Zebulon Simentov has the dubious honor of being the very last Jew in Afghanistan. He tends the near-empty synagogue in Kabul, and slaughters his own kosher meat, and otherwise is indistinguishable from his neighbors, who seem uniformly friendly to him. … Continue reading →
This seems encouraging: Germany’s largest synagogue—one that somehow managed to survive both WWII and the Soviet-contolled aftermath in East Berlin—was restored and reopened in a moving ceremony on Friday that featured, among the thousand people who gathered to celebrate, elderly … Continue reading →
This NY Times article was both touching and disturbing, almost in equal measures. It describes a phenomenon in present-day Poland that might be described as philo-Semitism, the opposite of anti-Semitism. Now that there are virtually no Jews in that country—a … Continue reading →
One of the hallmarks of rabid Jew-hatred is its irrationality. Another one of its hallmarks is the appearance of elements of rationality within it. The Jews are hated for reasons, after all: they are too rich, they are too smart, … Continue reading →
Here’s an article from the NY Times that I came across through that “most frequently e-mailed articles” function the Times has. The title caught my eye, “Journey From a Chinese Orphanage to a Jewish Rite of Passage.” It’s not a … Continue reading →
They’re a fringe, it’s true–but a fringe that detractors of Israel have made much of. I’m speaking of the ultra-orthodox religious Jews who are anti-Zionist. That’s their prerogative, of course; eveyone’s entitled to his/her opinion, yada yada yada. But some … Continue reading →
I’ve been noticing lately that two lovely impulses seem to go hand-in-hand–virulent anti-Semitism plus the willingness to use one’s own people as a sacrifice to the larger goal of destroying the Jews. Take a look at this post of Dr. … Continue reading →
My original post about the (now pretty much debunked) report of an Islamic dress code law for minorities quoted that report as stating that the clothing designations were to apply to Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians in Iran. That got me … Continue reading →
It’s the holiday season, and one of those rare years when Passover and Easter come close together, as they did during the original Easter. So I get a twofer when I wish my readers “Happy Holidays!” In recent years whenever … Continue reading →
Norman Geras is a man who has thought long and hard about the Holocaust. Recently, he tackled the controversial question of whether the Holocaust was, “in some significant moral sense, singular or unique in the long catalogue of calamities that … Continue reading →
When I studied history in grade school and high school, it was my least favorite subject. Dry and dull, a parade of disjointed dates and battles, all the juice had been squeezed out of it–which is a shame, because it … Continue reading →
Here’s a movie dealing with the subject of the departure of the Jews from Arab and Moslem lands in which they had lived for centuries–and, in some cases, millennia. If you scroll down, you will read an interesting piece by … Continue reading →