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Germany

'The World's Most German Jew' Takes On Neo-Nazis And Tinder Love

Author Shahak Shapira
Author Shahak Shapira

BERLIN — Shahak Shapira is the Israeli-born son of a Holocaust survivor and Munich Olympic victim. But he's also a proud Berliner, even though he's been beaten up and insulted by neo-Nazis. Now he's published a book that is more or less serious.

How I Became the Most German Jew in the World is a title that might surprise someone browsing the bookstore shelves. But Shahak Shapira, author of Wie ich der deutscheste Jude der Welt wurde, is a surprising kind of Jew — and German.

Recounting his story recently to the German news agency DPA, Shapira tells about how one of his grandfathers escaped Auschwitz, while the other was murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972. In spite of that, his mother decided to move from Israel to a small German town with her German boyfriend when Shapira was 14. The town also happened to be a stronghold for neo-Nazi groups, and so insults such as "Jewish pig" were a part of his growing up, Shapira recalls. Finally, after moving to Berlin at 19, the Israeli immigrant was beaten up in the capital's subway when he yelled back at a group screaming anti-Semitic slogans.

This personal history has led him to a rather simple conclusion: Racism against anyone, of any background, is "stupid." He sums it up this way: "No religion in this world orders you to be an asshole," he says. "That is a decision that each and every person is allowed to make themselves."

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Source: Rowohlt Polaris

Shapira's German-language autobiography is just as dry and succinct. The formerly chubby and acne-laden boy who struggled with the German language became an advertizing industry creative director, musician and DJ. In his book, he does not only describe his experiences with neo-nationalism but also dating via Tinder, and bares all. The poor woman he once met via Tinder and her "absurd Jewish fetish" is just as ruthlessly described as his opinion that "I cannot believe in a God that forbids bacon."

But his sense of humor gets biting when someone focuses on his not very Jewish blonde hair and light skin tone a little too much. "Well, they pumped hydrogen into the gas chambers back then instead of Zyklon B." There you go.

Shapira is critical of Israel, especially of its current government, though he still loves his native country. As for Germany, he sees the refugees coming from the Middle East as a true chance for creating "a better relationship between Muslims and Jews. And having some seriously good hummus in Germany, a win-win situation for all."

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Society

What's Spoiling The Kids: The Big Tech v. Bad Parenting Debate

Without an extended family network, modern parents have sought to raise happy kids in a "hostile" world. It's a tall order, when youngsters absorb the fears (and devices) around them like a sponge.

Image of a kid wearing a blue striped sweater, using an ipad.

Children exposed to technology at a very young age are prominent today.

Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — A 2021 report from the United States (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) found that 42% of the country's high-school students persistently felt sad and 22% had thought about suicide. In other words, almost half of the country's young people are living in despair and a fifth of them have thought about killing themselves.

Such chilling figures are unprecedented in history. Many have suggested that this might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly, we can see depression has deeper causes, and the pandemic merely illustrated its complexity.

I have written before on possible links between severe depression and the time young people spend on social media. But this is just one aspect of the problem. Today, young people suffer frequent and intense emotional crises, and not just for all the hours spent staring at a screen. Another, possibly more important cause may lie in changes to the family composition and authority patterns at home.

Firstly: Families today have fewer members, who communicate less among themselves.

Young people marry at a later age, have fewer children and many opt for personal projects and pets instead of having children. Families are more diverse and flexible. In many countries, the number of children per woman is close to or less than one (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong among others).

In Colombia, women have on average 1.9 children, compared to 7.6 in 1970. Worldwide, women aged 15 to 49 years have on average 2.4 children, or half the average figure for 1970. The changes are much more pronounced in cities and among middle and upper-income groups.

Of further concern today is the decline in communication time at home, notably between parents and children. This is difficult to quantify, but reasons may include fewer household members, pervasive use of screens, mothers going to work, microwave ovens that have eliminated family cooking and meals and, thanks to new technologies, an increase in time spent on work, even at home. Our society is addicted to work and devotes little time to minors.

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