Jewish child, Uganda.

From the Four Corners

Are most Jews white? The impression that this is so is partially the result of the calamitous and decimating events of the 20th century, in which the great centers of Europe were lost to Nazi genocide while those of the Middle East and North Africa were lost to Islam.

Black Like Me  Zev Chafets,  New York Times.  Rabbi Capers Funnye of Chicago leads the country's largest congregation of African-American Jews. He is also Michelle Obama's cousin.  SAVE

A Part of the Whole  James D. Davis,  Sun Sentinel.  Gershom Sizomu, who knew he wanted to be a Jewish scholar, serves as the rabbi and effective leader of the Abayudaya community of Uganda.  SAVE

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Mimouna!

What did two million Israelis do when Passover ended this year? As in previous years, they celebrated Mimouna, a Moroccan Jewish holiday that is popularly observed by picnicking, barbecueing, and consuming moufletas (sweet North African pancakes). And what is Mimouna all about? No one really knows.

The Rise of the Sephardim  Daniel J. Elazar,  Commentary.  What does it mean that Jews from non-European backgrounds are now the political majority in Israel? (1983)  SAVE

Modernity and Charisma  Yoram Bilu, Eyal Ben-Ari,  Israel Affairs.  Within five years of his death in 1984, Rabbi Israel Abu Hatzeira (the "Baba Sali") was a legendary saint; so was his son Baruch, jailed for corruption.  SAVE

Love the Convert  Jonah Mandel,  Jerusalem Post.  In a protest against extreme Orthodoxy, the Mimouna organizers intended to stress that accepting converts with open arms is embedded in the heritage of North African Jewry.  SAVE

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King Lear on the Yiddish stage.

Shakespeare, Much Improved?

One of the few things people think they know about Yiddish theater in America is that once upon a time there was a production, probably of King Lear, advertised as "translated and much improved." Joel Berkowitz's history, Shakespeare on the American Yiddish Stage (2002), quotes the line but never gives an attribution, which suggests that nobody ever actually said it. But someone might have.

The Yiddish Shakespeareans  Folger Shakespeare Library.  A photo gallery of Yiddish performers who headlined Shakespeare or Shakespeare-inspired productions on the American stage.  SAVE

“Who is it that can tell me who I am?”  YouTube.  In the Moscow State Jewish Theater's production of King Lear, Solomon Mikhoels plays the title role. (Video, 1935)  SAVE

Shakespeare, Shylock, and the Jews  William Meyers,  Commentary.  We like to think that Shakespeare, by virtue of his genius, was exempt from the prejudices of his time. But this is not the case.  SAVE

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Berber child, Morocco.

Toward a Pluralistic Middle East?

As the Middle East lurches through the present confusion of civil war, revolution, and mass protest, decent people everywhere wonder about the chances of a more pluralistic and democratic order emerging. One way of measuring progress in that direction will be to track the treatment of minorities like the Berbers and the Jews.

New Voices from North Africa  Bruce Maddy-Weitzman,  Jerusalem Report.  The Amazigh (Berber) movement trumpets tolerance, liberalism, secularism, and human rights for everyone, including the Jewish people.  SAVE

How I Became a Rebel  Matoub Lounes,  amazighworld.org.  The late Kabylie poet and leader Matoub Lounes recalls how he learned to resist Arab attempts to suppress the Berber language and culture.  SAVE

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Massacre on Potemkin Steps, Eisenstein.

The Odessa File

Undoubtedly the most searing image of the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea is Sergei Eisenstein's reconstruction of a bloody massacre on its famed "Potemkin Steps" in his epic silent film, Battleship Potemkin (1925).

The Jews of Odessa  Steven J. Zipperstein,  Stanford University Press.  An indispensable cultural history, from the founding of the city to 1881.  SAVE

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