Jewish History

Third Generation Holocaust Survivor Reflects on Israeli Hostage Rescue

Even famous actors like Mark Ruffalo joined the cacophony of lunacy, sharing on X that “4 [hostages] for 274 including kids. It’s a sinful equation that keeps repeating,” ignoring the fact that the majority of those killed were in fact Hamas terrorist fighters harboring hostages purposefully in a densely populated civilian area. [Joshua Lafazan]

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, International, Israel, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

A Serious Essay about European Jewish Humor

Self-criticism is inherent in a tolerant society that respects the human being as such and reflects on its mistakes and imperfections. Self-criticism is alien to an authoritarian society. Nations that are satisfied with themselves and look to other nations for faults and blame for their failures are stagnant. Jews are dissatisfied, hence they develop. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire

OpEd: Zelensky Keeps a Distance from His Jewishness and from Israel

The silencing of his Jewishness has characterized his entire tenure as president. Mentioning his Jewishness became taboo. Benjamin Disraeli, a baptized Jew, was Prime Minister of Great Britain and openly discussed Jewish issues and wrote novels with Jewish characters. Léon Blum was Prime Minister of France and spoke freely about his Jewishness. Bruno Kraisky was Chancellor of Austria and made no secret of his Jewishness. Walter Rathenau was Foreign Minister of Germany and spoke proudly of his Jewish ancestry. None of them were ashamed of their Jewishness as Zelensky was. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Anne Frank

Courtesy of Wikipedia Anne Frank (June 12, 1929 – February or March 1945) was a German-born Jewish girl who kept a diary in which she documented life in hiding under Nazi persecution during the German occupation of the Netherlands. She is a celebrated diarist who described everyday life from her family’s hiding place in an Amsterdam attic. One of the most-discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust,

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Antisemitism, Holocaust, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Today’s Jewish Birthday: Mordecai Kaplan

Courtesy of Wikipedia Mordecai Kaplan (June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983) was a Lithuanian-born American rabbi, writer, Jewish educator, professor, theologian, philosopher, activist, and religious leader who founded the Reconstructionist branch of Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein. He has been described as a “towering figure” in the recent history of Judaism for his influential work in adapting it to modern society, contending that Judaism should be a unifying

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Today's Jewish Birthday, Wikipedia

Jewish Biography: Boris Pasternak Avoided, Denied, His Jewishness

Pasternak’s feelings about Jews and Jewry in the first 22 years of his life are ̶ negative: humiliation, oppression, pogroms. A different vision of the Jewish problem was revealed to him in Marburg. Pasternak encountered Jewish thinking for the first time in his life: Cohen’s teachings were based on the ethics of Judaism. Plagued by Jewish complexes in Russia, he was apparently shocked by the position of the Jewish thinker and rejected Cohen’s offer to continue his philosophical studies. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

‘101 Treasures’ from Israel Library is also a Treasure for Home Collections

The joke is that my wife has been an unflagging downsizer, in resisting my acquiring new books, but gifts may be different. I thanked my friend, “Never seen Karen so pleased to get a book in an age where she is trying to get them out of the house.” [Oliver B. Pollak]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Oliver Pollak, Staff and Bylined Contributors

The Lion’s Trail: Beit She’an

It was a surreal parallel of reality, courage, and life that refused to give up. The mayors of Beit She’an, Kiryat Shemona, Beit Jann, and the Council Rep from the Golan Regional Council came to join us.  Each of their communities is under attack by Hezbollah.  Each of their communities has a Lion.  Each of their communities determinedly endures. [Jerry Klinger]

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Israel, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

OpEd: The ‘Music’ of Socialism

Why didn’t I become a socialist? Soviet socialism destroyed my family and I could not love it. But it turned out that I disliked socialism for the same reason I did not become a musician: my aunt’s piano also left Kiev.  Instead of using my absolute musical ear for music, I had to use it to listen to the atonal music of wailing, to the unmelodic moans and gloomy chords of the lamentations of the Soviet Jews. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Highly Readable Holocaust Memoir Carefully Delineates Sources

In 1942, when Alfred was 8 and Herbert was 5, their parents arranged for the boys to be sent to a summer camp operated by a Jewish rescue organization.  Much to the boys’ distress, their safety-minded parents had them stay much longer than the summer.  While they were gone, their father, who had been helping the French Resistance, was arrested by the Vichy government. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA