ün voltam az egyik.

Hungarian Jews and Zionism: now that’s an explosive bunch!

Hungarian Jews and Zionism: now that’s an explosive bunch! You see, we’ve been on the cutting edge of both fierce Zionism and vehement Anti-Zionism at a time. Two of the most important visionaries of Modern Zionism were actually Hungarian Jews: Theodor Herzl (né: Herzl Tivadar on the square in Pest where now the mighty Dohany Synagogue stands) and Max Nordau (né: Südfeld Simon Miksa), the Man Who Should’ve Won the Mustache Contest. Nordau and Herzl together founded the World Zionist Organization in 1897 and had a vision to establish not just a new-old homeland but also a New Culture for the Jews. On the other front, some other Hungarian Jews had also left a memorable imprint: Neturé Karta, the most notorious Anti-Zionist splinter-haredi group also have all their roots in Hungary. Their “forefather”, Chájim Joszéf ben Ávráhám Sonnenfeld was born in a small stetl in the year of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

So what came out of this mixed heritage for us, Hungarian Jews living in the 21st Century in a united and free Europe? And what do we have to say about Israel, Zionism and post-Zionism today? Well, our “radical” heritage has mostly mellowed out and today many Hungarian Jews probably share my perspective about “Israel at 60” which I should sum up in three points:

1. Most Jews living in Hungary (and I guess this goes for most Diaspora Jews) no longer feel that that they are the lone sentinels working on behalf of a lonely and fragile Israel. We perceive Israel to be indeed strong: she is widely recognized, independent and economically very potent with a technological edge that places it in the club of countries that really count. Some conflicts and disagreements aside Israel is actually entering into ever greater partnership with the EU, which itself is a major stakeholder in the future of a successful Israel – in a successful region. Since the fall of Communism, Eastern Europe is also in active partnership with Israel – and not just in diplomatic arena (but also economic, cultural etc.)

2. Not only Israel but we have also become a lot stronger – after “60 years”: we don’t really need any paternalistic nurturing from Israel (or the US for that matter) any more. In many ways, Jewish culture in Europe is flourishing: we have not only successfully revived and reconstructed much of our heritage but we’re also becoming increasingly a future-oriented community. We have succeeded in transgressing our role of being the “guardians” of a static and finalized pre-WWII heritage. We have moved beyond the status of being the museum keepers of world Jewry. In gradual ways, many of us are able to create a relevant and forward looking Jewish culture that thrives on diversity and pluralism.

3. So I guess both of us – Israel and the European Diaspora – have grown up, in many ways. Therefore, our objective should be to create new “synergies” (even if it is such an overused buzzword) between Israel and the Diaspora. After all, many of the most wonderful and most lasting things happened to the Jewish people in the “Diaspora Experience”: the giving of the Covenant and the lasting miracle of Sinai, the Talmud and the culture of an ongoing dialogue, Rashi and Maimonides, Hassidism and Reform, Woody Allen and the Hebrew Hammer, and yes, even “Zionism”, this idealistic construction of faith, humanism and human will. It happened in the Diaspora.

So I believe that Israel can be at its best if it is in fruitful dialogue with the Diaspora: with a constant exchange of ideals, new concepts and most important, an ongoing dialogue on how being Jewish can be relevant and enriching to our lives.

Happy Birthday Israel: we’re really proud to see you at this age and looking forward to the next six decades! See you soon!

The 60 Bloggers project is co-production of Jewlicious.com and the Let My People Sing Festival. It is published daily for 60 days to celebrate Israel’s 60 birthday.

Snitt.

SHADAI: You know what they call a convert to Judaism in the United States?
SYLVIKE: No.
SHADAI: Tell ‘em, Maceszbácsi.
MACESZBÁCSI: Jews By Choice.
SHADAI: Jews By Choice, you know why they call it that?
SYLVIKE: Because of the halachic system?

(Via Jewcy)

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üljenek a vallások!

Until, maybe, now.

Josh Dolgin, the Montreal based DJ, beat box genius, Klezmer accordionist, (and magician and film animator) has been an underground star in Jewish music for about five years. With his new Cd “Ghettoblaster” coming out on JDub records, Dolgin – known as DJ Socalled – is finally breaking out of the ghetto of Klezmer festivals and getting wider attention.

Dolgin is from Montreal, a town where Yiddish – thanks to Quebec’s French chauvinist language laws – is still spoken by young, non-religious Jews. A self taught pianist, Dolgin collected old records for mixing samples, and fell in love with the Yiddish music of the 1950s and 60s, eventually seeking out and recording with Theodore Bikel and pianist Irving Fields – exactly the “schmaltz” and kitsch that the other revival Klezmer singers had rejected. Clarinetist David Krakauer, discovered Dolgin at the Canadian KlezKanada music camp and took him touring, where Dolgin’s amazing live DJ and beat box skills earned him a following, especially in France. Sophie Solomon tapped him for her “Hip-Hop Khassene” CD on Berlin’s Piranha label, and since then Socalled has become one of Canada’s hottest music exports. But nothing had been released in the USA until JDub, hurting from the loss of star Matisyahu, signed him on to produce Ghettoblaster.

Ghettoblaster has Josh singing his beloved old Lubavitch niggunim, mixing Theo Bikel’s deep rich theater voice with snips of Wu-Tang clansman Killer Priest, turning the old Yiddish theater song “Balebuste Geys in Drerd” into a funk party anthem. “Slaughter Freestyle” morphs from a sentimental Yiddish ballad into a Hungarian Transylvanian “lassu” thanks to the kontra playing of Di Naye Kapelye’s Puma (Dolgin recorded with Di Naye Kapelye for their still unreleased CD “Traktorist”… he fell in love with the kontra sound and took Puma into the studio one afternoon to record extra tracks.

Last fall Dolgin and his family organized a two week heritage boat cruise on the Dnieper River in the Ukraine, visiting his family’s roots along with an all star collection of Klezmer musicians, all of which was documented by a Canadian Film board film crew. Except for a short set at last year’s A38 Klezmer festival, Josh hasn’t played Budapest yet – although he has visited while traveling through Europe. He’s had a beer in the Siraly, checked out the scene at the Szimpla kert, bought used records at Oktagon. The next time he visits he won’t be so invisible.

- Bob Cohen