The Case for Avital Gerstetter

The recent case of the first German woman Cantor Avital Gerstetter, fired by the Judische Gemeinde after writing an article in Welt criticizing Jewish conversions, although generously spread salt on the wounds of the problematic German identity of Jewish communities, still does not deal with the system disfunctionalities that made possible this situation.

Shortly, Gerstetter, born in West Berlin to an Israeli mother and a German - Jewish convert father - mentioned, among others, how the big number of Jewish conversions, some of them Germans with a brown family past, is altering the structure and in the end, the ´Jewishness´ of the everyday practice, including the regular synagogue service itself.

There are a lot of nuances regarding the motives of conversions, that Gerstetter noticed, and there are also individuals differently changed and challenged by their new identity. There are many people who are converting for the sake of a spouse, for having Jewish children, although shortly after the conversion they may give up any trace of practice. They are many belonging to the ´contingent Jews´, those who emigrated from the Soviet Union, with a Jewish father, who may want to convert according to the Jewish Orthodoxy. Some used to celebrate their whole life Jewish holidays and are familiar with the Jewish values therefore the conversion is just an official confirmation of their belonging.

However, there are situations when, unfortunately, situations when exhaustive knowledge about Jewish practice does not help to build the community spirit that connects Jews no matter their background, orientation and level of kashrut. There are those situations when someone who knows very into depth the rules of kashrut or tzniut may make you feel like a second class Jewish citizen because displaying 1 mm more of collarbone that they learned about during the giur classes. That patronizing attitude that, ´puah, they call themselves Jews but look at them, enjoying their plate full of seafood!´/not fasting on Yom Kippur, never coming to the Shabbes service, driving on Shabbes etc.etc.

Reminding someone where is he/she coming from in terms of original religious practice may not be allowed, but what about keeping in mind that it is wrong to make distinctions between Jews, humiliate someone in public, doing lashon hara etc.?

Who are those people learning with for their giur classes? Who are the persons in charge with their giur? What about the rabbis responsible for their giur?

And what about the trauma of the persecutions and the relationship with the state of Israel as the ultimate place of refuge for a persecuted Jew? 

In some cases may be that people who went through the years of the conversion process themselves supported the new converts. Before the accused article was published leading to her abrupt redundancy, Gerstetter used to sing in the synagogue in Oranienburger Straße whose rabbi herself is a convert, born in a Protestant family. Another convert actively ´converting´ other people, whose case made less waves that the remarks by Gerstetter, Walter Homolka is accused of being part of a network of sexual abuse created by his husband. 

Some may ask why Gerstetter haven´t addressed those issues in the Jewish media that used to generously host Homolka´s achievements? Maybe some of the answers are already stated in the article for the smart and informed readers to figure out by themselves.

In the end, what was not (yet) frontally touched upon is the cause of this problem, mainly a system - not necessarily ´liberal´ or ´reform´-supported - that for very non-religious related reasons allows some conversions instead of others. It´s largely unclear how far this discussion will go, but maybe it was about time to happen, even just for the sake of the historical mentions.

(Hopefully) to be continued...

Moses Mendelssohn: ´We Dreamed of Nothing but Enlightenment´

There is a bitter irony that struck me when I visited the very well documented interactive exhibition dedicated to Moses Mendelssohn at the Jewish Museum in Berlin: Although his whole life he pledged the cause of a liberal Judaism for the sake of diminishing persecutions and antisemitism, for the cause of the integration into the mainstream German society, Nazi actually hated and demonized Moses Mendelssohn. His Jewish Enlightment process, that lead that his children even converted to Judaism being eventually burried in a Christian cemetery while bearing very heimishe names, failed from the point of view of the clear aim endeavoured: to take upon Jews the stigma of being targeted for their religion and religiosity.

The exhibition We Dreamed of Nothing but Enlightment/Wir Träumten von Nichts als Aufklärung, hosted by the Jewish Museum in Berlin, until the 11st of September is however an important journey into the intellectual roots of Mendelssohn, his life benchmarks as well as the complex context of his times (including the economic development of Prussia, requiring qualified and skillful workforce which lead to allow more Jews to be part of the larger society). This was my first visit at the museum under the new direction, and although I grasp that there is a relatively similar (liberal) orientation, at least in the case of this exhibition, it pays more attention to the historical facts and less to the ideological background.

Mendelssohn lifestory and intellectual statements can be read in many ways and mine is just one of them. Well integrated Jews are not safer from antisemitism than the visible self-aware Jews. It may offer a temporary invisibility and illusory safety but a full acknowledgment of being the ´part´ of the majority will never happen. The fate of the Jews from the Soviet Union who gave up every bit of their identity to be Soviet, but ended up being marked as Jews in their passports is another example.

But without knowledge it is impossible to make right choices and the exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Berlin offer enough food for thought for a (sad) meditation of the tragical ending of the Haskala Jews.

Disclaimer: I visited the exhibition free as a journalist but the opinions, as usual, are my own.

Jewish Memoir Book Review: Since Sinai by Shannon Gonyou

´Everything builds slowly and beautifully´.

A practicant Catholic by default, involved in various social and outreach projects, practicing attorney Shannon Gonyou and her husband decided to convert to Masorti Judaism. Since Sinai. A Convert´s Path to Judaism is her memoir documenting the journey in a very considerate, honest and meaningful way.

This book helps not only anyone looking to build up his or her Jewish journey but equally brings understanding of the spiritual process and the decision making to those who may wonder why someone will take the - difficult, in Jewish terms - decision to convert. 

´Mostly though, I recognize that it´s incumpent upon me to build Jewish history with my family today, even if I can´t change the fact that my family´s ancestry and the ancestry of the Jewish people is not one and the same´. As Shannon, her husband and daughter are looking to create their own Jewish stories, they change places and getting to meet a wide range of people - Chabad, from the ´Orthodox´ type, as well as various reform brands of Judaism. The decision to convert was a quest and a journey, without being made under pressure - for marriage purposes, for instance, and Gonyou has a clear and lucid voice documenting her experiences.

People who convert may usually deal with different levels of mistrust and discrimination, but the Masorti choice and the fact that both of them were already married, diminished the occurence of such encounters. I really loved her voice and honest writing, covering issues beyond her search for a Jewish home, such as sexual experiences and eating disorder during her Catholic young years, as well as her personal story with her biological mother.

Since Sinai is one of those books revealing windows into stories that cannot be known otherwise than by direct testimonies. ´The persuasion price of this narrative is that converts can, and do, find a meaningful home in Judaism, and I´m an example of one of those converts´. I wish there will be more such testimonies that will bring more clarity and knowledge about choices some people do, no matter the risks and the challenges, for achieving a higher spiritual everyday life. 

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Book Review: Brazen by Julia Haart

´I may be tiny, but I can be deadly´.

I am a consumer of almost everything about the condition of the off-the derech. What is now at the margins, the dissent wave against the various establishments, may one day represent the mainstream. It used to happen with the Hasidim once upon a time as well.

However, after reading quite a couple of such testimonies - and watching some movies as well - there is a given setting which defines this emerging genre, a pattern which at the limit is a easy/cheap recipe stereotypically reproducing itself. Some of its features are: escape from the ´cult´; cutting the ties/becoming estranged with/from the ´old world´ - among which children, siblings, parents and/or spouse; few paragraphs repeated in different forms about the oppressive dress code and the nida laws; excessive search for sexual adventures; getting saved by someone, something, an organisation, literature, the non-Jewish boyfriend. It looks as a cartoonish - cynical - description which unfortunately is what often the ´outside´ world wants to listen. No matter if it is the same old story re-told again and again, important is to have a bit of fun with an escape-game-from the Middle Ages cultish mindset.

There are some noticeable exceptions but unfortunately the more I read the less I am interested in continuing this intellectual adventure. Although, my curiosity is bigger than my literary standards, therefore count on my to review the next OTD memoir.

My latest journey was Julia Haart of Netflix´s My Unorthodox Life, Brazen. I had watched the movie - rather said, punished myself to do it - and was appalled by the vulgarity and exhibitionism. Plus, doing a bit of research, I realized how fake this ´reality´ show actually was. Both Haart and her daughter Batsheva divorced shortly after the end of the series, despite the excessive displays of love and harmony towards their respective spouses. 

I started the book though with an open mind and I appreciated the first part of it, despite the high need of editing and the overall bad and incoherent writing. Plus an inadvertence or two, like mentioning that ´yeshivish´ is a sect. 

Haart was born in Soviet Russia and left with her non-religious parents when she was three years old. Her parents, scientists by background, turned religious - not Chabad though - and with the enthusiasm of the new comers hurried to adopt extreme versions of different religious practices. Although lacking a formal education, Haart used to be a teacher - religious, including - in various girls school. As a Monsey resident, the mother of four felt oppressed by the men-predominant society, parting ways to a world where ´women acquire greatness by proxy´. Her taking off from the religious world took her around 12 years. At 42, she left her husband and started a career as shoe designer, living the fashion glamour while living in hotels by the week and heimische for her children during the weekend. 

The ways in which she fought to keep his children close, despite her more and more extravagant style is meritory and no matter the circumstances, her success had a positive impact on the life of her children - her daughter Miriam and Batsheva are social media stars with fat advertising contracts and following. 

Most probably there is much hidden from her story, that may not suit her ´feminist´ assertions. Less sordid still obsessive, her sexual adventures do not necessarily bring anything spectacular to her story. In 2022, many women do have sex when and where and with whom they want, especially her aimed audience. If they would have been told in a more literary way, maybe there would have been a higher interest, otherwise, a big bored sigh from me. 

Her deep anger for being for over 40 years kept captive in a society not at all friendly towards women - bodies, clothes, their careers other than baby-making - is understandable. But there were people among the religious who invested first a humongous amount of money, without recipes, in her company. 

Haart adds the character of the ´business women´ to the series of OTD life stories. It was partially interesting to get into her story, although I doubt greatly the veridicity of many facts. And a memoir whose authenticity is in doubt ceased for being a memoir at all. 

Stories from a Yeshiva

 ´I don´t remember when I stopped thinking every day would be my last day´.

Gerry Albarelli answered an announcement for an English teacher opening at a school in Brooklyn and will end up teaching for around five years in a boys religious school. He does not reveal in the book explicitly the name of the yeshiva, but it is a Satmar boys´ school, which according to his descriptions - non-judgemental, and this is a greatest merit of the book - looks like a very dangerous and chaotic place. Teachers are surrounded by 3-4 graders and almost lynched; the teachers are beating the children with no regrets and administrative consequences. Only the English teachers are running as fast as they can after a short amount of time.

The boys are rarely speaking English and the teacher doesn´t speak Yiddish but they will find a way to communicate and learn together, in the good spirit of the religious learning. The teacher will create attractive classes, creating stories with the boys themselves distributed as characters. An idea which boosted the interest for the classes. ´They wanted to learn English if only to find out what they were doing in the stories´.

One of the big merit of the book is to elegantly share the stories, without any trace of patronizing. This is what is going to a Hasidic yeshiva in Brooklyn, a secret for many, especially girls.  The non-critical stance is very important, as it avoids the horrible stereotypes easily sliding into the stories about Hasidic life and education in general. But what is the point of writing stories which are biased, stealing from the reader the pleasure of making his or her own opinions about a book. 

Last but not least, Teacha! suggests to educators creative ways to build bridges during the educational process especially in a diverse cultural context. After all, the role of a teacher is to share knowledge and this may happen no matter how different his or her culture his or her culture is compared to that of the students.

Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano

 

Born in 1926 in Paris, from Jewish parents - father originary from Austria, mother from Hungary - Dora Bruder was killed in Auschwitz in 1942. Modiano is trying to recreate her life from fragments of archives and encounters with the places she and her family lived. There is a race against forgetting, for marking the memory of the deported. 

I feel there are so many untold stories of French Jews, stories of resilience, of resistance, but also hopeless stories, of people killed and disappeared without trace. People who were forced to wear the German-imposed yellow star and betrayed by their non-German neighbours. 2014 Literature Nobel Prize Winner Modiano himself has a complex WWII Jewish history, on his father side. While researching and writing about Dora Bruder, there are episodes from his own life slipping away, as memories or sensations or allusions. 

The I-centered story of Dora Bruder is a story of Paris too. A story of Jewish Paris, of immigration and despair, of a geography of hate and exclusion, but also of everyday life flowing slowly its pace, out of history. It is a history common to many Jews, those hidden in Catholic institutions and maybe never brought back to their families or to their faith. Dora run away from her Catholic school, she was for sure a rebelious girl. 

But fate and what humans made of it, wanted her to die in Auschwitz. She ´disappeared´. There are so many hidden chances and opportunities and failures in a name. Dora Bruder. She never got old. Or had her own children to stroll with alongside the streets of Paris. 

Since 2015, her name was given to a street in the 18th arrondissement. 

I had access to the book in the audiobook format, read by Didier Sandre, an actor that played in J´Accuse too, a film inspired by the tragic fate of Albert Dreyfus. 

Jewish Learning with Jewish Interactive

I am a constant supporter and beneficiary of the extraordinary power of online Jewish learning. Particularly if it happens to live in a non-English, remote community without direct access to diverse source of education, online classes for every age, but especially for children, are a great mitzvah. As an adult, I had the chance to attend various online classes on a big variety of Jewish topics, from the comfort of my home, long before Covid made Zoom calls and online classes fashionable - by default.

The more, the better and therefore I was very excited to get in touch via social media - another blessing on the online connections - by the representatives of Jewish Interactive, a fresh new website offering resources to teachers, school leaders and parents. 

The site is very friendly, both in terms of design - fonts, colours, accessibility - and information. There are games, and books and tutorials about holidays, Israel and the Hebrew alphabet. If you are a parent who haven´t had the chance to attend the Jewish school, you can learn at the pace of your child or refresh your long forgotten memories of Jewish education. Among the topics featured: Hebrew, Parasha, Jewish holidays, Jewish books. 

According to the site´s representatives, the target of the website wants to help any teacher of Hebrew or Jewish studies to create their own content based on the sourecs provided. The content can be accesses in English, but the search can be done in any of the 13 support languages. All descriptions of images, for example, are automatically translated into the 13 languages allowing for searches in those languages.

Jewish Interactive plans to train teachers to become master teachers based on professional courses currently under development. They can create their own lessons and become part of the community. Under the community section of the website, teachers will be able to join and list their bios and expertise, and share their coures. Thus, teachers of Hebrew and Jewish Studies throughout the world will be encouraged not only to contribute but to support and share their experiences. As for now, teaching can be done via Google Classroom. 

Although most of the access to the materials - over 17,000 Jewish and Hebrew games made by teachers - is free, there are also paid options, in case you need a wider access. For instance, for families - up to 5 children - the subscription is of 4.99 USD/month, while for educators - 11.99/month. Especially in the case of educators, the paid option makes possible to use various tools to trace and organise your classes. In both cases, a 7-day full access trial is possible, which is enough time to figure out the advantages and shortcomings, if any. In order to access the resources, either for free or as a paid membership, one needs to set up an account. 

For children and families thinking about making aliyah soon, the section Ivrit Misaviv La´Olam can be used as a good start. Besides language tools, there are also interactive games explaining everyday life in Israel, which can be useful for both children and parents.

Jewish Interactive is browser-based. You can use it from your PC or/and iPad but not phones. All lessons allow the creator to both write and/or voice instructions. Some of the JIGs (Jewish Interactive Games) were created by the specialists from Beit Issie Shapira in order to help the learning process of children with disabilities.

I will definitely continue following the next steps of JI and will clearly encourage my son to improve his Hebrew and Jewish knowledge by using it during the upcoming summer holidays.