Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 9, 2019

What is the law regarding Portuguese citizenship for Sephardic Jews?

In 2015, a new law was introduced (Decree-Law 30-A/2015) in regard to the right to Portuguese citizenship for Sephardic Jews.

When referring to Sephardic Jews, this specifically refers to the descendants of the traditional Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula. This new law means that the Portuguese government may grant citizenship to the descendants of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Portugal during the fifteenth century.

This new opportunity for Portuguese citizenship for Sephardic Jews is now being widely used and can be a great legacy to leave your family. Acquiring a European passport can open up access to a whole world of new possibilities, particularly from a country like Portugal. The country has been ranked as having the third most powerful passport in the world and is also in the midst of an economic boom, with a stable political environment which makes it incredibly attractive to investors.

In this article you will find all the information you need to about obtaining Portuguese citizenship for Sephardic Jews:

This opportunity is not just restricted Jewish people, Portuguese speakers, or residents of Portugal. Any descendant of Portuguese Sephardic ancestry may apply, regardless of nationality.

Under the law you can apply for Portuguese citizenship as a person of Sephardic descent if you comply with the following conditions:

The history of Sephardic Jewish communities in the Iberian Peninsula goes back hundreds of years, before the foundation of the Christian Iberian kingdoms.

After the Alhambra Edict of 1492 up until the late fifteenth century, many of these Jewish communities became the subject of persecution under the Spanish Inquisition, at which point many took refuge in Portugal.

King Manuel, who initially issued a law guaranteeing their protection, later rescinded and ordered the expulsion of all Jews who did not undergo Catholic baptism. Many Jews were therefore expelled from Portugal during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

These communities then established themselves in other countries such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Turkey, parts of North Africa and later in the Americas, in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the US.

Click here to find out the most common surnames for Sephardic Jews from Portugal.

Despite their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula, many Sephardic Jewish communities have to this day retained not only their use of the Portuguese language but also many rites of traditional Portuguese-Jewish worship, as well as surnames, objects, and documents proving Portuguese origin.

Those of Sephardic Jewish descent may be granted citizenship by the Portuguese government if they fulfill specific requirements. In these cases, the acquisition of nationality always depends on a decision made by the Minister of Justice.

Any application for citizenship must be accompanied by the following documents:

This is a certificate issued by officials of a Sephardic Jewish community which is recognized under Portuguese law. In order to obtain a certificate, the following documents may be requested:

The certificate must include the following information:

In the absence of a certificate, other evidence may be submitted:

If there is any doubt as to the authenticity of the contents of the documents sourced abroad, the relevant Jewish authorities in Portugal may provide judgment on the evidence.

There are just 5 steps to the process of applying for Portuguese citizenship for Sephardic Jews:

After Portuguese citizenship has been granted, you can then obtain a Portuguese ID card or request a Portuguese passport. A Portuguese passport will give you freedom of movement throughout the Schengen zone and the UK, with no need for a visa. You can also travel visa-free to 183 countries around the world.

Sefarad, from Hebrew, means Spain. Therefore Sephardic means from Spain. The term Sephardic is used to describe the Jewish people who lived in the Iberian Peninsula up until 1492, and their descendants.

Yes. Anyone who is of Sephardic ancestry can apply, so long as they can provide supporting documentation to prove this is the case.

Evidence can mean family names, language, or direct descendence.

The Sephardic diaspora around the world is composed of a number of different surnames, in the UK and the Netherlands specifically these are the most common:

Abrantes, Aguilar, Andrade, Brando, Brito, Bueno, Cardoso, Carvalho, Castro, Costa, Coutinho, Dourado, Fonseca, Furtado, Gomes, Gouveia, Granjo, Henriques, Lara, Marques, Melo, Prado, Mesquita, Mendes, Neto, Nunes, Pereira, Pinheiro, Rodrigues, Rosa, Sarmento, Silva, Soares, Teixeira and Teles.

In Latin America the following names are also common:

Almeida, Avelar, Bravo, Carvajal, Crespo, Duarte, Ferreira, Franco, Gato, Gonalves, Guerreiro, Leo, Lopes, Leiria, Lobo, Lousada, Machorro, Martins, Montesino, Moreno, Mota, Macias, Miranda, Oliveira, Osrio, Pardo, Pina, Pinto, Pimentel, Pizarro, Querido, Rei, Ribeiro, Salvador, Torres and Viana.

In addition, other parts of the world these Sephardic Jewish names are also common among descendants of the Portuguese community:

Amorim, Azevedo, lvares, Barros, Basto, Belmonte, Cceres, Caetano, Campos, Carneiro, Cruz, Dias, Duarte, Elias, Estrela, Gaiola, Josu, Lemos, Lombroso, Lopes, Machado, Mascarenhas, Mattos, Meira, Mello e Canto, Mendes da Costa, Miranda, Moro, Mores, Mota, Moucada, Negro, Oliveira, Osrio (or Ozrio), Paiva, Pilo, Pinto, Pessoa, Preto, Souza, Vaz and Vargas.

The principal means of proving Sephardic Jewish descendence is through the obtention of a certificate from the relevant Jewish community. The certificate should attest to the Sephardic ancestry of the applicant.

Jewish Lisbon Community http://www.cilisboa.org/

Jewish Porto Community http://comunidade-israelita-porto.org/x#

Applicants may find that it takes some time to prepare their application, as acquiring the necessary evidence and documents can take a while. After the application for citizenship has been submitted it is reviewed by the Central Registry Office. This process usually takes about six months.

As Portuguese nationality for Sephardic Jews is granted at the discretion of the Minister of Justice, there is a possibility that the Ministry can choose not to grant citizenship to the applicant. Your chances of obtaining citizenship are greatly increased when aided and properly instructed with the correct legal support.

If you are denied Portuguese citizenship as a Sephardic Jew, there are other ways to obtain Portuguese citizenship. One of these is through the Golden Visa program. This scheme is one of the most popular residency-by-investment programs in Europe and could give you residence in Portugal with an investment of just250,000.

Click here to find out more.

It is always advisable that the application process for Portuguese nationality is started as soon as the Jewish community certificate is issued.

If you need expert advice on residency and citizenship in Portugal, Global Citizen Solutions can help.

Get in touch to speak to one of our team.

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Posted By admin on October 9, 2019

President Trumps comments last month regarding the disloyalty to Israel and to themselves of American Jews who vote Democratic reignited a debate about American Jewish priorities and views of Israel. While Trumps overt allegation was that the Democratic Party is anti-Israel and thus American Jews have an obligation to vote Republican, the implication of Trumps charge was that American Jews themselves must not care about Israel since they vote for Democrats in overwhelming numbers. While Trumps ruminations demonstrated his lack of understanding about American Jews feelings toward Israel and why they vote as they do, he is far from alone. On both sides of the political spectrum, a faulty understanding of how American Jews think about Israel abounds.

Michael Koplow

According to Gallup, 95 percent of American Jews have favorable views of Israel, yet 65 percent of American Jews openly identify as or lean Democratic and Trumps disapproval rating with American Jews is 69 percent. Clearly, Trump administration policies seen as favorable to Israel, from recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital and moving the embassy to eliminating funding that benefits the Palestinian Authority over its payments to terrorists and their families, and Trumps general embrace of Prime Minister Netanyahu have not moved American Jews politically. Yet American Jews unambiguously care about Israel and identify with it.

Both the right and the left are guilty of black-and-white thinking about what is an extremely gray relationship.

On the right, this gap manifests in two different ways. One reaction is that of Trump, who looks at American Jewish support for Israel and its lack of support for him and what he views as his unambiguously pro-Israel policies, and assumes that the tide will shift in the next election. The presidents promotion and predictions of a Jexodus, in which Jews abandon Democrats for Republicans en masse, stems from that almost impossibly lofty Jewish favorability rating for Israel. But this view misunderstands that while American Jews care about Israel, when it comes to elections they care about other things a lot more. In fact, polling by Mark Mellman and others has demonstrated that Jewish voters rank issues like the Supreme Court, affordable healthcare and tax policy far higher than a candidates stance on Israel.

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The other reaction on the right also stems from a misreading of what it means for near universal American Jewish favorability on Israel. This view assumes that there is no crisis in American Jewry with regard to support for Israel, that opposition to Israeli government policies is sequestered among a bunch of radical college kids and that American Jews will back anything that Israel does, even if they do so reluctantly. What this position misses is that there is a distinction between being favorably inclined toward Israel and being unfavorably disinclined toward Israeli policies. A majority of American Jews describe themselves as critical of the Israeli government despite maintaining sky-high favorability toward Israel. This critical distinction is why American Jewish identity, which is so tightly bound up with Israel, does not mean a blank check to the Israeli government on the part of most American Jews.

On the left, the American Jewish relationship to Israel is also subject to a bad misreading of the environment and basic facts. When Rep. Rashida Tlaib was barred by Israel from entering the country, she spent the next night at a Shabbat service held by Jewish Voices for Peace. Given its disavowal of Israel as a Jewish state, JVP is even more unrepresentative of American Jews than Jexodus. Yet Tlaibs immediate turn to JVP was meant to demonstrate that Judaism can be separated from Israel and that the natural and authentic Jewish response is to turn away from Zionism.

It is easy to see how Tlaib and others in the progressive camp arrive at this conclusion. There is far more angst about Israel among American Jews than among other groups, and as pointed out above, the Israeli government is unpopular in American Jewish circles. Yet the notion that token anti-Zionist groups speak for American Jews or are the future of American Jewry because Jews are often in the forefront speaking out against Israels presence in the West Bank or illiberal Israeli policies is to commit the mirror image mistake of the one made by the right. The tendency on the right is to think that Jews are driven primarily by Israel, while this tendency on the left is to think that Jews want to be disconnected from Israel. American Jewish feelings about Israel are complex in a familial way, and anger or discontent with things that Israel does do not translate into a widespread desire to sever the connection.

Predictions of eternal support for Israel completely divorced from Israeli policies, or drastic and overwhelming erosion in support for Israel as a result of Israeli policies, betray black-and-white thinking about what is an extremely gray American Jewish relationship with Israel. American Jews think about and relate to Israel in complicated and complex ways, and while the current status quo is not forever set in stone, cherry-picking some poll numbers or isolated anecdotal data points will inevitably lead people to misread the politics of Israel in the American Jewish community.

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Posted By admin on October 9, 2019

Five synagogues in Prague and a cemetery are what remains of Pragues once-thriving Jewish neighborhood. Under the umbrella of the PragueJewish Museum, they are open to the public, each serving a different function. Tourists can buy a ticket to all or part of a route through all the Prague synagogues.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means Ill receive a small commission on anything you buy through clicking the links. This will not affect your price.

Originally built in 1592, rebuilt in 1689 after a fire, and renovated in 1893-1905, the Maisel Synagogue is devoted to Jewish history in Bohemia and Moravia up to the 1780s. This is the most museum-like of the synagogues of Prague, in that it displays historical objects but also allows visitors to explore documents through touchscreens.

The Spanish synagogue is by far the most ornate of the synagogues in Prague, and its also the newest. Built in 1868, the interior is done in a Moorish style.

Display cases around the ground floor and upstairs in what was once the womens section tell the story of the Jews in Moravia and Bohemia from the 1780s on. It is a history of increasing civil rights and increasing assimilation, and of prominent members of the community like Sigmund Freud and Franz Kafka. The story ends with the Terezin ghetto, the Holocaust, and, briefly, Jewish history since 1945. Upstairs is an exhibit of silver from synagogues in Prague and the rest of Bohemia and Moravia.

Also explained here is the history of the Prague Jewish Museum itself. Many of the objects in the museums collection came from synagogues that the government tore down at the turn of the 20th century. Urban renewal and improvement of sewage and other services meant destroying the dilapidated Jewish ghetto in Prague.

The museum closed down when the Nazis took over. Starting in 1941, as whole Jewish communities outside Prague were being deported to concentration camps, Jewish leaders asked permission to start up the museum again with items from all over Bohemia and Moravia. The Nazis agreed. Most of the museums staff were eventually deported too in 1944.

I was astonished and saddened to read that Jewish leaders in Prague cooperated with the Nazi rulers, who clearly had a very different intention: presumably they meant it to become a museum about an exterminated people. Yet this collaboration between Pragues Jews and the Nazis was what allowed all of these objects, as well as these five synagogues, to be preserved.

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The Pinkas synagogue, dating from 1535, was made into a Holocaust memorial in the 1950s. The Soviet invasion in 1968 closed it down. With the fall of the Soviet Union, and after a renovation, it was reopened in 1995.

I found this to be a very moving memorial. Not much is left of the original synagogue besides the building itself, the bima (the raised section in the middle where the torah was read), and the torah ark.

Instead, the walls are covered with names: almost 80,000 names of the Bohemian and Moravian Jews who died in the Holocaust. So many names, covering all of the walls. It gave me an overwhelming understanding of the sheer number who were killed. And if 80,000 is this many, how can you ever understand 6 million?

Upstairs, I couldnt help but cry. There, in cases, hung dozens of pictures drawn by children at Terezin ghetto, where most of the Jews from this area were imprisoned before deportation. The community tried to maintain a sense of normalcy at Terezin, for the childrens sake, including makeshift schools. These drawings and paintings show everyday, ordinary scenes from the childrens lives or their imaginations.

Almost all of these young artists died in Auschwitz.

Next to the Pinkas Synagogue is the Old Jewish Cemetery. The people buried here are not victims of the Holocaust, who have no graves. This cemetery is far older, used by the Jewish community from 1439 to 1787. Because the city would not allow the Jews to expand the cemetery, they had to improvise.

To deal with their cemeterys overcrowding, the Jews of Prague simply buried their dead on top of earlier graves. They would remove the gravestones, add a layer of dirt, and place both the old and the new stone on top. This continued for centuries. For this reason, the graveyard is higher than the surrounding streets, and the 12,000 gravestones crowd and lean against each other. Visitors can walk a path through the cemetery, reading the stones (mostly in Hebrew). Many have decorative details; others, just words.

This neo-Romanesque building (1906) was home to the Prague Jewish communitys burial society. Their meeting room was upstairs, while downstairs was where the traditional washing of the dead took place. Paintings from the 1700s show the steps of the ritual.

If the rituals around the Jewish tradition ofpreparing and washing their dead interest you, you can learn about them in detail in the Ceremonial Hall. It was certainly more than I wanted to know!

This synagogue was one of the most important and largest of the synagogues in Prague. Today, as part of the Prague Jewish Museum, it houses an exhibit on Jewish traditions. I just skimmed the displays, since most of the objects were familiar to me, but it would be useful for anyone who doesnt know the basics of Jewish rituals and beliefs.

As I was wandering through this synagogue, a man nearby, clearly an Orthodox Jew, judging from his clothing, began to sing. It was Hebrew so I dont know if it was a standard prayer, or a song of mourning, or what. He sang softly, to himself, and I think he wasnt aware that anyone was listening. I found the sad notes of the song charming, and wonderfully appropriate to the bittersweet feeling of this museum.

The only active synagogue remaining in what used to be the Jewish ghetto, the Old-New Synagogue is also the oldest, dating from the 13th century. It was always the most important, even after the addition of other synagogues in Prague.

Looking like it would have in the Middle Ages, with a bima in the center, this building has the most atmosphere of all of the synagogues. Perhaps this has to do with the medieval architecture: vaulted stone ceilings and gothic arches. Or perhaps its the fact that its still in active use. The male congregants, traditionally, sat or stood along the walls. The female members were in an adjacent room, listening through an opening in the wall.

A clever solution to the question of how to present a Jewish museum, the decision to use the remaining synagogues to house the collection was brilliant. Each building is, in effect, a different wing of the museum. Except for the Old-New Synagogue, theyre not active synagogues anymore, and it would be a shame to convert them to some unrelated use.

I would certainly recommend visiting the synagogues in Prague, as well as the Old Jewish Cemetery. If you dont have time for them all, see the Old-New Synagogue because its so old and atmospheric. See the Spanish Synagogue because its beautiful. If you dont know much about Judaism, go to the Klausen Synagogue. And in any case stroll around the cemetery, just because its so unusual.

Tickets: You can buy tickets at the Information and Reservation Centre (Maiselova 38/15), the Spanish Synagogue (Vzesk 1), the Klausen Synagogue (U Starho hbitova 3a) or the Pinkas Synagogue (irok 3). The price to see all of the locations is CZK530 (about 20 or $24), less if you choose not to see them all.

If you want a bit more information about what you see as you explore the synagogues, take this guided tour, which includes skip-the-line tickets.

Get your Guide offers a whole list of tours of the Jewish Quarter, some of which include admission and some of which dont.

Hours: The Jewish Museum in Prague is open daily except Saturdays and Jewish holidays: November-March 9-16:30; April-October 9-18:00.

The Old-New Synagogue is open daily except Saturdays and Jewish holidays: November-March 9-17:00; April-October 9-18:00. On Fridays it closes an hour before Sabbath.

Have you visited Prague and seen the Prague synagogues? What did you think?

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Posted By admin on October 9, 2019

New York, NY,August27, 2019ADL (the Anti-Defamation League)announced today that it is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for the assault of an elderly Jewish man in Rochester Park in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in the morning of August 27. According to police and media reports, the Jewish man was attacked by an individual who threw rocks at him in a possible anti-Semitic assault, leading the victim to suffer severe injuries to his face, before the perpetrator managed to get away.

We arealarmed and deeply concernedby this violent assault on an elderly Jewish man, said Evan R. Bernstein,ADL NY/NJ Regional Director. The sheer brutally of this attack is beyond shocking and profoundly upsetting. At a time when violent assaults against Jews increased by 55% last year, we must not become complacent. All New Yorkers should be outraged by these incidents and come together to end this disturbing trend once and for all. We are grateful for the NYPD Hate Crime Unit for investigating.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

ADL is a leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of hate with the same vigor and passion. ADL is the first call when acts of anti-Semitism occur. A global leader in exposing extremism, delivering anti-bias education and fighting hate online, ADLs ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate. More atwww.adl.org

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Posted By admin on October 9, 2019

Ashkenazi Jews / Ashkenazic Jews / Ashkenazim are Jews who originally lived in northern and eastern Europe. They once lived in the area of Rhineland and France and after the crusades they moved to Poland, Lithuania and Russia. In the 17th century, avoiding persecution, many Jews moved to and settled in Western Europe.

Scientists believe that Ashkenazi Jews originally came from the Land of Israel and initially went to Italy, France, and Germany. Later, during pogroms in the middle ages, mainly in Germany, they fled to Poland and Lithuania, and from there they spread over the rest of Eastern Europe. They then adopted the Yiddish language.[18][19]

After that, two terms, Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, became commonly used: The former indicates the Jews who worshiped in the German way and spoke Yiddish, the latter indicates the Jews who worshiped in the Spanish way and spoke the Ladino language. They differ in language (pronunciation), cultural tradition and worship style.

During World War II, about 6 million Jews, 5 million of whom were Ashkenazi, were killed in the Holocaust. The Holocaust destroyed or greatly reduced the large Jewish communities and the Yiddish language in Europe. Many of the surviving Ashkenazi Jews emigrated to countries such as Israel, Canada, Argentina, Australia, and the United States after the war.

Today Ashkenazim are 80% of Jews of the world. They are also the mainstream of Israeli politics. Famous Ashkenazim are Albert Einstein, George Gershwin, Gustav Mahler, Franz Kafka.

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Posted By admin on October 6, 2019

We are far more Hispanic than we think.

When a crew member in the expedition of Christopher Columbus spotted land on October 12, 1492, he set in motion a world-changing series of events.

The Italian Columbus claimed the New World for his Spanish patrons. This brought the Dutch, English, French and Portuguese. The collision of civilizations decimated the Indigenous population and brought Africans to the Americas.

Spanish language, culture, and religion spread across much of the Americas, including the western third of what is now the United States. Though not strictly Hispanic, French language, culture, and religion spread across what is now Quebec, Canada and down the Mississippi River through the center of the United States to New Orleans.

In South America, Portuguese language, culture, and religion spread across what is now Brazil.

New York City was originally a Lenape trading post at the Battery in what is now downtown. The first immigrant was a Portuguese African Dominican named Juan (Jan) Rodriguez. He left a Dutch ship and set up a home at the trading post.

Eventually the Dutch set up a colony. At that time, the Netherlands was the Spanish Netherlands. It was ruled by King Philip IV of Spain from what is now the capital of Europe, Brussels, Belgium. So even New York City is Hispanic in a way.

Contemporary identity tends to be based on the last colonial power in a region. So though the Spanish were the original colonizers, Americans of the U.S. and Caribbean nations like Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, consider England to be their mother country.

Cuba and the Philippines were the last possessions of the Spanish Empire and the first possessions of the American one.

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Posted By admin on October 6, 2019

The Talmud is among the great books of wisdom--like the Bible, the Quran, and the Bhagavad Gita--whose citation gives a speaker instant credibility. Also like the Bible, the Quran, and the Bhagavad Gita, the Talmud is a powerful source of allusion in large part even though so few people have really read it. People don't read the Talmud because they think it's inaccessible--the sprawling collection of rabbinic writings is added to in each generation, and its significance is nothing less than the summary of Judaism. The best guide to the Talmud's labyrinthine form is Abraham Cohen's Everyman's Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages--a monumental work of scholarly summary that describes all the basic doctrines of Judaism. Everyman's Talmud includes concise chapters on everything from sin to superstitions to a Jew's duty to animals. You probably won't be able to read it straight through--doctrine, even elegantly distilled, is hard to take in big doses--but you'll be led back to it again and again, by questions that arise in daily life, at dinner parties, and from the pages of the daily newspaper. --Michael Joseph Gross

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Posted By admin on October 5, 2019

Orthodox Hasidic Jews have unique ways in which they wear their hair. Their appearance might seem unusual to an outsider. This page will explain these devout traditions. First it will explain about women, and then it will explain about men.

Hasidic Jewish women have strict rules about their hair.

The following is their Orthodox tradition: when a woman is married her hair must be covered in public. It must be completely obscured so that it is totally invisible to any man. Many women go further with this restriction and they keep their hair covered at all times, including in their home.

The most common ways that women will cover their hair is with a wig or scarf, and sometimes a hat. The wig they use is called a "sheitel" in Yiddish. It can be made of synthetic material, or made from real human hair. These wigs are quite expensive, costing as much as $500-1500. It is common that Hasidic women will own 2 or more wigs: one for everyday use, and another for holidays and special occasions. The scarf that some Orthodox women will wear is called a "tichel." It will be tied in place over the hair. A hat may also be worn, although it typically will not fully cover all the woman's hair alone, so it will be in conjunction with a wig or scarf.

The reason for these rules about Hasidic womens' hair is: modesty. Orthodox Jews are very strict about this matter, which is called "Tznius". They keep their whole bodies covered at all times - with sleeves past their elbows and skirts below their knees. The purpose of these regulations are so that men will not be tempted by the sight of a woman's body. Sexual fidelity is a major thing which is taken seriously by Orthodox Jews. Genders are kept separate at schools, synagogues and even sometimes on transportation buses or in the street.

Some Hasidic women shave their heads, while others do not. For those who shave, they are being extra-observant of the rule. They are making it to be impossible that their hair can ever be seen, because they don't have any. Not all Orthodox Jewish women do this. Many of them do not. For the ones who do not shave, they don't consider it necessary to go to such an extent. They are satisfied with just carefully keeping their head covered. Either way, most women will maintain the hair coverage within their home and maybe even within their bedroom.

Gender roles are kept traditional: men are the breadwinners who go out from the home each day to work. Women are mainly homemakers - they remain in the house and cook, clean, care for the children etc. Hasidic Jews are famous for the large family sizes! The average family can have 6 or more kids. So there is alot of potential work for the wife! Typically older children (especially female teenagers) will be enlisted to help with their younger siblings. Also, Orthodox women may have a large job at cooking, as each Sabbath (Saturday - known as "Shabbos") there are 2 large feasts to prepare, and all cooking must be finished by Friday afternoon. Once Shabbos begins no cooking is allowed.

Hasidic Jewish men typically wear sidecurls and a beard. The sidecurls - called "Payos" - are usually in front of each ear, extending downwards. They can be long and often curly. The curls are not based on any scriptural rule - they are just a style that has become widespread.

The rule is that a man must not cut or trim his hair within a special facial region. The boundaries of this zone are on each side of the face - roughly between the middle of the ear and the eye, below a bone which is there. Many Orthodox Jews simply do not trim their sideburns above this line. Other Jews - primarily Hasidic ones - go further with this tradition. They do not trim or cut their hair here at all. Rather, they allow it to grow indefinitely. The result is long sidecurls that visibly extend downward.

Unlike the rules for women (which are based on the practicalities of modesty), the reason for the mens' hair rules is not clearly known. The original basis is a scripture which states that a man should not "round the corner of his head." Authoritative talmudic scholars have determined that the meaning of this scripture are these sidecurl rules. As for the reason behind the rule - it is commonly thought that this is a type of commandment which G-d has provided no explanation for. G-d simply instructed it, and devout Jews are expected to adhere. Overall, many commandments are based with logic or practicality (such as washing one's hands before eating) while other commandments are dictated and the worshiper is expected to follow without questioning it.

The reason for the beard is as follows: there are regulations on how a man may shave. Most Orthodox Jews will not use a razor to shave. Other Hasidic Jews go further with this and they do not shave at all. They are making a clear open statement that they go above and beyond the minimal requirements of the rules.

Orthodox men are known for having their heads covered. There are several items which they may wear. The most basic is called a "Yarmulke" or "Kippah." A Hasidic Yarmulke is usually made of velvet and covers the head only partially. An observant Jewish man will always have this on his head. This is an essential rule, and the purpose is to remind himself constantly that G-d is above him in heaven. Any other item that a man wears, he will be wearing a Yarmulke underneath.

Hasidic men also frequently wear hats. There is a variety, although all of them are usually a black color. The hat is a European Jewish tradition to wear while praying, and many men will go further and wear it all of the time. The basic hat worn on weekdays commonly resembles a fedora or bowler hat. On Sabbath and holiday festivals, a fancier hat is worn, made of velvet or fur. This grand hat is known as a "Shtreimel" in Yiddish. A young man begins to wear a shtreimel upon marriage.

The man on left is wearing a Yarmulke, the 2 teenagers are wearing regular hats, and the man in center is wearing a Streimel .

Men and boys typically have their full bodies covered, even though modesty rules are stricter for women. The basis for the clothing is the following: it was considered formal or respectable attire in Eastern Europe back when Hasidic Jews lived there (1800's and early 1900's). Clothing is usually black or white. Commonly, a man will wear a white formal button-up shirt, with a special garment underneath called "Tzitzis." Tzitzis are another rule for which G-d instructed it and did not provide a logical explanation. This is another case where people go beyond the actual requirement, because the original rule of tzitzis is only for a garment with 4 corners - special strings must be tied to each corner (usually a white color). However most Orthodox men go beyond this and wear a designated garment that has 4 corners - with strings - just for this purpose.

Commonly, on top of their shirt a Hasidic man will wear a formal jacket. All jackets are usually long (extending down until around the knees) and are a black color. On weekdays there is a basic jacket called a "Rekel." For Sabbath and holidays there is a fancier one called a "Bekesheh." A bekesheh may have some basic shapes or patterns on it. A detailed pattern on the bekesheh might suggest a higher status of piety for the man wearing it. Many jackets are secured with a special belt called a "Gartel." A gartel is narrow and long, possibly wrapping around the body several times and then tied with a knot.

First image: a young man with his stringed Tzitzis exposed. Second image: a pair of Hasidic men wearing bekesheh jackets.

Much of the Orthodox culture and rules seem unusual in today's Western society. However in the past this was not as much the case. These sets of clothing and customs used to be less dissimilar to the surrounding people.Clothing: the Hasidic men's clothing attire is based heavily on Eastern Europe in the 1800's. Their clothing back then would have not been seen nearly as different. Also, the heavy layers they wear would have been more appropriate in the colder climates of Poland, Russia, Ukraine, etc. where they lived.

Gender roles: It is only in the last generations that women have achieved such equality in Western society. More than 70 years ago, basically anywhere in the world, women would have been in the home cooking, cleaning etc rather than working outside the home. A woman's husband would have asserted alot of control over her. These types of gender roles (which are practiced in Hasidic Jewish communities and still in many parts of the world) would have been seen as totally normal.

Beards, top hats or formal jackets would also have not been unusual in the past. Even in the United States or Europe, almost all men wore hats and jackets until the recent past.

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Hasidic Jewish Hair Women & Men Orthodox Info

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Hasidic Jewish men wear their unique sidecurls as a way of preserving an aspect of Hebrew culture. In addition to their distinctive hairstyles, Hasidic Jews of both genders typically wear styles which were historically popular among Jewish people throughout Europe.

The sidecurl is also known a Payos, which means "side of the head," referring to ancient Biblical prohibitions against shaving the sides of one's head. Although the side curls are never shaved and only rarely cut, the rest of a Hasidic man's head is usually shaved or cut short. They also maintain their beards in a similar fashion. Traditional Hasidic men never shave, and only rarely cut their beards. Trimming the beard or Payos at all is not traditional and is strongly discouraged.

Payos are not unique to Hasidic Jews. Many other sects of Judaism also wear them, but they are typically kept inconspicuously behind the ears.

Other aspects of traditional Hasidic dress, including the characteristic long coat and wide-brimmed hat, are also adopted in tribute to styles which were popular in Europe before many Jewish people emigrated to Israel. In particular, many styles of Orthodox Jewish attire were outlawed by Czarist Russia, and the preservation of those traditions in spite of oppression is a chief motivating factor for their modern use.

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Why Do Hasidic Jews Wear Curls? | Reference.com

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Labor Zionism or socialist Zionism[1] (Hebrew: , translit. Tziyonut sotzyalistit; Hebrew: translit. Tnu'at ha'avoda, i.e. The labor movement) is the left-wing of the Zionist movement. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations. It saw itself as the Zionist sector of the historic Jewish labor movements of Eastern and Central Europe, eventually developing local units in most countries with sizable Jewish populations. Unlike the "political Zionist" tendency founded by Theodor Herzl and advocated by Chaim Weizmann, Labor Zionists did not believe that a Jewish state would be created simply by appealing to the international community or to a powerful nation such as Britain, Germany or the Ottoman Empire. Rather, Labor Zionists believed that a Jewish state could only be created through the efforts of the Jewish working class settling in the Land of Israel and constructing a state through the creation of a progressive Jewish society with rural kibbutzim and moshavim and an urban Jewish proletariat.

Labor Zionism grew in size and influence and eclipsed "political Zionism" by the 1930s both internationally and within the British Mandate of Palestine where Labor Zionists predominated among many of the institutions of the pre-independence Jewish community Yishuv, particularly the trade union federation known as the Histadrut. The Haganah, the largest Zionist paramilitary defense force, was a Labor Zionist institution and was used on occasion (such as during the Hunting Season) against right-wing political opponents or to assist the British Administration in capturing rival Jewish militants.

Labor Zionists played a leading role in the 1948 ArabIsraeli War and Labor Zionists were predominant among the leadership of the Israeli military for decades after the formation of the state of Israel in 1948.

Major theoreticians of the Labor Zionist movement included Moses Hess, Nachman Syrkin, Ber Borochov, and Aaron David Gordon and leading figures in the movement included David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, and Berl Katznelson.

Moses Hess's 1862 work Rome and Jerusalem. The Last National Question argued for the Jews to settle in Palestine as a means of settling the national question. Hess proposed a socialist state in which the Jews would become agrarianized through a process of "redemption of the soil" that would transform the Jewish community into a true nation in that Jews would occupy the productive layers of society rather than being an intermediary non-productive merchant class, which is how he perceived European Jews.[citation needed]

Ber Borochov, continuing from the work of Moses Hess, proposed the creation of a socialist society that would correct the "inverted pyramid" of Jewish society. Borochov believed that Jews were forced out of normal occupations by Gentile hostility and competition, using this dynamic to explain the relative predominance of Jewish professionals, rather than workers. Jewish society, he argued, would not be healthy until the inverted pyramid was righted, and a substantial number of Jews became workers and peasants again. This, he held, could only be accomplished by Jews in their own country.[2]

Another Zionist thinker, A. D. Gordon, was influenced by the vlkisch ideas of European romantic nationalism, and proposed establishing a society of Jewish peasants. Gordon made a religion of work.[clarification needed] These two figures (Gordon and Borochov), and others like them, motivated the establishment of the first Jewish collective settlement, or kibbutz, Degania, on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in 1909 (the same year that the city of Tel Aviv was established). Deganiah, and many other kibbutzim that were soon to follow, attempted to realize these thinkers' vision by creating communal villages, where newly arrived European Jews would be taught agriculture and other manual skills.[citation needed]

Joseph Trumpeldor is also considered to be one of the early icons of the Labor Zionist movement in Palestine.[3] When discussing what it is to be a Jewish pioneer, Trumpeldor stated

What is a pioneer? Is he a worker only? No! The definition includes much more. The pioneers should be workers but that is not all. We shall need people who will be "everything" everything that the land of Israel needs. A worker has his labor interests, a soldier his esprit de corps, a doctor and an engineer, their special inclinations. A generation of iron-men; iron from which you can forge everything the national machinery needs. You need a wheel? Here I am. A nail, a screw, a block? here take me. You need a man to till the soil? Im ready. A soldier? I am here. Policeman, doctor, lawyer, artist, teacher, water carrier? Here I am. I have no form. I have no psychology. I have no personal feeling, no name. I am a servant of Zion. Ready to do everything, not bound to do anything. I have only one aim creation.

Trumpeldor, a Socialist Zionist, gave his life in 1920 defending the community of Tel Hai in the Upper Galilee. He became a symbol of Jewish self-defense and his reputed last words, "Never mind, it is good to die for our country" (En davar, tov lamut be'ad artzenu , ), became famous in the pre-state Zionist movement and in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s. Trumpeldor's heroic death made him not only a martyr for Zionists Left but also for the Revisionist Zionist movement who named its youth movement Betar (an acronym for "Covenant of Joseph Trumpeldor") after the fallen hero.[citation needed]

Albert Einstein was a prominent supporter of both Labor Zionism and efforts to encourage JewishArab cooperation.[4] Fred Jerome in his Einstein on Israel and Zionism: His Provocative Ideas About the Middle East argues that Einstein was a Cultural Zionist who supported the idea of a Jewish homeland but opposed the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine "with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power." Instead, he preferred a bi-national state with "continuously functioning, mixed, administrative, economic, and social organizations."[5] However Ami Isseroff in his article Was Einstein a Zionist argues that Einstein was not opposed to the state of Israel given that Einstein declared it "the fulfillment of our dreams." Perceiving its vulnerability after independence, he again set aside his pacifism in the name of human preservation, when president Harry Truman recognized Israel in May 1948.[6] In the November 1948 presidential election Einstein supported former vice-president Henry A. Wallaces Progressive Party, which advocated a pro-Soviet foreign policy but which also at the time (like the USSR) strongly supported the new state of Israel. Wallace went down to defeat, winning no states.[7]

Initially two labor parties were founded by immigrants to Palestine of the Second Aliyah (19041914): the pacifist and anti-militarist Hapo'el Hatza'ir (Young Worker) party and the Marxist Poale Zion party, with Poale Zion roots. The Poale Zion Party had a left wing and a right wing. In 1919 the right wing, including Ben-Gurion and anti-Marxist non-party people, founded Ahdut HaAvoda. In 1930 Ahdut HaAvoda and Hapo'el Hatza'ir fused into the Mapai party, which included all of mainstream Labor Zionism. Until the 1960s these parties were dominated by members of the Second Aliyah.[8]

The Left Poale Zion party ultimately merged with the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatzair, the urban Socialist League and several smaller left-wing groups to become the Mapam party, which in turn later joined with other parties to create Meretz.

The Mapai party later became the Israeli Labor Party, which for a number of years was linked with Mapam in the Alignment. These two parties were initially the two largest parties in the Yishuv and in the first Knesset, whilst Mapai and its predecessors dominated Israeli politics both in the pre-independence Yishuv and for the first three decades of Israel's independence, until the late 1970s.

Already in the 1920s the Labor movement disregarded its socialist roots and concentrated on building the nation by constructive action. According to Tzahor its leaders did not "abandon fundamental ideological principles".[9] However, according to Ze'ev Sternhell in his book The Founding Myths of Israel, the labor leaders had already abandoned socialist principles by 1920 and only used them as "mobilizing myths".

Following the 1967 Six-Day War several prominent Labor Zionists created the Movement for Greater Israel which subscribed to an ideology of Greater Israel and called upon the Israeli government to keep and populate all areas captured in the war. Among the public figures in this movement associated with left-wing nationalism were Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi, Yitzhak Tabenkin, Icchak Cukierman, Zivia Lubetkin, Eliezer Livneh, Moshe Shamir, Zev Vilnay, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Isser Harel, Dan Tolkovsky, and Avraham Yoffe. In the 1969 Knesset elections it ran as the "List for the Land of Israel", but failed to cross the electoral threshold. Prior to the 1973 elections, it joined the Likud and won 39 seats. In 1976 it merged with the National List and the Independent Centre (a breakaway from the Free Centre) to form La'am, which remained a faction within Likud until its merger into the Herut faction in 1984.

Other prominent Labor Zionists, especially those who came to dominate the Israeli Labor Party, became strong advocates for relinquishing the territory won during the Six-Day War. By the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, this became the central policy of the Labor Party under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. What distinguishes Labor Zionism from other Zionist streams today is not economic policy, an analysis of capitalism or any class analysis or orientation but its attitude towards the IsraeliPalestinian peace process with modern Labor Zionists tending to support the Israeli peace camp to varying degrees. This orientation towards Israel's borders and foreign policy has dominated Labor Zionist institutions in recent decades to the extent that socialist Zionists who support a Greater Israel ideology are forced to seek political expression elsewhere.

In Israel the Labor Party has followed the general path of other governing social democratic parties such as the British Labour Party and is now fully oriented towards capitalism and even neo-liberalism, though recently it has rediscovered the welfare state under the leadership of Amir Peretz.

The Israeli Labor Party and its predecessors have ironically been associated within Israeli society as representing the country's ruling class and political elite whereas working-class Israelis have traditionally voted for the Likud since the Begin Revolution of 1977.

Labor Zionism manifests itself today in both adult and youth organizations. Among adults, the World Labor Zionist Movement, based in Jerusalem, has affiliates in countries around the world, such as Ameinu in the United States and Australia, Associao Mosh Sharett in Brazil and the Jewish Labour Movement in the United Kingdom. Youth and students are served through Zionist youth movements such as Habonim Dror, Hashomer Hatzair and college-age campus activist groups such as the Union of Progressive Zionists of the U.S. and Canada.

In Israel, Labor Zionism has become nearly synonymous with the Israeli peace camp.[citation needed] Usually Labor Zionist political and educational institutions activists are also advocates of a two-state solution, who do not necessarily adhere to socialist economic views.

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Labor Zionism - Wikipedia

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