Jewish author discusses role of Judaism in world history
Justin Oswald
Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: Campus
- < prev Page 2 of 2
She was referring to A.D. 1290 and the 200 years following in which Jews were subjected to the Spanish Inquisition and were expelled from England, France, Austria and Portugal.
Khazzoom made an elementary school poem a couple lines longer to show the results the Spanish Inquisition had on the Jewish population.
"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and on his ship were a whole bunch of Jews," Khazzoom said.
She also spoke about the ancient Jewish tribes immigrating into Egypt, which resulted in increased Egyptian nationalism, and ended with the enslavement of the Jews. Khazzoom drew a parallel to the modern United States and Mexico because of the hatred caused by immigration.
Khazzoom grew up in what she described as a "proud Jewish-Iraqi home," and began looking for deeper meaning in Judaism besides bagels and cream cheese at the age of four.
Her father was an Iraqi-Jew, but because of growing hostilities towards Jews in Iraq, Khazzoom's father left for Israel. He then went on to become the first Israeli accepted at Harvard University.
Khazzoom's mother was raised as a white Anglo-Saxton protestant, but did not feel at home. Even before Khazzoom's mother met her future husband, she began her search for a new religion. Her mother tried other religions, Hinduism and Islam, but it was not until she entered Judaism that she proclaimed, "Ah! I am home now," Khazzoom said.
Khazzoom is looking for greater acceptance in Israel of all types of Jews. She believes that racism deters many Jews from becoming citizens of Israel.
She said that Jews of any small denomination should not think of themselves as a minority within Judaism, but part of their complex and storied history.
"The more we learn of the heritage, the more we have a feeling of abundance, rather than scarcity," Khazzoom said.
Khazzoom made an elementary school poem a couple lines longer to show the results the Spanish Inquisition had on the Jewish population.
"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and on his ship were a whole bunch of Jews," Khazzoom said.
She also spoke about the ancient Jewish tribes immigrating into Egypt, which resulted in increased Egyptian nationalism, and ended with the enslavement of the Jews. Khazzoom drew a parallel to the modern United States and Mexico because of the hatred caused by immigration.
Khazzoom grew up in what she described as a "proud Jewish-Iraqi home," and began looking for deeper meaning in Judaism besides bagels and cream cheese at the age of four.
Her father was an Iraqi-Jew, but because of growing hostilities towards Jews in Iraq, Khazzoom's father left for Israel. He then went on to become the first Israeli accepted at Harvard University.
Khazzoom's mother was raised as a white Anglo-Saxton protestant, but did not feel at home. Even before Khazzoom's mother met her future husband, she began her search for a new religion. Her mother tried other religions, Hinduism and Islam, but it was not until she entered Judaism that she proclaimed, "Ah! I am home now," Khazzoom said.
Khazzoom is looking for greater acceptance in Israel of all types of Jews. She believes that racism deters many Jews from becoming citizens of Israel.
She said that Jews of any small denomination should not think of themselves as a minority within Judaism, but part of their complex and storied history.
"The more we learn of the heritage, the more we have a feeling of abundance, rather than scarcity," Khazzoom said.
