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Saturday, September 24, 2011

Zionism – a perspective of a religious "peacenik" -By Chief Rabbi David Rosen


                Zionism – a perspective of a religious "peacenik"
                                    Rabbi David Rosen

While the political movement known as Zionism was produced by eighteenth century rationalism and nineteenth century nationalism; without the unique historical and spiritual bond of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, those secular forces alone could never have brought about the remarkable success that this political movement eventually secured. Moreover even when the British offered the Zionist movement an alternative location in which the Jewish people could take its destiny into its own hands; this was overwhelmingly rejected by secular Zionists as well.

Zionism has always meant the return of the Jewish people to establish independent Jewish life in its ancestral homeland. However precisely the combination of the aforementioned secular forces together with the historical bonds of a religious heritage, meant that there were and are many "zionisms", or in other words different ways of understanding the character and purpose of this enterprise.

Those that call themselves "religious Zionists" see the success of the Zionist enterprise as both a manifestation of Divine fidelity to the promise of return (see Leviticus 26 v.44 & 45) and as facilitating the ability to live a full religious national life in accordance with Jewish teaching (e.g. Leviticus 20 v.22-26; see Babylonian     Talmud, tractate Ketubot, folio 111)  However religious Zionists are also divided in their interpretation of the meaning of the establishment of the State of Israel. There are those who see it in messianic terms as fulfillment of Divine prophecy and as the first stage in the advent of messianic restoration and universal peace; while other religious Zionists have adopted a more pragmatic approach and see the state simply in its facilitatory role as above  mentioned. 

However not only religious Zionists, but also secular Zionists (both of the nationalist and socialist variety) saw the establishment of the State of Israel in moral terms, guaranteeing franchise, dignity, equality before the law, education and social services to all its citizens. This spirit and vision are evidenced in Israel's Declaration of Independence which also promises freedom of worship to all the religious communities of the Land. Moreover already in its early decades Israel saw itself as having responsibility to share and offer its technological achievements to the developing world.

From a Jewish religious perspective, this ethical dimension is critical to the meaning and success of Zionism. Not only does the Torah declares that the Jewish people is ideally to dwell in the Land in order to live as a nation in accordance with the revealed Divine tenets and commandments; but that failure to do undermines the ability of the People to live in the Land and leads to exile (Leviticus loc.cit. ) Moreover this condition is overwhelmingly portrayed both in the Torah and in the Prophets in terms of the values of justice and righteousness and the social ethical precepts especially towards the vulnerable and the "other".

The Zionist movement sought from the beginning to achieve a modus vivendi both with the local Arab communities and with the Arab world. In 1919 the preeminent Arab leader, the Emir Faisal, son of the Sherif of Mecca, co-signed a document with the president of the World Zionist Organization Dr. Chaim Weizman (later to become the first president of the State of Israel) welcoming the Zionist enterprise and expressing the hope that Jews and Arabs would work together to bring about a flourishing of the region for the benefit of all. The unfolding political developments meant that that dream was lost and conflict ensued with both Arab nationalism and nascent Palestinian nationalism. This conflict has caused much bloodshed, suffering, displacement and enmity. This should be a source of much distress to us who are proud to be called Jews and Zionists, for the vision of Torah and the vision of Zionism is one in which not only Jews but all people live in peace and dignity.

Moreover the conflict has inevitably been very costly for Israeli society and not only materially. Generally, I believe that Israel can be proud of the fact that despite the conflict, it has guaranteed equality of franchise and to a very large degree equality before the law for all its citizens. However it would be disingenuous to deny that the conflict does impinge on the freedoms and opportunities of Israel's Arab citizens.

Moreover while Israel assumed control of Gaza and areas of Judea and Samaria that constitute the West Bank as a result of a successful war of self defense in 1967, the price of controlling the lives of millions of Palestinians under occupation has inevitably had a deleterious affect on the moral fibre and institutions of Israeli life. That is why in my opinion a peaceful resolution of the conflict and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel is essential not only for Israel's security, for the right of Palestinian national self determination; but also for the health of Judaism, Zionism and Israel's moral character.

For the same reasons I co-founded the organization Rabbis for Human Rights, not only because I believe that  Jews who are true to their religio-ethical heritage are obliged to concern themselves with the human rights of others, especially those who confront the consequences of a conflict of which we are a part; but also because the concept of human rights is ultimately indivisible. If we disregard them in one place, that disregard will come back to haunt us in another. This danger is patently obvious today to all who are not willfully blind.

There is arguably no parallel in human history to the success of Zionism in restoring the Jewish people to independent life in its ancestral homeland; just as there is no parallel to the degree of fidelity that an exiled people maintained in relation to its land for two millennia. However in order to ensure the future success of Zionism we have to find a way out of the present political stalemate, so that the land which three Faiths call holy, may be a place of flourishing for us all.



Friday, March 4, 2011

Muslims Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust -By Rebecca Schischa


Courtesy : Meir Stone

http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/134920/#ixzz1FRoDfNLI



Of all the stories of Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews during the Shoah, there’s one story that rarely gets told: the Muslims who risked their lives to save Jews.

Norman H. Gershman’s photographic exhibition “Besa,” currently showing at the Soho Photo Gallery, redresses this imbalance, focusing exclusively on the unsung Albanian Muslim heroes who hid their Jewish neighbours from the Nazis, as well as thousands of other Jews fleeing across Europe, often at great risk to their lives.

The portraits, which have been published in a book with the same title, were painstakingly taken by Gershman over a seven-year period, in which he tracked down these ordinary Albanian and Kosovar Muslims whose families closely observed the principle of “Besa” to save Jewish lives.

Besa, which literally means “to keep the promise,” is a code of honor deeply embedded in Albanian Muslim culture. Besa demands that you take responsibility for the lives of others in difficult times. In some ways, it parallels the biblical commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and through the personal statements that accompany the portraits, we learn just how powerfully this principle guided the actions of Gershman’s subjects:

“The years were fearful, but friendship overcame all fear,” one said. “My father said that the Germans would have to kill his family before he would have them kill our Jewish guests.”

“Our motivations were not religious,” said another. “We respected our Jewish friends. They were honorable citizens just like us. Whatever we could do for them in those times, we did.”

Gershman’s black-and-white portraits seem to capture the strongly humanistic streak that characterizes his subjects. Indeed, the American photographer states that portrait photography “is my way of understanding and offering to others my innate belief in the goodness and the oneness of humanity.”

The subjects are sometimes the ‘heroes’ themselves, others are the children of heroes no longer alive. Some pose with their grandchildren.

Gershman’s deeply personal portraits hone in on his subjects’ faces; we see old women and men with lined, wrinkled faces, stubbly chins, twinkling eyes and wholesome grins. One man stares at the camera with a cigarette in his mouth. In one image, we see a pair of hands holding out an old photo of a Jewish mother and daughter who were presumably saved.

Nearly every person poses with an artifact of some kind; a photo showing parents no longer alive or a photo of the Jewish families they saved, a Koran, an Albanian flag, an apple. Some wear medals to recall their time fighting in the partisan army.

Indeed, it is often the artifacts that link us back directly to the absent Jews at the heart of these stories. In one photo, two brothers stand proudly holding their hands to their hearts in perfect symmetry, while an ancient sewing machine stands on a table in the foreground. We learn that this sewing machine was one of a number of objects that a Jewish tailor they were hiding left behind after the family helped him escape from Albania.
In another, a man stands in front of a well-worn table made for his family by a Jewish carpenter they ended up saving.

There is also a portrait of King Leka I of Albania, whose father, King Zog, issued passports to save 400 Jews from Vienna.

In all, Gershman’s photographs comprise a moving exhibit which gives insight into a forgotten past.


Friday, February 18, 2011

Book : His Majesty's Enemies : Great Britain's War Against Holocaust Victims and Survivors

 

http://www.amazon.com/His-Majestys-Enemies-Holocaust-Survivors/dp/0275968162

His Majesty's Enemies: Great Britain's War Against Holocaust Victims and Survivors [Hardcover]

Itamar Levin
(Author), Natasha Dornberg (Editor), Judith Yalon-Fortus (Editor) 
 
Price: $91.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Itamar Levin's new book provides convincing evidence that similar conflicts produced a distinctly unfriendly British response toward postwar Jewish efforts to recover lost or confiscated property....Levin has an important story to tell, and he tells it with a readable, if sometimes exaggerated, passion.”–German Studies Review

“...a solid piece of scholarship...Students of Britain in the Second World War, the Holocaust, and Allied policy during the Nazi era, would benefit from reading this book...”–Albion Fall 2002

“...the first book to describe a relatively unknown injustice committed by the British government against the Jewish people during the holocaust era.”–Bulletin of Arnol & Leona Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research

Book Description

Examines British policy toward Jews during the Holocaust and the ongoing struggle to retrieve the victims' property.


Product Description

Levin, the journalist who uncovered the affair, tells the unbelievable story of looting of the property of Holocaust victims by Britain--the country that prevented the saving of thousands of victims--and the decades-long struggle to right the wrong.


About the Author

ITAMAR LEVIN is Deputy Editor in Chief of Globes-Israel's Business Newspaper.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Shams of Great Britain, February 16, 2001
 
This review is from:  

His Majesty's Enemies: Great Britain's War Against Holocaust Victims and Survivors (Hardcover)
On the eve of the Holocaust, fearing that Europe was about to be engulfed in flames, thousands of Jews deposited their money in British banks. After the war, those who survived the death camps and the ghettos were to learn that the faith they had put in British moral code was in vain. "You are enemy citizens, therefore your property has been confiscated and will be used to compensate British citizens for their damaged and losses", the survivors were told, to their utter dismay. Any and all attempts made to alter this policy and require Great Britain to follow just and moral guidelines, have been futile. 


That was the last and most cynical stage of the British anti-Jewish policy before World War II and afterwords. The Land of Israel, rogue of the Jewish people, had its gates locked in the face of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution and the survivors of genocide. When the Holocaust was at its height, Great Britain leaned back with arms crossed, refused to bomb Auschwitz and refrained from granting refuge to even a few hundred Jewish children whose lived could have been saved.


Britain's role in the Holocaust victims' property affair, one of the most shameful to be revealed since the Swiss banks affair, was buried for decade under piles of paperwork and documents. I had the privilege of uncovering the affair, and this revelation finally forced the British government to change - albeit partially and tentatively - policies it had clung for over 50 years. But this vindication is as yet incomplete and many heirs still seek justice. My book, therefore, documents the past and calls for change in the present.

NATASHA DORNBERG is a high tech consultant.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

ADL has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the coarsening of the political debate


http://support.adl.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=32507.0&dlv_id=45442

Recommended Excerpt from the mail of Anti Defamation League (ADL)

QUOTE

In recent years, ADL has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the coarsening of the political debate and how it hampers bipartisan cooperation and policy progress.  ADL has not hesitated to repudiate leaders across the political spectrum — those who have used harsh, inflammatory rhetoric, those who have demonized immigrants, those who have engaged in divisive appeals to voters in campaigns and those who have trivialized the Holocaust by inappropriately invoking  Nazi images and references. 

UNQUOTE


Full Text of ADL Mail

Dear friend





As we reflect on the shootings in Arizona that resulted in the tragic loss of six lives and the wounding of 14 others, including Representative Gabrielle Giffords, we have become all too aware that words have consequences.  Without casting blame, we now have an opportunity to help challenge the too-frequent use of inflammatory and inciting language in our nation's political and public discourse.

In recent years, ADL has repeatedly sounded the alarm about the coarsening of the political debate and how it hampers bipartisan cooperation and policy progress.  ADL has not hesitated to repudiate leaders across the political spectrum — those who have used harsh, inflammatory rhetoric, those who have demonized immigrants, those who have engaged in divisive appeals to voters in campaigns and those who have trivialized the Holocaust by inappropriately invoking  Nazi images and references.

As one part of our overall effort, ADL has launched a campaign to make this the moment when our country dramatically shifts the tenor of our national discourse—an appeal for leaders to work together to change the bitter climate of political and policy debates.  Our call is not directed at Republicans or Democrats.  It is a call for all America’s leaders to consider the impact of their words and to reject appeals that exploit voters’ fears, frustrations and prejudices. 

Reach out to your elected officials and urge them to work together with Members of Congress on both sides of the political aisle to restore a level of respect and civility to public life that will reflect the best of America. Send a letter to your senators and representatives and tell them to rededicate themselves to engaging in reasoned and thoughtful debate— without anger and vitriol —on the very difficult issues now confronting our nation.

END