Politicizing Word ‘Holocaust’ Trivializes It
February 4, 2009
Names make a difference, and names must be used with precision, or they are abused.
Michael Berenbaum
Michael Berenbaum is director of the Sigi Ziering Institute and a professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University.
Israel and its relationship to the Shoah
March 21, 2008
Did Israel attempt to address the problems uncovered by the Jewish condition in the Holocaust? Absolutely and surprisingly successfully. However, it has neither ended Jewish vulnerability nor achieved normalcy for the Jewish people, something that does not surprise religious Jews but astonishes secular ones. At 60, it has not — or at least not yet — achieved the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations. That will have to be the achievement of the succeeding generation.
Books: Wartime memoir a lesson in finding family treasures
March 7, 2008
Over the past several years, a new genre of original Jewish documentation has emerged in closets and attics of Holocaust survivors. The documentation has all the authority of the diaries and notes that were written in situ, within the ghettos, within hiding, even within concentration camps and elsewhere during the Holocaust.
Diaspora must face painful realities in Jerusalem’s future
January 25, 2008
The Jewish community is now openly discussing whether Jerusalem should be on the negotiating table for a Palestinian-Israel peace agreement.
The Yavneh incident was stupid but not quite anti-Semitic
October 12, 2007
Last month, Kol Nidrei services on the evening of the Day of Atonement held at a local Hancock Park yeshiva were interrupted by the government officials pressing a zoning violation. It was an act of stupidity and insensitivity, not anti-Semitism.
The leaders of Israel and of the Jewish people are failing us
May 25, 2007
Almost 25 years ago, I read a one-line description of Jewish leadership that has haunted me ever since. The author, whose name I have repressed, wrote: \”Only a confirmed anti-Semite could believe that the Jewish people have the leadership they deserve.\” I protested his statement then, but I am not sure I can disagree now.
Books: Part history, part mystery — the passengers of the S. S. St. Louis
April 13, 2007
Sarah Ogilvie and Scott Miller set a difficult task for themselves. Writing their book was easy. So, too, was researching what happened on the voyage of the St. Louis, the Hamburg-American line ship that traveled from Germany to Cuba in May 1939, carrying 937 passengers who were escaping Nazi Germany. The authors\’ greater challenge was to uncover the fate of the passengers after the ship had been turned away from numerous ports. Their dogged pursuit of all leads yielded some surprising results.
Prager’s presence no longer benefits Holocaust Museum
February 15, 2007
Jews, who constitute 3 percent of the American people, were considered for most of the past half century 33.3 percent of the American religious experience, and this reflected itself in civic ceremonies, such as presidential inaugurations, when priests, pastors and rabbis were invited to participate. Those times have passed.
William Styron, an appreciation
November 9, 2006
Bill Styron died last week at the age of 81.
The author of the \”Confessions of Nat Turner\” and \”Sophie\’s Choice\” was indisputably a great writer, a writer\’s writer. His words were carefully, painstakingly chosen and anyone who loved the English language enjoyed the pure craftsmanship of Styron.
Books: Kristallnacht’s memory revealed and recovered
November 2, 2006
Kristallnacht marked the end of Jewish life in Germany; a pivotal turning point in what later became known as the Holocaust. A generation is passing, but it is a generation that has left behind voluminous records, testimonies and memoirs, video recordings and diaries, letters and notes.
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