Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean by Edward Kritzler

If one is interested in the beginning of the age of mercantilism and how Jews and secret Jews played a major part, then this book is bound to pique one's interest.  The author's thesis is fascinating: with the expulsion from the Spain, Jews were motivated in finding new vistas of settlement and enjoyed being a part of the age of exploration starting with Columbus' voyage to the New World.  The book is heavy on the politics of the enemies of Spain: England and the Netherlands.  It is a story of the convergence of the three nations on the island of Jamaica.  It is the story of the rise of sugar markets and how the Jewish people made an impact in that trade.

Much is made of the voyages of Columbus and his more than a few New Christians aboard as part of his crew.  The book implies that Columbus might have been sympathetic to Jewish settlement.  Columbus sets out to gain riches for Spain and mines for gold in the New World.  Those that come after Columbus become obsessed with his ‘secret gold mine’.

We are introduced to Oliver Cromwell being sympathetic to readmitting the Jewish people to England and how the Jews spy for him.  We are introduced to the mercantilism of the industrious Dutch and how the Netherlands were always a tolerant society.  We get glimpses of the intolerant Peter Stuyvesant and how the Jewish people from Recife, Brazil end up in the Dutch colony, New Amsterdam. 

The Inquisition plays a major role in frustrating Jewish settlement with its charge of “Judaizing”, and being the objective enemy of the Jewish people.  I felt, however, the book could be misleading. One must be careful with such a charge because in general the Inquisition did not have jurisdiction over practicing Jews.  Only Jews found aiding and abetting a New Christian to return to the ancestral faith could be hauled into the grand inquisitor.  The insincere Catholic convert was really the target and challenge to the Inquisition.  Nevertheless, clearly the original 24 Jews asking for settlement in the Dutch colony felt threatened by the Inquisition.

We are introduced to legitimate Jewish Pirates like Samuel Palache who kept kosher and founded the Neve Shalom in the Netherlands.  He comes off like a true swashbuckling pirate, out to foil his nemesis.  The book, however, is difficult in separating openly Jewish people, Conversos who secretly practice Judaism and New Christians who sincerely converted to the Catholic faith.  There seems to be ample proof of Sefardic (Spanish?) names on record, however, there is rarely real proof who were legitimate Jewish buccaneers fighting Spain and who were sincere Catholics out for real profits.

The book’s strong point is the history of the age of exploration and the emergence of the quest for capital with emerging trade routes and fighting lanes in the Atlantic Oceans and Caribbean seas.

Power Faith and Fantasy by Michael B. Oren

Power Faith and Fantasy is a weighty history of the USA’s involvement in the Middle East by Michael B. Oren.  The content and theme of the book is truly incorporated in the book’s title.  As an emerging world power with its religious missionary citizenry enamored with the Holy land, America creates some interesting fantasies and attempts at solving the area’s problems.

The book proves that oil was not the beginning nor sole interest of the USA in the area.  Involvement of the USA in the area begins with the creation of a Marine Corps to release US shipping from the grips of Barbary Muslim pirates in the time of Jefferson.  Instead of paying tribute, the US decides to use force and power to effectively ease and safeguard US shipping to Europe.

American missionaries established outposts and schools with the hope of converting the ‘Ayrab’.  Such a position would prove to be not only untenable but underscored great misunderstandings and fantasies about the indigenous people of the Middle East.  American arrogance comes through in the expectation that the people of the Middle East would obviously see the advantages of Western Democracy.  The shock to missionaries that Muslims reject their way of life and beliefs sends them reeling.  Brutal handling and assaults create the dangers requiring rescue missions. America would come to the missionary’s aid under the pretense of morality.

Hollywood has created a romantic vision of the Middle East that contributes to the fantasies about the area.  In spite of the fact of much testimony to the harsh realities, dangers wrought in the area and the proud nature of its peoples, the USA seems opaque to the possibility that there is a legitimate clash of civilizations. America remains enamored with the birthplace of three of the world’s religions and still feels a largesse toward the area.

Cold War politics played the heaviest role in the USA choosing Israel over the Arab oil states as an ally against the Soviet Union.  Now that the Cold War is past, and the Soviet Union is broken up, one wonders whether the alliances will change.

Anyone interested in a deep understanding of America’s relationship to the Middle East and Holy land will gain much knowledge from this contribution.

One State Two States by Benny Morris

Benny Morris has written a very disturbing book called One State Two States in which he analyzes the current trend among liberal intellectuals that posit the solution to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is one democratic state in the Middle East.  Morris uncovers this so-called solution as an old idea that really implies eliminating the State of Israel through natural demographics.  Without mentioning the actual statistics but stressing the value of equality, some intellectuals suggest that one state giving citizenship to all the ethnicities would solve the conflict.

With historical aplomb and dexterity, Professor Morris demonstrates that not only did this idea arise in the past but failed miserably.  Professor Morris reminds the reader that the fundamental reason the conflict has not ended is due to Arab irredentism and rejection of the Jewish state.  Demanding a democratic state over a nation-state according to the intellectuals is the contemporary view; the idea of the nation-state is passé. Dr. Morris raises some of the counter arguments. For example, France and Germany are nation-states that have large ethnic populations but nobody seems to demand that those countries change their makeup!  Why start with Israel?

He points out that when the Arab neighbors desire peace the Israelis make enduring treaties.  Theologically, however, the Muslim world claims all of Palestine and calls the Jewish people interlopers.  Such an environment breeds contempt for the Jewish people. 

What I found fascinating was Professor Morris’ willingness to go with a two state idea in solving the conflict by raising an old idea: the Jordanian option.  Should King Abdullah choose to take back, manage and incorporate the West Bank and its Palestinian population there would be a viable solution.  This conclusion basically acknowledges that the chances of a solution are slight.

This book is forcefully argued and well worth reading for a brief historical account of the different options in solving the conflict: ‘bi-national one state’ or ‘two state solutions’.

The Chain of Miracles: Divine Providence in the Midst of Nazi Persecution by Rabbi Meyer Juzint

As a master religious educator, Rabbi Juzint sets out by explaining that there are 3 types of miracles.  There are those that are natural and are taken for granted. For example, when one wakes up from sleeping, no one thinks about why one wakes; one takes for granted the cycle of sleeping and waking. Waking up, nevertheless is a miracle. There are miracles that are beyond explanation like when a doctor tells a patient that there is nothing else to do or there is no cure yet somehow the person rallies and recovers.  The third type concern the miracles found in circumstances that upon reflection one sees that an alternate turn of events would have resulted in a completely different end.  This slim powerful memoir concentrates on the last type of miracle even though the rabbi experienced all three types. 

Rabbi Juzint loses his extended family of seventy. From the time the Germans enter Lithuania the rabbi is either on the run or captured: sequestered either in a ghetto or concentration camp.  He is liberated by the British at the infamous Death Camp of Bergen - Belsen. Under constant pressure, torture and mental anguish, the rabbi wonders how indeed he woke up every day!  He sees brutal murders, he experiences merciless beatings, even one on the day of his liberation from which he never fully recovers causing him headaches for the rest of his life.

This memoir is not an indictment against the world. The rabbi is quick to remark about the many kindnesses that he experienced by some unusual courageous people.  He mentions that Sudetenland Germans of Czechoslovakia were not bloodthirsty like the S.S. or the Lithuanians but rather, actually showed kindness in dealing with the Jewish people.

Rabbi Juzint's entire experience of 4 years evading death at the hands of Nazis and other Jew haters reflects a chain of events that in every case turns the rabbi away from an unnatural end, teaching the concept of personal Providence. The rabbi describes the sweet ring of "you are free!" upon being liberated as he collapses from just previously receiving a blow to the head from one of Nazi guards. Inexplicably, he awakes as a free person immediately reflecting on his miraculous survival.

This amazing volume reminds me of my own rebbe, Rabbi Dovid Lifshitz ZTz"L the Suvalker Rav relating to our class that we Americans don't know what "pressure" really is. He experiences unspeakable horrors in Poland before in he made his way to the USA via Shanghai.  Rav Dovid would explain how much he enjoyed going to the fruit market on Amsterdam Ave. (in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan)  to pick out special fruit for the Shabbos WITHOUT FEAR!  I can just imagine what it meant to Rabbi Meyer to be able to teach Torah to so many students without any fear.

This book is an important contribution not only to Holocaust studies but also to religious education, inculcating belief in the context of evil.

Six Days of War June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East

Michael Oren has written probably the definitive history of the Six Day War.  Although it is history, it reads like a thriller.  There are two features that I think are worth sharing about the book: Yitzchak Rabin's relationship to Moshe Dayan and the prime minister at the time of the war, Levi Eshkol.

In recounting the events that led up to the war, the reader gets a profound sense of the prudence and wisdom of Levi Eshkol.  His wit, dry Yiddish humor come across in a very compelling way.  His desire to gain consensus shows leadership and prudence often necessary when such profound decisions need to be made.

Throughout the book, one gets the feeling that Yitzchak Rabin was constantly under the thumb of Moshe Dayan.   Dayan comes off as the supreme egoist at the expense of Rabin.  Dayan seems to have taken all the credit by which Rabin was responsible.  The reader learns of the mental breakdown suffered by Rabin and his relative quick recovery during the war.

The book is a fascinating critical study of the real theater of war on the one hand along with a critical historian's eye for the miraculous events that accompanied the prosecution of that war.  This is an excellent critical history.

Up Stream by Ludwig Lewisohn

This is an autobiography of the modern drama critic.  His story is an extraordinary experience of prejudice and a repudiation of assimilation.  Lewisohn was a founding member of Brandeis University and became an ardent Zionist.

His story is amazing because as a young German immigrant his irreligious father encourages his son's acculturation and assimilation into Charleston, South Carolina's gentile community.  Lewisohn becomes a Church going American and is rudely awakened when in spite of explaining his allegiance to Church and country he is labeled a Jew.  When he protests, he is told that his features are "too Jewish" to be ignored!  He tries very hard to overcome the bias against him and when he gets into Columbia College and gets a doctorate he is told that there will not be any job for him.  He is forced to take a job at Ohio in the German department instead of settling down in his beloved field of literature.

He loses his job when his pacifism during WWI is interpreted as sympathy for Germany; his loyalty is questioned and he feels the alienation of one socially shunned.  He comes to the conclusion that the Jew will never be accepted in a non-Jewish environment and encourages a Jewish environment (not necessarily religious) and a Zionist outlook.  He looks toward his Jewish heritage for comfort and finds inspiration in being Jewish.

I am not sure whether his story will resonate with contemporary readers.  His experience seems to coincide with the rise of American isolationism and the curtailing of immigration.  He bore the brunt of its effects.  However, the injustice that he experienced is 'eye opening' since one does not expect such things to happen in America!  Lewisohn's fictional account repudiating assimilation called The Island Within,(also reviewed on this Blog) is a better articulated argument, however, the actual history is worth reading.

Only the Ball was White by Robert Peterson

This volume is a piece of Americana, a history of black professional baseball before the color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson in the Major leagues.  It is a history of that great blight on American society when great players like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson entertained thousands of Americans at big league ball parks when the Major League team was on the road.  It is a story of exploitation and greed, a story of prejudice but also a great story of hope and expectation that sooner or later America would see the real talent in Black Baseball.

One reads about the organizational skills of Rube Walker and how he took care of the his players.  One learns  of the promotional skills and business acumen of people like Abe Saperstein and Eddie Gottleib. The most interesting aspect of this history, however, is learning about the colorful personalities in Black Baseball.  For example, one learns how Satchel Paige refused to be exploited and was not afraid of changing teams when he felt slighted.

Satchel Paige did not develop a curve ball until he was in his 40s!  His fastball had that nasty habit of fooling batters because it hopped as it crossed the plate. He was a master showman and entertained every time he pitched.

One learns some great legends about the history of baseball.  For example, one learns that before there was a color barrier Black players had to worry about getting spiked by opposing players.  Wooden shin-guards were developed for the second baseman because he had to expect instead of a head first slide, a spikes high slide.  One learns that the prejudiced player would sharpen his spikes and split the shin-guards!

Josh Gibson, the Babe Ruth of the Negro leagues was so legendary that they tell the story that he hit a home run  ball that did not come down in Pittsburgh but was called an out the next day in Philadelphia when the ball landed in the outfielders glove!  The pitching great Walter Johnson testified to the talent of Gibson by calling him a $200,000 ball player because that is what any team would pay for his contract were it not for the fact that he was "colored".

Cool Papa Bell could be on third base before the catcher figured he was stealing second!

Not every black player was a major leaguer, however, so many players made there way to Major League Baseball: Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Larry Doby.  Even Willie Mays got his start in the Negro Leagues.  Professional black baseball was so unnecessary and only highlighted this country's bigotry.  The book points out for example, that the baseball leagues in Mexico lacked any prejudice because there was accepted diversity.

This book is a worthwhile read in the history of American sports.