Twentieth-Century Sephardic Authors from the Former Yugoslavia

Twentieth-Century Sephardic Authors from the Former Yugoslavia
Author: ZELJKO. JOVANOVIC
Publisher: Legenda
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2020-09-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9781781888513

In the twentieth century, various Sephardic authors from the former Yugoslavia took upon themselves the task of revitalising different forms of Judeo-Spanish oral tradition such as narrative, songs or ballads. These forms were fostered in the language of the Sepharadim, Ladino or Judeo-Spanish, since the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492. In their diaspora the Sepharadim mainly settled in the Ottoman Empire whose collapse began at the end of the nineteenth century. This disintegration followed later on by the Holocaust resulted in a rapid decline of the Sephardic language and tradition, causing UNESCO in 2002 to declare Ladino a seriously endangered language. In this interdisciplinary cultural study, Zeljko Jovanovic examines the efforts of the Yugoslav Sephardic authors to preserve the memory of a culture and a language in decline as their way of constructing their own personal and collective narrative and identity. Zeljko Jovanovic is a researcher in Sephardic studies at the Institute of Language, Literature and Anthropology (ILLA) of the CSIC (Madrid, Spain).

Black Jews in Africa and the Americas

Black Jews in Africa and the Americas
Author: Tudor Parfitt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2013-02-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0674071506

Black Jews in Africa and the Americas tells the fascinating story of how the Ashanti, Tutsi, Igbo, Zulu, Beta Israel, Maasai, and many other African peoples came to think of themselves as descendants of the ancient tribes of Israel. Pursuing medieval and modern European race narratives over a millennium in which not only were Jews cast as black but black Africans were cast as Jews, Tudor Parfitt reveals a complex history of the interaction between religious and racial labels and their political uses. For centuries, colonialists, travelers, and missionaries, in an attempt to explain and understand the strange people they encountered on the colonial frontier, labeled an astonishing array of African tribes, languages, and cultures as Hebrew, Jewish, or Israelite. Africans themselves came to adopt these identities as their own, invoking their shared histories of oppression, imagined blood-lines, and common traditional practices as proof of a racial relationship to Jews. Beginning in the post-slavery era, contacts between black Jews in America and their counterparts in Africa created powerful and ever-growing networks of black Jews who struggled against racism and colonialism. A community whose claims are denied by many, black Jews have developed a strong sense of who they are as a unique people. In Parfitt’s telling, forces of prejudice and the desire for new racial, redemptive identities converge, illuminating Jewish and black history alike in novel and unexplored ways.

The Book of Jewish Food

The Book of Jewish Food
Author: Claudia Roden
Publisher: Viking
Total Pages: 592
Release: 1999-08
Genre: Jewish cooking
ISBN: 9780670882984

A food book - a feast of the Jewish experience.

Monday Morning Cooking Club

Monday Morning Cooking Club
Author: Monday Morning Cooking Club
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 9780732297800

In 2006, a group of Jewish women began meeting every Monday morning. They cooked, ate, drank endless cups of tea and - often heatedly - discussed the merits of different recipes. After just a few weekly meetings, the Monday Morning Cooking Club was born. Five years and hundreds of dishes later, six members of the sisterhood handpicked their favourite recipes to go into their book - the result is a generous, rich and inspiring cookbook featuring the best, most treasured recipes from a culturally diverse community.

A Look Back Over My Shoulder

A Look Back Over My Shoulder
Author: Garry Fabian
Publisher:
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2014-09-01
Genre: Australia
ISBN: 9780980702859

Born Gerhard Fabian in Stuttgart, Germany on 11th January 1934, Garry's early years of life were spent travelling between countries to avoid persecution by the Nazis. In 1935 his family moved to Bodenback, Czechoslovakia, to avoid the ramifications of the Nuremberg Laws. With news of Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia, Garry and his mother travelled to Trenchin in Slovakia, then to Brno in Moravia to meet his father, then finally travelled to Prague by the end of 1938. Life in Prague was difficult for his family and they were forced to live under false documents. A steady income was generated by Garry's father's 'illegal' employment as a chauffeur, and the sale of his mother's hand-made items. During this time, Garry did not attend school but received private tuition. Life was difficult, however worse was to come. In November 1942, Garry and his family were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, established a year earlier in order to house those considered 'undesirables' by the Nazi regime. There the Fabian family were confronted with filthy living quarters, disease infested conditions and a diet that resulted in malnutrition. Garry endured, in succession, the measles, chicken pox and whooping cough. Initially Garry wandered the camp aimlessly, but was later put to work in the tailoring shop. In time, he came to understand the culture that had developed in the camp and even gained an invaluable education provided by an elderly teacher. In May 1945, the ghetto was liberated by the Russian Army. Out of 15,000 children that entered the ghetto only 150 survived, including Garry. His parents also survived. Although luck played a large part in their survival, Garry's father was in charge of the medical supply store and was classified as 'essential'. After liberation, Garry and his family emigrated to Australia in 1947. Garry attended school and later obtained a junior technical certificate that provided him with an electrical apprenticeship for five years until 1955. In 1956, Garry enlisted in the Australian Navy for a compulsory six months. In 1958 he became engaged to Evelyn Schlesinger and took over his father's business, as his father had died that year. Over the years Garry has held many jobs whilst supporting his wife and two daughters. Fabian's autobiography details life in the Theresienstadt ghetto and his 'new life' in Australia post-war. Garry's description of a child's life in the ghetto opens an unknown world to the reader. Fabian's responsibilities and actions as an 8-11 year old in the ghetto are poignant and revealing, demonstrating how a child's life was shaped by the Nazi regime. Written in a clear and direct style, and in chronological order, this narrative presents an important account of a life deeply affected by the Holocaust, but not defeated by it.

Colonialism and the Jews

Colonialism and the Jews
Author: Ethan B. Katz
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 371
Release: 2017-01-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0253024625

The lively essays collected here explore colonial history, culture, and thought as it intersects with Jewish studies. Connecting the Jewish experience with colonialism to mobility and exchange, diaspora, internationalism, racial discrimination, and Zionism, the volume presents the work of Jewish historians who recognize the challenge that colonialism brings to their work and sheds light on the diverse topics that reflect the myriad ways that Jews engaged with empire in modern times. Taken together, these essays reveal the interpretive power of the "Imperial Turn" and present a rethinking of the history of Jews in colonial societies in light of postcolonial critiques and destabilized categories of analysis. A provocative discussion forum about Zionism as colonialism is also included.

Jewish Fantasy Worldwide

Jewish Fantasy Worldwide
Author: Valerie Estelle Frankel
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2023-04-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1666926612

Jewish Fantasy Worldwide: Trends in Speculative Stories from Australia to Chile reaches beyond American fiction to reveal a spectrum of Jewish imagination. The chapters in this collection cover speculative works by Jewish artists and about Jewish characters from a broad range of national contexts, including post-Holocaust Europe, the Soviet Union, Israel, South America, French Canada, and the Middle East. The contributors consider various media including novels, short stories, film, YouTube videos, and fanfiction. Essays explore topics ranging from the ancient Jewish kingdom of Khazaria to modern university classes and the revival of Yiddish to the breadth of LGBTQ+ representation. For scholars and fans alike, this collection of essays will provide new perspectives on Jewish presences in speculative fiction around the world.

Sultanic Saviors and Tolerant Turks

Sultanic Saviors and Tolerant Turks
Author: Marc David Baer
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2020-03-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0253045428

An examination of why Jews promote a positive image of Ottomans and Turks while denying the Armenian genocide and the existence of antisemitism in Turkey. Based on historical narrative, the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 were embraced by the Ottoman Empire and then, later, protected from the Nazis during WWII. If we believe that Turks and Jews have lived in harmony for so long, then how can we believe that the Turks could have committed genocide against the Armenians? Marc David Baer confronts these convictions and circumstances to reflect on what moral responsibility the descendants of the victims of one genocide have to the descendants of victims of another. Baer delves into the history of Muslim-Jewish relations in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey to find the origin of these myths. He aims to foster reconciliation between Jews, Muslims, and Christians, not only to face inconvenient historical facts but to confront, accept, and deal with them. By looking at the complexities of interreligious relations, Holocaust denial, genocide and ethnic cleansing, and confronting some long-standing historical stereotypes, Baer aims to tell a new history that goes against Turkish antisemitism and admits to the Armenian genocide. “[Baer] demonstrates not only his erudition and knowledge of the sources but his courage on confronting a major myth of Ottoman history and current Turkish politics: the tolerance and defense of Jews by the Ottoman and Turkish state.” —Ronald Grigor Suny, editor of A Question of Genocide “A very significant study regarding the origins of violence and its denial in Turkey through the empirical study of not only antisemitism, but also its connection to genocide denial.” —Fatma Müge Göçek, author of The Transformation of Turkey