Jüdische Studien und die Uni der Zukunft – ein Gespräch mit Susanne Plietzsch
Susanne Plietzsch ist Professorin für Judaistik und leitet seit 2010 das Zentrum für jüdische Kulturgeschichte der Universität Salzburg. Mit ihr sprechen wir über die Inhalte der Jüdischen Studien und das Salzburger Zentrum. Susanne Plietzsch begeistert sich für rabbinische Literatur und hier vor allem Midrasch. Ein wichtiges Anliegen ist es ihr, die Universität und insbesondere die Geisteswissenschaften zu befähigen, auf die Bedürfnisse der modernen Gesellschaft einzugehen.
Musik und Politik – Ein Gespräch mit der Musikwissenschaftlerin, Sängerin und Kulturaktivistin Isabel Frey
Muss jiddische Volksmusik immer Klezmer sein? Unser neuer Podcast stellt jiddische Arbeiterlieder a capella gesungen von Isabel Frey vor. Isabel bemüht sich um eine zeitgemäße Belebung des Gedankenguts des Allgemeinen jüdischen Arbeiterbunds, der bedeutendsten jiddischen politischen Bewegung vor der Shoah und im Zusammenhang damit um eine Stärkung der jüdischen Diaspora, besonders auf kulturellem und politischen Gebiet.
„Mein Ziel war es, arbeitenden Menschen zu ihrem Recht zu verhelfen“ – Ein Gespräch mit der Gewerkschafterin Dwora Stein
Dwora Stein war langjährige Bundesgeschäftsführerin der Gewerkschaft für Privatangestellte, der größten Gewerkschaft Österreichs. In unserem Gespräch beschäftigen wir uns mit der Frage, was es für eine jüdische intellektuelle Frau bedeutete, in der männerdominierten Gewerkschaftsbewegung Karriere zu machen, und welches ihre wichtigsten Errungenschaften waren. Außerdem sprechen wir über das vielfältige jüdische Engagement Dworas.
“Irma’s Passport” – Catherine Ehrlich’s Biography about her grandmother Irma Ehrlich
Jakob Ehrlich, Catherine’s grandfather was one of the most important Zionist politicians of Austria before the Shoah. After the Nazi takeover he was arrested immediately and deported to Dachau where he perished a few months later. His wife Catherine and son Paul escaped to England where Irma became a successful speaker and fundraiser for WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization). She continued this career after her move to New York. After the war she assisted survivors with their restitution claims in Germany. Catherine Ehrlich explains why she focused her book on Irma and how she influenced her life.
The Janina-Project: Life and Work of the Polish Logician Janina Hosiasson-Lindenbaum (1899-1942)
This podcast takes you to Warsaw in the first half of the 20th century. Two philosophers, Naomi Osorio-Kupferblum (University of Vienna) and Marta Sznajder (University of Groningen) talk about the fascinating world of modern logic and mathematically oriented, anti-irrationalist philosophy as well as the new possibilities that opened up for women during World War I and in the interwar period in Warsaw. The Polish philosopher Janina Hosiasson-Lindenbaum became internationally acclaimed at an early age for her work in inductive logic. During the 1930s, she continuously published in top Polish and European philosophy journals, and presented her work at international conferences. Nevertheless, as a woman and a Jew she could never get a position at a Polish university and had to teach in a high-school. In September 1939, she was supposed to present her work on confirmation theory at the Unity of Science Congress held at Harvard University. However, the cost of the voyage across the Atlantic was prohibitive for a teacher like her, so she had to stay in Warsaw. While the attendance of this conference saved the lives of a number of her colleagues who had made it there, Janina became a victim of the holocaust. She was shot in 1942.
Family Issues through the Lens of Law – A Conversation with Daphna Hacker
Daphna Hacker, Professor at the Tel Aviv University Law Faculty and Head of the Women and Gender Studies Program at the Faculty of Humanities, explains the growing importance of improved legislation concerning transnational families. Daphna Hacker also demands changes in inheritance laws that would enable the elderly to secure the necessary care they need. Another topic of our conversation is the recent regression in women’s status in Israel, focusing on two main issues: the weakening of motherhood as a rewarding status, and women’s exclusion from the public sphere. .
“I Belong to Vienna” – A Conversation with Anna Goldenberg
Anna Goldenberg, born in 1989 in Vienna, studied psychology at the University of Cambridge and journalism at Columbia University, New York. She worked for the Jewish newspaper The Forward in New York before returning to Vienna where she now works for the weekly Der Falter and the daily Die Presse. Her book „I Belong to Vienna“ was published in 2018 by New Vessel Press and in German under the title „Versteckte Jahre. Der Mann, der meinen Großvater rettete“. (Hidden years. The man who saved my Grandfather) by Paul Zsolnay Verlag. In the podcast Anna Goldenberg discusses her family’s fate during the holocaust and after the war as well as her role as an author, journalist and granddaughter.
Jewish Women’s Aid – Fighting Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse of Women and Children
It is very often the home that is the most dangerous place for women and children. During the pandemic domestic violence has increased. As Rabbi Lee Wax, London, points out thatit can be found in all strata of society, in all ethnic or religious groups. Therefore, this phenomenon is also a problem for Jewish society. In her conversation with Rabbi Barbara Borts, Newcastel, Rabbi Lee Wax talks about the work and the aims of “Jewish Women’s Aid”, the first organization in Britain that supports Jewish victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. She explains different forms of domestic violence and why it is important to have a specifically Jewish organization for Jewish victims.
Antisemitism and Gender in Hungary
Andrea Petö, Professor for Gender Studies at the Central European University, Vienna, talks with Anikó Félix, Budapest, about her research on women in far-right movements, antisemitism in Hungary and the relationship between antisemitism and Holocaust memory. Anikó Félix received her PhD in Sociology from Eötvös Lóránd Science University, Budapest, Hungary, in 2019. Her main fields of expertise are contemporary far right movements, subculture and parties, right-wing populism and antisemitism. In her research a major focus are gender aspects.
What’s a family? Women and Kinship in Contemporary Israel
The topic of this podcast has been at the center of the second international Bet Debora Conference of June 2001 in Berlin: The Jewish Family. More than twenty years later we are approaching this topic from a completely new angle. Barbara Prainsack, professor for political sciences at Vienna University, discusses with Yael Hashiloni-Dolev, professor for sociology and anthropology at Ben Gurion University, about the ways genetic technologies change our notions of family and the position of mothers in society.
„…Frauen schauen immer, dass das Leben weitergeht.“ Ein Gespräch mit der Journalistin, Schriftstellerin und Menschenrechtsaktivistin Susanne Scholl
Als Auslandskorrespondentin des ORF verfolgte und kommentierte Susanne Scholl den Fall der kommunistischen Regime von Bonn und Moskau aus. Sie verfasste Sachbücher über Russland und die Situation von Frauen im Krieg in Tschetschenien. Daneben publizierte sie Belletristik. In Wien engagiert sie sich bei der Gruppierung „Omas gegen Rechts“, die sich für den Rechtsstaat, Demokratie und eine humane Behandlung von Flüchtlingen einsetzt.
„Ich wünsche mir, von orthodoxen Männern genauso ernst genommen zu werden, wie ein Mann.“ Ein Gespräch mit Shoshanna Duizend-Jensen
Shoshanna Duizend-Jensen wurde 2019 zusammen mit drei weiteren Frauen zu den ersten Vorständinnen des orthodoxen Wiener Stadttempels gewählt und schildert, was es bedeutet, als eine der Ersten in dieser bisher rein männlichen Domäne zu wirken. Seit der Flüchtlingswelle von 2015 unterstützt Shoshanna zusammen mit anderen jüdischen Frauen muslimische Flüchtlinge und hat dabei, wie sie versichert, durchgehend positive Erfahrungen gemacht. Als Historikerin und Archivarin im Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv bemüht sich Shoshanna Duizend-Jensen um die Erschließung und Bewahrung des jüdischen Erbes in Wien. Mit Vorträgen, Führungen und auf Wien Geschichte Wiki, der Website des Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchivs, macht sie eine breitere Öffentlichkeit mit dem jüdischen Leben in Wien und Österreich bekannt.
An die Generationenkette anknüpfen … Ein Gespräch mit Rabbinerin Professorin Elisa Klapheck
Elisa Klapheck ist Rabbinerin der liberalen Synagogengemeinschaft „Egalitärer Minjan“ in der Jüdischen Gemeinde in Frankfurt am Main und Professorin für Jüdische Studien an der Universität Paderborn. 1998 gründete sie zusammen mit Lara Dämmig und Rachel Herweg Bet Debora und organisierte auch die ersten drei Tagungen mit. Sie gibt uns Einblick in die Beweggründe der drei Gründerinnen, ein europäisch jüdisches feministisches Netzwerk zu gründen. Für Elisa war und ist es wichtig, an die Generationenkette jüdischer Frauen im 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert vor der Shoah anzuknüpfen, um die neue Generation von Jüdinnen und Juden aus dem Schatten der Shoah heraustreten zu lassen und neue Formen jüdischer Tradition zu entwickeln. Zentrale Persönlichkeiten und Vorbilder sind für sie Rabbinerin Regina Jonas, die Philosophin Margarete Susman und die Judaistin Pnina Navé Levinson.
Connecting Gender Studies and Jewish Studies in the Age of New Extremes
Andrea Petö, Professor of Gender Studies at the Central European University, Vienna, discusses crucial topics that combine gender studies and Jewish studies with Paula de Villa, professor/chair for Sociology and Gender Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, and Veronique Sina, research associate at the Institute for Film, Theater, Media and Cultural Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz. There are two major debates currently happening: on one hand the connection of Jewish Studies to gender and on the other hand the second debate of historians about the Holocaust in Germany and the rise of the anti-equality movements. The discussion will show how these two debates are connected.
Music is the Heart of the Service
Rabbi Barbara Borts, Newcastle, England, was born and raised in the US. In London, England, she studied at the Leo Baeck College and was the fourth woman to be ordained a rabbi in Europe. In our conversation Rabbi Borts tells us what made her decide to become a rabbi and what has changed over the years for women in the pulpit – and what did not. As she considers music to be central for a religious service she is presently training to become a cantor. As she points out, women cantors are even more controversial than women rabbis, and explains why.
Dialogue – A Window to the Future
In this Podcast Andrea Petö and Norli Lappin-Eppel, both from Vienna, are talking with Simone Suskind in Brussels, Belgium. Simone Suskind is a feminist, a peace activist, and a politician. Simone talks about her initiatives to foster the dialogue between Jewish and Palestinian women as a way to reach a peaceful solution for the Middle East conflict. She also tells us about the Jewish Secular Center in Bruxelles, about her achievements as a politician and her activities to fight antisemitism and prejudice especially among youngsters. Finally, Simone talks about her project of training women as future political leaders in the Maghreb countries.
„Es war ein Pionierspirit…“
Gast dieses Podcast ist Martina Maschke, welche die Abteilung für bilaterale internationale Angelegenheiten und Holocaust Education international im österreichischen Ministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung leitet. In dem Gespräch geht es um die Bedeutung von jüdischer Erziehung im Allgemeinen und der Zwi Perez Chajes-Schule der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Wien im Besonderen. Martina Maschke berichtet weiters über die Verbesserung der Holocausterziehung in Österreich und die Zusammenarbeit mit Yad Vashem. Ein weiteres Themenfeld ist Martina Maschkes Arbeit bei der International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), wo sie sich besonders für die Anerkennung des Roma-Genozids einsetzt.
Bayit – Building Jewish Homes in Europe
Tova Starik was born and raised in Safed, Israel. From there she went to New York to study and is currently living in Vienna. Together with her husband, Rabbi Moshe Starik, she established „Bayit“, an organization that offers seminars for young Jewish professionals to help them find Jewish partners with whom they will build Jewish homes in Europe. Tova also explains the philosophy of Chabad about lighting the spark in every Jew and bringing light to the world.
Jewish Renaissance in Spain. A Talk with Dominique Tomasov Blinder
This Podcast takes us to Barcelona, Spain, where we meet Dominique Tomasov Blinder. Dominique is an architect from Argentina who made Barcelona her home in 1991. Since 1999 she has been dedicated to the study, preservation, dissemination and advocacy of Jewish Heritage in Spain. Dominique describes the re-establishment of a Jewish community in the late 19th century and its development until today. She explains the reasons for the interest of the Spanish government and the Spanish population in Jewish heritage 500 years after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
Balsamic and Coal: Two Rabbis North and South Chat
Rabbi Dr Barbara Borts, who lives in Newcastle, England, and Rabbi Ariel Friedlander, who lives in Modena, Italy, talk about fostering progressive Jewish life in Italy, about how various strands of Judaism in the UK are dealing with the pandemic, and about how their pets have helped them to cope during the lockdowns in the UK and Italy. They share their feelings about the positive and the difficult aspects of Jewish life during the past year.
Heroism of Jewish Women During the Holocaust
Andrea Petö, Professor for Gender Studies at the Central European University, Vienna, talks with Lori Weintraub, Professor of History and founding director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center, Staten Island, New York, and Laura Morowitz, who is currently researching issues of art in Nazi Vienna about the different forms of Jewish women’s heroism. They discuss, why it is important to remember these heroines and what they mean for us today.
Welcome in Vienna, Central European University! A conversation with Andrea Petö, Professor for Gender Studies at the Central European University
Andrea Petö explains why the Central European University had to move from Budapest to Vienna and how this reflects the political situation in Hungary. In this podcast we also look back at the 4th International Bet Debora Conference, which took place in Budapest in August 2006 and was hosted by the CEU. Another topic of our talk is Andrea Petö’s research. Her focus are women in World War II: victims as well as perpetrators. She explains how these divergent topics are connected and why she thinks that it is important to reflect and talk about them.
Vom Wert des Lebens – Ein Gespräch mit Barbara Prainsack
Barbara Prainsack ist Professorin für Vergleichende Politikfeldanalyse an der Universität Wien und Professorin am Institut für Globale Gesundheit und Sozialmedizin am King´s College London. In ihrem neuen Buch „Vom Wert des Lebens“ tritt Barbara Prainsack für ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen für alle Menschen, die in Österreich ihren Lebensmittelpunkt haben, ein. Sie erklärt, warum dies gerade angesichts der durch die Corona-Pandemie ausgelösten Wirtschaftskrise notwendig ist und wie es die Situation von Frauen positiv beeinflussen würde.