Category — History

The Catholic Church does not fair well in Oren Jacoby’s adaptation of James Carroll’s book, “Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History.”

I highly recommend seeing it.

To be sure, at times, Jacoby overreaches…and some of it doesn’t all add up, in the off chance than any of you – like me — aren’t as well versed in Christianity as you are in Judaism. I missed some things…like the exact importance of the robe of Jesus. But most of it is all too clear, and as someone with a limited background, I found much of it fascinating.

Did you know Constantine–the man who converted Rome to Christianity–killed his own son?

Carroll nails it when he denounces Pope Benedict’s claim that Nazism was created by “neo-paganism.” Rather, Carroll explains, while this is partially true, Nazism had “two parents,” the other being the Catholic Church.

Additionally, Carroll demonstrates all too clearly how even if maybe you can’t quite say that Pious was “Hitler’s pope,” you can certainly say he was “Hitler’s cardinal.” Unbelievable.

Other great exposes include Ted Haggard’s success in using the United States Air Force Academy as an essentially officially recognized recruiting safari for his specific fundamentalist mega church. And yes, we are talking about THE Ted “I like it in the ass and I’m willing to pay for it” Haggard. The film also covers resistance to Haggard and the evangelical control and harassment of resistors, including Mikey Weinstein and his son.

Overall, if you had any doubts as to the importance of the reinstatement of “The Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews,” well, this should make you realize that it is indeed problematic. The ADL is actually right. I guess when you bark at everyone who walks by you eventually end up barking at someone who deserves it.

After a little love, here, here, and even on Jewlicious itself, the Zionists are regrouping, and defending Chanukah against the incorrigible Litvak apikorism.

(No Hellenists or Idumeans have been harmed in these animated discussions.)

Sometimes even a die hard New Yorker needs a break, so I’m heading out to Old Amsterdam, the City of Spinoza, and returning, meertz Hashem, for Thanksgiving with my family. I don’t think I will be blogging from Amsterdam, because as the folks at Cross-Currents always say, “If you think you’re too baked to blog, you are too baked to blog.�?

So wish me well. And just one final thing, before I head out…

This time of year is often the time when some religiously minded Jewish blogs tackle the issue of Thanksgiving as a nisht pushet (not simple) controversy. True, the haredi Agudath Israel makes sure to have their annual conference on “what is called Thanksgiving Weekend,�? (Good Grief!) but what do I care? You sure as shit aren’t going to see that kind of contempt for Thanksgiving from the Orthodox Union, who, unlike the Agudah, was born and bred right here in the good ole U.S. of A. So I paid it little mind at first. Sure, it is expected fare for a site like BeyondBT to discuss (a lot), but the administrators are quite supportive of those who celebrate Thanksgiving, and David Linn is careful to note that he personally celebrates Thanksgiving, and everyone is encouraged to be sensitive to family needs.

And yet…this “controversy�? just won’t go away. I can’t believe who actually takes this “shayla�? seriously. WTF is the problem? It’s (for my family, anyway) a kosher turkey dinner with kosher wine, with family and friends, with my father reminding us how lucky we all are to be here, and to be grateful. Our rabbi and rebbetzin stop by, and they’re Orthodox. I mean, Jesus Christ, we’re not bowing down to a statue of Zeus over here. It’s not like Chanukah. So when I saw Jewbiquitous treating this as a serious issue, with a headline even seeming to side with those who sought to forbid Thanksgiving celebrations, I became concerned, and quite frankly, a little upset. And it’s time to set them and whoever else is treating this meshegas seriously straight. And yes, I have been waiting a year to do this. So take a beat. Cause now the jokes stop, and I say what I have been meaning to say for awhile.

The question of whether it is kosher to celebrate Thanksgiving or not is a post-war phenomenon, appropriate only for post-war haredim. For those of us whose families came before, like mine, this is not a question, nor should it be. Those rabbis and communities who question it often come from post-war communities that have “treifa medina�? residue. These people have no right to pasken for us on American issues (or really, on any issues), because our families wisely defied their leadership by coming here in the first place. They are the rabbinical heirs to those haredi leaders who gave some really, really stupid advice. At best. They have absolutely no business telling ANYONE whose family came here prior to WWII ANYTHING regarding America. They should stick to dictating to their own insular communities.

And you, or any BT, really, has no business even considering their position on such issues. They insisted that our families should stay in Russia and Eastern Europe. Be thankful your ancestors dismissed their exhortations about going to the “treifa medinah,�? or if they were survivors, be thankful they made it here eventually.

Bet-Nahrain, an affiliate of Assyrian National Congress (ANC), has an interesting understanding of the myth of the Tower of Babel. Apparently, some Assyrians feel this Biblical myth was aimed at them.

Ann-Margaret “Maggie” Yonan writes,

Till this day Babylon implies a degenerate and corrupt civilization that was destroyed by God. How could a degenerate and corrupt society produce such a magnificent culture and civilization? Assyria was known as God’s handwork, but our enemies resented the magnificent culture we had created through our literature, sculpture and science and called for Babylon’s destruction. The Jews wrote that Assyria built the Tower of Babel to fight with God when in fact we built the tower of observation to study the stars and to perfect the science of Astronomy.

What’s amazing is not that this group published an essay about this perceived Biblical slight like it was yesterday, but expects everyone else sees it the same way. Like everyone thinks this is an attack specifically on the Assyrian people. As if when we meet an Assyrian (not a Syrian, but an Assyrian), we are thinking, “Oh, one of those idiots who thinks he can build a tower up to God. What a dumbass!”

You got to love Near-Eastern people. We just don’t let things go, and it’s always about us.

Me: Things were terrible under Dinkins.

Lefty Girl in Politics: Maybe it was the times, not Dinkins.

Me: No. It was Dinkins.

Lefty Girl in Politics: I know. I just thought I should try to promote the party line.

A lot of time is spent in Jewish history looking down on the Romans and Greeks.

The Romans outlawed the forced circumcision of slaves. We claim the slaves wanted this and it was their own volition, but this is exceptionally dubious. We forcibly circumcised our slaves, in accordance with Jewish law, and the Romans made us stop, as they themselves outlawed castrating slaves, and all forms of genital mutilation of slaves.

So my question is, how angry at the Romans should we be? Wasn’t this oppression of the Jewish people? Jewish law was correct, and the Romans were wrong, right?

Right?

Ever wonder why we use the Yiddish word Yarmulke instead of a Hebrew word? Because there is no Hebrew word.

Alex wrote on a comment on Failed Messiah that,

“The word Yarmulke is a Yiddish word. It derives from the Polish word “jarmulka” meaning cap. The popular claim that it comes from an Aramaic phrase “Yari Malka”, meaning “Fear of the King,” is without evidence, as is the claim of the Hebrew phrase “Ya’are me Elohim”, “To tremble beneath the Lord.�? The interpretation that it is a tribute to God is emotionally resonant for Jews, which probably explains the popularity of this folk etymology. In Hebrew, the word kippah means dome. It is fascinating to note that the ancient Gothic word kappel still exists in the Yiddish term today. The equivalent of the Hebrew word kippah is the French “calotte” and the Italian “calotta”, meaning an architectural dome.”

No one wore streimels in ancient Israel, and no one wore yarmulkes. That’s why there is no Hebrew word for streimel, and there is no word for yarmulke. Both are a European invention, as is the idea that men have to cover their hair at all times.

Do you know why men started wearing hats of all sorts more often in Poland? Not because they decided they need to because they were on a lower medregah (spiritual level) than their ancestors, and not because of some oblique concept of identity or pride. This was Poland, not NCSY. They covered their hair more of the time because Poland is cold.

Also, some of the hat wearing was legislated by anti-Semitic regimes. A real traditionalist should wear a Judenhut to work and school. Don’t be ashamed! Be proud! Wear your Judenhut and show those bastards that they can’t break you!

I was taking part in a discussion about the Jewish community generally, when a fellow expressed pride in the accomplishments of “what we created since we came here sixty years ago.�?

It amazes me how so many Orthodox Jews think like this. They often seem to believe the American Jewish community came into its own only after the end of WWII. Forget about the fact that we have really and truly been here for over 350 years. Even the bulk of Eastern European American Jewry specifically came in the late 19th and early 20th century.

And we are not chopped liver. You did not build the American Jewish community from scratch. You did not even found many of the important institutions you think of as your own.

Sunday night I was privileged to attend the Forward’s 110th year and corresponding book release party for “A Living Lens.” It was at the Museum of the City of New York, and the exhibit – which you should attend – is exquisite. Just the photos alone…amazing.

Sam Norich, the Forward’s publisher, remarked at how the Forward’s 50th anniversary, they were saying kaddish. But at the 110th, they are saying shechiyanu. Mr. Norich also noted how the Forward looks back at a Jewish history older than fifteen minutes.

Anyway. Rebecca Spence wrote a juicy story in the celebration issue, about the rivalry between Abe Cahan (the Forward’s founding and longtime editor) and I.B. Singer.

Spence writes,

At the core of the conflict, says Ilan Stavans, a Latin American culture professor at Amherst College who edited a three-volume collection of Singer’s stories, was a fundamental disagreement over the purpose of writing novels. Cahan[…]viewed fiction as a means of expressing his pro-labor ideals. Singer, on the other hand, was motivated by the exploration of character. “Cahan saw Yiddish literature as connected to socialist ideas,�? said Stavans, “whereas Singer was apolitical and much more interested in mysticism and the plight of the individual.�?

In a 1989 documentary on the history of the Forward, Singer describes how he ultimately won out over his tyrannical boss. “When I began to publish ‘The Family Moskat,’ he [Cahan] had already made up in his mind exactly how the novel should be. And when he spoke to me about it, I felt that this time I cannot just say, ‘I will do my best,’ because his plan was, from his point of view, a perfect plan. It was perfectly bad from my point of view.�? When Singer told Cahan that he had “already made his plans�? for the story, Cahan fired him on four weeks notice. “Then I had to complain to the management, and they stopped him not me, which was the miracle of my life,�? said Singer. “No one believed that this has really happened, but it really happened.�?

The internal friction of the Forward has always been critical to the vibrancy and nuance of the newspaper.

Mazel Tov to the Forward, and to the American Jewish community.

“But if we fail, then the whole world — Will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand year, Men will still say: ‘This was their finest hour’.” — Winston Churchill

In case any of you were not aware, Winston Churchill was cleared of defamation. I am horrified that there have actually been Jews who used this opportunity to attack Churchill, and would like to remind my co-religionists that Churchill was the one man who had the will to fight the Nazis, and dragged his countrymen into war for moral reasons, and they accepted.

I would remind Jews on both the Left and Right that even if he had written these statements (and he did not) it wouldn’t matter. Here’s a little customized tip to some of my my favorite groups to help prevent this from happening next time.

To my liberal Jewish friends: I would ask that you accept that the greatest political leader of the 20th century was not FDR (he was hardly outstanding during the war), was not JFK, was not Martin Luther King, and was not even Golda Meir, EVEN though she was the first woman prime minister in the Middle East. Churchill trumps them all. And no, he wasn’t a liberal. He was a conservative. War is hell like that.

To my far-Left Jewish acquaintances: I would ask you to accept that the most heroic leader of the 20th century was not transgendered, was not a person of color, was not gay, and was not some Marxist putz on a motorcycle itching for a global nuclear war with the U.S. Tragically, he was a white, Christian, middle aged, cigar smoking, hopelessly straight male.

To my Neocon friends (no real need to emphasize they’re Jewish, right?): Yes, you love Churchill. But you love Reagan more. I would ask you to accept that even more effective than trickle down economics or running away from Lebanon after the first suicide bomb, even more beneficial to survival than deregulation and privatization such as with Enron and Latin American water supplies, even more satisfying than our wonderful triumph in Iraq, Churchill’s defiance of Hitler proved a greater benefit to a broader range of capitalist consumers by most marketplace standards.

To my frum friends: I would ask you to accept that Churchill was even shrewder than the Gedolim who insisted everything would be just fine and to stay in Europe. I would ask you to find the strength to say Churchill had a strong moral code, and concede not only that he was a true hero, but that he was (I’m trying to put him in terms you understand) very big. Do kids learn about Churchill in haredi schools in the U.S. and Israel? What are they taught about him?

We would all do well to remember Mr. Churchill with the gratitude he deserves, and remember this greatest world leader of the 20th century with the respect he deserves. I would translate that into holding fire at his general character because of a stupid letter. Even if he did write it, which he clearly didn’t.

Below is a picture of Charlie, a parrot that is (very) dubiously thought to have been owned by Mr. Churchill, a claim many want to believe because of the bird’s habit of spewing vulgar anti-Nazi tirades for whomever will listen. Next time Jewish bloggers attack Churchill over some letter he didn’t write, they will have to face him.