It’s been fascinating to watch my daughter explore her Jewish identity as a young adult. At age 13 Olivia decided that she wasn’t Jewish, at around age 18 she started to rethink that decision, and as a university student in her early 20’s she has been actively engaged with Glasgow’s Jewish culture. I can’t speak for her, but I hope one day she will write about the evolution of her identity and what connects her to Judaism.
For now, I’m sharing Olivia’s in depth interview with the Pink Peacock Cafe that recently appeared in the Glasgow University Union’s student magazine. The social justice orientation of this novel new endeavour makes it an inspiring addition to the European Jewish landscape.
Here’s the link: Queer, Jewish, Anarchist, Local: An Interview With pink peacock
I wish we could visit Olivia and take in a little Yiddishkeit at the Pink Peacock Cafe, but it looks like we won’t be travelling beyond the borders of Berlin for quite a while. We did make a trip to Berlin’s new airport to meet our newly adopted dog from Turkey a few weeks ago. He’s keeping us smiling and entertained when we’re not on Netflix.
I’ve also had lots of time to immerse myself in reading about the field of antisemitism research. My initial impressions about the lack of a generally accepted way to define and measure antisemitism have mostly been confirmed. Aside from all the diverse approaches and controversy within the field, there seems to be a huge gap between the findings of academic researchers and the persistent headlines about how Jewish life in Europe is doomed.
Here’s a short piece I wrote on current politics in Germany that ties in some of the recent survey data on public opinion towards Jews and Muslims in Europe: Germany’s Weakened Far Right: What’s at Stake in 2021?
And here’s Bizmark, aka Bizzy. Aside from growling at the very tall man who lives on the floor below us, he’s adapting quite well to his new home.
Donna Swarthout 