Everything regarding Judaism (History, Talmud, Torah, Halacha, Yom Tov, Shabbat, Aggadah, Midrash, Philosophy, Sages, etc.) can be a subject for life. I always regret that a day only has 24 hours. For me, this is not enough time, as I am having too many things to do. Besides my private life, I would love writing about so many different subjects but special articles require research and time. Suddenly you turn around and you are already 40 or 50 years old and you get the feeling like "running out of time". People giving lectures about hundreds of different subjects always raise my suspicion. Intense research on one topic takes at least a few months but mostly years. How can I place myself in front of an audience without deeper knowledge and having read a Wikipedia page ?
One of those subjects I would love to spend more time on are the Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Not too many people think about this anymore today. The world screams about the rights for Palestinian refugees although in history, a Palestinian people has never existed.
Until the 1940ies and 50ies, hundreds of thousands of Jews used to live in Arab countries such as Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia, Kurdistan or Algeria. In the end, those Jews had to leave their home and property behind. I heard that there were Jews from Morocco who even walked on foot to Israel. In those days, no Nefesh be'Nefesh existed and Sephardic Jews immigrating to Israel did neither receive any benefits. Especially not an Ulpan (Hebrew language course), as every Oleh Chadash gets today.
There are quite a few elderly Moroccan Jews in Israel who still know Arabic. The same with Lebanese or Syrian Jews. Kurdish Jews still speak their language and so do the Persians. If anyone in Israel understand Arab mentality, it is the Sephardic Jews who once lived in Arab countries.
There are historical statements claiming that, in general, the Arabs treated the Jews much better than the Christians. Those statements were being made in regard to the medieval Spain, and parts of Europe and Babylon (now Iraq). There is no doubt that there was a tremendous difference how the Jews of medieval Spain were treated by the ruling Muslims and the Christians. Under Muslim reign, Jewish life used to prosper whereas after the Christian conquered Spain, Jews became an outcast. Then, the real anti - Semitism and, later on, the Inquisition, began. On the other hand, we shouldn't forget the Muslims of the 20th century also turning against the Jews.
Here is a new interesting video, once again, raising the almost forgotten subject of the Jewish refugees escaping Arab countries.
Links:
Justice for the Jew from Arab Countries
Forced Migration
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