MOST READERS will already know that Tony Lerman has relinquished the editorship of the Jewish Quarterly—especially since his decision to do so was followed by a long exchange of letters in the correspondence columns of the Jewish Chronicle. Whilst this is neither the time nor the place to delve into the minutiae of the controversy, … Read more
Sharon: an Israeli Caesar by Uzi Benziman, published by Robson Books, 276 pp, £12.95 Anyone with, what might be termed “a liberal conscience” always tries to locate the good, those small islands of common humanity, in the views and actions of an opponent. However, by the time I had passed page 200, with the war … Read more
EARLIER this year, Harvard University hosted the first conference on the American-Jewish Press. It was attended by over one hundred journalists, editors and publishers from the East coast, the deep South and the mid-West. Since 1823, when the first Jewish newspaper, The Jew, was published, there has been a tremendous proliferation of English language Jewish … Read more
SINCE our last issue, THE JEWISH QUARTERLY has had more words written and spoken about it than could possibly have been anticipated, Amidst a pot-pourri of truth and invention, only a handful saw fit to pay tribute to Tony Lerman for the tremendous contribution that he has made to THE JEWISH QUARTERLY during the last … Read more
The recent death of Fred Uhlman at the age or eighty-four is of more far-reaching significance than it might appear; for, quite apart from the sadness felt by those who knew him personally, it reminds one that a whole generation of central European emigres who came to this country in the 1930s and contributed so … Read more
HERITAGE: Civilization and the Jews was televised in the summer on Channel 4. Why is it that a particular programme is made? Why does it get shown? The answers to these questions are at present embedded in acrimonious debate in the United States. The programme’s producers approached the New York Public Television Station, WNET, with … Read more
DESPITE the erroneous impression that American Jews were part and parcel of the neoconservative camp, last year’s US presidential elections showed that they remain liberals at heart. Two thirds of US Jewry voted for Mondale, with almost 75 per cent of New York City’s Jews rejecting President Reagan. Another instance of the liberal conscience is … Read more
JEWISH opposition to apartheid is not necessarily related to political or religious affiliation. This was well-proven by an Orthodox rabbi and supporter of Herut who died last year: Louis Isaac Rabinowitz. A leading figure in the Orthodox rabbinate and considered by many as Chief Rabbi material, Rabinowitz served from 1944-1961 as Chief Minister of the … Read more
What happened? Did Marianne take John Bull to an unknown rendezvous? Did Marianne say to John Bull that there was a forest fire going to start, and did John Bull then say, “We ought to put it out”, but Marianne said, “No, let us warm our hands by it. It is a nice … Read more
Soviet Psychiatric Abuse: The Shadow Over World Psychiatry. By Sidney Bloch and Peter Reddaway. Gollancz £10.95. “Anti-Soviet convictions simply cannot exist. Anti-Soviet statements or opinions are the result, either of mental disturbance or of cynicism or of ignorance.” Not the trite jibe of a seasoned apparatchik, but the considered professional opinion of Dr Stanislav Korolev … Read more