Great Drop, thanks for the deep dive into history, was very interesting to read (but I doubt I will ever watch the show, oh well!)
BTW your post reminded me of two books I've wanted to read for a while: Shylock Is My Name, by Howard Jacobson, and Fagin the Thief, by Allison Epstein. Retellings of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and Dickens's Oliver Twist from the perspectives of Shylock and Fagin. Will try to kick them higher up the pile, might be of interest to you as well if you haven't read them yet.
Also reminded me of an interesting book I read many years ago, called Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised, by Professor Shaye Cohen. Despite the provocative title, it's a fairly academic and dense (he's incredibly smart) cultural history/investigation of the significance of circumcision in Jewish culture and religion, in contrast to the significance of baptism in Christian culture, to which it has has been inaccurately compared.
Thanks for reading even though you'll never watch the show (it's much more of a commitment than reading this post)!
I've heard of Fagin the Thief and would love to read that one. That certainly IS a provocative title but sounds interesting! Thanks as always for the recs. Hope you're having a fantastic summer.
Love that you found the Jewish angle to The Outlander. I loved the first few seasons & then stopped when they were living in the woods of American South. I am obsessed with their theme song though!
Super interesting drop! I really appreciate Gabaldon's talent and comprehensive research and writing method on a different level after reading this. It's really impressive, almost as impressive as your coinage of "penis panic." This is also very astute: "In classic antisemitic fashion, it was believed that Jewish men were both sexually deviant and impotent, and that their circumcisions protected them from venereal disease while also causing venereal disease." Slainte!
A remarkable job you have done Miranda in exploring jewishness in a show that I wouldn’t watch if I was tarred and feathered. In passing there is a display in Jewish museum in manhattan that had a display of a fascist government in Dominican Republic who accepted refugees who fled Nazi germany but were turned away from United States. These refugees were welcomed into and have forced their way into all sorts of government and political positions and our well received, and that was with a fascist ruler, and we still claim to be a democracy. Thank you for the work you are doing. I would hope that some more of your readers would offer up comments to praise the work that you’re providing.
Interesting! I'm not sure that turning away refugees makes you less of a democracy, but I hear you. Thanks, Dad! And I agree about the comments (though you ARE often the first to comment, so you might miss others' comments!). Love you!
Great Drop, thanks for the deep dive into history, was very interesting to read (but I doubt I will ever watch the show, oh well!)
BTW your post reminded me of two books I've wanted to read for a while: Shylock Is My Name, by Howard Jacobson, and Fagin the Thief, by Allison Epstein. Retellings of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and Dickens's Oliver Twist from the perspectives of Shylock and Fagin. Will try to kick them higher up the pile, might be of interest to you as well if you haven't read them yet.
Also reminded me of an interesting book I read many years ago, called Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised, by Professor Shaye Cohen. Despite the provocative title, it's a fairly academic and dense (he's incredibly smart) cultural history/investigation of the significance of circumcision in Jewish culture and religion, in contrast to the significance of baptism in Christian culture, to which it has has been inaccurately compared.
Thanks for reading even though you'll never watch the show (it's much more of a commitment than reading this post)!
I've heard of Fagin the Thief and would love to read that one. That certainly IS a provocative title but sounds interesting! Thanks as always for the recs. Hope you're having a fantastic summer.
Love that you found the Jewish angle to The Outlander. I loved the first few seasons & then stopped when they were living in the woods of American South. I am obsessed with their theme song though!
Penis panic - brilliant
Feel free to use vagina vigilance if you ever need that for a future drop.
Your research and the way you share it with us Drop fans is stunning and funny. Thanks for another fun Friday.
Super interesting drop! I really appreciate Gabaldon's talent and comprehensive research and writing method on a different level after reading this. It's really impressive, almost as impressive as your coinage of "penis panic." This is also very astute: "In classic antisemitic fashion, it was believed that Jewish men were both sexually deviant and impotent, and that their circumcisions protected them from venereal disease while also causing venereal disease." Slainte!
Thanks, babe! You're MY King of Men 🥰
A remarkable job you have done Miranda in exploring jewishness in a show that I wouldn’t watch if I was tarred and feathered. In passing there is a display in Jewish museum in manhattan that had a display of a fascist government in Dominican Republic who accepted refugees who fled Nazi germany but were turned away from United States. These refugees were welcomed into and have forced their way into all sorts of government and political positions and our well received, and that was with a fascist ruler, and we still claim to be a democracy. Thank you for the work you are doing. I would hope that some more of your readers would offer up comments to praise the work that you’re providing.
Also, tarring and feathering happens in Season 5
Interesting! I'm not sure that turning away refugees makes you less of a democracy, but I hear you. Thanks, Dad! And I agree about the comments (though you ARE often the first to comment, so you might miss others' comments!). Love you!