That Black Hasidic Lady by Sara Braun

´Even since I can remember, I was always a spiritual type of child who would have thoughts and experiences more so in feelings instead of words´.

 

Few days back I stumbled upon an interview the brilliantly kind Frieda Vizel did with Sara Braun, a Jew of colour from the Netherlands who decided to become Hasidic. Being Black, with a non-Jewish father, with a non-religious background, some may assume that she will face a strong resilience, particularly if she wants to join insular groups, but in her case, it was rather the opposite - with some limits though, such as shidduchim etc. 

Usually I am writing more about people who left the religious communities, the so-called off the derech phenomenon - which do usually receive a much wider acclaim, but in fact I am equally curious about the other way round. People who left their secular upbringing behind and willingly took upon themselves the strict rules of observance - and received as a bonus a warm knitted community as well.

That Black Hasidic Lady is the book Sara Braun wrote summarizing her personal story. Illustrated with beautiful photos of her and her equally beautiful family, it is an account of how a girl who grew up in a Dutch village, aware of her Jewish heritage, although in a non-religiously committed way, got to know and embraced herself the Hasidic way of life. 

Trained as a soprano, but with an entrepreneurial mind - she tailored wedding gowns for a while while in NYC - she got accepted - as a guest or as a family member, by Hasidic families, most probably Satmer way of Kiryas Joel. She does not mention the name of the group, the only Hasidic sects being explicitly nominated is Chabad - how can someone avoid them anyway - and Belz, to whom she is connected via her maternal side.

´Everything was just about family, community, good food and creating beautiful memories with God at the center´. This sentence clearly resumes what many people were longing for before joining Judaism or who are becoming religious - any religion, in fact. It is the feeling that some people who left the fold will always miss.

The book in itself though was kind of disappointment. In need of extra proofreading and structuring, it leaves you with the feeling that you still haven´t understand too much about her - although her video interviews are more assertive: What exactly was her relationship to God and observance before? How does she ended up suddenly with a non-religious guy from abroad when she was surrounded by Godfearing Jews? How did they negotiated within the marriage the religious observance - which was at the very opposite ends. Why did she returned to Europe though? What exactly meaned her ´radicalized´ observance, which specific minhag ? What about the relationship between her children and their father? How do they navigate between two different worlds? For a while she writes about her husband and suddenly he is ´ex-husband´...She went to the States at 18 as she always dreamed of, which is cool, found a job as an au-pair, and left the job but in any case one needs a valid working permit, including EU citizens. And so on and so forth.

There are also some spicy references about men she met who expected sexual favour from her, but everthing is related within the limits of modesty.

To sum up, That Black Hasidic Lady adds up interesting information about what does it mean to be Jewish - by birth - woman and black in religious communities - there is a lot of prejudice, but there is more than that - but also explores a personal journey of finding one´s place in the world. 

The book is a bit disappointing from the literary point of view though, compared to the videos I´ve watched. A slight editing would have changed and improved everything.

Operation Bethlehem by Yariv Inbar translated by Dalit Shmueli

´Daniel stared at his instructor and thought how convincing deception could be´.

I´ve recently read some good and very good books written by former spies, and the insights of their everyday lives, especially in fiction, brings a note of genuine creativity. But not all spies are easily allowed to share their personal details, even if they are long retired. They remain valuable assets for their institutions, who are, partially at least, continue to keep control over their life.

Yariv Inbar, whose Operation Bethlehem, translated into English by Dalit Shmueli, was awarded Jewish Book Council´s Jane Weizman Award, is a former Mossad operative with a taste of spy thriller. Due to the sensitive nature of his missions, his books needs to be first approved by the censhorship´s office of the service, a practice common for other intelligence institutions such as CIA. According to the same rules, the author is using a pseudonym.

Given the above mentioned limitations, Operation Bethlehem may have less spy core compared to your usual espionage thriller, written by civilian authors. However, out of limitations comes the diamond, which is the main character of the story, Daniel, a French Jew who immigrated to Israel and joined the Mossad, with an explosive personality that may take him on slippery ways, risking careers and operations. Through the twists of the operation on enemy territory - Bethlehem - Daniel is initiating on his own, there are remains of a love story with another Mossad operative and also a curious archeological take, fully in sync with the role of archeology in the everyday life and identityy representations in Israel. 

In the end, the story may be too sugary coated for my taste, but it´s worth reading it if you are curious to get a full immersion into a fragment of the everyday life of a spy. Once a spy, always a spy.

Rating: 3 stars

Songs for the Broken Hearted by Ayelet Tsabari

I waited to read this book my whole year. After reading Ayelet Tsabari´s eyes widening memoir and few of her short stories, I knew that this author will be on my TBR for ever. Israeli of Yemeni origin, she is openly sharing stories telling stories that were rarely shared before: the Yemenite babies affair, the cultural clash, the denied identities. 

I was able to fulfill my bookish fantasy this week, except that I did something much better: I got the audiobook which is read by the author with Yossi Zabari and Assaf Cohen, starts and ends with an original song sang with the inflections of the Yemeni dialect, with names pronounced with the right accent. It added so much value to the average reading experience.

Songs for the Broken Hearted is a beautiful secret love story, of Saida, a Yemeni married woman, who met his love Yaqub in the immigrants´ camp in Rosh Ha´ayin, had to leave once their affair discovered only to meet again 40 years after. Love can be so strong and remain lit no matter how many times separate from the encounter. Zohara, the rebelious daughter, is called from Thailand to her mother´s funeral and got enthralled in the search for the secrets of her estranged mother. A typical story of mother and daughter, taking place in the incertainties and tensions following the Oslo Accords.

Every detail of the setting is a revelation for the reader; the ways in which the characters are built, their ambiguities and unexpected private episodes; the political and social context and the ways in which the new identities - Yemeni, Mizrahi - are reshaped, decades after the first arrival and many disappointments that did not diminish however the deep attachment to the land of Israel. Songs for the Broken Hearted is a human chronicle which unfolds in the most genuine possible way. 

Some stories shall be told and once aired they may change completely the way one looks at life, history and love too. Life will be completely different, poorer, without those stories, I am convinced.

Rating: 5 stars

Traces of Jewish Life in Mainz

The Speyer-Worms-Mainz area - or SchUM - Sch for ש from Schpira the Jewish name of Speyer (usually, family names as Shpira, Shapira may indicate that the family is originary from here), U for ו from Warmaisa, the Jewish name of Worms, and M for ם the Mainz - was once the most important center of Jewish life in the German-speaking realm. 

Since 2021 the most important remnants of Jewish life, among which the Judensand cemetery am Mombacher str.61 was included in UNESCO World Heritage, together with mikwas and cemetery in Worms and Speyer. 

This summer, I spent a few days in Mainz, tracing visible signs of Jewish memories, that I am happy to share with my readers.

JUDENSAND CEMETERY

My longest exploration of Jewish memories started in the cemetery. Completely by accident, I´ve found out on Facebook that there is a free guided tour on Sunday morning and I hurried to attend. With visitors from all over Germany and even Argentina, we were kindly explained the historical context as well as the institutional steps took for getting the cemetery from Mainz into the UNESCO World Heritage.

Mainz, together with Speyer and Worms are considered the centers of European - Askenazi - Jewish life and thinking during the Middle Ages. Together with the cemetery in Mainz, synagogues and mikweh in Speyer and Worms were included as part of the heritage. The cemetery on Mombacher Street, Judensand, is situated within the original confines, although it was literally destroyed several times during pogroms and the Nazi time.

There is a certain feeling one experience while walking a Jewish cemetery in Europe. The line of stones, guarded by pristine nature exudes an overwhelming silence. As we are advancing with our group, it seemed like the sound of voices asking questions or answering the questions were completely muffled by the quietness of the place. No wonder that in Hebrew, cemetery is called Beit Haim - House of Life.

The graves available for the public viewing are in different stages of conservation. (I will not enter into halachic discussions about at what extent any kind of maintenance work is really allowed in a cemetery and under which conditions). There are tombstones as old as from the 11th century.

Not all tombstones can be viewed as for now, many older ones are located in a special protection area. According to the local plans, a visitor center is supposed to be built few meters away from the cemetery area where visitors will be introduced to details related to the local history and halacha regarding burial.

From the second half of the 10th century, the Jewish community of Mainz used to be one of the most florishing in the German lands. Jewish families from Italy and France immigrated here, among which Gershom ben Yehuda, who moved here from Metz. Surnamed Me´or ha-Golah, the light of exile, he introduced important halachic interpretations regarding the get - Jewish divorce - and also about the privacy of correspondence, which played an important role in developing the practice for Jewish trademen. He was burried in Mainz, in the Judensand cemetery.

Inspired by the Crusades, the pogrom between 27th and 29th of May 1096 pushed the Jews to refugiate to Speyer, but some also were forced to convert to Christianism. The event is remembered as Gezorot Tatnu 4856 - the Edict of the Jewish year 4856, or the Rheineland massacres.

In 1097, Jews returned to Mainz and were able to freely live here until 1438, when a conflict for power between guilts brought the Jews as scapegoats for the local economic problems and an edict for their expulsion was signed. The cemetery was desecrated and the stones were used for construction. After 18 years though, the Jews were called back, to save the difficult economic situation of the city, but expulsed again in 1471. Meanwhile, the presence of Jews here, although many were no more practising open their religion, was continous, which means that the cemetery was used, and so were the mikweh.

The community grew from the 16th until the 19th century and onwards, until 1933. The style of some tombstone may reflect different ages, but there are no significant switches, like for instance, for the time of the Enlightment, when in many other parts of Germany and Europe, Jewish tombstones were looking very similar to those of wellbeing families from Christian middle class.

Some tombstones may do go through some reparation process, as it is shown by the red and white band attached to it. 

All the tombstones are inventoried. Tombstoned used as construction material in 1438 were discovered during construction work, reassembled and moved here in 1926. 

For example, the tombstone of Jehuda ben Schne´or, considered the oldest tombstone in Europe so far, was found in 1922, and currently is exposed at the local museum - Landesmuseum. Ben Schne´or founded a Talmud academy in Mainz.

Another Jewish personality whose life influenced the fate of Jews in Mainz was Meshullam ben Kalonymus from the French Kalonymus family. Some of his works were discovered in the Cairo Geniza, among others, many piyyutim (liturgic poems) and a commentary of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers). His original tombstone was lost and a new one was replaced.

As for now, the cemetery can be visited only with guided tours, either organised locally - free of charge, but donations are welcomed - or as part of private tours, with costs around 170 EUR or so. Right now, everything is work in process, and the information is only shared - generously, indeed - by people involved in the preparation and submission of the UNESCO file.

The tour I took part was in the German language, but probably options in other languages are also available. Personally, I would have wished a full immersion experience, where the local knowledge about Jewish community was connected with specific details about the tomstones, including from the perspective of the Jewish law. What does it mean, for  instance, this column?

I also miss details about  the artistic features of the tombstones, as well as evolution of scripts etc. Hopefully, such information will be available soon.

My plans are to visit also the other Jewish cemeteries in Worms and Speyer, therefore maybe I can make more logical connections in terms of historical and architectural similarities.

Given the many transformations and trauma those tombstones went to, no wonder that once they were reinstated, the directions are rather chaotic instead of the classical orientation - direction Jerusalem. 

At the end of the tour that lasted a bit more than one hour, I made a mental note to return in the next years. Meanwhile, I got very interested in so many other details about Jewish life in this part of Germany that may require a lot of reading and reflection.

On the way out of the cemetery, the remains of the local synagogue, covered in moss, just laying disorganised just under the window of some residential blocks of houses made me think again about the many stories of destruction and renewal, always different, always unsure for how long, that do relate so much with the life of German Jews.

NEW SYNAGOGUE MAINZ

My next stop exploring Jewish life was at the New Synagogue, at Synagogenplatz - in some online directories, the address Hindenburgstraße 44, is also mentioned, but the street named after Paul von Hindenburg who played a great role in the ascension to power of Hitler its obviously controversial. There is a new Jewish life in Germany, and everyone used to talk about a revival, due mostly to the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union, the so-called ´Kontingent Jews´. The architecture of Jewish places in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall deserves a special study, I think, and the New Synagogue in Mainz makes no difference.

Opened 98 years after the inauguration of the original synagogue and 70 years after the destruction during the Kristallnacht, the New Synagogue was opened in 2010. It is the work of a Cologne architect, Manuel Herz, with an interesting portfolio, being among others also the architect of the synagogue in Babyn Yar, in Ukraine.

As a visited the place during the summer time, the strong summer lights were reflecting into the green ceramics of the facade. The architectural directions are following the five letters of the Hebrew word קרושה (Kedusha, which means holy, but also a section in several communal prayers, like the morning prayer of Amidah).

Visually speaking, the presence of the synagogue is dominating the architecture of the area, which is situated close to the institutional/governmental area.

In addition to the synagogue, the building includes a Hebrew school, an adult education center, a community center, a kosher restaurant. Tours in several languages are available by request. 

The main entrance door includes the inscription Me´or ha-Golah - Light of the diaspora, a name associated with Rabbi Gershom ben Judah.

The massive Hebrew letters do alternate in volume with the lines of the fassade, adding to the overall dynamic of construction, an orderly accumulations of volumes and lines.

I wish I had the chance to visit to see how is the proportion of light in the interior. Something to save for another day, possibly.

However, from outside, you can have a look inside, as the windows do mark as points the intricacies of the lines.

Especially during the summer times, it also receives as completion the green area of grass and trees surrounding the ground level.

On the foregrounds, the remains of the former synagogue inaugurated in 1912. Germany has a special historicist tendency in architecture, allowing the co-existence of different architectural structures, from different periods of time. In the case of the synagogue, this is more than a co-existence, but a reminder of symbolic value.

The large outdoors space, the whole square, allowed me to tour the premises several times, trying to figure out different angles and architectural choices. 

Currently, in Mainz the community counts around 1,000 Jews, mostly from the Russian-speaking realm. 

The time spent around the synagogue was an interesting visual exploration, and I cannot wait to check soon other new synagogues in Germany, as it may offer a lot of unique details about the Jewish identity from the architectural perspective. 

Unknown Heroes of the Israeli Air Force

 

Air force is the backbone of any modern army. The target of military objectives by well trained pilots guaranteed the success during WWII and it is the source of military achievement nowadays. 

In the aftermath of the creation of the state of Israel, there were many skilled fighters, well trained in terrestrial combats, but much more was needed to guarantee the success in a fight that was extending of several fronts. Pilots and modern airplanes were the guarantee of success.

An assimilated Jew with no connection with his roots, former veteran of the Pacific War, sketcher, poet and lover of words and beautiful women, Stan Andrews answered the call to help the creation of the Israeli Air Force. Although distanced from the religion of generations before him, he experienced antisemitism, particularly during his military service. He chose to change his name in order to better match the general society. Not a fanatic of any kind, he saw in the promise of the new state a chance of a new life, maybe a better one of Jews. He had the knowledge and wanted to help.

The chronicle written by Jeffery Weiss and Craig Weiss belongs to a historical category aimed to outline stories of unknown characters that played a part, although not a major one, in important major events. Andrews did not changed the course of history, but was part of it. His story is aimed to display the individual stories of actors involved, at the time also non-Jews that under the effect of the events they witnessed during the war, they felt compelled to share their experience with the leaders of the Jewish state.

The book reads easily, as a story, but does share noteworthy information about the post-war state of mind among the veterans, as well as the unfolding events in the Middle East. A recommended read to anyone passionate about aviation history and Israel stories.

Rating: 3 stars

Intellectual Boycots

Signing letters of support for boycotting intellectual institutions, and academic cooperations is essentially anti-intellectual. The last twelve months were just an opportunity for many people sharing more or less loudly radical anti-Israel opinions to raise them at the level of open statements. In a way, it is a good way as it offers to people the chance to show what they think. Psychologically and not only, it releases them of the pressure of saying - or rather not saying at all - things they were thinking about. 

The list shared by LitHub, which is slightly growing by the day, appealing for a boycott of Israel cultural institutions, was created around voices like Sally Rooney who already announced very proud at the beginning of the year that she does not allow her books to be translated into Hebrew. (Nothing about Russian, or other languages of countries where people are really opressed by their own governments). Some of the people who signed are famous in the literary world for their works, some for being vocal. Some are writers or poets, some are just translators. Some are just names that hopefully will sign one day more than just a protest for a far away cause they are trying to get advantage of from the comfort of their lofts. Some authors I may know, some I really like, some are just as toxic as what they claim they believe in.

I think is everyone´s right to have an opinion, also a wrong one. We expect too much from intellectuals, but as history showed already, they are humans as everyone of us. They need to pay bills, sign political protests in the hope to get some points for their portfolio always in the making. Totalitarian regimes were supported by intellectuals, created by intellectuals, fuelled with ideological content by intellectuals. Sometimes they have no idea what they are getting into, but sometimes they are fully aware as they are widespreading lies and old libels.

This letter, in addition to many other moves that happened since 7/10 do not talk about peace, do not want to build bridges with intellectuals in Israel who do share critical points of view towards their government, as shared in their books and public statements. The letter is just building a wall, aimed at pressuring the public opinion in a direction that does not have nothing to do with being an intellectual. Also, not with intelligence, in the genuine sense of the world.

I would have been really empathic to the interest of the signatories if they will be so acribic vested in, for instance, cutting any cultural ties with Russian institutions - as we speak, Russia is attacking Ukraine; Chinese cultural institutions - Uyghurs are opressed, intellectuals are not free, the authors allowed outside do share propaganda messages; Islamic Republic of Iran - who brutally murdered intellectualls, among many other things against freedom of thinking and women rights; and so on, and so on...

In free countries, people are free to be wrong and long for propaganda vitamins and wear keffiyeh or for anything they wish for some or the others. But also in a free country, they may not be out of criticism for their childish or well-funded/intentional misleading investment in a cause obsessively taking ovet any others, with a not so humanistic intention.

There Was Night and There Was Morning by Sara Sherbill

If one will have the curiosity, as I did, to do a bit of search of rabbi Daniel Sherbill, the rabbi father of Sara Sherbill, he or she will only stumble upon heartwarming obituaries, mentioning him as a kind and helpful person. 

Coming to religion during the 1960s, Sherbill served as a rabbi in several communities across America. Displaying a spiritual yet anchored in the Orthodox restrictions type of belief, he was a different person in relationship with his family and with some of the younger - way too younger - women members of his communities. He was praised for bringing Jews back to Judaism, in the midst of his hippie-like, denominational type of religious practice.

His daughter, Sara, the author of the recently published memoir There Was Night and There Was Morning - I recommend to have access to the book as I did, in audiobook format read by the author, an to feel the emotions of accounting the abuse and trauma from her own voice and emotional breaks - knew a different person. And so did her mother, and siblings too. Prone to terrible anger attacks and violence, he was also a sexual abuser, targeting very young girls from his community, luring them into drugs, as he ended up as a drug addicted too.

Sherbill´s memoir is very much focused on the tentacular outreach of trauma, sometimes inherited, that can permeate our lives in so many unexpected ways. First and foremost though, it affects our way to trust other people, to position our relationships, our human connections. It may make you believe that the world is full of predators and bad people hiding behind a pious mask. It pushes people out of religion, any kind of religion, although sometimes by converting old rituals into daily routines that keep the life go on, 

It is a very emotional story although I struggle a bit trying to understand the type of community it was, and how it really operated in real time. But for the storry itself, it is largely irrelevant, as we are left with the right approach and knowledge of trauma that is more important than the context.

Rating: 4.5 stars