the region enters a new phase. His son Bashar may eventually involve himself in that process, or he may continue to remain aloof, as he has done. And all this uncertainty was the subject of our talk for this month. [Full article...]
Peace Process

The Al Aqsa Intifada:  The Eternal Disaster (An apocryphal letter that might as well be authentic)
The Palestinians have triumphed in the important battle over world public opinion, and have succeeded in hardening Arab attitudes towards Israel. The price, however, may well prove to have been far too high. Following the substantive gains obtained by the PLO when it exchanged terrorism for diplomacy, the return to violence may condemn the Palestinians to a permanent tragedy. [Full article...]
Peace Process > The Palestinians

Every Sixth Israeli:  The Arabs of Israel (Part 1)
One of the most crucial problems of Israeli democracy is the status of Israel’s ethnic minorities. Although Israel is far from the worst culprit in the treatment of its minority groups, the theme of the Israeli Arabs, or perhaps better put, Israelis of Palestinian Arab origin, is cause for worry. And these Israeli citizens themselves made it amply clear that there was great room for improvement-in October, violent demonstrations erupted in Arab villages throughout Israel. There was a certain degree of anti-Jewish rhetoric present in these protests. But they were short-lasting, and the list of complaints had nothing to do with the El-Aqsa uprising. [Full article...]
Israel > Israeli Arabs

Sharonah’s history classes:  Jews and Palestinians: Who Let the Genie of Hatred and Mutual Fanaticism Get Out of the Lamp? Stop it quickly!
For our favorite historian, the guilt for the ongoing war between Israelis and Palestinians is pretty equally distributed on both sides of the Green Line. For Sharonah, recent events are the result of unbridled right-wing nationalist extremism on BOTH sides. Quite skeptical, but no less idealistic, Sharonah believes that the solution must be imposed by a third party, as Jews and Palestinians do not appear to be capable of doing it. [Full article...]
Peace Process

Sharonah’s history classes:  Jews and Palestinians: Who Let the Genie of Hatred and Mutual Fanaticism Get Out of the Lamp? Stop it quickly!
For our favorite historian, the guilt for the ongoing war between Israelis and Palestinians is pretty equally distributed on both sides of the Green Line. For Sharonah, recent events are the result of unbridled right-wing nationalist extremism on BOTH sides. Quite skeptical, but no less idealistic, Sharonah believes that the solution must be imposed by a third party, as Jews and Palestinians do not appear to be capable of doing it. [Full article...]
Peace Process

Points of view:  The Sacrifice of Isaac: The Palestinian Version
For the author of this article, the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence is dictated by hatred of a brand not easily comprehended in the more developed world. If the Palestinians only had their way, then a new Eichman would be most welcome, ending the lives of six million Jews-this time concentrated in the same country. [Full article...]
Peace Process > Terrorism
Peace Process > The Palestinians

The New Israelis:  The Arabs of Israel (Part 2)
Once the Israeli Arabs had re-encountered their Palestinian brethren in the territories taken by Israel in the Six Day War, the former undertook a lengthy and complex process of redefining their national identity, simultaneous with the consolidation of an economic infrastructure. They were doubly marginalized: they were the victims of inequality within the sphere of Israeli society, nor could they really be accepted among the ranks of Palestinian nationalism. But a lot of time, and social changes, have occurred since then. [Full article...]
Israel > Israeli Arabs

Pope John Paul II in Israel:  The Vatican and the Holocaust
On the occasion of His Holiness the Pope’s visit to Israel, it is worthwhile to reflect upon the overall state of relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people. In recent times, the Church has requested a historical "pardon" from various communities, the Jews among them. Forgiveness is begged for sins committed by the "church faithful", but not by the Church itself. Regarding the particular role of the Vatican during the Holocaust, all references made to this point have been quite vague…while in other instances almost vindicating the actions of Pope Pius II. We are at the very beginning of the long road to reconciliation. [Full article...]
Holocaust
International Relations

Society and Education in Israel:  The Decadence of Secular Humanism
If the movers and shakers of secular humanism cannot uphold their truths when they actually attain positions of power and influence, why should we be shocked that religious nationalism and its concommitant, ultraorthodoxy, continue to be on the rise? A return to roots, to the foundation of the State of Israel and to the 1950’s, flesh out the response to this fairly rhetorical question. [Full article...]
Israel > Politics
Judaism > Israeli Judaism

Redefining the Israel-Diaspora connection:  The Tnuot and the Shaliach
The old terms no longer apply to the increasingly complex Israel-Diaspora relationship; classic Zionism and classic Diaspora community organization are undergoing far-reaching changes. Their impact is evident in the day-to-day interchange, sometimes encouraging, sometimes downright embittered, that exists between them. Marky Levy is a long-time Israel Diaspora worker with ample experience and knowledge of the mutual needs and recriminations of both sides. He takes a perceptive stab at ways in which these changes can be channeled positively. [Full article...]
Youth and Hagshama Movements / Organizations
Zionism > Zionism and the Diaspora

A quite unorthodox opinion:  The Conversion Debate (II)
We carry on with this most painful and polemical of themes, one which has always aroused such intense controversy amongst the different streams of Judaism: the willing conversion to Judaism by those gentiles interested in doing so. Directly following the Romans’ destruction of the Second Temple, the Rabbinical authorities of that period exhibited liberal attitudes which conflicted sharply with the rigidity of contemporary Ultra-Orthodox Judaism. [Full article...]
Judaism > Conversion

A quite unorthodox opinion:  The Conversion Debate (I)
Contrary to popular opinion, the Jewish religion did indeed, at certain points in its history, encourage missionary activity, actively seeking to convert non-Jews to the Mosaic faith. Beginning with the wives of the Biblical patriarchs and including the spouse of our most revered prophet, Moses, as well as the mixed multitude that he brought out of Egypt, The Jewish people have always had their ranks increased by gentiles anxious to convert to the Mosaic faith. And, as in the case of the Moabite woman Ruth, many of these religious transformations were the result of romantic entanglements. [Full article...]
Judaism > Conversion

Fifty-two years of Israeli independence:  The Diaspora and Israel: A Spiritual Connection With Economic Backing
After fifty-two years of Israeli independence, we would like to present an original opinion regarding the theme of Israeli-Diaspora relations. We are confronted with the permanent reality of the Diaspora-a fact which did not figure in the original calculations of the founders of the Jewish state. The Diaspora will continue to view Israel as the irrevocable center of the Jewish world, but not in a paternalistic sense. Israel will not define who is a Jew for the Diaspora, nor will it play the part of younger brother-pauper. Israel’s survival, like that of the Diaspora are mutually acceptable facts. Now we must speak as equals, for the first time ever. [Full article...]
Zionism > Zionism and the Diaspora

Response to 'Trance and Israeli Society' by Julian Schvindlerman.:  An indignant Zionist protests the globalization of Israeli culture
Things are heating up in Hagshama’s on-line e-magazine. In our previous edition we offered our readers two markedly different visions of post-Zionism and its effects on Israeli society at all levels. Our correspondent Julian Schvindlerman launched a diatribe at the trance craze raging in Israel’s discotheques, looking upon it as incontrovertible proof of the decadence of Zionist values and a direct result of galloping globalization and post-Zionist thought….as well as a sad expression of the decline of moral value in Israel’s highly politicized culture. But for Rothbart, who prefers to answer Julian’s stance directly - globalization does indeed have its dark side - but for other reasons. [Full article...]
Israel
Zionism > Zionism Revisited

52nd Anniversary of the Creation of the Jewish State:  Who Is Afraid Of The Post Zionists?
For the author of this piece, post-Zionism represents a positive challenge to the officially sanctioned vision of history in Israel. For all of its structural defects, it has nonetheless called into question, for the first time, the heavily mystical, monolithic, and idealized vision of Jewish history. This is the record of a polemical debate. [Full article...]
Zionism > Post-Zionism

Doctrine and Impact of the New History:  The Politicizing Of History
The new Israeli historiography, which consists in overturning the basic principles of Zionism, is harshly attacked in this article. The old truths, the author claims, have been replaced by new lies, and the implications for Israeli society are indeed ominous: it is in the field of education that the destiny of the country will be decided-we will either collapse under the weight of our own guilty consciences….or perhaps, we just might gather enough strength to survive. [Full article...]
Zionism > Post-Zionism

Israeli Society in a State of Trance:  The 52nd Anniversary of the Creation of the State of Israel
Two clashing visions of society shape modern-day Israel: on the one hand, we have the post-modernist wave, imported from overseas; and on the other hand we have post-Zionism, which is causing the pillars of Israeli society to rot from within. [Full article...]
Israel
Zionism > Zionism Revisited

Hagshama Evening:  Peace, Felafel and Rock n'Roll
On March 1st 2001, in the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, over 1,400 young people joined in a massive celebration organized by the Hagshamah department of the World Zionist Organization with the support of Keren Kayemeth Leisrael. Everything and anything was to be found: songs, dances, speeches, cheers, and hordes of youth getting to know each other better. The cherry on the cake was the appearance of Aviv Geffen, noted Israeli rock star and the center of various controversial storms. We took the liberty of cornering him in his dressing room , and this is the result... [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions > Music

Freedom and Pesach:  Freedom and the meaning of Pesach
Passover’s meaning is all too easily defined: freedom. But unless we truly internalize that concept, the holiday will come and go without it making a real impact upon our lives. In this opus, Rabbi Barylka takes a stab at the significance of freedom within the context of daily living. Resonance thus is granted to history through personal experience. [Full article...]
Judaism > Holidays with a Twist > Pesach

Rationalism Fights for its Rightful Place:  Effective Anti-Self Delusion Antidote
In a world that appears to be hovering on the brink of insanity, where technological sophistication and a veritable supermarket of spiritual values bicker over our hearts and minds, Reason, that long discredited value, may offer us a way out of the quagmire. Such is the point of view of Sherwin Wine, standard-bearer for North American secular and humanistic Judaism. His latest book "How to Remain Sane While Everyone Around You Is Going Crazy," hies to this logical line. [Full article...]
Judaism > Streams of Judaism

Jewish Holidays:  Purim
In this brief but detailed note, Jaime Barylke takes us on a fascinating journey through the world of Purim, one of the most interesting of all Jewish festivals. Multiple contents abound. [Full article...]
Judaism > Holidays with a Twist > Purim

Hagshama and the New Millenium - Article II:  Youth Is Not a Question of Age
In this edition, the Head of the Hagshama Department of the World Zionist Organization, outlines the action plan which is being implemented together with university-age Jewish youth throughout the globe. For Hayet, being biologically young will not make the grade... one must be young in thought and deed as well. The youth representation proposed in keeping with affirmative action at the next Zionist Congress is far from assured, and we are going to have to fight for it. Let’s take a look at what the next three-quarters of 2001 have to offer here at Hagshama... [Full article...]
Youth and Hagshama Movements / Organizations

Sharonah's history classes:  Monsters in Jewish Tradition (Or, The Moral Dilemmas of Cloning)
Judaism has confronted the whole gamut of human problems and dilemmas, leaving no stone unturned. Even the quandaries of modern science would seem to be an updated version of ethical issues previously detailed in our ancient sources. And for those doubting Thomases, don't miss this brilliant expose, in which Sharonah tackles Moses' and Rambam's stance regarding the little sheep-clone, Dolly. [Full article...]
Judaism > Cholent: Little bit O' this, Little bit O' that

Sharonah's history classes:  Monsters in Jewish Tradition (Or, The Moral Dilemmas of Cloning)
Judaism has confronted the whole gamut of human problems and dilemmas, leaving no stone unturned. Even the quandaries of modern science would seem to be an updated version of ethical issues previously detailed in our ancient sources. And for those doubting Thomases, don't miss this brilliant expose, in which Sharonah tackles Moses' and Rambam's stance regarding the little sheep-clone, Dolly. [Full article...]
Judaism > Cholent: Little bit O' this, Little bit O' that

Women and Judaism:  The Status of Women in The Halacha
It is easy to assert brazenly that Jewish law discriminates against women, but to make such a sweeping generalization is to ignore completely the historical context in which Jewish law developed. Many of these same standards were designed to protect the Jewish woman from destitution, in the remote Talmudic epoch in which they were designed. Today a new reinterpretation is possible, perhaps more in accordance with the spirit, rather than with the letter of, the original. [Full article...]
Judaism > Cholent: Little bit O' this, Little bit O' that
Judaism > Jewish Texts

Jews and Gentiles in the Fictional Mirror:  Borges on The Jews
Two of the greatest writers of the last century, Jorge Luis Borges and James Joyce, illustrated the dilemmas of modern day humanity by focusing on the plight of the Jew: for Borges and Joyce, the Jewish condition was the perfect metaphor for a deeper understanding of the individual and society. Despite the two writers’ very genuine appreciation for the Jewish spiritual and intellectual tradition, they have not been granted sufficient attention in the Jewish world. In this informative piece, Gustavo Perednik sets out to set the record straight. [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions > Literature

New Worlds and Forgotten Peoples:  Incas and Jews
In this opus Gustavo Perednik draws a fascinating parallel between two seemingly unrelated histories of cultural flowering, destruction, struggle and rebirth: that of the great Inca Empire, annihilated by Francisco Pizarro and a small band of adventurers (and the colonial might of Spain) in 1534; and the scattered Jewish people during the long centuries of the Diaspora, generally victims of whatever reigning power had dominion over them. By deepening our understanding of history from a non-Eurocentric perspective, this article offers an impassioned plea for recognition of the contributions of those peoples who do not conform to the "Western" model, in this case, the Quechua speaking nations of Ecuador and Peru, and the Jews. [Full article...]
Jews Around the World
Jews Around the World > Lost Tribes

Professor Leibovitch's Zionism:  Sane and Democratic Zionism
Professor Yeshayahu Liebovitch was perhaps the most outstanding Zionist intellectual of Israeli society, as well as its most assiduous critic following the halcyon period of the Six Day War. His lucidity of perception allowed him to see that the moral fiber of Zionism was under siege from that point on; for Liebovitch, the essence of Zionism was national sovereignty whereby we are not dominated nor do we dominate others. The supreme irony lay in the fact that although we had liberated ourselves as a people, we had once again become prisoners by falling into the trap of oppressing others. [Full article...]
People > 1948-Today: Modern Zionist Age
Zionism > Religious Zionism

Social Problems in the Promised Land:  A Light to the Nations? Social Justice in Israel
This trenchant article explores the burning issues in the tense social fabric of Israeli society: officially sanctioned prostitution, the ever-increasing disparity between the rich and the poor, real wage inequality between men and women, and the badly-defined status of Israel’s indigenous minorities. Matt Plenn invites us to take a no-holds-barred look at contemporary society in Israel, exploring how these issues impact on the founding ideology of the Jewish state, and its promise of equality. [Full article...]
Israel
Israel > Israeli Arabs
Zionism > Zionism Revisited

Outline of the Lebanon Situation:  In the Wake of the Lebanon Withdrawal
On May 24 2000 the last Israeli troops left Southern Lebanon and a new era in the troubled relations between Jew and Arab began. As I write it is still unclear what the implications of the withdrawal will mean. The risks are great, with Hizbullah literally sitting on Israel’s northern border, but so too are the hopes for the future. Time will tell what will serve the interests of the countries in the region. What is clear is that the ball is firmly in the Syrian court. [Full article...]
Peace Process

Face to Face with Rambam:  Meet Maimonides - a Living Voice for The Present
Many 20th century Jewish thinkers have wrestled with the brilliance of Maimonides’ thought, but till now no one has ever dared interview the great Judeo-Spanish thinker of the 12th century. But in these days of cyberspace, anything is possible, read on…… [Full article...]
Judaism > Cholent: Little bit O' this, Little bit O' that
People > 0600 - 1789: Middle Ages

The Late, Great Professor Leibovitz:  Letting Leibovitz Speak for Himself
Professor Yeshayahu Leibovitz was one of the most controversial figures whom I interviewed in my nearly three decades of journalism. And he literally victimized me; it was as though we were acting the sado-masochistic roles of professor and student in Ionesco’s play "The Lesson".Leibovitz answered me well enough, but he did so in explosive tones. He pontificated rather than lectured; envisioned rather than conversed; and he broke all the polite bounds of academic courtesy. And at the slightest hint of disagreement, his intellectual airs made it clear that I was an imbecile…any other explanation for not parroting his opinion was impossible.But truth be told, this most implacable of all of the critics of the Israeli establishment (including several confrontations with Ben-Gurion), played his role to the hilt. Biochemist and philosopher, born in Riga and educated in Germany, arriving in Israel in 1934, deeply Orthodox and radically left-wing, is considered by many in Israel to have been a true genius. Reader, be warned: he spares no one…….. [Full article...]
Jewish History > 1948-Today: Modern Zionist Age
Zionism > Post-Zionism

Jewish Thought     :  The Creed of a Secular Jew
s it possible to be a proudly committed Jew and not believe in God? According to Uruguayan Jewish journalist Egon Friedler it definitely is. Self-definition of one’s own Judaism and creative awareness of Jewish culture are the key. Special attention is paid to the issue of anti-democratic elements in Jewish society who would destroy the pluralism necessary for over-all Jewish survival. [Full article...]
Judaism > Jewish Identity
Judaism > Streams of Judaism

Jews and Intellectual Pastimes:  Judaism and Chess
For the author of this article, the Jewish inclination towards the most revered of all board games is not mere coincidence, but the result of intellectual and cultural factors which designates chess as a game perfectly suited to Jewish historical development. It is a challenging look at our own philosophical roots and an analysis of just how those roots come to the forefront, even in a light-hearted sense. [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions
Judaism > Cholent: Little bit O' this, Little bit O' that

Propaganda and manipulation:  Between Palestine and South Africa
The mere insinuation that there can be any kind of similarity between the former apartheid regime in South Africa and the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians over the same territory, is absolutely abominable. And the comparison is rendered even more crude when a buffoon such as Arafat is compared with a leader of Nelson Mandela's stature. Perhaps the world media is becoming a bit less susceptible to these chronic liars. [Full article...]
Anti-Semitism

Las clases de Sharona:  Relaciones Israel-Diáspora: Una Pareja Dispareja
Casualmente, como siempre, me encuentro con Sharona el sábado a la tarde. Tocaban jazz en Barood, un pintoresco restaurante de Najalat Shivá, el primer barrio construido fuera de las murallas de la Ciudad Vieja de Jerusalem, allá por el siglo pasado, y hoy convertido en un "delta" de callejuelas peatonales, turístico si los hay. Entre saxos y blues, Sharona me cuenta que los maltratos de Israel a la diáspora no comenzaron con la ley de conversión religiosa. Este, sin embargo, es un punto culminante, sin precedentes. Pero la culpa, para ella, no la tienen los ultraortodoxos. [Full article...]

Conversing with Haim Hayet, Director of the Hagshama Department, regarding the last Vaad Hapoel - Article I:  Towards a Young Zionist Revolution
The last Vaad Hapoel, for those not directly involved in the theme, may have appeared highly irrelevant. But the fact of the matter is, that a number of resolutions taken may spread the hope, however faint, that the Zionist movement need not die of hunger or old age. This is particularly true regarding the motion passed which stated that 25% of all delegates to the next Zionist Congress be under the age of 30! [Full article...]
Youth and Hagshama Movements / Organizations

Does Jewish Art Really Exist in the Diaspora:  A Delicate Balance: Jewish Aesthetics and Art
Israel has always been accused of relative self-centeredness regarding its relations with the Diaspora. One of the primary reasons for this attitude-a reason which is less and less convincing with every passing day-is that there is no real Jewish artistic production in the Diaspora, everything that occurs there is a mere reflection of what happens in Israel. In order to better understand this polemic, Judith Grosgold analyzes the basic underlying question: just what do we mean precisely by "Jewish culture"? [Full article...]
Artistic Expressions

Far-flung relatives in the Jewish world     :  The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel: Looking for The Remnants
The literature dealing with the mysterious Ten Lost Tribes of Israel is so staggeringly vast that we can only hope to provide a brief outline. Undeniably, the concept of our far-flung brothers scattered to the four corners of the globe has lit the imagination of the Western World for many centuries; today, with the existence of the Jewish state, the legend has become a political dilemma: should Israel, according to its own Law of Return, recognize as citizens of the state every group that proclaims itself as a descendent of The Ten Lost Tribes? [Full article...]
Jews Around the World > Lost Tribes