Man | Jotup

How a French rabbi helped build a thriving Jewish community in medieval York – before a shocking massacre

Retrieved on:

Saturday, December 30, 2023

The event was led by Rabbi Elisheva Salamo, the first rabbi to live in York for over 700 years.

Key Points:

The event was led by Rabbi Elisheva Salamo, the first rabbi to live in York for over 700 years.
In the history of England’s Jewish communities, York is forever linked with this period of murderous antisemitism.
Historians have long examined how the Christian and Jewish communities co-existed in York both before and, crucially, after 1190.

York’s early Jewish community

The first references to a Jewish community in York date back to the 1170s.
Property deeds held in York City Archives and Durham Cathedral Archives refer to two very substantial properties, occupied by two prominent Jewish figures, Josce and Benedict.
At some point in the 1180s, he wrote to the Jewish community in Joigny, just south-east of Paris, asking for a scholar to be sent to York to teach the community.

A centre of Jewish scholarship and poetry

Research suggests York was a centre
of Jewish scholarship and poetry.
Specifically, Yom Tov said that it was acceptable to allow a gentile into a Jewish household on Chabbad (the Sabbath) for the purposes of the lighting a fire.
As Rabbi Edward Feld notes, the poem is favoured for its insistence that only God can rescue humanity, through his forgiveness.

Historical chroniclers do not agree on whether Yom Tov lived permanently in York, as the city’s rabbi, or whether he was simply a frequent visitor.
This strongly suggests Yom Tov was, in fact, established in York.

Jews were absent from York for 600 years

The 12th-century English chronicler, William of Newburgh, describes Josce and Benedict’s “stone palaces” as “[attracting] the attention of their Christian neighbours”.
In an antisemitic attempt at justification, he implies that their lavishness inspired envy and contributed to the “cause” of the pogrom.

Charter evidence suggests around 150 people died – likely, the entirety of the York community.
Following the expulsion of the Jews from England, by King Edward I, in 1290, there would be no Jewish presence in York for 600 years.
The return of a resident rabbi in York, in 2023, comes amid plans to build a new synagogue.

Louise Hampson works for The University of York. She receives funding from the AHRC and this work on which this articlke is based arose from a government-funded project. John Jenkins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Being an 'authentic' CEO is a job in itself for women

Retrieved on:

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Sound, Woman, Downing Street, Glass, Research, Male, Man, PPE, MP, Leadership, CEO, MacNamara, Human, Cognitive development, Female, Hearing, Management

Prior to that, I’d spent three decades rising up the ranks in the media and university leadership.

Key Points:

Prior to that, I’d spent three decades rising up the ranks in the media and university leadership.
It has taken a clean break from the boardroom to clear the mental clutter.
One bizarre realisation that has bubbled up is that I haven’t seen my natural hair colour in 40 years.

From the glass ceiling to the glass cliff

And of course, there have been advances in breaking the “glass ceiling” that stops women from rising to leadership positions.
But research continues to show how women that do reach senior positions are more likely to leave these roles much sooner than men.
For example, when an organisation in crisis appoints a woman CEO and then dismisses her for failing to achieve a turnaround.
In other words, authenticity is not measured in the same way for male and female leaders.

Working women’s ‘double bind’

Hair, clothing choice, tone of voice and non-verbal behaviour are all discussed as ways to achieve this in the accounts I have collected to date.
Across industries from fashion to railways, women executives feel their appearance is scrutinised as a measure of their competence in ways men’s clothing and demeanour isn’t.
The world desperately needs authentic, ethical and compassionate leadership – by men and women – right now.

Sarah Niblock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

What will you read on the beach this summer? We asked 6 avid readers

Retrieved on:

Saturday, December 30, 2023

That might be a traditional beach read – typically a genre paperback with a propulsive plot – or an opportunity to catch up on the classics you never got around to during the year.

Key Points:

That might be a traditional beach read – typically a genre paperback with a propulsive plot – or an opportunity to catch up on the classics you never got around to during the year.
We asked six experts in reading and writing to share what they plan to read on the beach.

Love and Other Scores by Abra Pressler (and other Australian romantic comedies)

The book I’ll be taking to the beach this summer, just in time for the tennis, is one of Pan Macmillan’s latest offerings: Love and Other Scores by Abra Pressler.
• Harper Collins published Steph Vizard’s The Love Contract (what if pretending to date your neighbour was the solution to your childcare problems?).
• Simon & Schuster published Amy Hutton’s Sit, Stay, Love (the ultimate rom-com for dog people), my own Can I Steal You For A Second?

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka

With winter receding (David Copperfield, followed by Demon Copperhead), I am looking to what kinds of books might fill my summer, so I’m reading a new-to-me crime/thriller writer, Kotaro Isaka.
The novel follows three men who’ve made careers out of hiring themselves as assassins.
And best of all, there is a new Kotaro Isaka novel, Mantis, published this month – just in time for the height of summer, under a shady tree by the sea.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and The Flying Doctor’s Christmas Wish by Kathleen Ryder

Middlemarch and Moby Dick, and this year will be War and Peace.
On a recent trip to central Australia, I met romance fiction author Kathleen Ryder.
Her books include Christmas-themed novellas set in Alice Springs, and my pick for this summer is The Flying Doctor’s Christmas Wish.

Skeletons in the Closet by Jean-Patrick Manchette

The much-anticipated English translation of the only untranslated novel by the reinventor of dark and darkly witty crime novels, Jean-Patrick Manchette, is the book I most hope to read this summer.
Skeletons in the Closet features the hermetic, alcoholic Parisian private eye Eugène Trapon, the only fictional creation of Manchette’s to appear in more than one novel.
Trapon is obviously an heir to Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, but Manchette’s novels are only superficially hard-boiled.

Daisy and Woolf by Michelle Cahill and Between You and Me by Joanna Horton

Some books can’t be digested at once, so this summer I will be returning to Daisy and Woolf by Goan-Anglo-Indian poet and author, Michelle Cahill.
Also on my list is Between You and Me by Brisbane author, Joanna Horton.

The science fiction of Samuel R. Delany and Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang

This summer, I’m aiming to dive deeper into the works of Samuel R. Delany, who was memorably profiled in the New Yorker earlier this year.
Delany is most commonly associated with the New Wave science fiction movement of the 60s and 70s, but his writing spans a fascinating range of genres and subjects.
I’ve also wanted to read Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F.

Beth Driscoll receives funding from ARC Linkage Project grant LP210300666 Community Publishing in Regional Australia Liz Evans' debut novel will be published by Ultimo Press in 2024.
Michelle Cahill is the current Hedberg Writer-in-Residence at the University of Tasmania.

How the 'visionaries' of Silicon Valley mean profits are prioritised over true technological progress

Retrieved on:

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Often feted as geniuses, they are the faces behind the gadgets and media that so many of us depend upon.

Key Points:

Often feted as geniuses, they are the faces behind the gadgets and media that so many of us depend upon.
For there are many who consider the private sector to be far better equipped than the public sector to solve major challenges.
And my work suggests a further disconnect: that the profit motive seen across Silicon Valley (and beyond) frequently impedes innovation rather than improving it.
Allowing executives focused on profits to set technological agendas can incur public costs too.

And this partly explains why major historical innovations emerged from public sector institutions which are relatively insulated from short-term financial pressures.
Market forces alone rarely achieve transformative breakthroughs like space programs or the creation of the internet.
Here those scientists’ and engineers’ talents may be directed at helping advertisers to better keep hold of our attention.

Digital destiny

“Open knowledge institutions” and platform cooperatives are focused on innovation for the collective good rather than individual glory.
If they do, the coming decades could see the development of healthier innovation ecosystems which go beyond corporations and their executive rule.
There will still be a place for the quirky “genius” of Musk and Zuckerberg and their fellow Silicon Valley billionaires.

Peter Bloom does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Three-day week, 50 years on: lessons from a previous Conservative government struggling with a cost of living crisis

Retrieved on:

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Rising prices borne disproportionately by low-wage workers, particularly in a public sector squeezed by a “Tories in turmoil” UK government.

Key Points:

Rising prices borne disproportionately by low-wage workers, particularly in a public sector squeezed by a “Tories in turmoil” UK government.
Not December 2023, in fact, but December 1973, as Britain prepared for the three-day working week that commenced on January 1.
The union was pushing for an improved pay offer from the miners’ employer, the state-owned National Coal Board (NCB).
Edward Heath’s Conservative government was determined to resist the miners’ claim.

What caused the crisis

The crisis had been caused by the big switch in Britain’s energy market from coal to oil.
Coal had been king as late as 1957, responsible for 80% of energy consumed in Britain.
Accompanied by the rise of natural gas and introduction of nuclear energy, the coal miners felt this transition was unjust.

This appealed to young miners, who were conscious of their vital social role in powering Britain’s homes and workplaces.
Their sense of injustice was piqued by friends and relatives earning more in easier factory jobs, assembling cars and consumer goods.
They first mobilised for a national strike in 1972, the first since 1926.
Remembered most for the mass blockade of Saltley fuel depot in Birmingham, this won the miners a big pay increase.

The present day

Beckett argued that it made visible two important elements of the future of work.
One was extended working time, with non-essential factories and offices running 12-hour shifts on their permitted days.
This meant they were employed normally during the three-day week, whereas there was enforced idleness among the greater clustering of men in non-essential industrial occupations.

Two further observations can be made, reflecting back on the three-day week being related to energy and the insecurity of essential workers.
The 1973 drama, while driven by the coal dispute, was aggravated by the external shock of Opec production controls and the five-fold oil price increase.
Our difficulties in 2023 are similarly multi-causal, but inflation and economic insecurity have been amplified, as in 1973, by oil and gas price hikes.

Jim Phillips has received funding from the Leverhulme Trust..

Young people took up smoking during the pandemic – how tobacco has been used for stress relief for more than a century

Retrieved on:

Saturday, December 30, 2023

But during some of the most anxiety-ridden months of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, that rate of decline slowed almost to a stop.

Key Points:

But during some of the most anxiety-ridden months of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, that rate of decline slowed almost to a stop.
A recent study suggests that the social disruption, boredom and stress brought about by the pandemic may have contributed to a rise in young people taking up smoking.

Smoking as stress relief

For some, it was the drug of modernity, as its soothing effects (caused by nicotine) were the ideal antidote to the stress and tension that came with the machine age.
The invention of new technology such as the telegraph and railways made life more fast-paced and stressful.
At the turn of the 20th century, even medical journal The Lancet suggested that smoking could ease the “restlessness and irritability” that accompanied urban life.

In earlier conflicts, including the Boer war (1899-1902) and the Crimean war (1853-56), many military and medical writers had said much the same thing.
But the machine-made cigarette made smoking more accessible.

Concerns about young smokers

As I’ve found when reading journals from the early 1900s at the British Library, smoking was seen by some doctors and anti-tobacco activists to cause bad manners and antisocial behaviour in idle young boys.
Smoking was endangering the health of the next generation and, by extension, the health and longevity of the British empire.
Much like the young soldiers who had to endure a mix of intense stress and numbing boredom in the major wars of the modern era, the new, youthful smokers of the pandemic perhaps lit their first ever cigarette to deal with life in lockdown.

Michael Reeve does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

How Balzac created the myth of the spinster

Retrieved on:

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Ideally, she will be quite ugly, a little bitter, if not downright nasty, recalling our representations of witches.

Key Points:

Ideally, she will be quite ugly, a little bitter, if not downright nasty, recalling our representations of witches.
And were those patterns not incriminating enough, one of his novels is entitled Spinster (Vieille fille).

The spinster, public enemy number one

He writes
“By remaining unmarried, a creature of the female sex becomes void of meaning; selfish and cold, she creates repulsion.
This implacable judgment of the world is unfortunately too just to leave old maids in ignorance of its causes.
“By remaining unmarried, a creature of the female sex becomes void of meaning; selfish and cold, she creates repulsion.
This implacable judgment of the world is unfortunately too just to leave old maids in ignorance of its causes.
What is most frightening about the spinster is her independence, her profound inability to be subject to a man.

A disturbing absence of sex life

Under his pen, old maids lose their femininity and almost systematically acquire a form of androgyny.
Not having a sex life, or even claiming it, for a short period or throughout one’s life, continues to disturb society.

Mademoiselle Gamard, Sylvie Rogron and Cousin Bette subjugate the men around them in an unnatural ascension.
Seen from this angle, the female celibacy portrayed in La Comédie Humaine takes on an anarchic, almost revolutionary quality, capable of threatening age-old institutions.

Loup Belliard ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

Israel: why the brand boycotts probably won't make much difference

Retrieved on:

Thursday, November 9, 2023

McDonald’s found itself caught in the crossfire after an Israeli franchisee said it was providing thousands of free meals to the Israel Defense Forces.

Key Points:

McDonald’s found itself caught in the crossfire after an Israeli franchisee said it was providing thousands of free meals to the Israel Defense Forces.
Similarly, Starbucks faced boycott calls after disagreeing with a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by the chain’s union expressing solidarity with Palestine.
Many other American companies are being targeted, in some cases purely for their government’s support for Israel.
More broadly, there have been boycotts over everything from the Ukraine war to “woke” branding.

Case study 1: Danish cartoons

In 2005 Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten caused huge offence to many Muslims over cartoons satirising Prophet Muhammad.
Much of the outrage was directed at the Danish government for refusing to take action, while Danish-Swedish food group Arla became a lightning rod for calls to boycott Danish products.

Case study 2: the Ukraine war

Both consumers and western companies boycotted Russia and Belarus after the Ukraine invasion in 2022.
Among the companies pulling out or temporarily halting operations were McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, BP and Shell.

Case study 3: anti-wokeism

In 2015, Starbucks initiated a national conversation about race relations and attempting to bring different racial groups together.
This attracted much criticism online for being self-serving, with people pointing out that the chain’s staff weren’t particularly ethnically diverse.
More recently, Bud Light faced a two-week boycott from conservatives after its “woke” campaign online featuring trans activist Dylan Mulvaney promoting a tallboy can.

What it means for the Israel boycotts

Judging by the experiences of Denmark and Russia, brand boycotts appear to exert minimal influence on the target nation’s economy.
In the absence of coordinated sanctions against Israel, social media is likely to be the sole means of pressuring companies and governments into change.
Companies trading in Israel or even whose government is backing the offensive could easily fall into that category.

Dr Aisha Ijaz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Ubuntu offers lessons in how to treat people with disabilities – a study of Bomvana rituals

Retrieved on:

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Many activists advocate for the use of “people/persons with disabilities” and not the “handicapped” or “disabled”.

Key Points:

Many activists advocate for the use of “people/persons with disabilities” and not the “handicapped” or “disabled”.
To them the word “disability” is stigmatising because they don’t have such a term in their vocabulary.
I found that good health and wellbeing relies on rituals, which are the essence of life among the Bomvana people.
This offers lessons in the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities.

The study

For my study, 50 people were selected for interviews and focus groups from three rural villages – Gusi, Hobeni and Xhora in the district of Elliotdale – with the assistance of chiefs and community members.
My study focused on three rituals which mark important stages in a person’s life:

Efukwini (behind the door), which provides a sacred space for giving birth in which the mother and infant remain separate from the rest of the household for 10 days to protect the child from evil forces. When the nursing mother is in seclusion, AmaXhosa believe that the child is connected to the ancestors for its protection and recognition as a member of the family, including all people with disabilities.
Intonjane (female initiation rite), marking a girl’s rite of passage to womanhood, performed between her first menstruation and her wedding. The ritual is done for all young women, regardless of whether they are disabled.
Ulwaluko (traditional male circumcision), in which boys learn about acquiring their identity and social responsibility as men. A person with disability belongs to the community and must not be excluded from this ritual. All boys must be taught to become men, regardless of disabilities.

The findings

If they didn’t, it’s believed, the rituals would be rejected by the ancestors and misfortune would arise.
The Bomvana also believe illness can be prevented through performing rituals to the ancestors, who are seen as intermediaries between God and people.
I found that rituals provide a safe space for people with disability by virtue of being inclusive.
Disability is seen as outside the body:
Disability is like a blanket any other spirit is wearing.
There are, however, also negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities in the broader Bomvana village society outside of the rituals.

What this means

The AmaBomvane belief in ubuntu – social justice and fairness – could be a model for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their rights.
The Bomvana case could encourage others to embrace a spirituality that supports resilience and stability.

Nomvo Dwadwa-Henda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Narges Mohammadi: 2023 Nobel peace laureate on hunger strike after being denied medical treatment over hijab ban

Retrieved on:

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Narges Mohammadi, the recipient of the 2023 Nobel peace prize for her long fight against the oppression of women in Iran, is reported to have started a hunger strike.

Key Points:

Narges Mohammadi, the recipient of the 2023 Nobel peace prize for her long fight against the oppression of women in Iran, is reported to have started a hunger strike.
Mohammadi is serving multiple sentences in Iran’s infamous Evin prison on charges that include spreading propaganda against the state.
Her rights campaigns were characterised by the Nobel prize committee as a “brave struggle [that] has come with tremendous personal costs”.
According to data gathered by non-profit organisation Iran Human Rights, five protesters and 13 women have been executed in 2023.

Women, life, freedom

Social media – among women in Iran and worldwide – has been buzzing with the hashtag.
Women were at the forefront of the mass protests that led to the downfall of the last shah of Iran.
In 1983, four years after the revolution, the Islamic authorities passed a law making the wearing of the hijab compulsory.
But those who stayed increasingly used newly developing digital tools such as social media to campaign and share stories of harassment and discrimination.

Hunger strike

Narges Mohammadi has become a key figure in the women’s rights movement in Iran.
Despite having trained as an engineer, she took up journalism and wrote regular criticisms of the treatment of women, as well as the the country’s poor human rights record in general.

As an inmate in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, she has led women’s resistance in support of the woman, life, freedom campaign.
According to a statement from her family released by the Free Narges Mohammadi campaign, she began her hunger strike in response to two issues: “The Islamic Republic’s policy of delaying and neglecting medical care for sick inmates, resulting in the loss of the health and lives of individuals.
A 17-year-old girl, Armita Geravand, died in October after receiving a head wound while riding Tehran’s metro without a headscarf.
In the fight against the global rise of authoritarianism, the key might lie in supporting women’s rights and grassroots feminist activism.

Hind Elhinnawy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.