Greco-Persian Wars

• The setting of the book took place in Warsaw, Poland, during World War 2. At the time, German soldiers, otherwise known as Jackboots, invaded Warsaw. Being who you were, meant the difference between life and death. The main character of the book is Misha. Before he met Uri, another character, he was called “Stopthief.” It wasn’t really his name but he assumed this because that’s what people called when he ran with loaves of bread. Misha had no family nor friends at the time. He had no place to…

Adolf Hitler, leader of the fascist Nazi party, seized power in Germany during early 1933. Almost immediately after, they began scapegoating Jewish people, blaming them for the problems Germany faced after World War I. On April 1st of the same year, a national boycott of Jewish owned businesses was announced. In the weeks that followed, legislations were passed forcing Jews out of civil services. This was part of Hitler’s larger plan to exterminate all Jewish people from Germany and…

Discrimination against the Jewish religion has a major impact around the world. The Jewish religion is very important because in the world today, religion takes up a big part. Just because of people’s religion choice they could get discriminated, beat to death, or even people will hate their religion as a whole and all of the people that stand for that said religion. Since people have the right to state their opinions everyone should care about everyone’s religion they choose. Opinions can hurt…

The Jews of Anatevka experienced both the threats of annihilation and assimilation in their Russian community. Outside of Anatevka, the world was changing and experiencing modernization. Liberal ideas began to take speed. The changing values that individuals tried to spread throughout Russia posed a threat to the traditional, long-established ideals of Judaism. On the other hand, Russian, violent attacks against the Jews also seemed to be a perceived threat. Russian pogroms threatened the safety…

Jerusalem had been completely destroyed, and the temple had been burned in 586 B.C. Zerubhabar led the first group of Jewish exiles to return and begin the rebuilding phases of the temple. Ezra led the second group, and Nehemiah proceeded him. The Persians dominated the Near Eastern world at the time, however they allowed the Jews…

The Samanids were part of a greater collation of local dynastic regions that sought to defray the orthodox traditions of installing a Arabic descendent of Muhammad to govern the Persian peoples. In some ways, the local Samanid government was primarily Sunni, but the government was very tolerant of Buyid Twelver Shias that were in close regional proximity. These regional dynasties defined the important role of religious tolerance…

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas The title of the movie appears to be a pun on words. It offers multiple meanings of who the real protagonist of the movie is and how could a viewer understand the meaning and purpose of the story. The sting of death is like a pinch on one’s skin that makes one think about the act of pinching and also the pain involved in it. The one in pain would reflect on his or her skin as the platform that lives with a destiny of experiencing a pinch or an injury, and the…

Mohit Ray’s Shakespeare’s Construction of the Jew discusses the complex nature of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. The central argument is that Shylock’s construction relies more heavily on “historical imagination” than on “historical reality” (Ray 1). Shylock is created using the contemporary and prejudiced views of the audience; this image “becomes the stereotype and historical image of a Jew” (1). Although Shylock is a very strong adoption of the traditional image of the Jew, Ray points out…

and purple; tiny, yellow pinpricks of head lights moving along the network of streets like little ants. Towers boasting of elegant curves and sharp edges strain themselves around me, trying and failing to reach my height. To my right stretches the Persian Gulf and if I stare long enough to my left I can imagine seeing the Gulf of Oman over miles of undulating sand dunes. A cold rush of emptiness overtakes me and I absently remove a golden pocket watch from my vest. It is a very unique watch,…

Beginning in his hometown of Tudela, Benjamin set out to record as many jewish settlements as he could find and hear about. He left Tudela between 1159 and 1163 and returned in 1172/1173. During this time he visited many places listing them all in his travel diary known today as The Itinerary on Benjamin of Tudela. What is left of his itinerary today is nothing more than the town name, the distance to the town, the prominent Rabbis and scholars of the town, and the occasional description of his…