#yeshivot

[eretzyisrael]

Sixty-seven Hebron Jews were massacred 95 years ago

It’s another tragic anniversary: 95 years have passed since the Hebron massacre, which claimed the lives of 67 Jews. Unable to protect its Jewish inhabitants, the British mandate authorities evicted them from the city. It remained judenrein until 1967, when Israel took control. The World Jewish Congress has a useful summary:

On 23-24 August 1929, over 60 Jews were murdered in what became known as the Hebron Massacre, which would go down in history as one of the bloodiest slaughters of Jewish civilians during British rule of Mandatory Palestine.

Hebron is one of the most ancient cities in the Land of Israel and is the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. Jews had been living peacefully in Hebron among their Muslim and Christian neighbors for hundreds of years prior to the massacre. A steady flow of religious students traveled to Hebron from the around the world to attend its yeshivot (religious seminaries) in the city.

In August 1929, violent rioters brutally attacked the Hebron Jewish community after the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, a notorious antisemite, claimed that Jews were endangering Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount.

The massacre began on 23 August when local Arabs began staging small-scale attacks. American Jewish immigrant Aharon Reuven Bernzweig, who was visiting Hebron with his wife at the time, later wrote to his family, “We had forebodings that something terrible was about to happen—but what, exactly, we did not know.” He added, “I was fearful and kept questioning the local people, who had lived there for generations. They assured me that in Hebron there could never be a pogrom, because as many times as there had been trouble elsewhere in Eretz Israel, Hebron had remained quiet. The local population had always lived very peacefully with the Arabs.”

By the next day, the violence had escalated, and mobs went door to door screaming, “Kill the Jews.” The angry crowd broke into Jewish houses and castrated, raped, and murdered the inhabitants. Many Jews went into hiding, and some were saved by Arab neighbors who hid Jewish friends until the violence had ended.

In his letter, Bernzweig described an Arab family who had protected him and dozens of other Jews: “Five times the Arabs stormed our house with axes, and all the while those wild murderers kept screaming at the Arabs who were standing guard to hand over the Jews. They, in turn, shouted back that they had not hidden any Jews and knew nothing.”

Read article in full

More about the Hebron massacre

[applesauce42069]

everyone has seen yentl except apparently the people who run yeshivot because they clearly have not been moved.

[claudehenrion]

Et si on parlait du Talmud ?

Au lendemain d'une marche contre l'antisémitisme (qui ne sert absolument à rien, mais qui fait croire qu'on fait quelque chose), l'idée n'est peut-être pas idiote de parler de cette ''tranche'' de la spiritualité occidentale qui est si malmenée depuis –disent certains-- le 7 octobre (d'autres disent : des millénaires !). Nous parlons souvent, dans ce Blog, de l'Evangile, et pour cause : les lecteurs fidèles savent que je vois là notre seule chance de résister à la ''chute finale'' en cours... On parle aussi, moins souvent, du Coran, qui ne met pourtant pas de gants pour s'imposer dans nos vies et dans nos villes... Mais le Talmud est l'oublié de notre culture, son peu d'attrait pour le prosélytisme le mettant loin de la lumière des projecteurs.

Si j'ai l'audace de me lancer dans un tel sujet, c'est parce que je me souviens d'avoir suivi pendant toute une année les cours du Lundi du Grand Rabbin Sitruk dont l'intelligence, l'humour et le brio me fascinaient : la proximité ''sur le fond'' de nos cultures, de nos sources et de nos histoires devrait nous rapprocher davantage. (On peut remarquer que si Vatican II puis le Pape François ont chassé pour l'un puis pourchassé pour l'autre le latin comme étant un indésirable perturbateur, ils ont conservé, dans la liturgie post-conciliaire, de nombreux souvenirs de nos origines hébraïques !).

Le Rabbin Sitruk enseignait ''la Foi d'Israël'', et je buvais ses paroles, tout en restant évidemment fidèle à celle de mes Pères... C'était un temps (dans les années '90) où on savait encore faire la différence entre écouter et militer, entre comprendre et rejeter, entre argumenter et insulter. De nos jours, et pour le plus grand malheur de l'intelligence, en deuil de ce qu'elle fut, toute pensée qui a l'audace de s'écarter de la stupide et néfaste ''doxa'' gaucho-progressiste est qualifiée ou disqualifiée d'extrême droite, automatiquement, sans la moindre raison, mais juste... ''parce que''. Et il paraît qu'il faut voir une insulte dans ce qualificatif disqualifiant.

Force est de reconnaître que, pour la majorité de nos contemporains, le ''Talmud'' appartient à cette nébuleuse de mots que l'on emploie sans avoir la moindre idée de ce qu'ils recouvrent. Au mieux, ion y voit une partie de la Torah (Loi écrite transmise par Dieu à Moïse sur le mont Sinaï), que les chrétiens appellent ''le Pentateuque'', c'est-à-dire la traduction de la Torah, qui remplit "cinq rouleaux", penta-teuque en grec. Le Professeur Marc-Alain Oiknine, co-producteur de l'émission ''Judaïques'' sur France-Culture, dit que le Talmud ''parcourt tous tes sujets de la vie quotidienne, de la mort à l'agriculture, via le droit civil, le droit pénal, la famille, ou... le désir, en 6 chapitres sur la relation de l'Homme avec la terre, le temps, la société, le sacré et la mort''! En fait, toutes les préoccupations liées à la vie.

Les ''gentils'' (dits ''goyim'', = les goys : les nations des non-juifs) ont souvent ironisé sur la méthode employée pour s'approcher de la vérité, qui consiste à poser des questions sans fin (NDLR : au temps où on parlait français, on employait le verbe ''talmudiser'' pour dire : chercher la petite bête...). Le philosophe Emmanuel Levinas explique que : ''le malheur est dans la réponse à une question ! On ne s'arrête pas de poser des questions sans jamais être arrêté par une réponse … car elle ferme la recherche et la discussion''. (NB : il utilise, ailleurs, le mot ''ruminer''!). Dans les ''Yeshivot'' (écoles talmudiques), ces confrontations tendent à montrer combien le monde est multiple, complexe, nuancé, subtil...

Le code juridique hébraïque qui est sorti de cette Loi orale transmise de génération en génération (depuis 5784 ans, date (?) du Bereshit --en hébreu : ��ראשית = commencement), a été compilé, au III è siècle de notre ère, à Tibériade par Rabbi Yeshuda Hannassi : la Mishna (= la répétition) est devenue le socle sur lequel s'appuie la Loi d'Israël. Ce Talmud, dit ''de Babylone'', a été imprimé pour la première fois en 1523 par un vénitien, chrétien, Daniel Bomberg, faisant ainsi du Talmud une articulation constante entre le rite et le rythme de la pensée humaine, refus de tout enfermement de notre pensée dans une vérité unique. Le monde a bien oublié tout cela...

(NDLR : En se replongeant dans les ''fondamentaux'', on comprend mieux pourquoi la pensée juive est rejetée par les enfermés doctrinaires de toute espèce, des politiques aux journalistes et des faux ''Experts'' du covid, hier, (qui étalaient leur absence totale de savoir en invoquant un impossible –car mortel-- ''consensus scientifique'' (sic !), à l'opposé total de ce qu'est la science !), à tous les puristes intégristes de l'Islam, aujourd'hui, qui ont aussi une seule réponse à tout : leur religion à eux. Comme les chrétiens des siècles ''obscurs'' (en 1244 à Paris, ou en 1553 à Rome), les ''islamo-progressistes'' actuels brûlent... de brûler le Talmud en place publique, ''et pas que''.... Sauf que eux ne sortent pas du moyen-âge et devraient savoir... ce qui a été découvert depuis, grâce à l'absence perpétuelle de tout ''consensus scientifique'', justement ! Là où le monde moderne croit tout savoir, la pensée juive érige le doute et le questionnement en valeurs de base.

Par un de ces raccourcis saisissants dont le destin joue parfois, c'est le 7 octobre dernier, ''Dies irae, dies illa ( = jour de colère s'il en fut !), qu'aurait dû s'ouvrir la ''semaine des chrétiens de Terre Sainte''. Personne n'a parlé de cette festivité locale, nulle part, et c'est une insulte à l'intelligence et à la vérité ! J'aurais donc dû ou pu vous parler d'un ''Shabbat'' d'automne, le soleil caressant joliment les pierres jaunes de la Ville Sainte, les ''Khavash'' (= gardes) en grande tenue ouvrant la porte de Jaffa, le Saint Sépulcre vibrant du Te Deum, les foules en liesse... Mais toute lumière s'est éteinte sur cette terre si riche en souvenirs de l'Histoire de l'humanité. Un volcan s'est réveillé et a explosé, détruisant tout, et plus que tout : l'espoir. ''La haine a engendré la haine'', a dit Sa Béatitude le Cardinal Piermaria Pizzabella (NDLR : quel joli nom, pour un porteur de la bonne parole !).

Le diable s'est levé, sur un monde sans justice et sans paix... c'est-à-dire un monde sans Dieu, les dégueulasseries indescriptibles de meurtriers ensanglantés ne pouvant décemment pas être acceptées comme ''faites au nom de Dieu''... quel qu'il soit. ''Allahou Akbar'', que j'ai connu phrase de prière, est devenu synonyme d'appel au meurtre du Blanc, sur la planète entière. Et de l'autre côté, la vengeance est considérée comme devenant ''de droit'', dans certaines circonstances et lorsque l'admissible est dépassé : dans l'absolu, il n'y a plus de relativité... et qu'importent alors le Talmud, la Torah, les Evangiles, tous les ''Shalom'', ''Salam'', ''Pax vobiscum'' (devenu : 'La Paix soit avec vous'')... Il reste la violence, devenue un ''marqueur'' de notre époque.

La Terre, notre chère vieille Terre, est ravagée, détruite, esquintée pour longtemps. Une toute petite lumière persiste à luire dans le cœur de quelques ''Hommes de bonne volonté'' qui veulent encore voir un frère –même éloigné-- dans l'Autre. Dépêchez-vous de la –et de les-- contempler : elle vacille et ils disparaissent. Pourtant, il ne reste plus qu'elle... et eux, pour un tout petit peu de temps, encore !

H-Cl.

[laus-deo]

El Supremo de Israel sentencia que los ultraortodoxos deben prestar el servicio militar

El Tribunal Supremo de Israel ha sentenciado que el gobierno tiene la obligación de alistar a los ultraortodoxos hasta ahora exentos de un servicio militar que cumple obligatoriamente el resto de judíos del país. La sentencia, que recibió el voto a favor de los 9 magistrados del tribunal, decreta igualmente que el estado no debe financiar los seminarios religiosos -yeshivot- en los que estudian.…

[infosisraelnews]

Que feront les Haredim sans les budgets de l'État ? Ce sont leurs réponses surprenantes.

Après la décision dramatique de la Haute Cour de Justice selon laquelle les ultra-orthodoxes seront obligés de s’enrôler et que les budgets des yeshivot fréquentées par des jeunes hommes qui doivent s’enrôler seront arrêtés, nous avons cherché à découvrir comment les  familles orthodoxes réagiront lorsque tout cela commencera à se matérialiser. La famille Dayan Maled a quatre garçons dans la…

[nataliesnews]

Haridiem and the kidnapped, the shadow, atrocities, anti-semitism, Bedouin, an expensive soda 5.11.2023

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Natalie Ginsburg <natanyag@gmail.com>

to me

I am sending you two PDFs about Arab citizens in Israel. Just as Jews feel targeted overseas, so they do here.

I forced myself to walk this morning hoping it would ease the cramp in my leg. I realise that I have to force myself to walk as my balance also is not so good and I have to be very careful when I turn. At the corner of Herzyl I saw these banners. When we passed there a few times this corner which has become very Haredi is filled with religious mothers and their prams and their slightly bigger offspring wrapped or waving flags madly. I was curious to see the banners they had put up. Not one word about the kidnapped. One reads, "The Jewish people live" The other, "We fight till the last terrorist." The other refers to the Lion of Judah which I guess means we will be protected. I just hope that their husbands and sons are also fighting and not sitting in the Yeshivot and that they mean to fight to the last terrorist and not to the last secular fighter. And if you think I am prejudiced, yes I am because of all the moneys which are being directed to such groups. 

Then there  is this photo of Ben Gvir kissing and giving money to "The Shadow, "  Eliasi , has previously used his social media platforms to call for the castration and organ harvesting of slain Palestinian assailants, and has compared left-wing Israelis to an AIDS epidemic

 and has already led an attack against demonstrators. I was also once threatened by him . 

Sunday:

And this is what I wrote on facebook to our dear leader.....who is skulking in his hidey hole. Let's see if facebook leaves it .  He came out with the underlined statement.  This evening at the nightly demonstration outside the house of Herzog there were a group of people demonstrating.  They were evacuated and now have been told to leave the hotel where they were.  They asked Herzog  to come out to them. You think he did? Not once have he or Netanyahu come out to the protestors. 

Israel has made a great mistake not showing the atrocities which were carried out by Hamas. By the way, there are those who deny that there were atrocities and so it is easy for people to deny. I can understand people not wanting the world to see what happened to their families but this is making it too easy for people to deny. Only today the body of a celebral palsied young woman was found who was slaughtered together with her father. So I will tell you one thing that I saw, a woman being led to a jeep with the back of her pants stained red. It does not need much imagination. Just as Eisenhower showed the world what had happened in the camps,  so this has to be shown to the world as much as it is.

As far as the anti-Semitism in the world.....I believe more and more what one person said....that it was always latent and now people feel free to show it.  The western countries of the world should realise that Hamas is Isis....and that eventually what happened here in Israel will happen all over the Western world. That today it is the Jews and tomorrow it will be the Christians.  I am not talking of the ordinary Moslem but of those who are eventually so influenced by Hamas and such organizations that they will also be prepared to perpetrate any evil in the name of religion. Just as Ben Gvir and his ilk, including the idiot in the government who suggested we drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza. 

 When people speak of Arabs they should read  this:

Four Bedouin drove from Rahat to evacuate their cousin in Be'eri; they rescued dozens

And if you ask how this has affected me....of course it has but I stick basically to what I always thought and you can read the PDF about others like me. I feel for the ordinary people of Gaza but if their leaders really wanted a cease fire they would start by returning our hostages. 

And to leave you on a lighter note..... I nearly had a heart attack today. My hairdresser went to visit her daughter in America and has either not been able to get back or is waiting to do so. Another friend of mine told me that her children do not want her to come back....she is also there. So I decided last week  to go to the hairdresser here and the same day we had to go to a funeral. I was already feeling like a real gorilla. I looked up on the internet and saw that dafke there is one about 5 minutes walk from here. When I made  an appointment  he said he did not give prices over the phone. Julia used to take 80 shekel, I heard of one woman who took 180 and I thought it can't be much worse than that. 

I did not like the place or him from the first moment. He was flouncing all over the show and booming away and his three helpers, though quiet, looked like puppies following their mother. Showering me with compliments which I hate. Giving orders left and right about what oil to use, and to always bring a client  some soda water and to offer coffee. They must  have washed my hair about 4 times and while he was cutting it , talking to other customers over the phone. "Of course, darling, you know I always have time for  you", etc, etc. "Oh yes we have a wonderful rinse just for you." Ugh. When after he had cut it he said he wanted to wash it again to give it the final finish. That finished me off and I said no I was in hurry. So now I come to pay him.....he says to me, "I always take 350 but seeing it is you I will take 250." FOR A CUT. I paid him quickly so that I would not faint there on his floor. He told me to phone anytime I needed a cut. I thought to myself, "You should live that long." And dafke when I was telling a friend she said that she had  had the same experience and the same dislike. 

[sethshead]

Is the Times's reporting on this scandal still "antisemitic" when the city's investigation confirms what so many, Jewish and gentile have been saying about Hasidic yeshivot? An education that self-marginalizes, that further insulates a community from its neighbors, is not a beautiful thing. Hasidic children have the right not only to the perpetuation of Jewish learning, but to a strong education in English, math, history, science, and the numerous other subjects they need to function as citizens in our diverse, pluralistic city and country.

[teachings2023]

La deuxième ville la plus importante pour les juifs qui étudient la Torah est Soubbataï Tsvi, qui est située en Israël. Soubbataï Tsvi est une ville haredi et un centre important pour l'étude de la Torah et des enseignements juifs. Il y a de nombreuses écoles et yeshivot à Soubbataï Tsvi, et c'est un lieu de pèlerinage pour les juifs religieux.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Just wanted to let you know that in Israel (where I live) we just got out of a lockdown that was done to moderate the amount of people gathering to pray. And everything was enforced, EXCEPT for the limits on the orthodox. And they still gathered. And now 90% or businesses are closed but the orthodox demanded (and got approval) to open their yeshivot to pray. They also refuse to wear masks and follow guidelines cause “god will protect them” and no one can do anything.

Hate to point it out, but their god didn’t protect his chosen people 80 years ago - what makes them think he’ll protect them from the virus... that he sent?

It’s kind of a shitty god who won’t protect them unless they go to a particular place at a particular time, and say particular words in a particular way. Especially one who makes them put the lives of other people at risk in order to earn this “protection.” I guess their god actually isn’t everywhere.

This is another great example of where these stupid superstitions devalue human life. Screw humans who might get sick. No, an exemption must be made to public safety for reasons of “faith,” in the name of “sensitivity.”

Even if you can’t do anything about them, you need to look after yourself and your own family. I would treat them as, well, “unclean,” so to speak. Keep a very wide berth, have nothing to do with any of them. You pretty much have to treat them as if they’re infected. And take care of yourself.

By the way, and I realize it’s in kind of poor taste, but what the hell: Anne Frank’s family stayed in for eight years to protect their family. And they did it without the luxury of Zoom, Hangouts, Amazon and UberEats. Just saying.

[insane-control-room]

dreams sometimes dont come to life

A short essay on why Buddy Lewek's characterization was the worst thing to happen to me during all my time of loving Bendy and the Ink Machine.

My excitement for DTCL was a simmering, cautious hope. 

A Jewish character? In a period right after WW2? Could there be, for once, proper religious representation in the media? My mind was full of ideas for how DTCL could approach his Yiddishkeit, how easy it would be for them! His name is Daniel? Have a cute little scene where he corrects someone’s pronunciation from DAN-iel to dah-NI-el. Negotiating to not work on Saturday, or feeling guilty or conflicted over it. Bringing home a nice tichel for his mother, who as a seamstress would appreciate fine fabric craftsmanship. Yiddish falling into conversation. A Rabbi mentor to show the difference between the two environments he was in. There were so many wonderful options, but I knew not to hope too hard. 

Just like the JDS itself, it was too good to be true. 

I had not read the book until today, because I had been gut punched by the information my friends had given me that there was hardly any mention of his Jewishness at all. The bite was worsened by it’s advertizing as a Jewish character. Which… barely.

The reality of the book hurt.

A lot.

So much so that it is what turned me away from the canon lore at all. 

I could not even read it because I did not want my disappointment to be worse, as it already stung like a wasp had managed to get into my heart. So for three years, this has just been sitting on my mind. This little nagging feeling of loss. The loss of something I never should have even hoped for.

But hey, we all want to be represented. 

It’s only so disappointing when it's simply a brownie card. 

I will go in order of the book of how it is written, and only focus on the Jewish side of things, despite my qualms with the writing itself as well, and other historical inaccuracies, and of those there are many. Nor will I mention my personal opinions on ‘shoulds and woulds’ of the personality of a Yid. No matter how hard that is for my critical mind. 

Right off the bat, we’re treated to the lovely Lower East Side! I have personal friends whose family is from that location during that time period, back when it was a whopping 70% Jewish population. Funnily enough, there is not a single reference to any synagogues or Yeshivot or klezmer bands or gemachs or… anything that was very prevalent in the area. In fact, it subtly pushes the whole concept of “Dirty Jew” in a way that tries to sugarcoat it with “look at how unfortunate Buddy’s situation is!” instead of the actual perceptions that have for so long followed the footsteps of almost any Jewish person. Antisemitism forced many Jews in the 1880s to move into slum like areas, and the entire conception had evolved from such a constricted environment. It is true that hygiene was an issue, however, when you take thousands of vastly poor, largely unsecularly educated, mass immigrants and try to cram them all in one place because no one could afford to travel- you get a lack of cleanliness. Such is life. The fact that the book does not touch on the reason aside from a causal reference that the people there were hard workers about a hundred pages later leans even heavier into that assumption. 

Assuming that Mr. Schwartz was Jewish (or even not) the garment industry of the time would not have cared if a delivery boy would have quit. There was, again, a massive influx of fresh and desperate workers who would work for little wages and long hours. It bothered me because one is to assume Mr. Schwartz was Jewish due to the time period and how prevalent Jews are in the garment industry, especially historically. During this time period especially, Jewish disunion in said industry were at record highs, so one person quitting would mean nothing. There would always be another person to fill the gap… and likely at a lower wage. 

Buddy’s knowledge of the war is also constantly shifting and disturbing in the way that it glosses over the Holocaust part of the Holocaust. He mentions that he knows about the War, hell, his father died in it, but he makes no reference to knowing why. In every single Jewish community, religious or otherwise, the Holocaust was a major issue. People excused FDR’s inaction due to the good he was giving to Jews already in America. Everyone knew about what was going on, even little kids. There is no reason he should be surprised about his Grandfather’s arrival. There is no reason that he would recognize his Grandfather’s accent, either, as there is no mention of anyone else with such an accent. As a child of immigrants, I cannot hear their accents, and that’s something I have noticed a lot of other first generation Americans do as well. So even if Buddy’s mother had a Polish accent, then it is still very unlikely that he would have recognized it. On the term of Grandfathers, how the hell does he not know the term Zeyde living in a community that, even today, dominantly speaks Yiddish? Especially considering the fact that Zeyde is a word that any schmuck off the street would know. 

Let’s consider Buddy’s nickname now. As Dot mentions, yes, Danny (pronounced dah-NI) or Dan would be more likely. But it’s because he was a little helper! Surely nicknames like Buddy would suit that purpose well! If he had been purely Polish, then maybe. But because he is a Yid in the LES, that is a hard no. The nickname would have been Ah klineh Menchie. A mensch is a boy that is very well mannered and always looking to help. Menchie is a very common nickname for such a personality even today. Being called “Buddy” makes no sense in such a community. 

The word “Jew” is not used in the book at all. There are only two uses of the word “Jewish”, all the way on page one hundred. Removing this from the book would have changed nothing. In fact, I would have found it a far more enjoyable read, reminding people that it was not just Jews who had been massacred and murdered in the camps. It would have gotten rid of the question. 

The question.

That question. 

“You’re Jewish, right?”

First and foremost, due to Buddy’s portrayal, Dot had absolutely no reason to assume that he was Jewish. Everyone knew that all those against the Nazis were put into the camps or simply murdered. This is what nailed the coffin shut for me. I wish they would have made him Polish, and Polish alone. I already knew what to expect thanks to my friend’s warning three years prior, but I still could not help but feel utter disappointment and hurt with Buddy’s defensive response. Defensive. This trait would not come up in Jews for many more years since the 1880s, all the way until the 1980s. As a frankly completely non Jewish boy who happens to have Jewish blood, he would have shrugged it off. Instead, the book uses both mentions of, not even Judaism, but Jewishness, to bring up antisemitism in a historically inaccurate and nauseating way. No Jewish pride. No casual agreement. Not even confusion before recognition. Defensive and angry. 

Soul crushing. My disappointment is immense and my lack of surprise is larger. 

Needless to say, my motivation to finish the book had been axed sharply, and the next chapter, chapter 10, was the last I managed to read with a critical eye, especially because it is the end of any possible hope. The rest of the book fails to have anything else historical or cultural of value. 

Buddy displays no Yiddishkeit. He does not wear a kippah, he does not wear tzitzit, he does not even recognize Yiddish. No kosher, no Shabbat, no chagim or zmanim. Hell, he eats out with Mr. Drew at a restaurant, and even if the steak somehow had been kosher, he eats cheesecake directly after. Nebach. No hashkafa at all.

The end of the chapter is what turned off my brain, however.

Using the term ‘Never again’ with said not kosher food. 

Well. 

Do I even have to explain how belittling that is? Do I have to say why this leaves me numb? Do I have to continue reading with thought, only for more pain?

Dai li. Enough for me. 

I finished the book. Of course I did. I haven’t left a book unfinished in years. 

The rest I read hollowly. There was nothing for me in it. It had an okay story, fine plot points, and tied into the game. More or less. Mainly just used the names and slapped on a BatIM sticker.

Dreams come to life, sometimes.

Not this time, Control. Keep dreaming. 

Thank you for reading this rant that has been on my chest for three years. 

[gliklofhameln]

By 1802, when Rabbi Hayim of Volozhin established the yeshiva there, the basic roles had changed because the relationships had radically altered. Although Rabbi Hayim was the rabbi of Volozhin, when he wanted to establish a yeshiva there he went outside his community to raise the requisite financial resources. Although that is the common pattern today and many strong arguments can be made in its defence, such as that it eases the financial burden on the local community, it radically restructured some traditional relationships: between the yeshiva and rosh yeshivah and the local community, and between the rosh yeshiva and the local rabbi. The broadening of the base of financial support for the yeshiva meant that it was no longer under the direct control of the community within it was located, and that the rosh yeshivah, too, was now much more independent. Moreover, not only were the rosh yeshivah and rabbi no longer one and the same, they were now potentially in conflitc with one another for the loyalties of the members of the community as well as of the yeshiva students. As Rabbi Dr Immanuel Jakobovits put it,

The denigration and usurpation of the role of practicing rabbis by yeshivah deans had virtually eliminated the traditional place and functions of the rabbinate in the spiritual government of the religious community, resulting in the disappearance of the public Torah image in the community at large... the transfer of rabbinic jurisdiction from communal rabbis to academic scholars confined to yeshivot had severely limited the scope of contemporary Halakhah and caused substantial deviations from the traditional pattern in the methods used to determine Jewish law.

Not infrequently, each attempted to enhance his own stature at the expense of the other. Within this development, the tendency towards stringecy played a special role in that the more stringent ruling was frequently posited as and viewed as the more ‘authentic’ one.

  — Chaim I. Waxman, Social Change and Halakhic Evolution in American Orthodoxy

[nevermindirah]

Ok it's Jewish Booker o'clock, I can no longer stop myself, let's do this!

Why Jewish Booker? Dude was born in Marseilles in 1770, which happens to be a FASCINATING time and place in Jewish history, and it adds ridiculous layers to his character (without excusing a damn thing). Alternately just because I think he’s neat :)

Jewish Booker headcanons that make me happy:

not to be all "real Jews do X" but Jews fuck with candles hard. Book of Nile thrives on old/modern analog/digital giggles. Booker lighting Shabbat candles, lighting yarzeit (memorial) candles for his wife and sons (sob), lighting a menorah, lighting candles just because he's feeling emotional even though it's not chag (a holiday) or a yarzeit and Nile thinks he's trying to be sexy but he's really just in his feelings. just like. so many candles.

maybe Booker was the person who punched Richard Spencer at Trump's inauguration, just bringing back that time somebody punched a famous neonazi in the street and said neonazi has all but stopped appearing in public after a few rounds of public punching

were the Old Guard in Charlottesville in 2017? how many times has Booker the Blond Jew infiltrated North American white nationalist / Klan type activities and then stolen their weapons and/or killed them? likewise there's plenty of horrifying white nationalist shit happening across Europe this century, how many Pim Fortuyn types has he been involved in taking down? (I Am Of Course Not Endorsing Violence TM ;) ;) )

SINGING. Mattias Schoenaerts sings in Away From the Madding Crowd but it's church shit, sigh, anyway he has a nice voice. a lot of Jewish prayer is sung/chanted (depending on when/where you are and the gender rules of the community you're in) and there’s been a lot of innovation to Jewish singing in Booker’s lifetime, and I just want Nile to overhear him singing to himself on Friday afternoons

Nile Freeman was four years old when The Prince of Egypt came out, she grew up on that shit, she would want to introduce her new family to that shit. Please join me in picturing Booker, Nicky, Joe, and Andy all shouting "that's not how it happened!!" throughout this beautiful nightmare of a movie with lovely animation and songs but where white people voice most of the Egyptian and Jewish characters, because Booker Nicky and Joe's religious texts all frame the Exodus story a little differently and Andy was probably there when it happened (except for how it didn't actually happen it's an important story but it's just a story pls just let me giggle about Andy being super old)

Read below the cut for sad Jewish Booker headcanons, French Jewish history (mostly sad), context on antisemitism (enraging/sad), and all the way to the very end for a himbo joke.

Jewish Booker headcanons, I made myself sad edition:

he is a forger. who was alive. in 1939. visas. VISAS. V I S A S. how many of us did he save? how many more could he have saved if he didn't sleep that night? how heavily does that weigh?

how do we think he BECAME a forger? most likely he was doing what he needed to do to support his family, which gets extra poignant if he was also trying to help his people, forging documents as well as money even during his mortal life

Booker raised Catholic by crypto-Jews adds ANOTHER layer to the forgery thing, no shit he'd get good at falsifying paperwork and coming up with plausible cover stories

do we know how Booker made it back home after his first death in 1812? his route between the Russian Empire and Provence in 1812 would've been a patchwork of laws about Jews, in case starvation and frostbite weren't enough for him to have to deal with, he's blond and could maybe get away with pretending not to be Jewish if he had to, alternately maybe synagogues and yeshivot took him in on his way home

the structural and sometimes-interpersonal dynamics of antisemitism cause many individual Jews to experience feelings of teetering on the fence between a valued member of a not-exclusively-Jewish community and a scapegoat/outcast/problem. HOLY SHIT BOOKER. "what do you know of all these years alone" is the most Jewish loneliness-in-a-crowd shit I've ever heard. fear that we're not wanted, or only wanted so long as we're useful — that's something that basically all people struggle with under capitalism, but it's especially poignant for many Jews because of the particular way antisemitism operates. (NOTE this can tip from a legit Jewish Booker reading to woobification of the sad white man who couldn't possibly be held responsible for his own actions because he's so sad, which, NOPE. it's very understandable for him to feel left out and misunderstood and not as wanted, as the youngest and not part of an immortal couple and maybe Jewish, but NONE OF THIS excuses his betrayal.)

Crusaders murdered a lot of Jews on their way to the ~holy land~. how many of Booker's people did Nicky kill on his way to kill Joe's people? has Booker ever actually talked to either of them about it?

I read this really beautiful fic about Joe needing to circumcise himself after getting run over by a cart (ouch) — this is a hell of a thing for Joe and Booker to have in common

just generally Jewish Booker adds more layers to him and Joe so clearly being such close friends, ugh that look Joe gives him when they're leaving the bar at the end of the movie, and I very much do not mean this in a gross Arab-Israeli-conflict way because Joe is Amazigh not Arab and Booker is Jewish not Israeli (and also a lot of Jews are Arabs) (but most importantly there's no ~eternal conflict~ between Muslims and Jews) (more about OP Is Not A Zionist below)

like, the UK and France (and to a certain extent Italy) carved up the former Ottoman Empire after WWI; among other things, the UK took Palestine, and they could've worked on eradicating European antisemitism so Jews wouldn't have to leave but instead they used their control of Palestine to encourage Zionist emigration of Jews out of Europe, and France took what is now Iraq, which has some pretty direct implications for US military involvement in that country in Nile's lifetime; France colonized Tunisia in the late 19th century and still held it during the Vichy era which means Tunisian Jews were subject to Nazi anti-Jewish laws which is just layers upon layers of colonial racist Islamophobic and antisemitic nightmares for Joe and Booker to live through

to be crystal clear before anybody gets ooh Muslim-Jewish conflict up in here, antisemitism is an invention of European Christians that they imported to the places they colonized, the European colonial powers encouraged Zionism because it was easier for them to encourage Jews to leave Europe and set us up as middle agents between the colonial powers and the ~scary brown people~, the Ottoman Empire and other Muslim governments historically have had a second-class citizenship category for non-Muslims that rankles my American first amendment freedom of religion sensibility but was very much not targeting Jews specifically, and these two men who've lived for a long-ass time through many varieties of geopolitical awfulness (and alongside a certain unwashed Crusader who has since learned his lesson) would have Things To Say about how our current mainstream discourses frame these things

getting off my soapbox and back to this action movie I'm trying to talk about, the ANGST of Booker's exile, which is simultaneously a very valid decision for Andy Joe and Nicky to make, an extremely long time for Nile who is only 26 years old to be separated from the one person on the planet in a position to really understand the crisis she's going through, and holy shit expelling a Jew from your group when he's already been expelled from mortality and his family and being expelled from places and continually having to start over somewhere new is THE curse of surviving through antisemitism, OUCH MY FEELINGS

Some French Jewish history:

France, like basically all of Europe, periodically expelled its Jews, but Provence (where Marseilles is) wasn't legally part of France during the expulsions up through 1398 so Provence had a continuous active Jewish community; about 3,000 Iberian Jewish refugees ended up in Provence after the expulsions from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s

the 1498 expulsion of French Jews DID apply to Provence but many "converted" to Christianity and reestablished a Jewish community when enforcement of the expulsion chilled out (which was in the government's interest because they were really into taxing Jews at higher rates, so much so that they taxed "new Christians" at higher rates once they realized expelling Jews meant they wouldn't be around to overtax, ffs) — by the mid-18th century Provence had notable communities of Jews and crypto-Jews (forced converts and their descendants who still kept some Jewish practices in secret)

Booker would've been 21 when revolutionary France granted equal legal rights to Jews in 1791 — his mortal life and first century of immortality happens to line up almost perfectly with the timeline of legal emancipation of Jews across Europe

the American and French Revolutions happened pretty much concurrently and took different approaches to religious freedom that make Book of Nile with Jewish Booker and canon Christian Nile extra interesting — French emancipation, at least from my American sensibility, is about secularism and religion not "interfering" (hence French Islamophobic shittiness about banning hijabs), whereas American religious freedom is more of "the government can't stop me from trying to evangelize / religiously harass people at my school/workplace/etc" — to be clear I think both countries' approaches to religious "freedom" are hegemonic as shit and have devastating flaws, but they're different models that emerged at the same time in Booker's youth and Christianity is clearly a source of emotional support for Nile and there's so much to explore here

Napoleon tried to ~liberate~ the Jews of places he conquered for his dumbass French Empire, but liberation from ghettos came with strings attached (like banning us from some of the only jobs we'd been legally allowed to have for centuries, and liberating us for the stated purpose of getting us to assimilate and stop being Jews) and many places that were briefly part of the French Empire reinstated their antisemitic laws after Napoleon was gone, can you imagine being a French Jew forced to fight and die in Russian winter for that jackass and then have to trudge back through a dozen countries whose antisemitism was all riled up by French interference?

Some facts about antisemitism:

antisemitism operates differently than many other oppressions, it doesn't economically oppress the target group in the same way as antiblackness or misogyny or ableism etc — the purpose of antisemitism is to create a scapegoat to blame when European peasants are mad at the king / the church / the people actually in charge, and structural antisemitism encourages a system where some Jews become visibly successful so that those individuals and our whole community are easier to make into scapegoats

one of the historical roots of antisemitism is stuff in the Christian Bible about moneylending as sinful — Jews in medieval Europe were often barred from owning land and Christians barred from moneylending, so some Jews found work in finance and some of us became very visibly successful for working with money — a few individual Jews running a particular bank or finding success as jewelry dealers turns into "Jews control global financial systems" scapegoating — a more recent example of this is the participation of nonblack Jews in white flight and the role of Jewish landlords doing the visible dirty work of non-Jewish institutions in American antiblack housing discrimination, Nile grew up on the South Side of Chicago and would have seen some shit along these lines and might repeat hurtful ideas out of a lack of knowledge, here's Ta Nahesi Coates on some of these dynamics

Booker canonically being a forger (specifically of coins in the comics?) needs a little extra care to avoid antisemitic tropes about Jews and money, I will happily answer good-faith asks about this if you want to check on something for a fic/etc

antisemitism in the United States where I live in October 2020 isn't institutional in the sense of targeting Jews for police violence or anything like that. it IS systemic, however, for example in all the antisemitic conspiracy theories the Trump administration and several other Republicans peddle (ie QAnon), and in how the Trump administration points to support for Israel as if that means support for Jews (it doesn't, it's evangelical Christians who push the US government to support the Israeli government because they think Jews need to be in the ~holy land~ for Jesus to come back that's literally why the United States funds Israel at the level it does). antisemitism also gets weaponized to encourage white Jews (those of us of European descent, who in the United States are definitely white because the foundation of US racism is slavery and antiblackness as well as anti-indigenous genocide, maybe European Jews aren't included in whiteness everywhere but we definitely are where I live) to side with white supremacy instead of building solidarity with other marginalized people (ie a lot of mainstream Jewish groups shit on the Movement for Black Lives because of its solidarity with Palestinians)

the Nation of Islam has a major presence in Chicago and its leader Louis Farrakhan who lives in Chicago has long spread a variety of antisemitic as well as homophobic bullshit but there are genuine good reasons many Black people find meaning/support in the Nation of Islam and Nile would've grown up with that mess in the air around her, this is a good take from a Black Jew about the nuance of all that

the way the Old Guard comics draw Yusuf al Kaysani is HOLY SHIT ANTISEMITISM BATMAN I hate it please summarize the comics for me because I DO NOT WANT to look at that unnecessarily caricatured nose why the fuck did they do that human noses are beautiful there is absolutely no need to draw Joe like a Nazi would

Jews for Racial and Economic Justice is a local NYC group that recently developed a fantastic resource for understanding and fighting antisemitism (pdf) 11/10 strongly recommend

Zionism disclaimer: A lot of Jews feel strongly that we need a Jewish-majority country in order to be safe from antisemitism. I strongly disagree with this idea on its merits (Jews disagree about who is a Jew and making Jewish status a government/immigration matter means some of us are going to get left out; also non-Jews aren't fundamentally dangerous and separatism isn't going to end antisemitism) but I have a lot of empathy for the very valid fear that leads a lot of my people to Zionism. Whether I want a Jewish-majority country or not, what Israel has done and continues to do to Palestinians is a deal breaker. Emotions run very high on this subject — I spend a lot of my not-Tumblr life talking to other Jews about Zionism and I'd rather not have this Jewish Booker headcanons post become yet another place where fellow Jews yell at me in bad faith. Block me if you need to, you're not going to change my mind. Call me self-hating if you want, I know I love us.

Racism in fandom disclaimer: I feel weird about increasing the volume of meta about Booker in this fandom. Nile Freeman is the main character and deserves lots of attention and adoration from the fandom — and she deserves emotional support from as many friends and orgasms from as many partners as she wants. I think Jewish Booker makes her friendship and potential romantic relationship with him even more interesting, hence this post. Ship what you ship, but be aware of the racist impact of focusing your fandom activity on, for example, shipping two white men while ignoring awesome characters of color especially the canon man of color one of those white dudes has already been with for a millennium. Please and thanks don't use my post for shenanigans like sidelining Joe so you can ship Booker with Nicky.

Oh and a non-disclaimer fun fact, Matthias Schoenaerts was born in Antwerp which apparently has one of the largest Jewish communities still remaining in Europe?? ~Jewish Booker headcanons intensify~

In conclusion: Jewish Booker! Just because it's fun! It exponentially increases the angst of his mortal lifetime and it puts his first century of immortality smack in the middle of the most intense changes to Jewish life since the fall of the Second Temple (aforementioned emancipation, also founding of Reform Judaism, the Haskalah, Zionism, and then of course the Holocaust). It makes his relationships with Nile, Joe, and Nicky more interesting and potentially angstier and with more intense commonalities and tenderness about their differences. It's very common for Jews to not believe in God (this confuses the shit out of a lot of Christians) and this would probably have further endeared him to Andy.

One more thing: Booker as golem. (A golem is basically an earthenware robot of Jewish folklore.) He's tall and blond and the most Steve Rogers-looking of all of them and from the Himbeaux region of France. THE trope of Book of Nile is he will do WHATEVER Nile wants or needs him to do. I was today years old when I learned that Modern Hebrew speakers use golem figuratively to mean "mindless lunk" and I'm choosing to squint and read that as "hot kind and dumb as rocks" because it amuses me.

[infosisraelnews]

Drame à la Haute Cour : le tribunal a décidé de geler le financement des étudiants de yeshiva qui se soustraient à la conscription

La Haute Cour de justice a rendu une décision sans précédent obligeant le gouvernement à geler le financement des yeshivot dont les étudiants ne rejoignent pas l’armée le 1er avril sans bénéficier d’un sursis. Jusqu’à la fin de l’année scolaire, les yeshivot ne pourront recevoir un budget que pour les élèves non soumis à la conscription.  Les juges ont adopté un tel verdict provisoire après que…

[hadarmarkin]

Beyond the Purim Story: An Introduction to Persian Jewry

Centered in the ancient capital of the Perisan Empire, the story of Purim offers a glimpse into the life of the Iranian jewry- a long standing community with roots beginning in biblical times to Contemporary Iran. In the Megillah, the orphan Esther, paves her way into the royal court, and later saves her Jewish people from destruction. Although historically questionable, the Purim tale in many ways, is a microcosmos of the history of the Iranian community.  A saga that could be sketched as a linear graph with sharp ups and downs, from regality to poverty, from great political power to persecution. And to add to this extraordinary trajectory, It is also one of the few Jewish communities still existing (rather miraculously) in large numbers in a Muslim country, and under radical theocratic regime.

A portrait of Queen Esther 

Despite this fascinating history and the important contribution of Iraninan Jews to global commerce (which will be discussed later), the topic received very limited scholarly attention. In fact, less than a handful of books were dedicated to Persian Jewry. I lament this on a personal level as I am Iranian from my paternal side. Therefore, this post is a humble attempt for reparation. It contains a short historical view, and aims to provide a sense of its rich folklore through the lens of fictional literature and culinary.

Major Milestones in the History of Persian Jews

The Persian community is one of the oldest ones in the diaspora as it dates back to the Babylonian exile in the fourth century B.C. For the two centuries to follow, the Perisan community was linked to the Jewish communities in Babylonia and Mesopotamia. The famous Yeshivot  (Torah learning academies) in Sura and Pumbedita, in which the Babylonian Talmud was crafted, were a source of guidance for the refugees in Persia. To this day, the Iraqi and the Persian communities bear much resemblance in terms of culture and religious practice. Their cooking (later discussed) is similar as well.

Babylonian Exile map

In ancient and medieval times, the Jews of Persia were well known as savvy and wealthy merchants. Situated in a prime location between China and India and Europe, Persian Jews were pivotal in what was then global commerce. Through the Silk Road and other networks of trades, Persian Jews imported spices and other goods, such as rice and tea to the west.

Silk Road’s Routs

Persian Jews were influential and properous through the first generations following the Arab Muslim conquest of Iran in the third centry A.D. Their status and living conditions deteriorated significantly with the accession of the intolerant Shiite Safavid rule. Under a regime, in which non- Muslims were considered impure heretics, Persian Jews were pushed to the margins of society and poverty. Excluding a short resurgence during the Sunni Mogul takeover of Persia in the sixteenth century, the Persian community lived under hardship and fear. The Shiite Shahs harshly oppressed minorities, denying them any position of power and restricting them to a few professions and areas of living. In several episodes in the course of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Jews were expelled from the cities they lived in and forced to convert to Islam. Subsequently, many Persian Jews fled to Iraq, Syria, Samarkand and Georgia.

The economic and overall living situation improved in the late nineteenth century as Iran increasingly opened to the west. Although still segregated in Jewish quarters, urban Jews pursued western education. Jews, including women, gained proficiency in languages, such as English and French. They also increased their integration into local Iranian society, and named their children in both Hebrew and Parsi names. Jewish women did not veil, but they adopted the black Chador  to cover their faces when out of the house. Similar to other Jewish communities at the time, girls were betrothed at age 8 or 9 and married when they were about 16. It was common for women to pilgrim to other parts of the country to visit sites, such as Queen Esther’s burial place, near Isfahan.

Queen Esther’s Tomb

The rise of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925 marked a turning point. This transformation allowed the Jews once more to be in a position of influence both politically and economically. Many immigrated from the hinterland to Teharn to explore new opportunities, and a few became close to Risa Shah and other men in powerful posts. For the most part, this elite chose to stay in Iran after Israel’s Independence. The lower and middle class Jews opted to immigrate to the new Jewish State in 1948.

The Muslim revolution in 1979  drew a sharp decline in the status and overall safety of Iranian Jews. After decades of prosperity, the Jewish community was once again isolated and in grave danger. The initial period of the new Isalimic republic was particularly traumatic given constant harassment and even execution of several Jewish businessmen for their alleged connection to Israel and the United States. In the following years, the situation seemed to stabilize, and Jews were given a certain degree of religious autonomy. Although most Iranian Jews fled the country in several waves in the aftermath of the revolution, a sizable group remained. Today, their number is estimated at nine thousand. Given the lack of reliable information, their overall condition is unclear. Recent imgirants paint an ambiguous image of harmony with Muslim neighbors, and yet a feeling of imminent threat. Unsurprisingly, Iranian news reports emphasize the community’s well being and alignment with the regime.

Images of contemporary community life 

Outside of Iran, Israel and North America are the main hubs of Iranian Jewry and smaller pockets exist in London, Melbourne and Buenos Aires. Two significant communities in the United States are located in Great Neck, New York (also known as Persian Island) and in Los Angeles (it’s estimated that about 25 percent of Beverly Hills population is of an Iranian- Jewish descent). Many of the immigrants in America were able to bring their fortune to the new land and used their capital and expertise to start businesses in the clothing, food and electricity industries.

In Israel, as an attempt to integrate, Iranian Jews adapted to the culture and values of mainstream society while leaving their own heritage behind. This may be a gross generalization, but sociological studies, statistics and experience of living in Israel suggest a trend of assimilation. As a result of their pragmatism, Iranian Jews have made great accomplishments in the sphere of public service. The IDF, in particular, was a stepping stone to obtain power within the military (and later in Israeli politics). Among its current and former ranks, one can find a high number of generals of Iranian descent, including two chiefs of staff.

Real Persian Housewives

An exception to the unspoken policy of concealing Persian legacy is the author Dorit Rabinyan. Born in Israel into a warm tight knit Iranian family, Rabinyan used her gift for writing to bring Persian tradition into the spotlight. Inspired by her grandmothers and aunts’ tales of life in the old country, Rabinyan published her first novel Persian Brides (titled in Hebrew, The Almond Tree Road in Oumrijan) when she was only 21 years old. The book, an immediate  bestseller, was widely translated and praised by critics, describing Rabinyan as a meteor and comparing her to Gabriel García Márquez”.

Dorit Rabinyan

In Persian Brides, Rabinyan masterfully crafted a new hybrid of Hebrew- rich and whimsical -Parsi sounding text. Through her vivid language, Rabinyan invites the reader to experience the surreal Persian village of Oumrijan in the dawn of the twentieth century. The plot centers around two maidens, Flora and Nazie Retoryan, and their dramas involving marriages, pregnancies and relationships with their neighbors and the village demons.  

Since marriage is a central thread in the book, there are many descriptions of ceremonies and superstitions involving the bride to be. One of them, hilarious and sad at the same time, is the qualification test performed the day before the wedding. This is a test run by the mother of the groom in order to assess if the future daughter in law will qualify as a housewife. So what makes a good Persian housewife? The answer is superior herb chopping skills... perhaps understandable given the amount of vegetables used in Persian cooking (see section below). During the test, the poor girl needs to demonstrate how quickly and meticulously she handles a massive amount of greens needed for Khoresht Sabzi- a traditional stew. The pressure around the “Sabzi test” was so daunting that bleeding injuries, including losing fingers, were common. Here is the excerpt from the book:

“The bride had to prove her skills in cleaning and chopping the Sabzi, the herbs that Janjan sold in the market...the women of the village and relatives circled the bride...On a silver tray, they put bunches of celery, traggon, sage, rosemary, mint, spring onions and parsley. Homma (the bride) was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed as the Sabzi stems hill reached all the way up to her breast… Homma began quickly by separating the leaves and the roots from the celery, the spring onion stems from its onion, the sage from its delicious smelling flower buds, all of these were soaked in a big water bowl. later, the mint, tarragon and parsley leaves were washed as well...Homma reached for the sharp knife. Its blade was shining, and the women were shushing each other. Nazie knew that the tested brides sometimes get injured because of the pressure, and sometimes they even cut off their fingers. When that happens they deposit the cut finger with their mother, and continue to chop while they are heavily bleeding. But if not a single blood drop spilled during the test, and the herbs were finely chopped, the women sang and danced in circles around the bride as she was proven to be a skillful and well trained cook at her parents’ kitchen”.

Khoresht Sabzi Recipe

In honor of poor Persian housewives, I am including here a recipe of Khoresht Sabzi. This is a more user friendly version of this staple dish as it allows using dried herbs (although I highly recommend fresh for flavor), and it calls for a smaller variety of herbs. Note though that other available herbs  (for example, dill, traggon, basil)  will be a wonderful addition to the herbs listed below. In addition, middle eastern grocers sell pre cut Sabzi mixes (either dried or frozen), which can make the process even easier. Lastly, I listed lamb as one of the ingredients, but variations are welcome. In my family,  Khoresht Sabzi was served with chicken, but it is also fabulous as a vegan dish (see modification below) as I prepare it.

Khoresht Sabzi- Adapted from Najmieh Batmanglij’s book Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies.

6 tbsp oil, butter or ghee

2 large onions thinly sliced

2 pounds lamb shank (optional)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp turmeric

½ cup drained kidney beans - either canned or soaked overnight (increase the amount to 1 cup if omitting meat)

2 whole limu- omani - dried persian limes pierced

4 cups finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 cup dried

1 cup finely chopped fresh chives or scallions or ¼ cup dried chives

1 cup  finely chopped fresh cilantro

3 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves or 1 cup chopped fresh fenugreek

¼ cup lime juice

1 tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp of saffron threads dissolved in

2 tbsp of rose water (or hot water)

Let the chopping begin 

1. In a large saucepan (preferably a dutch oven), heat 3 tbsp oil over medium heat, and browned the onions and meat (if using). Add salt, pepper and turmeric, and sauté for 1 minute.

2.Pour 4½ cups of water, and add the kidney beans and dried limes. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

3.Meanwhile, in a wide skillet, heat 3 tbsp oil over medium heat, and sauté the parsley, chives, cilantro and fenugreek for about 20-25 minutes stirring frequently to avoid the burning of the herbs.

shrinking herbs

4. Add the herbs mixture, lime juice, cardamom, and saffron with its water to the large saucepan. Cover and let simmer for 2 -2 ½ hours, stirring occasionally.

Simmering slowly 

5. Check if meat and beans are tenders and add salt if needed.

6. Serve warm on a bed of steamed basmati rice.

Gratifying bowl on a cold winer night 

Festive, Aromatic and Nutritious: A General Note on Persian (and Jewish) cuisine

Khoresht Sabzi - quintessential  among Jews and their Muslim neighbors- can shed light on the Iranian kitchen as a whole and its link to Persian folklore. The Israeli celebrity chef, Yotam Ottolenghi wrote on this topic, in his book Plenty More:

“My Previous life must have been somewhere in old Persia. I am absolutely convinced of this. I am completely infatuated with the richness of Persian cuisine, by its clever use of spices and herbs, by the inguianty of its rice making, by pomegranate, saffron, and pistachios, by yogurt, mint, and dried limes. It seems that my palate is just naturally honed for this set of flavors”.

Ottolenghi’s words well capture the exotic and diverse essense of Persian cuisine. Specifically, the  culinary practices of contrasting dominant flavors (obtained by adding sour taste, such as pomegranate or lime juice to savory dishes), and textures (for instance, the combination of dried fruit and herbs) are indeed extraordinary. The slow cooking of a wide array of fruit (such as pears, apricots, dates and cherries), nuts (pistachios, almond and walnut) and spices (saffron, cinnamon and turmeric) also add a layer of complexity and colorfulness.

Typical Persian assortment 

The Zoroastrian concept of duality between good and bad, light and darkness -embedded in Iranian culture- was a key factor in the development of Persian cuisine. It inspired the aforementioned balance between sweet and sour, hot and cold, lean and fatty that exists in many dishes. Concerned with health, and mainly digestion, Persian cooking offers a dichotomy between hot foods, which thicken the blood and increase the metabolism, and cold foods that do the opposite. Dates and grapes are, for instance, “hot”, while plum and oranges are “cold”. A diet consisting only of one type of food can essentially imbalance the body and lead to an illness. Accordingly, the high consumption of herbs and green vegetables in almost every meal also stems from the concern regarding nutritional properties adjuncting food and medicine.

Iran’s historic role in importing goods from the far east and its interactions with its neighboring regions also shaped the culinary culture. Particularly, the Mogul - indian conquest and the long Ottoman reign increased the selection of spices, and introduced dishes, such as baklava and yogurt to the Iranian repertoire. These interchanges also spread Iranian staple dishes to other parts of Central Asia and the Middle east. Sephardic communities in these areas, particularly in Iraq and Turkey, adopted the Persian combination of fruit with meat, and rice with legumes.

Rice is perhaps the most iconic Iranian staple. It is made with a sense of perfection aiming to avoid porridge-like texture. Rice is commonly prepared either as Choleh - steamed with saffron scent and a crunchy crust (Tahdig) or as pilaf - mixed with vegetable, fruit and beans. A very colorful pilaf is the Wedding rice served with almonds and dried fruit.

The Art of Tahdig

Hearty stews, known as Khoreshts (such as the aforementioned Khoresht Sabzi) frequently  accompany the rice. Khoreshts are vegetable and herb based but utilize local ingredients unique to specific regions of the country (caviar in the Caspian sea area, for example). Another important dish is Kuku- a savory bake that can be compared to crustless quiche (or an Israeli Pashtida). Popular Kuku are made out of herbs, eggplant (also known as Iraninan potato) and my favorite cauliflower. At the end of the meal, Iranians enjoy a cup of tea served with a sugar cube and a nut based treat, such as nougat or walnut cookies.

Kuku: Colorful and heathy 

Persian-Jewish cuisine is basically identical to the majority cuisine with one main distinction. Due to Kosher dietary laws that separate meat and dairy, Jews refrained from using Ghee (clarified butter) and yogurt in meat stews. Iranian Jews contributed a very popular dish to the Iranian collection - Gondy chickpeas dumplings that are traditionally cooked in chicken broth.

Gondy: The Persian answer to Matzah Balls 

[nataliesnews]

3rd and 4th day 10.10.2023

I can't believe that Friday night I was having supper with friends at the American colony after a particularly violent demonstration at Sheikh and saying to them I am just exhausted mentally. I want to get out of here for a while. They told  me that they were going to do a trip down the Rhine and even though I swore that I would not go to Germany....I had gone for Ayal and Uta but thought that was that and I found myself sitting there and thinking ....what the hell and thinking what the hell. What are we doing here .....I told them to send me the particulars and even though they said that it was a very expensive trip I thought I have to get out. I have to clear my head. Little did I know.

1973  Six days.   Yom Kippur started terribly but after a few days the

feeling was that things were under control. But this time we thought it would  be over in a day and here we are on the third day and fighting on many fronts. And for the first time I have a very bad feeling. For the first time tonight I will go to bed dressed and I have packed my rucksack with water, a snack and warm clothing. Up to now I have not gone into the small shelter we have or sat in the corridors but I prefer to be prepared. The two sirens today....we heard the rockets landing but the second one was definitely closer though it is really only on the outskirts. I am terrified that Netanyahu, whom I truly believe is not normal and held up by people who are even more so, does not care if Israel is reduced to small areas of opposition. I remembered that years ago I sat with a Moslem friend.....when Hamas was just starting out and the government was supporting them...... and said that I thought that they would be a dangerous enemy and he said that they were only interested in

religion.   I thought often that the villages in the occupied areas

would rise up against us but thought it could not happen. Now too the army has closed up all the exits to the villages. But if they really want to get out and don't care how many get killed? But I never thought it would come from Gaza.

 I am so sick of empty bombastic threats.  It   reminds me of the song

" My Fair lady. Don’t talk of love.  Show me. Now we are told that two areas in the south are still under attack. The spokesman can’t even get his lies straight.  Have I told you that the main door of Nofim is

kept closed and we have been told to lock our doors.   The one sad and

funny story was a rocket near Jerusalem.  The lady was wounded but her

dog was also treated by a veterinarian.   My friend, Sarah Sherman,

asked me to come to her retirement home to speak to two of her people.

I did not feel like going but felt worse to refuse so I spoke to a Palestinian lady of 100 in my broken Arabic and to a Russian lady who was an English teacher.  Now the good news for the families of those kidnapped. The government evidently does not intend to enter into any bargaining. Does this mean that we will eventually return bodies for bodies? I wonder about the pilots who said they would not serve. If

now they are amongst those bombing Gaza.   I don’t envy them the

decision. We are now told on the news to start hoarding enough food and water for a few days.  They should teach their grandmothers to

suck eggs.  I already started doing that yesterday.   I have two

emergency lights. There is already a lack of bottled water in the stores.  In the meantime I have enough beer, vodka and tonic water.  I am sick of hearing that we are at war. What all of a sudden are they telling us to hoard food, etc.  What are they hiding from us?

And now the incredible story of a restaurant which sent 2000 portions of food for soldiers and were not allowed to give it to them because there was no diploma of kashrut.  I hope that in the yeshivot those parasites will enjoy their food. Already people are hysterically going

to the supermarket.   And I added a little bottle of vodka (not too

little) to my escape bag.   A friend phoned when the siren went off

and asked where I was.  I said on the toilet but all  the shit was in the Knesset.  I believe Netanyahu has managed to stop holding the hand of his blond bitch and is going to address us so before I go into ecstasies of admiration I will send this off

Now I sit and try to get my head around this.  Everyone is talking about the brutality of Hamas.  We do not take old people captive. We do not take children. We do not rape.  In so far as that goes we are humane.  But we do bomb Gaza and kill hundreds of people who probably hate us but are not necessarily terrorists.  I will not speak again if the occupied territories and what is happening there.  But the thought is there. But there is no leadership. Netanyahu’s speech was empty of leadership and only full of bluster and threats.  I find myself thinking of the royal family in the second World War. How their daughters served and he is not even ashamed that his sons cower in

foreign countries.  And where is his wife?   Drinking pink champagne?

[sethshead]

Dromi recalled how, as he sat on a bench, a young ultra-Orthodox boy approached him and asked, “What is democracy?” “It touched my heart,” Dromi recounted. “I said, ‘In democracy everyone is equal, like you and me, and if something happens between us, we go to the court.’ He said he was told you should not go to an Israeli government court because ‘it was a goyim court,’” meaning it served gentiles. [...]

“The new government budget includes an unprecedented increment in allocations to the settlers and ultra-Orthodox, including full funding of schools to not teach English, science and math. This budgetary increment alone is more than Israel invests each year in higher education altogether — or 14 years of complete funding for the Technion, Israel’s M.I.T.,” said Dan Ben-David, a macroeconomist who has focused on the interaction between Israel’s demography and education at Tel Aviv University, where he heads the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research. “It is completely nuts.” The ultra-Orthodox share of Israel’s population doubles roughly every 25 years, added Ben-David. “Today it is 24 percent of the infants. By 2050, it will be half of Israel’s infants. None of them learn basic civics or separation of powers and how liberal democracy works, let alone receiving the tools to thrive in a modern economy,” he told me. “Unless we get our act together now, this will be the final nail into the coffin of our future,” he said.

If Israel faces a demographic time bomb, it is from a community that has been shielded from the most basic of secular education and civic responsibility. Soon, despite having no understanding of how a state functions in a modern world, the sheltered and entitled may have the numbers to rule over an otherwise diverse, vibrant, and forward-looking Israel. Yeshivot should have never been exempted from national educational standards. Haredim should have never been exempted from military service. Negia should have never been respected among those who did. Subsidies for all-day kollel and davening should have never been made available.

Israel is at serious risk of voluntarily falling behind the Saudis and Iranians due to the short-sightedness of its religious and right-wing leadership. This cannot be allowed to continue. The Haredim must be dragged into the 21st Century from the 18th, kicking and screaming if need be. Otherwise there will be no country to defend their religious prerogatives at all.