Reflect

From medieval times to the Modernists (The surprise stories of anti Jewish prejudice)

April 28, 2021

What can any of us do in response to the newer challenges – of anti-Semitism today? I would simply start by saying please open your heart or mind to what Jewish people themselves say needs to change. All too often in recent years, Jews warning journalists, politicians and others about anti Jewish prejudice have been accused of playing political games, of effectively ‘crying wolf’.

The Hidden Histories

March 29, 2021

Whatever (or whomever) we lose, we must lament and later mourn, commemorate and acknowledge. Whatever lessons history teaches us, let’s at least agree, there are lessons that need to be learnt, that we can’t let our histories simply fade.

What’s in a name? Coming out as Andrew Kaufman

March 23, 2021

I’ve been called various things throughout my 39 years.

At school I was called ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Igor’ (the character in cartoon, ‘Count Duckula’) and ‘Gonzo’ and various other nicknames, owing to my prominent nose. I now plan to reclaim my family past, reclaim my name from its early 20th century past. I’m coming out as Andrew Kaufman.

What’s wrong with Jew?

March 11, 2021

In some cases, Jews don’t count as much as they should in contemporary identity politics. In an age of ‘what-about-ery’, those who think they’re on the ‘right side of history’ and ‘progressive’, seem less concerned about Jews than other minorities, largely believing Jews to be white, rich people and therefore not a typical ‘minority’.

The power of remembering (and not letting others distort our stories)

March 3, 2021

Memoir can and must be written because each of us has our own created version of the past. We own it, no one else does, no matter how incoherent our history is.

The silence of others

February 18, 2021

it is very difficult to be open and to protest loudly when living under the most intolerable and oppressive forms of government. I can’t criticise those who remained silent. What I can criticise is those who remain silent now, who still repeat when it’s put to them, ‘why not remember the victims of the past?’ – “these things are better left in the past”.

Andrew Kaufman

Let's take time to pause and reflect