Editorial introduction.
Samra, Myer
This is the 25th volume of the Australian Journal of Jewish
Studies, marking an important milestone and a significant achievement in
the field of Jewish Studies in Australia. Evan Zuesse, the founding
editor, expounded his vision for the Journal (initially titled
"Menorah Australian Journal of Jewish Studies") in the
Editorial Introduction to the first edition, published in August 1987.
Scholarship in the broad field of "Jewish Studies" in
Australia had "developed to the point where" an Australian
journal "devoted to original scholarly research into Jewish
civilisation in its whole sweep of space and time" was required
(Zuesse 1987:3). Although Zuesse envisioned a journal of Australian
scholarship in Jewish Studies, he did not see it as a journal restricted
to the study of Jews in Australia. Some of the material in the 1987
edition is specifically focused on Australian circumstances while other
articles looked at Jewish identity in the modern world, the "who is
a Jew" debate in Israel, and the religious identification of
children of Holocaust survivors in various countries.
Nor was the Journal to be confined to any particular discipline or
theoretical model. Historiography, sociology, literary criticism, Jewish
ethics, philosophy and halakhic scholarship were all legitimate ways to
"illuminate Jewish life and culture, and finally even to contribute
to it." Accordingly, in accord with the notion of contributing to
"Jewish life and culture", Zuesse also saw a place for
literary works in the Journal, as "Often more can be said of the
deeper levels of human experience in a short story or poem than in a
scholarly piece" (Zuesse 1987:4).
Zuesse explained his choice of the Menorah or candelabrum, a
quintessential Jewish symbol, for the name of the Journal, with its
branches representing the "illumination of many perspectives and
disciplines", stimulating the further "growth of the academic
field of Jewish Studies in our universities, colleges and schools"
(Zuesse 1987:3). Although the Journal has dropped "Menorah"
from its name and it no longer publishes literary works, it has
otherwise lived up to that founding vision.
The current volume contains works of history, ethnography,
demography, literary analysis and political studies, and a glimpse into
the theology of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe in one of the books reviewed
here. Some of the material is focused on Australia, but other studies
cover American, Israeli and Russian topics, while Jews from Arab and
Muslim lands feature in several book reviews. We look forward to such
diversity in future editions. Jewish Studies in Australia has expanded
considerably over the years, and it is encouraging to think that the
Australian Association for Jewish Studies and the Journal have
contributed to that growth.
Glancing through past editions of the Journal, I noted that there
appeared not to have been a contribution from a scholar working outside
Australia until the sixth volume of the Journal in 1992, when an article
from Geoffrey Alderman of Royal Holloway College, University of London
was published in volume 6(1) and a second from Lloyd P. Gartner of the
University of Tel Aviv appeared in the second issue for that year. In
the current issue, there is a close balance between the contributions of
scholars in Australia and those from overseas, suggesting that the
Journal has achieved a degree of international recognition and
acceptance, attracting a diversified readership--without losing its
objective of promoting Jewish scholarship in Australia.
Most of the articles appearing in early numbers of the Journal had
previously been presented at the annual conferences of the Association.
I personally like to see the continued connection between the Journal
and conferences by the publication of keynote addresses and a number of
conference presentations, without turning into a record of conference
proceedings. In this volume, I am pleased to showcase the contribution
of Fania Oz-Salzberger, the keynote speaker at our 2011 Conference,
along with several articles which were also delivered at that
Conference. I believe readers will agree with me that we have a
fascinating set of articles to learn from, and to be entertained by. Let
us look briefly at what is in store for you as you leaf through this
volume.
Oz-Salzberger shows how the Bible is quoted by politicians of every
hue in Israel from the ultra-Orthodox to the avowedly secular, from
Reform and Masorati Jews to Muslims and Christians, conservatives to
socialists and those who espouse social reform agendas, each group
tending to quote from different parts of the Bible in accordance with
their particular interest and purpose. Truly, the "Book of
Books" is alive and well in the Holy Land!
In the next article, Heather Benbow takes the opportunity to help
us understand Franz Kafka's life and antecedents, and the
wellsprings of the bizarre world he created in his fiction while she
reports on a curious court case in Israel, still not resolved as we go
to press, concerning whether Kafka's papers should be housed--or
"belong"--in a German archive because he wrote in German, or
in Israel's National Library, because he was a Jew and would have
been murdered in the Holocaust like his sisters had he lived till then.
Ya'arit Bokek-Cohen and Nitza Davidovitch follow with an
exploration of how matchmakers working within Israel's
nationalreligious/modern-Orthodox sector deal with the desire of
virtually all their clients to be matched up exclusively with beautiful
partners. To what extent we ponder, are the wishes of these religiously
committed Jews based upon Biblical tradition, universal preferences, or
the influence of modern, western social norms?
Yitzhak Conforti next presents us with an analysis of how various
writers and thinkers from different positions in the Zionist spectrum
hoped to change the outlook and the physical appearance of Jews, as they
shed their diasporic outlooks and settled in Israel. In the process,
each writer creates his own idealised version of "the New
Jew", freed from whatever the author saw as the negative
encumbrances of the diaspora.
Isaiah Gruber then analyses the ambiguous image of the Jew in the
Russian-speaking world, which admired and identified with the heroic
Jews of the Bible while reviling the living Jews, the descendants of
Christ-killers, in their midst. Gruber shows how these contradictory
attitudes can coexist through an examination of Hebrew-Russian
glossaries which were in use for many centuries.
With survivors of the Holocaust fast disappearing and pilgrimages
to significant Holocaust sites growing in popularity, Esther Jilovsky
tackles the question of whether--and if so the extent to which such
places can be regarded as "witnesses" of the events of the
Holocaust. She concludes that place is not equal to the task; places
that were significant during the Holocaust are different from how they
were at that time; even if they have been left largely untouched, the
noises, the activities, the smells--and the people--of that time are no
longer there. One cannot "see" or feel what happened then.
Only the use of the imagination can connect these places to events
during the Holocaust, even for survivors returning to sites that they
recall.
Ehud Manor's contribution takes us to early Twentieth Century
New York, where large numbers of Yiddish speaking Jews had settled after
fleeing from the Russian Empire, creating a vibrant community which for
many years could support a number of Yiddish newspapers, vying to
persuade their audience to support their varying ideological
perspectives, while at the same time engaging in a struggle with the
established, almost patrician Jews of German origin who sought to mould
the newcomers in their own image. Within this mix, Louis Miller, editor
of the Warheit and the subject of Manor's article, comes across as
something of a prophet, often reviled in his own time, advocating
positions that only became widely accepted many years later.
Andrew Markus follows with a fascinating analysis of demographic
studies from the United States, Australia and Britain that reveals a
consistently much closer engagement with Israel among British and
Australian Jews than among their American counterparts. Markus shows a
richness that comes from the comparative method, illuminating trends
among American Jewry which American demographers have failed to capture
when looking only at data from their own society.
The last article in this volume from Helena Rimon introduces us to
the concept of "lucrimax", which brings us back to the
question of Jewish identity, and a remarkable feature of Twentieth
Century Hebrew literature, deprecating the denizens of the Jewish world,
while depicting the non-Jew--"the Other"--be it Polish peasant
or Palestinian Arab, or some other outsider--as somehow superior to the
Jew: in strength and endurance, connection to nature, quiet dignity and
moral courage. Rimon points out that this "Other" is always
drawn hazily, as someone not fully understood, as an embodiment of the
"noble savage". Such projections of admirable qualities on to
the outsider suggest a troubling, disparaging attitude of these writers
to the members of their own group, the Jew and the Israeli. One is left
to wonder how widespread such a negative self-image is in a
"post-Zionist" Israel and the impact it might have on the
future of the country.
I am pleased to record a large number of book reviews in this
volume, which give us an insight as to what is being published on Jewish
subject matters worldwide. Without diminishing the value of books by
writers from other countries, I am particularly pleased to offer reviews
of books authored by Australian scholars, indicating the extent and the
diversity of Jewish studies here. The number of Australian books
emerging is increasing, and I look forward next year to seeing many more
of them reviewed.
The books of Racheline Barda, Edwin Black and Sir Martin Gilbert
each provide us with perspectives on the demise of ancient Jewish
communities from Muslim lands since the middle of the last century and
in that sense offer a welcome focus on an important sector of world
Jewry which has been largely overlooked in "mainstream" Jewish
discourse and the image of the "typical" Jew. Indeed, one may
question, from the perspective of Rimon's "lucrimax",
whether such Jews are seen as part of the world of the Hebrew writer, or
as part of that mysterious "Other".
Barda's work tells of Jews from Egypt who have settled in
Australia, identifying their migrations from various different places to
Egypt, the life they lived there, their expulsion, and their life in
Australia, comparing this with the experience of Egyptian Jews in
France. As reviewer Norman Stillman comments, "Racheline Barda has
now provided us with a finely detailed, nuanced, and personal portrait
of the Australian diaspora written with the critical eye of a scholar
coupled with the sensitivity and empathy of a member of that community
who has herself lived some of the experiences that she documents".
Edwin Black's volume focuses on the history of the Jews of
Iraq, among the most ancient of diaspora communities, and how they were
transformed from a respected, integral segment of Iraqi society into a
reviled minority whose loyalties were considered suspect by their fellow
citizens, culminating in a major pogrom known as the "Farhud"
in 1941. Black traces the role of Nazi propaganda, and particularly the
venomous rantings of the Mufti of Jerusalem in creating this hateful
atmosphere. He goes on to show how, from his role in Iraq, the Mufti
went on to encourage Muslims to join the Nazi war effort and participate
in the destruction of ancient Jewish communities in the Balkans.
Sir Martin Gilbert presents us with a detailed account of Jews in
Islamic societies since the time of Mohammed. In contrast to the
romantic view that Jews lived in relative peace and harmony under Islam,
Gilbert provides a more measured perspective, noting both the good and
the bad aspects of Jewish life in these societies, and the deterioration
of the situation of the Jews over the past century, with the development
of Zionism and Arab nationalism as opposing forces, the Jews living
under Islamic regimes caught in-between.
In light of what we know of leftist support for totalitarian
Communist states of the past century and Islamist states today, an
expose of "the Left's romance with tyranny and terror"
would seem to be a worthwhile project, and Nick Dyrenfurth notes
"the gross hypocrisy of many Western, mainly American leftists who
demonise their own societies yet fall silent on the subject of
non-Western totalitarianism". Regrettably, however Dyrenfurth finds
that Jamie Glazov's effort is marred "by its polemical style,
penchant for hyperbole and dubious historical interpretations".
There have been many books written about Rabbi Menahem Mendel
Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe who died in 1994. Sanford
Shudnow reviews a fascinating volume, "Ha-Shevi'i"--The
Seventh--by Yitzchak Kraus, which sets out how, "by virtue of his
charisma and energy", the Rebbe developed a "war
strategy" that took his Hasidim from "their admitted
complacency" into a powerful force, dedicated to transforming a
world "immersed in the galut--(exile) ... into the promised world
of geulah--(redemption)." The Rebbe instilled his followers with
the belief that "this is the last generation of the exile and the
first generation of the redemption", and strove tirelessly to bring
the world to the threshold of "complete salvific redemption".
Norman Podhoretz, long time editor of Commentary, the influential
American Jewish Journal, has tried to explain why American Jews, amongst
the most affluent segments of the population, tend to vote Democrat,
against their own economic interest. Schulman notes that Podhoretz
sweeps through two thousand years of Jewish history to conclude that
this is due to the left having been the side of politics that supported
Jewish emancipation. Podhoretz implies that Jews are fixated on the
battles of the past and fail to see that conservative Republicans today
have more in common with--and more sympathy for--Jewish interests.
Schulman comments on "Podhoretz's complete neglect of Jewry
outside the United States" and suggests that the author presumes
that American Jews represent all Jews, failing to "provide any
comparison with Jews in foreign countries to buttress his claims."
Michael Stone grew up in Australia but he has had a long and
fruitful academic career at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, his
specialities being ancient Judaism and Armenian studies. Now retired, he
has produced a book of poems which Ziva Shavitsky reviews for us. The
book is divided into six sections, centring on Jerusalem; ancient
scribes and difficulties in writing creatively; looking out of the
window on to the Judean Hills; Armenia and its beauty; Australia and its
impact on him as one who often revisits the country; and his personal
reactions to the pain and suffering that comes with human existence.
Shavitsky finds the work "extremely lyrical and spiritual" and
offers us some samples to reflect upon. As she says, "the poetry
naturally reflects the Jewish/Israeli experience, Stone's
sensitivity to Armenia and the Armenian people, and the memory and the
imprint of his Australian childhood and adult re-encounters."
Before I conclude, I wish to thank all those who have helped to
create this volume. The contributors of course are the most important
here, for without their offerings, we would not have a journal. I also
thank those who reviewed articles for the Journal (who must remain
anonymous), helping to improve the articles and to sharpen the arguments
presented--if at times to the chagrin of authors. My thanks to the
members of the committee of the Australian Association for Jewish
Studies who have indulged my passion to "edit" the Journal,
and the assistance of the Editorial Board is appreciated, in reviewing
some articles and helping to locate appropriate reviewers for others.
In that vein, I must particularly thank Professor Suzanne Rutland,
to whom I have frequently turned for guidance and helpful suggestions.
Her readiness to share her extensive experience and her willingness to
offer constructive suggestions at all times needs to be acknowledged.
Special thanks also go to Neta Steigrad, Livya Steigrad and Jennifer
Dowling, who edited, proofed and laid out the contents of the volume and
helped to ensure that what you have in your hand is as readable and
attractively presented as possible.
As to you the reader, your response to this work is particularly
important. I hope you enjoy reading the contributions presented here and
that if you do, you recommend them to colleagues and make an effort to
cite articles from this volume where they are relevant to your own
writing. You can express your interest in the books reviewed here by
purchasing a copy for yourself, or suggesting that libraries purchase
copies. Steps such as these can only strengthen the field of Jewish
Studies, at a time when support for the arts and humanities has been
tightening.
Reference
Zuesse, Evan M. 1987. "Editorial Introduction." Menorah
Australian Journal of Jewish Studies 1:3-5.
