Not Your Grandmother’s Grandmothers

Russian Memoirists Offer Courageous Perspectives of Women

By Benjamin Ivry

All too often, accounts of the lives of Russian Jewish women a century ago fall into the clichés of bubbes and babushkas, simulacra of Tevye’s wife, Golde. It is salutary to remember that many forebears were women of resolve and achievement, strong personality and sophistication.

Two passionate texts by Russian Jewish women of different generations, newly available, are welcome reminders of this fact. They are unusual insofar as both authors are from privileged, highly educated backgrounds while most surviving reminiscences of growing up as a Jewish woman in Russia focus on sufferings from economic hardships and related tsoris in the shtetl. There is tsoris aplenty in these two books, and even some discussion of shtetls, but both texts enjoy a far wider scope of reference.

Readers usually enjoy adolescent diaries, as they seem either to prefigure a bright future or possess poignant irony if the precocious young diarist did not indeed live happily ever after. Despite continued renown among Russian readers, Nelly Ptachkina’s adolescent journal, which originally appeared in 1922 in Paris from [the émigré Russian Jewish publisher Iakov Povolotskii, has apparently never been translated into English. This is unfortunate, as English readers would doubtless relish the gumption and resolve of this young woman. She faced historical cataclysms in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, describing in a limpid style the devastating rise in anti-Semitic violence.

And Anna Pavlovna Vygodskaia brings to the table the highly intellectual and aesthetic approach of a genuine litterateur, someone who handles language with affection and care, as she describes her own determination to acquire an education that suits her as an individual, defying the strictures of her parents. In her own way, Vygodskaia was also heroic, as an ambitious thinker and cultivated person, and she remains perhaps an even more cogent model than Ptachkina for today.

Both books are moving records of young Russian Jewish women growing up. Both have tragic conclusions. Vygodskaia, a powerful original thinker, was a proponent of early childhood education after the Russian Revolution and became a Montessori-trained teacher. Her memoir appeared in Riga in 1938, written at the request of a friend, eminent Russian-Jewish historian Simon Dubnow, who was doubtless impressed by her wit and verve. In 1943, the Nazis would murder 75-year-old Vygodskaia in the Vilna Ghetto two years after her friend Dubnow shared a similarly tragic fate.

By contrast, the shortness of Ptachkina’s life was due to mischance. Against the odds, her family managed to flee post-Revolutionary Russia’s anti-Semitism and arrive safely in France. On a sightseeing trip to the foot of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps, 17-year-old Ptachkina accidentally fell into a waterfall on the Swiss side of the mountain. She died from the injuries she sustained. Despite these destinies, the authors’ books are not bleak. Instead, their forthright courage and willpower have impressed many.

One reader, Joseph Kessel, wrote an essay on Ptachkina, lauding her determination to combat Russian anti-Semitism. In Kiev, her mother’s hometown, Ptachkina witnessed violent crowds who channeled their anger about post-Revolutionary difficulties into anti-Semitic pogroms. On August 22, 1919, Ptachkina noted:

The air vibrates with insults from everywhere directed at Jews: ‘Yid, yid yid!’ It’s horrible…. If I heard a single one of these people say the word “Jew” instead of “yid” I would feel profound sympathy and gratitude.

Overwhelming emotions at this time of historical crisis affected the studious teen to the point where she claimed, on September 7, 1919:

There are days when if I had any vodka, I would be capable of getting drunk. Or even take cocaine or morphine. Today, I will not write, because I want to forget myself.

Yet there is also joy and delight in Ptachkina’s record, in good part due to her love for books. Her journal begins and ends with Anton Chekhov, first with a 1918 Moscow performance of his “The Cherry Orchard.” Undaunted by the sacred aura surrounding Constantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theatre, Ptachkina merrily mocks a moment in the play when a faithful old servant is forgotten by landowners, in response to which audience members pulled out handkerchiefs to wipe away their tears: “I find these handkerchiefs really funny,” Ptachkina confessed. Chekhov is again in her thoughts on the boat to Paris from Kiev, as seagulls hover overhead. She reflected on seagulls as poetic symbols in Chekhov’s play “The Seagull” and in the subsequent seagull logo on the stage curtain of the Moscow Art Theatre, where many of Chekhov’s plays were first performed.

On November 21, 1918, Ptachkina also experienced artistic transcendence when she went to a social dance and noted:

When dancing, I change utterly; I am no longer the same as at home or in the street. I talk endlessly, and am joyous and relaxed. I laugh and there’s something somehow special about it. My relaxation isn’t ordinary, it seems simple and spontaneous.

Her elder by 35 years, Vygodskaia shared some emotions with Ptachkina in the memoirs that she wrote about her youth. To escape from her birthplace in the provincial backwater of Bobruisk, a muddy outpost in the Pale of Settlement, Vygodskaia resolved to study European culture in St. Petersburg, leaving without obtaining the required permission from her father. Once in Petersburg, to get her father’s consent she threatened to become a midwife, a field of study not requiring parental permission. The mere threat of having an akusherke —Yiddish for “midwife” — in the family impelled her father to allow her to study any other subject. Vygodskaia explained, echoing a line from Chekhov’s play “The Three Sisters,” “I was always drawn to the big city — ‘to Moscow, to Moscow!’”

A more subtle influence of Chekhov on Vygodskaia’s writing style is her playful, teasing wit in vivid descriptions of a Gorgon-like stepgrandmother. Much like Ptachkina, the young Vygodskaia was also enchanted with dancing, on two occasions describing choreographies that express her youthful personality. Dancing at a party with her boyfriend while a pianist played a Russian folksong, Vygodskaia recalled:

I pulled out a handkerchief, lifted it high over my head, placed my hands on my hips, and started dancing, kicking out my legs, slowly at first, and then faster and faster…. Suddenly, I froze into place, as if startled by an excess of emotion. Everyone was at a loss — what had happened, why had I stopped dancing?

At another dance, Vygodskaia extended her role-playing to even higher drama.

Right at the very height of the waltz, I stopped dancing and turned white as a sheet. Then, as if I had lost all my strength, I fell against my partner’s arm and with his help, barely managed to drag myself to the sofa. I lay down motionless, with my eyes closed. I was so into my role that I didn’t even have to pretend — it really seemed as if I were done for.

Her charade having indeed alarmed everyone, Vygodskaia soon “leapt up from the sofa and confessed that it had all been a joke,” although not everyone saw the humor in her mischievous choreographic prank.

Vygodskaia also enjoyed the cultural opportunities of Petersburg, attending recitals by such famous Jewish pianists as Anton Rubinstein and Josef Hofmann. In the classes she attended, known as the Higher Women’s Courses, there was the thrill of hearing chemist Dmitri Mendeleev lecturing about his creation of the periodic table of elements, whose beauty would later inspire such authors as Primo Levi.

In addition to personal edification, Vygodskaia conveyed a genuine belief in social advancement for Jews. During one lecture about mushrooms, a botany professor named Ivan Borodin, brother of the famous composer Alexander Borodin, thoughtlessly blurted out: “Yids don’t eat this type of mushroom!” The class reacted unanimously to this use of an anti-Semitic term by silently walking out of the classroom, and Borodin was obliged to apologize.

Although this degree of academic enlightenment and sensitivity would be short-lived in Russia, as in the rest of Europe, it is a source of the vivacity and optimism in Vygodskaia’s precious memoir. Though more sober than Vygodskaia, Ptachkina’s thoughts are brightened by the happy ending of her book. Together these volumes are indispensable additions to our understanding of the lives of Russian Jewish women nearly a century ago.

Benjamin Ivry is a frequent contributor to the Forward.

Death in Petrópolis

Viennese Writer Stefan Zweig Honored With Brazilian Museum

By Benjamin Ivry 

Viennese-born Jewish author Stefan Zweig and his second wife, Lotte Altmann, committed suicide together as refugees in Brazil in February 1942, but Zweig’s works, whether fiction, biographies or letters, have never seemed more alive. Seventy years on, the former home in Petrópolis where he died, now known as Casa Stefan Zweig, is scheduled to open in July as a museum. It will boast a library and conference hall, with performances and exhibits forthcoming. A billboard next to the museum recently proclaimed, “He’s Coming Back to Petrópolis: Here Soon,” which suggests something between a superstar’s personal appearance and a ghost returning to haunt the living. This is an apt characterization of Zweig’s continued presence on the world literary scene, dashingly elegant yet spookily posthumous.

Wikimedia Commons

Dapper Dudes: Zweig, standing, with his brother Alfred in Vienna, circa 1900.

It may seem paradoxical that though Zweig termed Brazil the “land of the future,” he also chose that country as a place to kill himself. In 1942, his suicide seemed to some harsh critics, such as philosopher Hannah Arendt, the petulant act of an “ivory tower esthete” who saw Nazism mainly as an “affront to his personal dignity and privileged way of life.” Yet Jean Améry (born Hanns Chaim Mayer), Austrian concentration camp survivor and philosopher of torture, proclaimed that Zweig’s suicide was his “greatest masterpiece.”

Between these extreme and contradictory views remains the fact that voluntary death is a major theme of Zweig’s fiction dating back to the 1920s, in such works as “Letter From an Unknown Woman,” the novella “Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman” and many others.

This theme was doubtless an expression of Zweig’s own highly nervous, emotionally complex temperament. In “I Loved France Like a Second Homeland: New Studies on Stefan Zweig,” a December 2011 volume from Verlag Königshausen & Neumann, literary scholar Catherine Delattre notes that art historian Benno Geiger, in a book of memoirs first published in 1958, revealed that his friend Zweig was a tormented sexual exhibitionist. Novelist Thomas Mann echoed this diagnosis in his diary in 1954, adding that although Zweig never admitted this psycho-sexual problem to him personally, “privately it was known and it could have caused him serious problems.”

Delattre suggests that a complement of this sexual hang-up is the focus on voyeurism in Zweig’s fiction, such as “Fear” and “Burning Secret.” If it is true that Zweig suffered from this sort of sexual aberration, then his longtime habit of sending each of his new books to his friend Sigmund Freud might be seen less as an amicable gesture and more as a kind of invitation to diagnose and cure.

That Zweig was also psychologically vulnerable in terms of his sexual identity seems clear from his friendship with German lawyer, author and Nazi sympathizer Erich Ebermayer. In his autobiography, “Before I Forget,” published 35 years after his death in 1970, Ebermayer describes how as a young aspiring writer he sought out the famous writer Zweig’s company. Ebermayer, whose career boomed under the Nazis in the 1930s and ’40s, saw no contradiction in also enjoying a flirtatious prewar friendship with Zweig, and with considerable nerve even quoted Freud in his memoir to justify himself: “As we know from Sigmund Freud, every male friendship resonates with mostly unconscious Eros. Naturally not with sex, but with Eros.”

Describing himself as a “fresh and healthy, worshipful blond youth” at the time, Ebermayer explains that to calm his nerves on the first night of a play that Ebermayer wrote, Zweig literally held his hand during the performance. Ebermayer adds that after he published novellas in the 1920s on the theme of homosexuality, Zweig followed suit in 1927 with “A Confusion of Feelings,” which has been translated as “Confusion,” examining the ambiguous friendship between a professor and a privy counselor.


If Zweig was exploited in his relationship with Ebermayer, his friendships in the Jewish literary world of his day were more securely rewarding and lastingly genuine, for Zweig was fascinated by Yiddishkeit. Zweig’s 1929 tale, “Buchmendel,” tells of a book peddler named Jakob Mendel who sells his wares at Vienna coffeehouses around the time of World War I. As an inveterate bibliophile and collector, Zweig evidently sympathized with this protagonist, who was down on his luck like so many of Zweig’s literary friends. Earlier, in 1916, Zweig’s essay “The Tower of Babel” drew inspiration from the Old Testament to urge war-torn Europe to unite as a “heroic community” to build a project exemplifying common understanding “after the chaos of Creation.”


Zweig’s friends included some of the most notable Jews of his era, from Freud to Austrian novelist Joseph Roth. Yiddish authors such as Sholem Asch admired him, and Yiddish readers clamored for his works. “Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman,” which appeared in Germany in 1927, was promptly published in the Forverts in a translation credited to Chaim Brakartz years before any English translation appeared. In 1929, Zweig’s biography of his friend, Nobel Prize-winning French author Romain Rolland, was published in Warsaw in a Yiddish translation by Isaac Bashevis Singer as “Romen Rolan: Der Mentsh un dos Verk.”

Given these close associations, the destruction of European Jewry during World War II took a permanent toll on Zweig’s spirit. “To Me All Friendships Are Perishable: The Joseph Roth-Stefan Zweig Correspondence,” out last October from Wallstein Verlag, notes that the day before he took his own life, the refugee Zweig said of the torments of expatriation for Roth — who died of alcoholism in 1939 — and Erwin Rieger, a translator who died in 1940, “How glad I always was for them, that they had not to go through those ordeals.”

Zweig was fully aware of his own weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and the limits of the psychic suffering he was prepared to accept. For this reason, perhaps, he was a preternaturally understanding friend, as many mutual acquaintances noted after Roth’s death. Zweig had published a sympathetic short study of French poet Paul Verlaine, a helpless alcoholic entirely dependent on friends for support and survival, and Zweig considered Roth to be “the quintessential poet,” both in literary talent and in this inability to cope with day-to-day life. After Roth died, Benjamin Huebsch, head of the New York publisher The Viking Press, wrote to Zweig on June 6, 1939: “It must afford you satisfaction to remember your fraternal attitude to [Roth], for you were generous in your assistance and tolerant when others would have been irritated.”

The following day, Hermann Kesten, a devoted friend of Roth’s who would edit the first collection of Roth’s letters in German, wrote along the same lines, praising Zweig for “so many acts of friendship for [Roth].” Zweig’s own obituary for Roth, published in The Sunday Times of London on May 28, 1939, is balanced between admiration for the writer and grief over the loss of a friend, with a kind of selflessness that is quintessential Zweig:

Joseph Roth was one of the really great writers of our day; his German prose has always been a model of perfect style. He wrote every page of his books with the fervor of a true poet; like a goldsmith he polished and repolished every sentence till the rhythm was perfect and the color brilliant. His artistic conscience was as inexorable as his heart was passionate and tender. A whole generation loses with him a great example, and his friends a wonderful friend.

In parts, this eulogy might have been applied to Zweig himself only three years later, instead of the captious critiques by those contemporaries such as Arendt, who saw his death as a petulantly privileged cop-out. The world’s tributes today, from Brazil to Europe to America, are reflections of appreciation for his human and artistic ideals.
 
Benjamin Ivry is a frequent contributor to the Forward.

<The Forward>

Argentina agradece el apoyo internacional – y de Israel - por las Islas Malvinas

La presidenta argentina, Cristina Fernández, agradeció en un gran aviso publicado en la prensa el apoyo de "más de 70 países" al reclamo de soberanía de su país sobre las Malvinas, cuando se cumplen 30 años del fin de la guerra librada con el Reino Unido por la recuperación de las islas.

"Como presidenta de la República Argentina expreso mi más profundo agradecimiento a todos los miembros de los 90 comités Malvinas que en más de 70 países apoyan nuestro reclamo de soberanía sobre las islas Malvinas, Sandwich del Sur, Georgias del Sur y los espacios marítimos circundantes", indicó Fernández.

La mandataria aludió así a las naciones que expresaron su respaldo al reclamo argentino sobre el archipiélago, horas antes de exponer ante el Comité de Descolonización de la ONU en Nueva York.
Fernández aprovechó su visita al Comité, la primera que realiza un jefe de Estado, para reclamar al Reino Unido que cumpla la resolución 2065 de la ONU, que insta a los dos Gobiernos a abrir negociaciones para resolver la cuestión de la soberanía de las Malvinas, que están bajo dominio británico desde 1833.

Además de la mandataria, hablarán legisladores de Malvinas para exponer, según anticipó uno de ellos, Roger Edwards, que los malvinenses quieren que la ocupación se quede "tal como está".
La presentación de Fernández coincide con el trigésimo aniversario de la rendición de la tropas argentinas que el 2 de abril de 1982 recuperaron el archipiélago y se enfrentaron a Gran Bretaña en una guerra que dejó más de 900 muertos.

La mandataria llegó a Nueva York, después de que el gobierno de ocupación de las Malvinas convocara a un referendo para votar en 2013 sobre el "estatus político" del archipiélago, un anuncio sobre el que aún no se ha pronunciado el Gobierno argentino.

Por su parte, el vicepresidente Amado Boudou inauguró un mural en la localidad bonaerense de Pilar en conmemoración de la guerra de 1982.

Con un mapa de las Malvinas en su parte superior, el aviso publicado en la prensa menciona a Alemania, Angola, Arabia Saudita, Argelia, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahréin, Bélgica, Bolivia, Brasil, Bulgaria, Camboya, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dinamarca, Ecuador, Egipto, El Salvador, Emiratos Árabes, España y Estados Unidos entre los países que, según Argentina, manifestaron su apoyo.

También incluye a Filipinas, Finlandia, Francia, Grecia, Guatemala, Guyana, Haití, Honduras, Hungría, India, Indonesia, Irlanda, Israel, Italia, Jamaica, Japón, Jordania, Kenia, Kuwait, Líbano, Marruecos, México, Nicaragua, Noruega, Países Bajos, Pakistán, Palestina, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Polonia y Portugal.
La lista se completa con República Checa, República de Corea, República Dominicana, Rumanía, Rusia, Santa Sede (Vaticano), Serbia, Siria, Sudáfrica, Suecia, Suiza, Trinidad y Tobago, Túnez, Turquía, Ucrania, Uruguay, Venezuela y Vietnam.

La tensión entre Argentina y el Reino Unido se agudizó el año pasado por la decisión del Mercosur (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay y Brasil) de impedir el amarre en sus puertos de barcos con bandera malvinense.

A esto se sumó el malestar de Argentina por la presencia del príncipe inglés Guillermo en el archipiélago para cumplir una instrucción militar y el envío de un moderno destructor británico al Atlántico Sur, y enfado británico por nuevas normas legales argentinas que castigan a las empresas que hacen negocios con Malvinas.

<Aurora Israel>

Foto de soldados gays israelíes causa controversia

  Las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel causaron una encendida polémica con la publicación en la red social Facebook de una foto de dos soldados uniformados tomados de la mano.

 La leyenda de la foto dice «Es el Mes del Orgullo. ¿Sabía usted que las FDI tratan a todos sus soldados por igual?», e invita a compartirla.

La foto fue compartida más de 7.200 veces y tuvo más de 1.300 comentarios.

La prensa israelí calificó la imagen de «histórica», pocos días después de que se celebrara la marcha anual del Orgullo Gay en Tel Aviv.

Según informó el diario Yediot Aharonot, el ministerio de Exteriores israelí recibió con beneplácito la iniciativa, diciendo que la respuesta masiva a la foto fue «conmovedora».

El mensaje, de acuerdo con el reportaje, es claro: el ejército es un organismo progresista y liberal, que no discrimina a soldados gay ni lesbianas de ninguna manera.

Desde 1993, Israel permite a soldados abiertamente homosexuales servir en sus fuerzas armadas. Según un alto oficial israelí, esa decisión fue tomada para dar el ejemplo a los ejércitos de todo el mundo.

El diario The Times of Israel publicó una nota en la que niega que se trate de dos homosexuales. Por lo menos uno de ellos no es gay, según el periódico.

En los comentarios de los usuarios de Facebook se manifiestan opiniones ya sea de aprobación o de rechazo, aunque estos últimos están en minoría. Muchos simplemente elogian lo que perciben como la belleza de la imagen, aunque no falta quien se pregunte por qué los soldados están de espaldas.

Algunos mencionan que no importa la orientación sexual de los soldados, siempre que cumplan con su misión en el campo de batalla, pero un comentario expresa: «Estos son los mismos que matan a civiles palestinos».

En ese sentido, voces críticas acusan a Israel de proyectar una imagen de democracia y modernidad para disimular el trato que dan a los palestinos.

El humorista Shai Goldstein, después de decir que la foto es muy bonita, se pregunta: «Qué pasa si Hezbolá y Hamás lo ven? ¿Cómo quedará nuestra capacidad de disuasión? Aunque quizás incluso ellos se exciten».

Numerosos comentarios sacan a relucir dogmas religiosos, tanto del judaísmo como del cristianismo, con menciones al episodio bíblico de Sodoma y Gomorra.

No son pocos, sin embargo, los que aclaran que en Israel dos hombres tomados de la mano no quiere decir que sean homosexuales, lo mismo que si fueran dos árabes.

<Israel En Línea>

Ministro israelí: Reconocer genocidio armenio

Gilad Erdán

  El ministro de Medio Ambiente israelí, Gilad Erdán, declaró en el Parlamento que Israel debe cambiar su política y reconocer la matanza que sufrió el pueblo armenio en 1915 a manos del Imperio Otomano, actual Turquía, como un acto de genocidio.

 Erdán, aliado del primer ministro, Binyamin Netanyahu, aseguró, ante una pregunta de la oposición, que el Gobierno israelí debería reconocer el genocidio perpetrado contra el pueblo armenio. La dirigencia de Jerusalén siempre había rechazado esta posibilidad para no perjudicar sus relaciones con Ánkara.

Desde el año 2010, las relaciones entre ambos países se deterioraron tras el abordaje por parte de un comando especial israelí contra una flotilla que pretendía romper el bloqueo a la Franja de Gaza y en el que murieron nueve turcos. Como consecuencia, Turquía retiró a su embajador y anuló la cooperación militar.

Erdán precisó que el Gobierno israelí no cambió su postura en la tragedia armenia, pero indicó que debe apoyarse la existencia de «discusiones abiertas y profundas que analicen los datos y los hechos».

Los diputados votaron a favor de elevar la cuestión a una comisión educativa. Yigal Palmor, uno de los portavoces del ministerio de Exteriores, aseguró que la posición del Gobierno israelí sigue siendo que la cuestión debe quedar en manos de los «historiadores para que no se convierta en un asunto politico».

El presidente del Parlamento, Reuvén Rivlin, que pertenece al partido Likud de Netanyahu, declaró que «quienes están pidiendo el reconocimiento de los asesinatos no pretender presionar para conseguir intereses sino simplemente una justicia histórica».

Nino Abesadze, parlamentario del partido Kadima, aconsejó que la cuestión no se vincule con las relaciones diplomáticas con Turquía. «El genocidio está por encima de la política», indicó.

Armenia afirma que alrededor de 1,5 millones de cristianos armenios murieron en el este de Turquía durante la Primera Guerra Mundial como parte de una política genocida ordenada por el Imperio Otomano.

Los sucesivos gobiernos turcos y la propia población asegura que calificar el asunto de genocidio es un insulto. Ánkara recuerda que, en esa época, se perdieron muchas vidas en ambos bandos.

<Israel En Línea>

David Arquette hizo su Bar Mitzvá en el Kotel

David Arquette

  El actor, director, productor, guionista, diseñador de modas, y ocasionalmente un luchador libre profesional estadounidense, David Arquette, hizo más de lo que anticipaba en su primera visita a Israel.

 El astro de «Scream» llegó para grabar un segmento de su programa de turismo y terminó hacienda también su Bar Mitzvá.

Arquette, de 40 años, festejó su «inicio de la adolescencia» en Jerusalén, en el lugar más sagrado para el pueblo hebreo: el Muro de los Lamentos.

David es el más joven de los cinco hermanos Arquette, todos actores: Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia y Alexis (conocido como Robert antes cambiarse de sexo).

Aunque su padre se volvió musulmán, su madre es judía de nacimiento, con lo que, según la ley rabínica, los hermanos Arquette son todos judíos.

Mientras grababa un episodio en Jerusalén de su programa «Mile High», que se transmite por Travel Channel, Arquette asistió a un Bar Mitzvá en el que le preguntaron si él también querría celebrar el suyo.

Vestido todo de blanco, el actor incluso leyó por primera vez de la Torá y se colocó las filacterias en la cabeza y en el brazo tatuado frente al Muro de los Lamentos.

«Él estaba muy emocionado, dijo que se sentía feliz de ser parte de la cadena del pueblo judío», señaló Shmuel Rabinowitz, el rabino que ofició la ceremonia. «Me satisface mucho ver a un hombre volver a sus raíces».

Arquette, quien ha sido escurridizo durante su visita, luego escribió en su cuenta de Twitter: «Hoy hice mi Bar Mitzvá en el Kotel. Finalmente soy un hombre».

El rabino Rabinowitz dijo que Arquette estaba avergonzado por su falta de conocimientos sobre judaísmo. Nacido en una comuna en Virginia, su abuela materna era una sobreviviente del Holocausto nazi, pero su propia madre se apartó de las raíces judías.

Recientemente separado de su esposa, la estrella de «Friends» Courtney Cox, Arquette ha trabajado en series de televisión como «Buffy the Vampire Slayer» y películas como «Never Been Kissed», pero es más conocido por su papel de Dewey Riley en la franquicia de terror «Scream», que protagonizó junto a Cox.

<Israel En Línea>

Centro Wiesenthal insta a gobernantes a boicotear a Ahmadineyad en la Río+20

El Centro Simon Wiesenthal urgió a los gobernantes del mundo a "rechazar encuentros bilaterales" con el presidente de Irán, Mahmoud Ahmadineyad, durante la conferencia Río+20 y a "abandonar el recinto" cuando tome la palabra.

La organización judía de derechos humanos indicó que su director de Relaciones Internacionales, Shimon Samuels, ha transmitido el pedido a los Gobiernos de los cerca de 180 países que se espera que asistan a la reunión, que se celebrará en Río de Janeiro los próximos días 20, 21 y 22 de junio.

"En el pasado, Ahmadineyad ha hecho abuso del podio de la ONU con el fin de negar el Holocausto nazi y promover una incitación al genocidio, a través de sus reiterados llamamientos para destruir a un país miembro de la comunidad internacional, el Estado de Israel", dice la nota.

Agrega además que "el régimen iraní patrocina el terrorismo internacional y ha sido acusado por la justicia argentina por su responsabilidad en el atentado de 1994" contra la Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) en Buenos Aires, que causó la muerte de 85 personas y centenares de heridos.

Según el Centro Wiesenthal, la política "terrorista" de Irán "continúa hasta el presente, a través del apoyo militar para los crímenes del dictador sirio Bashar al-Assad contra su propio pueblo".

La organización sostuvo que el mandatario iraní "aprovechará" su presencia en la Río+20 para buscar respaldo, "romper el aislamiento impuesto por el grupo 5+1 (Alemania, China, Estados Unidos, Francia, Reino Unido y Rusia)" y lograr apoyo a su programa nuclear.

"Convocamos a todos los delegados a retirarse del recinto cuando Ahmadineyad se encamine hacia el podio. América Latina tiene una obligación de enviar un poderoso mensaje no sólo a Teherán, sino al resto del mundo, acerca de su compromiso con la responsabilidad y la paz mundial", agregó el comunicado.

La asistencia del líder iraní a la Conferencia sobre Desarrollo Sustentable Río+20 ha sido confirmada por Brasil, que organiza la reunión junto con la ONU y espera la presencia de delegaciones de unos 180 países, de los cuales cerca de un centenar estará representada por sus jefes de Estado y de Gobierno.

<Aurora Israel>

Mulher cega serve nas Forças de Defesa de Israel

Apesar de cega de nascença, Cece vem trabalhando numa função confidencial numa unidade de elite da inteligência das FDI durante os últimos 15 anos; Ela pode ser cega, mas as previsões de Cece têm um profundo significado para a segurança nacional de Israel. Durante os últimos 15 anos, Cece de 40 anos, vem servindo na Unidade 8200 - uma divisão encarregada de recolher dados que oferecem uma previsão da evolução nos países vizinhos.

Cece, que nasceu cega, nunca quis nenhum tratamento especial. Ela frequentou escolas regulares e tem um diploma universitário. Na idade de 25 ela soube de um programa que integra os cegos na Divisão de Inteligência, e ela logo se alistou.

Ela se orgulha do seu talento para línguas, e embora a sua função tenha caráter secreto ela foi autorizada a revelar que lida com textos em árabe. O seu trabalho depende muito do uso do computador.

"Cece é uma pessoa excepcional afirmou o oficial Avishay.“Ela não se deixou abater pela sua deficiência”. Ela nunca passa a sensação de que tenha qualquer dificuldade em ser a melhor no que faz. É incrível. Ela faz coisas que as pessoas que enxergam não fazem".

Além do importante trabalho que ela desempenha no exército, ela também serve como membro da diretoria da Biblioteca Central para Cegos, difunde a questão da acessibilidade e faz viagens para o exterior.

Como Cece, o seu ex-marido também é deficiente visual. Mas o seu filho não é."Ele sabe disso desde quando era muito pequeno", diz ela do seu filho. "Temos a certeza que ele sabe que não podemos ver... Ele desenvolveu muito cedo as suas habilidades verbais, porque percebeu que se não falasse com nós, seria difícil para nós entendermos o que ele queria". 

(exemplo)

Os seus primeiros dias na unidade militar não foram fáceis.

"Eu tive que superar a barreira profissional, bem como quebrar o gelo, o que nem sempre é simples", disse ela.

“Porém chega um momento quando as pessoas percebem que não somos diferentes”. "Recentemente, por
exemplo, soldados jovens que estão apenas começando confiam em mim profissionalmente e pedem o meu conselho e a minha ajuda", ela acrescenta.

Trabalhar bem sob pressão é imperativo em sua linha de trabalho, e Cece se orgulha desta habilidade especial."Existem situações em que temos que trabalhar rápido e passarmos a informação, e isso tem que ser feito com correção e precisão", diz ela. “Às vezes eu percebo que pessoas ao meu redor ficam estressadas e não trabalham suficientemente rápidas, enquanto que eu consigo ficar calma e composta”.

"Eu sei que alguns oficiais da unidade estavam preocupados com a integração de uma pessoa que não pode enxergar", diz ela. "Eu escutei pessoas cochichando nas minhas costas. Mas tive bom relacionamento com as pessoas e realizei bem o meu trabalho, até que perceberam que isso não era tão ruim".

O desconforto inicial, Cece diz, resulta do fato de que as pessoas não costumam lidar com pessoas cegas ou deficientes. As pessoas com que ela se encontra muitas vezes fazem grandes esforços para não ofendê-la.

"Uma vez, tive uma conversa com alguém sobre um programa de televisão, e ele me perguntou: 'Você o assiste?', Lembra ela. "Ele imediatamente pediu desculpas, mas eu expliquei que eu assistia. Eu vejo com os meus ouvidos".

Ela nega que as pessoas cegas têm um sentido extra."Acredito que a minha audição e meu olfato são bastante aguçados, porque eu os uso mais. Eu posso falar com alguém em um restaurante e ao mesmo tempo estar ciente do que está acontecendo nas mesas em volta de mim. Mas os mitos sobre ser capaz de discernir o caráter de uma pessoa pela sua voz não são verdadeiros. É um absurdo".

"Minha deficiência tem uma vantagem diferente", diz ela. "Há certas coisas que são melhores quando não são vistas, mesmo no meu tipo de trabalho. Cenas de horror e coisas assim. Pelo menos nesses casos eu não tenho que vê-las".

 <Rua Judaica>

Rabinos laicos

  El lector que se haya detenido en el título del artículo se estará preguntando... ¿Leí bien? ¿Rabinos laicos? ¿Acaso no es una paradoja, un oximorón? Pues no; y lo vamos a ir demostrando y entendiendo.

 Un poco de historia

Para poder entender mejor el tema y contextualizarlo es necesario ir un poco a la historia y a las fuentes para ver los comienzos del término «rab» o «rabino». Dicho concepto, que no existía en la época bíblica, se comenzó a utilizar en forma corriente a partir del exilio y la diáspora judia, posteriores a la destrucción del Segundo Templo de Jerusalén en el año 70 e.c. a la par de la conformación de las nuevas «comunidades» que se iban creando a medida que los judíos exilados llegaban a distintos países y se instalaban en ellos.

Estas nuevas agrupaciones de judíos necesitaban de un liderazgo político, comunitario y religioso. Los encargados de esta última parte pasaron a denominarse «rabinos».

La primera vez que encontramos este concepto en forma específica data del siglo II de la e.c. en la Mishná. Allí se refiere a un «rab» básicamente como maestro; aquél que enseñaba a sus discípulos las fuentes y las nuevas costumbres y tradiciones judías.

Con el correr de los siglos, el rol de rabino fue ampliándose y se convirtió en líder religioso y conocedor e interpretador de las fuentes y la ley judía; por ende en autoridad reconocida en asuntos de «judaísmo».

Es interesante notar que dicho rol se fue implementando paralelamente al desarrollo de la «religión judia» que se empezó a conformar en dicha época a partir de la necesidad de los judíos dispersos de encontrar sustituto a la vida diaria que llevaban en la Tierra de Israel, que giraba alrededor del Templo y sus rituals: sacrificios, peregrinaciones, donaciones, etc.

En la medida en que el Templo ya no existía y el centro espiritual y político de los judíos fue destruido, surgió la necesidad de reemplazarlo. Este cambio se realizó en varios ámbitos y en forma gradual. La sinagoga, como lugar de culto, tomó el lugar del Templo; los rezos, el lugar de los sacrificios; las festividades el lugar de las peregrinaciones y donaciones y, por supuesto, los rabinos, que substituyeron al Sumo Sacerdote y sus lugartenientes como autoridad reconocida. Estos fueron los comienzos históricos del llamado judaismo rabínico que, con ciertas modificaciones, es el que conocemos hasta hoy.

Los «rabinos» de aquellas épocas - sabios, ancianos y gente de jurisprudencia halájica -, fueron basicamente los encargados de crear y adaptar este «nuevo judaismo» a las nuevas condiciones de vida de los judíos en los distintos países. Es por ellos que el concepto quedó tan arraigado a lo religioso y lo ritual, a pesar de que su origen es otro.

En la antigüedad llegaron a existir tres denominaciones para este rol, dependiendo del origen: Rabán (concepto usado por la escuela del sabio Hillel), Rabí (de las escuelas galileas) y Rab, de las escuelas orientales de origen y tradición babilónica. Las últimas dos se distinguían por el rito de ordenación: En Galilea no se requería «Hasmajá» (ordenación rabínica formal), mientras que en la otra sí. De este modo eran conocidos los dirigentes de las sinagogas judías, aunque a otros, todavía no ordenados pero reconocidos como autoridades, se les llamaba Talmid Jajam (Discípulo del sabio).

En la actualidad

A partir de la era moderna (siglo XIX en adelante) la función del rabino pasó a ser la de guía espiritual y organizador comunitario en el sentido más amplio del concepto. Un rabino se ocupa de ayudar a los judíos a desarrollar su vida espiritual y cultural de acuerdo a sus necesidades y convicciones respecto a su identidad judía. Los orienta y ayuda a celebrar los eventos del ciclo de vida: nacimientos, maduración, casamientos, como así realizar ceremonias de entierro y duelo. También instruye a festejar y dirige los eventos del calendario hebreo.

Como vimos, originalmente el rol de rabino no tiene necesariamente relación con el culto religioso. Por un lado es un funcionario comunitario y por otro, gran parte de las expresiones religiosas de la cultura judía como ser rezar o la misma realización de ceremonias como el casamiento, no necesitan obligatoriamente de la presencia de un rabino, sino simplemente la de un minián. El rabino, entonces, es el término con que la cultura judía denomina al «guía, maestro, autoridad intelectual o quien brinda apoyo espiritual».

Rabinos laicos

Ya a mitad del siglo XVII, empezamos a ver los primeros testimonios de judíos críticos a las convenciones de entonces que intentan ver y analizar el judaísmo desde una perspectiva abierta y libre de preconceptos. Demás esta decir que el exponente más conocido, profundo y creativo de esa tendencia fue el filósofo judío-portugués-holandés Baruj Spinoza.

A partir de entonces y hasta hoy, se suceden cantidad de escritos y pensamientos, que intentan ver al judaísmo en forma crítica, abierta y pluralista. Lo que nunca pasó, es que este judaísmo, a diferencia de las corrientes religiosas modernas como la reformista o el movimiento conservador, por ejemplo, se transformó en una «corriente» orgánica, organizada y establecida como tal.

Entiendo así, que nos encontramos en una etapa histórica particular en la que se está conformando y estableciendo una «nueva-vieja» corriente dentro del judaísmo, la laica-secular-humanista, que va tomando fuerza y vigor tanto en Israel como en distintos países de la díaspora.

¿Qué tiene esto que ver con rabinos laicos?

Los judíos laicos, al igual que el resto, tienen necesidad e interés de vivir, festejar y desarrollar su identidad judía particular. Ssí llegamos al punto de entender que si un movimiento quiere conformar una corriente y fortalecer y desarrollar comunidades judías laicas-humanistas, tiene la necesidad de formar y poner a la cabeza de las mismas líderes capacitados, ya sea cultural, organizacional y profesionalmente. Estos fueron denominaroa «rabinos laicos-humanistas».

¿Por qué llamarlos rabinos entonces? ¿Por qué no llamarlos guías espirituales, líderes, directores, etc.? Por dos razones básicas: la primera es que el judaísmo laico intenta retomar y recrear las raíces del judaísmo historic. Hemos visto cómo el término que utilizó la cultura judía para nombrar a un líder, maestro o guía de la comunidad es el de «rabino». Por ello es que lo toma. Por otro lado, viendo como este término ha sido desvirtuado de su significado original y vinculado exclusivamente al ámbito religioso del judaísmo, es una buena oportunidad de devolverlo a su concepción primigenia y demostrar que también se lo puede utilizar como un término laico, sin quitar méritos ni menoscabar a nadie.

Hoy existen en el mundo dos institutos de formación de rabinos laicos-humanistas que funcionan bajo la supervisión del Instituto Internacional de Judaismo Laico-Humanista. El primero, y más antiguo, se encuentra en Detroit, EE.UU, y existe desde 1985. Fue fundado por Sherwin Wine z"l, creador del Movimiento Judío Laico-Humanista, que ha formado ya a más de 50 personas entre rabinos humanistas, educadores y líderes. El Segundo, es Tmurá, que funciona en Jerusalén desde 2004 y que ya ha ordenado 24 rabinos, todos ellos en funciones.

Sólo el tiempo nos dirá si el movimiento judío laico-humanista se transformará en una corriente viva y relevante dentro de Israel y las comunidades de la díaspora, y si sus rabinos tomarán posiciones importantes y relevantes tanto a nivel ideológico como de contenidos y se la podrá contar entre las opciones validas y legítimas para una gran parte de los judíos del mundo que se definen como tales.

Fuente: Revista Identidad - Uruguay

<Israel En Línea>

Vandalismo judío en Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem

   El Muro del Recuerdo en La Plaza del Gueto de Varsovia de Yad Vashem, el Memorial del Holocausto en Jerusalén ,y otras partes del museo, fueron objeto de vandalismo durante la noche. Los trabajadores del  lugar descubrieron los daños a su llegada.

  Al menos 10 consignas pintadas en las paredes exteriores del museo fueron encontradas, con lemas como: «Hitler, gracias por el Holocausto», «Si Hitler no existiera, los sionistas lo habrían inventado», y «Ustedes sionistas declararon la guerra a Hitler en nombre del pueblo judío, que trajo sobre él el Holocausto».

Algunas de las consignas fueron firmadas por «El judaísmo sionista del mundo» y «la comunidad judía ultraortodoxa mundial».

El Museo del Holocausto Yad Vashem y el Centro de Investigación se establecieron en 1953, dedicados al recuerdo de los seis millones de judíos asesinados por los nazis durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

«Estoy conmocionado y horrorizado por este acto de odio hacia Israel y hacia el sionismo», aseguró el presidente de Yad Vashem, Avner Shalev. «Este es un acto desconcertante que cruza la línea roja».

El ministro de Educación, Gideon Saar, también expresó su horror y consternación por los actos. «Estoy sorprendido por el vandalismo que se llevó a cabo», declaró Saar. «Quien haya profanado y manchado Yad Vashem con estas consignas, lo hizo con el fin de emitir un duro golpe a las emociones del público. Cuento con la Policía para realizar las investigaciones debidas y llevar a los responsables ante la justicia», señaló.

Micky Rosenfeld, portavoz policial, confirmó que la policía estaba investigando el caso, y añadió que hasta ahora ningún sospechoso fue identificado.
 
Por su parte, el ministro de Seguridad Interna, Itzjak Aharonovitch, habló con el comandante de la Policía del Distrito de Jerusalén, Niso Shaham, en relación con la investigación.
 
«Tenemos que encontrar a estos vándalos tan pronto como sea posible. Este fue un crimen atroz en contra de uno de los símbolos más prominentes del Estado de Israel. Estoy horrorizado e indignado», dijo Aharonovitch.

<Israel En Línea>

When Hate Speech Hits Social Media

Facebook Quick To Remove Sites But Twitter Cites Free Speech

nate lavey

Social Concerns: Facebook and Twitter have very different approaches when it comes to dealing with claims of anti-Semitic or hate speech.

By Nathan Guttman

Washington — Ask Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center how he grades Twitter’s efforts to combat anti-Semitic hate speech, and Cooper, the group’s associate dean, won’t even give Twitter an F.
“They haven’t even shown up to the dance yet,” said Cooper, who directs the center’s anti-hate speech efforts.

Facebook, on the other hand, has recently won plaudits from Jewish groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, for its willingness to censor perceived anti-Semitic hate speech and even some anti-Israel Facebook pages.

The distinct responses from Twitter and Facebook have been no different when Muslims have protested content that they deemed anti-Islamic. Pakistan, for example, recently demanded that Twitter remove alleged anti-Islamic content from its platform, but officials at the mirco-blogging medium refused, leading the government to briefly block access to it for the whole country.

But in 2010, when faced with the same demand from Pakistan that Twitter defied in 2012, Facebook quickly complied.

In the hot, rapidly evolving debate on new social media and the boundaries of free speech, the dichotomy between Twitter and Facebook tells more than just a digital tale of two cities; the response to their divergent stances also sometimes illustrates a maxim as old as the two media are new: It depends on whose ox is being gored.

The two huge media companies’ respective postures were on sharp display in a recent pact signed between the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism and by Internet giants Google and Facebook. The agreement, reached on May 7, declares that both sides will work together to “build best practices for understanding, reporting upon and responding to Internet hate.”

But Twitter was notably absent from the agreement. The company has consistently rejected attempts to intervene with its content, citing its concern for maintaining free speech.

“Facebook has been very responsive, cooperative and committed to fighting Internet hate,” said Deborah Lauter, director of civil rights at the Anti-Defamation League, a group that has played a key role in reaching understandings with social media providers. Twitter, Lauter admitted, has been slower to respond to requests for removing hate speech and offensive Tweets. “But as Twitter grows, they’ll have to go through this stage and understand this is a problem that needs to be solved,” she said.

This divide does not come as a surprise to those who have been following the two companies on issues related to real or perceived encroachment on their users’ freedom to share any content through a social media platform. Twitter, self-described by its leaders as “the free speech wing of the free speech party,” has largely resisted lending itself to restrictions on content by either governments or citizen groups. It has, for example, in the absence of court orders of warrants, fought government demands for records of its users in criminal and terror-related investigations — even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has praised it and other digital media for resisting encroachments by authoritarian governments abroad.

Facebook has taken a diametrically opposite approach. Critics of the social network have listed many instances in which the company, which recently went public, has quickly cooperated with American and foreign governments seeking to limit content or to obtain users’ information.

 The company has also been attentive to complaints – if there are enough of them – from individual users concerned about offensive content. It was this type of citizen activism that recently led Facebook to block a posting by an Israeli cartoonist depicting the Jewish state as a giant who still believes he is the iconic Jewish boy raising his hands in fear in face of the Nazi soldiers. This type of censorship does not seem to have a clear political color; Facebook has also removed content following complaints from users aligned with the Israeli left, such as a recent post seen as inciting against African asylum seekers in Israel.

Facebook played host for several meetings leading to the establishment of an Anti-Cyberhate Working Group by the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, a nongovernmental organization composed of interested parliamentarians from around the world. Google joined Facebook as the other major participant in the newly established task force, a product of the coalition’s May 7 agreement.
“We welcome the commitments of Google and Facebook to participate in this dialogue to combat online hate speech, Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism,” ADL’s national director, Abraham Foxman, said in a statement. “Working alongside the Internet’s leaders will allow for the development of industry standards that balance effectiveness with respect for the right to free speech.”

Jewish and pro-Israeli activists have been monitoring posts on Facebook ever since it gained prominence as the leading vehicle for internet-based social engagement. An early test in March 2011 made clear that the social network is open to dialogue with those seeking to rein in speech they view as extremist.

An Arabic page put up then called for a “third Palestinian intifada,” and included content posted by the page’s administrators quoting a hadith, or saying of the Prophet, that has been appropriated by radical groups: “The hour [of redemption] does not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and even the stones and trees say, ‘O Muslim, a Jew is behind me, so kill him.’”

The Arabic language Facebook page attracted more than 330,000 fans, according to the Jerusalem Post, and called for a mass march into Israel from neighboring countries. The call appeared to echo the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia taking place at the time. But a number of messages posted by fans contained both implicit and explicit violent content, according to a translation of the site quoted by the Post.

The content led Israeli Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein to send a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, asking him to remove the page. Jewish groups also marshaled a mass pressure campaign for the page’s removal. After initially resisting, Facebook complied. Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman said the page was removed because it contained “direct calls for violence or expressions of hate.”

“They lagged on that one a bit, but when they saw the reactions, they removed it,” Lauter said.
She added that despite Facebook’s understanding of Jewish groups’ concerns, the social media site is still slow in responding to requests to remove pages when it comes to Holocaust deniers.

Facebook, which has more than 800 million users worldwide, has shown its willingness to address concerns of other interest groups and of governments, as well. Its public guidelines specifically allow the social network to provide government and law enforcement agencies with information on its users as it determines necessary, even in the absence of a court order.

Free speech advocates say that Facebook’s compliant stance is not necessarily related to the company’s recent public offering, which brought in $5 billion. Jillian York, Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group devoted to protecting Internet freedom, said Facebook’s calculations relate mainly to the social network’s aspiration to expand globally.

 “They want to get into the Chinese market,” York said. “That is why Facebook is careful not to identify itself with the Arab Spring or any other kind of activism.”

The run-ins with authorities in Pakistan made the differences in approach between Facebook and Twitter crystal clear.

On May 20, Pakistani regulators shut down Twitter for eight hours after it refused to remove content promoting the third annual Everybody Draw Mohammed Day. The event was created in 2010 as a campaign supporting free speech after Muslims in some countries violently protested offending visual depictions of Islam’s founder. The Pakistani government asked Twitter to block all content advocating participation in the event, but Twitter turned it down, provoking Pakistan’s censorship. Despite this, at the end of the day, it was the Pakistani authorities that backed off and removed their block on accessing Twitter from within the country.

When Pakistan made the same demand of Facebook in 2010, Facebook agreed to take down the page promoting the event.

The contrasting responses highlight the fact that neither of the social media platforms seems to base its decisions on the religion of those offended. Their respective stances reflect broader social and economic outlooks.

Twitter has made its resistance against requests to provide information to government and police investigations part of its brand.

Under the 2002 USA Patriot Act, the government can issue secret requests, known as national security letters, demanding Internet carriers and social media platforms to provide information on users without a court order and without informing users that their personal information was shared with the government. Some 50,000 national security letters are issued annually and most go unknown. Twitter has been the only large provider to challenge the requests, demanding it be allowed to notify users when handing over their information to the government.

In recent months, Twitter has been battling in courts against an attempt by the Manhattan district attorney’s office to have the company provide three months of records on Malcolm Harris, a user who was active in the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

The American Civil Liberties Union took on the case, stating that “Twitter should be applauded,” for rejecting government attempts to reach its users’ records.

But what wins applause from some is problematic for others. In their efforts to get Twitter to respond to their concerns, Jewish activists invoke the concept of “corporate responsibility.” It’s a voluntary standard, but one that is expected from large Internet and social media providers, and would rein in content deemed hateful on their platforms.

“Right now we are talking about conversations and work groups,” Lauter said when describing the tools used to convince companies like Twitter to take action. But other forms of pressure exist, including shareholder activity for publicly traded companies.

Jewish advocacy groups stress that limiting perceived hate on Facebook and Twitter is not a First Amendment issue, since there is no government intervention blocking free speech. But, at the EFF, York fears overuse of pressure. “My concern is that if they respond to the ADL, other groups will ask for other limitations,” she warned. “It is a slippery slope.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com

<The Forward> 

Was Kiev Beating Anti-Semitic Act?

Some See Return of Old Hatreds, But Others Have Doubts

world forum of russian jewry

Anti-Semitism Victim?: Alexander Goncharov recovers in an Israeli hospital from injuries suffered in a brutal beating in Kiev. Some believe the attack was an act of anti-Semitism but others have their doubts.

By Paul Berger

Kiev — At about 1 a.m. on the second night of Passover, Alexander “Aron” Goncharov stepped from Brodsky Synagogue, in the center of Kiev, into the cold night air. The 25-year-old yeshiva student, who was staying at the synagogue’s hostel, never returned to his room. After hours of frantic phone calls the following day, yeshiva authorities finally found Goncharov at Kiev’s Hospital 17, with massive head injuries, barely alive.

Jewish communal leaders from Brodsky Synagogue portrayed Goncharov, who was wearing a yarmulke when he left the building, as the latest in a long line of victims of Ukrainian anti-Semitism. A few days later, he was flown to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital for emergency treatment and was kept in a medically induced coma. When Goncharov finally awoke, one week later, he said that his attackers had yelled “Yid” as they beat him.

Israel’s chief rabbi Yona Metzger visited Goncharov on Holocaust Remembrance Day, underlining his new status as a symbol of contemporary anti-Semitism. Goncharov told Metzger that he hoped to immigrate to Israel, calling it “the safest place for Jews.”

paul berger

Grave of Andrei Yushchinsky, a Ukrainian schoolboy whose 1911 murder was blamed on Jews.

 

But back in Kiev, even many Jews are skeptical about the claim that Goncharov — whose severe beating no one doubts or condones — was a victim of anti-Semitism.

“It has nothing to do with anti-Semitism,” said Yaakov Dov Bleich, rabbi of Kiev’s Podol Synagogue and one of several rabbis who claim the mantle of chief rabbi of Ukraine. “The fact he was taken to Israel will probably stop any [police] investigation in its tracks.”

When I arrived in Kiev one week after the attack, it was with a certain amount of trepidation. “Don’t wear a yarmulke outside of the synagogue,” Leonard Petlakh, a leader of the New York-based Russian-speaking community, warned in an email. But instead of finding a Jewish community on tenterhooks, I met many people who were dubious as to whether Goncharov’s injuries had anything to do with his being Jewish — even as many also acknowledged that anti-Semitism in Ukraine remains a problem.

It is only natural that people outside Kiev would believe that the attack was anti-Semitic. Waves of anti-Semitism have swept over Ukraine for generations, from czarist-inspired pogroms during the late 1800s and early 1900s to Communist-imposed discrimination against Jews throughout much of the 20th century. Even the past 20 years of Ukrainian independence have seen spasms of nationalist-fueled anti-Semitism.

After Goncharov’s almost fatal beating, some encouraged the idea that little had changed. Russian, Hebrew and English-language media around the world were quick to report the “anti-Semitic attack” by a group of suspected neo-Nazis. Alexander Levin, a prominent businessman who has close ties to the Brodsky Synagogue and is the founder of the new World Forum of Russian Jewry, called for a meeting with Ukraine’s interior minister to “demand that law authorities take action.” Days later, Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, vowing that Goncharov’s attackers would be found, called on Ukrainians to show “tolerance for people of different beliefs and nationalities.”

Goncharov, who arrived in Kiev from the industrial city of Lugansk three weeks before the attack, had only recently been circumcised. He was not a native of the city. Over the course of a few days, I heard a variety of unsubstantiated rumors about just why Goncharov had gone out into Kiev at 1 a.m. from the yeshiva at which he was lodging. Most of all, people wanted to know what Goncharov was doing between the time he left Brodsky Synagogue at 1 a.m. and when his body was found by a passerby at about 7 a.m. in Bessarabian Square, a busy part of the city, about a 10-minute walk from the synagogue. Few believed he had just lain, unconscious and prostrate, in the city center for six hours, undetected. Several people questioned how an attack by a gang of neo-Nazi thugs in this busy part of the city was apparently witnessed by no one.

A short drive across Kiev from Bessarabian Square, not far from Babi Yar, the infamous ravine where more than 30,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis in 1941, is the grave of schoolboy Andrei Yushchinsky.

Yushchinsky was stabbed to death in Kiev in 1911, sparking the arrest of Mendel Beilis and one of the greatest blood libel trials of modern history. Beilis, a Jewish brickworks supervisor, was held in prison for two years on charges that he murdered the Christian boy and drained his blood to make Passover matzo. After Beilis was acquitted at trial in 1913, he moved to Palestine and then to America. When he died in New York, in 1934, more than 4,000 people attended his funeral.

Today, Beilis is largely forgotten. But Yushchinsky’s grave has become a shrine for Ukrainian nationalists. The day I visited, fresh flowers lay on the tombstone, which was inscribed with an excerpt from Beilis’s trial transcript and the information that Yushchinsky’s body was found “in the building of the Jewish independent hospital.” The head of Ukraine’s Reform Jewish community, Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, whom I met a few days later, said the Jewish reference on the grave was actually an improvement. It “used to have a sign that said, ’Killed by a kike,’” he said.

“Yes, there are people who hate Jewish people,” Dukhovny added. “It’s still in their blood.” But he said it is simplistic to assume that anti-Semitism is rife in Ukraine. Even during the Beilis trial, Dukhovny pointed out, Ukrainian Christians, including Orthodox priests, spoke out in Beilis’s defense.

Indeed, the Beilis trial was more a manifestation of Russian than Ukrainian anti-Semitism. The trial was orchestrated by a czarist administration and supported chiefly by the Black Hundreds, a Russian nationalist group that fiercely opposed Ukrainian independence. In Beilis’s 1925 autobiography, first published in Yiddish, the accused man stressed that many ordinary Russians and Ukrainians sprang to his defense. “There was real heroism, real sacrifice,” Beilis wrote according to the latest English translation, published in 2011.

As with other Central and Eastern European countries, Ukraine’s bloody history as a nation subjugated by surrounding countries complicates the problem of how it views its own history of anti-Semitism. Ukraine’s great 17th-century Cossack leader and hero, Bogdan Khmelnytsky, was responsible for the massacre of tens of thousands of Jews. Maryna Bezdenezhnykh, 27, told me that the Jewish experience in Ukrainian history is routinely misrepresented in schools. Students don’t learn about the Holocaust, Bezdenezhnykh said. Meanwhile, she said, Khmelnytsky is seen as a hero, “whereas to Ukrainian Jews he is seen as a second Hitler.”

Several leaders of Kiev’s Jewish community, in separate interviews, drew distinctions between state-sanctioned anti-Semitism, which they say no longer exists in Ukraine, and anti-Semitism at a local level. “In [the] past, all leaders of Ukraine were anti-Semitic,” Levin said. He included in that list former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko, whose Orange Revolution, hailed by Western leaders, was fueled by nationalism. Yushchenko’s rule coincided with the rehabilitation of such Nazi collaborators as Stepan Bandera and with the rise of MAUP (the Ukrainian acronym for the Interregional Academy of Personal Management), a private university that published a slew of anti-Semitic tracts. These included a booklet resurrecting the claim that Yushchinsky was killed to make matzo.

Many Kiev Jews said anti-Semitism persists. Iolanta Veksler, 28, said that when she returns to her hometown of Belaya Tserkov, which has 3,000 Jews out of a population of about 200,000, she is sometimes stared at in the park and called “Yid.” Natella Andriushchenko, principal of Mitsva-613, a Jewish school in Belaya Tserkov, said, “Anyone who says there is no anti-Semitism [in Ukraine] is living with their eyes closed or rarely moves in non-Jewish circles.”

I met Alexander Levin on April 16, in the basement restaurant of the Brodsky Synagogue. He was sitting with Lubavitch rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman, another of Ukraine’s self-proclaimed chief rabbis. Both men were instrumental in arranging for Goncharov to be flown to Israel.

 When I related that during my first days in Kiev, several community members appeared skeptical that the attack on Goncharov was anti-Semitic, the two men exchanged a glance. “For me, it’s not very important if it’s an anti-Semitic attack or not,” said Levin, who was wearing blue jeans and a white knitted yarmulke embroidered with an Israeli flag. “What’s important is that a 25-year-old boy is attacked in the middle of a European city at 1a.m.”

Levin ridiculed one police theory, that Goncharov fell from a 6-foot-high parapet in a drunken state.
Still, members of the Kiev community remain unconvinced of claims that he is a victim of Jew hatred.

Vyacheslav Likhachev, a researcher focused on racism, said there was little evidence that the attack was anti-Semitic. Likhachev, who has studied anti-Semitism in Ukraine for the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress for 10 years, told the Forward that anti-Semitic incidents have fallen in Ukraine in recent years.
He pointed out that Goncharov was not wearing Hasidic clothing the night of the attack, and that although he was spotted wearing a yarmulke when he left Brodsky Synagogue, no yarmulke was found near his body. Goncharov looks Ukrainian, Likhachev added.

“I don’t want to say there is no Nazi violence in Ukraine,” Likhachev hastened to say. But he said that Africans and Asians suffer much more than Jews. In an article published soon after the attack, Likhachev noted that on the same night Goncharov was injured, an African student was severely beaten. He said that the following week, a court case opened into a “racist pogrom” which resulted in four students from India, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan being seriously injured. “Unfortunately, the President of Ukraine did not deem it necessary to make a statement on these crimes,” Likhachev wrote.

What exactly did inspire Yanukovych to make his statement condemning the attack on Goncharov remains unclear. But on June 8, the eyes of the world turn to Ukraine as joint host, with Poland, of the European soccer championships. Ukraine’s leaders are already a target of opprobrium at home and abroad because of the jailing of opposition leader and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko in 2011.

Under such circumstances, the last thing Ukraine needed was criticism of its response to an outburst of anti-Semitic violence — even if one never took place.
 
Contact Paul Berger at berger@forward.com or on Twitter @pdberger

<The Forward> 

Cartas inéditas muestran a un Kafka receloso de la medicina

Franz Kafka

 

Un Franz Kafka escéptico con la medicina tradicional y partidario de una filosofía naturista es el retrato que hacen del escritor checo las cartas inéditas que acaban de ser recopiladas y publicadas en un libro.

Las misivas están escritas por el médico húngaro Robert Klopstock y por el último amor de Kafka, la actriz polaca Dora Diamant, y dirigidas a la familia del autor de "El proceso", en la época en que se encontraba ingresado en el sanatorio austríaco de Kierling y su vida estaba a punto de extinguirse por la tuberculosis.

"Estaba en contra de los medicamentos, de los rayos X, de las inyecciones. Era incluso ingenuo en cómo usaba medios humanos que no resultaban dañinos, pero que tampoco ayudaban", declaró el germanista Josef Cermak, que acaba de publicar en un libro esa colección de cartas inéditas.

En esas nuevas misivas "hay ahí muchas cosas desconocidas. Se ponen de manifiesto las dos opiniones. Kafka era partidario de la medicina natural, según el principio de que lo que naturaleza estropea, puede ella misma arreglarlo", afirmó Cermak.

Por su parte, "Robert Klopstock era partidario del concepto clásico de medicina, lo que significa que intentaba incesantemente aplicar la cirugía", explicó el experto.

Esta nueva correspondencia forma parte del libro "Zivot ve stinu smrti" (Vida a la sombra de la muerte), en concreto, en una sección titulada "Cartas de Robert".

Además de las casi 66 cartas ya conocidas que documentan la relación de amistad entre Klopstock y Kafka, el libro incluye otras 35 cartas nunca publicadas que Klopstock y Diamantova escribieron a la familia del escritor.

Kafka sucumbió a una tuberculosis de garganta y, según Cermak, "Robert Klopstock le sirvió mucho como médico en los últimos meses de su vida en el sanatorio austríaco de Kierling, donde Kafka murió. Se ocupó de él de forma conmovedora, junto a su novia de entonces, Dora Diamantova".

El literato y Klopstock habían coincidido antes en el sanatorio eslovaco de Tatranské Matliare, a los pies del macizo de los Montes Tatra, y allí llegaron a intimar, a pesar de que el húngaro era 16 años más joven que el autor de "La Metamorfosis".

Kafka, exceptuando a Max Brod y a ese círculo tan estrecho al que pertenecía el médico, "no se refería a la gente por su nombre, y conseguir su amistad, su verdadera amistad, no era fácil", afirma Cermak.

Tras examinar en su conjunto la correspondencia surgida de dos años de trato entre ambos, es evidente para el estudioso la amistad sincera que se profesaron y que llevó a Klopstock a posponer sus estudios por la situación turbulenta que atravesaba Kafka.

Ambos "tenían intereses comunes, que eran filosóficos y teológicos. Porque este judío húngaro tenía gran simpatía hacia el cristianismo. Y después de la muerte de Kafka, se hizo protestante", afirmó Cermak, que trata de reconstruir en el libro algunas de sus conversaciones, en el frontera entre la filosofía y religión.

Cermak ha podido realizar este trabajo gracias a que en los años 60 la familia de Kafka le encomendó publicar las cartas del escritor a su hermana Otilia.

"Y esta publicación se vio frustrada por la llegada de los tanques soviéticos y la prohibición de publicar cosas de Kafka en este país", apostilló Cermak.

<Aurora Israel>

Cientistas israelenses desenvolvem maconha medicinal sem 'barato'

Pesquisadores conseguiram neutralizar a substância THC. Planta foi desenvolvida pela Universidade Hebraica de Jerusalém

Cientistas da Universidade Hebraica de Jerusalém desenvolveram um tipo de maconha medicinal, neutralizando a substância THC, que gera os efeitos cognitivos e psicológicos conhecidos como 'barato'.

De acordo com a professora Ruth Gallily, especialista em imunologia da Universidade Hebraica de Jerusalém, a segunda substância mais importante da cannabis - o canabidiol (CBD) - tem propriedades 'altamente benéficas e significativas' para doentes que sofrem de diabetes, artrite reumatóide e doença de Crohn.

Gallily, que estuda os efeitos medicinais da cannabis há 15 anos, disse à BBC Brasil que o CBD que se encontra na planta 'não gera qualquer fenômeno psicológico ou psiquiátrico e reprime reações inflamatórias, sendo muito útil para o tratamento de doenças autoimunes'.

'Obtivemos resultados fantásticos nas experiências que fizemos in vitro e com ratos, no laboratório da Universidade Hebraica', afirmou a cientista, que é professora da Faculdade de Medicina.

De acordo com ela, após o tratamento com o CBD, o índice de mortalidade em consequência de diabetes nos animais foi reduzido em 60%, tanto em casos de diabetes tipo 1 como tipo 2.

'Para pacientes idosos que sofrem de artrite reumatoide, o uso da cannabis pode ter efeitos maravilhosos e melhorar muito a qualidade de vida', disse Gallily. 'Constatamos em nossas experiências que o CBD leva à diminuição significativa e muito rápida do inchaço em consequência da artrite.'

A pesquisadora afirma que remédios à base de CBD seriam muito mais baratos que os medicamentos convencionais no tratamento dessas doenças.

A empresa Tikkun Olam obteve a licença do Ministério da Saúde israelense para desenvolver a maconha medicinal e cultiva diversas variedades da planta em estufas na Galileia, no norte de Israel.

Pacientes

De acordo com Zachi Klein, diretor de pesquisa da Tikkun Olam, mais de 8.000 doentes em Israel já são tratados com cannabis, a qual recebem com receitas médicas autorizadas pelo Ministério da Saúde.

De acordo com Klein, a empresa pretende desenvolver um tipo de maconha com proporções diferentes de THC e canabidiol, para poder ajudar a diversos tipos de pacientes.

'Há pacientes para os quais o THC é muito benéfico, pois ajuda a melhorar o estado de espírito e abrir o apetite', afirmou.

Ele diz ainda que, em casos de doentes de câncer, a cannabis em seu estado natural, com o THC, pode melhorar a qualidade de vida, já que a substância provoca a fome conhecida como 'larica', incentivando os pacientes a se alimentarem.
O psiquiatra Yehuda Baruch acredita que 'o CBD tem significados medicinais fortes que devem ser examinados'. Baruch, que é o responsável pela utilização da maconha medicinal no Ministério da Saúde, disse à BBC Brasil que 'sem o THC, a cannabis será bem menos atraente para os traficantes de drogas'.

<Rua Judaica & BBC Brasil>

Peres: «El racismo no tiene lugar en el judaísmo»

Shimón Peres

«El racismo no tiene lugar en el judaísmo», expresó el presidente de Israel, Shimón Peres, en una ceremonia de toma de juramento en la Corte Suprema de Justicia.

Como presidente y ciudadano de Israel, dijo, se horrorizó con las revelaciones de incitación y racismo.

El mandatario advirtió contra la apatía y la indiferencia, y señalo que la indiferencia por la atrocidad no es diferente que la atrocidad misma.

Durante su discurso, Peres dijo que estaba al tanto de la situación en la que se encontraban los residentes del sur de Tel Aviv y otros lugares, pero no obstante las dificultades que estaban siendo soportadas, el odio hacia el otro no puede ser la solución.

«El odio hacia el extraño es ajeno a los cimientos del judaísmo. Estamos obligados a respetar a los extranjeros y otros en nuestro medio y mantener sus derechos como seres humanos», dijo Peres. También citó un pasaje de la Biblia del Libro de Deuteronomio como prueba de que éste es uno de las bases fundamentales del judaísmo.

El presidente también expresó que estaba en manos del Estado el encontrar una solución legal al problema, pero agregó que todos deben unirse para condenar y eliminar las voces de incitación y racismo.

Los comentarios de Peres se hicieron debido al reciente enojo por el influjo de infiltrados de África.

Once jóvenes del sur de Tel Aviv fueron acusados por llevar a cabo un número de ataques racialmente motivados contra extranjeros, según informó la radio pública israelí.

Los agresores, todos cerca de 15 años, incluyen a 10 adolescentes y una joven. Los cargos son que en las últimas semanas golpearon y robaron a varios inmigrantes.

El miércoles por la noche, cerca de 200 personas se juntaron en el barrio Shapira del sur de Tel Aviv gritando «La izquierda es un cáncer», «Echen a los sudaneses» y «Que los izquierdistas se vayan a Sudán».

La marcha se hizo una semana después de que israelíes se descontrolaran en el barrio Hatikva de Tel Aviv, rompieran frentes de tiendas de africanos y atacaran a buscadores de asilo luego de una protesta antiinmigrantes a la que asistieron cerca de 1.000 personas.

<Israel En Línea>

Ciudadano etíope agredido en manifestación contra inmigrantes africanos

 



Una semana después de la manifestación en el sur de Tel Aviv que exigió  la deportación de inmigrantes africanos, la cual termino en violencia y detenciones, un pequeño grupo de manifestantes se reunieron en el mismo lugar, con la misma demanda: que el gobierno deporte a los miles de infiltrados que han entrado ilegalmente a Israel a través de Egipto.

 Unos 200 manifestantes de extrema derecha y residentes locales se reunieron en la estación central de autobuses y se dirigieron al barrio Shapira para protestar por la gran afluencia de inmigrantes africanos en el sur de Tel Aviv.

Entre ellos estaban los conocidos activistas de ultraderecha Baruj Marzel e Itamar Ben-Gvir. Los participantes llevaron pancartas que instaban a una participación equitativa de los que se encuentra económicamente favorecidos al norte de Tel Aviv en la responsabilidad por la población migrante. «Este es el sur de Tel Aviv no, el sur de Sudán», decía un cartel.

Bajo la tensión del momento, los extremistas atacaron a Hananya Vanda, un ciudadano israelí de ascendencia etíope al cual se identificó erróneamente como un inmigrante. Algunos de los manifestantes lo insultaron y uno lo golpeó en la parte posterior de su cuello, pero no logró herirlo. Después de darse cuenta de que Vanda era judío, los radicales dijeron que no tenía intenciones de atacarlo.

«Esta gente está loca - declaró Vanda - Esto podría ocurrir en cualquier lugar. Vine porque estaba interesado en la protesta y me golpearon. En el trabajo, bromeaban con que yo no puedo caminar por aquí, y es verdad. Esto es lo que el racismo es», dijo.

Una mujer de 23 años, explicó que estaba tomando parte en la manifestación debido a que hacía un año había sido atacada por tres hombres, «y desde entonces todo ha empeorado", afirmó.

Otro vecino de la zona, anunció que «esta situación no puede continuar. La solución es dejar al 1% de los migrantes, los que tienen visas, porque hay algunos que trabajan. El resto deben ser enviados de regreso al sur de Sudán, ahora pueden volver allí».

Paralelamente a  la manifestación, una contra-protesta se presentó en el lugar, denunciando «el odio y la intolerancia».

Shula Keshet, residente de Neveh Shaanán, añadió que era importante para ella tomar parte en la protesta para asegurarse de que no haya violencia contra los africanos, no importa de qué país eran. «Entiendo el dolor de la gente del lugar, pero la violencia contra los refugiados no es aceptable. Nuestra protesta es contra las políticas del gobierno y de la ciudad, y contra el apartheid en Tel Aviv y de los guetos que genera la pobreza. También es racismo que ni un solo refugiado sea enviado al norte de Tel Aviv», explicó Keshet.

Antes de la manifestación decenas de voluntarios de las organizaciones de ayuda a los refugiados, acompañaron a cientos de niños desde los jardines de infantes y guarderías en el sur de Tel Aviv hasta sus casas.

«Decidimos hacerlo luego de que muchos padres nos llamaran con miedo. Es triste que tengamos que caminar con ellos hasta sus casas, sólo por su origen étnico», dijo Noa Galili.

«Es hora de que los diputados y los ministros, en lugar de perder el tiempo avivando las llamas, se ocupen de los barrios del sur de la ciudad, para sacarlos de la negligencia de la cual también ellos son parte», dijo Galili. «Lo más importante es que los niños, israelíes y extranjeros, puedan vivir aquí en paz y tranquilidad. Un niño es un niño».

Mientras las acusaciones de un lado y del otro tenían lugar, un inmigrante sudanés de 22 años que llegó a Israel hace 18 meses expresó: «Tengo miedo de cualquier choque, pero no puedo volver a mi país. Si pudiera, elegiría algún otro lugar», aseguró.
En semanas recientes, el tema de la población migrante de Israel se ha convertido en una prioridad tras una ola de agresiones sexuales y robos por parte de extranjeros.

La gran protesta que tuvo lugar la semana pasada y a la que asistieron un número de diputados de ultraderecha, culminó con escenas de vandalismo y violentos ataques a varios migrantes. En ésta, la policía arrestó a seis manifestantes acusados de generar disturbios, incitaciones y amenazas.

El activista de extrema derecha, Baruj Marzel, uno de los líderes de la protesta, dijo que los manifestantes planeaban realizar manifestaciones diarias, y no permanecer en silencio «hasta que el primer ministro y el ministros de Interior comienzan a actuar, en lugar de hablar».

<Israel En Línea>