Holocaust 
Mon Jul 19, 2010 at 16:14:36 PM EDT
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Suzanne Reisman is a trusty jspot contributor and a superhero JFSJ grant writer. Not only does she help keep JFSJ afloat, she does cool stuff outside of work, like win awesome writing contests. Suzanne is a 2010 Blogher Voice of the Year. Blogher "is the largest community of women who blog: 20+ million unique visitors per month." Check out Suzanne's piece on her blog, which focuses on an anecdote about her quest to learn about her family's pre-Holocaust history.
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Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 16:10:34 PM EDT
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Earlier this week I saw a production of American Document, a collaboration between the Martha Graham Dance Company, and the SITI Theatre Company.Blending movement and narrative, the show explored questions of what it means to be an American.
Midway through the performance, one of the characters asserts that one element of American identity is a shared set of ‘American values’—which got me thinking: Is there really a set of values that all Americans have in common?
This is something we’ve been talking a lot about at the office these days, especially in light of recent public repartee between JFSJ and Glenn Beck. (If you haven’t been following, check our website for full details, and to join our campaign for the common good.) I’m all for healthy debate, for discussions that may lead me to new perspectives. Ultimately, there are many ways for America to live out and express the values on which we were founded: justice, freedom, equality, and consanguinity (yes, that is actually a word used in the Declaration of Independence, expressing our founders’ belief in the interconnectedness of human beings.)
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Fri Oct 09, 2009 at 10:33:34 AM EDT
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A controversy has erupted recently about whether Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is actually a Jew. Pundits and professors alike are divided over whether his original last name, which his family changed when he was 4, is exclusively Jewish. I attended Camp Havanagila, a Zionist summer camp in the Catskill Mountains, when I was young—and so, it seems did MA. For decades ago, as a young camper, I happened to come across his diary when I was cleaning up under my bunk bed. I didn't know who MA was then, but kept it because it offered such a novel perspective. Now, I am presenting it to the public—to settle the matter of his background once and for all.
The following excerpts from are Ahmadinejad's childhood years.The first entry was written when Ahmadinejad was 6, two years after the family converted.
March 1,1962
Dear diary,
I had a playdate with Ali and asked him what he got for Hanukkah and he had no idea what I was talking about. At first I thought it was that his parents were mean and didn't give him any presents. But then I realized he actually didn't even know the holiday existed. He's so stupid. Who doesn't know what Hanukkah is?
March 3, 1962
Dear diary,
I was telling my mom I don't want anymore playdates with Ali because he's too stupid for me to associate with. I thought my mom would agree since she and my dad put such a premium on education and intelligence. But then my mom told me that actually most people don't know about Hanukkah because most people don't celebrate it. She told me to keep it a secret that we do. I asked her why and she said she'd tell me later. I wonder what it could be. I'm very curious, skeptical and analytical by nature, so it's driving me meshuggah.
March 7, 1962
Dear diary,
My mom told me that a few years ago my parents did this thing called conversion where they stopped being Jewish, kind of and started being Muslim, kind of. But I'm not supposed to tell anyone because I could get the family in trouble. It's a family secret, so that's why I'm only telling you, dear diary. Other family secrets are Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Passover, Purim and the fact that we eat hamantashen which I thought was a national delicacy since the whole Purim thing takes place in Persia, which is, of course, present-day Iran anyway.
March 20, 1962
Dear diary,
I just found out that we even changed our name to cover up being Jewish. It used to be Saborjhian which means cloth-weavers, a traditionally non Muslim profession considered religiously impure. Now our name is Ahmadinejad which means prayer mat seller. I also learned my name wasn't always Mahmoud. It was originally Moishe.
April 1, 1962
Dear diary,
today I offered my friend Mohammed some whitefish salad because his lamb sandwich looked really good and I was hoping he would trade half with me. But he didn't want to because he said he'd never heard of white fish and it looked weird. Who doesn't know what white fish is? I thought to myself this guy is almost as dumb as Ali. But then I went home and my mom told me that white fish is a secret food, along with borscht, blintzes and danishes. I feel bad for the people who didn't start out Jewish. They don't ever get to eat a danish and those are good.
April 2, 1962
Dear diary,
I wish my mom wasn't such a bargain hunter. She refuses to buy me a soccer ball at the local bazaar because she says she can find it cheaper. And she says if she can't find it cheaper, I need to wait for it go on sale. Oy. So annoying. I'm already the worst soccer player and my asthma doesn't help so I need all the extra practice I can get.
April 20, 1962
Dear diary,
My mom got me a soccer ball and it's pink! And has a barbie on it! And it's all banged up. Oy, how embarassing!
April 23, 1962
Dear diary,
Happy Passover. My aunt Frieda is soooooo annoying. First of all, she makes me eat her gefilte fish, which stinks. And she makes me down the jelly which makes me gag and wheaze. And she won't shut up about the holocaust. She spent the whole seder talking about it. Forget the slaves in Egypt, Frieda just cares about the Jews in Europe. It's like enough already. She keeps saying, Never again. She really needs to learn how to live in the moment. But Frieda does make excellent charoses I'll give her that much.
April 24, 1962
Dear diary,
today I told my parents aunt Frieda shouldn't come over anymore because all she talks about is that whole depressing holocaust thing and it's depressing and old fashioned. My parents got all angry and sensitive and said the holocaust was very important and very tragic and that I needed to take it seriously. But the holocaust was, like, so twenty five years ago. Come on people. Get over it.
The following excerpts are from Ahmadinejad's teenage years
December 2, 1969
Dear diary,
My parents are trying to force me to go to this Jewish summer camp. I really don't want to go.
July 3, 1969
Dear diary,
This camp is so terrible. First of all it is co-ed which was weird and uncomfortable. All the kids had long hair. And playing the guitar is like a sharia/ talmudic law, for crying out loud. All the kids do all day is talk about revolution and sing The Times They are a Changing and Blowing in the Wind. My friend Hasaan goes to a regular camp that regular Iranians go to and there are no girls or hippies or talk of politics or guitars. They spend most of the time playing soccer and camping and hiking.
July 15, 1969
Dear diary,
Camp still sucks. And you won't believe this! Remember that Barbie soccer ball? Well my cousin Jessica who lives in Great Neck is also at camp, which she loves. Today she asked me how I liked the soccer ball. Turns out it was a hand-me-down from Jessica. How embarrassing.
August 10, 1973
Dear diary,
I am writing to you from a cruise on the Caspian sea with my parents, my siblings, aunt Frieda, Uncle Saul, and my cousins Sheldon and Rivkah. Once again, my aunt Frieda will not stop talking about the Holocaust. The whole family gets in on it. I thought I was going to throw up. The unlimited buffet didn't help either.
August 17, 1973
Dear diary,
I'm back from the cruise. I think the whole family gained 15 pounds each. I didn't like the cruise at all. I was sea sick the whole time and the moisture is bad for my asthma. Plus I didn't enjoy the entertainment, which was a bunch of self deprecating comedians. My family loved them, but I hated them. I really can't relate to my family at all. It's gets worse and worse as I get older.
April 19, 1974
Dear diary,
Today at the Bazaar I stumbled across this book called The Forced War by American David Hoggan. It was published in Germany but thanks to my familiarity with Yiddish, I was able to get the gist of it. It questions the atrocities allegedly committed against the Jews. Maybe I'll give it to Aunt Frieda.
April 22 1974
Dear diary,
Happy Passover. Not! I hate this holiday even more than I used to. I presented Aunt Frieda with The Forced War and the whole family went messhuga. Frieda called Hoggan and anti-semite putz. The whole family got in on it and when I tried to defend Hogan's argument they told me to "sha, you vantz!" They are so closed minded.
July 13, 1974
Dear diary,
Here I am back at camp as a counselor. I hate it here but my parents made me go so I could learn the value of a rial. I have a brilliant idea. I've been trying to get fired so I can go home so I've been speaking truth to power and telling my campers that the Holocaust never happened. Each night instead of singing them to sleep with Joani Mitchel songs or reading them Shalom Aleichem stories, I read them a chapter from one of the my several Holocaust denial books. I have quite an extensive collection now, from Hoggan to David Irving to Pat Buchanan.
July 15, 1974
Dear diary,
I think my plan is working. I gotta run to a meeting with the director of the camp and I'm pretty sure I'm getting fired. Yes! I'm kind of sad because I won't be able to spread the truth about the myth of the holocaust. But one day, if I'm ever president, which I would love to be, I will use my voice and power to show people the truth about the holocaust. Maybe I could even host a conference denying the Holocaust ever happened. That would be so great. OK. Gotta run... more later. I better hide you, diary. I'll put you under the bed.
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Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 14:37:15 PM EDT
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“The Holocaust is a uniquely Jewish event.” So sayeth Assemblyman Dov Hikind, representative of Brooklyn.
You might not be aware that Nazi Germany, in addition to murdering six million Jews, also managed to snuff out the lives of some five million other undesirable groups: gays, Roma (gypsies), and Jehovah’s Witnesses just to name a few. If you weren’t aware of that, it’s probably due in large part to the efforts of people like Dov Hikind.
The occasion for Hikind’s remarks is a plan that would honor gays and other non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution at Brooklyn’s Holocaust Memorial Park. You’ve probably seen a memorial like the one in Brooklyn. They exist all over the country, virtually anywhere a sizable population of Jews reside. It hardly matters that the Holocaust didn’t happen here. Hikind and others in the Jewish community have made it a communal mission for several decades now to commemorate the deaths of 6 million Jews at the hands of Hitler’s minions.
Good for them. I’m a fan of remembering the Holocaust. I think it’s a significant part of our history, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, and we have much to learn from it. As with all shameful moments in human history, it can be tempting to turn away from it, bury it, pretend it could never happen again. It is critically important that we not bury it, not forget it, if only because it certainly can happen again.
During World War II we marched Japanese-Americans into internment camps. After 9/11 we didn’t have to march Arab-Americans and other Muslim citizens into camps. But we did persecute them in a similar manner. In a moment of fear, we repeated our historic mistakes.
To avoid this, we study history. That is why it is there, recorded for posterity. That is how we learn.
That is why Hikind is an unlearned fool.
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Fri May 01, 2009 at 17:43:13 PM EDT
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You are cordially invited to another Book Talk of the Tamiment Library / Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. WHAT: Professor Hasia Diner discusses her just-published book, "We Remember with Reverence and Love: American Jews and the Myth of Silence after the Holocaust, 1945-1962" [April 2008, New York University Press] WHEN May 4th, 2009 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. WHERE NYU Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, 10th floor MORE INFO Michael Nash < michael.nash@nyu.edu > It has become an accepted truth: after World War II, American Jews chose to be silent about the mass murder of millions of their European brothers and sisters at the hands of the Nazis. Whether motivated by fear, shame, or the desire to assimilate, the Jewish community in the United States simply did not memorialize the Holocaust until the Eichmann trial and the 1967 Arab-Israeli War made it socially acceptable for them to do so. Hasia R. Diner's new book shows this assumption of silence to be categorically false. Uncovering a rich and incredibly varied trove of remembrances—in song, literature, liturgy, public display, political activism, and hundreds of other forms—We Remember with Reverence and Love shows that publicly memorializing those who died in the Holocaust arose from a deep and powerful element of Jewish life in postwar America. Not only does she marshal enough evidence to dismantle the idea of American Jewish "forgetfulness," she brings to life the moving and manifold ways that this widely diverse group paid tribute to the tragedy. Note: Prof. Diner made use of diverse resources at Tamiment / Wagner, including the archival collections of the Jewish Labor Committee, and related collections of Julius Bernstein, Edward Goldstein, Isaiah Minkoff and Jacob Pat.* Her work revealed a wonderfully rich and incredibly varied trove of remembrances — in song, literature, liturgy, public display, and hundreds of other forms — that show that publicly memorializing those who died in the Holocaust was a deep and powerful element of Jewish life in postwar America. Not only does she marshal enough evidence to utterly destroy the idea of American Jewish "forgetfulness," she brings to life the moving and manifold ways that this widely diverse group paid tribute to the tragedy. Diner also offers a compelling new perspective on the 1960s and its potent legacy, by revealing how our typical understanding of the postwar years emerged from the cauldron of cultural divisions and campus battles a generation later. The student activists and "new Jews" of the 1960s who, in rebelling against the American Jewish world they had grown up in"a world of remarkable affluence and broadening cultural possibilities"created a flawed portrait of what their parents had, or rather, had not, done in the postwar years. This distorted legacy has been transformed by two generations of scholars, writers, rabbis, and Jewish community leaders into a taken-for-granted truth. * Jewish Labor Committee Records, Part 1: 1934-1947 http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/jlc_h.html Jewish Labor Committee Records, Part 2: 1947-1956 http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/jlc_h2.html Jewish Labor Committee, Chicago Records http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/jlc_chicago.html Julius Bernstein Papers http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/bernstein.html Edward S. Goldstein: Jewish Labor Committee Research Files http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/goldstein.html Isaiah Minkoff Papers http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/minkoff.html Jacob Pat Papers http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/pat.html {see also: Baruch Charney Vladeck Papers http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/vladeck.html }
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Wed Aug 06, 2008 at 20:43:24 PM EDT
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( - promoted by Rabbi Jill Jacobs)
Every year, as Tisha B'Av approaches, I think to myself, what's to cry about? The Jewish blog-world is filled with posts on what to cry about, how to make Tisha B'Av relevant to today, how to connect to the day, or to the litany of Jewish tragedies, or to a personal tragedy, as yet unmourned, or perhaps, unnoticed. Don't take me for heartless, but it can be difficult to muster up real emotions for the dead of 2,000 years ago, or 600 years ago, or sometimes, even the dead of 60 years ago. I'm not alone in this, I know.
The Rambam writes in the Mishneh Torah (Laws of Fasting 5:3) that five events happened on the ninth day of Av: the sin of the Spies (about which we read in this week's parsha), the destruction of the First Temple and the Second Temple, the capture of Betar and the killing of the proto-messianic Bar Kochba and all his people, and finally, the plowing of the Temple Mount by Turnus Rufus. In short, for the Rambam, Tisha B'Av is the betrayal of hope. It is the time when the three promises that God makes the Jewish people are all reversed: that He will give them the land of their forefathers, that He will dwell among them, and that He will bring a messiah to redeem them.
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