26 Aug
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When Good Intentions Meet Reality

By Symi Rom-Rymer In a recent posting on the Washington Post's OnFaith blog, a Rabbi and law professor recount their experience on a joint US Jewish-Muslim trip to the concentration camps of Germany and Poland.  According to the authors’ account, “the Muslim leaders were visibly shaken by what they saw” and even those who had previously expressed skepticism about the Holocaust were moved and encouraged those with similar doubts to visit the camps for themselves. Upon their return, the participating imams issued as statement saying in part, “We condemn any attempts to deny this historical reality and declare such denials or any justification of this tragedy as against the Islamic code of ethics…We have a shared responsibility to continue to work together with leaders of all faiths and their communities to fight the dehumanization of all peoples...

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24 Aug
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When we talk about the Middle East

By Symi Rom-Rymer I think Thomas Friedman can read my mind.  Just as I sat down to write this blog post, I came across a new op-ed of his that addressed my very topic.  (Hat tip to Mr. Friedman) In his op-ed, Friedman takes on recent efforts by Western political leaders and entertainment personalities to delegitimize Israel.  He argues that Israel is a complex and multi-faceted country that deserves to be seen and understood in all of its nuance rather than as a symbol of unfettered cruelty.  Furthermore, he gives his readers a glimpse into the Israeli psyche and shows just how it fits into the context of the greater Middle East.  But more importantly, he demonstrates that simplistic views, such as the ones put forth by Britain's Prime Minister or Oliver Stone, serve not...

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23 Jul
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Judaism's Price

By Symi Rom-Rymer I’ve never really thought about how expensive it is to be Jewish.  I’m not talking about the cost of being culturally Jewish, but rather about the financial burden one must assume to be at least a semi-observant, synagogue-belonging Jew.   One reason is because I don’t have any kids, so I’m not shopping around for good Hebrew schools.  Also, I didn’t make it a habit to scan my parent’s temple bills as a child.  So I was content in my bubble of ignorance until I picked up a copy of Newsweek and saw this: The Cost of Being Jewish. In TCBJ, author Lisa Miller argues that to belong to a synagogue today, one typically must pay upwards of $3100 a year.  To her, that fee, especially in a recession, is “troubling…and onerous to families having...

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15 Jul
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A Polish Education

By Symi Rom-Rymer Across Poland, a new form of Jewish remembrance is taking place.  Inmates from 10 different prisons are contributing their manpower to a country-wide effort to clean and maintain abandoned Jewish cemeteries.  Participation in the project—which is sponsored by the prison service and the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland—is, however, about more than coming up with creative ways to keep prisoners occupied.  Beyond the actual labor, the men are also introduced to Jewish culture and religious traditions. For many of prisoners who came of age under communism, talking about anything Jewish was taboo.  But through this program, and with the aid of Poland's chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, that is beginning to change. Before the prisoners set foot in the cemeteries Rabbi Schudrich visits each of the prisons and talks to inmates...

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08 Jul
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Germany and Poland Revisited

By Symi Rom-Rymer When Helen Thomas declared recently that Jews have no place in Israel and should go home to Germany and Poland, she unleashed a current of outrage within the American Jewish community.  How dare she suggest, they wondered, that Jews should return to the countries of ‘the Final Solution.’ From her comments, it was unclear if she meant that Jews should have been killed in the Holocaust or that they should simply go back to what she viewed as their ancestral homelands--never mind that Israeli Jews are from all over the world, including Israel itself.  However, the reaction within the community to the suggestion of Germany and Poland demonstrates that for many American Jews, it amounts to the same thing.  But, in fact, it is not.  While her proposition is at best preposterous and at...

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02 Jul
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The Jews of Dothan

By Symi Rom-Rymer Can you put a price on living in a Jewish community? Larry Blumberg of Dothan, Alabama hopes you can.  Blumberg, a local businessman, is offering $50,000 to any Jewish family willing to settle in Dothan and grow the local community.  Like the Jewish experience in many small southern towns, Dothan’s Jewish community shrunk considerably since the 1970s when mom-and-pop stores--once the economic engines of the small Southern Jewish communities—were put out of business by retail giants. But today, the Jews of Dothan are fighting back. As a recent Atlantic article explains, Dothan must first break through the stereotypes that come with a small town in the deep South.  “I tell them there’s running water, that we wear shoes, have a Starbucks. There have never been any swastikas on the temple door,” said Rob Goldsmith,...

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16 Jun
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Mardi Gras, Jazz, and Anne Rice Oy Vey!

By Symi Rom-Rymer During a mini-vacation to New Orleans this past weekend, I unexpectedly stumbled across a little piece of matzo in my jambalaya. It’s easy to forget with so many Jews living on both coasts that Jews have strong communities in the South as well dating back to the 1700s.  While the early immigrants to the region were traders and furriers, the majority—who came as part of the last big wave of Jews from Eastern Europe in the late 19th-early 20th century—made their mark in dry goods, opening  so-called “Jew Stores” around the South.  (For an excellent personal account of Jewish life in the South during this period, read Jew Store by Stella Suberman) While their Jewishness set them apart and restricted them from certain aspects of Southern life, it also helped them to successfully maneuver...

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11 Jun
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New Angles/Old Topics

By Symi Rom-Rymer The recent flotilla fiasco has unleashed a torrent of articles about Jews, Israel, Zionism, and any semi-related topic.  Buried beneath the information overload, it has been difficult to pinpoint articles that truly have something new to offer.  But here are some that have stood out for me: The first is an op-ed that appeared in Le Monde this week.  Written by Gilles Bernheim, France’s Chief Rabbi, he explores what happens when disparate religious and ethnic groups must share the same land and figure out how to live peacefully side-by-side.   While his focus is France, with little effort one can see echoes of advice for those mired in the Middle East conflict. The second is a piece in the Deutche Welle that looks at the flotilla incident from a European geo-political perspective.  The author, Bahaeddin Guengoer,...

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07 Jun
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Something From Nothing: Ressurecting Global Jewish Communities

By Ariana Siegel The Jerusalem Post reported that a synagogue in Parur, a city in the southern state of Kerala, is currently undergoing a "massive restoration." The effort is funded principally by the government of local South-Indian state called Kerala, with some help from the national Indian government in Delhi. Dr. Venu V. Ias, the Kerala district government’s secretary of tourism, told the Post that, "The restoration work of the Parur synagogue symbolizes the eagerness of Kerala’s people to celebrate their multi-religious heritage.” It would be wonderful to note that the Indian government was taking an interest in the Jews, if in fact there were Jews in Kerala to take an interest in. Sadly, however, the vibrant community of around 3,000 Jews in southern India that existed a century ago has largely disappeared, as all but about...

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03 Jun
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The Crime of Ignorance

By Symi Rom-Rymer Last week, The Desert Sun, the local newspaper of Palm Springs, CA, ran an article about teenagers from La Quinta High School playing a game they called, “Beat the Jew.”    It involved one set of kids (the Nazis) in cars chasing another kid (the Jew) on foot down the street.  The article had no interviews with the participants themselves, so I couldn’t get any sense of who they were, what their motivations were, their understanding of the Holocaust or how they came to invent the game in the first place. However, the official response from the school district was surprisingly blasé.  The school district superintendent, Sharon McGehee, was quoted as saying, “there was no threat; there was no crime.  They just played a game that had an ugly, insensitive stupid game.”  Moreover, McGehee and...

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