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Archive for August 2008
11th August 2008, 12:03 pm
 Like a lot of people I was familiar with the basic concept and story of the Golem. After reading though Chayim Bloch‘s “The Golem: Mystical tales from the Ghetto of Prague” I have a much deeper appreciation of where it came from and what it means. Reading the five introductory writings helped in the process too. First we have a two page long introduction by Paul M. Allen from 1971. It mentions later literary expression of the Golem and provides to alternative analysis: Golem as a symbol for the collective soul of (the Jewish) people and/or Golem as the ‘double’ of its creator. He also posits the Golem as someone who is” demanding to be released from his servitude by us who have shaped him to the thing he is.” Next we have an untitled, unsigned four page piece about the birth of the first edition of the book. How a 1917 German edition was welcomed in 1923-24 in New York. It also contains a few words attempting to discover the authenticity of the story with the help of literary detective work. The third piece in the book was written by Harry Schneiderman about “Chayim Bloch, an interpreter of the East to the West; the story of Chayim Bloch who has created a sensation in Literary Europa [sic!].” It is worth knowing more about the life of the person who revitalized (and to some extent reinterpreted) the story for modern use. Fourth, we have four pages of literary analysis, titled, “Prefatory” by Hans Ludwig Held. Finally we have the author’s seven page introduction itself. Bloch talks about the sources he used (Hebrew manuscripts) and yet another interpretation of the possible hidden meaning s of the legendary figure.
Then we finally arrive to the bulk of the book: 33 individual chapters, almost all of them containing a single story related to the Golem, from the birth of Judah Loew to his death. A better title for the book,–if we believe that titles should reflect the contents of books–would be Rabbi Judah Loew, because he stories convey his virtues, powers, wisdom and passion. The Golem doesn’t even appear in about fourth of the chapters. This provides a much wider context (in terms of period of time, geography and social relations) than most Golem books that are strictly focusing on the trouble he was called to solve for and his dissolution. Here we see the Golem working in an extended period of time, used by his master over decades for the protection of Prague Jews both communally and individually. I won’t detail these narratives, but they really are where the action is happening and the learning for our age derives from. They display a fascinating mixture of personal wit, historical anecdotes, societal observations, and mystical words and deeds. I will surely need to reread them to get a comprehensive understanding, as for a first reading I just followed them as the captivating tales they were.
I cannot stop wondering what the story and its layers of meanings signify for the publisher. The volume was published by Steinerboooks, which was established to serve the work of Rudolph Steiner and anthroposophy. The Golem was published in their “spiritual Sciences” paperback series, along with such titles as From Sphinx to Christ, Ancient mysteries of Greece, Rognarok, Atlantis, Vril, Tarot … In other words the esoteric nature of these topics must have some an important connection to anthroposophy. But I believe this connection is rather different than the Golem story plays within Jewish context. I cannot indulge in a thorough comparison because I am not familiar enough with anthroposophy.
8th August 2008, 04:43 pm
Tisha B’Av starts Saturday night. I would like to recommend five items for this commemoration.
First, for those who would like to learn the trope we have a tape of the cantillation of Eikhah (Lamentations).
Second, instead of the various copies of the Tanakh–that of course includes Lamentations—why not pick up a copy of The five scrolls, edited by Herbert N. Bronstein. The advantage of reading this is the short introductory/explanatory chapter about Eikhah itself.
 Third, we have several copies of Siddur Tishah B’Av, a prayer book containing the complete service, readings for erev Tishah B’Av and for Tishah B’Av day, the full text of Eikhah, selected kinot with commentary, poetry, songs, as well as interpretive essays.
The fourth item is an issue of the biannual journal Focus dedicated to the holiday. It is titled “A Tisha B’Av Reader”, published by the Jewish Study Network in the Bay Area and is edited by Yisroel Gordon. If you want to you can download the whole volume from their website in PDF format. After a short preface and introduction it includes 6 high quality essays that combine scholarly accuracy with rabbinical insights. I just read and learned a lot from them. I encourage you to do the same. Here are the very brief abstracts of the essays.
- Rabbi Joey Felsen: From Tammuz to Av: Fixing the Tablets in Twenty-Two Days
Details the five historical tragedies that happened on the 17th of Tammuz and how that dates starts the three week cycle of preparation for Tisha B’Av.
- Rabbi Yaacov Benzaquen: The State of the Union in Exile
Analyzes and compares the reasons for the destruction of the two Temples, based on the Talmud. Hints: #1: idol worship, adultery and murder (Yoma 9b) , #2: baseless hatred.
- Rabbi Daniel Steinberg: It’s My Party… The Tragedy of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza
Through the aggadah of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza we learn more about what baseless hated means. It is a fascinating exposition of a short cryptic Talmudic story.
- Rabbi Yisroel Gordon: Of Man, Temple and Divine Desire
Explains the significance of the Mishkan and the Temple. Posits that G-d desired to live amongst us and the Shechina accompanies the Jews even in exile. Talks about what is needed for reconciliation.
- Rabbi Avi Lebowitz: Is it a Mitzvah to Live in Israel? A Survey of Rabbinic Responsa
Provides halachic support, drawing from a variety of sources throughout the centuries of why living in Israel, particularly observing the mizvot there is a mitzvah.
- Rabbi Zev Jacobs: Mourning for Jerusalem: A Halachic Guide
Guides us what to do in these in 9 chapters, 28 points and 59 footnotes. The chapters are: the three week leading up to Tisha B’Av, the first through the ninth of Av (“The Nine Days’), the day before Tisha B’Av, mourning on Tisha B’Av, bathing and footwear, Toray study, in the synagogue, talit and tefillin, The Tenth of Av.
 The fifth book I would like point your attention to is Kenneth Roseman‘s The Tenth of Av. It is an excellent book for young adults to learn about life in the first and second century. It starts with the day after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE and follows the path of people who survived it. They may opt to stay in the ruined city or escape to various parts of the then known world, including places like Egypt, Spain, Yavneh, Mesopotamia. They may meet and join famous rabbis. Or they may make different occupational choices. Some of them even change their religion. With all these varieties of lifestyles and places we get an overview of post-Temple life and a sense of what is lost with the dispersion.
Now, forget most of what I wrote in the previous paragraph. There are no real characters in the book, if we discount the historical figures, such as sages and rabbis. This book is a “Do/choose-your-own-adventure style book.” For those of you who are not familiar with this style: every page is a vignette size entry, that stands on its own. They describe an event, tell a story, or pose a moral dilemma. At the end of the page the reader can choose between 2-3 options what to do, depending on the temperament and understanding of the text read. This is a great tool to teach decision making, analytical thinking, and dealing with potential consequences. As the whole book is written in second person singular (“you”) if read correctly it becomes rather personal book. YOU make the choices and end up living with them.
(My only aversion wit the book is that about third of the possible paths include Jesus and Christianity one way or another. I am not sure whether that proportion is accurate for 1st/2nd century life. I thought that at that point in history the new religion was not as widespread as to warrant such a heavy representation in a volume about Jewish life.)
Let me close this post with a Talmud (Taanit 30b) quote,
“Those who mourn the loss of Jerusalem will be privileged to witness the city’s joy.”
May your fast be meaningful this weekend.
6th August 2008, 12:04 pm
The book discussion’s group yearly planning meeting was held this morning. A lot of good books were suggested for consideration to be included in the program. See the full list below, out of which nine will be selected to be read by the group. You can of course read any or all of them independently from what we will read together. (Clicking the book titles will take you to the books’ pages at Amazon.com.)
5th August 2008, 02:33 pm
This week’s theme at Camp Chai is along the lines of sports/body/health. In this spirit I provided a quick overview for the children today about how Jews relate(d) to sports. I did not do it out of my own (limited) knowledge; I read the introduction from Joseph Hoffman‘s Jews in Sports instead. It talked about Jewish American superstar athletes, but also covered biblical heroes of might. It even gave a short history of how sports got their bad reputation in Jewish circles, because it was first introduced by Greek occupiers and later, because rabbis found it not permissible to play sports on Shabbat. The introduction ended with modern period, when sports regained its prestige, particularly in the State of Israel.
As several children were interested in baseball I read that section of the book as well. The stories covered how and why Jewish players changed their names and a few anecdotes of Andy Cohen, his brother Syd and even Babe Ruth. There were two pages devoted to the early years of baseball and two to the golden age. Each of the other sports are covered in the same length, including, soccer, basketball, tennis, the Olympics, boxing, football, lacrosse, and the Maccabiah Games. The fun part of the book, however reside din the “where is Waldo?” type of drawings by Janet Zwebner. Every second page is a huge picture describing one of these sports or events where you have to look for hidden objects. In the process you will discover plenty of sports and Judaism related visual jokes as well.
While I am at it I would like to introduce you the other book we have for children about sports. It is Robert Slater‘s The Jewish child’s book of sports heroes. It tells the story of 31 of the greatest Jewish athletes on two pages each. There is also a picture of all of them and the book contains a short introduction and a comprehensive index as well. It is great read for 5-8th graders
5th August 2008, 02:06 pm
This Wednesday, August 6, we will be showing an award winning, R-rated, 103 minutes long, Israeli movie from 2004 titled Walk on Water. Last month we could not show it because of a scheduling conflict (i.e. my child was born a few days earlier.) But it worked to our advantage, because this way (showing the move in a Wednesday) those can view it, who on Thursdays are usually at the rabbi’s Torah/Talmud class.
Here is a short synopsis I picked up from IMDB.com
Eyal, an Israeli Mossad agent, is given the mission to track down and kill the very old Alfred Himmelman, an ex-Nazi officer, who might still be alive. Pretending to be a tourist guide, he befriends his grandson Axel, in Israel to visit his sister Pia. The two men set out on a tour of the country during which, Axel challenges Eyal’s values.
As with the case of multilayered movies, summaries can not really grasp the depth of the movie. There are many other themes and characters missing from the above. Not to mentioned what the message of the movie might be. With a movie like this you want to follow and untangle the lot. More importantly though you may want to ask yourself once it’s over, why the filmmakers made this movie? What did they want say, how do they view the world. I will be curious what you will think about this high quality movie.
For those who visit the library I recommend taking a look at our window, where the movie’s poster has been for a few weeks. If you do not come in, then take a peak from the outside and you will see a mirror image of the poster, as that’s how it got printed on the back side.
The movie is in English, Hebrew and German, but we will have the subtitles for everybody’s viewing and understanding pleasure. Unlike the trailer below, that is in English only.
4th August 2008, 04:26 pm
If you haven’t seen in the August Shofar yet I would like to point your attention to the book discussion group meeting Wednesday, August 6, 10 AM in the library. This will be a planning session for the next season, the group’s 26th! If anyone has recommendations of suitable titles, please bring them to the meeting or call/e-mail Susanne Batzdorff.
4th August 2008, 12:14 pm
 Today I read the children at Camp Chai Michelle Markel‘s Dreamer from the Village: The Story of Marc Chagall. This beautifully drawn book recounts Marc Chagall’s life—the famous Russian/Jewish painter– through words and pictures. Emily Lisker‘s illustrations are variations on Chagall’s painting themselves. They are simpler, using less number of colors, making the imagery more palatable for children, for whom the book was produced. The palette might have been more limited, but I really enjoyed how each page in the book had a different dominant/ background color that defined the mood for the whole scene. That range helped to engage the kids to whom I was reading the story and showing the book.
I had only a few caveats about the book. I would have preferred not to mention the word “Louvre” in it. The biography was simplified to a skeleton version and many aspects of Chagall’s life were unmentioned. I had a difficult time explaining to the children what the Louvre is, and why was it a big deal for Chagall to get in there. It was superfluous for the target audience. The typography matched nicely Chagall’s painting style. The only problem is that it is hard to read, both for young people and in a setting where the story is read aloud.
Having said the above this is a recommended book. I appreciated that the illustrator actually painted paintings with oil on canvas for this book, providing a rich experience. The author note, mini-glossary and additional information about Chagall at the end of the book made the book whole. Borrow the book if you want to introduce your child to this genius painter.
Buy @ Amazon.com
4th August 2008, 10:06 am
On the last night of July nine of us watched FreeZone. We were still struggling with the volume issue. If I crank it up it gets distorted if I lower it, not everybody hears it. Luckily we were running the subtitles for this film. One of the viewers suggested that we should always do that, no matter no the sound quality to help the hearing impaired. We will follow this advice form now. Unfortunately there were no subtitles in this movie when the actors were speaking English, which was about third of the movie.
What a difference subtitles make, particularly in the opening. First time I saw it without subtitles, the opening scene seemed intensely long. It was a full screen profile shot of Natalie Portman, sitting in a car, running for what seemed ten minutes. Meanwhile a woman sang a beautiful song. This time I could read the lyrics and that made the whole scene full of meaning and much more exciting. It was the well-known “Chad gadya” song, sang at Passover with an extra section,
I have only asked four questions
But, tonight
I have thought of another question
How long will this hellish circle last?
I have thought of a question tonight
How long will this hellish circle last?
That of the oppressor and the oppressed,
Of the executioner and the victim
How long will this madness last?
These lines set the tone for the whole film. It is no longer the story of three women who more or less accidentally meet and travel together. They start to represent their respective nations, American, Israeli, and Palestinian. Looking at the interactions from this new perspective every single word can eb reinterpreted what it might mean in terms of the relations between these groups, as opposed to between these individuals.
I copied the lyrics above from the package (PDF file) the film’s distributor put together. For those of you who has seen the movie I recommend to check the file out, because it includes additional information that helps gaining a deeper understanding of the movie. My favorite part was the revelative interview with Amos Gitai, the writer/director. Here are some excerpts/teasers
Does the free zone in the film actually exist?
Yes, in eastern Jordan, an area has been set up as an economic free zone. There are no customs and no taxes. People from neighboring countries like Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Israel come here to sell and buy cars….
And peace exists in this free zone?
Yes. Complete peace.
Borders play an important role in the film…
In the Middle East, borders are a real issue. It’s always physical borders, political borders, which lead to mental borders.
Did you write the role of Rebecca for Natalie Portman?
The screenplay went through a lot of transformations. The original version was written about men and at one point I decided to make it the story of three women.
The car seems to be more than just a means of transportation…
I think that the car can definitely be considered the fourth main character. It imposes a restricted territory. When the three women are in the car, or when two of them are in the car, they cannot be far from each other.
For the first time, you shot a film in Jordan…
Inititially, of course, there was a kind of resistance between the Israeli and Jordanian crews, but this melted down after only a few hours and relations became very warm. I think that just the shooting of the film is a good example of how political borders can be crossed. It was really a great experience.
For the rest read the interview for yourself. If you have not seen the movie I recommend you check it out from the library.
3rd August 2008, 04:19 pm
 64 years ago, on August 3, 1944 a ship arrived to the New York harbor with 1,000 European Jewish refugees on board. Their arrival was the culmination of the efforts of President Roosevelt (who, using his executive powers invited them to the country, acting against the US Congress, who refused to lift the quote on Jewish immigration), Harold L. Ickes (Secretary of the Interior at the time) and Ruth Gruber, who was selected to carry out this top-secret mission despite the objections of military brass who doubted the thirty-nine year old woman’s qualification. The refugees were transferred to Fort Ontario, a decommissioned army training base near Oswego, NY. The US government agencies argued about whether they should be allowed to stay or, at some point, be deported to Europe, Gruber lobbied to keep them through the end of the war. It wasn’t until January of 1946 that the decision was made to allow them to apply for American residency. This was the only attempt by the United States to shelter Jewish refugees during the war.
Ms. Gruber wrote a book about the experience, titled Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America. This richly documented volume includes 16 pages of pictures, a directory of the refugees, declassified government document and a detailed index to the book. The book itself is a great read, showing Gruber’s journalistic and writing talents. It is a true historical novel in all meanings of the word true: it is a true story, and truly a novel. Do not think that if you are familiar with the Exodus ship’s story (of which Gruber also wrote a book) you know this story as well. It is worth reading on its own, come in to the library and get it.
3rd August 2008, 03:50 pm
Besides reading for the Camp Chai campers about Israel I also looked through our video collection on the same topic. Here are some of the VHS tapes we have:
Shalom Sesame Show 2: Tel Aviv
This 30 minute episode of Sesame Street–the popular, educational children television show–introduces Tel-Aviv. “Grab onto your nearest Sesame Street friend and join Itzhak Perlman for a tour of his hometown – Israel’s busiest city, Tel Aviv. Spend a day in the bustling Carmel Market, the ancient port of Jaffa, and the lively Tel Aviv beach.” This was shown Friday Camp Chaiers.
Getting Jerusalem together: Your historical guide to Jerusalem throughout the ages
From the cover: “The sites and events that have shaped modern history. An inspiring 30 minute video program for the entire family. A full color sound video program on the history and development of Jerusalem. A professionally photographed and narrated film that will heighten your understanding and deepen your appreciation of this historic city. You are actually reliving a dramatic and unforgettable reconstruction of 3,000 years of history.” Having watched the tape I have to agree, that it is rather professionally prepared. The models, drawing and other representations of the past of the city were well combined with contemporary footage. Together they did enhance my understanding of what the city meant in the past and how it developed its current architecture and characteristics.
Israel sings: Sing with us throughout the land of Israel
This amazing tape includes 58 of the most popular Israeli (and religious Jewish) songs. About half of the songs are shot in concert or indoor settings. But the rest are indeed, as the subtitle suggests, are showing various scenes from Israeli life, people walking on the street, eating in cafes and enjoying themselves everywhere. Thus the tape should be mentioned in this list about Israel, even if the primary focus is the songs. The lyrics of the songs are showing their original Hebrew, so you could sing along or learn them. In case your Hebrew is not fast enough to follow the text, you can also read the transliterated (phonetic) lyrics. The tape comes with booklet containing both versions of the lyrics and a few lines about each of them in English as well.
Israel: A nation is born
 This 5 hour chronicle of the birth and development of the Jewish state is hosted and narrated by former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., Abba Eban who also hosted the series’ predecessor, “Heritage: Civilization and the Jews”. Eban, who played a pivotal role in realizing the dream of a Jewish state, points out that “the series is designed to provide an essential context to an inspiring human story.” Among those featured in interviews and rare archival footage are U.S. Presidents Harry Truman and Richard Nixon, world leaders Winston Churchill, David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Menachim Begin, Anwar Sadat, Yithak Rabin, and Boutros Boutros Ghali. Together with Eban’s first hand testimony this series achieves a diverse perspective of both the Arab and Israeli experience. According to Eban “Israel: A Nation is Born” is a “depiction of the turbulent and dramatic history of Israel, through the conflicts and tensions of five decades, climaxing in the brighter prospects of Arab/Israeli peace.”
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