it’s even better the second day

“Welcome to the belly of the beast,” he says, “this is where the store really begins.”
While the upstairs is stocked with largely available current titles, this is the area where Kitchen Arts houses its rarest treasures — extensive collections of culinary journals, historic tomes and final copies of books that Waxman deems “significant contributions in their field,” as well as out-of-print editions that Waxman is saving until that right client comes along.
He offers an example: “They might come in and say, ‘I’m looking for a special signed boxed-edition of Richard Olney’s ‘The French Menu Cookbook.’ Yeah, we can do that.”
But how to choose which customers are worthy of such special consideration? The opinionated Waxman is as skilled at curating his clientele as he is at managing the store’s catalog.
“This book would be gone in 15 minutes if I put it out on the floor upstairs,” he says, pointing to a high corner shelf where a hardbound first edition of “White Heat,” by British bad boy chef Marco Pierre White, sits in pristine condition. “I don’t want to sell it to someone who’s going to put it on their shelf like a bowling trophy, but perhaps to someone who’s interested in post-World War II English cooking, to whom this would mean something.”
Before the tour is complete, Waxman heads to an even smaller back corner of the basement, a tiny vault of a closet that used to be the walk-in refrigerator when this address was a butcher shop. The shelves here contain what seems a perfect cross-section of his personal and professional interests — a collection of vintage Jewish cookbooks. There, one can find a 1960s stuffed cabbage recipe from the sisterhood of Congregation Brith Emeth near Pepper Pike, Ohio. In a Manischewitz book from the early 1930s, meanwhile, there are recipes for “farfel pudding No. 2,” “matzo schalet” and “vaffels” written with instructions in both English and Yiddish.
“These are suddenly in demand, now that people are rediscovering Yiddish,” Waxman says with the matter-of-fact tone of a sage who knew all along that such a resurgence would occur. But, of course, those new Yiddish scholars will have to travel to the Upper East Side and pay a visit to Waxman himself: “These,” he says, “these are not for sale.”
See Nach Waxman’s brisket recipe on the Jew and the Carrot and share your favorite brisket recipe.
Read more...
Nach Waxman is owner of one of the largest food bookstores in the country, Kitchen Arts & Letters, in Manhattan. From his perch behind the counter, he sees customers—famous chefs, not-famous line cooks, and civilians alike—streaming in to peruse his bountiful, unusual collection. Waxman shows us the basement, where hes got some truly rare books. And he shares an unlikely bookstore success story: beating Barnes & Noble.

Rumbula's Echo WORK IN PROGRESS 33min. румбула

Breaking new ground, Rumbula's Echo is the first documentary about a large mass shooting of the Holocaust. Eyewitnesses tell how, in late 1941, 25,000 Jews were murdered in two days at Rumbula Forest -- the second largest such mass shooting of WWII. Set within the broader story of the Holocaust in Latvia, viewers see and hear how 98% of Latvian Jews trapped in the country were killed, and how 2% survived.
Amid horror and death, seven uplifting personal stories of survival, rescue and reunion emerge in Rumbula's Echo. These dramatically illuminate the power of individual decisions and, for the first time in film, introduce an overlooked cost of genocide to society.
For more information, visit the film's official website: www.rumbulasecho.org
more...
http://www.ein-hod.net/2010/02/k.html

«Мелодии Рижского гетто».

Golden calf, ein hod and public funding

For a few days now, the colorful poster claiming that the Carmel fire took place due, among other things, to the "golden calf ceremony" held in Ein Hod and the fact that the towns in the Carmel region "bake pita bread over the Passover holiday" has been hanging at the entrance to the Religious Council building in Holon, an institution which is kept thanks to public funding.
"Why did the country burn?" the heading on the poster read while colorful pictures underneath it detailed the reasons for the fire that claimed the lives of 44 people.
"Idolatry of the golden calf, by hundreds and thousands in the artists' village of Ein Hod, turning the entire torah of Israel into a joke, baking pita bread during the Passover holiday out of spite, massive desecration of the Sabbath, debauchery and adultery by the thousands; how could God not burn the region?"
The poster includes a picture of a golden calf, put on display during an art festival held at the artists' village damaged by the fire. Another picture is that of a woman with a veil and blurred face, making a Druze pita with a caption that reads: "Baking pitas with Arabs during Passover".
Ein Hod residents weren't concerned over the poster, one of the residents noting cynically: "Our neighbors from the religious town of Nir Etzion heard the claims too and asked, never mind you sinners, but what did the orphans in Yemin Orde do?"
Ynet news

For Goldne Calf Click HERE

«Мелодии Рижского гетто» (R)

Да будут их души
присоединены к хранилищу жизни…

Этот эпиграф, напоминающий нам о молитве Эль Мале Рахамим, которой евреи провожают в последний путь своих умерших, предваряет документальный фильм «Мелодии Рижского гетто».
65 лет назад, в ноябре и декабре 1941 года, в течение двух дней, двух «акций», нацисты уничтожили в Рижском гетто около 30 тысяч человек…
В течение одного дня, 4 июля 1941 года, вошедшего в историю как «хрустальная ночь» Риги, в столице Латвии были сожжены 8 синагог. Главная синагога уничтожена нацистами в месте с находившимися там верующими. Их было 300 чел…
«Мелодии» Рижского гетто – это звуки, это музыка и напевы, которые сопровождают воспоминания 5 спасшихся и ныне живущих в Риге узников гетто и шокирующие кадры кинохроники тех времен. «Мелодии» - это звучащие за кадром баллады о трагедии людей, которые нацисты уничтожали только потому, что они – евреи…
Сегодня – в начале ХХI века – Рижское гетто выглядит точно так же, как и 65 лет назад. Время словно не коснулось этих трагических мест – те же дома, дворы, постройки, улицы, по которым евреев гнали на расстрел…
В фильме, наряду со свидетелями трагедии, принимают участие звезды мировой музыки – скрипач Гидон Кремер – сын узника Рижского гетто и оперная певица Inessa Galantew (Иннеса Галант)
«Фашизм не имеет национальности» - эта идея проходит через весь фильм «Мелодии Рижского гетто».
Фильм создан российскими теледокументалистами при содействии коллег и еврейских организаций из Латвии.

За документальный телефильм "Мелодии рижского гетто" (телеканал "Россия") награжден режиссер-постановщик, ведущий МОЛЧАНОВ ВЛАДИМИР КИРИЛЛОВИЧ.
Владимир Молчанов в детстве и юности активно занимался теннисом, был чемпионом СССР среди юношей в парном разряде, в составе юношеской сборной Москвы побеждал на Спартакиаде. Однако приблизиться к успеху своей старшей сестры, Анны Дмитриевой, 20-кратной чемпионки СССР, выведшей советский теннис на мировую арену, ему оказалось не под силу.
В 1967 году он поступил на филологический факультет МГУ имени М. В. Ломоносова в группу нидерландского языка и литературы, который окончил в 1973 году.
С 1973 по 1986 год Владимир Молчанов работал в редакции Западной Европы Агентства печати "Новости" редактором, старшим редактором, собственным корреспондентом в Нидерландах, обозревателем. Около пяти лет занимался журналистскими расследованиями нацистских преступлений. В начале 80-х годов в "Политиздате" вышла его книга документальных очерков "Возмездие должно свершиться", за которую автор был удостоен литературной премии Максима Горького "За лучшую первую книгу молодого автора". В результате его журналистского расследования в конце 70-х годов в Нидерландах был арестован и приговорен к 10 годам тюрьмы нацистский преступник, мультимиллионер Питер Ментен.
(more...)
Смотрите "Изгои" -филм о еврейских партизанах
"Когда Макс Долгицер, 54-летний менеджер из Нью-Йорка и коллекционер произведений искусства, недавно узнал, что некоторые из его родственников были спасены во время войны от смерти в Риге отважным Греком с итальянским паспортом, он был озадачен ... "

Things of Beauty

Scientific and mathematical geniuses are distinguished by a particular elegance of mind. Fiendish complexity becomes something the non-specialist can comprehend. Rarer still is the scientist whose mental elegance creates, or reveals, something of physical beauty. Watson and Crick might have staked a claim for the double helix that is the molecular structure of DNA.
Benoit Mandelbrot, whose death has just been announced, was a mathematician who made it his life's work to find beautiful shapes in nature and decode their secrets. In minute ways, he saw perfect order in apparent chaos, and enabled others to see it, too. He devised, and developed the study of, fractals – seemingly random shapes that conformed to patterns when broken down into one repeating form.

His fractals were invariably things of beauty – seen in phenomena as different as snowflakes and cauliflowers. But his methods also had practical applications that included generating graphics and producing actual works of art. He turned his mind also to economics, declaring the global financial system too complex to function properly. How right he turned out to be. If yesterday belonged to the economists, perhaps tomorrow will be the mathematician's world.(via independent)

Jewish people don't believe in luck...Schlimazeltov!

Maybe some people are just born unlucky? This documentary film weaves together a diverse collection of different voices from London’s Jewish community to explore the concept of “luck” or “mazel”. From lucky charms and curses to global economics and quantum physics, this humorous and philosophical piece of visual poetry navigates the boundaries between religion and superstition to ask how the invisible hand of mazel has touched us all.
Director: Christopher Thomas Allen
Producer: Andrew Hinton
Music: Malcolm Litson

Спасибо Леа и ее супругу

23 августа Латгальский культурно-исторический музей посетили гости из Израиля — дочь члена довоенного общества резекненских художников Аркадия Найшлоса Леа Бронфмане с мужем Марком (на снимке).

Художник Аркадий Найшлос (1903 — 1951) родился в Даугавпилсе в семье кожевника, закончил Рижскую Академию художеств и в 1938 году женился на резекненке Нехе Гурвич, которая преподавала латинский язык в Резекненской еврейской гимназии.
Незадолго до начала Второй мировой войны в Резекне проходила большая выставка работ А. Найшлоса. В начале войны художник с женой и дочерью Леа эвакуировались в Среднюю Азию, а все его картины остались в оккупированном Резекне. Часть из них пропала. По возвращении в Латвию А. Найшлос, несмотря на свою болезнь, продолжал рисовать, но в 1951 году скончался.
Теперь картины художника хранятся в семейном архиве его детей Леа и Исаака в Израиле, в частных коллекциях, в фондах Латгальского культурно-исторического музея и др. В 60-е годы прошлого века музей получил шесть картин художника.
То, что специалисты музея интересуются жизнью и творчеством ее отца, Леа узнала в 80-е годы прошлого века, и она прислала репродукции картин отца из семейной коллекции. Она написала также биографию своего отца. Но посетить Латвию семье Леа удалось только в этом году. Во время посещения музея она подарила музею диск с материалами об А. Найшлосе.
Сотрудничество с семьей продолжится. Работники музея ждут в гости и сына художника Исаака. Спасибо Леа и ее супругу за материалы, подаренные музею!
http://rus.rv.lv/?newsid=3408

Emanuel Yakobson on BBC Беседы с генетиком Эммануилом Якобсоном Part 1 2

Features associated with germline CDKN2A mutations: a GenoMEL study of melanoma-prone families from three continents.
Goldstein AM, Chan M, Harland M, Hayward NK, Demenais F, Bishop DT, Azizi E, Bergman W, Bianchi-scarra G, Bruno W, Calista D, Albright LA, Chaudru V, Chompret A, Cuellar F, Elder DE, Ghiorzo P, Gillanders EM, Gruis NA, Hansson J... expand author list, Hogg D, Holland EA, Kanetsky PA, Kefford RF, Landi MT, Lang J, Leachman SA, Mackie RM, Magnusson V, Mann GJ, Bishop JN, Palmer JM, Puig S, Puig-butille JA, Stark M, Tsao H, Tucker MA, Whitaker L, Yakobson E, Lund Melanoma Study Group, Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL) collapse author list
Journal of medical genetics 2007 Feb; 44(2)
BACKGROUND: The major factors individually reported to be associated with an increased frequency of CDKN2A mutations are increased number of patients with melanoma in a family, early age at melanoma diagnosis, and family members with multiple primary... expand abstract melanomas (MPM) or pancreatic cancer. METHODS: These four features were examined in 385 families with > or =3 patients with melanoma pooled by 17 GenoMEL groups, and these attributes were compared across continents. RESULTS: Overall, 39% of families had CDKN2A mutations ranging from 20% (32/162) in Australia to 45% (29/65) in North America to 57% (89/157) in Europe. All four features in each group, except pancreatic cancer in Australia (p = 0.38), individually showed significant associations with CDKN2A mutations, but the effects varied widely across continents. Multivariate examination also showed different predictors of mutation risk across continents. In Australian families, > or =2 patients with MPM, median age at melanoma diagnosis < or =40 years and > or =6 patients with melanoma in a family jointly predicted the mutation risk. In European families, all four factors concurrently predicted the risk, but with less stringent criteria than in Australia. In North American families, only > or =1 patient with MPM and age at diagnosis < or =40 years simultaneously predicted the mutation risk. CONCLUSIONS: The variation in CDKN2A mutations for the four features across continents is consistent with the lower melanoma incidence rates in Europe and higher rates of sporadic melanoma in Australia. The lack of a pancreatic cancer-CDKN2A mutation relationship in Australia probably reflects the divergent spectrum of mutations in families from Australia versus those from North America and Europe. GenoMEL is exploring candidate host, genetic and/or environmental risk factors to better understand the variation observed. collapse abstract
מצא עוד סרטים כאלה ב-Ein Hod עין הוד

Features associated with germline CDKN2A mutations: a GenoMEL study of melanoma-prone families from three continents.
Goldstein AM, Chan M, Harland M, Hayward NK, Demenais F, Bishop DT, Azizi E, Bergman W, Bianchi-scarra G, Bruno W, Calista D, Albright LA, Chaudru V, Chompret A, Cuellar F, Elder DE, Ghiorzo P, Gillanders EM, Gruis NA, Hansson J... expand author list, Hogg D, Holland EA, Kanetsky PA, Kefford RF, Landi MT, Lang J, Leachman SA, Mackie RM, Magnusson V, Mann GJ, Bishop JN, Palmer JM, Puig S, Puig-butille JA, Stark M, Tsao H, Tucker MA, Whitaker L, Yakobson E, Lund Melanoma Study Group, Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL) collapse author list
Journal of medical genetics 2007 Feb; 44(2)
BACKGROUND: The major factors individually reported to be associated with an increased frequency of CDKN2A mutations are increased number of patients with melanoma in a family, early age at melanoma diagnosis, and family members with multiple primary... expand abstract melanomas (MPM) or pancreatic cancer. METHODS: These four features were examined in 385 families with > or =3 patients with melanoma pooled by 17 GenoMEL groups, and these attributes were compared across continents. RESULTS: Overall, 39% of families had CDKN2A mutations ranging from 20% (32/162) in Australia to 45% (29/65) in North America to 57% (89/157) in Europe. All four features in each group, except pancreatic cancer in Australia (p = 0.38), individually showed significant associations with CDKN2A mutations, but the effects varied widely across continents. Multivariate examination also showed different predictors of mutation risk across continents. In Australian families, > or =2 patients with MPM, median age at melanoma diagnosis < or =40 years and > or =6 patients with melanoma in a family jointly predicted the mutation risk. In European families, all four factors concurrently predicted the risk, but with less stringent criteria than in Australia. In North American families, only > or =1 patient with MPM and age at diagnosis < or =40 years simultaneously predicted the mutation risk. CONCLUSIONS: The variation in CDKN2A mutations for the four features across continents is consistent with the lower melanoma incidence rates in Europe and higher rates of sporadic melanoma in Australia. The lack of a pancreatic cancer-CDKN2A mutation relationship in Australia probably reflects the divergent spectrum of mutations in families from Australia versus those from North America and Europe. GenoMEL is exploring candidate host, genetic and/or environmental risk factors to better understand the variation observed. collapse abstract #[Gene silencing RNAi technology: possible application to therapy] Vestin A, Weinstein J, Davidov E, Sidi Y, Yakobson EA Harefuah 2006 Feb; 145(2) RNA interference (RNAi), i.e. gene silencing, or gene expression down-regulation is the process whereby a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induces the homology-dependent degradation of cognate messenger RNA (mRNA). When dsRNA is introduced into cells, an ... expand abstractRNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) is assembled. RISC serves as cellular machinery that is responsible for the specific mRNA degradation. This process results in the subsequent reduction of the specific protein translated from appropriate mRNA. Short RNA duplexes (21 nucleotide), called small interfering RNA (siRNA), have become the major tool for induction of gene silencing. With the human genome mapped and sequenced, attempts are currently being made to manipulate the expression of genes involved in viral diseases, carcinogenesis and other disorders with the aim of developing novel therapies. collapse abstract # Search for germline alterations in CDKN2A/ARF and CDK4 of 42 Jewish melanoma families with or without neural system tumours. Marian C, Scope A, Laud K, Friedman E, Pavlotsky F, Yakobson E, Bressac-de paillerets B, Azizi E British journal of cancer 2005 Jun; 92(12) To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in the inherited predisposition to melanoma and associated neural system tumours, 42 Jewish, mainly Ashkenazi, melanoma families with or without neural system tumours were genotyped for germline ... expand abstractpoint mutations and genomic deletions at the CDKN2A/ARF and CDK4 loci. CDKN2A/ARF deletion detection was performed using D9S1748, an intragenic microsatellite marker. Allele dosage at the p14ARF locus was analysed by quantitative real-time PCR employing a TaqMan probe that anneals specifically to exon 1beta of the p14ARF gene. For detecting point mutations, dHPLC and direct sequencing of the coding sequences of CDKN2A/ARF and CDK4 was used. No germline alterations in any of the tested genes were detected among the families under study. We conclude that in the majority of Ashkenazi Jewish families, the genes tested are unlikely to be implicated in the predisposition to melanoma and associated neural system tumours. collapse abstract # Search for genetic variants associated with cutaneous malignant melanoma in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Loo JC, Paterson AD, Hao A, Shennan M, Peretz H, Sidi Y, Hogg D, Yakobson E Journal of medical genetics 2005 May; 42(5) # A single Mediterranean, possibly Jewish, origin for the Val59Gly CDKN2A mutation in four melanoma-prone families. Yakobson E, Eisenberg S, Isacson R, Halle D, Levy-lahad E, Catane R, Safro M, Sobolev V, Huot T, Peters G, Ruiz A, Malvehy J, Puig S, Chompret A, Avril MF, Shafir R, Peretz H, Bressac-de paillerets B European journal of human genetics : EJHG 2003 Apr; 11(4) We have screened for CDKN2A germline mutations in 49 Jewish families with two or more cases of melanoma. The Val59Gly mutation, one of the three different alterations identified among these families, was also detected independently in two kindreds fr... expand abstract
read more

"Hava Nagila" (Hebrew: הבה נגילה) (lit. Let us rejoice)

Many of us have danced to Hava Nagilah. But how many of us know where it comes from? Here is a charming excerpt from a forthcoming documentary (featuring the co-creator of "Friends," Harry Belafonte, and Leonard Nimoy!) that has the story.

http://www.indiegogo.com/Hava-Nagilah-What-Is-It
This video is a fundraising clip forfilm Hava Nagilah: What Is It? If you'd like to support the making of the film, please make a tax-deductible donation at:
http://www.indiegogo.com/Hava-Nagilah-What-Is-It
Everyone who gives $18 or more will get a credit on the film!

The Balls of Fire

Bookstore chain removes leftist book from shelves
Days after it began selling the political doctrine The National Left, written by playwright Shmuel Hasfari and attorney Eldad Yaniv, which was sold for NIS 1 ($0.27), Tzomet Sfarim bookstore chain on Sunday announced it will stop distributing the book.
According to information received by Ynet, right-wing elements have been pressuring the chain's management in recent days to stop distributing the book in which the authors make harsh accusations against settlers and the settlement enterprise, calling to dismantle it and "stop the occupation."
The bookstore chain's spokesperson said, "Tzomet Sfarim is a chain for all of the people of Israel and has no political affiliation. It is never responsible for the content of the books that are distributed in its stores. Because we received many complaints that the book hurts the feelings of some of our customers, we decided to stop selling it."
Last September, the authors began distributing the book, which contains ideas on how to resurrect the social-democratic dialogue, and is written in a witty language, interwoven with provocations.
The authors described the settlers as "the lords of the land, hardly pioneers. They never planted a tree or built a house. It’s the Ahmeds that did all that for them. For years the settlers have been forcing us to build the future Palestinian land – at our expense." The authors continue to slam the settlers and write, "The settlers operate on a different type of fuel, which is called messianism. Their god appeared at once and defeated their enemies. After his mishap during the Holocaust – he is back and mightier than ever. They graduated from yeshiva high schools and stormed Judea, Samaria and Gaza with unconquerable messianic passion.
"No one realized that the 'new pioneers' were possessed by demons of messianic madness. Think about the brainwashed minds, hypnotized zombies, gangs of horny teenagers forcing themselves on the country. The young generation of settlers forgot what it's like to be a Zionist."
'Settlers rule the land'
In the book, the authors also describe the differences between the Right and the Left, "A rightist is conservative. A yapper. Polemicist. Resistor. Especially in the face of change. A leftist is a revolutionist. Practical. Leads the way, dares and is victorious. The Right believes that if we continue having the upper hand, we will be saved by the heavens. The Left believes that we must redeem ourselves, by ourselves. That is the reason that Zionism is leftist."
(via YNET read more...)
(Photo by Judy Jaffie)

Ein Hod and Golden Calf 2010 (золотой теленок эйн ход)

עיצוב העגל: גיא לוגשי, צילום: מריאן מאיר, עריכה: גלריה לבנדל-בלוך

עגל הזהב 2010

עין הוד

(via ein-hod.ning.com)

1949 : Tel Aviv and Max Perlman (born in Riga)

(via Pardes)
A writer in the Revisionist Herut newspaper protested in 1955 against the use of foreign languages in Israel, "the willful slavery and emulation of anything that smells foreign." "אלטע זאכן" (alte zakhn 'used items') – the call of rag-dealers under the pale blue skies of Tel Aviv, he wrote, pierces the heart and is reminiscent of Warsaw. "Is this what we strove for when attaining our independence and putting all our efforts into discarding the Diaspora and everything to do with it? Did we strive to wake up every morning to this language of Jewish rag-dealers?" The writer was particularly upset by the fact that nine out of ten rag-dealers were in fact not of Ashkenazi origins, men who didn't even know Yiddish but nevertheless learnt these particularly humiliating and insulting Yiddish words "אלטע זאכן" (alte zakhn) .
In 1950 a daily newspaper published a letter "Against a Foreign Tongue," written by an IDF soldier:
(from Mendele Review)

 I do not intend to criticize those new immigrants who use their native tongue only when they first arrive. Obviously, they have to be aided by their accustomed language when they begin to acclimatize. However, there are some people who are considered "long-timers", who find it necessary to spice their speech in public with some Yiddish. Many cafés and amusement institutions in Israel conduct a large part of their programs – songs, jokes, and so forth – in Yiddish.
In addition to the national sentiment, which forbids us the use of any language but Hebrew, we should also consider the large part of our society that does not understand Yiddish. In the state of Israel we must free ourselves from any diasporic habit, including the diasporic tongue. 

Max Perlman (1909-1985) - Perlman was born in Riga, Latvia to a middle-class family. At age six he sang in the choir of Hazan Rosovski and soon began to play children's roles in the theater.He studied at the dramatic studio in the Riga Peretz Club and found work performing in Russian and Yiddish theaters. With the founding of the Riga Nayer Yidishe Teater (New JewishTheater), he turned professional, performing steadily in Kovno and Riga between 1928 and1934.  In 1939 he was invited to Argentina, where he stayed for 3 years before moving onto Uruguay and Chile and, in 1945, to Latin America. He toured South Africa in 1948 and 1951and came to the United States in 1952, where he performed regularly from his home base inIsrael. The consummate song and dance man, comedic actor and song writer, Perlmanr eturned to Argentina in 1966 and, in 1967 toured there and in Brazil with Yiddish comedian Shimon Dzigan.

IF IT WASN'T FOR THE IRISH AND THE JEWS

Last October, Moloney completed an album celebrating these Irish-Jewish relationships both within his own life and in American musical history. Growing up in Limerick, Moloney says, he knew “very little” about Jews or Jewish culture. He met Jewish people for the first time while at college in Dublin, and later learned that Limerick was one of few Irish cities ever to have a pogrom, in 1904. Moloney sees this project as “turning the circle, as it were,” celebrating Irish-Jewish cooperation. “If It Wasn’t for the Irish and the Jews” includes 14 songs, all researched and performed by Moloney, and products of the fruitful and nearly forgotten era of collaboration between Irish and Jewish songwriters in New York’s pre-World War I Tin Pan Alley.

Between 1880 and 1920, waves of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe shifted the makeup of New York City and its entertainment industry. In 1880, Irish immigrants made up one-quarter of New York City’s population and dominated the popular minstrelsy, variety theater and vaudeville scenes. First the Irish took to the New York stage and later the Jews did so, partially because of limited job opportunities elsewhere. The two groups were living on the fringes of society and in close quarters on the Lower East Side, where they often clashed along the rocky road to acceptance into mainstream American society.
Within popular culture, this reciprocity and competition led to fruitful cross-cultural pollination. Moloney points to upstart Jewish songwriters like Leonora Goldberg, who thought that to succeed, she had to “go Irish,” and so she changed her name to Nora Bayes. At the same time, farsighted Irish musicians were “hedging their bets,” worried that the only way to survive was to “go Jewish,” Moloney explained. Though he has heard thousands of songs from this era, Moloney still cannot guess the ethnicity of a song’s writers just by listening. “These were commercial songwriters,” he explained. “They knew what went over. Their genius was that they created these beautiful, crafted songs that just tugged at people’s heartstrings.”(read more...)

He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!

Watch and enjoy Life of Brian... with arabic subtitles!
Brian: Excuse me. Are you the Judean People's Front?
Reg: Fuck off! We're the People's Front of Judea

Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Attendee: Brought peace?
Reg: Oh, peace - shut up!
Reg: There is not one of us who would not gladly suffer death to rid this country of the Romans once and for all.
Dissenter: Uh, well, one.
Reg: Oh, yeah, yeah, there's one. But otherwise, we're solid.

Brian: Have I got a big nose, Mum?
Brian?s mother: Stop thinking about sex!
Brian: I wasn't!
Brian?s mother: You're always on about it. "Will the girls like this? Will the girls like that? Is it too big? Is it too small?

Brian: I am NOT the Messiah!
Arthur: I say you are Lord, and I should know. I've followed a few.

Reg: If you want to join the People's Front of Judea, you have to really hate the Romans.
Brian: I do!
Reg: Oh yeah, how much?
Brian: A lot!
Reg: Right, you're in.

[a line of prisoners files past a jailer]
Coordinator: Crucifixion?
Prisoner: Yes.
Coordinator: Good. Out of the door, line on the left, one cross each.
[Next prisoner]
Coordinator: Crucifixion?
Mr. Cheeky: Er, no, freedom actually.
Coordinator: What?
Mr. Cheeky: Yeah, they said I hadn't done anything and I could go and live on an island somewhere.
Coordinator: Oh I say, that's very nice. Well, off you go then.
Mr. Cheeky: No, I'm just pulling your leg, it's crucifixion really.
Coordinator: [laughing] Oh yes, very good. Well...
Mr. Cheeky: Yes I know, out of the door, one cross each, line on the left.

Wise Man #1: We were led by a star.
Brian's mother: Led by a bottle, more like.

Suicide Squad Leader: We are the Judean People's Front crack suicide squad! Suicide squad, attack!
[they all stab themselves]
Suicide Squad Leader: That showed 'em, huh?

Brian?s mother: He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!

Brian: I'm not a roman mum, I'm a kike, a yid, a heebie, a hook-nose, I'm kosher mum, I'm a Red Sea pedestrian, and proud of it!

Brian: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Brian: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
Brian: Now, fuck off!
[silence]
Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?

Ex-Leper: Half a dinare for me bloody life story?
Brian: There's no pleasing some people.
Ex-Leper: That's just what Jesus said, sir.

Ex-Leper: Okay, sir, my final offer: half a shekel for an old ex-leper?
Brian: Did you say "ex-leper"?
Ex-Leper: That's right, sir, 16 years behind a veil and proud of it, sir.
Brian: Well, what happened?
Ex-Leper: Oh, cured, sir.
Brian: Cured?
Ex-Leper: Yes sir, bloody miracle, sir. Bless you!
Brian: Who cured you?
Ex-Leper: Jesus did, sir. I was hopping along, minding my own business, all of a sudden, up he comes, cures me! One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave! "You're cured, mate." Bloody do-gooder.


Brian: Well, why don't you go and tell him you want to be a leper again?
Ex-Leper: Uh, I could do that sir, yeah. Yeah, I could do that I suppose. What I was thinking was I was going to ask him if he could make me a bit lame in one leg during the middle of the week. You know, something beggable, but not leprosy, which is a pain in the ass to be blunt and excuse my French, sir.

Brian: Please, please, please listen! I've got one or two things to say.
The Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!
Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for your selves! You're ALL individuals!
The Crowd: Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
The Crowd: Yes, we ARE all different!
Man in crowd: I'm not...
The Crowd: Sch!

Reg: [arriving at Brian's crucifixion] Hello, Sibling Brian.
Brian: Thank God you've come, Reg.
Reg: Well, I think I should point out first, Brian, in all fairness, we are not, in fact, the rescue committee. However, I have been asked to read the following prepare statement on behalf of the movement. "We the People's Front of Judea, brackets, officials, end brackets, do hereby convey our sincere fraternal and sisterly greetings to you, Brian, on this, the occasion of your martyrdom. "
Brian: What?
Reg: "Your death will stand as a landmark in the continuing struggle to liberate the parent land from the hands of the Roman imperialist aggressors, excluding those concerned with drainage, medicine, roads, housing, education, viniculture and any other Romans contributing to the welfare of Jews of both sexes and hermaphrodites. Signed, on behalf of the P. F. J. , etc. " And I'd just like to add, on a personal note, my own admiration, for what you're doing for us, Brian, on what must be, after all, for you a very difficult time.

Matthias: Look, I don't think it should be a sin, just for saying "Jehovah".
[Everyone gasps]
Jewish Official: You're only making it worse for yourself!
Matthias: Making it worse? How can it be worse? Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!
Jewish Official: I'm warning you! If you say "Jehovah" one more time (gets hit with rock) RIGHT! Who did that? Come on, who did it?
Stoners: She did! She did! (suddenly speaking as men) He! He did! He!
Jewish Official: Was it you?
Stoner: Yes.
Jewish Official: Right...
Stoner: Well you did say "Jehovah. "
[Crowd throws rocks at the stoner]
Jewish Official: STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! STOP IT! All right, no one is to stone _anyone_ until I blow this whistle. Even... and I want to make this absolutely clear... even if they do say, "Jehovah. "
[Crowd stones the Jewish Official to death]

Brian: You have to be different!
The Crowd: Yes, we are all different!
Small lonely voice: I'm not!

Brian?s mother: What star sign is he?
Wise Man #2: Capricorn.
Brian?s mother: Capricorn, eh? What are they like?
Wise Man #2: He is the son of God, our Messiah.
Wise Man #1: King of the Jews.
Brian?s mother: And that's Capricorn, is it?
Wise Man #3: No, no, that's just him.
Brian?s mother: Oh, I was going to say, otherwise there'd be a lot of them.

Judith: [on Stan's desire to be a mother] Here! I've got an idea: Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb - which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans' - but that he can have the *right* to have babies.
Francis: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother... sister, sorry.
Reg: What's the *point*?
Francis: What?
Reg: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies, when he can't have babies?
Francis: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
Reg: It's symbolic of his struggle against reality.

Centurion: You know the penalty laid down by Roman law for harboring a known criminal?
Matthias: No.
Centurion: Crucifixion!
Matthias: Oh.
Centurion: Nasty, eh?
Matthias: Could be worse.
Centurion: What you mean "Could be worse"?
Matthias: Well, you could be stabbed.
Centurion: Stabbed? Takes a second. Crucifixion lasts hours. It's a slow, horrible death.
Matthias: Well, at least it gets you out in the open air.
Centurion: You're weird!
(read more...)
Graham Chapman ... Wise Man #2 / Brian Cohen / Biggus Dickus

John Cleese ... Wise Man #1 / Reg / Jewish Official / Centurion / Deadly Dirk / Arthur

Terry Gilliam ... Man Even Further Forward / Revolutionary / Jailer / Blood & Thunder Prophet / Frank / Audience Member / Crucifee

Eric Idle ... Mr. Cheeky / Stan (Loretta) / Harry the Haggler / Culprit Woman / Warris / Intensely Dull Youth / Jailer's Assistant / Otto / Lead Singer Crucifee

Terry Jones ... Mandy Cohen / Colin / Simon the Holy Man / Bob Hoskins / Saintly Passer-by / Alarmed Crucifixion Assistant

Michael Palin ... Wise Man #3 / Mr. Big Nose / Francis / Mrs. A / Ex-Leper / Announcer / Ben / Pontius Pilate / Boring Prophet / Eddie / Shoe Follower / Nisus Wettus

Insight into the Soul of an Orthodox Jew

Usually orthodox Jews are suspicious and don’t like to be interviewed. Swiss filmmaker Jürg Da Vaz succeeded, however, to get close to them. In his amazing film “Itzhak Frey&Son” he reveals the mind of Itzhak Frey, an old wise Jew with Central European roots and deep Jewish convictions who sells pastries while giving Da Vaz some history lessons and - as a cashier counting the coins - is teaching Da Vaz religious philosophy.
His colourful movie, which also has touching encounters with Frey’s son David, is a revealing document of orthodoxy in the 21st century.

„As we left the bookshop in Mea Shearim where I had met David, he made sure: “Is the tape on?“ Walking through the narrow, busy lanes of Me’a She’arim and listening intently to his fascinating stories, I cautiously asked David: “May we visit your father?“ He first hesitated since he did not know how his father would react to my camera. His father had never allowed anybody to take a picture of him. Then David suddenly stopped, turned to the right and took me to the almost 90 year old Itzhak Frey who was working in his own Pastry Shop at Yecheskei Street as a cashier.“

Швейцарский режиссер Юрг Da Ваз в удивительном фильме "Ицхак Фрей & сын" раскрывает ум Ицхака Фрея, мудрого старого еврея , который продает булочки давая Da Вазу уроки истории и религиозной философии считая сдачу.
" ...я осторожно спросил Давида : "Можем ли мы посетить вашего отеца? Сначала он колебался, поскольку он не знал, как его отец будет реагировать на мою камеру. Его отец никогда не позволял сфотографировать его. Давид вдруг остановился, повернул направо и взял меня к почти 90 летнему Ицхакы Фрею, который работал в своей кондитории на улице Ехезкель у кассы".

מפח הזבל

תעלומה במכולה הירוקה
יום בהיר אחד באפריל 2007 רכב הבמאי טל יופה על הטוסטוס שלו בדרום תל אביב,
באזור של תעשייה זעירה. תוך כדי נסיעה לכד משהו את עינו והוא עצר ליד מכל אשפה גדול, מלא עד גדותיו. מעל הזבל היו מפוזרים מסמכים ותמונות של משפחה שלא הכיר, שנראו כאילו הושלכו לשם לפני זמן קצר. מיד כשהגיע הביתה פרש יופה על השטיח את המסמכים שמצא, והחליט להתחקות אחרי קורותיה של המשפחה. כך נפתחה חקירה, שנמשכה כשנה. הוא ביקר בבתי קברות, חפר בארכיונים ובשלב מסוים אף ביקש ברדיו את עזרת הציבור. התוצאה המצולמת של האובססיה הבלשית הזאת היא סרט דוקומנטרי מרגש, "התעלומה במכולה

"הירוקה

     ( ...לינק)

The Green Dumpster Mystery

One day in south Tel Aviv, filmmaker Tal Yoffee noticed some old photographs and documents inside a green dumpster. “Googling” one name, he begins investigating a history that begins in Lodz, Poland, transverses a Siberian gulag, a Samarkand sugar plant, a deserted Arab building in Jaffa, and a missing IDF soldier somewhere in Sinai. Just an anonymous family, but a typical Israeli one. 

Михаил Kаравокирос:Спаситель с Итальянским Паспортом

The Righteous of Riga from Damiano Beltrami on Vimeo.
(Извиняюсь за неуклюжий перевод)
Когда Макс Долгицер, 54-летний менеджер из Нью-Йорка и коллекционер произведений искусства, недавно узнал, что некоторые из его родственников были спасены во время войны от смерти в Риге отважным Греком с итальянским паспортом, он был озадачен ...
Это история о том, как человек спас евреев в период нацистской оккупации латвийского города Риги, где 35000 евреев жило в 1935 году, но только 150 осталось, когда Красная армия вытеснила нацистов в 1944 году.
Когда немецкая армия вошла в Ригу в 1941 году, Каравокирос была в восторге. Он вышел на улицу со своей дочерью Марией, 8, и ее младшим братом Сократом, чтобы показать имх людей, которые наконец то освободили Латвию.
"Немецкие солдаты были высокими и красивыми", вспомнает г-жа Мария Лоренцетти, элегантная итальянская женщинав семидесятых годов. "Их каски были такими блестящими."
Каравокирос улыбался."Вы увидите, Германия вернет порядок", говорил он своим детям.
Каравокирос родился на греческом острове Калимнос и стал гражданином Италии в 1912 году, после итало-турецкой войны. . Затем, после работы в качестве коммивояжера в Скандинавии и в царской империи, он поселился в Латвии, где и открыл завод по производству халвы.
Каравокирос был женат на Фанни Долгицер (девечья фамилия моей бабушки погибшей в Рижском Гетто) и отец двух детей. Семья жестоко пострадала от советской оккупации Латвии в 1940 году. Русские закрыли фабрику и приостановила его банковский счет. Каравокироса хотели арестовать и сослать в Сибирь, но его рабочие вмешались говоря о нём как хорошем начальнике.
Несмотря на его ненависть к коммунизму, меньше чем через двенадцать часов после вступления немцов в Ригу радость Михаила исчезла полностью.
В ту же ночь более 2000 евреев были убиты в центральной Рижской тюрьме . Большинство было видными горожанами: политики, бизнесменамы и предприниматели.. Среди них был Залман Шефер, муж сестры Фанни Долгицер .Его дочь, Рива Шефер, пережившая Холокост, который сейчас 88 лет и до сих пор живет в Риге хорошо помнит эту ночь .
"Когда они постучали в нашу дверь, мой отец был в пижаме. Он надел пальто и вышел к ним, расказывает Шефер."Я больше его не видела".
На следующий день семья Каравокироса была дома с некоторыми еврейскими родственниками и друзьями. Вдруг они услышали страшный шум на лестнице. Молодые латыши на немецкой службе ловили евреев.
"Когда они стали ломится в нашу дверь, отец встретил их с небольшим итальянским флагом в руках, который он обычно держал на своем столе, сказала миссис Лоренцетти. "Он сказал им, что наш дом территория Италии , а так как Италия союзник Германии, никто не имеет права зайти в квартиру без разрешения. .” Пораженые такой твердой решимостью, они ушли.
В последующие недели запреты для евреев увеличилась. Они были вынуждены носить звезду Давида и запретили пользаватся тротуарами, общественным транспортом и магазинами. . Немцы официально объявили об создании Рижского гетто 23 августа 1941.
"Евреи, которые были помещены в гетто включали 5652 детей, 8300 инвалидов, 9507 женщин и 6143 мужчин", расказывает профессор Маргерс Вестерманис, историк и директор Рижского Еврейского музея
Каравокирос были вынуждены приостановить производство халвы и начал производить варенья для Вермахта, но емы разрешили продолжать работать, и потому что он считался "арийцем" и потому что его итальянское гражданство защищало его.
Первая Акция состоялась через три месяца после создания гетто, 27 ноября 1941. Немецкие солдаты рассказали евреям что они будут перемещаться дальше на восток.
"Это путешествие было коротким", сказал профессор Вестерманис. "Нацисты перегнали 15000 евреев в Румбульский лес за пределами Риги и расстреляли их всех ".
Кто-то намекнул Каравокиросу об Акции и ему удалось зайти в гетто в армейцкой машине со своим шурином Гарри Баринбаумом. Баринбаум привез два больших ящика. Гидон Баринбаум, его сын, был спрятан в первом. Бенита Баринбаум, его пять-летний племянник во втором. Оба спали . Им дали снотворное, чтобы свести к минимуму риски связанные с спасательной операции.
"Когда мой отец пришел домой с двумя детьми, он был взволнован" пасказывает Миссис Лоренцетти. "Он пошел прямо в его спальню " .
Мария вошла в комнату и нашла его на коленях под греческими иконами. Каравокирос обнял ее, и расказал ей, что он хотел бы спасти тех, которые подвергались преследованиям.
"Мой отец сказал, что если он не смог бы сделать что-то для них он бы чувствовал себя ответственным за эти преступления и мы дети ненавидели бы его."
Он попросил помощи у некоторых латышских, финских и польских рабочих своего завода, а также греческуяю общину Риги и других людей которым он доверял: Басилова Лемешева, Каревского, Эмилию Гаевскала (его прислуга)
Каравокирос прятал евреев в секретном месте в раздевалке своего завода. Рабочие знали о тайнике, но никогда не говорила об этом.
Греко-итальянский предприниматель двигался в окрестностях Риги с большой осторожностью, но отчаянно. Он послал верных людей покупать продукты для евреев в различных магазинах чтобы не вызывать подозрений.
Вскоре однако гестапо стала подозревать Каравокирос. После нескольких рейдов, когда ему удалось переместить евреев в более безопасные места, он сам попал в гетто вместе со своей семьей. Он был освобожден через дипломатические усилия греческой общины. По настоянию посла Италии в Берлине Дино Альфиери, Каравокирос решили покинуть Латвию в Италию летом 1943 года.
Семья Каравокирос поселилась в Триесте. В тот момент они были в безопасности. Никто не знал, что Фанни Долгицер была еврейкой. Ее фамилия звучала немецкой и была знакома в Триесте-портовом городе который был в состав Австро-Венгерской империи до 1918 года. Евреи в Латвии были в опасности уничтождения . Сеть убежищ Каравокироса была одной из немногих возможностей для их выживания.
Перед отъездом Каравокирос сделал всё чтобы система продолжала работать без него. Его помощники продолжали его дело
Рива Шефер был одна из тех кому это помогло.Она скрывалась в Риге в 14 разных домах, в период с июля 1943 по 13 октября 1944 г., когда Красная Армия вошла в Ригу.
В тот день, г-жа Шефер был в огромной комнату в пустом доме. Лучь света проникал между тяжелыми пурпурными шторами. Как она это иногда делала, она заглянула через занавеску, чтобы мельком посмотреть на улицу.
"Я увидела советские танки, сказала миссис Шефер с улыбкой. "Я не верила что это происходит на самом дел.Неужели русские выгнали немцов ".
Пятьдесят лет после этого холодного октябрьского дня, в марте 1995 года, г-жа Лоренцетти, дочь Михаила Каравокироса, получила письмо от музее Яд Вашем в Иерусалиме.. Каравокиросу было присвоено звание Праведника народов мира, благодаря докладу Ривы Шефер.
Каравокирос, который умер в 1972 году в Триесте никогда не упоминал о том что он сделал в Латвии.
"Мой отец был очень скромным человеком " сказала миссис Лоренцетти "Я просто думала, что он сделал то, что он должен был сделать. У него не было необходимости говорить об этом, чтобы похвастатся".

Дамиано Бельтрами (25 января, 2009)

Mihail Karavokiros: An Italian Passport for Hope
When Max Dolgizer, a 54-year-old New York manager and art collector, was recently told that a number of his relatives were saved from the Shoah in Riga by a bold Greek man and an Italian passport, he was puzzled...
This is the story of how a man saved almost a dozen Jews during the Nazi occupation of the Latvian city of Riga, where 35,000 Jews lived in 1935, but only 150 remained when the Red Army ousted the Nazis in 1944.
When the German army entered Riga in 1941, Karavokiros was enthusiastic. He went out in the street with his daughter Maria, 8, and her younger brother Socrate, to show them the people who finally liberated Latvia.
“German soldiers were tall and handsome,” remembered Mrs. Maria Lorenzetti, an elegant Italian woman in her late seventies. “Their helmets were shining.”
At the time, Karavokiros smiled. “You’ll see, Germany will bring back the law,” he said to his children.
Born on the Greek island of Kalimnos, Karavokiros became an Italian citizen in 1912, after the Italo-Turkish war. Then, after working as a commercial traveler in Scandinavia and in the Czarist Empire, he settled in Latvia and opened a factory producing halva, a traditional confection made from sesame paste.
Married to a Jewish woman, Fanny Dolgizer(Dolgizer is  maiden name of my grandmother-died in Riga's Ghetto) , and father of two, Karavokiros was harshly affected by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940. The Russians closed his factory and suspended his bank account. Karavokiros would have been arrested and sent to Siberia, but his workers intervened and described him as a good boss.
Despite his hatred of Communism, less than twelve hours after the Germans entered Riga, Karavokiros’ excitement faded away completely.
That very night, SS officials arrested, tortured and executed more than 2,000 Jews in Riga’s central prison. For the most part, they were prominent townspeople: politicians, businessmen and entrepreneurs. Among them was Zalman Shefer, the Jewish husband of Karavokiros’ sister-in-law. His daughter, Riva Shefer, a Shoah survivor who is now 88 years old and still lives in Riga, remembers that night perfectly.
“When they knocked on our door, my father was wearing his pajamas. He put on his coat and went out with them,” Mrs. Shefer said. “I never saw him again.”
The following day, the Karavokiros family was at home with some Jewish relatives and friends. All of a sudden they heard a terrible noise coming from the stairs. Young Latvian collaborators hired by the German commando were rounding up Jews.
“When they violently knocked on our door, my father confronted them holding a small Italian flag that he used to keep on his desk,” said Mrs. Lorenzetti. “He told them that our house was Italian territory and Italy was an ally of Germany, so nobody could get in our place with aggressive intentions. Perhaps struck by such a firm resolve, they left.”
In the following weeks the prohibitions for the Jews increased. They were forced to wear the Star of David and banned from sidewalks, public transportation and stores.
The Germans officially announced the opening of Riga’s ghetto on Aug. 23, 1941. “The Jews who were put in the ghetto included 5,652 children, 8,300 disabled people, 9,507 women and 6,143 men,” said Professor Margers Vestermanis, historian and director of Riga’s Jews in Latvia museum
Karavokiros had to suspend the production of halva and produce jam for the Wehmacht, but he could keep on working, both because he was regarded as “Aryan” and because his Italian citizenship protected him.
The first akzion, the Nazi term for mass killings, took place three months after the ghetto was opened, on Nov. 27, 1941. The German soldiers told the Jews they were going to be moved further east.
“That travel was short,” said Professor Vestermanis. “The Nazis walked 15,000 Jews to the Rumbula Forest, just outside Riga, and shot them all.”
Karavokiros got a tip about the akzion and succeeded in entering the ghetto in a Wehmacht official’s car with his brother-in-law Harry Barinbaum. Barinbaum collected two big containers. Gidon Barinbaum, his son, was hidden in the first one. Benita Barinbaum, his five-year-old nephew, was in the second. Both were asleep. They were given sleeping pills to minimize the risks of the rescue operation.
“When my father came home with these two kids, he was distraught,” Mrs. Lorenzetti said. “He went straight to his bedroom.”
Maria entered the room to greet her father and found him on his knees with his head in his hands under the Greek icons. Karavokiros gave her a hug and confessed to her he wanted to save those who were persecuted.
“My father said that if he didn’t do something for them,” remembered Mrs. Lorenzetti, “he would have felt partly responsible for that crime and we children would have hated him.”
So Karavokiros organized a network of places where Jews could hide. He asked for help from some of the Latvian, Finnish and Polish workers of his factory, as well as Riga’s Greek community and other people he trusted: Mrs. Basilova Lemesheva, a porter; Mr. Karcevski, a butler; and Mrs. Emilia Gaevskala, a housekeeper.
Karavokiros hid Jews in a secret part of the changing room of his factory. The workers knew about the hiding place, but never talked about it. He also hid them behind the tent that covered the bed of a porter’s lodge, in big empty houses and, of course, in his own apartment.
The Greek-Italian entrepreneur moved around Riga with great care, but frantically. He sent loyal people to shop for the hidden Jews in different grocery stores so the quantity of the food bought would not raise suspicions.
Soon, however, the Gestapo targeted Karavokiros. After a number of raids, when he was lucky enough to be tipped off by friends in time to move the Jews to safer places, he ended up in the ghetto with his family. He was released through the Greek community’s diplomatic efforts. At the urging of the Italian ambassador in Berlin, Dino Alfieri, Karavokiros decided to leave Latvia for Italy in the summer of 1943.
The Karavokiros family settled in Trieste. At that point they were safe. Nobody knew that Fanny Dolgizer was Jewish. Her last name sounded German and was familiar in Trieste, a port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. In the meantime, though, the Jews in Latvia were not safe. Karavokiros’ network of hiding places was one of the very few options for their survival.
Before leaving, Karavokiros made sure the system could continue to work without him. He talked to his helpers and tipped them well. And in fact, it did hold.
Riva Shefer was one of the people who benefited from it. She stayed hidden in Riga in 14 different houses from July 1943 to Oct. 13, 1944, when the Red Army entered Riga.
That day, Mrs. Shefer was in an auditorium-sized room in an empty house. A little light filtered between heavy purple curtains. As she sometimes did, she peeped through the curtains to catch a glimpse of the street.
“I saw Soviet tanks,” said Mrs. Shefer with a smile. “I was wondering whether all that really happened. Whether the Russians really kicked out the Germans.”
Fifty years after that cold October day, in March 1995, Mrs. Lorenzetti, Mr. Karavokiros’s daughter, who had moved from Trieste to Milan, received a letter from the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem. Mr. Karavokiros had received the title of Righteous Among the Nations, thanks to the report of Mrs. Riva Shefer.
Karavokiros, who died in 1972 in Trieste with few regrets, never mentioned what he accomplished in Latvia.
“My father was a very reserved person,” said Mrs. Lorenzetti. “I just thought he did what he had to. He had no need to talk about it, to show off or anything.”

(via i-Italy)
by Damiano Beltrami

Isidore Block or Poet-O

Isidore Block, better known to himself as Poet-O, lived on the streets for 20+ years after his release from a home for the criminally insane, until he was rousted.from his Central Park bedroll at 2 a.m. by some well-meaning nuns who didn't want him to be bitten by the rats they saw crawling over him. "They don't bother me," he says, "they know my smell." (The rats, that is.
Now he divides his time between his room at the Woodstock and hustling in the streets, trading wishes for meals and recitations of his own poetry for money. He still sleeps in the Park occasionally "to keep in touch."
Izzy knows all the squirrels by name and once shared a joint with John Lennon in the rain, the two of them huddled under an umbrella. Celebrities, Poet-O explained, can come out only when it rains. Lennon wouldn't ring O's bell for fear of reprisals from the bell-ringers' union but Yoko in a bid for better karma gave it a mighty jangle.
update:
Mr. Block passed away. (read more...)
12 min. video

an intimate portrait of new yorker isidore block, aka "poet-o", a self-described "mendicant poet," and "genuine nut-case" whose life was changed when albert einstein planted 397 theories in his brain

Изгои

Поэтому фильм назван "Изгои"?

- Название пришло уже в ходе работы над материалами. Я вдруг увидел - на основании того, что услышал и собрал, - совсем другой подход к этой теме.
Во время войны евреи на самом деле неожиданно для себя оказались одни - один на один со смертью и несправедливостью.
Пришла война и нацисты. И одни соседи начали убивать евреев, как в Балтии. Другие смотрели и отворачивались. А чтобы оправдаться перед собой, обвиняли евреев в коммунизме и во всех смертных грехах. Третьи - спокойно забирали их имущество и вселялись в их дома. Четвертые - сами не убивали, но собирали евреев в эшелоны и депортировали. Или поступали как болгары, которые своих евреев - пятьдесят тысяч человек - Гитлеру не отдали, но, будучи его союзником, оккупировали Македонию и Северную Грецию и всех тамошних евреев "преподнесли" немцам. И так далее...

В итоге - миллионов людей как будто не было на этой земле. Только в Беларуси погибли 800 тысяч евреев. В Польше до войны их проживало более трех миллионов. А сегодня - где-то шесть тысяч. Те евреи, кому повезло выжить, кто был в подполье или ушел в партизаны, там тоже нередко оказывались одиноки.

И в партизанах встречался антисемитизм, и не хотели принимать еврейских беженцев, и верили слухам немцев, что беженцы из гетто - это засланные агенты. Всякое бывало. Но то, что было в Украине, Польше, странах Балтии - просто кошмар. Я, например, и раньше встречал информацию о то, что, скажем, в Польше евреев не любили. Это не новость. Но то, что в Литве и Беларуси еврейские партизаны погибали не только от рук немцев или полицаев, но и от рук польских партизан, - меня удивило. И это были не единичные случаи. Иначе я бы на такие факты не клюнул

(more...)

Смотрите "Мелодии рижского гетто"

A Jewish state in Thuringia

Psoy Korolenko and Danik Redlick of the The Unternationale

An Israeli artist is challenging boundaries – national, political and artistic – with his project to create a Jewish state in the former East Germany.
Ronen Eidelman wants to raise questions about national identity, anti-Semitism and the complex relationship involving Germany, Jews and Israel.
“I want to blur the line between life and art,” he says, “and I don’t want to stay in the ghettos of galleries and museums” but go out into the streets.
While some Germans never tire of debating such topics, Eidelman’s proposal for “Medinat Weimar” apparently has touched raw nerves. One Jewish leader says he would never set foot in the new “state.” Eidelman’s university, for which the project was conceived, has distanced itself from the idea.(read more...)
to Medinat Weimar click HERE

מדינת ויימר

התנועה למען מדינה יהודית בתורינגיה

13 עקרונות התנועה

1. מדינת ויימר שואפת להקים מדינה יהודית בתורינגיה, שבירתה תהיה בעיר ויימר.

2. מדינת ויימר תהיה הפתרון לטראומה היהודית, לאשמה הגרמנית, לקונפליקט במזרח התיכון, לדיכאון המזרח-גרמני ולבעיות עולמיות שונות.

3. מדינת ויימר תעשה שימוש באוטונומיה של האמנות ובמוסדותיה, כמו גם בקמפיינים פוליטיים ובפעילות פוליטית אחרת, כדי לשכנע את אזרחי גרמניה, את האיחוד האירופי, את הקהילות היהודיות בעולם ואת הקהילייה הבינלאומית לתמוך בייסודה של מדינה זו.

4. מדינת ויימר מגדירה את השיוך "יהודי" לא באמצעות דם או מוצא, אלא באופן תרבותי-דתי: מכוח האמונות, התרבות, ההיסטוריה והגורל המשותפים ליהודים וליהודיות ממוצא מערבי ומזרחי, לערבים ולערביות פלסטינים, ואחת היא מה אמונתם הדתית, ולבני ובנות כל קבוצה אחרת שקיומה של מדינת ישראל השפיע עליהם, וכיום חולקים, מכוחה, גורל משותף.

5. מדינת ויימר תעודד בני ובנות כל לאום ורקע היסטורי או תרבותי לקחת חלק פעיל בקידומו של חזונה, הוא חזון הקמתה של מדינה יהודית בתורינגיה, והעיר ויימר בירתה.

6. מדינת ויימר תפעל לשם ריפוי האנטישמיות והפילושמיות לסוגיהן, לאיונן של השנאה העצמית היהודית והגרמנית, ולפתרון הקונפליקט המתמשך בין קבוצות יהודיות וערביות, מוסלמיות ונוצריות, וכן הלאה.

7. מדינת ויימר אינה מבקשת להחליף את מדינת ישראל שבמזרח התיכון, כי אם להקים מדינה יהודית אחרת: מדינה שתבקש להחיות את חזון אור לגויים, וכן את התרבות והרוחניות היהודיות. לצד זאת תשאף מדינת ויימר להיות מעון של שלום ושלווה, שיקיים את ההבטחה הציונית שנכזבה – ההבטחה להקים בית נורמלי ובטוח ליהודים.

8. מדינת ויימר מאמינה שלאנשים הזכות לא רק להגדרה עצמית, אלא גם הזכות לשנות את ההגדרה הזו ולפעול למען מימושה ולמען הגשמתם העצמית הלכה למעשה.

9. מדינת ויימר תבקש לגשר על תהומות וביצורים אידיאולוגיים, תרבותיים ודתיים בשיח הישראלי ובשיח הגרמני.

10. מדינת ויימר מאמינה שתורינגיה בשל מיקומה ההיסטורי והתרבותי; היותה אתר של תרבות גרמנית קלאסית; תפקידה בהיסטוריה של האנטישמיות והלאומנות הגרמנית; היותה מקום עיזבון של חיים ותרבות יהודיים; והבעיות המאיימות עליה באשר היא מדינה ברפובליקה הגרמנית שאוכלוסייתה מידלדלת וכלכלתה חלשה: כל אלה, עושים את תורינגיה למקום שאין טוב ממנו להקמתה של מדינה יהודית חדשה – מדינה שתפתור את בעיות העולם היהודי, ולצד זאת תבטיח פריחה כלכלית ותרבותית לתורינגיה עצמה.

11. מדינת ויימר תציע תשובה אנטי-פשיסטית לבעיות רבות שמדינת תורינגיה מתמודדת איתן באשר היא מדינה שעברה יותר מארבעים שנה שלטון סובייטי, ועל כן תעשה את מלאכת הקמתה של מדינה יהודית בה למלאכה שתצמיח רוב טובה לכל תושביה ותושבותיה. מדינה יהודית בתורינגיה אינה נולדת מתוך העבר לבדו, מתוך קשייו ומתוך הייסורים שהצמיח. היא נולדת כהבטחה של עתיד טוב יותר הן לתושביה הנוכחיים והעתידיים, והן לגרמנים שיוכלו לשכך בכוחה את החרדות ואת האשמה הנישאים בכנפיהן של רוחות העבר.

12. מדינת ויימר תבקש להשיב על שאלות היסוד הטורדות ודאי את מחשבתם של כל איש ואשה – שאלות שעניינן ביישוב הסתירות שבתחייה של פרויקט לאומי בעידן של כלכלה גלובלית ושל תנועת ההגירה הגלובלית, וכן באפשרות לגילוי מחדש של הדת כאופן הזדהות פוליטי-תרבותי תוך גלובליזציה של ההון הלא-דתי.

13. מדינת ויימר אינה תנועה מעשית, אלא ניסיון לעורר מחדש, בבהירות ובאומץ, שאלות פרובוקטיביות שיעשו לחידוד הסתירות הידועות בין הטיעונים האנטישמיים, הניאו-ליברליים, הלאומניים והציוניים. בכך תבקש מדינת ויימר לפרק את הטיעונים הללו, לחשוף את מנגנוני ההיגיון הפנימי שלהם ולהוציא אל אור העולם גם את האבסורדיות הגלומה בהם.

אנו מושיטים את ידנו לכל בני ובנות תורינגיה, כמו גם לבני ובנות עם היהודי הריבוני העתידי שיתיישב בה.

ידינו פרושות לשלום, לשכנות טובה, לעזרה הדדית ולעבודה משותפת בתנועתנו.

מדינת ויימר תעשה כל שביכולתה למען הגשמת המאמצים המשותפים, לטובת האזור כולו.

* בהסתמך על 13 עיקרי האמונה היהודית של הרמב"ם.