Jewish Groups Research Articles

Various shapes of whiteness: A new look at racism and its institutional operation in Israeli academia

This article explores theoretical concepts that reveal the power structures within Israeli academia. Rather than employing the conventional framework that emphasizes practices of discrimination and underrepresentation to explain the ongoing preference for the dominant Western, white Jewish group and its cultural capital over Jewish and Arab Palestinian minorities, we propose a new theoretical perspective. By integrating whiteness theory, critical race theory, intersectionality and settler colonial paradigms, the article illustrates how this framework can effectively analyse academic epistemology and social dynamics. We then introduce the subsequent articles in this issue as examples of the successful application of these concepts, highlighting how they expose the concealed and sophisticated exercise of organizational power that aligns with the norms of the dominant culture, to the detriment of minority students and faculty.

The Shabbat Table

This practice-led research and design project examines Jewish diasporic histories retold through food and cuisine. It employs illustration, motif, mapping and colour symbolism to create an environment akin to a Jewish home on Shabbat evening simultaneously commenting on serious topics to develop these ideas within the confinements of publication format. This project aims to develop a deeper level of awareness and understanding of the Jewish people amongst non-Jewish audiences, and other Jewish groups among Jewish audiences, bringing together these important conversations through food.

3D characterization of the Mila 18 archaeological site in Warsaw, Poland: From imaging to excavation

Archaeological site investigations in urban environments are often beset with challenges such as (1) an absence of buried artifacts due to recent disturbance from infrastructure development or (2) community concerns about potential site impacts from excavations. Noninvasive geophysical surveys that use a combination of methods can help mitigate the risks of uncertain outcomes by identifying areas where culturally significant features are more likely to be uncovered. We show how new technology and traditional geophysical survey methods were used to characterize the subsurface of the Mila 18 Memorial site in Warsaw, Poland. This site is one of the most important places of remembrance for the Holocaust and coincides with the location of an underground bunker that was used by Jewish resistance groups during the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In this case study, we showcase the use of drone multispectral imaging and handheld lidar scanning in conjunction with other geophysical techniques including electrical resistivity tomography, ground-penetrating radar, magnetic gradiometer, twin-probe resistance, and fixed-frequency electromagnetic surveying. The geophysical results were included in an interactive 3D site model to help identify a suitable site for excavation. To document the excavation and to validate and further interrogate the geophysical survey results, we used lidar-based photo-textured scans of the excavation that were incorporated into the 3D site model.

Association of adolescent obesity with Anxiety, Depression and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder in the Arab population in Israel - a nationwide study

BackgroundThe health ramifications of adolescent obesity are understudied in the Israeli Arab population, and the impact of ethnicity on the association of obesity with mental health problems is unclear. AimTo examine the association of weight categories with Anxiety, Depression and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among Arab adolescents in Israel and to compare this association to a Jewish comparison group. MethodsA cross-sectional nationwide study of 313,936 Arab adolescents aged 14–19 years between the years 2007–2022, and 289,616 Jewish adolescents in a comparison group. ResultsThe aORs for Anxiety, Depression and ADHD in Arab adolescents increased from a reference ‘normal weight’ category to ‘class 3 obesity’, reaching aORs (95 % CI) of 1.31 (1.16–1.47), 1.64 (1.31–2.02) and 1.51 (1.40–1.63) in ‘class 2 obesity’, and 1.51 (1.20–1.87), 2.81(2.00–3.84) and 1.69 (1.45–1.96) in ‘class 3 obesity’, respectively. The dose-dependent association between weight categories and psychiatric comorbidity was confirmed in sensitivity analyses with comorbidity with the purchase of medications serving as the dependent variable. The Jewish comparison group demonstrated a comparable increment in aORs with increase in weight category. The association between excessive weight categories and psychiatric comorbidities was stronger in Arab females, than in males. LimitationsRelying on the recorded weight and height measurements and the diagnoses of psychiatric comorbidity could lead to bias. ConclusionThe study findings emphasize the need to relate to the mental health of adolescents with excessive weight, which can improve their overall quality of life and the success of adolescent weight loss intervention programs.

Comparative analysis of household deprivation among Jewish and other religious groups in England and Wales

Abstract The health and well-being of some residents in the United Kingdom are quite challenged, as access to some required treatments and support is limited due to some level of deprivation. This study compared the Jewish and other religious groups in England and Wales, to determine households’ deprivation in the health and disability, housing, education, and employment dimensions. This study further investigated the number of households with disabled residents, people living with non-limiting long-term physical or mental health conditions, and unpaid carers. The analysis was based on secondary data (UK 2021 Census data) from the Office for National Statistics. The findings of the study revealed that more households are deprived in the health and disability dimension. This suggests that apart from households that have at least a disabled resident, a few households have residents who are not disabled but their day-to-day activities are limited due to ill-health (bad or very bad health conditions). A high level of deprivation was also observed in the education dimension. Based on the high level of deprivation in the education dimension and the high proportion of households deprived in the health and disability dimension, the UK government needs to look into the health and well-being of these households. In addition, while focusing on larger local authorities (LAs) like Barnet (with a large number of households across LAs), targeted government interventions are needed to improve health and well-being of Jewish households in LAs such as Swansea, Southend-on-Sea, Hackney, Oxford, and Gateshead that have a higher proportion (within the LA) of deprivation in any of the tested dimensions or affected in terms of disability, non-limiting long-term health conditions, or the proportion of unpaid carers.

Musical Contacts Between the Polish and Jewish Communities and the Image of Jewish Culture in Nineteenth-Century Polish Popular Music

Enduring contacts between Polish and Jewish communities on Polish soil began to take shape around the turn of the thirteenth century, initiating a period of many centuries of mutual cultural and musical influence. Extant sources, although few and far between (normative documents, chronicles, journalistic accounts, commentaries from observers and scholars, iconography, sheet music, recorded music and films), enable us to follow the development of the mutual musical relations between the two national groups over time. Yet this article concentrates primarily on the state of those relations during the nineteenth century, limited to popular culture. Taking the works of Oskar Kolberg as an example, we will discuss the repertoire of the Jewish community at that time, as perceived and received by the Polish community. This will be followed by a presentation of Jewish music groups that played for Poles as well, and also of particularly popular Jewish musicians who were singled out by journalists at that time. The article also presents the way in which Jews and their musical culture were depicted by Polish journalists and portrayed in the musical expression of representatives of rural and urban communities.The article shows that the image of Jews and their musical culture among different strata of Polish society during the nineteenth century varied a great deal. The virtuosity of Jewish musicians aroused interest and admiration among the Polish intelligentsia and acquired a mythologised personification in the literary figure of Jankiel. Lower social strata, when taking up Jewish strands in their musical expression, were often reacting to conflicts of interest experienced in their contacts with Jews representing a pre-capitalist economy. Jews in ritual and everyday situations constituted important ritual symbols bringing in wealth, and their very presence in theatrical forms was perceived partly as evidence of the veracity of biblical events. References to Jewish culture in the musical expression of the Polish community were confined to the most common stereotypes, which attests to the superficiality of the contacts between the two communities. Against that background, the actual idiom of Jewish music was far better understood, imitated and copied.

Latinization Projects in Karaite and Jewish Linguistic Environment in 20th Century Poland and Lithuania

The rise of nationalism and modernization encouraged the emergence of a range of language reforms within different ethnic groups. One of the most widespread was the idea of Latinization, which emerged in Ottoman Empire, Caucasus, and Jewish groups in Europe in the beginning of the 20th century. The reform swept through those regions and effected many linguistic communities in different countries. The article aims to discuss the Latinization projects in Karaite and Jewish Rabbanite communities and the impact of other Latinization reforms for these communities. The implemented research has shown that Latinization projects in Jewish communities were a part of a bigger movement. And, despite of different motivations, that drove these reforms in Karaite and Jewish Rabbanite communities, we can trace the impact of the Turkish language reforms in both projects.

Cleveland Zionists: Raising Awareness of the Holocaust

Through a critical reading of newspapers, official government documents, and secondary sources Megan Moledor sheds light on the Jewish groups in Cleveland, Ohio that tried to raise awareness to the United States government about the Holocaust. Moledor argues that the efforts of these specifically Jewish groups in Cleveland were largely successful in raising Holocaust awareness, and turns to the widely debated question of why it took the United States so long to aid Europe during the Holocaust.

The Myth of a Jewish Invasion and the Refugee Question in Romania after the Great War

The idea of a Jewish invasion in Romania appeared during the debates on the first constitution (1866) and was revitalized after 1918, as the recently occupied territory of Bessarabia hosted many Jewish groups fleeing revolutionary Russia, the civil war, and pogroms. In this context, the immigrants were depicted by nationalist propaganda as invaders wishing to exploit Romania’s wealth and hospitality, and this image was combined with the myth of Judeo-Bolshevism. Thanks to the archival sources of the High Commission for Refugees and of relief organizations such as the Joint Distribution Committee, this paper aims to present in detail the controversial encounter between national security policies and humanitarian concerns for the fate of the refugees. At the same time, it will discuss how the refugee question influenced the Romanian political context, fostering sentiments of antisemitism and xenophobic anxiety. As will be argued, the idea of an invasion was very influential before and after World War I, and conditioned not only the definition of the policies regarding citizenship and minorities, but also the whole political discourse and the shaping of Romanian identity. At the same time, the emergence of refugees and the juxtaposition of humanitarian versus national security was not a purely Romanian affair, and in many aspects anticipated the topics of today’s debates.

Life on the Margins

Abstract This article examines a group of Polish, Jewish, and Polish Jewish women who volunteered in the auxiliary forces of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. They traveled to Spain from various west European states, such as Belgium and France, and from Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Palestine. Although only a small percentage of these women traveled directly from Poland, in official documents they were categorized as Polish regardless of what country they traveled from. The article compiles the available fragments of historical knowledge on these women, addressing the various routes, reasons, and circumstances that led them to Spain. Their participation in the war was not an obvious outcome, but the discrimination and poverty they experienced in Poland made them more open to global leftist movements that encouraged their service in the International Brigades. These women represented the margins of many communities, as women, as representatives of the Jewish minority in Poland who had a complicated relationship with the Polish state, and as members or sympathizers of various left-leaning groups. Their lives were marked by multiple borders and often open hostilities that they encountered on their way to and from Spain. Their stories – as stories of people from the margins who left behind only fragmentary sources – remain largely forgotten and unclaimed by historiographies of the Spanish Civil War. This article aims to piece together fragments of the existing documents to begin telling their story.

Tracking uncertainty in germline genetic testing for hereditary cancer syndromes: Sources, attributes, and resolution of variants of uncertain significance in over 1 million individuals.

10513 Background: Genetic testing for hereditary cancer syndromes has diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic implications; however, variant(s) of uncertain significance (VUS) are not clinically actionable. As such, VUS are a challenge to the entire medical community. Additionally, individuals from underrepresented race, ethnicity, and ancestry (REA) groups are disproportionately impacted by VUS. This study reports on the prevalence of VUS in patients referred for genetic testing for hereditary cancer syndromes and the results of reclassification. Methods: Patients were referred for diagnostic multigene panel testing for hereditary cancer from September 2014 to September 2022. Variants were classified as benign (B), likely benign (LB), VUS, likely pathogenic (LP), or pathogenic (P) using Sherloc, a validated system based on guidelines from ACMG/AMP. Both the number of unique VUS (uVUS) and the number of times they were observed in individuals (oVUS) were counted. All-time uVUS were separated as being reclassified and non-reclassified, and the relative contribution of evidence types used for reclassification was analyzed. Results: During this 8-year period, 1,122,444 unrelated individuals were tested for hereditary cancer with a mean number of 53 genes tested per individual. Results showed a mean of 0.45 oVUS per individual; 30.6% of individuals without a P/LP variant had at least 1 oVUS. The rate of oVUS normalized to the number of genes tested was highest in French Canadian and lowest in Ashkenazi Jewish individuals, as the mean number of genes sequenced to observe one VUS was 39.8 and 59.4, respectively. White individuals had a lower oVUS rate of 31.4% than Sephardic Jewish (53.8%), Asian (48.3%), Black (40.5%), Hispanic (37.6%), and additional underrepresented REA groups. In total, 7,542 (7.3%) of 103,767 uVUS were reclassified, affecting 88,877 individuals (7.9%); 5,864 (77.8%) of the reclassified uVUS were downgraded to B/LB, and 1,678 (22.2%) were upgraded to LP/P. Evidence from clinical observation contributed the most for upgrading uVUS (16.0-fold compared to non-reclassified uVUS), while evidence from experimental studies contributed the most to downgrading uVUS (23.9-fold). Conclusions: Experimental studies and clinical evidence were the most impactful types of evidence for reclassifications. This highlights the partnership among researchers, clinicians, and laboratories to resolve VUS. Further representation of diverse REA groups in genomic databases is needed to address the disparities in VUS rates, and additional research is needed into methods that could expedite the resolution of VUS so that patients can make more informed decisions.

The dynamic dimension of identity in Palestinian citizens of Israel

ABSTRACT The theoretical interest in identity is long-standing and has witnessed many shifts, from the perception of identity as essential to its perception as the individual's ever-changing personal choice. In the current article, I argue that identity is dynamic and changes not only through different periods but also at any given moment as part of the negotiation the individual has with their environment. This argument will be established with a case study of the Palestinian citizens in Israel through in-depth interviews relating to the collective identity of a group of minority citizens. The main findings suggest that the identity of certain individuals is dynamic at any given moment. This dynamism is largely influenced by a liminal citizenship, giving rise to a discourse of stipulation. The Israeli-Palestinians’ Israeli identity is contingent upon the exercise of their civil rights, the promotion of tolerance within the Jewish majority group, and the prevailing condition of the Palestinian people.

Subjective Obligation to Obey the Police in Diverse Societies: A Social Resistance Perspective

AbstractA sense of obligation to obey the police is an important predictor of public cooperation and compliance with the law. Minorities tend to feel less obligated to obey the police than the majority. Previous work based on the social resistance framework shows that the experiences that shape the lives and attitudes of minorities may encourage them to actively engage in a variety of everyday resistance acts against the majority group, which may include high-risk and delinquent behaviours. The present study tests this framework for the first time concerning the self-perceived obligation to obey the police while also considering different minority groups who experience varying levels of marginalization. We use a representative sample of about 1,100 Israelis from four minority groups – Muslims, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, ultra-Orthodox Jews and Jews of Ethiopian origin – along with the Jewish majority group. The results show that Muslims feel the least obligation to obey the police, followed by Jews of Ethiopian origin. Social resistance was negatively related to the self-perceived obligation to obey the police among Muslims and ultra-Orthodox Jews while controlling for demographic characteristics and previous theoretical explanations, namely procedural justice, self-help and anger.

Daring to Imagine: A Future Without Zionism

This article locates the rising extremism in Israel in the dynamics of the ongoing Zionist settler-colonial project in Palestine. It introduces the concept of process in settler-colonial settings as the interaction between the settler-colonial structure with its inherent violence and the agency of the colonized with its inevitable resistance. It is within that context that extremism is nourished and grown. The article argues that Zionism is entrapped in path of escalating violence, the end of which we have not yet seen, to maintain the goals of Jewish supremacy and subdue the natives’ resistance to taking over their land. Therefore, the article defines the challenge of a peaceful relationship between Israelis and Palestinians as being based on abolishing Jewish supremacy and establishing equal political and national rights for Israelis and Palestinians. The article argues that to achieve full equality, recognition of the right and legitimacy of the Israeli Jewish national group to belong to the land in equality with the Palestinian nation and to establish a common political framework of sharing the land, can be achieved only by imagining a future without Zionism.

Eating disorders and related psychological features among Arabs and Jews in Israel: Does culture play a moderating role?

Eating disorders (EDs) have been documented in various cultural settings. A continuous increase in ED' rates among non-Western cultures (e.g., Arab cultures and East-Asian cultures) has been reported. We aimed to investigate the relations among culture, ED symptoms, and psychological features that are highly relevant in EDs through a cultural comparison of three groups. The groups included female university students in Israel with varying levels of exposure to Westernization: 118 Jewish students, 132 Arab students studying at a mixed university with a Jewish majority, and 111 Arab students studying at Sakhnin College, a college for Arab students only. The groups differed significantly on the Conservation Value dimension from the Short Portrait Values Questionnaire. Four psychological features were examined as predictors of ED symptoms: Interoceptive-deficits, Ineffectiveness, Asceticism, and Maturity-fear. The results revealed a comparable prevalence of self-reported ED symptoms among Arabs and Jews, with a small exception for bulimic symptoms, which were less prevalent among those in the Sakhnin group, who also scored lower on Ineffectiveness and higher on asceticism than the other groups. Testing the relations between the four psychological features and ED symptoms revealed that culture played a moderating role in predicting the strength of ineffectiveness and maturity-fear. Ineffectiveness was not a predictor among the Sakhnin group, whereas maturity-fear was not a predictor in the least conservative Jewish group. Asceticism and interoceptive-deficits predicted ED symptoms across all study groups. Our findings indicate that the problem of EDs may be similar among Arab and Jewish women in Israel. Moreover, despite some similarities in the relevance of some ED-related psychological features, other features are moderated by culture.

Political Campaign finance and the United States Foreign Policy Decisions: A Cursory Look at the Jewish Lobby Group and the United States Middle East foreign policy

The act of providing fund for political candidate by wealthy private individual and group has become a recurrent phenomenon in the United State electoral system. It is a pervasive campaign practice that cannot be isolated from the US politics. Individual and group donate huge sum of money to support political candidate or political parties of their choices. Of greater concern is the ease with which interest group adopts the strategy of campaign finance to influence state apparatus to achieve interest based policy concession. The Jewish lobby group is a loosed coalition of interest group whose primary objective is the advancement of the US- Israel relation for favourable foreign policy toward Israel. It is a prominent interest group with members who are often the richest and highest campaign donor in any election circle in the United States. The group over the years capitalised on the strategy of campaign financing to stronghold the United States Congress and the executive in order to shape the country Middle East foreign policy in favour of Israel. The study seeks to examine the dynamic role of interest group, the link between campaign financing and interest group using the Powerful Jewish lobby group as the basis of analysis. The theoretical foundation for the work is the elite theory postulated by Gaetano Mosca and the Italian school of elitism. Secondary source of data collection was adopted to extrapolate fact that are relevant to the study. The article find out that campaign fiancé is an integral part of the United States politics and cannot be divorced. Interest group such as the Jewish lobby group adopts the instrumentality of campaign financing to advance private interest

Emotions and a Genre of Jewish Politics: American Jewish Advocacy for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, 1967–1977

ABSTRACT: It has long been held that American Jewish support for Israel is underwritten by a prevailing sense of emotional attachment to the Jewish state. Focusing on Jewish activist groups formed in the aftermath of the 1967 war, this article shows that emotions also played a central role in American Jewish mobilization for what is now termed the "two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. An entire "genre" of American Jewish political activism has emerged since 1967 to urge Israel to relinquish captured territories while embracing the Jewish state using emotional terminology. Conforming to a broader emotional regime as a way of staying within the bounds of the constructed American Jewish emotional community, generations of American Jewish activist organizations have emphasized love for Israel while simultaneously pushing for Palestinian self-determination. American Jewish advocates for a two-state solution typically argue that their commitment to a peaceful and stable future for the Jewish state drives them to support the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Using oral histories and archival documents, this article offers a new perspective on such activism during its first decade (1967-1977).

Competing for the Youth: Jewish Scout Identity, Religion, and Gender during the Holocaust in France

Abstract This article examines Jewish youth identity, gender, and ideology during the Holocaust in France in order to understand how young people responded to persecution. The author’s attempts to understand the youth perspective reveals that these adolescents’ experiences were distinct and varied, and each traversed complex and multifaceted paths through the war. Always in perpetual negotiation with other elements of their identities—such as their ideology, religion, and gender—for many, youth movements greatly impacted how they developed and matured into adulthood. Coming of age during the Holocaust meant not only enduring persecution, but also traditional discourses on the place of young people in society. Charting the trajectories of individual young people and Jewish youth groups within the context of the war, the Holocaust, and French Jewish history reveals their radicalized and accelerated wartime development. In researching this phenomenon, it becomes possible to decenter entrenched narratives of persecution and resistance and enhance our understanding of wartime gender roles, the impact of Judaism, and the various ideologies that informed these youths’ lives.

Written Remains: Materiality and the Religious Heritage Complex of the Jewish Portuguese Past

Hebraic written stones represent the primary surviving physical testimony to the Jewish past in Portugal, apart from a Medieval synagogue in the city of Tomar. As it is true for other religious objects, medieval Hebraic epigraphic stones have become a heritage asset, opening the way to specific recognition of the Jewish materiality of Portugal. Long after the forced conversion of Portuguese Jews to Catholicism or their exodus, a few epigraphic testimonials were collected, maintained, and displayed. A group of 20th century Jewish and non-Jewish amateur archaeologists and historians assembled manuscripts, books and stones and attempted to establish a museum in the medieval synagogue of Tomar. They dedicated themselves to the study and preservation of this written religious legacy and proposed to focus on the letter as the principal material heritage to represent the Portuguese Jewish past. Drawing on the concept of religious heritage complex, this article describes how letters, as material remains, lead to the cultural renewal of a religious minority’s past. The study also sheds light on the cultural and religious consequences of this attention to letters on the heritage-making process itself. Through a combination of archival study, ethnographic fieldwork and comparison, the study sought to better understand the late destiny of the written remains of Judaism in Portugal.

Evolutionary biological basis of Ashkenazi Lysosomal Storage Diseases: it’s all because of diet

Abstract An age-old unanswered question that still puzzle evolutionary biologists, is: why do certain autosomal-recessive, lysosomal storages diseases (LSDs), such as, Tay-Sachs, Gaucher, etc. selectively afflict the Ashkenazim more than other Jewish groups and the general population? The most well-accepted theory of ‘population bottleneck and drift’ cannot answer, among other questions, why the Ashkenazim are susceptible to only animal-specific, sphingolipid-mediated LSDs but not to non-animal ones, since genetic drift should influence both animal and non-animal specific LSDs equally. Here, those unanswered questions are answered: Once hunter-gatherers in the Fertile Crescent became agriculturists some eleven-to-twelve millennia back, a dramatic change occurred to their diets. Their earlier low-carbohydrate diets were supplanted by grain-based, high-carbohydrate foods. From those early times, downstream through many millennia, higher consumption of grain-based carbohydrates also meant lower consumption of animal-derived sphingolipids, compared to their forager past. This resulted in selectional pressure in purging those specific enzymes in their cellular lysosomes that were necessary for breaking down complex animal-derived-sphingolipids into simpler lipids. During the past millennium, as the Ashkenazim moved from the Mideast to European locations, their consumption of animal-derived sphingolipid-rich-foods increased, because of the paucity and expense of plant-based, sphingolipid-rich-foods. However, because of missing animal-sphingolipid-specific lysosomal enzymes, those un-catabolized animal-derived-sphingolipids began accumulating/being-stored in their lysosomes, leading to LSDs, which is precisely the storage of those macromolecules in the lysosomes of cells. In contrast, other ethnic Jewish groups did not make such dramatic dietary changes over the past millennium, and hence they generally do not suffer from those LSDs either.