There is a classic expression that asserts “when cannons roar the muses fall silent.” In times of distress and upheaval, creativity and art may falter. However, there are always those artists who quietly and stubbornly continue their work no matter what the circumstances. The recent exhibition “Jewish Art in Ukraine: The Torah in the Paintings […]
The Kyiv of his youth was very different from today’s busy capital of Ukraine. The city was greener, and quieter. Life was calmer. The city was infused with the mysteries of the past, and held more secrets. The climate was more bracing—with honest cold snaps and dry snowy winters. Kyiv springs were velvety and the […]
One of the old jokes during the Communist era in Eastern Europe was the quip that you could never predict history. Official interpretations of the past could change suddenly and radically. You had to be adept—and cynically clever—to keep up with changes in the party line. In the post-Soviet era, Ukraine has the challenges, and […]
Today, let us consider identity. Identity may be frozen, destroyed, or altered through major life changes such as exile, immigration, or assimilation. Identity is a journey, as a recent conference in Los Angeles has shown. The Jewish organization Limmud FSU, the FSU standing for Former Soviet Union, brought together several hundred people to discuss and […]
Courage and fear. The first quality mobilizes action. The second emotion can paralyze the brain, but not always the heart. Courage and Fear is also the title of a remarkable new book written by the Polish scholar and diplomat Ola Hnatiuk. Her book is a gripping account of both the Soviet and Nazi occupations of […]
The Agnon Literary Center: restoring the link between contemporary Buchach and a literary legend. Welcome to Ukrainian Jewish Heritage on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio. I’m Peter Bejger. Today—some reflections on periphery and center, the province and global culture, and a literary legacy interrupted, lost, and re-imagined. Buchach is a charming town of some twelve […]
Today—some reflections on periphery and center, the province and global culture, and a literary legacy interrupted, lost, and re-imagined. Buchach is a charming town of some twelve thousand people. It is nestled along a river among picturesque forests of the southern Ternopil region of western Ukraine. As with many small towns, the atmosphere is placid. […]
Hanukkah is a joyous holiday, celebrated every year by Jews around the world with the lighting of candles or wicks in olive oil on a candelabra called a “menorah”, or “hanukkiya* in modern Hebrew. Traditional Hanukkah treats include potato latkes, called plyatsky or deruny in Ukrainian, and sufganiyot, doughnuts with jam, called pampushky in Ukrainian. […]
Propaganda. A loaded term that, today, has become so clichéd that its original definition is lost in a sea of moral equivalence. Once, propaganda was merely a word describing … the dissemination of ideas, information or rumour … for the purpose of helping or injuring … an institution, a cause, or a person. Today, unfortunately, […]
Today we will play a game with the alphabet. “A” is for aristocrat, someone who is privileged but also someone who can be considered the best of its kind. “A” is also for ascetic, someone who practices profound self-discipline and abstains from the worldly pleasures of life. “A” is also for Andrei, as in Andrei […]
