(Un)Familiar Jewishness in the Work of Jiří Weil

Author(s): Marie Brunová / Language(s): English Issue: 39/2022

Jiří Weil (1900–1959), the Czech writer of Jewish origin, is known primarily for his works of fiction dealing with the experience of the Shoah, both in the form of short stories and his celebrated novels Život s hvězdou (Life with a Star, 1949) and Na střeše je Mendelssohn (Mendelssohn is on the Roof, 1960), as well as the text collage Žalozpěv za 77 297 obětí (Lamentation for 77 297 Victims, 1958). However, the fact that Weil presented the theme of Jewishness also from a different perspective is often overlooked — for example in the novel Harfeník (The Harpist, 1958) and in the unpublished texts ‘Perrotina, mašina chlebozlodějská’ (Perrotine, the Bread-Stealing Machine) and ‘Tiskařská romance’ (A Printer’s Romance), in which he linked the theme of Jewishness to that of the beginnings of the labour movement in the Czech lands in the 19th century. Although Weil’s post-war literary output is characterised by his focus on themes of Jewishness and the Shoah, we also find Jewish figures represented in his pre-war novel writing. Last but not least, it is necessary also to recall his texts of a non-fiction character, in which he dealt with Jewish themes in the course of his employment at the State Jewish Museum. The focal point of this contribution therefore resides in the presentation of Weil’s lesser-known texts, dealing with the theme of Jewishness other than through the prism of the Shoah, and in his uncovering of a complex of Jewish identities in his pre-war novel Moskvahranice (Moscow-Border, 1937).

*** Mój pradziadek...

Author(s): Taras Prochaśko / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1-2/2019

English version in: Bruno Schulz jako filozof i teoretyk literatury. Materiały V Międzynarodowego Festiwalu Brunona Schulza w Drohobyczu, ed. Wiera Meniok, Drohobycz 2014, p. 61-64.

,Avigdor, Beneš, Gitl.‘ Juden in Böhmen und Mähren im Mittelalter. Samuel Steinherz zum Gedenken (1857 Güssing – 1942 Theresienstadt)

Author(s): Monika Halbinger / Language(s): German Issue: 1/2013

Vom 27. bis 29. November 2012 fand im mährischen Brünn (Brno) die internationale wissenschaftliche Konferenz ,Avigdor, Beneš, Gitl.‘ Juden in Böhmen und Mähren im Mittelalter (,Avigdor, Beneš, Gitl.‘ Židé v Èechách a na Moravì ve støedovìku) statt, veranstaltet von der Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Juden in der Èechischen Republik (Spoleènost pro dìjiny židù v Èeské republice), dem Historischen Institut der Akademie der Wissenschaften der Tschechischen Republik (Historický ústav Akademie vìd Èeské republiky) und dem Institut für jüdische Geschichte Österreichs sowie der Samuel-Steinherz-Stiftung. Tagungsort war die mährische Landesbibliothek. Konferenzsprachen waren Tschechisch und Deutsch mit jeweiliger Simultanübersetzung

,Nach Jerusalem!‘ Eine böhmisch-österreichische Stiftungsinitiative für Palästina aus der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts

Author(s): Martina Niedhammer / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2010

Am 18. August 1855 richtete Elise Herz (1788–1868), die älteste Tochter des Prager Großhändlerehepaars Simon (1766–1845) und Babette Lämel (1770/71–1853), ein Schreiben an die Vorstände der Wiener und Prager Israelitischen Kultusgemeinden, in dem sie ihre Absicht erläuterte, eine Stiftung in Palästina ins Leben zu rufen. IhrenWunsch, eine Kinderbewahranstalt in Jerusalem zu errichten, begründete sie mit dem Hinweis auf kindliche Pietät, die sie dem Andenken ihrer Eltern, insbesondere ihres 1845 verstorbenen Vaters, schulde. Ausführlich schildert Elise Herz daher Charakter und Person Simon Lämels, wobei weniger dessen gesellschaftlicher oder gar ökonomischer Erfolg, als vielmehr seine religiöse Überzeugung im Vordergrund steht. Diese sei geprägt gewesen von einer innigen Verbundenheit mit dem Glauben seiner Vorfahren, was sich gleichermaßen in seinem Festhalten an der jüdischen Tradition wie auch in dem Bewusstsein der Zugehörigkeit zu einem ethnisch-religiösen Kollektiv widergespiegelt habe. Beide Ebenen, die alltägliche, auf der sich religiöses Selbstverständnis in Form einzelner Handlungen manifestiert, und die ideelle, die den dazu erforderlichen Deutungsrahmen schafft, dienen der Stifterin dazu, das Leben ihres Vaters in eine scheinbar ungebrochene Traditionskette jüdischer Existenz einzureihen. In ähnlicher Weise verortet sie ihre eigene Person, indem sie den Stiftungsakt als eine Erfüllung des vierten Gebots deutet, was über eine bürgerliche Trauer- und Gedächtniskultur hinaus in die Sphäre religiöser Praktiken verweist. Darüber hinaus begreift sie sich als Teil einer in Zeit und Raum erfahrbaren jüdischen Geschichte, die sie von „Stätten“ sprechen lässt, „die uns durch Religion und Geschichte unseres Volkes stets heilig, ehrwürdig und theuer bleiben werden“. Doch scheint kein mythischer Schauplatz evoziert, sondern ein realer Ort der Gegenwart, Jerusalem in Palästina, ein Teil des osmanischen Herrschaftsgebietes, in dem Elise Herz ihr philanthropisches Unternehmen umsetzen möchte.

,Z Třebíče do Vídnì.‘ Židovská kaligrafie a knižní malba na Moravě v 18. století

Author(s): Falk Wiesemann / Language(s): Czech Issue: Suppl./2011

Der Literaturwissenschaftler Gustav Karpeles berichtete voller Stolz in seiner 1895 erschienenen Studie Heinrich Heine und der Rabbi von Bacharach: „Es wird sicher allgemein interessieren, [...] daß ich selbst‚ das abenteuerliche Buch, das die Hagada heißt‘, aus welchem Harry Heine im väterlichen Hause die berühmten Fragen an seine Eltern gerichtet hat, gesehen und in Händen gehabt habe. Es [...] ist ganz so, wie es Heine schildert.“ Die Rede ist hier zum einen von einer illuminierten hebräischen Handschrift des frühen 18. Jahrhunderts, die für Elieser von Geldern, einen der Urgroßväter Heinrich Heines, angefertigt worden war, der sogenannten ,Von Geldern Haggada‘, zum anderen ist die Rede von der Erzählung Der Rabbi von Bacherach, in der Heinrich Heine jüdische Geschichte und Traditionen mit den aktuellen Fragen jüdischer Existenz verknüpfen wollte.

<<Sefer beer Mosze Mosze>> Sertelsa, syna Isachara, jako przykład dwujęzycznego tekstu do nauki Tory

Author(s): Anna Jakimyszyn / Language(s): Polish Issue: 33/2014

Moshe Sertels was a son of Issachar and Sarah. He was born circa mid-16th century in Prague. He was a teacher and worked as a translator and exegete. Sertels wrote several texts that attracted wide interest. One of them was a work titled Sefer Beer Moshe, a bilingual commentary on the Torah and five megillot. The construction of the text, its clarity and intelligibility, made it an excellent tool for teaching the Torah in cheders (e.g. such usage of this text was noted in the books of the Cracovian brotherhood Talmud Torah). The article presents the figure of the author and his literary oeuvre with particular focus on the Sefer Beer Moshe as a work that served generations of Ashkenazi Jews to enhance their knowledge of the Torah. The author discusses characteristics of the text and underlines several issues in regard to the Yiddish language in the form that was used in Prague at the turn of the 17th century.

0 Years of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation in Poland, 1987-2017

Author(s): Maciej Pawlak / Language(s): English Issue: 15/2017

This article presents the history of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation in Poland from when it was founded 30 years ago. The Foundation was established by Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder, businessman, diplomat and philanthropist. It was the first organization to initiate Jewish educational activities during the period of political changes in Poland. The Foundation’s activities focused mainly on education, both formal and informal. During early ’90’s people in Poland started to discovered their Jewish roots and thanks to the RLSF it was possible to learn and understand Jewish history, religion and culture. The author describes projects organized by the Foundation as well as its development and significance in the rebirth of Jewish life in Poland. Among the Foundation’s most important projects are the Lauder-Morasha School Complex in Warsaw, the summer educational camps for families and youths, a genealogical project, and the Lauder e-School. The Foundation has also made a huge contribution and provided support to many organizations, institutions and Jewish Communities throughout Poland.

1848-49 a magyar zsidóság életében

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian

The outstanding Hungarian humanist, Jenő Zsoldos has worked as the director of the Jewish Secondary School for Girls in Budapest. Three years after the Holocaust he has edited the publication “1848-49 in the Life of the Hungarian Jews” on the occasion of the Centenary of the Hungarian revolution 1948-1949. This revised edition is published on the occasion of the 150years anniversary of the revolution

19. Yüzyıl Alman-Yahudi Oryantalizminde İslâm Algısı

Author(s): Necmettin Salih Ekiz / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 45/2022

In this study, the perception of Islam by 19th century German-Jewish orientalists is discussed. The study consists of four titles, excluding the introduction and conclusion. Firstly, general information about German orientalism is given, its relationship with imperialism and colonial activities is questioned, and attention is drawn to its connection with other orientalist traditions such as British and French. According to the researchers, the relationship of German orientalists with colonial activities was not as intense as the members of other orientalist traditions, so political factors remained in the background in their research, and they were able to adopt a more objective point of view. This was explained by Germany's relatively late participation in colonial activities. Therefore, it is important to determine the religious and socio-cultural factors in their perception of Islam. The beginning of German orientalism's involvement in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies dates to the first half of the 19th century. This was mostly carried out by the hand of German-Jewish orientalists. Thanks to them, there was a boom in orientalist Islamic studies, and this situation continued until the Second World War. In other words, German-Jewish orientalists had a vital importance for both German and Western orientalism. In the second section, the religious and socio-cultural positions of German-Jewish orientalists in the 19th century were examined, and the factors behind their participation in Islamic studies were tried to be determined.

19. Yüzyıl Başlarında Kudüs, Abdullah Çakmak

Author(s): Orçun Nalezen / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 10/2021

Review of: Abdullah Çakmak, “19. Yüzyıl Başlarında Kudüs”, İLEM Yayınları, İstanbul, 2020. xxii+240, ISBN: 978-625-7800-05-1

1941 M. KOVO 19 D. LAF ATSIŠAUKIMAS: PROVOKACIJA, FALSIFIKATAS AR TIKRAS DOKUMENTAS?

Author(s): Stanislovas Stasiulis / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 38/2016

This article concerns the leaflet of the Lithuanian Activist Front, dated 19 March 1941. The leaflet, titled Dear enslaved brothers! has two different versions. One version has a sentence which calls that “The traitor will be pardoned only provided he proves beyond doubt that he has killed one Jew at least”. Another version of this document does not have the same sentence, but holds a remark that it is a multiplied copy of the document. Archival resources show that the version of this leaflet with the already mentioned sentence was found in the house of anti-Soviet activist Osvaldas Žadvydas during rummaging. The interrogations of the paticipants of the anti-Soviet underground movement in Lithuania show that the leaflet came from Berlin to Lithuania on 23 March 1941. This leaflet was multiplied and circulated in various places of Lithuania. The interrogation of one of the major LAF signalmen Mykolas Naujokaitis underlines that all documentation and leaflets were sent from Berlin to Lithuania by an active Voldemarist and Head of the LAF Commission of Relations with Lithuania Stasys Puodžius. This article underlines that the authorship of the leaflet with the mentioned sentence belongs to the leadership of the LAF Berlin branch and the fraction of Voldemarists.

1952–1953 metų antisemitinė kampanija Sovietų Socialistinių Respublikų Sąjungoje

Author(s): Kastytis Antanaitis / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 65/2016

The anti-Semitism of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin became, at the beginning of the Cold War, an anti-Semitic paranoia and took on the most radical form during the campaign against Western influence on Soviet society. Soon after the destruction of the Jewish Antifascist Committee, the Doctors’ Plot campaign was launched at the end of 1952; it soon became a perfect basis for blaming all Jews as disloyal to the Soviet regime. In the republics of the USSR the local Communist leaders supported the anti-Semitic campaign in Moscow with allegations about Jewish medical crimes at the local level.Despite much circumstantial evidence and many testimonies there still is no strong basis for the conclusion that the anti-Semitic campaign of 1952-1953 would soon turn into a large-scale repression campaign or wholesale genocide of the Jewish population in the USSR, but the clear anti-Jewish policy and the Soviet practice of the mass repression of nations leaves little doubt that the Soviet society was mentally prepared for the deportation of Jews to Siberia. The Soviet regime practiced constant archive purge campaigns, and documents about politically sensitive issues or regime crime were destroyed on a regular basis. Despite all regime efforts, some traces of anti-Semitic campaign preparation, control, and coordination may be found not in the central state institutions of the USSR but in the Communist Party archives of the republics. At the republican level Communist party Central Committees some top secret documents of the anti-Semitic campaign of 1953 were preserved in specific archive units, the so-called Osobaja Papka.In the USSR the reports of local party leaders to Moscow always described never-existing enthusiastic popular support for Soviet policies; thus the true scale of anti-Semitism in society can’t be determined on the basis of such sources. But they demonstrate that local Soviet institutions supported the spread of anti-Semitism during the infamous Doctors’ Plot campaign of 1953. They also permit the conclusion that any anti-Semitic campaign would not be limited to negative propaganda and at least part of Soviet society was ready to accept some repression of Jews.Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953 put an early end to the anti-Semitic campaign. Soon Stalin’s political heirs quashed charges against the doctors and even punished a few distinguished instigators of the campaign, but there was no official and public condemnation of that anti-Semitic campaign. Thereupon anti-Semitism became less aggressive but still remained very strong in the USSR.

1967 (kornovella)

Author(s): János Kőbányai / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2011

„Néha furcsa hangulatban / Az utcát járom egymagamban, / Nincsen semmihez se kedvem, / De érzem azt, hogy nincs ez rendben így” – énekel benne, már tôle függetlenedve a furcsa, szomorkás, de ugyanakkor vigasztalóan elringató dalocska, amit aznapi dúdolgatásra munkába indulás elôtt a rádióból csípett fel s a délelôtti tánczenei koktélban is megismételtek. Az Adócsôgyár mûszakirajz-szerkesztôirodájában többszöri tiltás, fômérnöki dörgedelmek, a tiszta, világos munkahelyrôl eltávolítás kilátásba helyezése ellenére is, lázadó makacssággal megszólal minden szerdán délelôtt tíz negyvenötkor Komjáthy György mûsora a bejárati ajtó szárnyai felett elhelyezett hangszóróból, amely a gyár összes dolgozóját érintô közleményeket teszi közhírré, vagy az olyan országos érdeklôdésre számot tartó eseményeket, mint a Szovjetunió Kommunista Pártja vagy a Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt kongresszusainak záró nyilatkozatai, avagy, alig egy hónapja – nem minden meghökkentô hatás nélkül, hiszen olyan távol történt, s miért éppen ezt, hiszen annyi dúl belôle – a késôbb hatnaposnak nevezett háború elsô napjainak hadijelentéseit. A tizenöt rajzasztal jó részén fiatal, technikumból frissen kikerült szerkesztôk dolgoznak, többségükben fiúk, akik – mintegy az iskolai és a munkahelyi fegyelem közötti mezsgye lépésrôl lépésre történô kiszélesítéseként – óvatosan nyakba ereszkedô hajat s szintén lefelé merészkedô-szélesedô barkót viselnek, a mûsor szignáljának fölhangzásakor összeesküvô mosollyal a bajszuk alatt, szemükkel a hasonló korú lányokat keresve, a lemezlovas kötelezô szószát követô isteni muzsika ritmusait megelôlegezendô, kezdik jobbra-balra dobálni a fejüket.

67 A 90 Numaralı H. 1077 – 1080 (M. 1666 - 1670) Tarihli Kırım Kadıasker Defterine (Şer`iyye Siciline) Göre Yahudilerin Sosyo – Kültürel Hayatı

Author(s): Mehmet Caner Çavuş / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 1/2019

The Kadıasker Notebooks, also known as Şer`iyye records, are one of the most important sources of history research. Between 1666 and 1670, we examined the Crimean kadiasker book with the number 67 A 90 and made evaluations about the cases by examining the cases of the Jews’s routine lives in the Crimean region. These cases led us to understand and evaluate the social structure of the Jewish community living in Crimea in social, economic, administrative and legal fields. We have reviewed all kinds of details, from the names of the places where the Jews live, from the professions they work to, from their own cases to the cases of Muslims. We tried to put all aspects of the relationship of the İslamic law with the Jews.

70 Years After the Declaration of Independence – Is There a Coherent Immigration Policy in Israel?

Author(s): Rami Goldstein / Language(s): English Issue: 17/2019

This article examines the immigration policy in Israel 70 years after the nation’s declaration of independence. Israel was established in an attempt to create a shelter for Jews in the Diaspora. Therefore, the policy of Israel towards immigrants has been sometimes criticized as being racist, discriminatory, or undemocratic. But is there a coherent immigration policy in Israel? In fact, aside from the Law of Return of 1950, which refers exclusively to Jewish immigrants, Israel still lacks a proper legal framework that can regulate foreign immigration. In many cases, immigration policy in Israel seems to be unclear and incoherent. With today’s reality of the global migration crisis, this legal vacuum represents a dangerous gap that prevents the State of Israel from effectively coping with the problem with respect to international law and humane standards. This paper will critically review the major features of current immigration policies, such as the policy of “direct absorption,” the expulsion of African immigrants, and the new procedures of the asylum seekers’ process in Israel.

78 éves korában elhunyt Ezra Fleischer, a héber költészet tudósa

Author(s): Ari L. Goldman / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2006

Another sorrowful occasion of this issue is the untimely death of Ezra Fleisher of Temesvár a paternal friend of the editor, a great personality of Jewish learning and Cionist spirituality. The writings of Ariel Hirschfeld, János Kőbányai, Ari L. Goldman and Joshua Grant are taking a farewell to him.

A "makacsság" győzelme

Author(s): János Kőbányai / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

A 19. századi Románia jiddis sajtójának cionizmusképe

Author(s): Augusta Costiuc Radosav / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2015

A BAR KOCHBA-FELKELÉS - A KUTATÁS FÉL-ÉVSZÁZADÁNAK EREDMÉNYEI ÉS KIHÍVÁSAI

Author(s): Tibor Grüll / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2008

According to a commonplace in scholarly literature it is unachievable to write the history of the Bar Kochba revolt. This paper does not attempt the impossible, it merely attempts to take into account the way in which our evidences, that came to light in the last half-century, repaint the traditional picture of the insurrection. The first five chapters discuss the antecedents of the revolt, i.e., the short and long-term consequences of the churban; the uprising under Trajan (the so-called “war of Quietus”); the administrative, economic and military situation of Judaea from 70 to 132 C.E., mainly on the basis of the Babatha-archive. The immediate cause of the Bar Kochba revolt is still debated, as both the foundation of Colonia Aelia Capitolina (ch. 5), and the ban on circumcision, introduced by Hadrian’s legislation (ch. 6), can be taken into account. It is not clear, however, whether these oppressive measures were taken before or after 132; in other words, whether they were causes or consequences of the war. The following chapter is dedicated to Bar Kochba’s messianic pretensions, which, among other things, can be verified with the strong halachic orientation of the papyri produced by the administration of the revolt (ch. 8). Ch. 9 examines the character and magnitude of the Roman military participation in the Bar Kochba revolt, as these are illuminated by the extant epigraphic material. The last chapter deals with the Jewish guerilla tactics and bases: the rebels’ hiding complexes that from the 1990’s have been explored in the territory of Judaea.

A barcelonai izraelita közösség

Author(s): Martine Berthelot Puig-Moreno / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/1992