Alex Gordon

Reminiscences of Jewish History on the Eve of Yom Kippur

One of the obstacles to Jewish self-determination seems to have been a tradition deeply embedded in the people’s self-consciousness: Jews are responsible for each other; a Jew who does a good deed does it for the good of the entire Jewish people, and, on the contrary, a Jew who does a bad deed brings harm to the entire people. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Jewish Biography: Yakov Sverdlov, Who Might Have Ruled Instead of Stalin

Although millions of Soviet citizens were murdered during his rule, no one blamed the Georgian people for this heinous crime. Stalin would likely have lost the power struggle had it not been for the Spanish flu epidemic that killed Lenin’s most likely heir, Yakov Sverdlov, in 1919. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Travel and Food

A Short History of Jewish Self-Hatred

The author of the term “new antisemitism” is the American historian and publicist Daniel Pipes. The core of this new antisemitism lies in the idea that Jews are not a historically oppressed people seeking self-preservation, but oppressors: imperialists, colonizers, white exploiters. Antisemitism does not disappear, but only changes forms. Auto-antisemitism, that is, Jew-hatred of Jews, is a much older phenomenon than the new antisemitism described, but it doesn’t disappear either, it just changes forms.   [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Israel, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, USA

Jewish Fiction: The Education of Boris Mikhailovich Borisov

Boris Mikhailovich Borisov loved the Soviet power. It lifted him up from the bottom of society and equalized him with its many multinational subjects in rights and lack thereof. Boris Mikhailovich could not pray, but he often and almost prayerfully thanked the dear power for the good life. To succeed, he joined the Communist party, received a law degree, and began seeing a speech therapist to correct his embarrassing Yiddish pronunciation. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, International, Israel, Jewish Fiction, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Musicians in the Family Led Lives of Disharmony

Nachum was an awkward provincial boy with a gentle soul. He was drawn to beauty and was fascinated by the art of music and by my aunt’s appearance. He idolized her and fell under her power. At that time, she was a beautiful young woman, ambitious, bossy, capricious, and everything worked out for her: she was successful in her career and in winning men’s hearts. However, she was at the mercy of national tradition and married a Jew, Nachum, without loving him. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Science, Medicine, & Education, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Why I Didn’t Become French

After my repatriation to Israel, I traveled to France frequently for research work in physics. There I met a French physics professor, a Jew who knew my stepfather and claimed that I could obtain French citizenship because I had French historical roots. I loved the language and culture of France, but I preferred to be an Israeli, if only because of my thoughts on “Where is France going?” [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Israel, Jewish History, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors

OpEd: Honoring Ukraine’s Mass Murderer Simon Petliura is an Obscenity

“The delegation was met by soldiers and officers, […] with what is called a hostility: ‘Half the city (Kiev), all the Jews must be slaughtered. […] All three million Jews must be kicked out of Ukraine.’ Shocked by such sentiments of the Ukrainian troops, the delegation appealed to Petliura to prevent pogroms and bloodbaths in Kiev. Petliura replied that ‘he could not guarantee anything; the soldiers’ sentiments are known to him, but he sees here a thirst for revenge, and not antisemitism… [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, International, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors

A Serious Essay about European Jewish Humor

Self-criticism is inherent in a tolerant society that respects the human being as such and reflects on its mistakes and imperfections. Self-criticism is alien to an authoritarian society. Nations that are satisfied with themselves and look to other nations for faults and blame for their failures are stagnant. Jews are dissatisfied, hence they develop. [Alex Gordon]

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Alex Gordon, Antisemitism, Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Israel, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Trivia, Humor & Satire