Last HW of the year

One question due by the final

HW 4/6

This question is posed to a member of the Washington Institute who'll be visiting on April 8th. Your question should couple a detail from the Institute with one from the history we've been studying so far. Below is a description of the Institute from its website:

"Founded in 1985, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy* was established to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East. Under the guidance of a distinguished and bipartisan Board of Advisors, the Institute seeks to bring scholarship to bear on the making of U.S. policy in this vital region of the world. Drawing on the research of its scholars and the experience of policy practitioners, the Institute promotes an American engagement in the Middle East committed to strengthening alliances, nurturing friendships, and promoting security, peace, prosperity, and democracy for the people of the region."

Click here for more.

HW 3/30

This question is one posed to a representative of the ZOA (its mission is below) who's visiting April 1. Your question should combine a detail from the ZOA's mission and a specific piece from the history we've studied so far. Post your questions below by midnight Wednesday, 3/30.

"The ZOA is the only organization that documents and exposes Palestinian Arab violations of the Road Map plan. The ZOA leads the efforts on behalf of American victims of Palestinian Arab terrorism. The ZOA's campaigns have repeatedly led to the defeat of hostile critics of Israel who were nominated for important government positions.

The ZOA has played a key role in Congress regarding victims of terrorism, keeping Jerusalem unified under Israeli sovereignty, fighting Hamas and Fatah, and working on the imposition of sanctions on Syria and Saudi Arabia."

For more info, please click here.

3/17 (2)

"Israel is guilty of genocide agsint the Palestinians and Arabs" (The Accusation, 140).

"To be sure, Palestinian civilians have died in the seventy-three-year-long war, but their numbers have been infinitesimal in comparison with the number of Palestinians and Arabs killed by Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Iran during the same period [...] Moreoever, the Palestinian deaths have resulted primareily from terrorists hiding among their own civilians, as in Lebanon, whereas the Israeli deaths have resulted from innocent civilians being specifically targeted. When Palestinians have been accidently killed in a legitimate effort to prevent terrorism, Israel has expressed genuine regret. The murder of innocent Israelis, on the other hand, has generated celebration among Palestinians" (The Proof, 143).

One question by Thursday night

3/17 (1)

"... a book on the history of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, published in 1925 in Jerusalem, uses the term Urshalmim in the title, and the term al-Quds al-Sharif to describe the place of publication. This vestigial reluctance to use the common Arabic name, with its Islamic overtones, even in works referring to the name somewhere on their title pages, represetns the last flcikering of a rivalry for control of Jerusalem between Islam and Christianity - a rivalry that began in the seventh century with the city's conquest by Muslim armies from Byzantium, was greatly intensified during the Crusades, and abated only in the early twentieth century. More recently, the devotion of some fundamentalist Western Christians to Israel, and their visceral hositility to Islam and the Arabs, shows theat a few embers of this ancient rivalry have not been entirely extinguished" (Palestinian Identity, 16)

One question by Thursday night

Wikipedia

Please post your URL as a comment

Rothko

Mark Rothko's Typtich
Please ask one question for Monday evening:
This tryptich was made to resist narratives and most content-based interpretations, as such it's one of the most difficult things you'll see all year. Below is a manifesto about the point of art in the 20th century written mostly by Rothko. It might assist with your interpretations.

Adolph Gottlieb and Mark Rothko, Statement, 1943*

To the artist the workings of the critical mind is one

of life's mysteries. That is why, we suppose, the art-

ist's complaint that he is misunderstood, especially

by the critic, has become a noisy commonplace. It

is therefore an event when the worm turns and the

critic quietly, yet publicly, confesses his "befuddle-

ment," that he is "nonplused" before our pictures at

the federation show. We salute this honest, we

might say cordial, reaction toward our "obscure"

paintings, for in other critical quarters we seem to

have created a bedlam of hysteria. And we appreci-

ate the gracious opportunity that is being offered us

to present our views.

We do not intend to defend our pictures. They make

their own defense. We consider them clear state-

ments. Your failure to dismiss or disparage them is

prima facie evidence that they carry some commu-

nicative power. We refuse to defend them not be-

cause we cannot. It is an easy matter to explain to

the befuddled that The Rape of Persephone [by Adolph Gottlieb] is a poetic expression

of the essence of the myth; the presentation of the concept of seed and its earth with all

the brutal implications; the impact of elemental truth. Would you have us present this ab-

stract concept, with all its complicated feelings,

by means of a boy and girl lightly tripping?

It is just as easy to explain The Syrian Bull [by

Mark Rothko] as a new interpretation of an ar-

chaic image, involving unprecedented distor-

tions. Since art is timeless, the significant ren-

dition of a symbol, no matter how archaic, has

as full validity today as the archaic symbol had

then. Or is the one 3,000 years old truer? . . .

No possible set of notes can explain our paint-

ings. Their explanation must come out of a

consummated experience between picture and

onlooker. The point at issue, it seems to us, is

not an "explanation" of the paintings, but

whether the intrinsic ideas carried within the

frames of these pictures have significance. We

feel that our pictures demonstrate our aesthetic

beliefs, some of which we, therefore, list:

1.To us art is an adventure into an unknown

world, which can be explored only by those

willing to take the risks.

2. This world of the imagination is fancy-free and violently opposed to common

sense.

3. It is our function as artists to make the spectator see the world our way—not his

way.

4. We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large

shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture

plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth.

5. It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one

paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academism. There is no

such thing as good painting about nothing. We assert that the subject is crucial and

only that subject-matter is valid which is tragic and timeless. That is why we profess

spiritual kinship with primitive and archaic art.

Consequently, if our work embodies these beliefs it must insult anyone who is spiritually

attuned to interior decoration; pictures for the home; pictures for over the mantel; pic-

tures of the American scene; social pictures; purity in art; prize-winning potboilers; the

National Academy, the Whitney Academy, the Corn Belt Academy; buckeyes; trite tripe,

etc.

HW 2/16

Ask two questions on this video, due Wednesday 2/16.


JEWS LEAVE BRITISH DETENTION CAMP FOR PALESTINE aka JEWISH REFUGEES IN DETENTION CAMP video newsreel film

"Return to Haifa"

Howdy all,

I hope you're enjoying your snow days. If you get around to a little bit of reading/thinking about school. I hope you take a look at some of these links in preparation for the play tomorrow (it still looks like we're going, as of this minute that is...).

The author of the play: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassan_Kanafani

Start reading "The Case for Israel," Introduction and Chapters 1-3

Kanafani's largest political and literary influence: http://www.iep.utm.edu/sartre-p/

HW 1/6

"Tous les israélites sont solidaires les uns des autres"

This is the French Motto of the Alliance Israélite Universelle , take your time with the translation. Grab a dictionary and do each word alone, before you do the whole sentence (same goes for google translate). Your questions are due by 11:59pm.

HW 1/4

Please ask one interpretive question of this article for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs written by Alec Mishory, PhD. Identify, in your question, what interpretive methods you used to arrive at your question. You may absolutely refer to your Week One notes, but don't be limited by them.

Your question is due 1/4 by 11:59pm.

HW 12/24

Pick a pic and ask a question.

Visit the YIVO encyclopedia's article on the BUND and ask a question on one of the documents/photographs it cites. Post the questions here and clearly indicate which artifact you're interpreting. My personal favorite is the torn photo of the Bundist demonstration.

HW 11/9 (Choose only one)

"Present-day Orthodox Judaism has a distinct and readily identifiable profile. It finds its expression in robust institutionalized forms such as nationwide organizations of synagogues, communities, and rabbis; schools and yeshivas; newspapers and other media; and even political parties in Israel and Hasidic townships in the United States that are self-designated as Orthodox. Orthodoxy in all its variety is characterized by a firm ideological stance, defining itself in relation to rival trends within Judaism. It implies more than an adherence to traditional forms of religious observance; rather, it is an ideology committed to the preservation of tradition. It is this conservative posture that lies at the very core of the self-definition of the modern-day Orthodox. As such, it is a relatively new phenomenon, a consequence of the challenges posed to tradition by modern ideologies. With the authority of tradition no longer taken as self-evident, it has had to be consciously defended and justified, augmented and amplified. Orthodoxy thus emerged in response to ideologies that challenged tradition and presented themselves as legitimate alternatives. It did not arise in the absence of ideological confrontation even where there was noticeable erosion of tradition associated with modernization."


First Paragraph, YIVO Encyclopedia of Judaism in Eastern Europe

Please post ONE question on only ONE of the homeworks for this week. After you post your question, post a respectful response to ONE other person.

HW 11/9 (Choose only one)

Please post ONE question on only ONE of the homeworks for this week. After you post your question, post a respectful response to ONE other person.

Week 9 (Question 4)

What is the cultural, philosophical, or religious logic (or is there any?) behind this approach to the restructuring of Jewish practice and Jewish life?

Week 9 (Question 3)

How and why did it (really, “they” who founded the movement) choose exactly what to reform?

Week 9 (Question 2)

In what ways is the movement of Reform similar to and/or different the Hassidic movement?

Week 9 (Question 1)

What is the movement of Reform?

Week 9 (Abraham Geiger)

Week 9 (Reform Temple - Inside)

The first purpose-built Reform Temple opened in Hamburg in 1818

Week 9 (Wissenschaft des Judentums)

Wissenschaft des Judentums

Wissenschaft des Judentums ("The scientific investigation of Judaism") refers to a movement of the 19th century that sought critical investigation of Jewish literature and culture. Jewish scholars used scientific methods of investigation to trace the origin and development of Jewish traditions in an attempt to place Jewish culture on par with Western European culture and to restore a sense of Jewish pride. While followers of the movement worked to restore intellectual respectability for Jewish scholars, they tended to present Judaism as a relic and often ignored matters of contemporary relevance.

Week 9 (Kol Nidre Choir)

Week 9 (Kol Nidre)

Kol Nidre (English translation)

"All personal vows we are likely to make, all personal oaths and pledges we are likely to take between this Yom Kippur and the next Yom Kippur, we publicly renounce. Let them all be relinquished and abandoned, null and void, neither firm nor established. Let our personal vows, pledges and oaths be considered neither vows nor pledges nor oaths."

2 Point Extra Credit Due 11:59pm 10/31

Put these two latest texts (The quote from the National Assembly and the selection from Democracy in America) in dialogue with each other. Have them speak to one another. What would DiA say to the NA, how would the NA respond. What do these texts share? Where do they diverge? Point to specific details.

HW 10/28

Duport: I have one very short observation to make to the Assembly, which appears to be of the highest importance and which demands all its attention. You have regulated by the Constitution, Sirs, the qualities deemed necessary to become a French citizen, and an active citizen: that sufficed, I believe, to regulate all the incidental questions that could have been raised in the Assembly relative to certain professions, to certain persons. But there is a decree of adjournment that seems to strike a blow at these general rights: I speak of the Jews. To decide the question that concerns them, it suffices to lift the decree of adjournment that you have rendered and which seems to suspend the question in their regard. Thus, if you had not rendered a decree of adjournment on the question of the Jews, it would not have been necessary to do anything; for, having declared by your Constitution how all peoples of the earth could become French citizens and how all French citizens could become active citizens, there would have been no difficulty on this subject.

I ask therefore that the decree of adjournment be revoked and that it be declared relative to the Jews that they will be able to become active citizens, like all the peoples of the world, by fulfilling the conditions prescribed by the Constitution. I believe that freedom of worship no longer permits any distinction to be made between the political rights of citizens on the basis of their beliefs and I believe equally that the Jews cannot be the only exceptions to the enjoyment of these rights, when pagans, Turks, Muslims, Chinese even, men of all the sects, in short, are admitted to these rights.

Decree of the National Assembly, 27 September 1791:

"Admission of Jews to Rights of Citizenship," 27 September 1791

Your questions are due by Thursday evening at 11:59pm.

HW 10/26

A selection from the early 19th century French historian, Alexis de Tocqueville's, Democracy in America.

The principles of New England … now extend their influence beyond its limits, over the whole American world. The civilization of New England has been like a beacon lit upon a hill…. … Puritanism was not merely a religious doctrine, but corresponded in many points with the most absolute democratic and republican theories. …Nathaniel Morton, the historian of the first years of the settlement, thus opens his subject: “we may not hide from our children, showing to the generations to come the praises of the Lord; that especially the seed of Abraham his servant, and the children of Jacob his chosen ( Psalm cv. 5, 6 ), may remember his marvellous works in the beginning … “ … The general principles which are the groundwork of modern constitutions, principles … were all recognized and established by the laws of New England: the intervention of the people in public affairs, the free voting of taxes, the responsibility of the agents of power, personal liberty, and trial by jury were all positively established without discussion. … In the bosom of this obscure democracy…the following fine definition of liberty: " There is a twofold liberty, natural … and civil or federal. The first is common to man with beasts and other creatures. By this, man, as he stands in relation to man simply, hath liberty to do what he lists; it is a liberty to evil as well as to good. … The exercise and maintaining of this liberty makes men grow more evil, and in time to be worse than brute beasts: … The other kind of liberty I call civil or federal; it may also be termed moral, in reference to the covenant between God and man, in the moral law, and the politic covenants and constitutions, among men themselves. … This liberty you are to stand for, with the hazard not only of your goods, but of your lives, if need be." I have said enough to put the character of Anglo-American civilization in its true light. It is the result ( and this should be constantly kept in mind) of two distinct elements, which in other places have been in frequent disagreement, but which the Americans have succeeded in incorporating to some extent one with the other and combining admirably. I allude to the spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty.

de Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America, Chapter II ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-AMERICANS, AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS ORIGIN IN RELATION TO THEIR FUTURE CONDITION

Your questions are due by Tuesday evening at 11:59pm.

HW 10/21

"Now I am able to concentrate my ideas of Judaism of former times, and bring them under one focus. Judaism consisted, or, according to the founder's design was to consist of:

[...]

Historical truths, or accounts of the occurrences of the primitive world, especially memoirs of the lives of the first ancestors of the nation; of their knowledge of the true correction immediately following thereon; of the covenant which God entered into with them, and his frequent promise to make their descendants a nation dedicated to himself.

These historical truths, contain the groundwork of the national union; and, as historical truths, they cannot, according to their nature, be received otherwise than on trust; authority alone gives them the necessary evidence. And they were, moreover, confirmed to the nation by miracles, and supported by an authority which sufficed to place faith beyond all doubt and hesitation."

This is from Moses Mendelssohn's Jerusalem, full quotation here. Your questions are due by THURSDAY, October 21, at 11:59pm. I have changed the time to accommodate your college apps.

Thank you, to all who have posted so far. Due to the lecture tonight, I'm more than willing to accept re-writes or submissions until Sunday evening at 11:59pm.

HW 10/18

The Volozhin Yeshiva, founded by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin and inspired by the teachings of the Gaon of Vilna. Your questions are due Monday at 11:59pm.

HW 10/12 - 10/13

Map of the Spread of Hassidism throughout Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia, The Ukraine, and Austria-Hungary). Questions are do by WEDNESDAY at 11:59pm.

hw 10/11

A Bobover Wedding Celebration, 2009.
This homework is due by 11:59pm on Monday, October 11th.