Fritz Lewy and His Bodies

Attention is drawn to the neuronal inclusion bodies in Parkinsonism and the dementia described by F. Lewy in 1910, resulting in his eponym, as well as to his academic career and participation in two world wars on opposite sides.     

Fritz Lewy and his bodies

Attention is drawn to the neuronal inclusion bodies in Parkinsonism and the dementia described by F. Lewy in 1910, resulting in his eponym, as well as to his academic career and participation in two world wars on opposite sides.     

The Wannsee Conference in 1942 and the National Socialist living space dystopia

The Wannsee Conference is still largely understood as the ‘echo’ of an earlier decision to annihilate European Jewry. This article questions this assumption on three grounds. First, it does not fully acknowledge that it did not call for a systematic and immediate mass murder of all Jews. Secondly, it mistakenly concludes that because the conference targeted only Jews, it also emerged from within the narrower confines of the regime's anti-Jewish policies. Thirdly, and as a consequence, this assumption represents a retrospective reading of the conference that straightens the ‘twists’ that even at this late point in time still characterized the ‘road to Auschwitz’. This article offers a different interpretation. Situating the Wannsee Conference in the broader context of Nazi Germanization policies, the article will show how Heydrich's actions at Wannsee can be better understood as a response to early failures in Germanizing annexed Poland and the settlement fantasies coming out of the SS apparatus after the invasion of the Soviet Union. While the Wannsee Conference undoubtedly was an attempt by the SS to consolidate its control over anti-Jewish policies, it was also a way for Heydrich to reclaim lost influence in the broader field of Nazi population policies by aligning the treatment of ‘enemy populations’ with the grander vision of a ‘German East’. This Nazi dystopia not only called for destroying Jewish existence in Europe, but demanded that even the way in which Jews were killed would serve the Nazi cause. For this reason, this article argues for understanding the minutes of the meeting literally. Having learned the lessons from previous failures, while at the same time under pressure to support the megalomaniacal settlement plans, Heydrich actually meant what he said when he dictated the protocol condemning Jews not to their immediate death but to annihilation through labour.     

The French Radical Right: From Anti-Semitic Zionism to Anti-Semitic Anti-Zionism

This article highlights the deep ambiguities of the French radical right's vision of the future of the Jews. While being hostile to the Jews' integration into the French nation—whose Catholic nature they are alleged to corrupt by promoting Anglo-Saxon liberal and cosmopolitan values—the far right at first manifested sympathy for Zionism, the perfect solution for expelling the Jews. At the same time, although it despised Arab immigrants in France, it nonetheless had a positive view of the values of the Arab world, seen as being hostile to money. Subsequently, except for the period of the Algerian War, when its interests seemed to coincide with those of Israel, the far right became fervently anti-Zionist. Today it rushes to the aid of the Arab world (from Palestine to Iraq), which is seen as dominated by the State of Israel, an instrument of international capitalism.     

Adgar's Gracial and Christian images of Jews in twelfth-century vernacular literature

This article concerns the adaptation and translation into the Anglo-Norman vernacular of an existing tradition of Latin miracles of the Virgin by the twelfth-century poet William Adgar. Adgar included many older ideas about Jews in his version of the stories, but also borrowed themes and language from contemporary courtly romance literature in order to suit his intended audience of lay nobles. In doing so, he portrayed Christian characters as the embodiment of loyalty and other courtly values. At the same time, he began to portray Jews according to courtly types of treachery. New implications emerged in his work about the general moral character of Jews, in contrast to previous works that commented mainly upon the nature of Jewish belief. Recent scholarship on Christian-Jewish relations in the twelfth century has begun to pay increasing attention to the movement of new Christian ideas about Jews outside of scholarly and ecclesiastical circles. The study of vernacular literature has an important place in this scholarly debate, since the move to the vernacular broadened the audience among which the new ideas about Jews could be spread.     

Adgar's Gracial and Christian images of Jews in twelfth-century vernacular literature

This article concerns the adaptation and translation into the Anglo-Norman vernacular of an existing tradition of Latin miracles of the Virgin by the twelfth-century poet William Adgar. Adgar included many older ideas about Jews in his version of the stories, but also borrowed themes and language from contemporary courtly romance literature in order to suit his intended audience of lay nobles. In doing so, he portrayed Christian characters as the embodiment of loyalty and other courtly values. At the same time, he began to portray Jews according to courtly types of treachery. New implications emerged in his work about the general moral character of Jews, in contrast to previous works that commented mainly upon the nature of Jewish belief. Recent scholarship on Christian-Jewish relations in the twelfth century has begun to pay increasing attention to the movement of new Christian ideas about Jews outside of scholarly and ecclesiastical circles. The study of vernacular literature has an important place in this scholarly debate, since the move to the vernacular broadened the audience among which the new ideas about Jews could be spread.     

《叶山嘉树日记》中的“转向”印痕

《叶山嘉树日记》历时14年之久,体系庞大,内容纷杂。《叶山嘉树日记》主要包含三部分：叶山本人从昭和7年1月1日至昭和20年1月2日为止的日记、昭和7年版《新文艺日记》1册与17册的叶山大学笔记以及大正12年6月27日至10月5日的《狱中记》。本文将《叶山嘉树日记》按照不同时期政治立场或战争倾向进行了归类,并作出了相关诠释。作为战时一代有代表性的知识分子,对叶山受战争影响、在＂转向＂与人道主义之间摇摆不定的精神轨迹进行了辨析。     

Walter of Châtillon: A twelfth-century poet's engagement with Jews

This article concerns one of the most eminent poets of the twelfth century, Walter of Châtillon, the author of the well-known Alexandreis. Walter of Châtillon is presented as a case study to show that twelfth-century poets as well as scholars were interested in the Christian-Jewish debate. Walter wrote a treatise against the Jews and referred to Jews and Judaism in many of his poems, especially in his hymns for Christmas. Whereas he concentrated on literal exegesis of biblical texts in his treatise, he favoured figurative biblical imagery in his hymns. A number of things are striking. The first is the central role that the Christian-Jewish debate played in his views on the origins and fate of mankind. The second is the need Walter evidently felt for anti-Jewish language in order to express his religious convictions. The third is the startling absence in Walter's work of the newest ideas about Jews and Judaism that were becoming more and more prevalent in scholarly circles in his lifetime. This latter point raises a fundamental question about the dissemination of Christian views about Jews in the twelfth century. Recent work on the Christian-Jewish debate has focussed on the development of novel ideas about Jews in the twelfth century and much work is being done to understand better how those views were spread beyond the narrow confines of scholarly circles. Walter's hymns in particular with all their hackneyed phrases signal the importance of not ignoring the continuing existence of traditional views about Jews. They also point to the need to include hymns in the study of the dissemination of anti-Jewish ideas.     

Paul Cohen-Portheim: questions of nationalism,messianism and nostalgia in a prison camp in England, 1914–1918

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the little-known Jewish writer Paul Cohen-Portheim (1880–1932) and his notions of nationalism and Zionism. Born in Berlin to Austrian parents of Sephardic origin, Cohen-Portheim was interned during the First World War in various English prison camps. This experience profoundly affected his intellectual outlook and he dedicated much of his effort to the fight against nationalism. It was in the English prison camps that he developed an eclectic theory of nationalism which combines a quasi-evolutionary progress towards global justice with a messianic notion of Zionism. The Jewish people play a crucial role in Cohen-Portheim’s vision of a world devoid of nationalism, whose absurdity is disclosed in the arrival of Zionism. Juxtaposing Europe’s crisis of culture and Asia’s spiritual vitality, Cohen-Portheim ascribes to Zionism a bridging of the gap that separates Europe and Asia, and fragments modern nationalistic man. This article follows Cohen-Portheim’s intellectual development and highlights shifts and continuities in his writing, arguing that he shows two different types of nostalgia, namely a longing for the East as developed in his early works and a longing for the past as displayed in his last major work.     

Walter of Châtillon: A twelfth-century poet's engagement with Jews

This article concerns one of the most eminent poets of the twelfth century, Walter of Châtillon, the author of the well-known Alexandreis. Walter of Châtillon is presented as a case study to show that twelfth-century poets as well as scholars were interested in the Christian-Jewish debate. Walter wrote a treatise against the Jews and referred to Jews and Judaism in many of his poems, especially in his hymns for Christmas. Whereas he concentrated on literal exegesis of biblical texts in his treatise, he favoured figurative biblical imagery in his hymns. A number of things are striking. The first is the central role that the Christian-Jewish debate played in his views on the origins and fate of mankind. The second is the need Walter evidently felt for anti-Jewish language in order to express his religious convictions. The third is the startling absence in Walter's work of the newest ideas about Jews and Judaism that were becoming more and more prevalent in scholarly circles in his lifetime. This latter point raises a fundamental question about the dissemination of Christian views about Jews in the twelfth century. Recent work on the Christian-Jewish debate has focussed on the development of novel ideas about Jews in the twelfth century and much work is being done to understand better how those views were spread beyond the narrow confines of scholarly circles. Walter's hymns in particular with all their hackneyed phrases signal the importance of not ignoring the continuing existence of traditional views about Jews. They also point to the need to include hymns in the study of the dissemination of anti-Jewish ideas.     

DOES ANYBODY STILL NEED JUDAISM?

Both of the books under review focus on the tradition of Jewish scholarship and debate. The Genius of Judaism is written from a religious perspective, whereas the authors of Jews and Words envision a future in which Jews live without Judaism; they see Jewishness as a culture that can be divorced from religion. For Lévy, a sense of the divine—including the concept of being a chosen people—is the source of Jewish identity and historical continuity. Lévy also argues that the Jews are chosen to serve non‐Jews. Inspired by the prophet Jonah, Lévy undertook diplomatic missions in the Ukraine and in Libya, and I consider the lessons he draws from these missions. I also discuss the relationship of Judaism to various concepts in the philosophy of history: revolution, progress, messianism, and utopianism, as well as the affinity between Judaism and skepticism.     

The role of T.A. Smiddy in Fianna Fáil economic policy-making 1932–45

Professor Timothy Aloysius (T.A.) Smiddy was economic advisor to Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Eamon de Valera between 1932 and 1945. Notwithstanding a distinguished public service career, Smiddy’s role as the first independent economic advisor to an Irish political leader post-1922 has escaped examination in the existing literature. This research identifies that Smiddy had a real and prolonged influence on the banking and monetary policies pursued by de Valera during the 1932–45 period. Ultimately, however, the often progressive nature of his proposals was circumscribed by de Valera’s reluctance to supersede the more traditional views of the Department of Finance and the Currency Commission. This paper also identifies that de Valera took a keener interest in economic matters than has been generally assumed. However, such an interest did not result in a coherent, or consistent, Fianna Fáil banking and currency policy in the 1930s and early 1940s.     

Free Trade Empire to Commonwealth of Nations: India,Britain and Imperial Preference, 1903–1932

This article examines the dialogue between British tariff reformers and Indian nationalists over the application of imperial trade preference in India from Joseph Chamberlain's 1903 Birmingham address to the 1932 Imperial Economic Conference. For both groups, this issue was a focal point to assess India's constitutional status and national participation within an emerging British Commonwealth and international system after the First World War. Specifically, it marked a comprehensive challenge to the orthodoxy of free trade and liberal empire seen increasingly as a determent to reconciling national prosperity and imperial unity. It is argued that prominent tariff reformers’ well-studied criticism of an ‘unpatriotic’ cosmopolitan free trade made them also sympathetic to longstanding Indian grievances that this fiscal policy exacerbated economic exploitation and racial discrimination. After 1919, Indian nationalists, including ‘historical economists’, utilized metropolitan advocacy for imperial preference to demand fiscal and political autonomy from Britain and national, as well as racial, equality in collective imperial decision. At the 1932 conference in Ottawa, India's voluntary and negotiated acceptance of preferential trade with Britain, beside the white self-governing Dominions, helped transform the British Commonwealth into an egalitarian organization recognizable after 1947.     

Walking a Fine Scientific Line: The Extraordinary Deeds of Dutch Neuroscientist C. U. Ariëns Kappers Before and During World War II

Dutch neuroscientist Cornelius Ubbo Ariëns Kappers is famous for pioneering neuroembryological work and for establishing the Amsterdam Central Institute for Brain Research. Less well known is his anthropological work, which ultimately played a role in saving Dutch Jews from deportation to their deaths during the Holocaust. Ariëns Kappers extensively campaigned against anti-Semitism and Nazi persecution during the 1930s. During World War II, he utilized his credentials to help create anthropological reports “proving” full-Jews were “actually” partial- or non-Jews to evade Nazi criteria, and at least 300 Jews were thus saved by Ariëns Kappers and colleagues. His earlier work demonstrating differences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish skull indices became the focus of an attempt to save hundreds of Dutch Portuguese Jews collectively from deportation. Ariëns Kappers and colleagues brilliantly understood how anthropology and neuroscience could be utilized to make a difference and to save lives during a tragic era.     

Spinal pathological findings in ancient Egyptians of the Greco‐Roman period living in Bahriyah Oasis

The spine can provide a large amount of information about an individual's physical condition and possible lifestyle through palaeopathological investigations. The aim of this research was to study spinal diseases among Greco‐Roman ancient Egyptians from Bahriyah Oasis, and to compare them with those from Giza of the Old Kingdom. The material used in the study included 809 single vertebrae and 77 adult sacra of ancient Egyptians from the Greco‐Roman period (332–30 BC) that were excavated from Bahriyah Oasis. The spinal elements were examined for pathological conditions, degenerative diseases, trauma, congenital abnormalities, infectious diseases and neoplasms. The most common lesions of the spine were those due to degenerative processes. The articular facets were more affected than the vertebral bodies. Compression fractures of the bodies, mostly due to osteoporosis, were found in 1.44% and 5.07% of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae respectively. The percentage of spina bifida occulta among ancient Egyptians from Bahriyah Oasis was 62.33%, while among those from Giza was only 3.33%. Few cases of lumbar spondylolysis and one case of DISH were recorded. No cases of infectious or neoplastic diseases were found. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nigeria's Igbo Jews: Jewish identity and practice in Abuja

The now widespread Igbo belief in a Jewish ancestry goes back to the 18th century. However, it was during and after the Nigerian civil war (1967–1970), in which at least one million Igbo died in the failed bid for Biafran independence, that Igbo identification with and as Jews concretized. Igbo saw themselves as sufferers of genocide, like the Jews of World War II in Europe, and as inhabitants of a beleaguered plot of land surrounded by hostile forces, similar to the state of Israel. The civil war and its disastrous consequences initiated a still ongoing period of intense questioning among the Igbo concerning their history, present predicaments, and future prospects. A small number of Igbo began to question why, if they were in fact Jews, they should continue practising Christianity. Their community now numbers between 2,000 and 5,000 people throughout Nigeria. There are three established Nigerian synagogues in Abuja, the federal capital, most of whose members are Igbo. The significance of Biafra, the centrality of the state of Israel, pride in Jewish ancestry and practice, and questions surrounding the range of Jewish skin colour, predominate in Igbo Jews' discussions of their identity. In contrast to the vast majority of Igbo who, if they maintain a sense of Jewish identity, do so while practising Christianity, Igbo Jews have severed themselves from the now dominant religion. Understanding themselves to be part of the global Jewish community of the diaspora and the state of Israel, the Igbo practising Judaism in Nigeria are eager for religious and political recognition from world Jewry and the Jewish state. However, self‐identifying Jewish groups without documented historical connections to more established Jewish communities face considerable challenges in gaining such recognition, particularly as genealogical Jews.     

Jews in the Pre-Constitutional Years: The Shiraz Incident of 1905

During the Constitutional years (1906–11) the legal status of the Jews and some other religious minorities improved, even if only to a limited extent. Can one assume that this change in the legal status of the Jews reflected changes in the public's actual treatment toward the Jews in reality during the days leading up to the Constitutional Revolution in 1906? To an extent, the answer is in the affirmative. The present article argues, however, that the real life situation of the Jews in the years leading up to the Constitutional Revolution was still often one of abuse and occasional persecution. To prove this contention, section I of the article presents some such cases. Section II establishes some of the reasons for the attacks on the Jews—not only religious, but also economic and socio-political ones, as well as briefly suggesting certain recurring paradigms surrounding it. Section III looks at one case study from November 1905 in the city of Shiraz. Finally, this preliminary research ends with some concluding remarks.

Be-karestan-e Sane‘ kas cheh danad,

kherad dar kar-e U hayran bemanad.1 ¹Shahin, Shahin-i Turah, ed. M. Khooban (Los Angeles: Ketab, 1999), 280. View all notes     

A Lapse in Historical Memory: Guy Weadick and the Calgary Stampede

Guy Weadick was the American founder of the Calgary Stampede in 1912. By 1930, due to Weadick's vision and promotional genius, the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede (two events having merged by then) was internationally recognized as the premier event of its type in the world. Then, with dramatic suddenness, Weadick was fired in 1932. This article suggests that the mutual bitterness and resentment that accompanied this termination resulted in “a lapse of historical memory” and to Weadick's relative under-recognition by the organization for which he did so much.     

John Calvin and the Jews: A Problem in Political Theology

Abstract

Although John Calvin rejected the angry invective of Martin Luther against the Jews, he nevertheless agreed with him that Christian biblical interpretation was a more reliable guide to the mind of the patriarchs in Genesis than the exegesis of Rabbinic Judaism. The Hebrew Bible was therefore properly understood as Christian Scripture and had always been addressed to the Church as well as to ancient Israel.     

The Jewish presence in Granada

In contrast to almost all other Spanish cities and townships, nothing tangible survives in Granada that might be reminiscent of Judaism. There is no trace of an ancient synagogue on either side of the River Darro, neither on the hills nor on the plain. On the right bank, region of the oldest settlement, rises the hill of widest dimension, the ‘Albaicín’. On the left bank ascends the steeper hill ending in several summits: a pointed one atop the ‘Mauror’ slope is crowned by the ‘Torres Bermejas’ (Red Towers); the other, the majestic plateau ‘Sabika’, carries the Alhambra. to the west of the hills, the city on the plain spreads outwards into the valley, the ‘Vega’. No buildings in any of these areas reveal a Jewish past; Granada's urban nomenclature offers not the slightest hint of a former Jewish presence, and all current - and former - studies of Granada lack satisfactory information about the location of the historic Judaic quarter. There is no mention even of the last chief temple that must have existed until 1492, the year of the great exodus (decreed by Isabella and Ferdinand in this very city) of all the Jews from Spain. And yet, Granada, the town that has forgotten all about its Jews, is said to have once been known as ‘Garnāta-al-Yahūd’: Granada, city of the Jews, and later tradition has accepted this as a fact.I attempt in this study to show that, although some Jews lived there from Roman times, all of Granada never was a ‘city of Jews’. Second, taking as point of departure a remark in the new Encyclopedia Judaica (1971:852) that the Jewish quarter was “not located in a single place throughout the centuries of Muslim rule”. I shall show that the earlier Jewish quarters (preceding the Muslim conquest and lasting throughout the Zirid regime) were located on the Albaicín; third, it will be demonstrated that a Jewish quarter was established on the Mauror only in Nasrid times: and fourth, I shall explain why I think that the church of San Matías was built on the foundation of the last synagogue of Granada, a ‘Gima Abrahén’, which, erroneously, is believed to have been a mosque.