03 Oct
Culture, Latest

Reclaiming a Symbol of Destruction, Lawful or Not

by Natalie Buchbinder It's tough to make a horrific event that happened over 70 years ago relevant to young people. It's the struggle that Holocaust museums and March of the Living tours to concentration camps have attempted to address. A recent New York Times article profiled young Israelis who have found a way to keep the Holocaust alive, tattooing the numbers of their survivor grandparents on their young forearms. Eli Sagir, 21, was inspired to get a tattoo of her grandfather’s number, 157622, after a high school trip to Poland. Her brother, mother, and most recently her uncle have followed Sagir’s lead and had the same done to their own arms. “All my generation knows nothing about the Holocaust,” Sagir told The New York Times. “They think it’s like the Exodus from Egypt, ancient history.” To some, the act of...

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01 Oct
Uncategorized

Sukkahs Yet to Make Appearance in Campaign Videos

The new election-year video making the online rounds features Samuel L. Jackson exhorting less-than-active Obama supporters to "wake the f*** up," and is sponsored by the Jewish Council for Education and Research. Based on the famously suave--and often profane--Jackson's audio book version of Adam Mansbach's tongue-in-cheek children's book "Go the F*** to Sleep," the video, which isn't explicitly (or even implicitly) Jewish, enumerates Romney's flaws and Obama's successes. Meanwhile, the Republican Jewish Coalition has produced a new video of its own, focusing on the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

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01 Oct
Uncategorized

French Leader Calls for Kippah Ban

by Natalie Buchbinder France’s war on religion continued last month, as far-right French politician and leader of the Front National Party Marine Le Pen announced her support for a ban on religious headwear in public. The ban, which Le Pen claims would not restrict the Jewish people but rather would level the playing field in relation to a ban on Muslim hijabs, is the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish identity in France. “Jewish skullcaps are obviously not a problem in our country,” Le Pen told French television outlets, but added that France has to ban the Jewish head coverings “in the name of equality.” The daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the openly anti-Semitic founder and former leader of Front National, the younger Le Pen is no stranger to controversy. During her failed campaign for the French...

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28 Sep
History, Latest, topics

The St. Louis, Then and Now

By Sarah Breger The contentious debate over Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his actions during the Holocaust is ongoing. There are those who argue that FDR was a true friend to the Jews, who led the United States to victory against the Nazis; others say that FDR turned a blind eye to reports of what was happening to the Jews in Europe. The St. Louis has become a symbol of the United States perceived indifference. In 1939, the St. Louis sailed from Germany with 938 Jewish passengers seeking refuge in Cuba. After being refused entry, the ship searched for other safe havens, including the U.S. From the port of Miami, passengers sent FDR cables begging for refuge. Their pleas were denied and the ship was forced to sail back to Europe. About 1/3 died in Auschwitz. For Special Envoy...

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25 Sep
Culture, Latest

David Brooks and Robert Siegel Talk “National Shtetl Radio”

National Shtetl Radio? That's the lineage that David Brooks imagined for himself and Robert Siegel--newly discovered by Moment to have genetic ties that might make them fourth cousins--last week on NPR's "All Things Considered." What kind of shows would NSR air? "All Pogroms Considered," Brooks speculated. Yes. Listen to the whole thing here.

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25 Sep
Uncategorized

Is Tunisian Jewry in Danger?

by Daniela Enriquez Tunisia is at the edge of a new era. The next few months will be decisive for the future of the country and its inhabitants: Will it be the paragon of the Arab Spring, which it initiated, and continue to be the most democratic country in the Arab World, or will it become an Islamic state, as Salafists seem to hope, governed by Sha’aria? And will Tunisian Jews continue to live freely in this up-until-now-tolerant North African country? The facts are not reassuring. On March 6, two niqab-wearing girls entered the office of Habib Kazdaghli, dean of the Literature, Arts and Science Department at the Manouba University of Tunis. The girls attempted to destroy his books and papers. Kazdaghli reacted by pushing the two girls out of his office and denouncing the incident to...

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24 Sep
History, Latest

Recordings of German Soldiers’ Conversations Rediscovered

New research has unearthed conversations among German POWs during World War II--recorded by British intelligence--that reveals the extent to which some German soldiers knew about the slaughter of Jews. In Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing, and Dying, authors Sonke Neitzel and Harald Welzer detail their findings in the British national archives and the National Archives in the United States. Among the many chilling conversations recorded is this one between Lieutenant General Heinrich Kittel and another prisoner of war named Felbert: Felbert: Have you also known places from which the Jews have been removed? Kittel: Yes. Felbert: Was that carried out quite systematically? Kittel: Yes. Felbert: Women and children—everybody? Kittel: Everybody. Horrible! Felbert: What did they do to the children? Kittel (very excited): They seized three-year old children by the hair, held them up and shot them with a pistol and then threw them in....

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24 Sep
Latest, Religion

Religious Restrictions Increase Globally

by Natalie Buchbinder When you think of religious restriction, what country comes to mind? Visions of the Middle East, North Africa, portions of the East? What about the United States? Israel? Both saw a rise in their restrictions against religion in a one-year period from August 2009 through mid-2010, according to new data published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The problem is not contained to a specific region. Globally, the rate of religious intolerance has risen 6 percent. More three-quarters of the world’s population endures violations of their religious values in some form. Shouldn’t we be moving forward, not taking steps backward? According to the data, all five major world religions--Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism--have experienced a rise in restrictions placed against their religion by the countries their followers reside in, both...

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24 Sep
Culture, Latest

Reborn in Hebrew

by Ori Nir I have never thought of my father as a revolutionary. But since his death last month, several of his colleagues depicted him as such and helped me better appreciate some of his professional accomplishments, which I had not fully appreciated before. Shortly before he died, my father started writing a childhood memoir. “I was born twice,” he wrote: once in Hamburg, Germany, in 1930, and then again in 1936, when he arrived with his mother and three-year-old brother at the port of Haifa on a boat of halutzim, pioneers. The two children watched with admiration as the pioneers danced the hora on board and sang patriotic songs. He probably aspired to one day be just like them. In Hamburg, my father was born into affluence. His father, a successful physician who was decorated several times for...

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14 Aug
Uncategorized

No One Man Should Have All That Power

by Julia Glauberman The 19th-century historian Thomas Carlyle famously claimed that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” While many historians have since disagreed, Michael R. Cohen seems to have taken Carlyle’s assertion to heart in his new book, The Birth of Conservative Judaism: Solomon Schechter's Disciples and the Creation of an American Religious Movement. Drawing on the framework for understanding authority established by German sociologist, philosopher and political economist Max Weber, Cohen deftly lays out a well-researched argument for Schechter’s significant impact on American Jewry as a charismatic leader. From there, Cohen explains the development of Conservative Judaism as fundamentally linked to Schechter’s influence even after his death. This leads Cohen to his overarching thesis, which can essentially be boiled down to this: “Schechter’s rabbinical students at the Jewish Theological Seminary–-his...

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