Once again, we find ourselves torn between negotiation or warfare. Over 80 years ago under the British mandate Jews were divided in what was then called Palestine. Ben Gurion favored real-politick and negotiation. While Begin preferred reacting to violence against Jews with violence. Who was right? It is till debated. There was, from the start of the twentieth century, tension between nationalists in both…
Frantz Fanon
As a student I was a fan of Frantz Fanon, a black Frenchman born in Martinique. He was a psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer whose work was and remains influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory, and Marxism. For more than five decades, the life and works of Fanon have inspired national movements both political and racial. A good…
The Evolution of Shavuot
Shavuot more than any other festival illustrates the ongoing way in which a Biblical festival and indeed many Biblical laws have evolved in unusual, unpredictable ways. It reinforces the reality (much disputed) that Jewish Law and custom are constantly renewing, evolving and changing. The three Pilgrim Festivals mentioned in the Torah are Pesach, Shavuot and Sukot. When in ancient times, Israelites were expected to make a pilgrimage…
Chief Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz
As South Africa goes to the polls to re-elect a corrupt, evil, disaster of a regime, one feels so sorry for those naïve idealists hoped for something better. Amongst them was a man I greatly admired. Chief Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz (1906-1984) who was Chief Rabbi in South Africa during the early part of the apartheid regime. Not only was he a charismatic…
R. Akiva Winner or Loser?
Rebbi Akiva, born in 50 CE, was one of the greatest rabbis of the Talmud. He was also one of the most controversial. Against the opinion of most of his colleagues he supported the Bar Cochba revolution against Rome in 132 CE and thought that Bar Cochba was the Messiah. He ended up being tortured to death by the Romans. Today there is a…
Josephus Hero or Traitor
The man we know as Josephus (the Romans called him Flavius Josephus ), was an aristocratic Judean, born in Jerusalem in 37 CE and died in Rome somewhere around 100 CE. He was a highly controversial historical personality. His book The Antiquities of the Jews was the first history of the Jewish people after the Bible. It was written primarily for a Roman audience…