Devotion to family, community and country sounds like a given to
most of us. But sometimes, the extent of family, or definition of
community, and even devotion to country is not so clear.
Take,
for instance, the Liberal Jewish community in Amsterdam, the smallest
of the major religious movements in the Netherlands. The remnant that
survived World War II—in which 80 percent of Dutch Jews were decimated
by the Nazis—decided to stay and rebuild. In her article, "Coming to
Terms With Home,” Toby Axelrod takes a look at the triumphs and
continuing challenges that Amsterdam’s Progressive Jewish community
faces.
Israel has many varied communities, and
Jay Michaelson looks at the continuing suffering of one of them: the
gay community. LBGTs in Israel have greater political and cultural
rights and freedoms than they do even in the United States, he observes
in "What Don’t You Understand About All Israel?” So why is it as if
there are two polarities: one that extends rights, another that
withholds acceptance and sometimes safety—forgetting the Jewish
directive toward family and community that makes us responsible one for
the other?
A population in Israel whose language
is in disrepair is the Arabic-speaking community. The Arabic Language
Academy was recently established to help modernize the language, which,
Shoshana London Sappir writes in "An Official Language Gets More
Respect,” has remained relatively unchanged since the 10th century.
Addressing the complex issues of this layered language, so neglected
and intermingled with Hebrew, is critical for the Arab community’s
cultural identity and literacy.
Another
Israeli organization—the Jerusalem-based International Institute for
Jewish Genealogy and Paul Jacobi Center—has a goal that is as solemn as
it is bold. As Esther Hecht explains in "Planting a Forest of Family
Trees,” its broad thrust is to create a comprehensive genealogical
database that will trace family trees, creating kinship webs and
graphic representation for much larger communities. In this huge
project, family and community will shed light that will illuminate both
near and far. —Zelda Shluker
