Elliot Ratzman's Talk

I really enjoyed this speaker. He was very down-to-earth and spoke to us on an equal level, which is really important when presenting information such as his. Too often speakers on community service and social action talk down and make you feel like a terrible person, and guilty attacking is often not the most affective way to convince an audience to change. I really liked the points that Elliot Ratzman made, and I thought he had some fresh viewpoints and ideas on how we can affectively make a change.

For me, one of the hardest parts about giving is that I always felt like I couldn't truly make a difference. I was only a young member of society who no one really took seriously, and how was I supposed to convinve any one of what to do. How did I know my money was going to a good cause? How did I know if my action or donation would ever really touch someone's life? Recently, I have found inspiration in a good friend of mine, Hilary. She is a fellow students of mine here at UD, and it was she who organized the STAND at UD group on campus. This group works with the national STAND foundation to help stop the genocide in Darfur. Over the course of only two years, I have watched this organization grow from the ground up, to the point where they are now part of a network of thousands who help to fight this injustice. Hilary' s chapter was named "STAND chapter of the month" recently; they attend rallies, help promote awareness on campus, make phone calls and send countless letters to politicians and other local officials urging them to take action, and even help raise money in the community. Hilary leads a message board in which she encourages and helps countless people our age to find ways in which they can really help change the situation in Darfur. Before this, I really don't think I ever had an example of someone who I could identify with that truly made a difference. It is incredibly inspiring to see someone you consider a friend take such leaps to help people who are suffering at the hands of injustice. And finally seeing someone close to me have success has truly made me realize that I can do something concrete to help.

I also really liked that Elliot Ratzman gave me some points on how to affectively pick a cause that is right for you. He said to pick something I am passionate about, because then I will want more and more to help out. He also advised that I find somewhere where I can do more than just donate money occasionally, because then I will feel more mentally and emotionally involved. Most of all I like that he suggested I find something specific and possibly even solvable. By really honing in one one issue and using all available resources to make a change in it, then a concrete solution may result in the time you are working with that organization. Seeing an end finally put to the injustice that you have been working to stop is a really motivating factor to keep pushing and keep fighting for everyone in the world.

Rebekah Klein-Pejsova's talk

First and foremost, I'll agree with most of the other blog participants that this lecture was a bit over my head. I think there was too much crammed into one hour, and with little to no background in the subject area, I found myself lost for the most part. As far as the politics were concerned, I tried to follow along but found myself just getting more and more confused. When I asked Rebekah for a recap of "why this study of Slovakia helps us understand larger ideas," I was given four responses that I could almost understand. I guess I'm going to just try and talk about the one thing that I did get out of her lecture, and I hope that it was one of the things that she intended for me to understand: how Jews and their struggles with identity in Slovakia can provide a case study for how Jews struggle to maintain their own cultural identity and still have a national identity within the country that they live.

As far as I understood, Jews within Slovakia were put in a difficult situation when it came to the creation of Hungary's "Heroes Temple Memorial". On the one hand, this memorial was being created for the Jewish soldiers who lost their lives in the war. However, on the other hand, this was a Hungarian war memorial, and many of the Jews who were being asked to participate were part of the Slovak territory that now belonged to Czech Republic. The Czech repulic wanted to see that the Jews in Slovakia were really loyal to their new borders, and their fears were not unreasonable, given the delicate situation that these Jewish people were in. After conducting an investigation in 1931, they found that Slovak Jews really didn't participate in the Hungarian project. Why is this? The Slovak Jews, while they wanted to commemorate their dead, did recognize their loyalty to their new borders. They liked the higher standards of living that Slovakia provided, and were through dealing with the anti-semetic political platforms in Hungary. So, as a compromise, Slovak Jews began to commemorate their soldiers locally. The created plaques in local cemetaries, etc... They were able to maintain their Jewish identity and their duty to their lost loved ones while still operating within the boundaries of their new nation. It was not so much about assimilation, since for the most part these Jews kept a separate cultural identity; it was about respect for the land that, at the moment, they called home.

I can understand this scenario. Jewish people are scattered all around the world today, and they have been for as far back as I can recall. The concepts of Jewish identity and national identity have always been questioned; can the two be different and still exist harmoniously? It is a question that is difficult to answer, and for all of us who don't have the fortune to live in a Jewish nation, it is a problem that we struggle with daily. This goes back to when I talked about, in another post, whether I was a Jewish-American or an American-Jew. If I call myself a Jewish-American, then I am recognizing myself as nationally American, but culturally Jewish. In this conversation, I think this identification makes me most sense. At the end of the day, I am Jewish, and that culture comes with certain responsiblities that I refuse to ignore. However, I am also a citizen of the United States of America, and for better or worse, I do feel a sense of national identity to this place I have called home for my entire life. And so, when I make decisions, I try to still maintain my responsibilities to my Jewish culture, even if I have to accomodate them a little in order to stay loyal to my national identity. It's a confusing mix of labels, but throughout Jewish history there have been tons ofquestions surrounding Jews and their true loyalties, many times to the point that it lead to their destruction. It is unfortunate, too, that so often the Jewish people were persecuted, because I almost can bet that if you actually took time to ask the Jewish people living in those nations, they would give you an answer similar to that of mine and the Slovak Jews.

Elliot Ratzman

I thought Elliot Ratzman's speech was enlightening. I was especially drawn to his explanation of some theologists ideas about our responsibility to strangers. I like the idea of treating the relationship as holy, and essentially treating everyone as equals and with a blank slate. It is hard to imagine taking this idea to its fullest extent, because of basic human nature, but I like the ideal. A common thread of Judaism is the idea of the mitzvah and I thought this falls in that category. To be able to give to people you most likely will never meet is the ultimate mitzvah. Every day people get caught up in their own problems and don't consider how truly lucky they really are. Knowing that by donating a very insignificant amount of money could help cure children of a life-threatening disease is saddening to me because so few people actually do that. It is very honorable that many Jewish groups have stood up against other genocides not only because of the Holocaust but because of the injustices and atrocities that take place. I liked Ratzman's ideas of how to give as much as you can by using donations as wedding presents. In my own family during the holidays we give small presents to one person and donate the money we would have spent on everyone else to a specific charity. From this lecture I will definitely try to be a better person and Jew, trying to remember how fortunate I am and that I can always give something whether it be time or money to helping those who need it most.

Elliot Ratzman

I really enjoyed Elliot Ratzman’s lecture this week. The talk raised many thought provoking questions, such as “where does the responsibility lay in battling injustices in other countries?”, “why aren’t more people today outraged?” and “how do we manage concern of suffering?” I found two aspects of his lecturing very important. 1. He didn’t encourage all of us to go home, throw out all our wordly possessions, and start a brigade to save the world. Rather, he suggested that if one does want to help, they could start by picking a cause they feel very strongly for, and maybe setting aside part of their income to champion it. 2. He noted that the Jewish community as a whole puts a strong emphasis on helping others, but this of course is not simply limited to Jews. Ratzman mentioned Peter Singer’s views on how we let atrocities be committed around us everyday. Singer calls our indifference “letting children drown,” which I find to be a painful, and sadly true fact of society. Ratzman mentioned that we have a responsibility to help those in need, and with today’s technology, our actual proximity to the problems is inconsequential. I found Ratzman’s lecture to be encouraging for us to make a difference, and not berating us for not doing enough.

Elliot Ratzman- Amy Zitelman

Mr. Ratzman's lecture was really interesting.  During his lecture I was thinking about my sister.  My sister, Jackie, is a really caring and giving person; so much so that most of her everyday thoughts revolve around giving to others.  She completely believes in an unending and infinite responsibility to others.  I really appreciate her and others like her who encourage people to make an extra effort to "click" on the breast cancer site, do freerice on the internet, and participate in other giving products such as those.  I really admire my sister and others that think and act like her, since I do not.  I appreciate their constant and sincere worry and obligation to others because, I admit, I am not that kind of person.  I am willing and happy to be able to give when I can, but I definitely need others to point me in the correct direction.

I appreciated the fact that Ratzman mentioned that Jews should not look at the demand of giving to others as a Christian view of Saints.  It is not our way to give completely of ourselves in order to provide for the other.  Rather there should be a balance; such as the Tzadik that still lives with his family and community.

This lecture was really inspirational to me.  It really made me want to make more of an effort to give when I can, and to live my life with the "others" in mind. 

Dr. Klein

I feel that this lecture was not for a Jewish studies student of my knowledge level. I did not posses the background knowledge assumed by Dr. Klein to understand the depth of her lecture. Although i was quite lost from the majority of the presentation i did find a few details she discussed interesting. I was fascinated by the tactics (or rather the lack there of) used to establish the boarders used to represent the new Jewish community. From what i gathered her main points were on citizenship in inter war Slovakia, Jewish loyalty and nationality. I am interested in her area of studies and would definitely like to expand my knowledge on the history like topics Dr. Klein discussed, but her lecture was just a bit too complex and advanced for someone with my level of experience in Jewish studies. Some pears agree with me on the idea that it would have been possible for her to make her information more understandable and clear as well as more interesting. One thing that i may have been a little more interested in hearing and better able to follow and relate to would have been more about the individual challenges of the Jewish family in the time period and settings she discussed. Again, good discussion but unfortunately for me just not any thing i could really grasp.

Dr. Klein-Pejsova

Having no previous knowledge of the subject, Dr. Klein-Pejsova’s lecture was very confusing and vague. Prior experience with the topic of Judaism in Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechoslovakia would have greatly helped understanding this lecture. Her main point of connecting Jews to their national identity seemed unfounded by her lecture and the slides she showed. I don’t understand how a synagogue being built in a country really relates to those Jews feeling a sense of national identity. That point seemed to be unjust in that there was really no national pride evidence in what she showed us. I thought the point about the borders being randomly selected and the effect that had on people’s lives was very interesting. It was good to know that the Jews in Europe did feel a great sense of belonging to there homelands before Israel came about. The Slovakian Jews were not tormented like other countries after the First World War, which comes as sort of a surprise to me. But the fact that this innovative Jewish nationalistic lifestyle would fall only years later highlights the importance of that time.