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2010 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
Abstract: The period of U. Z. Greenberg's service in the First World War was the most traumatic of his life. He began writing about it while still serving with the Imperial army in the trenches of the Eastern Front, first in Yiddish and then in a number of works in Hebrew. He left a testament to his army service in poetry whose power and strangeness have never been equalled in Hebrew literature. He was still recalling his First World War service in his poetry of the 1940s and 1950s. This paper explores the reasons for Greenberg's constant return to the subject of his war service, focusing in particular on "Min sefer hamilhamot bagoyim," written during the 1940s. This epic poem reiterates many of the preoccupations, if not obsessions, of his earlier war poetry, and concludes with political comments relating to the Second World War.
2010 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
Abstract: Most often recognized for her bestselling Young Adult novels, or her outspoken support of intellectual freedom, author Judy Blume also merits attention for her contributions to American Jewish children's literature. This article considers the portrayal of Judaism and Jewishness in Judy Blume's adolescent fiction. It examines Blume's two most explicitly Jewish-themed books, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself , focusing on author intent, content, and reader reaction as a means of understanding Judaism/Jewishness in Blume's work.
2010 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
Abstract: The removal of German, Austrian, and Czechoslovakian scholars from their academic posts by the Nazi regime due to racial and political reasons, and the settlement of some of them in Turkey at the invitation of the Turkish government, has been a topic of interest in a number of recent studies. In this study, the Jewish identity of 95 German scholars who according to the Nazi Regime were deemed to be of Jewish origin will be analyzed. Various questions can be raised on this issue. How interested were they in Judaism? What was their relationship to the local Jewish community? How can we relate their socio-religious behavior in Turkey with their German cultural background? What about the Turkish policy vis-à-vis the émigré scholars? Did their Jewish origin have any significance for the Turkish government? Was Turkish policy motivated by raison d'état or by humanitarian causes? The fact that about 39% of these scholars decided to return to Germany will be discussed.
2010 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
Abstract: This article examines the difficulties faced by three Eastern European countries in commemorating the Holocaust in the post-Communist era. Since 1989, many of these countries have sought to fashion new national identities by looking to their pre-Communist past. In the case of Slovakia and Hungary, however, their pre-Communist predecessors were Nazi allies, and while Poland never collaborated with Nazi Germany, the Home Army had a difficult and complicated relationship with Jews and Jewish underground organizations. I identify three basic approaches taken by these countries' memorials regarding the fate of their Jewish communities during the war: aphasia (an unwillingness to speak about the Holocaust), "deflective negationism" (shifting blame to others), and finally, an open examination of the Holocaust.
2010 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
Abstract: The twentieth century revival of a Zaydi law requiring the conversion of orphaned Yemeni Jewish children has been described in both popular and scholarly literature as exemplifying antisemitism and provoking emigration from Yemen. Recent scholarship has concluded that this law was implemented infrequently and sporadically. However, as of yet no serious attempt has been made to explain when and why Imam Yahya chose to enforce the Orphans' Decree. This article attempts to fill this lacuna by describing a coherent and consistent policy through which the Imam applied this decree, or protected against it, as a manifestation of his authority vis-à-vis rival Yemeni Muslim political authorities. It concludes that inter-Muslim political conflict and not the desire to persecute or convert Jews was the primary motivation for implementing the Decree.
2010 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
Abstract: President Jimmy Carter's loss of the Jewish vote in the 1980 election demonstrated the influence of domestic politics on foreign policy-making in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Carter's comprehensive plan for peace in the Middle East, especially his support for a Palestinian homeland, put him at odds with the leadership in the American Jewish community. The successes of the Camp David Accords could not turn this around. His loss of a substantial portion of the Jewish vote demonstrated his unwillingness to deal with ethnic politics, his failure to comprehend this politically important group and their concerns about the survival of Israel, his political miscalculations, and his faith in his own appraisal of conditions in the Middle East.
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