The ethnic cleansing of the Jews
Today, more than ever, certain obscene canards are thrown at Israel in its war of words with those who seek to delegitimize the Jewish State. A cursory study at the many statements that derive from certain extremists sympathetic to the Palestinian cause would see the lie that Israel is "ethnically cleansing" the Palestinians is rife. Ethnic cleansing has been defined by many people as a variance of acts. Drazen Petrovic wrote, 'Ethnic Cleansing - An Attempt at Methodology' for the European Journal of International Law and defined it as "a well-defined policy of a particular group of persons to systematically eliminate another group from a given territory." Restoring the Crown to its rightful place?
Recently a heated debate has occurred in the haredi world concerning the issue of organ donations. While most haredim would not dream of carrying an organ donor's card, a law that has just been passed in Israel may change some of the perceptions. The Knesset approved a law last Monday intended to regulate organ donations in compliance with Jewish Law. The bill was passed with the support of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, while United Torah Judaism voted against the law citing halacha. This law is the culmination of a very deep process of discussion between rabbis and doctors. The new law is supported by some of the major rabbis of both the religious-Zionist and Sephardi world, including Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, former Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and others. The law was opposed by the leader of the Lithuanian haredim, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. A leading in UTJ, MK Moshe Gafni explained at the Knesset plenum during the debate, "A brain dead person is a living being." 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. When Balkan Muslims were rescued by Jews
The recent turmoil in the Balkans and the hosting of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Israel last week make it an auspicious time to remember a little-known event in Jewish history. During wars and fractious national events, Jews are usually caught in the middle to a devastating extent. The Jewish community as the ultimate 'other' is rarely trusted by any side in conflict and tries to keep as low a profile as possible. The opposite was the case during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996. The Jewish community of Sarajevo can trace its existence back to a safe haven for those Iberian exiles that fled the Inquisition and ultimately the expulsions. Even today the majority of the Jewish community is Sephardi and although many were wiped out during the Holocaust, Ladino is still spoken by many. The edicts of separation
This week Rav Yitzhak Yosef, the son of Rav Ovadia Yosef, ruled that the Ashkenazi custom of a newly married couple going to a Heder Yichud (private room) after the Huppa is 'ugly' and 'vulgar'. Chastising Sephardi yeshiva students who have taken on Ashkenazi customs, Rabbi Yosef junior noted that "they are acting in an inappropriate manner". This presents many issues for the Sephardim about how strictly one should adhere to one's customs and forsake anything else. I note the irony of a Rabbi who dresses in a garb reminiscent of Eastern Europe telling other Sephardim that they should not act according to Ashkenazi customs. Sephardi Zionist-Skeptics
Recently, I have held many discussions with certain Sephardim who have disparaged Zionism and the State of Israel. These 'intellectuals', all from North America, have only distaste for Sephardi Zionists, denigrating them Ashkenazi dupes or worse. Many of the arguments revolve around the fact that Sephardim were dispossessed of their culture and heritage by the mainly Ashkenazi political activists who helped create modern secular Zionism. These Sephardi Zionist-skeptics have reinterpreted a version of Jewish history in Asia and North Africa which barely resembles the actual events that took place. For every individual that was cited as a success story for Jewish integration in the wider Muslim milieu, there were dozens of events which prove that these instances were the exception and not the rule. The Jewish status of al-Dhimma necessitated a repression which even in the best of circumstances meant that the Jew was never equal to the Muslim. Shas is an embarrassment
If one were to ask any Israeli which party is the most corrupt or which party will bend any which way to defend its own interests, many will reply Shas. I don't dismiss the fact that there could be anti-religious and anti-Sephardi sentiments involved on occasion, but Shas continues to look the part that is assumed to be theirs. Former leader Aryeh Deri is the quintessential villain of Israeli political corruption, after being the former darling of the political establishment. In addition Raphael Pinhasi, Yair Lev, Ofer Hugi and Yair Peretz have been convicted of offences including fraud and forgery. In addition, current MK Shlomo Benizri is currently on trial for accepting bribes. Over the years, Shas has sat in governments that signed peace treaties and sat in governments which disavowed peace moves. The originally named "Sephardi Keepers of the Torah", has stayed in governments whose fiscal policies were both conservative and liberal. It seems that any position can be justified as long as the important ministerial positions are readily available. Misunderstanding the Sephardim
Recently, both the Reform and Conservative movement held symposia in Israel to discuss why they have made little inroads into the Israeli mainstream. While their leadership and its champions in political parties like Meretz rally the government to receive official status, the laity does not number more than a few thousand people. Both of these movements find the situation perplexing as they assume that because the 'average' Israeli is not religious, they would have a kindred spirit with the non-Orthodox. To their credit, these movements are seeking to understand the reasons behind the Israeli abhorrence or neglect of non-Orthodoxy. Interestingly, both symposia placed the problems with attracting Sephardim high on their respective agendas. The Conservative movement included a panel on the patronizingly titled "Egalitarian Sephardi Communities: Is the revolution upon us?" The Reform movement held a two day conference at the Van Leer Institute titled "Contemporary Reform Judaism - Sociology, Education and Theology." A Sephardi hero dies
Last week, Saadia Marciano, 58, a former member of the Israeli Knesset who got his start in public life as a leader of the "Israeli Black Panthers" movement of poor Sephardi Jews, died in a Jerusalem hospital. Marciano died in the type of poverty that he fought against on behalf of all Sephardi Jews throughout his life. Marciano, who left his native Oujda, Morocco, after anti-Semitic pogroms and riots there in the wake of Israel's establishment in 1948, helped start the Israeli Black Panthers in his early 20s, along with other Sephardi Jews living in Jerusalem's Musrara neighborhood. Although largely forgotten today, the Israeli Black Panthers protested "ignorance from the establishment for the hard social problems", and wanted to fight for a different future. Other founders of the movement included Charlie Bitton, Reuven Abergil and Eli Avichzer. However, it was the face of Marciano that became recognizable after being brutally beaten by the police during a demonstration that was organized without a permit. Israel: Melting Pot or Multicultural society?
The recent results of a poll claimed that the majority of Israelis would not object to their child marrying an Ethiopian and would not hesitate to send their children to a school that has a large Ethiopian student body. This is a very interesting and heartening statistic for Israeli society. Ethiopians are not Sephardim, however, they are part of Israeli society's "others" and show that Israel has come a long way since the rampant discrimination and segregation of the 1950s and 1960s. The next statistic in the poll tells a slightly different story in relation to the integrationist elements of Israeli society. Over half of Israelis stated that they do not have any personal friends of Ethiopian descent. Of course it could be argued that there are not that many Israelis of Ethiopian descent in Israel, but with over 100,000 there should be greater contact between Israelis of Ethiopian descent and non-Ethiopian Israelis. |
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