“In the army I’m no longer typecast as the son of migrant workers”: modalities of inclusion and belonging among children of migrant workers in the military in Israel

This article explores how non-citizen minorities experience military service, focusing on children of international labor migrants who served in the Israel Defense Forces. During the 1990’s, Israel witnessed an influx of migrant workers, primarily from the Philippines, Latin America and Africa. However, due to Israeli immigration policies, neither they nor their Israeli-born children were eligible for citizenship. Consequently, upon reaching the age of 18, unlike their Israeli peers, these children were not recruited into the army. Furthermore, they lived under constant threat of deportation. Due to advocacy by civil society organizations, in 2006 and 2010 the government granted civic status (permanent residency) to approximately 1,500 children. This made them eligible for military service, a somewhat unique situation globally. Upon completion of their first year of military service, they were eligible for Israeli citizenship and their immediate family members were eligible for permanent residency. Through qualitative and quantitative research, we examine inclusion and belonging amongst children of migrant workers who served in the military. Our findings suggest that military service enabled them to overcome the exclusionary boundaries they experienced as children in three ways. Firstly, they achieved formal belonging by receiving citizenship. Secondly, they achieved informal belonging through the cultural and social capital this service accrued within Israeli society. Finally, for some, military service deepened their knowledge of Judaism and, in certain cases, led to conversion, thus fostering religious belonging. These three aspects facilitated inclusion and a sense of belonging for these formerly marginalized children while also enhancing their legitimacy within Israeli society. This unique case study contributes to ongoing global debates about the experiences of minority groups in the military

The Image of the Jewish Wedding in the Works of Eighteenth Century German Hebraists

A relatively considerable number of images pertaining to the Jewish wedding survived from medieval to early modern Germany. These are to be found in Hebrew illuminated manuscripts, illustrated books of customs (Minhagim-Bücher), decorated Torah binders (Wimpeln), and selected wedding artifacts. However, the most captivating and curious visual evidence on the various stages and customs of the Jewish wedding in Germany is not found in Jewish sources but in the work of eighteenth century Christian Hebraists. Despite the clear anti-Semitic overtones in their work, the images inserted in their books provide rare and significant insights into Jewish practices, folk beliefs and traditions, interior views and intimate moments, and other rare glimpses into Jewish life in contemporary Germany. This presentation is for the following text(s): Images of the Jewish Wedding Click here to view the video

The beginnings and fluorishing of Ketubbah illustration in Italy : a study in popular imagery and Jewish patronage during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

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The Beginnings and Flourishing of 'Ketubbah' illustrations in Italy: A Study in Popular Imagery and Jewish Patronage during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

During the 17th and 18th centuries a small group of relatively wealthy Jews, living as a segregated religious minority in the ghettos of Italy, adopted a particular practice of commissioning sumptuously decorated marriage contracts for the wedding ceremonies of their offspring. Drawn on large and costly pieces of parchment, these contracts consisted of the traditional text of the Jewish marriage contract (ketubbah, pl. ketubbot) which was framed by a wealth of colorful decorative and figurative representations. The elaborate decorative programs in these ketubbot closely reflect the artistic tastes of their patrons, their beliefs and customs, their relations with the surrounding Catholic society, their economic standing, and their inner social stratification. Notwithstanding these facts, a thorough art-historical study, taking into account all these components, has never been attempted before.Following an introductory chapter which surveys the historical development of the ketubbah and its decoration in Jewish societies around the world, the second chapter investigates the beginnings of this phenomenon in Italy. It answers questions such as who were the first patrons to commission decorated ketubbot, and where, when, and why they started to do so. The third and fourth chapters are dedicated to the height of the Italian ketubbah illustration. The visual sources, meaning and reasons for popularity of the three most recurrent motifs, viz., the portal imagery, the zodiac cycle, and the allegorical personifications, are analyzed in the third; while the various ways in which symbols of ownership and personal allusions were incorporated into the decorative programs constitute the subject of the fourth. In the concluding chapter, the overall meaning of the illustrated ketubbah and the place which it occupied in the life of contemporary Jews are examined vis-a-vis the reactions of the rabbinical and communal authorities and parallel phenomena in the Catholic society. Underlying this discussion is the conclusion that the richly illustrated contracts served to epitomize the hidden aspirations of the wealthy Jewish families, wishing to imitate the manners and artistic tastes of their Christian noble neighbors while still maintaining the Jewish identity.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 1987.School code: 0031