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

 

The Enemy Beside Me by Naomi Ragen

 

It is always a great pleasure to read and review books by Naomi Ragen, whose characters and topics are allways mind challenging. My latest read by her though, The Enemy Beside Me is reaching a different level, both in terms of topic and complex approach. Set during Corona times between Israel and Lithuania, this is her 13th book. 

Taking over Survivor´s Campaign from her father, Milia Goldstein is a fierce campaigner for revealing the truth about the crimes against Jews committed during WWII in Lithuania. Perpetrated by local nationalists whose memories were brought to life after the independence of the country from the Soviet Union, those do fuel false identities and legitimities. While listening to some of the testimonies inserte into the story about the horrible cruely against Jews, who mostly went unpunished, I could not refrain from thinking about 7/10. What is wrong with this world to enjoy torturing to death innocent children and women?

The wife if a successful surgeon, Milia is faced with the fail of her marriage, as she is revealed that her husband cheated on her with a family friend. A strong woman nevertheless, she is decided to focus on what really matters and accept the invitation to speak at a conference in Lithuania, organised with European money by Dr Darius Vida.

Although there is a kind of burgeoning romance between the two - quite predictable, if you ask me - the strongest part of the book is Vida´s acknowledgement of his own family past. Somehow, Milia is giving him strength to not give up principles over immediate financial or social status. Milia and Darius are both of them fighting for reconciliation, coming from two opposite directions. Their concerted efforts do make this world a much better place.

Ragen treats always her characters with attention, and all of them play their role in the configuration of the narrative. My favorite is Vida, because he shows exactly what we may always expect in our fellow humans, no matter their ethnicity or religion; capacity to change, strength to chose to truth over lie, no matter how hard it is.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Traces of Jewish Life in Ulm, Germany

Travel across Germany allows me always not only to get to learn more about the country, but also to identitfy traces of Jewish life and memory. While in Ulm, I had the chance to discover more details about the tormented WWII history. 

A permanent exhibition an Einstein Haus/Ulmer Volkshochschule, on Kornhausplatz is dedicated to explaining historical episodes of the resistance against Nazi regime.

As for now, I do not have enough historical information to offer a critical outlook to the exhibition as such, but as expected, it features extensively Hans&Sophie Scholl, born here. 

There are also featured another members of the White Rose - the name of the most important resistance movement, at least in this part of Germany - as well as testimonies of Jewish citizens of Ulm. Take them with a grain of salt, but there are many details that deserve a further research.

As in many other German cities, what once was the Jewish quarter was clearly named - Jewish street, or yard. Judenhof in Ulm used to be the centr of local Jewish life from the late Middle Ages onwards. In 1353 a synagogue used to serve the community here. The name served usually to create clear boundaries between Jewish and non-Jewish residents and very often limited the freedom of movements of Jews living there.

As all over Germany, Jewish life got a new impetus in the 1990s, with the arrival of Jewish from former Soviet Union. The community increased considerably in the decade onwards, prompting the need for a bigger religious and community meeting point. Right now, the members count around 450-500, mostly Russian-speakers.

The new synagogue, a cube marked on sides with windows outlined by Stars of David, was inaugurated in 2012, 70 years after the Kristalnacht pogrom. 

It is situated on Weinhof 2 where the 19th century once stood, and is currently following the Chabad orientation. Due to the lack of time, during my visit I was not able to visit the synagogue, but according to the general descriptions of the location, it hosts a community center, a mikwa, a nursery and various educational programmes for children.

 

A Day in the Life...

There are so many books around, not necessarily on fantastic topics, but some may receive more attention than others based on a purely subjective circumstance.

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall received an outstanding ovation and was multi-awarded several distinctions, among which the prestigious Pulitzer. It was named ´the best book of the year´ by several publications. 

I was curious to read the book as well, and I may say that the topic - the way in which a deadly car accident outside Jerusalem reflects the deep divisions in Israel, especially towards Palestinians, was not bad. Clearly, that´s a reality to deal with, that creates a complex mentality context that do balance between death and life. 

It is a tragedy, indeed. But being simplistic is also tragic, insisting on the results before taking into account the causes. Thinking that you are on the good side, no matter what. What it really iritates me lately is the way in which some authors, or public personalities, assume that the reader should not think by her/himself. What about being really journalistic, presenting facts, and not jumping into conclusions? Considering your readers at least as smart, or even smarter than you, thus able to decide by themselves and draw their own conclusions.

That´s all about this book. And any other book and its author underestimating the reader´s intelligence.

9 Months and 1 Day...

 ...since those very first moments of shock and panic...are they all right, why are they not answering, maybe there is just one of those attacks that will be contained shortly after - no worries, we are strong, we are awake and not allowing the enemy, any enemy to destroy us again, to kill our children -, of feeling powerless...

...of being grateful for those few ones who asked how do we feel...

...of checking again and again who´s still alive and who is not answering and who is doing the miluim and who is gone...

...of feeling sorry for being alive, for being safe, for hiding in the attics of our fears...

...of Farhouds and Shoah and pogroms and Intifadas and terrorist attacks and 11/9...over and over again

...of learning again how to tell my children to stay away from them without telling them, to hide their stars, to train to fight, to distrust and still keep being proud...

...of highest security measures I´ve ever seen in the Gallut any kind of Gallut, for police guards on Shabbat and on Pesach and every day at schools and kindergartens and shops and broken glasses (again)...

...for tears and anger and screams and fighting and silence...because words cannot help...of running away from news because anyway, you cannot change anything, no one seems to can change anything, not today, not tomorrow never ever again...

...of seconds and minutes and hours and days and weeks and months...nine months and 1 day since the world will never be the same again...

...of seconds and minutes and hours and days and weeks and months of hope and despair of asking for a sign of life, or hoping there will be not another shiva...

...of simply building your own four-wall world, with a patch of sky, where to throw your curses and screams because no one, literally no one will ever help you, us, me and you...

...of having enough of rivers and seas and everything in between, of spitting on arguments made of poison and bile, of smeared Free Palestine and watermelons and ´Eyes on Rafah´ but not because hostages are kept there and keffieh and ´as a Jew´ and journalists praising them only because they cannot stop from hating us...

...of praying without words...

...of reading the news and seeing the pictures, of couldn´t stop from being anxious and fearing the worse for the world...

From Southerner to Settler

 

This is a fact that nothing and no one will change it: if you love the land of Israel and you feel connect religiously with Zionism, there is no other place to be but the land of Israel. There is no other place where one is able to learn the laws of the land and discover the everyday history in the making, but living and breathing there. 

There is a lot of harsh criticism against the ´settlers´, but rarely are took into consideration the testimonies and motivations of people included in this category. As in the case of any mass movement, there are different directions and school of thought, and listening to them may clarify this very important movement in the recent history of Israel.

And even if you are not reading books and making theoretical comparisons, spending some days in places like Efrat or Neve Daniel may put anyone in contact with the passion of people who moved to Israel by passion for the land.

This is how Susannah Schild, author of the blog Hiking the Holyland describes her decision to relocate with her family here: ´For me, Israel became the place where true spiritual pursuit was available, where religion was valued´. 

Her memoir: From Southerner to Settler. Unexpected Lessons from the Land of Israel may serve as an important guidance and explanation. Growing up in a family of established neurologists, she was aiming at raising her children in a less materialistic society. Once moved to Israel, the dissonance between life at home and life outside ended. As a Jew, she and her family were able to walk in the steps of our people, to feel the history of those places, to identify on the spot where history happened: ´an opportunity to really get to know Israel, the physical land of our forefathers and to understand its hidden message´.

The book is written in a relatable direct way, convening clearly the message and the meaning, an important testimony of Israeli and Jewish history.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Other Jews

How actual is the rift between Askenazim and Sephardim nowadays? More than one generation grew up fuelling the differences, but aren´t now the differences supposed to estompate, as the colours of an Impressionist painting?

Clearly, the new generation of Israeli, born and bred in the country, may not put too much emphasis on those old times´ differences. There are mixed marriages and except Pessach - with or without rice - there are not too many occasions when there is a clear reminder about those distinctions.

But it was not always the same and even nowadays, although praised and integrated as part of the everyday society, being Askenazi and being Sephardi may come to separate ends of the story. Which may turn against the everyday Israeli realities and may also fuel an old antisemitic stereotype regarding whitness myths and colonizer delusions.

Demographically and not only, Israeli society is not purely white. Descendants of people forced to run for their lives from the Arab lands do count in the country that, indeed, institutionally was set for the descendants of people murdered in the European lands. But Israel belongs to the Middle East and it is a success story of the Middle East, not Europe´s. 

Written at the end of the 1980s, The Other Jews. The Sephardim Today (Sephardim, not Mizrahim being considered the politically correct term used to designate Jews from Spain, Portugal, Balkans - such a neglected topic - Arab lands and Iran) , by the late researcher Daniel J. Elazar although it may have a lot of outdated information, it also has the merit of extensively covering the social and political origins of the issue. 

There is a certain note of outrage in the writing, that accompanies the general information about Israel´s ethnical origins as well as the failures, particularly institutional, in approaching the topic - but which country at the time was able to really foresee the difficulties of integration of groups of people with so different cultural and social backgrounds?

I was not very keen of the structure of the book, which outlines the situation of the Sephardim in Israel at the time, followed by a long list of short historical inserts covering communities around the world - although information is outdated, there are noteworthy details regarding the history of those communities, worth researching into depth further on - only to return to considerations about Jewish interactions and institutional and political considerations within Israel.

Looking back at those problems with the eyes and tools of 2024 gives more hopes than some of the conclusions of Elazar´s book. There were mistakes and maybe a one-sided perspective, including in the promotion of one vision of the country, one vision of history, one vision of Zionism, one vision of religious observance. But media, particularly social media, offers alternatives, displays the differences and diminishes the gaps. On the other hand, there is still so much to study and research about those communities and hopefully, will be able soon to present more studies, books and researches on this topics. Because, the biggest power of all times is knowledge, a powerful weapon against ignorance of all kinds and from all directions.

Kissing Girls on Shabbat by Dr. Sara Glass

If you read a certain amount of books, more than the average anyway, on a specific topic or belonging to a well-defined genre, sooner or later you will become satiated with the topic. There is a certain pattern repeated over and over again, with only personal details filled in. Take, for instance, the case of the off the derech memoirs, out of which I´ve read a good bunch of in the last years, as the genre is becoming more and more popularity.

You have the person who does not fit in, the oppressive religious conformity that cannot be tolerated any more, following an illumination-kind of acknowledging the absurdity of some or all religious tenets. Afterwards, there is the fight or the loneliness, faced with the lack of skills for economic survival and very often the struggle to keep the children or the broken heart for not being able to keep them.

However, despite the overall predictability, I will not give up reading those memoirs, because the more repetitive they are, the clearer the certain trends within religious communities - I read in general memoirs of getting out of faith: there is a new generation that may find different ways of positioning towards religion and willingly or not, even the most closed groups will be suprepticiously changed one day.

Take, for instance, the Gur Hasidim, who are practicing very strict marital relationships, considered by many as oppressive: not using the given name for the wife, separate walking ways, discourage of any closeness between spouses unless for procreation. Being born a Gur in America, experiencing queerness from an early age, Dr. Sara Glass succeeded to write her own story: becoming independent, cutting the dependency ties with the community while keeping her precious children.

Manipulated into religion by the sake of her children and the religious background of her family - ´A kosher woman does the will of her husband´ -, she had to play the appearances, even after her divorce, otherwise she may have lose them. The power of the batei din - the religious tribunal deciding, among other, in issues of divorce and child custody - may overcome that of the secular authorities, especially when the woman does not have the proper knowledge and advice for checking the content of the documents she is signing. You are not represented by a lawyer in the front of the religious courts thus the risk of being completely unaware of the legal consequences of the documents signed. Religious communities are tied by trust, obviously, why do someone may need a lawyer anyway?

Kissing Girls on Shabbat that I had the chance to have access to in audiobook format, read by the author, focus less on how bad, backwarded and generally disgusting the community is - as it is the case in at least one such memoir - but on her own story. Her own work to achieve the best version of herself, the engagement trying to help people in a similar situation, her doubts and obsessive fears of being taken away her children. Also, more importantly, the importance of actively being involved in helping distressed people, unable to get over by themselves of their mental health struggle, overcoming generational or recent family trauma. 

It is love not hate or revenge that motivates her life. At 24, she was the mother of two children, at 32 she came out, and established her career as a therapist while being together with her children. Education gives power, including to gently overcome one own´s struggles.

Kissing Girls on Shabbat - whose collage-like cover is also worth mentioning - is a moving testimony of those strengths.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Bad Jews?

From within the Jewish Orthodox realm, the choice between good and bad in terms of Jewish practice - although halachically not recommended - is relatively easy. There are degrees of religious conformity, things that should never be done - like mixed marriages, but lines and limits are very clear. However, outside this safe space, the diversity may be a blessing and a curse as it rather delves into questions, way too many questions that may overshadow any trace of clarity.

Journalist Emily Tamkin - published, among others, in The Washington Post, New Statesman, The Forward - does not pretend to have an answer, but collects pieces of a mosaique that may be, in the end, constructed in many possible ways. 

Bad Jews. A History of Jewish Politics and Identities is a welcomed contribution to the neverending, very actual debate about who is good and who is bad - which confounds sometimes with the question about right and wrong, but not necessarily. The debate is even more important since 7/10, with often mentions of ´Jews for Palestine´ or ´Against the ´Genocide´´. For some, such individuals are ´good´, for many others they are as ´bad´ as any plain Hamas supporter.

It´s relevant to read the book from this perspective time-bounded, but for a full understanding of the Jewish identity in the US, and in some cases outside Israel in general, the book offers that general frame. It analysis not only stereotypes and the ideological division - very normal as long as Jews do belong as citizens to a national community, but also go the the root of the motivation for different divisions - for instance, for most American Jews, Israel may not be the most important identity issue. Some Jews may grow up with a synagogue affiliation, some of them without a Sunday school, some may send their children to Jewish camps although they are not observnt any more. Some may think that protesting for Palestine is your mission to ´make the world a better place´. 

Identity may be fluid. Opinions may be wrong. People may be unaware of what they do support. People may love to be wrong. A lesson learned of Tamkin´s book is that before judging one should consider several identity markers. Which does not mean that everyone is right. 

Jerusalem, via Berlin

 

The intellectual history of Israel is still to be written, but for sure it reveals as more complex than a black-and-white painting separating Zionists from anti-Zionists. As it usually happens in the case of intellectuals, the more nuances the better in order to reach a higher level of understanding.

Personally, I believe that historians should take a big distance from emotional involvement and often felt like the split between the abovementioned categories of historians is too feeling-driven. It´s like each is trying desperately to prove the other one is wrong, ignoring on the way to accomplish the researcher´s mission of finding and exposing the truth. 

Hence, I usually took very critically the works by Tom Segev, but could not resist the temptation of reading his memoirs, hoping that maybe I can have a better understanding of his background.

Born as Thomas Schwerin, in a German family, his parents fled Germany in 1935. Both of his parents were involved with the Bauhaus movement, his mother a photographer, his father an architect and toy manufacturer. Only his father was Jewish, and he grew up speaking German as mother tongue. His sister, Jutta, is based in Germany and is an architect and a politician for the Green Party.

For many years, Segev worked as a journalist, among others, for the left-wing Haarets, reporting from many parts of the world, interviewing famous local and international personalities. Maybe his love for journalism, permeated too much his everyday life, as according to his memoirs, he used at least twice his acquaintances as subjects of daily feuilletons and reporting - one was his adopted son, an Ethiopian-born Jew, another one, a drug addicted acquaintance who stalked him obsessively for years, asking for money and a warm blanket, a weird relationship between source and journalist to be honest.

What is really important to understand from his memoirs - subjective, as one may expect from this type of writing - is the many nuances and motivations of the Israeli intellectual life. Layers of personal experiences, expectations, personal choice, ideological profile. After reading this memoir, I will be most probably interested in reading his historical books as well, obviously, with that grain of salt that comes into question when reading history anyway.

Ironically, for a language buff is that the book was published by Munchen-based Siedler Edition House. ´Siedler´ translates as ´settler´, but the name of the edition house does not have anything to do with the category that people like Segev do not agree with. The name takes it from the founder, Wolf Jobst Siedler.

The Matchmaker´s Gift by Linda Cohen Loigman

´Love is not always a straight, shining line sometimes, love is a shady part, full of unpredictable truths´.

Shadchans - Jewish matchmakers - do have sometimes a shady reputation and there are many scary stories about how people - particularly older (matches from 23 years onwards) or divorced, or divorced with children, or from divorced parents and the list can go on and on and on - are treated. Or rather mistreated. But there are also happy couples who were successfully matched by heartwarming shadchans who put the interests on their clients beyond their profit expectations.

Although I am pleased to hear stories, any kind of stories, about matchmaking, religious or not, literature about the topic is rare. Hence, my high interest in reading The Matchmaker´s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman, a book I had on my TBR for way too long.

Inspired by real matchmaking stories she was shared, the book is set alternatively at the beginning of the 20th century and mid 1990s. Sara, a gifted intuitive matchmaker who set up people since she was 10, based a mysterious outerwordly reading of people - there is a hollow and a spark she is able to see when people interact - and her divorce lawyer Abby are the main storytellers. Shortly after Sara´s death in her late 90s, Abby is going through her grandmother´s diaries. The knowledge she got, matched with the constant memories of being told she may have the same gift, almost ruined her hardworked career. After all, which divorce lawyer would want to work with someone who is actually convincing people to stay together? But in America, everyone has a place, and it seems that Abby found her niche.

The Matchmaker´s Gift is a heartwarming book, with so many interesting insights including in the ways in which marriage changed from being an institution to a story of love and consentment. Sara´s matchmaking, set to deal with ´no negotiated or mercenary marriage´, fuels dreams of love and stories ´brillant enough to last´. 

The type of Judaism manifested is North American, not necessarily religious, and Sara´s matches touched upon a large variety of people, outside the tribe as well. 

The interactions between characters count the most and although I would have expect more interaction, social context and stories in general, I´ve enjoyed the book. Somehow, it feels as the author is tiptoeing carefully on a very complex area hence the modest story and character development. However, I would definitely read more by Cohen Loigman in the future.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Movies with a Jewish Topic on Netflix: Kulüp

 

For a long time I haven´t watched a movie with a Jewish topic on Netflix, but this was only a metter of time. As I am getting more and more interested in discovering the Ladino culture and its representations, I was recommended by several respectable sources to not miss Kulüp - The Club - set in the 1950s multicultural area of Pera in Istanbul. And what a journey it was - a binge watching one, for sure.

The series were released between 2021 and 2023, is spoken in Turkish with many Ladino expressions and beautiful songs. It is built around the story of a night club, who is undergoing various challenging, both at the personal, socio-political and economic level.

The film starts when Matilda Aseo, the heir of a once rich Jewish-Turkish family, is returning after an amenisty following the murder of her once lover, a Turkish entrepreneur who apparently ruined her family. After 17 years spent in prison, she is supposed to get in touch with her daughter, Rașel, who was sent meanwhile in an orphanage. The relationship is tensed and while trying to save her rebelious daughter from prison, she makes a deal that may mark her life from now on.

First and foremost, the screenplay is very well written, with way too many changes of situation, which correspond in fact to the outside environment, such as the riots against the Greek minority, the taking over of Jewish properties during the war, the military putch, the raise of real estate tycoons and the subsequent gangster-like crimes.

The representation of the Jewish identity is set in the context of interaction with the majority, the restrictions and the challenges. Matilda, although twice in love with Muslim men, she is lighting the Shabbes candles and keeps a mezuza at her door. It´s a feeling of being fully aware of who you are, in a nonstrident yet careful way. It is a sense of measure forgotten sometimes.

I am not familiar with a nuanced local representations of Jews within the Turkish society, but would definitely interested to explore more, but as for now, the feedback I´ve read about this film, coming from Jewish sources, was positive.

Personally, I´ve found the play of the actors very good, especially Rașel, particularly towards the end of the movie, as she is fighting against depression, set following her traumatic birth and first almost two decades of life.

With an interesting story and a lot of Ladino references, Kulüp can be a good introduction to a less known Jewish episode. Recommended for a good binge watching, but be ready for a lot of drama.