DOCSLIB.ORG

Wij-Articles-Maghrebi Women by Moshe Ovadia-Final

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Wij-Articles-Maghrebi Women by Moshe Ovadia-Final Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel Moshe Ovadia, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel Abstract The article examines the socioeconomic status of Maghrebi (North African) Jewish women in the four holy cities during the British Mandate. Apart from the historiographical research of Michal Ben Ya'akov, who studied the life of these women during the Nineteenth Century, no comprehensive study was conducted. This article sheds light on the socioeconomic circumstances of the Maghrebi Jewish women during the first half of the Twentieth Century when Maghrebi women witnessed the profound growth and advancement in Eretz Yisrael – the transition from the old Yishuv to the new Yishuv. Introduction In recent years, great progress has been made in historiographical research into the subject of Jewish women in traditional and secular society. Particular importance has been attributed to the historiographical research concerning women since they were not generally the focus of any scientific debate. At the present time, when scholars add the narrative of Jewish women to the historiographical findings, new insights are being discovered regarding their world and their socioeconomic role.1 Yael Atzmon writes about the exclusion of women from Jewish historiography. She states that the omission of women’s contributions is more prominent in Jewish historiography than in general historiography, since the exclusion of women as part of Jewish history bears some resemblance to the problem of the history of the Jews as part of general history.2 Indeed, the exclusion of women from public life in the Jewish community stems from the traditional Jewish way of life, in which a woman's role was confined to the home and family while observing rules of modesty, such as non- revealing apparel and head covering. During the British Mandate, the status of women in Palestine changed, as this was a time of immigration to the country. Among the immigrants were educated females from the First and Second Aliyah (1882-1914), who aspired to achieve equality between the sexes and hold positions in public life.3 In fact, the new female Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Spring 2014 Volume 11 Number 1 1 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2014 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel immigrants represented the change in the traditional Jewish view that women had to preserve their modesty and stay at home.4 Michal Ben Ya'akov studied Maghrebi Jewish from a geographical, historical, and cultural approach in order to gain insights into the Maghrebi Jewish woman's world.5 Along with their male counterparts, the women also believed in the virtues of permanent settlement in Eretz Yisrael – longevity, health, the answering of their prayers, and atonement for their sins. In Ben Yaakov's opinion, women participated in rites and celebrations of Moroccan sages and wanted to reach Eretz Yisrael to frequent the tombs of Sages, such as the tomb of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes (Rabbi Meir the miracle maker) in Tiberias. Ben Yaakov also states that both elderly and young Maghrebi widows became independent, and that motivated them to make aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. Divorced women who wanted to immigrate turned to the rabbis in Morocco and ask that their marriage certificate (ketubah) would not be invalidated as a result of their aliyah to Eretz Yisrael.6 Ben-Yaakov's research into Maghrebi Jewish women in the Nineteenth Century facilitated future study of these women, their daughters, and granddaughters who settled in Eretz Yisrael during the British mandate. It should be noted that for generations Maghrebi Jews have settled in other locations in Eretz Yisrael, such as Jaffa (Yafo), Neve Tzedek, Haifa, and other places. However, this study discusses the Maghrebi Jews in the four holy cities – Hebron, Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Safed.7 Under British rule the Maghrebi Jews in Jerusalem numbered 2,500. In Hebron, there were only a few families, while in Tiberias and Safed the Maghrebi Jews were counted together with other North African and Sephardic communities. Therefore, it is quite difficult to ascertain the exact number of Maghrebi women during this period. The ancestors of the Maghrebi women in the four Holy Cities settled in the Maghreb in ancient times, some after the Spanish Decrees of 1391, and some after the Great Expulsion from Spain in 1492. Over time, certain families immigrated to Eretz Yisrael and settled in the four holy cities and in other parts of Eretz Yisrael. The Maghrebi families were included in the Sephardic kollels (Sephardic community committees) of the Old Yishuv, namely, a sector that was chiefly poor, unemployed and supported by charity. From 1860, the kollel of the Maghrebi community separated officially from Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Spring 2014 Volume 11 Number 1 2 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2014 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel the Sephardic kollel in Jerusalem.8 Maghrebi women were dependent upon the donations that reached the kollels during the period of the old and new Yishuv. This study inquires whether Maghrebi women in the 20th Century preserved the way of life of Jewish women in the 19th century. It should be noted that during the Mandate period residents of the Yishuv wrestled with gender related issues in the spheres of work, family, education, and equality.9 The study utilizes oral testimonies, along with general and religious literature, and archival documents. Furthermore, photographs are used as a source for historiography, for example, change in women's attire. Three generations of Maghrebi Jewish women are discussed: 1) women who arrived in the 19th and 20th Centuries with their children or were born in Eretz Yisrael; 2) women born in the Maghreb or in Eretz Yisrael, and 3) granddaughters born in Israel. Before embarking on the study of the Maghrebi women's socioeconomic milieu, it is essential to list the educational institutions where these women were educated. A great number of Maghrebi women enrolled in the following institutions: Evelina de Rothschild School, founded in 1864 with funds from Baron Lionel from the English branch of the Rothschild family. In 1899, Hannah Judith (Annie Edith) Landau was deputy principal. The students studied music, gymnastics, sewing, French, English and Arabic and Jewish studies.10 Most of the pupils were from the Ashkenazi community.11 Ruchama School, founded in 1927, was a branch of Talmud Torah for Girls A, and was run by Chana Spitzer (1866-1955). In this school, the girls studied Hebrew, math, Jewish history, natural sciences, geography, English, gymnastics, sewing, and housekeeping. But priority was given to religious studies – prayers, Mishnah, Halakhah, and the weekly Torah portion.12 The A and B schools for girls were primary municipal schools under the auspices of French Alliance.13 Among the Maghrebi students who studied at the school in December 1947 and January 1948 were Esther Abuzaglo, Sarah Sabah, Ora Vaknin, Avigail Mimran, Yael Biton, and Esther Ben-Shimon.14 The Mission was established at the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century. Some of the Maghrebi children studied at the Mission schools, whose aim Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal Spring 2014 Volume 11 Number 1 3 ISSN 1209-9392 © 2014 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Maghrebi Jewish Women During the British Mandate (1918-1948) in Pre-State Israel was to provide a warm home to the Jewish poor and to girls in distress, teach them a profession and bring the Jewish children closer to Christianity.15 A school for Jewish girls was established within the confines of the Messianic Church in the Old City of Jerusalem. The church's archives from the 1920s and 1930s list names of girls from every Jewish community, along with Christian and Arab girls. Among the Maghrebi girls were Zipporah Shushan, Rina Shitrit, Esther Shitrit and Hanna Kadosh.16 On a tour of the Old City, Esther Azulay nee Harrush (1916-2012), who attended the Mission School at the Messiah's Church in the 1920s, showed the author the classrooms and playroom where she studied. In a photo from 1924, Esther recognized one of the Mission's teachers, under whom she studied.17 Esther excelled in English reading and writing. Levana Cohen also studied at the Mission and pointed out that the school was free of charge; therefore, poor families could enroll their children.18 Ruth Bahloul nee Ben Ezra studied for one year at St. Joseph's school in Jerusalem founded in 1887.19 A letter from the Maghrebi community committee in Jerusalem to the board of the Sephardic community committee in Jerusalem reveals that the Maghrebi Jews requested financial aid for a Maghrebi assimilationist who wanted her children to receive a missionary education:20 Surely, the heads and leaders knew or have heard of the woman Camus Hassan [Me-ir ve-em be- yisrael] from the metropolis of Tripoli [yagen aleha amen], who is already assimilated amongst the gentiles, Heaven Forbid, living with a gentile as man and wife and the gentile and his wife want to educate their sons at the Mission.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Talk About the Passion Yehudah Mirsky Yehudah Mirsky Talk About the Passion
    February_shma.qxd:Layout 1 1/22/07 12:48 PM Page 1 37/638 February 2007/Adar 5767 A publication of Inside Haredi Judaism Talk About the Passion Yehudah Mirsky Yehudah Mirsky Talk About the Passion ....... 1 h’ma’s readers, it seems safe to say, share a number of characteristics. University-edu - S cated; economically middle class or better; broadly liberal-minded in outlook and pol - Samuel C. Heilman itics, pluralist with regards to their understandings of Jewish tradition and community; at The Changing Face of Orthodoxy ............................ 2 the very least respectful and regularly outright devoted, passionately, to Jewish tradition and Jewish continuity; spiritually curious and at times adventurous; at home, at least to Nosson Scherman some extent, perhaps conversant with the world of Jewish texts, and the texture of Jewish & Shmuel Goldin rituals; appreciative of the many genuine intellectual, ethical and political benefits of sec - A Conversation on Haredi Life ..................... 4 ular modernity, though not unaware of its fraught relationship with Jewish life; people for whom their Jewish identity is a vital, perhaps the central component in an ongoing process Simon Jacobson of self-creation and expression, by the lights of their understanding of morals, community Divine Sparks ..................... 6 and spirituality, a process they share with other families of humanity, and with concerned Online Diaries ......................... 8 individuals everywhere. This is of course a broadly Sima Zalcberg Who are these people who The Many Shades schematic (though I think roughly ac - of Black ................................ 9 curate) picture. There are, however, choose not to act according some very different pictures of Jewish to the liberal narrative? Asya Vaisman life in our time, deeply at variance Women’s Voice and Song ...........................
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Shichtman Named Director of EMU Jewish Studies
    Washtenaw Jewish News Presort Standard In this issue… c/o Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor U.S. Postage PAID 2939 Birch Hollow Drive Ann Arbor, MI Federation Biking 2010 Ann Arbor, MI 48108 Permit No. 85 Main Event Adventure Election In Israel Results Page 5 Page 7 Page 20 December 2010/January 2011 Kislev/Tevet/Shevat 5771 Volume XXXV: Number 4 FREE Martin Shichtman named director of EMU Jewish Studies Chanukah Wonderland at Geoff Larcom, special to the WJN Briarwood Mall Devorah Goldstein, special to the WJN artin Shichtman, a professor of Shichtman earned his doctorate and mas- English language and literature ter’s degree from the University of Iowa, and What is white, green, blue and eight feet tall? M who has taught at Eastern Michi- his bachelor’s degree from the State Univer- —the menorah to be built at Chanukah Won- gan University for 26 years, has been appointed sity of New York, Binghamton. He has taught derland this year. Chabad of Ann Arbor will director of Jewish Studies for the university. more than a dozen courses at the graduate sponsor its fourth annual Chanukah Wonder- As director, Shichtman will create alliances and undergraduate levels at EMU, including land, returning to the Sears wing of Briarwood with EMU’s Jewish community, coordinate classes on Chaucer, Arthurian literature, and Mall, November 29–December 6, noon–7 p.m. EMU’s Jewish Studies Lecture Series and de- Jewish American literature. Classes focusing New for Chanukkah 2010 will be the building of velop curriculum. The area of Jewish studies on Jewish life include “Imagining the Holy a giant Lego menorah in the children’s play area includes classes for all EMU students inter- Land,” and “Culture and the Holocaust.” (near JCPenny).
    [Show full text]
  • The Hebrew-Jewish Disconnection
    Bridgewater State University Virtual Commons - Bridgewater State University Master’s Theses and Projects College of Graduate Studies 5-2016 The eH brew-Jewish Disconnection Jacey Peers Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/theses Part of the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Peers, Jacey. (2016). The eH brew-Jewish Disconnection. In BSU Master’s Theses and Projects. Item 32. Available at http://vc.bridgew.edu/theses/32 Copyright © 2016 Jacey Peers This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. THE HEBREW-JEWISH DISCONNECTION Submitted by Jacey Peers Department of Graduate Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Bridgewater State University Spring 2016 Content and Style Approved By: ___________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Joyce Rain Anderson, Chair of Thesis Committee Date ___________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Anne Doyle, Committee Member Date ___________________________________________ _______________ Dr. Julia (Yulia) Stakhnevich, Committee Member Date 1 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my mom for her support throughout all of my academic endeavors; even when she was only half listening, she was always there for me. I truly could not have done any of this without you. To my dad, who converted to Judaism at 56, thank you for showing me that being Jewish is more than having a certain blood that runs through your veins, and that there is hope for me to feel like I belong in the community I was born into, but have always felt next to.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodox, Diverse Yet Alike Examining Different Sects of Religious Shows Similarities by LAWRENCE H
    Orthodox, Diverse Yet Alike Examining different sects of religious shows similarities By LAWRENCE H. those in the more rightwing groups SCHIFFMAN but who accept the importance of a ne of the things that strikes wider secular education and the me every time I am in resulting interaction with the world OIsrael is the disparity around. The males of this group between the nature of the Orthodox (and this is even true of some to the communities of the United States right of them) mostly do not cover their heads at work, and maybe not even in the street. They eschew tra- PERSPECTIVE ditional hats, except some wear and Israel. There is a general them on Shabbat. assumption by many people that the Day School education through Orthodox in both countries can be high school is considered essential divided into the Modern Orthodox for this group. Virtually all high and the Haredim, usually translated school graduates go off to spend a as Ultra-Orthodox, and that those year or two in Israel before college. labeled by these sobriquets in these This experience is regarded as two very different environments formative in terms of preparing stu- truly must be equivalent. Both of dents for continuing either at these assumptions are false. Yeshiva University or at the various Understanding how and why these colleges with large Orthodox stu- communities are so different is a dent populations. Allegiance to tremendous help in grasping the their Israeli yeshivas continues religious issues that separate Israel throughout life as this time in Israel and the American Jewish commu- is considered a formative experi- nity and that periodically lead to ence.
    [Show full text]
  • Messianic Religious Zionism by Aviezer Ravitzky 25/12/07 15:51
    "The Revealed End": Messianic Religious Zionism by Aviezer Ravitzky 25/12/07 15:51 "The Revealed End": Messianic Religious Zionism by Aviezer Ravitzky Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and his son Zvi Yehudah Kook from Torat Eretz Yisrael: The Teachings of HaRav Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook by Rabbi Shlomo Chaim HaCohen Aviner, translated by Tzvi Fishman, http://www.geocities.com/alabasters_archive/revealed_end.html Page 1 sur 94 "The Revealed End": Messianic Religious Zionism by Aviezer Ravitzky 25/12/07 15:51 by Rabbi Shlomo Chaim HaCohen Aviner, translated by Tzvi Fishman, Torat Eretz Yisrael Publications, Jerusalem, 1991 from the book Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism 1996 pages 79-144 Translated by Michael Swirsky and Jonathan Chipman University of Chicago Press Originally published as Kets ha-meguleh u-medinat ha-Yehudim. Am Oved Publishers, Tel Aviv, 1993 Also available from Amazon.com The Table of Contents can be found at the end of this document and also by clicking the section headings. "A Messianic Reality" How is it that the movement for concrete redemption in our time, including the settlement and conquest of the Land [of Israel] and the abandonment and abolition of exilic existence, did not originate with the religious? How is it that some religious spokesmen even withheld their support for Zionism and the movement for redemption? . They failed to recognize that it was not that we mortals were forcing the End, but rather that the Master of the House, the Lord of the http://www.geocities.com/alabasters_archive/revealed_end.html
    [Show full text]
  • The Struggle for Hegemony in Jerusalem Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Urban Politics
    THE FLOERSHEIMER INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES The Struggle for Hegemony in Jerusalem Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Urban Politics Shlomo Hasson Jerusalem, October 2002 Translator: Yoram Navon Principal Editor: Shunamith Carin Preparation for Print: Ruth Lerner Printed by: Ahva Press, Ltd. ISSN 0792-6251 Publication No. 4/12e © 2002, The Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies, Ltd. 9A Diskin Street, Jerusalem 96440 Israel Tel. 972-2-5666243; Fax. 972-2-5666252 [email protected] www.fips.org.il 2 About the Author Shlomo Hasson - Professor of Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and deputy director of The Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies. About the Research This book reviews the struggle for hegemony in Jerusalem between secular and ultra-orthodox (haredi) Jews. It examines the democratic deficit in urban politics formed by the rise of the haredi minority to power, and proposes ways to rectify this deficit. The study addresses the following questions: What are the characteristics of the urban democratic deficit? How did the haredi minority become a leading political force in the city? What are the implications of the democratic deficit from the perspective of the various cultural groups? What can be done in view of the fact that the non-haredi population is not only under-represented but also feels threatened and prejudiced by urban politics initiated by the city council? About the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies In recent years the importance of policy-oriented research has been increasingly acknowledged. Dr. Stephen H. Floersheimer initiated the establishment of a research institute that would concentrate on studies of long- range policy issues.
    [Show full text]
  • RABBIS of MOROCCO ~15Th Century to 20Th Century Source: Ben Naim, Yosef
    RABBIS OF MOROCCO ~15th Century to 20th Century Source: Ben Naim, Yosef. Malkhei Rabanan. Jerusalem, 5691 (1931) Sh.-Col. Surname Given Name Notes ~ Abbu see also: Ben Abbu ~ ~ .17 - 2 Abecassis Abraham b. Messod Marrakech, Lived in the 6th. 81 - 2 Abecassis Maimon Rabat, 5490: sign. 82 - 3 Abecassis Makhluf Lived in the 5th cent. 85 - 3 Abecassis Messod Lived in the 5th cent., Malkhluf's father. 85 - 2 Abecassis Messod b. Makhluf Azaouia, 5527: sign. , Lived in the 5-6th cent., Abraham's father. 126 - 3 Abecassis Shimon Mogador, Lived in the 7th cent. 53 - 2 Abecassis Yehuda Mogador, 5609: sign. 63 - 1 Abecassis Yihye 5471: sign. 61 - 4 Abecassis Yosef Rabat, 5490: sign. 54 - 1 Aben Abbas Yehuda b. Shmuel Fes, born 4840, had a son Shmuel, moved to Aleppo,Syria.D1678 .16 - 4 Aben Danan Abraham Fes, 5508: sign. .17 - 1 Aben Danan Abraham b. Menashe Fes, born :13 Kislev 5556, d. 12 Adar 5593 .16 - 4 Aben Danan Abraham b. Shaul Fes, d.: 5317 39 - 3 Aben Danan Haim (the old) Fes, lived in the end of the 6th cent. & beg. 7th. 3 sons: Moshe. Eliahu, Shmuel. 82 - 1 Aben Danan Maimon b. Saadia Fes, Brother of the Shmuel the old, 5384: sign. 82 - 1 Aben Danan Maimon b. Shmuel Castilla, expulsed, moved to Fes, 5286: killed. 84 - 2 Aben Danan Menashe I b. Abraham Fes, d.: 5527 (very old) 84 - 3 Aben Danan Menashe II b. Shmuel Fes, lived in the 6th cent. 85 - 4 Aben Danan Messod b. Yaakov Fes, lived in the end of 5th cent.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume I
    Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures The Tiberian Pronunciation Khan Tradition of Biblical Hebrew (Vol. I) The Tiberian Pronunciation Geoffrey Khan Tradition of Biblical Hebrew The form of Biblical Hebrew that is presented in printed edi� ons, with vocaliza� on and Tradition of Biblical Hebrew Vol. I accent signs, has its origin in medieval manuscripts of the Bible. The vocaliza� on and Volume I accent signs are nota� on systems that were created in Tiberias in the early Islamic period The Tiberian Pronunciation The by scholars known as the Tiberian Masoretes, but the oral tradi� on they represent has roots in an� quity. The gramma� cal textbooks and reference grammars of Biblical Hebrew in use today are heirs to centuries of tradi� on of gramma� cal works on Biblical Hebrew in GEOFFREY KHAN Europe. The paradox is that this European tradi� on of Biblical Hebrew grammar did not have direct access to the way the Tiberian Masoretes were pronouncing Biblical Hebrew. In the last few decades, research of manuscript sources from the medieval Middle East has made it possible to reconstruct with considerable accuracy the pronuncia� on of the Tiberian Masoretes, which has come to be known as the ‘Tiberian pronuncia� on tradi� on’. This book presents the current state of knowledge of the Tiberian pronuncia� on tradi� on of Biblical Hebrew and a full edi� on of one of the key medieval sources, Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ ‘The Guide for the Reader’, by ʾAbū al-Faraj Hārūn. It is hoped that the book will help to break the mould of current gramma� cal descrip� ons of Biblical Hebrew and form a bridge between modern tradi� ons of grammar and the school of the Masoretes of Tiberias.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded from Brill.Com09/26/2021 08:33:03AM This Is an Open Access Article Distributed Under the Terms of the CC by 4.0 License
    Vetus Testamentum 70 (2020) 55–66 Vetus Testamentum brill.com/vt Language, Exegesis, and Creative Writing in Chronicles Jan Joosten University of Oxford [email protected] Abstract is well-known in the meaning “to disguise oneself,” but this meaning התחפש The verb does not seem to fit its context in 2 Chron 35:22. Why would Josiah disguise himself when going to battle with Necho? In this paper it will be argued that the verb was bor- rowed from the story on Micah ben Yimlah (1 Kgs 22:30) in the course of the Chronicler’s reshaping of Josiah in the image of Ahab, but that its semantics reflect a later interpre- tation of some elements in that story. The later interpretation is attested independently ”.is rendered as “to arm oneself התחפש in the Peshitta and the Vulgate where Keywords intertextuality – pseudo-classicism – theological interpretation 1 Introduction Hebraists like H. L. Ginsberg have described the history of Biblical Hebrew as the succession of a “Golden Age,” corresponding to the monarchic period, and a “Silver Age” during and after the Babylonian exile.1 In more recent writing, such evaluative terms are frowned upon.2 Indeed, the aesthetic judgment runs 1 See H. L. Ginsberg, “The Northwest Semitic Languages,” The World History of the Jewish People. First Series: Ancient Times, vol. 2 Patriarchs (Edited by Benjamin Mazar; Tel-Aviv: Massada, 1970), 102–224, 112. 2 See Mark F. Rooker, Biblical Hebrew in Transition: The Language of the Book of Ezekiel (JSOTS 90. Sheffield: JSOT, 1990), 14. © Jan Joosten, 2020 | doi:10.1163/15685330-12341422 Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 08:33:03AM This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.
    [Show full text]
  • “Foremost in Rank and Foremost in Power”: Conflict Over the First-Born in Israel
    "FOREMOST IN RANK AND FOREMOST IN POWER": CONFLICT OVER THE FIRST-BORN IN ISRAEL HARVEY SICHERMAN & GILAD J. GEVARYAHU When the patriarch Jacob blessed his children on the verge of his death, he described Reuben as 'My first-born, first of my strength, first of my vitality . foremost in rank and foremost in power' (Gen. 49:4). But he disqualified Reuben for reasons of personality ( unstable as water [49:4]) and for his act 1 of consorting with Bilhah, Jacob's concubine (35:22). Moreover, Jacob did not assign Reuben's privileges to one other son, but rather to three other sons. As the Targum Jonathan (49:3) writes, "The birthright was given to Jo- seph." Jacob had earlier made clear that Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Ma- nasseh, would be regarded as his own, thus giving to the first-born son of his 2 favorite wife, Rachel, the double portion usually accorded to the eldest son. Furthermore, in the course of that earlier blessing, Jacob elevated Ephraim, the younger son, above his older brother Manasseh, despite Joseph's protest. Secondly, the Targum notes that "the kingship was given to Judah." In the long discourse popularly known as the Blessing of Jacob, the patriarch as- signed Judah the right to rule (49:9-10), exalting his strength and promising that, the scepter shall not depart from Judah until he come to Shiloh, and to 3 him will assemble all the nations, (49:10). Finally, the Targum concludes "the priesthood was given to Levi." Each of these reassignments was linked to physical location: Joseph to She- chem, Judah to Shiloh, and Levi to the place that the Lord thy God will choose from among all the tribes to place His name there.
    [Show full text]
  • The Memory of North African Jews in the Diaspora by Mechtild Gilzmer
    The Memory of North African Jews in the Diaspora by Mechtild Gilzmer Abstract In the following contribution, I will approach in three steps the construction of memory by North-African Jews in the Diaspora. I will first trace the history and historiography of Jews in Arab countries and point out their characteristics. This will lead me to look more precisely at the concept of “Sephardic Jews,” its meaning and application as a key-notion in the memory building for Jews from Arab countries in the Diaspora nowadays. As literature and filmmaking hold a crucial role in the perception and transmission of memory,1 I will then present the works of two Jewish women artists, one living in France and the other living in Quebec, both with North African origins. I will try to show how they use the past for identity (de-)construction and compare their approaches. I choose the two examples because they illustrate two extremely opposed positions concerning the role of cultural identity. Standing in the intersection of history and literary studies, my interdisciplinary work considers literary and film as memory archives and subjective representations of the past not as historical sources. In referring to Jews in Arab countries this means in my article more precisely to look at the North-African Jews. That is why my article treats the following aspects: 1. Jews in Arab lands. A Historiographical Overview 2. A Special Case: “Sephardic Jews” 3. Jews from Arab Lands in the Diaspora - Literature as “lieu de mémoire” of Sephardic Identity in France. - The Example of Eliette Abécassis’ Novel “Sépharade” (2009).
    [Show full text]
  • Israel Prize
    Year Winner Discipline 1953 Gedaliah Alon Jewish studies 1953 Haim Hazaz literature 1953 Ya'akov Cohen literature 1953 Dina Feitelson-Schur education 1953 Mark Dvorzhetski social science 1953 Lipman Heilprin medical science 1953 Zeev Ben-Zvi sculpture 1953 Shimshon Amitsur exact sciences 1953 Jacob Levitzki exact sciences 1954 Moshe Zvi Segal Jewish studies 1954 Schmuel Hugo Bergmann humanities 1954 David Shimoni literature 1954 Shmuel Yosef Agnon literature 1954 Arthur Biram education 1954 Gad Tedeschi jurisprudence 1954 Franz Ollendorff exact sciences 1954 Michael Zohary life sciences 1954 Shimon Fritz Bodenheimer agriculture 1955 Ödön Pártos music 1955 Ephraim Urbach Jewish studies 1955 Isaac Heinemann Jewish studies 1955 Zalman Shneur literature 1955 Yitzhak Lamdan literature 1955 Michael Fekete exact sciences 1955 Israel Reichart life sciences 1955 Yaakov Ben-Tor life sciences 1955 Akiva Vroman life sciences 1955 Benjamin Shapira medical science 1955 Sara Hestrin-Lerner medical science 1955 Netanel Hochberg agriculture 1956 Zahara Schatz painting and sculpture 1956 Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai Jewish studies 1956 Yigael Yadin Jewish studies 1956 Yehezkel Abramsky Rabbinical literature 1956 Gershon Shufman literature 1956 Miriam Yalan-Shteklis children's literature 1956 Nechama Leibowitz education 1956 Yaakov Talmon social sciences 1956 Avraham HaLevi Frankel exact sciences 1956 Manfred Aschner life sciences 1956 Haim Ernst Wertheimer medicine 1957 Hanna Rovina theatre 1957 Haim Shirman Jewish studies 1957 Yohanan Levi humanities 1957 Yaakov
    [Show full text]