Sunday, February 10, 2008

New Israeli Film Is Getting Great Reviews

I just read some wonderful reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for The Band's Visit, a new Israeli film. It's about the members of an Egyptian band who become stranded in Israel and find themselves welcomed into the homes and hearts of Jewish Israelis.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bands_visit/#syn

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Kibbutzim: Past and Present

Check out this list and learn more about Israeli kibbutzim, past and present:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kibbutzim. You can look up specific kibbutzim--maybe ones that you or your family members have visited.

Also, many kibbutzim have their own sites. Look at:
Kibbutz Yotvata --home of a prominent dairy
Kibbutz Ketura --a religious, non-Orthodox kibbutz
Kibbutz Beit HaShita --home of well-known factory producing olives and pickles
Kibbutz Degania -- the first Kibbutz

Jews of Yemen and the Preservation of Ancient Hebrew

Due to their geographic isolation, the Jews of Yemen preserved Hebrew as it was pronounced in antiquity. To hear a Yemenite Jew speak Hebrew is to hear its pronunciation in the time of the Second Temple. They have preserved the correct sound for the 'ayin and hard/soft letters no longer having dual pronunciations in Modern Hebrew (such as a gimmel with and without a dot).

To hear a Yemenite pronunciation of the letters, open an audio program such as WinAmp, then open a browser tab to http://sagavyah.tripod.com/ALEFBET.html. Then you can click on each letter to hear it. The YouTube link doesn't seem to work.

You can also see a chart of the differences in pronunciation. The two pages have two separate URLs: page 1 and page 2.

Jews of Yemen

Most of the Jews from Arab countries have been brought to Israel or immigrated to North America. These Jews come from some of the oldest Jewish communities in the world--Babylonia/Iraq, Persia/Iran, Syria, Egypt. Over the centuries, these Jews have been frequently mistreated by the Moslems ruling over them. According to Islamic law, Jews and Christians are called "dhimmi." This status reflected that Jews and Christians (and later a few other groups) were also Jews of the Abrahamic tradition, people of the Book, but also set them apart from those who had accepted Mohammed and his prophecy. The wellbeing of Jewish communities and their people varied greatly according to the whim of the rulers and their interpretation of Sharia, Islamic law. The Jews of Arab lands (Mizrahim) were often humiliated by special dress-codes, forbidden honors like riding a horse, or kept from economic success.

One of the most fascinating Jewish ethnic groups are the Jews of Yemen, whose relative isolation, at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, helped form and preserve a unique culture. In Hebrew, Yemen is called "Teiman." Teimani Jews have contributed greatly to the culture of Israel today. This poor community--which suffered terribly at due to their status as dhimmi--possesses riches of music, metalcraft, Torah study, and ritual.

For general information, check:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenite_Jews
http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=33&letter=Y&search=yemen

On the dhimmi status and being marginal in Islamic society:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhimmi
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/
http://www.jimena.org/Countries_Left.htm

The Jews of Yemen--Weddings

When studying Jewish ethnic groups, it's often interesting to compare the customs of a place with both the local non-Jews and with Jews from other places. In the following links, you can find information about Jewish weddings in Yemen and their celebration with a henna ceremony, non-Jewish weddings in Yemen, and a slideshow of Yemenite henna designs.

http://www.ujc.org/page.html?ArticleID=40490
http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=733&p=culture&a=1
http://www.aisledash.com/photos/bridal-henna/504625/

Monday, February 4, 2008

Catching Up and the Beginning of Adar

Having taken a small bit of a break from blogging (first because of winter break, and then because of writing report cards and catching colds), it's time that I get back on top of things. You shall soon find a bunch of posts covering topics from the previous two months of classes.

Today is starts Adar I. The Rabbis tell us, "the one who enters the month of Adar, multiplies his/her joy." And why are we happy? Because we will soon celebrate God's rescue of the Jews of Persia, at Purim. This year, being a Jewish leap year as well as a secular one, we have two months of Adar, and Purim is celebrated during the second one.

Recently, at a staff meeting, my colleagues and I discussed what activities would bring the spirit of joy to our students. Joy is different than the happiness American society espouses. Rather than being the fulfillment of one's whims, the fun to be had with material pleasures, or simply goofing off, joy comes from a deeper place, a place of connection with God and amazement with Creation. I find it worthwhile to contemplate this difference between joy and American happiness.

There are different ways to reach joy. Joy can come from contentment--being satisfied by one's lot in life. In Pirkei Avot, we are told, "Who is rich? The one who is happy with his/her lot [in life]." This sense of having all that one needs sometimes occurs in a single moment; other times, it can last for quite awhile. Have you ever felt it?