New Article: Weiss, The Politics of Yiddish in Israeli Popular Culture

Weiss, Shayna. “Shtisel’s Ghosts: The Politics of Yiddish in Israeli Popular Culture.” In Geveb, March 6, 2016.

 

URL: http://ingeveb.org/blog/shtisel-s-ghosts-the-politics-of-yiddish-in-israeli-popular-culture

 

Extract

The popular embrace, in newspapers and talkbacks, of Shtisel’s Yiddish stands in contrast to the unease with which Arabic is received in Israeli society, even on television; Yiddish is a softer, safer other for mainstream Jewish Israeli viewers. Yet Yiddish is not feminized and defanged, because Shtisel succeeds in challenging those stereotypes by displaying the breadth of Yiddish in the Israeli Hasidic context. Shtisel also humanizes Israeli Haredim, whose reputation among secular Israelis is often stereotyped to the point of invoking anti-Semitic tropes. Not all non-Hebrew languages in Israel are created equal.

Workshop: Summer Institute for Israel Studies (apply by Jan 20, 2016)

Summer Faculty Fellowship

Get the foundation you need to teach about modern Israel: Apply to the Summer Institute for Israel Studies

June 14-26 at Brandeis University; June 27-July 6 in Israel

The Summer Institute for Israel Studies is a competitive fellowship program open to faculty in all disciplines. Stipend of up to $2,500. Travel, accommodations and most meals provided.

Apply by January 20, 2016, for the opportunity to:

• Engage with world-class faculty from Israel and the U.S. in a two-week
  multidisciplinary Brandeis seminar
• Meet with leading personalities in public life, the academy and the arts on a 10-day
  Israel study tour
• Explore the complexity of Israeli society, politics and culture
• Create a syllabus and leave equipped to teach an Israel Studies course
  in your discipline
• Join a network of 250 alumni — teaching at nearly 200 institutions worldwide —
  supported by a wealth of pedagogical resources and ongoing professional
  development

Learn more and apply here.

“The Summer Institute gave me the courage and confidence to teach my first course in Modern Israeli History.” Bruce Thompson, University of California, Santa Cruz “The Summer Institute provided me with a chance to take a rigorous scholarly approach to the study of Israel, to inquire and critique and discuss important issues with a community of international scholars.” Janice Fernheimer, University of Kentucky

 

Opinions: Braiterman on Middle East Scholars & Librarians Now Boycotting Israel

Zachary Braiterman (Department of Religion, Syracuse University) writes in his blog on questions about Middle East Scholars and Librarians boycotting Israel.

 

URL: http://jewishphilosophyplace.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/jewish-studies-israel-studies-questions-about-middle-east-scholars-librarians-now-boycotting-Israel/

 

 

Excerpt

As an organization, it would seem that MESA understands in sharper perspective than do the individual signatories to the boycott the purpose of its association, which would be the study of the Middle East in all its varied ramifications. With or without too much hope, my own view is that professors of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies should continue to seek common cause with those colleagues amenable to professional and personal contact and exchange. Especially given the fact that MESA as an organizational body opposes BDS, the best course of action would seem to me to be ones that isolate the phenomenon and contain the damage, to listen carefully to and when possible to heed colleagues, morally and politically. Certainly one should also push back where one thinks one should, while avoiding direct confrontation and the appearance of confrontation. Any act carries its own consequence. More often than not, the best course of action is not to act at all in an obviously hostile way. On the ground, Israel and Hamas prove again and again that each are their own worst enemies. Armed resistance against Israeli civilians has turned out to be a self-destructive act that only further isolates the Palestinian people. For its part, with the ongoing and deepening occupation of the 1967 territories, Israel does more to undercut its own moral, political, social, and national standing than any act of BDS by individual scholars who, by every measure, appear to hate the country with what can be shown to be an extreme prejudice.

 

Opinions: Lehman, Establishing an Integrated Community and School in Israel

What is the mission and vision for a Jewish day school that can unite a population with a wide variety of Jewish beliefs, affiliations and practices? Ayelet Lehman provides perspective by describing how this challenge has played out at an intentionally pluralistic school in Israel.

URL: http://www.ravsak.org/news/882/279/Establishing-an-Integrated-Community-and-School-in-Israel-A-Continuing-Challenge/

 

Excerpt

It is important to understand that unlike other schools in Israel, which are established through the education system and the local authority, the Keshet School in Mazkeret Batya was established by a group of parents in order to realize their social-educational goals. Even so, some of the teachers who joined the school were not familiar with the vision of Keshet, its teaching philosophy and educational practices. For this reason, two years after the establishment of the school, various stakeholders undertook a structured process of forming a school vision. The process was led by the school administration, with staff and parents participating.

The implementation of the Keshet School vision was led by staff members together with the parents. The challenge now was to translate the vision into a practical program for all ages. For example, the meeting group (secular) discussed the definition of secular identity that is a mix of Jewish, Israeli and universal components. If so, what is the ratio we expect between those components? To what cultural legacy do we want to expose our children? To what extent will the school focus on Jewish laws and customs? What principles will guide the teaching and learning in this group? During the discussion diverse voices emerged, some focusing on social values, others putting emphasis on experiential learning, some emphasizing critical thinking, learning through asking questions, and examining dilemmas.

Who will teach the complex subjects? It became necessary to find teachers who are familiar with the material, whose worldview is pluralistic, who consider the two identity groups as equals, who are able to accept feelings, attitudes and behaviors different from their own, and who will protect every child’s right to express his or her opinion, even if it contradicts the worldview of another.

Opinions: Magid, Pluralism, Ethos, Creativity and Israel

Shaul Magid responds to Daniel Lehmann’s essay, “Beyond Continuity, Identity, and Literacy” on Jewish education, highlighting the role of Israel in Jewish Education in America today.

 

URL: http://www.ravsak.org/news/891/279/Pluralism-Ethos-Creativity-and-Israel/

 

 

Excerpt

The question of Israel is indeed a vexing one. Many of us who remember Israel before 1967 and who were raised on Leon Uris’ Exodus and Otto Preminger’s film version of that mythic novel must remember that our students only know a much complex Israel, more Western, economically stable, and also mired in managing a 45 year occupation. Many students may ask why Israel should be important at all, or why they should learn about Israel when Israelis learn almost nothing about the contemporary diaspora. Many will argue that Israel does not embody the democratic values they learned were sacred in America.

I think the question “why Israel?” should be an operative one in Jewish education today. We may take that for granted but they may not. Their experience is very different than ours. Assuming Israel is or should be a central part of American Jewish identity formation is more indoctrination than education, at least along the lines Lehmann suggests. Can Jewish education in American today have room for Jewish non-Zionism or even anti-Zionism? If not, why not? I think the Israel curriculum in American Jewish education is in dire need of reformation. It rests on a foundation that is simply outdated and does not speak to the reality of Israel today. The question “How do we teach Israel as a centerpiece of Jewish identity?” should include, in my view, the question “Why teach Israel as a centerpiece of Jewish identity?” allowing for contesting viewpoints and arguments.