Italian Jewish Girl

                                  WHAT I CONSIDER HOME

What do you use your ladle for? In my house we use our ladle to stir either the tomato sauce for the lasagna or the broth for the matzoh ball soup. We have two different types of balls in my house- meat ball and matzoh balls. This is who I am. I love music, everything from folk to country to classical. I love obama. I love fashion. I am passionate about Israeli politics. I want to live in NYC with the rest of my family. I am currently listening to Johnny Flynn and First Aid Kit. I am probably similar to most of you, yet I am also probably very different.  

My political beliefs/ why people think I'm an inside hippie.

From my grandma- plays the Hatikva when you pull the cord.

The food in my kitchen. 

In my dresser for safe keepings

Worn around my neck.

    

Protecting my apartment in columbus.



This is who I am.

                       

Ishaq Shami and the Predicament of the Arab Jew in Palestine/ Leper, Lunatics, and Saints

Ishaq Shami and the Predicament of the Arab Jew in Palestine 
     Being an Arab Jew is an "oxymoron." I loved this idea because it is very true. In today's society, most Arabs are seen as muslims and Arabs and Jews do not get along. I thought that Shami's story was very interesting because being an Arab Jew is like living two different lifestyles with two different beliefs in two different worlds. Today, how can one really be an Arab Jew? You are forced to pick due to the tension and the conflict.
      However, I think that Shami did an excellent job in discovering both sides of his culture. He learned Arabic and Hebrew and brought a novel that was written in hebrew but portrayed a palestinian narrative voice to society. I never knew that when the first waves of the diaspora occurred that many Arab Jews felt torn between their culture and their religion. I always assumed that being Jewish trumped all. Today, being Jewish is both a culture and a religion. As a citizen of the U.S. and because I am Jewish, I am considered a Jewish American. But if I had to pick between my american culture or my jewish heritage, I would pick my jewish heritage because I feel like jews all around the world share the same lifestyle, as opposed to all Americans. 
     Until reading this article, I never knew that any Jews were welcomed by the Palestinians. However, the First Palestinian Congress of 1919 rejected zionism and zionist immigrants but welcomed those Jews that were already Arabicized. This makes me question whether religion played as big as a role in the Arab-Israeli conflict as everyone puts it out to be. 

Leper, Lunatics, and Saints 
     I think the word nativism that is addressed in this article really speaks out to what we have discussed in class about what land belongs to who. Nativism also relates nationalism and history. The diaspora and right of return led to a rise in both Jewish Nationalism and Palestinian Nationalism. History has displayed that when one culture feels threatened by another, they all join together and ignite nationalism. 
     For example, the Zionists attempt to to establish claim to Israel through biblical heritage, the Palestinians began a movement of nationalist revivalist writings.  Therefore, anything that the Zionists claimed to be true to the biblical sense, the Palestinians contested by "stressing present-day continuities between the biblical heritage and Palestinian popular beliefs and practices." I think this illustrates how each side was really trying to prove what was theirs instead of wanting to share it. 
     I also thought it was interesting that all 3 religions believed in saints- I thought that saints was only something the the Catholic sect of christianity believed in. 

Last 4 Chapters

For me, the last 4 chapters were of much more interest to me than the rest of the book because the focus was on the more modern history of Jerusalem rather than ancient history. I never knew or really thought about how the modernization of Jerusalem occurred. I found it very interesting that the ottomans/ the ottoman leader Muhammad 'Ali was responsible for bringing a modern way of life to the people, such as modern medicine, education and technology. 

Also, I never realized that the Jews had some control over modern Jerusalem even before they were given Israel. They held government positions and had some influence in politics. They felt as if they were "not in exile" and that they were not highly discriminated against, with such things as special taxes geared only towards Jews. 

I was very happy to read the last two chapters and I am very happy that these chapters were included. I think they did a nice job of giving the details of the formation of the state of Israel. I am glad that the class will read this because unless studied, a lot of people don't know much about the process of in which Israel was formed or the conflict that occurred throughout the formation. I think this will help others understand more why Israel was formed and how it came to be. 

Project Idea

w/ Robyn Silver

We are going to make a video/documentary using imovie. We will interview people from all religious Jewish backgrounds who practice different sects of Judaism. For example we will interview two different rabbis, orthodox students and reform students, and individuals who are connected to Judaism culturally instead of religiously.

Possible Questions:

How would you feel if Jerusalem was no longer part of the Jewish homeland?

Why is it part of who you are?

What does Jerusalem mean to Judaism?

Have you ever visited Jerusalem?

How did you feel different about your religion after you visited Jerusalem?

Jerusalem has a lot of meaning to other religions too, how do you feel about sharing the city with this other religions?  

What if the Western Wall was part of Palestinian territory?

Possible People:

Rabbi Ben Burger (modern orthodox), Zollman at chabad (traditional orthodox, very religious), Sarah (chabad- Rabbis wife), Karen Cohen (Israeli living in U.S.), friends living in Israel, Nathan Meese, Regan Siegel, random friends in the Jewish community/people at hillel, Ilana Nurko.

Chapter 11-13

When I was a freshman at Miami I took a history of pre-modern civilization class. The class was completely different than what I thought it was going to be. The teacher focused heavily on religion- especially Islam. I was pretty annoyed because if I wanted to learn all about religion I would have signed up for a history of religion class. However, as the semester went on, I realized that the reason we focused on religion is because religion was so intertwined with with politics, power and life. 

This notion is expressed in all three chapters of the reading. I was surprised to learn that to the muslims and to the religion of Islam, Jerusalem is only the third important city. This makes me question the modern rights to the city of Jerusalem. To the Jews, Jerusalem and Israel is the only important city. However the muslims have Mecca, a city that they could always call their homeland- why do they have to have the "right" to both cities. As much as the conflict going on in Israel isn't about religion it is about religion. 

In chapter 12, Armstrong discussed how the Christians really showed their political power and influence over Jerusalem through the fact that they put a lot of effort in developing in Jerusalem special to their faith. This helps explain some of the reasonings behind the crusades- the christian knights felt as if it was their duty to fight for their city (272). The crusades happened hundreds of years ago- yet religions and cultures are still fighting over the city. For example, "for six hundred years there had been tension between Jews and Christians, particularly regarding the status of Jerusalem.  Will people ever stop fighting over the city? If it has equal importance to all three religions- three religions that realistically share the same G-d then why can't people get a long and realize that even if Jerusalem is part of Israel/a Jewish state that it can still be meaningful to all religions. 

Chapters 8-10

Chapter 8: Aelia Capitolina

"The rabbis had not given up hope that one day their Temple would be rebuilt: the last time the temple had been destroyed, there had been a restoration against all odds. But they believed that it was wiser and safer to leave this rebuilding to G-d" (157). - This quote really stuck out to me because of the fact that the Jewish people put all their faith and confidence in G-d. A temple is one of the holiest places and the fact that they would wait until G-d would help restore it illustrates their commitment and trust in him. I also thought it was interesting that after the destruction of the Temple many Jews sought religious security in their homes, which is where a lot of traditions such as Passover started.

Chapter 9: The New Jerusalem

A part of this chapter also related to the change in the importance of the temple as being the only holy place. "The fate of the temple was clear proof that G-d no longer wanted that showy type of sacrificial ritual. He wanted them to follow the spiritual religion  preached by Jesus, which did not depend on temples or holy places" (175).  This is a clear shift in the ideology that you have to come somewhere sacred or holy to connect with G-d because now you can anywhere in the world.

Chapter 10: Christian Holy City

After reading this chapter I realized how little I knew about the connection between christianity and Jerusalem/Israel.

I have a couple of questions that I hope we can discuss either in class or

1) Do christians still refer to bethlehem as bethlehem?
2) Where did the Messiah come back to according to Christianity? The Jews believe that the Messiah still has not come. When I was in Israel I saw the ally that the Messiah was supposed to come to:

2nd Journal Assignment

To Blame. To blame is the number one verb that seems to stand in the way of peace between the Arabs and the Israelis. Which side is right? Which side is wrong? Which group started the tension? Which group should just give in first? In order to overcome this conflict, both sides and even outsiders must stop placing the blame on each other and work together to figure out a compromise that works for both sides. Due to history, this probably seems very unrealistic, and to be honest I think that it is without a change in perspective from everyone in the world.

I strongly believe that the Arab-Israeli tension cannot be solved without educating the younger generations in Israel/Palestine first how to grow up in a peaceful environment without established hatred towards one group. But this education needs to happen all over the world too. If kids grow up with the notion that because they are jewish that they should hate Palestinian Arabs and vice versa then there will never even be a chance of coexistence. 

The above picture is an example of anti-israel propaganda. It is in the form of a cartoon which makes it more appealing to both children and adults. 

This image especially pertains to today's youth because it is arguing that Israeli children will grow up to be doctors, lawyer etc.- respectful jobs- where as the Palestinian boy will grow up to be a terrorist using guns and violence. 

Overall I think that it is of great necessity to start with the youth- preaching and talking about coexistence, tolerance and peace because otherwise it will be instilled in their brains that the opposite side will always be the enemy and that leaves no hope for resolving Arab-Israeli tensions