Yiddish Theatre

People may think that Yiddish Theatre was not a big success since there was anti-semitism in America at the time, however, Yiddish Theatre was very successful. Many people have become famous over it like Sarah Adler and her children. One of her children, named Stella Adler,  founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting where other actors and actresses came from like Anthony Quinn and Elaine Stritch. The Yiddish Theaters would get business because there wasn't any TVs or radios at the time for the people to entertain themselves. The audiences were mainly Jewish but they were able to catch the attention of the New York papers.

Through the plays, they were able to explain and shows more than a century worth of immigration of the Jews. They were able to show the audience the oppression of the Jews over time. People back then and even today blame Jews for things like stabbing Christ crackers and using non-Jewish children blood for matzah. Muslims, and Christians especially, believed and still believe that these accusations are true. As we were talking today in class, Jews have always been a oppressed people who have overcome the hardest things and are punished for the most false and stupid things. A way people can understand that the Jews have had to deal this for centuries, is through art like theatre, music, poems, and physical art like paintings and mosaics.

My Family and their Influence

So this past weekend I was able to meet my family, or at least some of the many, that live in Israel. I met my maternal grandfather's adoptive family. When my grandfather was around the age of 5 years old, he had to flee Germany because of the Holocaust. He and his older sister were in the kinder transport to Sweden. We met the family and the children of who my grandfather lived with. I met my Dad's cousin Yossi Alfi and his family. One of Yossi's sons is named Guri Alfi, who is a famous comedian here in Israel. Then we met up with my father's Aunt's family who are all amazing and fun. I love that I am able to say that I have all of this family in Israel which only makes my feelings towards Israel stronger. I believe that there should be a place for my family to live in and be able to protect them. A few of my cousins are going off to the army soon and will be placed in a base and position, where they will be spending the next 2-3 years fighting for their country. Israel will always be a big part of my life with all of this family and my experience here.

Pillars of the Community

Many people believe that Muslims and Jews cannot coexist or live together. In India, there is a man named Thaha Ibrahim and his wife who live in Cochin. They are Muslims who want to keep this unique heritage of being Indian Muslims, while being able to live with Jews. The both of them would help and embrace the Jewish culture that not many people are a part of. In Cochin there is not much anti-semitism and has a dying group of Jews. Sarah Cohen is one of those rare people. Sarah Cohen was a big impact on Ibrahim not only on his interactions with people but him as a person. For Ibrahim and the Muslims of Cochin, the Jews are not an enemy. They are friends and family.

Today there are people in Israel that are Jews that friends and family with Muslims or vice versa. Today there is constant conflict with Muslims and Jews over land or general things. For me, I believe that we can coexist and learn to live together like Sarah and Ibrahim. Islam and Judaism have similar principles. In Islam there are the 5 Pillars: belief in one God, prayer 5 times a day, charity, Ramadan, and Pilgrimage to Mecca. In Judaism, we are supposed to believe in God, pray 3 times a day and give to/help the needy. Don't they seem similar to Islam's 5 Pillars? Both Islam and Judaism are not only a religion, but a culture. There are many similarities in these religions yet it is so interesting how there is still constant conflict that has lasted over 1000 years. Many people believe that Muslims and Jews can't live together in harmony, however I believe that we can achieve this through looking at the example of Thaha Ibrahim and Sarah Cohen.

Beit She'arim

  While in Beit She’arim, we learned in our Jewish History Class about the significance of the spot. The time period is 400 CE. During this time, the Sanhedrian, a group of 70 Rabbis and 1 Nassi who interpreted the laws for the Jews, was disbanded from Jerusalem and have been travelling around the North of Israel. One of the places they stopped to do their travels was in Beit She’arim.

  Here in Beit She’arim there is a tomb full of a bunch of Rabbis and their loved ones. In the tomb we saw a bunch of sarcophaguses with not only Hebrew writings but different drawings of gods and goddesses and some pictures of lions. These depictions and drawings brought up questions of  if the Jews and Rabbis at the time were fully committed to Judaism. Much like today, people still don't know how to define when someone is not Jewish. Today in class we discussed how we define people as being Jews. The majority of the time we talked about the bare minimum a Jew should do to consider themselves Jewish. Some said that going to the high holidays is the bare minimum while others said that knowing the history of the Jewish people is enough. Many people especially in Reform Judaism, don't really know what to think of when they are confronted with the idea that they may not be Jewish. Which to some being told they are not Jewish is not a shocker or a total shock.

Israeli Defense Force Dealing with Stabbings

I think that the Israeli Defense Force should be judged on the way they deal with stabbings and not based off of how the media portrays Israel in general. I understand that the IDF enforces the "purity of arms" and to only kill when they or their comrades are in danger based off of my experience in Gadna. However the world is very anti-Israel today and will use any information they can get their hands on to make Israel not only look bad but get supporters in being anti-Israel. Many anti-Israel people use the army to criticize Israel as a whole because when they use the stabbings and all of the accounts where an Israeli solider is very threatening or "dangerous" to make propaganda. Even if a solider is to just put a terrorist in a head lock or anything that doesn't kill them, they will still be judged in a negative light.