Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

By Stephen Silver

This year, everyone seemed to have an opinion about how the entertainment industry views Jewish women.

The comedian Sarah Silverman and others openly inveighed against what she deemed Jewface, or the trend of casting non-Jewish actresses as (Ashkenazi) Jewish women; a plotline on this years Curb Your Enthusiasm season mocked a similar idea by having Larry David cast a Latina actress as a Jewish character on a show about his childhood.

Whether you agree with Silverman or not, its hard to hear a term like Jewface and not think about the way Jewish characters have historically looked onscreen. For much of the 20th century, show business and popular culture considered stereotypical Jewish traits curly hair, olive skin, a prominent nose either exotic, comic or worse, inspiring countless Jewish women to undergo rhinoplasty. It wasnt until Barbra Streisand flaunted her Jewish looks beginning in the late 1960s as Bette Midler would a few years later that the culture began to shift. Streisand, writes her biographer Neal Gabler, had somehow managed to change the entire definition of beauty.

Now, at the end of 2021, along comes a film set in the 1970s with a female Jewish protagonist who is not only played by a Jewish actress, but is also portrayed as a sex symbol.

The film is Licorice Pizza, the latest from acclaimed writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, and it opened wide in theaters on Christmas after several weeks of limited release. And the character is Alana Kane, played by singer Alana Haim of the band Haim, making her screen debut.

In the film, Alana is an aimless, guileless San Fernando Valley 20-something who gains maturity and an entrepreneurial spirit after befriending Gary Valentine, an overconfident child actor (Cooper Hoffman, son of Philip Seymour Hoffman) who enlists her in various business schemes and convinces her to make a go at acting. The two of them enter a teasy, flirty codependency Gary, not even 16, makes his attraction to Alana known early and often, especially when the two open a waterbed business together and he instructs her to act sexy when selling the kitschy relics over the phone.

But its not just Gary. Seemingly everyone in the movie, from lecherous older industry veterans to upstart young politicos, is obsessed with Alana not in spite of her obviously Jewish appearance, but because of it. Anderson plays up Haims physical parallels to the Jewish beauties of the era: a casting director (Harriet Sansom Harris) gushes over her Jewish nose, which she notes is a very in-demand look, while real-life producer Jon Peters (played by Bradley Cooper as a manic, sex-crazed lunatic), gets very handsy with Alana after pointedly bragging that Streisand is his girlfriend.

Licorice Pizza is in line with ideas espoused in Henry Bials 2005 book Acting Jewish: Negotiating Ethnicity on the American Stage and Screen, particularly its chapter on the 70s, which Bial described as the period when Jews became sexy. Streisand, at the time of her Broadway debut in the early 60s, was described in reviews as a homely frump and a sloe-eyed creature with folding ankles. But by the 70s, bolstered by her immense charisma and no-apologies attitude toward her own stardom, she was one of popular cultures greatest sex symbols, even appearing on the cover of Playboy in 1977 the year after starring in and producing her own A Star is Born remake. Her physical appearance didnt change in the intervening time; only the publics reactions to it did.

Anderson himself was born in 1970, so the teenaged adventures in the film arent his memories specifically theyre mostly those of his friend Gary Goetzman, a former child actor who lived through many of the episodes depicted in the movie. And Anderson himself is not Jewish, though his longtime partner Maya Rudolph, who has a small part in the film, is. Yet perhaps by virtue of being born into a world in which Jewish women were suddenly being considered sexy, Anderson seems to innately understand the period-specific sexual, cultural and spiritual dynamics that would lead to someone like Alana being celebrated for her looks.

Anderson wasnt immune to those dynamics. As a child he had a crush on Alana Haims mother, Donna Rose, who was his art teacher: I was in love with her as a young boy, absolutely smitten, he told The New York Times, waxing rhapsodic about her long, beautiful, flowing brown hair.

For much of the film, Alana is unsure whether or how to leverage her sex appeal, as she also tries to figure out what she wants to do with her life. An attempt to respect the wishes of her traditional family (the other Haims, including their real parents, play the Kane clan) by dating a nice, successful, age-appropriate Jewish guy ends in disaster at a Shabbat dinner when the guy himself, Lance (Skyler Gisondo), refuses to say the hamotzi prayer.

The scene also touches on the debate over religious vs. cultural Judaism that has been raging in American Jewish circles since at least the time period when the film is set. While acknowledging he was raised in the Jewish tradition, Lance cites Vietnam as the reason why he now identifies as an atheist and cant bring himself to recite a blessing. In response, Alana gets him to admit hes circumcised before declaring, Then youre a fking Jew!

The moral of the scene might be the movies biggest lesson to impart about Judaism: Its not just a belief system. Its an innate part of you, affecting everything from your hair to your nose to your genitals. It can make you be perceived as ugly in one decade, and a bombshell in the next.

Stephen Silver writes for JTA.

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'Licorice Pizza' Captures the Moment When Pop Culture Finally Started to See Jewish Women as Beautiful - Jewish Exponent

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

(JTA) Singapores Jewish history is palpable on its streets: Theres Manasseh Lane and Meyer Road, named for the hugely influential Manasseh Meyer, a Baghdadi Jew and early leader of the Jewish community who helped open two of its Sephardic synagogues.

Along Middle Road, 19th-century buildings bearing Stars of David and the names of the Jewish businessmen who built them line the street, marking what used to be the Jewish Mahallah, or neighborhood, where 1,500 Jews lived during the middle of the 20th century.

In fact, in the southeast Asian city of 5.7 million mostly ethnic Chinese, Malay, and Indian migrants and only 2,500 Jews countless roads and monuments in the city-state are named for influential Jews of the past and their achievements.

But in their 200 years of rich history, the Jews of Singapore have never had a place of their own to show off the story of their people, until now. In the old Mahallah and on the ground floor of the Jacob Ballas community center named for the Iraqi Jewish philanthropist who chaired the Singapore and Malaysia stock exchange in the 1960s a new museum tells the full story of Southeast Asias oldest continuing Jewish community, beginning with the arrival of the first Jew in 1819.

The interior of the Maghain Aboth Synagogue, one of Singapores two Orthodox congregations. (Jewish Welfare Board of Singapore)

Its really important that Singaporeans know the part that the Jews have played in the 200 years of history, and it has been significant, said Ben Benjamin, a member of Singapores Jewish Welfare Board who spearheaded the museum. We wanted to demonstrate that not only about the Jewish people in Singapore, its about how Singaporean Jews are.

The Jews of Singapore Museum captures the story of a community that has waxed and waned in size, even as Singapore has grown rapidly. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the local Jewish population was made up largely of emigres from Iraq and Europe who came to Singapore to evade antisemitism and pursue trade, including Benjamins family. By the mid-20th century, before World War II, the community grew to 1,500 Jews before beginning a steep decline; fewer than 200 lived there by the 1960s.

Today, a record 2,500 Jews call Singapore home. But even as some of the old Baghdadi trading families remain Benjamin is a fifth generation Iraqi-Singaporean Jew, his wife a member of the famed Sassoon family the majority of local Jews now are a diverse mix of more recent Hebrew- or English-speaking arrivals who have come to invest in one of the worlds tech and financial hubs.

The historic heart of Singapores Jewish community, though, unfortunately, will continue to shrink, Benjamin said, and the museum is an effort to preserve it.

The museum highlights a time when some of Singapores most important figures were Jewish, such as David Marshall, who became the city-states first chief minister in 1955. Guests can scan QR codes to hear the voices and speeches of Marshall and other figures, and view videos, photographs, and artifacts from the communitys rich past and present.

Some really interesting things were actually uncovered during the curatorial process, Benjamin said. Curators found photographs of unknown Jewish properties like a resort far in Singapores west, far from the Mahallah.

Its now been completely demolished to make way for what is Singapores industrial heartland, he said. We didnt know this until this museum was put together.

A display of traditional Jewish religious objects, including a menorah, candlesticks, a century-old Tanakh, and the late Jacob Ballas personal copy of the Book of Psalms, along with his tallit and tefillin set. (Jewish Welfare Board of Singapore)

Based on a book commissioned by the community and published in 2007, the museum is the product of three years of work and preparation only further delayed by the pandemic. Finally, on Dec. 2, the museum opened to the public.

We hope that the history of our forefathers, most of whom had fled persecution from Iraq to settle and thrive in Singapore, will be a reminder of the importance of welcoming strangers in our midst, and of strengthening unity and solidarity among adherents of different religions, Nash Benjamin, president of the Jewish Welfare Board and brother of Ben Benjamin, said at the opening.

The exhibition is also available to all via a virtual tour on the museums website, where guests can walk through the museum and interact with the exhibit digitally. For non-Jewish Singaporean community members, a section of the museum is dedicated to illustrating Jewish festivals, culture and religion.

This year was a tumultuous one for Singapores Jews. In March, the Jacob Ballas Center, now home to the museum, hosted a press conference to announce the arrest of a radicalized Singaporean soldier who had planned to kill at least three Jewish men as they left the Maghain Aboth synagogue. (The community is mostly divided between the two Sephardic Orthodox synagogues built over 100 ago, Maghain Aboth and Chesed-El, in addition to a smaller Reform congregation made up of mostly Ashkenazi Jews.)

Singapores Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law K. Shanmugam tours the museum with Nash Benjamin, center, the president of Singapores Jewish Welfare Board, and the Chief Rabbi of Singapore Mordechai Abergel. (Jewish Welfare Board of Singapre)

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who revealed the planned attack nine months earlier, spoke at the museums opening event.

As minister for home affairs, I have said more than once to you, that the safety and security of all in Singapore, including the Jewish Community is a key priority, he said.

Singapore, known globally for harsh legislation, had very high levels of government restrictions on religion in 2019, according to the global Government Restriction Index, despite its constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. In the same year, however, it had low levels of social hostility toward religion.

Benjamin says the Jewish community has always felt safe, protected, and supported by the greater community and the government of Singapore, whose National Heritage Board granted up to 40% of the funding to the Jews of Singapore Museum.

The planned attack earlier this year, he said, came as a shock to Singapores Jews.

Life carries on. We feel very safe, very supported in Singapore, he said. And I think we owe it to ourselves, to the community of 200 years to carry on trying to build and allowing this community to thrive.

Virtual visits to the Jews of Singapore Museum can be scheduled online.

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A new museum tells the story of Singapores Jews, starting with their Baghdad roots - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

Whenever I eat at B&H Dairy, the beloved, 84-year-old Jewish dairy restaurant in Manhattans East Village, I invariably order soup. B&H just has this way with soupa rainbow of comforting potages ladled from a half-dozen aluminum pots steaming behind the counter. Sometimes I go for the borscht, which is bright red and brimming with softened cabbage and potatoes. Other times its the vegetarian chicken soup with floating, slippery noodles and a pillowy matzo ball. But when its especially blustery outside or I am in need of some soulful restoration, I invariably choose mushroom barley. Thick and savory with nibbles of tender grain, that soup is the equivalent of pulling on a cozy sweater and falling into a great hug.

Mushroom barley soup is not a holiday-specific dish, and therefore is rarely touted as a titan of Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. And yet it is undeniably part of the culinary canon. Along with split pea soup, lentil soup, and creamy potato soup, it is one of the simple, inexpensive, nourishing dishes that sustained Eastern European Jews (and their non-Jewish neighbors) for generations. According to Gil Marks The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, In some households, it was eaten on a daily basis.

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Barley is one of the worlds most ancient cultivated species. Long before potatoes were introduced to Eastern Europe from the New World, barley was one of the regions most important starches. So it is perhaps not surprising that the real soul of mushroom barley soup is the barley, not the mushrooms. This fact is reinforced by the dishs Yiddish name, krupnik, which stems from the archaic Slavic word for hulled and polished grains, krupa. (Fittingly, the name krupnik also refers to an old-fashioned Polish cordial brewed with grain-based vodka, honey, and spices.)

While many recipes for krupnik do indeed include mushrooms, they were not always ubiquitous. In Jewish Cookery, a classic Jewish American cookbook written by Leah Leonard in 1949, the krupnik recipe includes leeks, carrots, and turnips, but noticeably not mushrooms. Mildred Grosberg Bellins The Jewish Cook Book from 1941 includes four barley soup recipes (plus a barley-based cholent), only one of which contains mushrooms. And even in contemporary, non-Jewish versions of the recipe, mushrooms are considered optional.

And yet there is a reason why, over time, mushrooms became an integral part of the soups identity, particularly in the United States. Part of it had to do with iconic Jewish restaurants like the Second Avenue Deli and Ratners, which flavored their barley soups with mushrooms and helped to standardize the duo. But it more than likely started with home cooks. Mushrooms grow in wild abundance across Eastern Europe, and were an important source of nourishment that could be gathered for free. The best foragers, often peasant women, would gather extras after a rain spell and sell them at markets, writes Liz Alpern in The Gefilte Manifesto cookbook.

Since krupnik was an everyday dish for Jewish families, many recipes did not contain meatboth because of the added expense of using flanken, and also so the soup remained pareve (and therefore more versatile from a kosher perspective). Without the meat to provide a base of hearty, umami flavor, mushroomsparticularly dried mushroomsbecame the logical stand-in.

According to Alpern, dried porcini mushrooms were commonly used in Eastern Europe, and were an ingredient found in the United States as well. Jewish immigrants to America drew comfort from finding their beloved fungi in their new home. But since foraging on the Lower East Side proved next to impossible, many balaboostas purchased their mushrooms from street peddlers described by historian Jane Ziegelman in the Forward as typically an older gentleman who roamed the streets bedecked with dried mushroom garlands around his neck, and was distinguished by the fact that he also wore edible bracelets, bands of dried mushrooms that went up his arm.

When making mushroom barley soup at home, I tend to fall into the nonmeat camp. Meaty krupniks cross too far into cholent territorytoo fancy for daily consumption and, for those of us who keep kosher kitchens, robbed of the greatest pleasure that comes along with meat-free soups: a hefty dollop of sour cream bobbing on top. I also take great care to construct a flavor profile that maximizes the dishs comforting appeal. Too many mushroom barley soup recipes have gone the way of gummy porridge, thickened with a cornstarch slurry and lacking in any distinctive flavor. But a well-made mushroom barley soup is transformative.

My go-to recipe, which I developed for The Jewish Cookbook, takes a few creative liberties from more traditional versions. To the mushroom base (I use dried porcinis plus sliced fresh creminis), I throw in some chopped fresh thyme, a little soy sauce for extra oomph, and a splash of cider vinegar to brighten things up. Even with the modern additions, it is a rather homely soupa reminder that looks arent everything. As Claudia Roden writes about mushroom barley soup in The Book of Jewish Food, It looks very unappealing, but it is heartwarming in winter. Amen, and pass the sour cream.

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When It Comes to Soup, Looks Aren't Everything - Tablet Magazine

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

When author and historian James Truslow Adamsintroducedthe American dream into common parlance in his 1931 bookThe Epic of America, he wasnt suggesting that fulfilling it would require the democratically elected U.S. government to dictate what Americans ought to eat and drink or which industries they ought to fund through their hard-earned tax dollars. But that is what the U.S. government has been doing for decades by subsidizing the dairy industryan industry thatpopular opinionhas already left behind.

The real American dream is at odds with turning taxpayer dollars into wealth for one industry over another. An example of this is the promotion of the American dairy industry by the government. Its the reason why the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been telling people thatdairy deserves its own food groupand haspromotedthe idea that most adults and children should eat or drink about three cups of dairy each day, to ensure they are getting the required nutrients to stay healthy. This is, however, contradictory to the facts provided by the National Institutes of Health. According to theagency, between 30 and 50 million Americans are intolerant to lactose (the sugar found in milk), including 95 percent of Asian Americans, 60-80 percent of African Americans and Ashkenazi Jews, 80-100 percent of Native Americans, and 50-80 percent of Hispanics, compared to people of northern European descent who have a high lactose tolerance.

In fact,some studiesconnect the consumption of dairy products with a higher risk of certain cancers, includingprostate cancerin men andendometrial cancerin postmenopausal women. Further, countries that have the highest rates of milk consumption also have the highest rates of osteoporosis. According to a study by Uppsala University in Sweden, the consumption of milk has even been associated with higher mortality in both men and women,according toa 2014 article in the Washington Post.

But these facts havent stopped the USDA in its quest to drive the demand for dairy. According to theEnvironmental Working Groupand USDA data, Americans have spent $6.4 billion between 1995 and 2020 in subsidizing the dairy industry. Included in these subsidies are marketing fees that promote the consumption of milk and several[d]airy-related programs administered by [the] USDA,which are designed to benefit dairy farmers and dairy product consumers. The dairy industry, it turns out, is milking the paychecks of Americans and turning their hard-earned money into cartons of liquid white murkiness.

Even with these steep financial gains afforded to the U.S. dairy industry, Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT), Mike Simpson (R-ID), and Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Jim Risch (R-ID)all representing dairy-rich statesintroduced a piece of legislation in April 2021 (ironicallyon Earth Day), known astheDairy Pride Act. The bill, if passed, requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent plant-based product producers from using terms like milk, yogurt or cheese as part of their labeling.

This pushback comes whileconsumer demandfor plant-based milksqueezed from oats, soybeans, almonds and even pistachiosis skyrocketing. Fortunately for consumers who value free choice, and markets that value fair trade, this legislation has little ground to stand on beyond the competitive fear on which it was built.

In May 2021, similar legislationAmendment 171 in the European Unionwas withdrawn by the European Parliament. Like the Dairy Pride Act, it sought to ban terms traditionally used to describe dairy products, such as buttery and creamy, for plant-based products.

Also in 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Californiaruled in favorof Miyokos Kitchen, a brand that specializes in dairy-free products, after the California Department of Food and Agriculture instructed the company to stop using terms like butter and dairy on product marketing and labelingeven when paired with vegan and plant-based vernacular. The court agreed with the plant-based brand, which had argued that censoring product labeling that was an accurate description within the context of common parlance among consumers today violated the First Amendments freedom of expression.

Attempts from Big Dairy to defend their turf come just when an authentic version of the American dream is taking root. James Truslow Adams defined it as a dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. And consumers have never before had so many opportunities to choose how to enrich their lives with healthy alternatives to dairy, whether they define a richer and fuller life as one withoutharming animals, contributing to theclimate crisis, or causinggastrointestinal distress. And from the perspective of the plant-based milk companies, its a dream that is currently worth$2.5 billionin the U.S. alone. From 2019 to 2020, the plant-based milk sector grew by 20 percent, accounting for 15 percent of all retail milk dollar salesall without USDA dollars spent on their marketing. And in May 2021, the plant-based milk market reached a new milestone when oat-milk maker Oatly Groupbegantrading on Wall Street with a valuation of close to $10 billion and billed as anESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) stock to buy, thanks to its climate-curbing benefits.

Oat milk (like other plant-based milks) has a farlighter environmental footprintthan milk from cowswith70 percentless greenhouse gas emissions, while using93 percentless water from seed to shelf.

Meanwhile, Debra Roberts, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II, in areportpublished in August 2019, noted, Some dietary choices require more land and water, and cause more emissions of heat-trapping gases than others. Balanced diets featuring plant-based foods produced sustainably in low greenhouse gas emission systems, present major opportunities for adaptation to and limiting climate change. If the U.S. is to fulfill itsoriginalParis agreement pledge, it will need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2025, a goal that the country is not on track to meet, according to an NPRarticle. Backing industrial agriculture like Big Dairy furthermore runs counter to serious climate change commitments.

If the American dream is to be realized, then its citizens deserve choicereal choice, which allows them to vote with their dollars and knowingly choose what they want to eat and drink. Freedom is not something Americans are afforded when they are brought up to believe that milk is what their bodies and the country need to be strong, simply to pad the pockets of one industry over another. Freedom is having the ability to make the best choice for oneself, and the planet.

Jennifer Barckley is the vice president of communications atThe Humane League.

This article was produced byEarth | Food | Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

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The Dairy Industry Is Determined to Pour Itself Down Our Throats - NewsClick

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

Origin of diasporaFirst recorded in 16901700; from Greek diaspor scattering, dispersion; see origin at dia-, sporehistorical usage of diaspora

The history of the term diaspora shows how a word's meaning can spread from a very specific sense to encompass much broader ones. Diaspora first entered English in the late 17th century to describe the communities of urban, observant Jews who lived in the larger cities of the Roman Empire (e.g., Rome, Alexandria, Antioch) and were proselytized by the first generation of Christians (i.e., the Apostles and their disciples) in the mid-first century a.d. The Jewish Diaspora (often capitalized) began with the deportation of Israelites by the Assyrian and Babylonian kings in the 8th, 7th, and 5th centuries b.c. The term originates from Greek diaspor, meaning a dispersion or scattering, found in Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 28:25, Psalms 146 or 147:2) and in the New Testament (Gospel of St. John 7:35). While this specific historical sense is still used, especially in scholarly writing, modern-day definitions of the Jewish Diaspora can refer to the displacement of Jews at other times during their history, especially after the Holocaust in the 20th century. The term can also refer generally to Jews living today outside of Israel. Diaspora also has been applied to the similar experiences of other peoples who have been forced from their homelands: for example, to the trans-Atlantic passage of Africans under the slave trade of the 17th through 19th centuries, which has been called the African Diaspora. More recently, we find a scattering of the meaning of diaspora, which can now be used to refer not only to a group of people, but also to some aspect of their culture, as in the global diaspora of American-style capitalism.

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Diaspora Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

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Last years bicentennial celebrations of the Greek revolution of 1821 have spotlighted the passion of the Greek Diaspora for their homeland. The celebrations revealed that the contemporary Greek Diaspora has a global presence and an overarching international influence. The Greek Diaspora radiates a geopolitical soft power that serves as a strategic tool for Greeces national causes and foreign policy. In modern times, the Greek Diaspora have also been benefactors to their homeland through their philanthropy, crises relief, business mentorship, entrepreneurial empowerment, and building economic bridges with Greece for international trade and economic development.

Greece is a small country, with an inquiring mind, an independent spirit, and a global outreach. Its sparse population of slightly more than 10 million inhabitants is deceiving. Census reports from around the world estimate that the Greek Diaspora, which includes first -generation Greek immigrants, and second or third generations of Greek ancestry not born in Greece, exceeds 7 million. In this regard, Greece stands out among the community of nations in exhibiting a significant population dualism where its total population is partitioned between those living in the homeland and the Greek Diaspora who are dispersed around the world.

The word diaspora has its roots in the ancient Greek language meaning the scattering of seeds for future growth. Since time immemorial, the Greeks have embraced an adventurous spirit, a peripatetic nature, and a global outreach. In Ancient Greece, Homer recorded that the Greeks have been wanderers and travelers venturing through foreign seas and lands, motivated by trade, science, intellectual curiosity, poverty, or war, and creating colonies and cities far and wide. As a result, the Greek Diaspora has been recorded as one of the oldest and largest in the world.

I believe that Alexander the Great personifies the spirit of the Greek Diaspora past and present. In effect, Alexander practiced globalization before the word was invented. The empire he built spanned from Macedonia to Asia and North Africa. His vision for administering the new lands that he conquered included establishing a Greek community to conduct the affairs of state after he had moved on to new conquests.

Furthermore, he embraced a prototype of a multicultural policy which accepted the cultures and traditions of the conquered peoples and integrated the ruling class of the Greeks in such a way that the host society did not feel victimized. I always feel a sense of national pride when my friends and colleagues from countries that Alexander conquered such as present-day Iran, India and Egypt speak fondly and with great respect regarding his accomplishments and legacy in their countries. In this regard, Alexander is not perceived as a malevolent conqueror but as a capable administrator and a cultural benefactor.

The most successful overseas Greek community that was established by Alexander the Great was in Egypt. Ptolemy Soter, a trusted commander of Alexander, ruled Egypt from 305 BC followed by his descendants for more than 300 years until the demise of Queen Cleopatra in 30 BC. During that time, the city of Alexandria, a Greek polis which was founded by Alexander became the capital city and a major center of Greek culture, learning, and trade for several centuries. It was a hub for world trade and the library of Alexandria became a depository for the most valuable original manuscripts and acquired knowledge of those days. Alexandria also emerged as a center of scientific innovation and its iconic lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of ancient world, served as a beacon to the world.

The contemporary Greek Diaspora consists of Greek communities living outside the borders of their Greek homeland. In modern history, the Greek Diaspora has existed in the Balkans, southern Russia, Asia minor, eastern Anatolia, the Caucasus, Egypt, and in Corsica. Since the 20th century, the Greek Diaspora has extended its reach to every corner of the world including the USA, Canada, South America, Germany, and Australia.

In my travels, I have encountered the Greeks of the diaspora across Canada, and overseas in the USA, in Australia, and in Europe. At each destination, I witnessed a strong bonding and a fervent passion among the Greek Diaspora for their homeland. As a result, I believe that you can take the Greeks out of Greece, but you cannot take Greece out of the Greeks.

Throughout history, Greeks have left an indelible footprint on western civilization and especially in culture, democracy, visual arts, theatre, literature, philosophy, politics, architecture, music, mathematics, medicine, science, technology, philanthropy, commerce, cuisine, and sports. These significant contributions continue to the present day through the noteworthy contributions of contemporary Greeks of the diaspora through their contributions to their adopted countries and humanity at large.

During important milestones in Greek history, the Greek Diaspora has extended a helping hand to their homeland. The Greek Diaspora played a foundational role in the struggle for Greek Independence in the 19th century. Through them Philhellenes around the world were energized to step up and support the ideals of the Greek revolution. During the first and second World Wars, the Greek Diaspora sent young men to fight for their homeland. More recently the Greek Diaspora has assisted with crises relief, championed national causes, and served as an advocate for Greek foreign policy by energizing political and public opinion in their new homelands.

The 2016 Australian census recorded 397,431 people of Greek ancestry, and 93,740 born in Greece. This makes Australia home to one of the largest Greek Diaspora communities in the world. The census also revealed that the Greek community of Melbourne is one of the largest in the world with a Greek Australian population of 173,598 people. In fact, the city of Melbourne has the largest concentration of Greeks after Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece. Sydney comes a close second with 127,274 Greek Australians.

On every occasion that I have visited Melbourne and Sydney I was deeply moved by the Greek communities of both cities for their passion for all things Greek, and for nurturing the Greek language and traditions. Indeed, during my visits to Melbourne, I was thrilled to hear Greek being spoken everywhere I went. It forced me to do a double take to make sure that my plane had landed in Australia and not in Greece.

The largest Greek immigrant stream to Australia commenced after the second World War. The first-generation of Greek Australians were mostly self-employed in the service sector. They established restaurants, retail outlets and small businesses. Having instilled the value of education in their children to improve their career opportunities, the second and third generation of Greek Australians have now joined the ranks of white-collar professionals such as lawyers, accountants, public servants, academics, scientists, engineers, nurses, and medical practitioners.

A second generational change occurred among the Greek Australian diaspora with respect to their political engagement in their new homeland. The first generation of Greek immigrants to Australia were intimately aligned with Greek politics. In consequence, even in a new country, the Greek Diaspora continued to fight the party affiliated political battles of their homeland in a new milieu. This is no longer the case in the 21st century. The Greeks who were born in the host society and new immigrant arrivals from Greece have exhibited a tendency to embrace Australian politics and integrate in the political landscape of their host country. The high numbers of candidates of Greek heritage who are nominated as candidates and elected to public office at the municipal, regional, and federal levels serve as testimony to this reversal of political engagement.

The contemporary passion of the Greek Diaspora for their homeland is reflected in The Hellenic Initiative (THI). THI is a global philanthropic initiative that is replicated in the USA, Canada, and Australia and connects the Greek Diaspora and Philhellenes with Greece. More precisely, it serves as a catalyst for global fundraising, providing direct economic, social, and environmental crises relief as well as opening doors for entrepreneurial initiatives, promoting job creation and economic development in Greece and raising global awareness about key issues of importance to Greece.

*Dr. Constantine Passaris is a Professor of Economics at the University of New Brunswick (Canada) and an Onassis Foundation Fellow (Greece). He was recently included in the inaugural edition of Who is Who in Greece 2020 and is the first Greek Canadian to be appointed to the Order of New Brunswick.

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The Passion of the Greek Diaspora for their homeland - Neos Kosmos

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

TORONTO, ONBellwoods Breweryhas announced the latest edition in a series of stouts we created to feature local coffee roasters, and observe the results of different beans in beer.

A Stout With Coffee: Nile Coffee Diaspora Blend (5% abv):

How do you take your coffee? If you answered I prefer to drink the essence of coffee enveloped in a delicious, chewy stout. Thank you for asking! then youre in luck; we just put on a fresh pot of exactly what you like. Our newest version is made with Diaspora Blend from Nile Coffee Club. Rich in heritage and generous with flavour, Diaspora is a balanced blend of Ethiopian and Brazilian beans with bright floral notes and a chocolaty finish. Soft coffee aromatics let the rich, roasted flavours of this stout truly sing.

A Stout With Coffee is available nowat both Bellwoods retail stores and the brewerysonline shopwhile supplies last.

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Bellwoods Brewery Releases Nile Coffee Diaspora Blend Edition of A Stout With Coffee - Canadian Beer News

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

From the beginning of 2021 until its very end, this oft-repeated question came up over and over, every few weeks in the Haitian diaspora. Facing a litany of disasters, all eyes are turned to the Haitian diaspora for a way out.

We agree wholeheartedly. Its past time for Haitians abroad to take a real role in solving Haiti. A role that is pragmatic, based on the realities on what we can support and what Haitians really need. A role that is sustainable in the long term for both Haitians in the diaspora and those in Haiti.

First, lets address those who say Ah, Ayiti fini. Haiti is doomed, Thats completely understandable and fair to feel discouraged. Its been a lot, especially this year. From January, when kidnap-for-ransom cases began setting record highs, to the summer assassination of Jovenel Moise and migration border crisis, and until now, with gangs controlling the capital and literal explosions in the north, Haiti has stayed at the top of news cycles worldwide year-round. All of that takes a toll physically, emotionally and financially.

But before we lower Haitis coffin into the ground, lets remember this: In every corner of the country, every day, people wake up and do their best to feed their families. They look for ways to live to make it another day and to thrive with what they have. Lets focus on supporting these real, everyday people not the ineffectual politicians and incompetent representatives so often seen in the news who are very much alive. We came across them every day in our coverage this year. We saw those everyday Haitians rendering help during the August earthquake, in young artists being recognized for their craft and in entrepreneurs creating digital connections for loved ones.

So long as they continue to have breath in their bodies, Haiti too will stay alive.

Were a people with an indomitable spirit and goodwill. Not in the sense of the debunked tropes about resilience, but at a primal, universal level. As humans, who carry on and move forward no matter what lies ahead because giving up is the surest way to die.

Next, its easy to pile it on. It is unfair to say that Haiti has been given so many chances that itll just squander yet another opportunity to heal itself. Here, its important to also remember that Haitis story is the story of Black and Brown people worldwide fighting for liberation from the shackles of racist systems. Its the story of race as a construct, but as a veritable lab where racist ideas have been tested and applied, as our esteemed academics impressed on us during our panel on colorism in February.

Haiti was born with a boot on its neck thats been squeezing ever since. Only now are we seeing indications that people understand, first of all, that the weight is there. Two, they know that burden must come off for Haiti to breathe. Three, once off, it will take a long time to stand the country up. That shift is only beginning in earnest as most of the world undergoes some form of racial reckoning.

In 2021, the news out of Haiti also brought to us proof of a shift beginning to take place. Its been a year where centuries-old blinders are starting to come off. Catch-all trite phrases like political turmoil and poorest country in the western Hemisphere, and even the drug trafficking allegations are being put into context as symptoms of the primary illnesses from which Haiti suffers: Racism/colorism, classism, sexism. Imperialism playing out in real time.

With these realizations just now taking place beyond academia and certain intellectual circles, how can we expect Haiti to up and leap forward without it first getting up?

This is where the Haitian-led solution message weve been hearing so much about comes in. When the year began, Haitian elected officials made the rounds calling on the United States and other powers to give them a seat at the table of policymaking vis--vis Haiti. Well, the powers that be responded. This year, they basically said, Have the entire table. Let us know when dinners ready.

So thats the challenge we must meet and overcome as a diaspora. Our brothers and sisters are doing their part with various commissions, and well leave that to them to figure out.

Meanwhile, as Haiti lies on life support, the time is now for Haitians abroad the countrys de facto middle class to do a real, clear-eyed pivot. We must turn to different doctors, new medicines such as sustainable models for aid, investment and partnerships. Its time to look anew at the teeming possibilities that will make Haiti viable in the long term.

The building blocks that will make sure Haiti makes it to another 218 years are not only physical. Yes, we need roads, farming capabilities, electricity, and a functioning security apparatus. The foundation we must shore up is mental and emotional too. Its a mindset shift to help us see how oppressors both outside and inside Haiti are killing our beautiful homeland.

Its really past time to see the opportunities for solutions and start implementing those at a grassroots level, one day at a time. Collectively, we did it in response to the earthquake in the south when we bypassed big-name donors in favor of grassroots organizations already in the affected communities.

Now, its up to each individual Haitian and group to say, Im bringing X to the table in a way that supports not just my relatives, but the entire country. Thats the wake-up call.

Initiatives like the Haiti Tech Summit exemplifies how to engage with the country across multiple years. Haiti Investor Tank, a business challenge to support agriculture, health and shelter, is another that will be interesting to watch unfold as the winners implement their proposals. Organizations like Ayiti Community Trust and Fonkoze offer a different model of support and partnership with Haiti.

At The Haitian Times, weve started that work by doing what we do best: Quality journalism. In spring 2022, were launching our inaugural Haitian Times Fellowship Program for up-and-coming Haitian journalists based in Haiti. Its our way of committing to develop this sector to support our very weak democracy, while providing opportunities for young, talented Haitians to build a livelihood doing something they love.

We hope youll do the same in your field or area of expertise. We urge you to get serious and start in 2022 with all due urgency however small you can, but with an eye toward having an impact well beyond one year.

Because even though we can take more, we shouldnt have to, in Haiti or abroad. Not anymore.

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Haiti: Newsmaker of the year, an opportunity for the diaspora to step up | Editorial - Haitian Times

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

January 6/2022 /ENA/ Members of the Ethiopian Diaspora who came to Ethiopia in response to the Great Ethiopian Homecoming Challenge Initiative from Lebanon have expressed their determination to contribute to their share in rehabilitating internally displaced people (IDPs) and victims of TPLF.

Speaking to ENA, Hana Megerssa and Tigist Aragaw revealed that they have brought with them 730 kilograms of cloth mobilized from the diaspora in Lebanon to be distributed to the displaced at Sekota Special Zone in Amhara region.

Hana said, I have been coordinating Ethiopians in Lebanon to fight against those who try to destabilize Ethiopia and to provide support for fellow Ethiopians.

According to her, the engagement of the Ethiopian Diaspora in Beirut, Lebanon, is encouraging.

The support to rehabilitate victims affected by the terrorist TPLF will be strengthened, she further stated.

The other diaspora from Lebanon, Tigist noted that the participation and courage of Ethiopians in taking part in political and economic issues of the country is overwhelming.

The Ethiopian community in Beirut has been actively engaged in the fight against external pressures on Ethiopia and in rehabilitation activities being undertaken at present, she added.

I came here responding to the national call of our prime minister, mainly to fulfill my responsibility as a citizen and to show my solidarity to my country and the people.

Tigist said that she will visit areas destroyed by the terrorist TPLF to see the reality on the ground and continue providing assistance to IDPs and other victims by mobilizing the diaspora in Lebanon.

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Members of Diaspora from Beirut Come with Support to IDPS, Vow to Continue Assistance - Satenaw Ethiopian News/Breaking News | Your right to know!

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Posted By admin on January 7, 2022

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is set to roll out the second phase of the Enhanced Continuous Voter Registration (ECVR) and diaspora voter registration in January.

This was announced by IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati in his New Year message to Kenyans. He urged all eligible citizens who are yet to be registered as voters to turn up at their registration centers for enrollment.

Chebukati further reiterated the commissions commitment to delivering a free, fair, and credible election on August 9th, 2022.

The Commission is on course in planning and putting in place measures and mechanism to ensure a simple, accurate, verifiable, secure, accountable, impartial, efficient, credible and transparent General Election, said Chebukati.

The Commission is alive to the significant role played by stakeholders in the electoral process and assures you that it shall continue to engage all relevant stakeholders within the confines of the law and in particular Article 88 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, he added.

He appealed to all stakeholders and Kenyans to extend their support to IEBC and campaign peacefully during the electioneering period.

Last year, IEBC failed to meet its target of registering at least 4.5 million new voters ahead of the 2022 general election.

The electoral commission said it will be listing diaspora voters in 11 countries that met the minimum requirement of 3,000 voters. They include the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Africa.

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IEBC to Roll Out Second Phase of Mass and Diaspora Voter Registration - Mwakilishi.com

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