From the End till a New Beginning
Jewish identity in Hungary stands as the focal point of works by 24 of the country’s best authors in Contemporary Jewish Writing in Hungary: An Anthology.

Heureka!
I must begin with a confession, a strange confession perhaps, but a candid one. From the moment I … Tovább »

Zsuzsa Fritz (Program Director)
The Lauder-Joint International Jewish Youth Camp was established in 1990 by the Lauder Foundation and by the American Joint in order to give a great Jewish summer experience and a long-lasting impact on the Jewish identity of the youngsters who had just started to discover their roots in the Eastern-Central – European Jewish communities.

 
Gábor T. Szántó:
The Crunch of Empty Boots
 

Snow.

Flakes of snow.

Falling, falling, flakes of snow.

Marci presses his nose against the glass.

Panting, Santa Claus binds the skis onto his boots. He struggles to move in his thick red quilted coat and trousers, his … Tovább »

I’m beginning to understand the system’s logic
Interview with András Heisler, President of the Alliance of the Jewish Congregations of Hungary
János Gadó

What Hungarian Jews Need to Learn
Ágnes Peresztegi
This paper was delivered at The International Conference on Confronting History: The Historical Commissions of Inquiry  that discussed the various historical commissions appointed by different governments to deal with the role of their country during the Second World War.  Although Hungary failed to establish such a commission thus far, this does not mean that there were not debates about historical research; or that no studies were completed related to the issues of expropriation, looted property, refugees, war crimes and other relevant aspects of the Holocaust.

The speech was delivered in Stockholm at the Nobel Prize ceremony, in October 2002
Imre Kertész
I must begin with a confession, a strange confession perhaps, but a candid one. From the moment I stepped on the airplane to make the journey here and accept this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature, I have been feeling the steady, searching gaze of a dispassionate observer on my back.

Europe and her Jews (or vice-versa)
 
András Kovács
The relationship between Europe and her Jews has deteriorated. Complaints of a new European anti-Semitism are voiced increasingly more loudly and ever more often on various Jewish forums – which then re-surface in European public discourse with … Tovább »

Contemporary Jewish Writing in Hungary
 
Eszter Breuer

Jewish identity in Hungary stands as the focal point of works by 24 of the country’s best authors in Contemporary Jewish Writing in Hungary: An Anthology.
This book published by the University of Nebraska Press is the latest volume in a series … Tovább »

Summary

Gábor T. Szántó’s editorial Alternative” describes the new elements of the Jewish cultural scene in Budapest: the Jewish theatre, the Keset conference (the Hungarian Limmud) and a new cafe called „Sirály” (Seagull): “Here in Sirály they are going to have a small Jewish library … Tovább »

Summary

In connection with the “revolution” at Kossuth tér (demonstration outside the Parliament) János Gadó claims: ..Through the aggressive street demonstrations, the opposi­tion reflects a very bad picture of itself, not of the govern­ment. All this is a blow at democracy, because at … Tovább »

Summary

Along with the rest of the Hungarian media Szombat deals with the upcoming local elections. „Újlipótváros: a place where even right wing representatives are Jewish” is the title of an article by Peter Szego, who interviewed three candi­dates from Budapest’s 13th district. The three … Tovább »

Summary

The first section of this month’s issue of Szombat is dominated by the Israel-Lebanon conflict: two different viewpoints are presented. György Konrád claims in his essay under the title ’’What may come after the rockets? More rockets?”: ”Perhaps radical Islamists find the existence … Tovább »

Summary

In our June issue, two of our colleagues publish analysises of the parliamentary elections and their consequences in Hungary and in Israel. “In the April of 2006 the elections created a situation which changed the stabilizing force of the Hungarian political system alto­gether. It was the … Tovább »

Summary

János Gadó’s editorial deals with the elections in Hungary: „The political right wing in Hungary has stirred and – as for anti-Semitic views – it is carefully starting to disconnect from the extreme right which – along with its traditional version – has acquired an updated version of … Tovább »

Summary

Parliamentary elections will be held both in Israel and Hungary. Attila Novák warns that the feeling of fear spread­ing among Hungarian Jews interprets the word ’’solidarity” as an excluding one.
János Gadó wrote about the murdered young Jewish Frenchman Ilan Halimi, as well as … Tovább »

Summary

In his essay “Europe and Israel” the writer György Konrád dis­cusses how modern Europe needs to be responsible for the reborn Jewish state in the Middle East, and puts the question: “The most recent changes, the radical way of thinking of the new Iranian presi­dent, the electoral victory … Tovább »

Summary

In his editorial (Under reconstruction…the liberation keeps going undisturbed) János Gadó writes about the transformation of one-time left-wing ideologies: “In 1989, in the euphoric moments of the lull of Communism, for a moment it seemed that history had ended, and the light between different … Tovább »

Summary

Péter Szegő’s editorial deals with the danger the Iranian president’s public statement means: he denied the Holocaust and called for the destruction of Israel. Szegő believes that “if Iran should become a nuclear power, it will be unpredictable whether they will attack Israel. ”
Pál … Tovább »

Summary

Our editorial deals with the challenge represented by Hungarian citizens who want to be represented as Jewish nation­al minority; by the Jewish Community Forum (Zsidó Közösségi Fórum), and by the new religious community: United Hungarian Jewish Congregation (Egyesült Magyarországi … Tovább »

Summary

Attila Novák’s editorial was inspired by a short trip to Tunisia: he comments on the relationship between the West and Islam: “The words of Memmi become too quiet next to the multicultural battle cries which only take what it finds pleasant in different civilizations and cultures, and only … Tovább »