Reclaiming the Jewish word

While we look forward to Purim, there are many other reasons that Adar is such a celebratory month. The third of Adar commemorates the completion of the Second Temple, the seventh is the hilula of Moses and the 28th of Adar is a Talmudic celebration to commemorate the rescinding of a Roman decree against ritual circumcision, Torah study and keeping the Shabbat. However, another important date is often overlooked that goes to the root of the 'People of the Book' in the modern era.

Next week is the anniversary of the creation of the first printed and dated Hebrew book ever published with movable type on the 10th of Adar, Feb. 17, 1475. The book is a copy of Rashi's commentary of the Five Books of Moses. It was printed by Abraham ben Yitzhak ben Garton in Adar 5235 in the city of Reggio di Calabria, Italy. The sole copy of this book that still exists is kept in the Palatine Library in Parma, Italy. The method of type was called incunabula, which is a block-book printed from a single carved or sculpted wooden block for each page, made with individual pieces of cast metal movable type on a printing press, in the technology made famous by Johannes Gutenberg.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (21)

The (Jewish) refugee issue

The meeting taking place in Annapolis between the Israelis and Palestinians is one that hardly anyone from the left or the right is holding much hope for. There has been little agreement on any of the major issues, and as Israel provides more and more "confidence-building measures", the Palestinians become entrenched in their positions.

The Jew who was driven out from an Arab land before and after the State of Israel was proclaimed can only look on in wonder at the Palestinian position on their refugees. The Palestinians fictitiously created ?right of return? (a right is a legal term, and there is no binding legal apparatus for such a return) and it has now become a sacred cow that dare not be rejected or ignored.

The Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh declared succinctly recently "No one is authorized to compromise the right of return." Even members of Fatah will not talk of negotiation without the refugee issue being addressed. Abdullah Abdullah, a senior Fatah official in the West Bank, recently described the right of return as sacred. "The right of return cannot be ignored or surrendered," he said.

Read the rest of this post   |  Comments (2)