Jonathan D. Sarna Brandeis University Lown 308 (x2977) e-mail "SARNA" NEJS 165a AMERICAN JEWISH CULTURE Syllabus [+ = additional reading; recommended, but not required] Requirements: (a) Read assigned readings carefully. Class dis- cussion will count for 10% of your grade. (b) Choose one class topic (week #2-#13). Write a brief (ca. 5pp.) "think piece" analysis focusing on questions and ideas. The "think piece" should take off from the reading and demonstrate both your origi- nality and your analytical skills. The think piece must be on my desk before class discussion of your topic begins. Late papers will not be accepted. The paper is worth 20% of your grade. (c) Write a research paper bearing on some aspect of American Jewish culture. A one page prospectus setting forth your theme and the primary source materials that you will be examining is due by September 29th. The paper is due Nov. 24 (with automatic exten- sions to Dec. 1 for those who want them), and is worth 30-40% of your grade. (d) Take-home final exam. The exam is also worth 30-40% of your grade. I generally count the higher of the two grades at 40% and the lower as 30%. Week 1: What Is Culture? (9/3) Paul Mendes-Flohr "Culture" in A.A.Cohen & P. Mendes Flohr, Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought (1987), pp.119-130 F.M.Barnard, "Culture and Civilization in Modern Times," Diction- ary of the History of Ideas I, pp.613-621 +Stephen J. Whitfield, American Space, Jewish Time, pp.43-64 Week 2: Charleston: 1st Center of American Jewish Culture (9/8) Why did Jewish culture sprout in antebellum Charleston? How would you characterize this culture? What are its principle features and how do you explain them? C. Reznikoff, The Jews of Charleston, pp.65-157 Breibart, Solomon, "Penina Moise, Southern Jewish Poetess," in Jews of the South, ed. Samuel Proctor and Louis Schmier, pp.31- 43. Lou H. Silberman "American Impact" [Separate pamphlet, 1964] and reprinted in A.Leland Jamison, Tradition & Change in Jewish Experience (1978), pp.89ff Isaac Harby, "Discourse" [1826] reprinted in L.C.Moise, Isaac Harby pp.99-127 *Penina Moise, "To Persecuted Foreigners" [JUSDH,418] +James W. Hagy, This Happy Land: The Jews of Colonial and Ante- bellum Charleston (1993) Week 3: German Jewish Culture on American Soil (9/15) What were some of the leading characteristics of German-Jewish culture? What made the culture "German-Jewish" rather than one or the other, and how did it change in America? Hasia Diner, A Time For Gathering: The Second Migration (1992), pp.160-168, 201-230 Naomi W. Cohen, Encounter With Emancipation (1984), 109-158 Michael A. Meyer, "German-Jewish Identity in Nineteenth-Century America," in Jacob Katz (ed.) Toward Modernity (1986) Stanley Nadel, "Jewish Race and German Soul in 19th Century America," American Jewish History 77 (September 1987), pp.6-26 +Esther E. Rawidowicz, "I.L.Chronik and his 'Zeichen Der Zeit'" in Simon Rawidowicz, The Chicago Pinkas (1952), pp. 137-176 for additional reading: R. Glanz, Studies in Judaica Americana (1970); B.W.Korn in A.Leland Jamison, Tradition and Change in Jewish Exerience (1978) +G.L.Mosse, German Jews Beyond Judaism (1985) Week 4: East European Jewish Immigrant Culture (9/22) What were some of the leading characteristics of East European Jewish culture in America? How did it differ from German-Jewish culture? How was it changed in America? H. Hapgood, The Spirit of the Ghetto [to be discussed in class] B. & B. Harshav, American Yiddish Poetry (1986), pp.3-67; peruse the rest. I. Trunk, "The Cultural Dimension of the American Jewish Labor Movement," YIVO Annual 16 (1976), pp.342-93 E. Tcherikower, (transl. A.Antonovsky), The Early Jewish Labor Movement in the United States, pp.246-271 +Ira Robinson, et al, An Everyday Miracle: Yiddish Culture in Montreal (1990) +Irving Howe, World of Our Fathers (1976), pp.417-551. +Ruth R. Wisse, A Little Love in Big Manhattan: Two Yiddish Poets (1988) Week 5: The Domestic Culture of American Jews (9/29) What is "domestic culture," how is it studied, and what does it teach us? Jenna Joselit, The Wonders of America (1994) [look carefully at the photos!] [To be discussed in class] Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, "The Kosher Gourmet in the 19th- Century Kitchen: Three Jewish Cookbooks in Historical Perspec- tive," Journal of Gastronomy 2:4 (Winter 1986-7), pp.51-89. Week 6: Image and History: The Visual Representation of Jews (10/6) How are Jews seen, rendered, and understood? What do we learn from studying the image of the Jew? Alfred David, "An Iconography of Noses: Directions in the history of a Physical Stereotype," Mapping the Cosmos, ed. Jane Chance and R.D.Wells, Jr. (1985), pp.76-97. Jay Geller, "(G)nos(e)ology: The Cultural Construction of the Other," People of the Body: Jews and Judaism from an Embodied Perspective, ed. Howard Eilberg Schwartz (1992), pp. 243-282. Sander L. Gilman, The Jew's Body (1991), 1-9,38-59, 169-193. Sander L. Gilman, "The Jew's Body" in Too Jewish, ed. Norman Kleeblatt (1996), 60-73 summarizes parts of above. See also other essays in this volume, which we discuss in week 10. Week 7: The Book in American Jewish Culture (10/13) What role do books play in American Jewish culture? Why are Jews so disproportionately involved with books? What can we learn about American Jews from the books that they publish and from the bookplates with which they adorn their books? Jonathan D. Sarna, "Jewish Publishing" (typescript) Philip Goodman, "American Jewish Bookplates," Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 45 (March 1956), pp.129-216 Jenna W. Joselit, "Reading, Writing and a Library Card: New York Jews and the New York Public Library," Biblion: The Bulletin of the New York Public Library 5 (Fall 1996), pp. 97-117 +"Jewish Bookstores of the Old East Side," (1906) reprinted in The Book Peddler #17 (Summer 1992), pp.20-23 +"The Use of Library and Educational Facilities by Russian-Jewish Immigrants in New York City, 1880-1914: The Impact of Culture," Journal of Library History 12 (1977), pp.128-149 +Jonathan D. Sarna, JPS: The Americanization of Jewish Culture (1989) +Philip Goodman (ed.) Essays on Jewish Booklore (1972) +C.A.Madison, Jewish Publishing in America (1976) Week 8: The Culture of Leisure (10/20) What do we learn about American Jews and their values from their leisure-time activities? What might we learn from their leisure- ly pursuits that we cannot learn from other sources? What do summer camps reveal about American Jews and their ideals? Stefan Kanfer, A Summer World (1989) [to be discussed in class] Jenna Joselit & Karen Mittelman, A Worthy Use of Summer: Jewish Summer Camping in America (National Museum of American Jewish History, 1993) Phyllis Deutsch, "Theater of Mating: Jewish Summer Camps & Cul- tural Transformation," American Jewish History 75:3 (March 1986), pp.307-321 +Herman Wouk, Marjorie Morningstar (1955) +M.F.Frommer & H. Frommer, It Happened in the Catskills (1991) +Read other material on Jewish summer camps, if possible. Week 9: The Cult of Synthesis (10/27) What is the "cult of synthesis" and how was it manifested through American Jewish history? How do American Jews today merge their American and Jewish identities? Jerold S. Auerbach, Rabbis and Lawyers: The Journey from Torah to Constitution, pp.3-25 Sylvia B. Fishman, Negotiating Both Sides of the Hyphen [pamphlet, 1996] Week 10 - Displaying American Jewish Life - The Pros & Cons of Museums (11/3) How do we understand the growth of American Jewish museums and historical sites? What is good and bad about these displays? How do they graple with the tension between history and memory? How do you evaluate the "Too Jewish" exhibit? Ruth R. Seldin, "American Jewish Museums: Trends and Issues," American Jewish Year Book 91 (1991), 71-117 Norman L. Kleeblatt, Too Jewish (1996). Week 11 - American Memorials to the Holocaust (11/10) What do American Memorials to the Holocaust teach us about Ameri- ca, the Holocaust, and American Jews? Edward T. Linenthal, Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum (1995) James E. Young, The Texture of Memory (1993), pp. 1-15, 283-349 Week 12-13 - Israel in American Jewish Culture (11/17) Allon Gal (ed.) Envisioning Israel 11/17 - Read pp.7-113 11/19 - Read pp.117-190, 254-267 11/24 - Read pp.271-316 11/26 - Read pp.319-419 for informal discussion on Israel & American Jews today Week 14 - Reports on Research and A Look Ahead (12/1) THEMES FROM PREVIOUS YEARS Folk Religion Robert Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street (1988) Ruth Fredman Cernea, "Flaming Prayers: Hillula in a New Home," in Jack Kugelmass, Between Two Worlds: Ethnograhic Essays on American Jewry (1988), pp.162-191 Shifra Epstein, " Drama on a Table: The Bobover Hasidim Pi- remshpiyl," in Harvey Goldberg,Judaism Viewed from Within and from Without (1987), pp.195-217 [+see also Yirum Bilu, "Dreams and Wishs of the Saint, pp.285-313, in the same volume] Week 11: The Cult of Synthesis [Passover as Case Study] (4/12) Jerold S. Auerbach, Rabbis and Lawyers: The Journey from Torah to Constitution, pp.3-25 Jonathan D. Sarna, "The Making of an American Jewish Culture," in M.Friedman (ed.) When Philadelphia Was the Capital of Jewish America (1993), pp.145-155 David Geffen (ed.) American Heritage Haggadah: The Passover Experience (1992) J.Leonard Levy, Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1922 or any edition) Week 12: Hebrew as Icon, Cultural Component & Subculture (4/19) Alan Mintz, "A Sanctuary in the Wilderness: The Beginnings of the Hebrew Movement in America in the Pages of Hatoren," Proof- texts 10 (1990), pp.389-412 [and in vol that follows] Alan Mintz, Hebrew in America: Perspectives and Prospects (1993) Shalom Goldman, Hebrew and the Bible in America (1993) [Skim both books and peruse related earlier books like W.Chomsky, Hebrew: The Eternal Language (1956).] Week 13: From Descent to Consent in American Jewish Culture Werner Sollors, Beyond Ethnicity: Consent and Descent in American Culture (1986) Week 8: Education as a Value in American Jewish Culture Lloyd P. Gartner, "Temples of Liberty Unpolluted: American Jews and Public Schools, 1840-1875," in B.W.Korn (ed.) A Bicentennial Festschrift for Jacob Rader Marcus (1976), pp.157-189. Lloyd P. Gartner, Jewish Education in the United States: A Docu- mentary History (1969) or S.F.Brumberg, Going to America, Going to School (1986) Week 9: Liberalism & Radicalism as Characteristics of American Jewish Culture Lawrence Fuchs, "Introduction," American Jewish Historical Quar- terly 66 (December 1976), pp.181-189. Ben Halpern, "The Roots of American Jewish Liberalism," American Jewish Historical Quarterly 66 (December 1976), pp.190-214 Arthur Liebman, "The Ties that Bind: The Jewish Support for the Left in the United States," American Jewish Historical Quarterly 66 (December 1976), pp.285-321. Henry Feingold, "American Liberalism and the Jewish Response," Contemporary Jewry 9:1 (1987/88), pp.19-45. +Stephen J. Whitfield, Voices of Jacob, Hands of Esau, pp.73-112 +Stephen J. Whitfield, American Space, Jewish Time, pp.86-128. Assignment: Outline as many possible explanations as you can for Jewish liberalism. Week 10: Anti-Antisemitism N.W.Cohen "Friends in Court: An American-Jewish Response to Antisemitism," in J.Reinharz (ed.) Living With Antisemitism, pp.313-332. Laura Z. Hobson, Gentlemen's Agreement (book or [preferably] film) Assignment: How does Hobson (and especially the film) combat antisemitism: what strategies does it employ? Week 12: The Cultural Implications of Israel and the Holocaust J.Neusner, Stranger At Home: The Holocaust, Zionism and American Judaism (1981) Assignment: How have Israel and the Holocaust impacted upon American Jewish culture? Week 13: Culture As Resource Barbara Myerhoff, Number Our Days (1978) FINAL PROJECT: Write a close analysis of American Jewish culture in any one year of your choice from 1850 - 1975. Carefully read a selection of texts from your year, and use your reading to support a well reasoned argument about the central cultural issues that faced American Jews during your time period. Feel free to choose texts from genres not covered in this course (scholarly texts, artistic works, popular culture, musical scores, synagogue architecture etc.), or any other other texts so long as they are ones that we have not dealt with in class. For years up to 1900, R. Singerman's Judaica Americana will prove invaluable as a bibliography for source materials; you may also look at newspapers. For later years, see annual bibliographies in the American Jewish Year Book and the Jewish Book Annual. RESERVE USE BOOK LIST A.A.Cohen & P. Mendes Flohr, Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought Dictionary of the History of Ideas Stephen J. Whitfield American Space, Jewish Time, J.R.Marcus, The Colonial American Jew J.L.Blau & S.W.Baron, The Jews of the United States A Documentary History C. Reznikoff, The Jews of Charleston S. Proctor & L.Schmier (eds.) Jews of the South Lou H. Silberman "American Impact" [Separate pamphlet, 1964] and reprinted in A.Leland Jamison, Tradition & Change in Jewish Experience (1978), pp.89ff Jacob Katz (ed.) Toward Modernity (1986) Nadel, Stanley, "Jewish Race and German Soul in 19th Century America," American Jewish History 77 (September 1987), pp.6-26 Rawidowicz, Esther E. "I.L.Chronik and his 'Zeichen Der Zeit'" in Simon Rawidowicz, The Chicago Pinkas (1952). G.L.Mosse, German Jews Beyond Judaism (1985) H. Hapgood, The Spirit of the Ghetto I. Trunk, "The Cultural Dimension of the American Jewish Labor Movement," YIVO Annual 16 (1976), pp.342- 93 Tcherikower, E (transl. A.Antonovsky), The Early Jewish Labor Movement in the United States, pp.246-271 Irving Howe, World of Our Fathers (1976), pp.417-551. Jenna Joselit, Getting Comfortable in New York: The American Jewish Home, 1880-1950 (1990) Stephen J. Whitfield, Voices of Jacob, Hands of Esau, I. Robinson, et al, An Everyday Miracle: Yiddish Cul- ture in Montreal (1990) James W. Hagy, This Happy Land: The Jews of Colonial and Antebellum Charleston (1993) Hasia Diner, A Time For Gathering: The Second Migration (1992), Naomi W. Cohen, Encounter With Emancipation (1984) Jewish Museum, The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art (1984) M.Rischin (ed.) The Jews of North America B. & B. Harshav, American Yiddish Poetry (1986) Ruth R. Wisse, A Little Love in Big Manhattan: Two Yiddish Poets (1988) Andrew Heinze, Adapting to Abundance (1990) R.W.Fox & T.J.Lears, The Culture of Consumption (1982) Philip Goodman, "American Jewish Bookplates," Publica- tions of the American Jewish Historical Society 45 (March 1956), pp.129-216 "Jewish Bookstores of the Old East Side," (1906) re- printed in The Book Peddler #17 (Summer 1992), pp.20-23 "The Use of Library and Educational Facilities by Russian-Jewish Immigrants in New York City, 1880-1914: The Impact of Culture," Journal of Library History 12 (1977), pp.128-149 Jonathan D. Sarna, JPS: The Americanization of Jewish Culture (1989) Philip Goodman (ed.) Essays on Jewish Booklore (1972) C.A.Madison, Jewish Publishing in America (1976) Stefan Kanfer, A Summer World (1989) Jenna Joselit & Karen Mittelman, A Worthy Use of Sum- mer: Jewish Summer Camping in America (National Museum of American Jewish History, 1993) Phyllis Deutsch, "Theater of Mating: Jewish Summer Camps & Cultural Transformation," American Jewish History 75:3 (March 1986), pp.307-321 Herman Wouk, Marjorie Morningstar (1955) M.F.Frommer & H. Frommer, It Happened in the Catskills (1991) Robert Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street (1988) Jack Kugelmass, Between Two Worlds: Ethnograhic Essays on American Jewry (1988) Harvey Goldberg,Judaism Viewed from Within and from Without (1987) Jonathan D. Sarna, "The Making of an American Jewish Culture," in M.Friedman (ed.) When Philadelphia Was the Capital of Jewish America (1993), pp.145-155 David Geffen (ed.) American Heritage Haggadah: The Passover Experience (1992) J.Leonard Levy, Haggadah or Home Service for the Festi- val of Passover (1922 or any edition) Alan Mintz, Hebrew in America: Perspectives and Pros- pects (1993) Shalom Goldman, Hebrew and the Bible in America (1993) W. Chomsky, Hebrew: The Eternal Language (1956). Werner Sollors, Beyond Ethnicity: Consent and Descent in American Culture (1986) WHAT IS CULTURE? [ask question; ask how know: introduce to Dict Hist Ideas, Keywords etc.] Latin - cultura - cultivation of the soil; later broadened to encompass learning generally. A noun of process the tending of something. In modern period, culture implies diversity - knowledge that there are other cultures beside ours. A.Lawrence Lowell: "Nothing in the world is more elusive. . .An attempt to encompass its meaning in words is like trying to seize the air in the hand, when one finds that it is everywhere except within one's grasp." [Dict. Hist Ideas, I, 614]; Kroeber and Kluckkholn found 164 definitions in 1952! 3 primary meanings [Raymond Williams]: (1) a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development. (2) a particular way of life of a people period or group [knowledge, belief, art, morals, law custom, habits etc.] (3) works and practices of intellectual and artistic creativity. Thus: Humanistic definitions which are selective and involve value judgements and anthropological definitions which are holistic and eschew value judgements fearing ethnocentrism. Clifford Geertz: "Culture is a system of meanings embodied in [shared] symbols" -- worldview, ethos, cast of thought, sensibility. Geertz believes that meaning is stored in symbols, and that we spend our lives searching for meaning: "The drive to make sense out of experience, to give it form and order, is evidently as real and as pressing as the more familiar biological needs." [Interp of Cult, 140] Culture plays a role in the construction of social reality. Study of culture seeks to unlock social reality, in part by decoding symbols [semiotics is study of symbols.] [ex. Holocaust is central symbol; pig is symbol] But he also stressses idea of system -- ordered relationship between symbols of a culture. "The analysis of culture comes does. . .to a searching out of significant symbols, clusters of significant symbols, and clusters of clusters of significant symbols. . .and the statement of the underlying regularities of human experience implicit in their formation." Finds discontinuities & contradictions within system. Religion (a cultural pattern) is distinguished by its use of sacred symbols. Other cultural patterns also exists (e.g. common sense) [example: idea of khurban, catastrophe, lachrymose conception of Jewish history] Culture is extrinsic -- lie outside of individual; he uses them = idea of culture as a library or as tools. change in social order [experience] may provoke cultural change = Culture evolves as life evolves. But culture also influences life ("a product and a determinant of social interaction," INTERP OF CULT,250) [dialectical, dynamic process]. Geertz thus sees a role for history [talks of himself writing "the social history of the imagination."] n.b. 2 views of evaluating culture: Pluralists (relativists) vs. Developmentalists. Former refuse to rate cultures, latter argue that unavoidable [discuss problems of each view] Geertz famous for decoding cultural forms (ceremonies, rituals) as if they were texts, and using them to shed light on culture as a whole. Tries to draw general propositions out of particular phenomena [uses "thick description"] Diverse social objects, acts and events interrelated and shed light on one another. [see Kenneth A. Rice, Geertz & Culture (Ann Arbor, 1980] Jewish culture - Jews seen as backward at dawn of modern era - i.e. in need of culture [=high culture]. Education & culture seen as tools for gaining admission to Europe. But much as Jews sought to be part of modern culture, they did not (at leadership level) seek to jetison Jewish culture = cultural syncretism Key shift is away from Jewish languages to vernacular languages [=Jewish illiteracy, estrangement from sources of Jewish high culture]. Some deny Jewish culture can continue under these circumstances [see Ozick's call for new Yiddish]; others insist that symbols continue and that struggle with biculturalism is itself a culture statement. note idea of Jews as critics, never-quite-insiders. Cudahy, Ordeal of Civility Much of modern Jewish history is search for resolution to cultural problem of Jews: Dubnow, Ahad Ha'Am, Zionism, Reform Judaism, secularism, Yiddishism, universalism [ultimate form of Jewish particularism] American Jewish culture - area of focus - search for symbols, meanings, regularities, patterns that are central to life of US Jews. Also, some attention to "high culture" Analyze Whitfield. THE CHARLESTON "HASKALAH" nb Haskalah implies traditional Jews becoming enlightened & `modernized'; here I really mean cultural awakening - efflorescence of writers, poets, etc. 1. What are the social resources necessary for artistic efflorescences? wealth, socially-released time [leisure], social appreciation, building blocks [library, symbols, etc.] 2. Follows (1) disturbance of social equilibrium; part of (2) goal-oriented action to overcome discomfort (3) assists process of reintegrating society between old emotions & new behavior patterns; terminates in (4) tension reduction. [Kavolis] Wm. McLoughlin based on Anthony Wallace: "Awakenings begin in periods of cultural distortion and grave personal stress, when we lose faith in the legitimacy of our norms, the viability of our institutions, and the authority of our leaders in church and state. They eventuate in basic restructurings of our institutions and redefinitions of our social goals [sees 5 gt eras of ideological reorientation] ." (p.2,7) Sees 5 awakenings as periods of fundamental social & intellectual reorientation of the American belief-value system, behavior patterns, and institutional structure -- revitalization to overcome jarring disjunctions btwn norms & experiences, old beliefs & new realities. [ Can anyone see applications to our day?] Charleston: rise of slavery with cotton gin; decline of port as NY rises; eco crisis. Charleston did not shift from commerce to industry & thus declined. Panic of 1819, Missouri compromise and Denmark Vesey insurrection [1822 planned slave insurrection to take over Charleston - hanged] transforms city "from the spaciousness of the 18th c. to the inbreeding of the 19th." [Note that city had refugees from Santa Domingo Toussaint L'Ouverture revolt, among them Moise] Where b4 Charleston & NY [N&S] closely linked, later separate. "Closed" city sees itself as utopian, able to nullify national decrees[Calhoun], society based on apartheid. Cultural vitality stems from effort to come to terms with new situation in city -- note that city comes increasingly to cherish romantic, Southern ideals. Charleston Jews: Largest J. communty in US - 500-600 Jews in early 19th, then stagnates. As increasingly native community, determinants exist -- wealth, appreciation, leisure. Building blocks for Jewish sources do not exist (and few read Hebrew), but some English-language sources available and read. Culture: Joshua Canter-artist; Solomon N.Carvalho (artist-later moves); David Carvalho - merchant who translates book of Psalms, writes drama on Esther and involved in Ref.Society (see Korn intro to Carvalho, 20); Jacob N. Cardozo - ed, Southern Patriot [discuss Jewish in newspapers; cosmopolitan spirit], also impt. economist; M.C.Mordecai - ed. Southern Standard (1851) Jacob de la Motta - doctor writer (also in Savannah); Isaac Harby- writer, journalist& educator; Penina Moise-poet; Samuel Hart-publisher, M.M.Noah there for sometime as journalist-politician; Moise & Tobias families - cultured businessmen; Myer M. Cohen-English & Classical Seminary; Rebeka Hyneman-poet,writer; Nathaniel Levin - customs house, and performer & writer -- generally - lawyers, doctors, linguists, govt. officials Why are Jews so culturally involved -- obviously city's culture a factor, also fact that Jews natives and well-educated. Possible time of fluidity & change offers special opportunity to Jews to enter cultural arena. Also seems that Jews part of white culture vs. Black. What is interesting is that Jews devoted at least some cultural attention to Jews -- live in two worlds, which in some measure seek to reconcile [change each to help other - not just change Jews but US too] Greatest cultural creation and innovation of period: Charleston Reform: [summarize -- see Meyer, 228ff.] (1) Different theories -- (a) Lou Silberman: Influence of Unitarian split (Gilman) & Sephardic/ British karaism [note also Catholic trusteeism]; (b)Liberles: younger & more politically active - believes insecure due to Md Jew Bill--i.e. politically involved Charleston Jews worried by MD developments. (c) Meyer - "sentiment that America was different than Europe best explains the movement - seek to make US Jud no less liberal than America itself. (d) My own sense, without disagreeing with above, is that young Jews -- worried by events and by losses to Judaism and influenced by contemporary currents -- seek to draw closer to "mainstream." Rather than threatening linguistic & other differences they sensed a need for Jews & Christians to unite against "unseen" enemies [Priestcraft etc.] Key US Jewish cultural problem (then & Later) how to be part of and apart from at same time [MMN's Ararat also.] Society meets quarterly, hears annual oration on a high cultural level. Isaac Harby - grandfather from Morocco [earlier from non-Jewish stock in England, great-grandfather(?) to Morocco where marries Jew; father to Charleston in 1781 -- Isaac born in US, studies law, founds school, important as journalist, politician and playwright ["Alberti" partic. important]. Considered one of finest critics and playwrites in US at time. Prescient politician (early supporter of AJackson). Moves in poverty to NY a year after death of wife (who leaves him with nine children) and dies 6 months later age 40. Note unanswered questions re his life remain [first USJewish starving intellectual] Note key themes - stauch American and staunch Jew. Defends Jews to American audience [e.g. when MMN recalled], yet defends Americanization to Jews [Reform]. Jew seeks to enter mainstream through his mind. Jew as outsider and critic. Penina Moise (1797-1880) First American Jewish woman poet; first AMJewish woman writer. Family refugees from Santo Damingo slave revolt (leave with nothing). She fully educated (in part by Harby) both in classics and Jewish classics [laments in poem "Mortara" that former given greater stress - Breibart, p.42], and many friends among cultural elite -- e.g. Pinckney family. [Same is true of Harby and others -- cultural life of Jews in Charleston seems to reflect `neutral society'; even includes Caths -- see P.M.'s poem on death of Bishop England in Dinkins' sketch, p.14] P.M. is active in synagogue, pro-reform element in Charleston [her brother, Abraham, one of its leaders], foremost writer of hymns [note desire for spirituality], supports states rights in Civil War. Note (1) active in two worlds secular and Jewish; (2) Biblicism (3) love of Zion--looks for Restoration; (4)strategy as a woman: outward modesty and piety -- as well as blessed singleness -- permit her to write on subjects of social and political importance. Reznikoff (NAW)says she runs a sort of literary salon for intellectual and literary Jews. Summary: Jews conscious of their Judaism (if not terribly learned) were culturally creative in Charleston during antebellum period. Necessary preconditions for culture met; surrounding culture -- in which Jews took part -- supportive; and central dilemmas existed which Jews sought to resolve. Jews were in all cases involved both secularly and Jewishly, and concerned to reconcile two worlds without loss of Jewish identity. At same time, participate in Southern cultural renaissance seeking to forge Southern identity. FOLK ART 1. What is Folk Art? Study of the folk "the art works of culturally homogeneous people produced by artists without formal training." "tradition cut off or tenuously connected to the contemporary cultural mainstream" often involves crafts: quilting, figureheads, carousel animals clothing etc. expresses values and aspirations of a culturaly united groups rough-hewn, awkward quality BKG:"Folklorists stress the importance of the symbolic organiza- tion of exerience through the expressive behavior of ordinary people in everyday life." (1) Salvage ethnography - tradition of old world as remembered by immigs; (2) Cultural Creativity of Immigrants (3) Ethnicity - awareness of cultural diversity, less concern with with disap- pearance of distinctive Jewish way of life, more positive identi- fication and celebration (4) Traditionalizing - reconciliation of old and new; recovery and adaptation of old in new wsays (Klezm- er) 2. Jewish folk art - note interest arises early in 20th century with new interst in folk & masses Most of Jewish folk art is ceremonial - connected with per- formance of commandments; religius motivation (hiddur mitzvah); permits sanctification of the otherwise mundain: (1) life cycle [ketubbah, rings, huppah], (2) ceremonial Jewish year cycle [Sabbath ornaments, Passover, Etrog box, Sefirah calendar, meno- rah, megillah], (3) home based commandments (mezuzah, charity box, mizrakh; (4) syn. worship (ark, table, Torah ornaments) Many stem from fears & desires and from a longing for secu- rity = fight causes of fears which are our enemies [Often later reinterpreted by Judaism in ethical way - eg Yizkor] light, white - fights darkness deception - like name change compromise - sacrifice some to protect whole (circumcision, cut hair) 3. American Jewish Folk Art Note few amulets Micrography - only art form known too be specifically jewish in origin p/38 - Note artist's problem: runs out of room, so places "lahem" at end. Crossed hands; for ewer (pitcher) and basin. Note magical power of Priestly blessing [which explains prayers for dreams etc.] p.42- Marriage contract. Note powerful in cong. sign doc; hus- band but not wife sign. Only the chazzan signs in Hebrew. Uncertain how to name. p.43 - 10 commandments - discuss masons; note three words/two words in Hebrew [i.e. no reason to spell out commandments] Why rise of 10 commandments in this period? p.44 - Mizrah; note use of menorah; syncretism of Penn German & Jewish art p.52 - Mizrah [see Greenwald article] p.58 - wimpel - cut that binds [binds Torah, binds Jews to Torah] p.68 - note clock - Penn Dutch custom to list time; note how much of text is reduced. America is central; note fashion. p.88 - centrality of death [march of time] note Zion in star p.94 - Note hat and wig & use of Alaskan art p.107 - Note dif. symbols of Jew; symbolic ethnicity; note 10 commandments Domestic Culture 1. What is domestic culture? home maintenance, child rearing, gardening, cooking, cleaning, doctoring, manners and etiquette ["little tradition"] Catherine Beecher in Treatise for Domestic Economy (1841) pio- neered this study - stress on women's role as mistress of home. Separate spheres idea (not necessarily practice - note how women expand sphere) 2. What is Jewish about it? Kashrut, Shabbat, Yom tov, life cycle, family purity. Also, old world backgrounds shape Jewish domestic culture (German, Sephardi, Russian etc.) 3. Why is it relevant to culture? transmitted through generations; vehicles for acculturation, promotes collective endeavor 4. What do we learn about past and about change over time? (a) significance of home (is home or syn center of Jud? ) - is constant stress on need for Jud in home a sign of disappearance? Note M.Schechter called home "preserve" of Judaism. Over time, Jewish symbols in home (rebbe picture, mizrah, yahrzeit etc) disappear. (b) early stress on simplicity and order (even white color) - Protestant virtues? (c) kitchen center of home (note later diminished) (d) old world dismissed as primitive - mores of modern assumed better (e) lack of privacy (f) New Year cards and piano symbols of embourg. (g) Jews move up by moving out; symbolize moving up and away from home production by emphasizing consumption. (h) invention of tradition (note Maxwell House at end of seder; chocolate matzah). Tradition legitimates change. Chanukah and Pessach & Bar mitzvah all reflect this 5. Food - discuss signif; what do we learn from cookbooks? [note what reveal about kashrut, move first to healthy food and later aesthetics of food, symbol of tradition and change] show Levy cook book. Notes on photos in Joselit/Branstein catalog: 14 - patriarchal, men dominate & sep from women; signif of Pessach. women do not cover hair. 20 - invention and romanticization of past 24 - ritual from old world 25 - fig. 10 - note women lean on men -- in center. 26 - what stereotypes? what is solution? 33 (fig. 21) - Heb & Eng; US & Jud symbols 34 - note English in Yiddish (furniture, carpets, rugs etc.) 36 - Hellenism (nymph in fig. 26) + Hebraism? Ideal of refined Orth. 40 - Why do women's magazines print covers with scantily dressed Bible figures? [legit?] 42 - Manischewitz - invents machine matzah; does cigar box sug- gest opulence 47 - note central cross in Amalgamated photo - hint of religion. 50 - fig. 49 - relates modern woman to ancient 51 - read Yiddish: Pres fro M/Ms Lessinger to Man's Auxil.! Note that women also should light candles. 56 - Streit's "in true Passover tradition" 57 - OU mention Coke's kashrut (Tobias Geffen) 58 - Maxwell House "mitzvah aleynu Lesaper..." 59 - Mah Jongg 65 - note how grandmother gives blessing 67 - ice good symbol of bar mitzvah (melts away; 69 - note how women now at center of photo EDUCATION AS A VALUE IN AMERICAN JEWISH CULTURE 1. What is the relationship between education and culture? [attitudes toward education are part of culture; education is our way of transmitting culture (or effecting change)] Education discloses values and ideal of society (via what is taught, and reflects realities of society (class divisions, literacy etc.) 2. Education ("love of learning") is said to be a Jewish value: what does mean and how is it demonstrated? Jews revere results of learning (great books) [note kinnah for destruction of books] Compulsory ed stressed in Tanach and Talmud (S.ben Shetach; Joshua b. Gamala); [study connected to preservation of world; more important than blding temple or attending funeral or other values] Jewish adults attended study sessions (yarhe kallah) and study groups (chevra) throughout diaspora [ideal of lifelong learning] teachers highly esteemed nursery rhymes speak warmly of learning and hope child wd. be rabbi or teacher learning equiv. to riches and yiches 3. Is learning a universal ideal? Others leave to elite; fear education (note slavery, opposition to translating scripture etc.); believe that children should contribute to family economy; sense that ed. takes time away from other pursuits. [Italians tended to resent school as usurping role of parents] 4. What happens to education after emanc. & enlightenment? Change in ideal (Paideia - educ. ideal & means of attaining it): i.e. move from ideal of knowledge of Torah to broader aim. But no unanimity of ideals: (1) Torah with minimum of sec; (2) both (Torah umadda); (3) Secular plus Hebrew culture; (4) Secular plus Jewish morality. 5. How does value of education play itself out in America A. History 1. Am Jews form schools in syn-commun (irregular); many taught privately. 2. Polonies (1801 bequest to SH.Isr; so old Yeshibah in school renamed for him; after 1822 secular subjects dropped.) Read 1808 Const (for Heb & Eng school). 3. Rise of public schools - describe battle. How did Jews view public school? Note large Jewish involvement. Contrast to Catholics. Discuss Gartner & Brumberg. Children of immigs. esp. benefit. [Note that in EEur immig period some public schools 95% or more Jewish; Americanization is key to curriculum] Day Schools seen as unAmerican [only c. 12 in 1927; 17 in 1935] (see Pierce case where Oregon seeks to require pub. schooling -1925] 3a. Love of learning also seen in Jewish rush to libraries, universities, and entry into education at all levels. 4, Jewish education: types of schools: (1) Talmud Torah (communal or charitable - daily + Sunday); (2) Institutional schools - orphanages and mission schools; (3) Sunday schools - 1839 (R.Gratz)- taught by women, stress morality and catechism; (4) Hadarim [most common in immig. period] - 15 minute per pupil; rst for preparation and mischief; (5) private tutors (6) Congrega- tional schools - fewer hours, allied with syn. small number of day schools and yeshivas. Problem: Quality, extent, and methods of Jewish ed. in early 20th fal far below general ed; many Jews receive little or none. [Jewish ed in heder seems symbol of old world] 5. 20th century revolution in Jewish education to resolve prob- lems (1) Modern Hebrew School - Samson Benderly father of this: professional teachers, new teaching methods, pleasant surround- ings, Hebrew. [read] 2) Modern day school (also stress profe- sional teachers, pleasant surroundings etc.) Both strive to reconcile American and Jew [note also some effort to introduce Hebrew into public school and limited success in bring- ing Jewish studies into university] 6. Jewish education also made broadly available to adults: synagogue, orgs. (Chautauqua), books, lectures. B. How does value of education set Jews apart? a. rates of schooling - all studies show far greater rate of schooling, far better grades, and far greater eco attainments. Note gender differences: while girls attended high school, they attended college far more rarely and were also less likely in high school to pursue classical tracks. Dispute over how much Jewish advantage is culture and how much due to structural fac- tors -- i.e.social & class background; Joel Perlmann in best of studies [Ethnic Difference] argues for signif. of culture, but it is not the only factor. b. concern about education c. book culture - reading, writing and purchasing of reading materials. d. eco structure - emph on jobs that require education or in- volve education. LIBERALISM Seen by many today as distinguishing feature of Am. Jewish life -- esp. as Jews in socio-economic group that might imply commit- ment to conservative ideas. 1. WHAT IS LIBERALISM? Enters English in 14th cent to refer to free men (liberal arts pursued by people who have independent positions and are free; liberty is from same root and two are linked ). Liberal also has meaning of generous (liberal gift) and unrestrained (liberal use of the whip). Late 18th century becomes associated with open minded and unorthodox opinions (liberal opinions; freedom of conscience; journals called THE LIBERAL). Historically, Liber- alism tied to individualism and freedom (free men) and attacked both by socialists (vs. its indivualism) and by conservatives (lack of restraint and sentimental generosity). [see Williams, KEYWORDS] Louis Hartz (The Liberal Tradition in America, 1955) - Americans fled and reacted against clerical and feudal oppression. absence of class. associates the American Way of Life with liberalism. What characterizes Jewish liberalism a. polit and moral values that Jews hold sacred. Govt activism, social welfare, safeguard individ liberties and civil rights, internationalism [note less true of many liberals], free immigra- tion [not always true of US liberals], political morality, pro- Israel, vs. anti-Sem,, aid oppressed Jews. [note neo conserv stress strong US and human rights, free market and equal opportu- nity, limited govt. individ rights, family values, ] Note on Tikkun Olam - originates in Lurianic Kabbalah (16th c.) - restore and repair world that was shattered when vessals con- taining sparks of God's light shattered, scattering shards (keli- pot) across the world (shards assoc. with evil). Tikkun is human activity: (1) involves gathering divine light that had fallen into kelipot; (2) gathering holy souls also imprisoned in keli- pot. Tikkun olam, originally, rejects this world (dissolution of the material world) and seeks to restore world to original spiritual condition (messianic age) - stress on spiritual redemp- tion. Use of tikkun olam in new sense is post-WWII and empha- sizes this world - not a spiritual healing, but usually political and social action. Both have in common emphasis on (a) shatter- ing-mending and (b) human action [see Fine in Fox festsch] [read Nones & Segal for ideas of Jewish liberalism contained therein.] 2. HISTORY OF JEWISH LIBERALISM Jews divided politically. Major concerns involve Jewish rights and free immigration, which are threatened by various sides (racists and evangelicals) and left (labor and populists). Jews are Federalists and anti-Federalists; MMNoah is polit. conserva- tive in last decades; Louis Marshall and OUR CROWD figures openly conservative. LDBrandeis is great liberal symbol (and many Jews vs. him) on political grounds. Jews disproport. So- cialist (EVDebbs), Progressive (24% of Jews vote for LaFollete in 1924) support Al Smith in 1928 and strongly favor Roosevelt who establishes Democ-Lib coalition (recent years have seen Jews vote democratic from a bare majority (52% for Carter in 1980) to 2-1 majority (Mondale over Reagen in 1984). 3. THEORIES OF JEWISH LIBERALISM (over) 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS a. US society changes (liberalism rejected by many), but Jews dissent. b. Jews, by and large, earn like WASPS and vote like Puerto Ricans [Himmelfarb] - see S.Cohen survey c. Liberals more hostile to Israel and to Jews d. Influential neo-conservative ideology (based on several old liberal ideas) Anti Antisemitism 1. What is antisemitism? Term dates to 1870s and usually associ- ated with Wilhelm Marr's The Victory of Judaism Over Germanism (1879), which argued that Jews conquered Germany and needed to be beaten back. Antisem justifiable (race) whereas antiJudaism seemed illiberal. Antisem also reflects new Jewish situa- tion in modernity, thus oft somewhat different than old-style Christian antiJudaism. 2. Give out BHalpern's mappng sentence - construct, shows simi- larities and differences over time. 3. Cultural component of antisemitism: (1) rooted in cultural conflict of J & Ch. (2) rooted in ingrained anti-Jewish images which are reinforced and exploited. (3) rooted in ignorance - lack of culture (note problem) [of course, also psych, soc and socio-ec interpretations] (4) antisem as cultural code - i.e. antisem reflects culture (can shed light on central cultural issues of day) - thus (a) antimodernists associated Jews with modernity (see Henry Ford, idea of Jew as both capitalist and communist and Hollywood)/ (b) antisem also often reflects fear of conspiracy in culture - sense of unseen forces that manipulate events (providing explanation for inexplicable) (4) Antisem in US (when did it begin?) - always present; rises in late 19th with growth of social antisem (keep Jews out of re- sorts, clubs, universities etc.) (5) How do Jews fight back - (1) emph positive behavior and role models - no Jewish crime, much philanth etc.(antisem impact on Jewish behavior) - later some urge Jews to abandon professions so as not to give fodder to antisemites [thus antisem become refer- ence group that shapes Jewish behavior]; (2) antidefamation - change definition of Jew in dictionary; remove Merchant of Venice from schools; rebut antisemites (who argue, say, that Jews don't fight) (3) education - 1938 AJC issues friend of court brief defending notorious antisemite Robert Edmondson against libel on basis of view that libel a poor way to promote relig. tolerance - educ is better. (4) some unspoken economic retaliation (e.g. vs. H.Ford) (5) Muster gentile support (still in same tradition; antisemite defines terms of debate and Jews counter by mustering character witnesses) (6) Fight at elite level via stewards = hofjude (7) Public Silence - too much talk stirs it up. This is pre-WWII tradition - war changes thinking. Laura Z. Hobson (1900-1986) - daughter of Michael and Adella Zametkin (Yiddish newsp. ed. and Labor org.) marries Thayer Hobson (gentile publisher), divorced after 5 years (1930-35). - best writing concerns members of oppressed minorities, and she espouses equality. Seeks to put outsiders into place of minority group member (Jews, unwed mothers, gays etc.) 1947 Gentleman's agreement - Philip Green moves from West to new job at Smith's Weekly on East Coast. First assignment is to write about antiSem and he assumes Jewish idenitty. Exposes liberal hypocrisy on issue (see her friend Kathy Lacey Pawling). happy end. Darryl F. Zanuck(non-Jew) decides to produce film, earlier film, Crossfire (1947) by Dore Schary (Jew - RKO), first to touch issue. (LZH in Laura Z, II, p.32) says Zanuck did film so he could look at his kids and tell them what he did to prevent Fascism in US. [According to Eric Goldman, in Erens, AJC was opposed to film - believing that talk re antisem was bad: Note that in film (not novel) Irving Wiseman opposes project: "Let it alone, It will only stir it up again. You can't write it out of existence."(reflects AJC).] Elia Kazan (non-Jew) directs; Moss Hart writes screenplay, film wins Best Picture and three Ac. Awards. Stars Gregory Peck (Phil), Dorothy McGuire (Kathy), John Garfield (Dave) Anti-antisemitism - (1) Jew is American patriot; (2) Jew and non- Jew virtually indistinguishable brothers under the skin) - Gen- tile, not Jew, create antisemitism; (3) Sympathy - Jews face discrim hiring, restrictions at resorts and in housing, slander, insults, and even Jewish self-hatred [Miss Wales, orig. Walovsky]. 4) antisemitism is unAmerican (5) Good people (like Kathy) create climate of antisemitism (6) if antisem ended so would Jewish peculiarity Note: (1) Film supposes everyone is the same - not really plu- ralistic. (2) Professor Lieberman says that being Jewish is a matter of pride - Jews cling to antisem as world insists it's a disadvantage. (3) opposition to Zionism (4) Hobson turns down Jewish Book Award as particularistic. Postwar anti-antisem: turn previous theory on head: antisem now is diseased (authoritarian personality) and antisem is compared to disease (bacillus), Instead of Jewish problem, now problem is how society rids itself of bacillus. Thus, antisem measured and treated much as any epidemic is. Even silence now redefined as quarantine approach. In what ways does fear of antisemitism (fighting antisem) shape American Jewish actions (see Jewish senators who feared Pat Buchanan and refused to vote for sending soldiers to Gulf; some Jewish unhappiness at Israel; some policies toward minorities and blacks.) Jews also use antisemitism as a weapon (all minorities use weakness as weapon -- often only one), claiming antisem where none exists. Does Alan Dershowitz do this? 4 general responses to antisem [management of incidents requires some understanding of which response most likely to work] : Si- lence, Outrage, Instruction, Obstruction HEBRAISTS & YIDDISHISTS: TWO AMERICAN-JEWISH SUBCULTURES What is a subculture? - a group having traits distinctive enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture or society, often distinctive cultural values and behavioral patterns. What are examples of subcultures today - Note that Jews them- selves form a subculture in US society; yet Jews have subcultures of own. What is distinctive about these subcultures? - (1) language (discuss implications a) others do not understand; b) language symbolizes world of past or future; (2) idea that language and writings in that language would preserve Jewish life in diaspora [note stress on language by Irish, French in Canada etc.] (3) note that these subcultures verged on secular religions -- belief structure, holy texts and heroes, sacred days, communitas etc. Who belongs to subculture? writers, scholars, teachers, activ- ists, those committed to ideology [core]; periphery may be much larger. What institutions does subculture set up to further its ends? newspaper, publisher, library, lecture hall, schools ****** Montreal-Yiddish -- why is it special? Why does Roskies call it a utopian experiment? effort to reunite E&W, folk & intellectual, froom & secular (seek sense of whole- ness). Sees it as a response to khurban beis ha-midrash. A network of institutions embody their vision: press, public lib, vaad ha-ir, schools, teachers seminary, theater groups, summer camps, book stores. [see pp.23-24 for summary] What were the successes of the experiment? Why did it ultimately fail? [decline of Yiddish, rise of Israel, impossibility of sustaining unity -- yet if utopia not created, much of value was.] ****** Hebrew - what motivated its advocates? [Zion, break with European past, common language of all Jews, solution to problem of Jewish identification and assimilation [see Persky quote in Mintz, p.401] ,holiness & prestige associated with Hebrew (loshn kodesh) -- opposite of folk idea connected to Yiddish (Hebrew had an elitest quality)] Mintz studies Ha-Toren ("the Mast") [1913-1925], which he sees as beginning of movement. High quality periodicals often associated with new cultural movements (which periodicals help to define and shape.) Notes personal and social announcemnts in paper -- underscores community of Hebraists. Note also religious quality of effort -- including emphasis on contemporary classics of Hebrew (the icon Bialik, not modern Hebraist writers) What was the Hebraist utopia? Camp Massad and other get- togethers of like type? Long for readership. Note some suicide at disjunction between self-estimate and neglect by others. Hebraist successes: education, Hebrew in pub. schools, Histadrut Ivrit, camps, triumph of Hebrew over Yiddish. [thus although subculture dies out its effects linger] Failure of subculture: utopian view of language, problem of Israel, loss of educational grip. Note that later new utopian groups spring up (Havurah movement? some Jewish feminists etc.) that have similar utpian visions, but do not use language as a key to subculture. THE CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF ISRAEL AND THE HOLOCAUST 1. Would anyone in 1950 have predicted the centrality that Israel and the Holocaust would achive in lives and expressions of Ameri- can Jews? Effort on pos development of US Jewry and on theolog. renewal. Ask for examples of centrality of Israel and Holocaust in US Jewish life. Discuss Civil Religion (Robert Bellah) - independent of church, socially integrative, reflects deep seated values and commitments - [note that civil Judaism is civil religion of Jewish people as opposed to Judaism of official movements] 2. Trace growth of each: - Holocaust (word itself not established until 60s) Wiesel, NIGHT (1960) ; Guide to Jewish History Under Nazi Impact, by Jacob Robinson and Philip Friedman [1960]; capture (1960) of Eichman and ensuing trial (1961), followed by H.Arendt E. in Jslm (1963). But note that Commentary and Judaism symposia (1961) contain almost no ref. to Holocaust. By 1966 R.Rubenstein argues God is Dead based on Hol. and theme is highlighted by 1967. Growth of Yom Hashoah in 60s. - Israel - slow involvement. no "missions." sense (Ben Gurion- Blaustein exchange in 1950) that Israel needs to stand apart from US Jewish affairs; visits by high school students even in 1965 rare. [obviously some committed and went in pre-48 days]. Much on Israel in Hebrew textbooks. Several key films Exodus, Mickey Marcus film. Ties to Heb U. and impress or Israeli writers. 1967 War seen as key transforming moment. 3. Why do these two interrelated events become central to US Jewish life in recent decades? What are reasons and implica- tions? - A (1) What do symbols mean to US Jews - Discuss culture as search for meaning - Holocaust is synechdoche for world's attitude toward Jews -- whole world wants Jews dead; Israel represents sense that Jews need home of their own and to be actors on stage of history [to create utopian land from which others will learn]; (2) US Zionism is essentially non-Zionism -- ned for home but not need for me to live there. (3) Civil Jewish theme of "Jewish survival in a threatening world B(1) Judaism is not here but there; (2)religious drama of of Holocaust & Redemp- tion (3) American Jew as Stranger at Home [Neusner argues that history turned into mythic theolog] (4) Israel become guarantee that Holocaust wil not happen again (5) allows for ethnic Judaism without deep religious content (like Yiddishism and Hebraism and Jewish socialism); thus Holocaust is Jewish version of ROOTS -- it is what sets Jews apart as a people [Neusner, 90] Cultural Criticism - how do we evaluate cultural stress on Holocaust and Israel - both linked and separate? ABUNDANCE & MASS CONSUMPTION Notes on Heinze (1) What is abundance? (note People of Plenty, David Potter)- part of idealization of America; distinguishes US from Europe. Note abundance defined in terms of land, money, goods Potter argues that abundance produces equality of opportunity - fluidity; classlessness - enough for all who work hard. Myth of abundance causes particular problems during Depression. Note that old Jewish view of cycle somewhat destroyed by abun- dance and US view of linear development. Adapting to abundance is thus one indicator of acculturation & adaptation Social&economic mobility; New Yorkers outpace others. Of those who began at bottom in 1880; 37% rise out of it (more than Boston or elsewhere [Kessner] Jews rise up at faster rate than Italians [Jews have larger families and start higher and have greater desire to be independent bosses. Note impact of abundance on US Jewish charity [Charity also serves to excuse legitimate conspicuous consumption --- cf mazon] Note that material success does not buy happiness or self satisfaction. (2) Consumption - associates with social transformation, democra- tization - also with fantasy & self delusion note significance of credit (1892-Heb Free Loan) consumption & Status: do possessions & Americanization re- place yikhes, education, wealth? What is "conspicuous con- sumption" (Veblen) [idea of consumption as symbol to outside world Note candy store: pure consumption yet also social center [like mall] Jews also promote consumption: note merchant princes & film moguls impact: Sabbath [does cosumption inevitably =decline?] holi- day, dress, women, home, synagogue [note symbols like piano & parlor] (3) Consumption opposite of idea of Productivization (anti- materialist, antimodernist: stresses work with hands) - note signif of latter idea. [They condemned consumption as akin to sin: first endure then embrace.] (4) Dif. ideas of money: (1) Money something to be conserved. Live without ostentation, buy necessities, buy very well [nb Brandeis]. Every penny is accounted for. (2) Money instru- ment for achieving desires; means not an end. THE BOOK IN AMERICAN JEWISH CULTURE 1. Jews called "people of the book" - why? [Koran] Note books are objects of study - commentaries written to them, and super- commentaries. Note first Hebrew book in c.1475 (Gutenberg about 1440); 175 incunabula (pre-1500) Hebrew books. 2. Love of books: Often name used in title; sometimes book becomes one's name; treatment of books [see Roth, p.180]; burning of books is mourned and books are redeemed; the Jewish heaven is a place where books are found and studied. 3. Jewish home defined as a home with books. Even early US it seems that Jews had books, although books hard to come by. 4. Books symbolic of culture and to become culturally self- sufficient & autonomus, Jews must print own books. Note special place of Hebrew books [Joshua Falk, Avne Jehoshua, 1860] [see Dine Nikur, 1859]. 5. 1845-JPS; Leeser, over 100 books; 1871-2nd AJPS; 1888-JPS Important Hebrew press only after WWI. 6. Bookstores; libraries 7. Adornment of books: Goodman: #7 - see p.139 [Kohut=cock,rooster; Judah = Lion 10 - p.142 [note wife among best companions; book vies with wife] 11 - p.142 - note young man & woman; idea of Torah with worldy ways (also discipline & manners). Binah also hints at idea of discernment 39 - Philipson p. 192. Moses, Washington [US prevails] 40 Wiernik, p.192 - Judaism prevails [known as "the lteerbox of the Morgen Journal. 41 - immigration; Statue of Liberty (p.193) 42 - WomaN - SEE DESCRIPTION, P.194 - not juxt of Columbus and contemp. immig 43 - Priest 44 - Spivak, p.195 - note mix of symbols: books, science, mother, wife In most cases books part of the identity of individuals who own them, linked with their central philosophies, with the sacred, and with the loves of their life. 40 - Wiernik, p.192 LEISURE Ideas 1. City [bad, moral & medical perils] vs Country [good] - Potok notes that Polio heightens this idea, by hitting in city. Note the further removed from workaday world the better [creates sense of apartness] 2. Create utopia [ideal society], alternative reality [counter- culture] - suspension of reality - note religious move to wilder- ness & formation of communitas [captive audience] - Zionist, Conservative etc. [Potok calls it 'recreational-educational Jewish land of Oz']: note esp. importance of Shabbat. 2a Religious revitalization [P.Deutsch article] - esp. in adult camps. 3. By 1930s, Yiddishists, Hebraists, Zionists [dif. branches], cultural nationalists, workers, socialists, communists all have camps. Note shift from ideology camp to religious movement camps with revival of religion in postwar period. 4. Build character & community; regenerative; antidote to anomie of modern society, stress on order & cleanliness, prove jews like non-Jews? - was their greater stress on male virtues [muscular Judaism]? Were girls stereotyped into gardening & culture? 5. Synthesis of American & Jewish [Hebraic] 6. Romance, promotes in-group marriage.[see p.33 of Worthy Use: "Don't kiss a boy if he's a goy; he won't kiss you if you're a Jew." Deutsch notes that class origins often hidden. Camp also serves as substitute shadchan promoting mixing of gene pool. Costume hid class 7. Underscores significance of childhood & adolescence; note rising importance of children in general society [see the photos] 8. Centrality of women - sometimes central to community [husbands on weekend], usually more women than men [prmotes masogyny] 9. Ritual - expectability of resorts [see Frommer & Frommer, p.44 "There was a consistency in everything." FOLK RELIGION 1. What is Folk Religion? FOLK - emphasis on people, rather than elites or institutions [earlier view restricted religion to those with institutional or propositional forms [i.e. creeds, platforms, theologies, biogra- phies]; emphasis on song, symbol, ritual, custom, story and art, rather than regular elite written sources. Folklore deals with elements of group culture that are trans- mitted orally or by example. "Those materials in culture taht circulate traditionally among members of any group in different versions, whether in oral form or by means of customary example, as well as th processes of traditional performance and communica- tion." [Encyl AM REL EXP,87] Folk religion :folk culture of religious groups and the reli- gious culture of folk groups." ORSI - studies sacred rituals, practices, symbols, prayers and faith. ALSO their ultimate values, most deeply held ethical convictions. 2. What does Orsi do in Madonna of 115th Street Study a feste and analyze both in terms of Italian ultimate values [synchronic] and in terms of history of group. Decodes rich symbolism of feste to show that it is a Rosetta Stone to understanding community as a whole. Value of "domus"- unit of social relationship & cultural trans- mission. See ch. 7 for decoding. 3. Jewish folk religion: Hillula & Purimshpiyl Hasidic culture Chanukah bar mitzvah high holidays - vid. tashlikh simkhat torah HEBREW AS ICON, CULTURAL COMPONENT, AND SUBCULTURE ICON 1. Hebrew serves as link between Jews and "Hebraic" Puritans. Puritans seek to reestablish Hebrew commonwealth. Note Christian Hebraism, Stiles & Carigal, various grammarians (incl. Judah Monis, Joshua Seixas, Isaac Nordheimer). Jews also involved in printing Hebrew Bible. 2. Hebrew the original language; language of Adam & Eve. Later a Classical Language, on par with Latin & Greek [=prestige & recog- nition] 3. Hebrew used in many college seals [Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth - Katsh, 198] 4. Assoc of Hebrew with magic; see Masonic symbolism CULTURAL COMPONENT 5. Hebrew gives Jews special insight into the Bible. [Temperance, Slavery, Bible] 6 Hebrew vital to Jewish literacy. Lack of much Hebrew knowledge in Colonial Period is thus signif. Hebrew critical to Jewish education. Note transl of Heb. prayerbook. First original Hebrw books: Dinne Nikur (1859) Avne Yehoshua (1860). Note few Jewish books in US [Margolis leaves rabbinics for this reason]; and no adequate press until after WWI. Some books published here; others in Palestine. 7. Hebrew links Jews to one another throughout world [Diplomatic letters; language of Stiles & Carigal] 8. Hebrew links ancient & modern Jew 9. Language of Jewish elite [rabbis etc write in; others use Yiddish or Ladino] . Maskilim [early enlightened Jews] still use Hebrew for purposes of high culture, not for mundane [which 'ivrim later insist it must be used for.] SUBCULTURE def. A group having traits distinctive enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture [Yiddish, Socialist, Youth, Army etc.] Origins - (1) Ahad Ha'am (1856-1927; Asher Ginsberg); 1889 - Lo Zo Haderekh argues for stress on cultural development and revi- talizing diaspora Jewry to prepare Jews for Zionism; vs. polit & prakt Zionism. (2) Eliezer Ben-Yehuda [Perlman, 1858-1922] - Hebrew as a tool for revitalizing and unifying Jewish world. Note ideas about language as key to culture. It defined culture--compare Irish [Gaellic] renaissance. Note also great debates over language in Jewish circles: Hebrew, Yiddish, lan- guage of country. . . . (3) Hebraism [H.Kallen, 1882-1974 et al] - key cultural compo- nents of Judaism, incl values, without religious content [note Matthew Arnold Hebraism & Hellenism]. Thus Hebrew a means of uniting Jews and maintaining Jewish continuity in absence of religion. [See Persky quote in Mintz, p.42] (4) Histadrut Ivrit [Hebrew Federation], traditionally founded 1916 by BZvi, BG, & Eliezer BYehuda (who were in US) to unite divided Zionists and others around a cultural platform which all could agree on. Sees Hebrew as key to revival of Jewish people. Much disagreement on goals: ultimately stress education in Tarbut Ivrit (camps, newspapers, books, Hebrew month, Hebrew retreats etc.) Central organization for member of subculture. Mintz notes how Hatoren lists lifecycle events (many for young people). (5) Hebrew associated with elite: literary figures, rabbis, teachers [esoteric knowledge; Mintz (p.17) says its fruits "sealed within a secret garden inaccessible to the mass of Ameri- can Jews"]. (6) Hebraists kidnap Jewish education, stress ivrit be-ivrit, and infuse nationalist ideals into their curriculum. Modernism and Hebraism and Jewish future linked in this ideology. Creation of Hebrew colleges and of Professional Identity linked to Hebrew. (7) Israel 'normalizes' Hebrew - foreign language like all oth- ers; revolution in Jewish supplementary education undermines Hebrew ideology. Ask re their views of Hebrew IMAGE & HISTORY: THE VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF JEWS 1) What is central problem in portraying Jews [true for various groups, but esp. Jews] -- how to render them as other. a) Are Jews different? [Gillman etc. believe differences large- ly socially constructed.] Problem of Gilllman et al is in no way interested in whether differences are real. Interested in representation of reality, not reality itself. [see fn in Eil- berg-Schwartz] b) Discuss theme of "other" & othering" - define is by what we are or are not. Argues that those most similar, most fearful of losing distinctiveness [i.e. Jews and non-Jews havbe desire for othering -- a point often lost] What does Judaism believe [circumcision, tzitzit, head cover- ing; note Lubav belief in sep. race. Note far less for women] Note that 17th c. see symbol of Jew switch from external (hat, star) to physical (beard, nose) according to some [Geller in PEOPLE OF BODY, 247] BUT BEARD ACTUALLY EARLY SYMBOL. Race- initially allows Jews to claim distinctiveness, without undermining claim to full memebership in US society (Goldstein,35)-- helps solve intermariage problem by explaining why Jews should marry Jews [note that dif. white races - Angle- Saxin, Teuton etc. not critical to US identity; key divide ws color]. Goldstein argues that race also beneficial as permitted free pursuit of worldly affairs, while preserving sep identity [and women have task of that preservation] - Race balances im- pulses for communal solidarity and Americanization. With East Europan immig and new racial categories fear that "Jewish race" places Jews in sep. category, "beyond the pale of whiteness," at which point Jews oppose race. Many believe that over time Jews less and less different - a)physiog. shaped by environment; b) - intermarriage/asssim Physical symbols: See belief (18th cent) that features reveal nature NOSE - visible; casts Jew as Oriental and different. Fear that Jew seen as "Black". Some see large nose as prominent sexual symbol (penis - see Casanova); others see it as sign of weakness. also seen as related to view that Jew has ODOR (related to primi- tive, sexual and feminine). CIRCUMCISION - damaged male body; Jewish cruel and mistreat children; sexual devient. Some relate to idea of Jew having tails: "all Jews are born with tails and that Jewish doctors remove them and that circumcision is a cover-up for tail- removing" [Carleton Coon, 1946]. NB in US becomes sign of invisibility as all circumcize. FOOT - weak feet, flat feet. i.e. Jew as agent of urban civili- zation (foot damaged by city life and civilization) MUSEUMS Ask - How many have been to Jewish museums? Which ones? Most are relatively new. Why created: convert Jews to heritage, educate non-Jews, inspire committed, preserve the past, promote under- standing of Jewish experience, demonstrate that Jews have artis- tic tradition, show off individual's collection Origins - Jewish museums usually dated to late 19th century. (1) Related to rise of Jewish scholarship (Wissenschaft), with its emphasis on study of historical sources (though many scholars privileged written sources) (2) Also antiquarian interest in collecting Jewish objects (for some, a world gone by). (3) Also reflects desire of Jews to gain recognition and acceptance -eager to be part of world culture and civilization (Vienna, Berlin, Prague, Danzig - many cases part of larger exhibits (1890s). 1876-Centennial Exposition in Phila. Moses Ezekiel's "Religious Liberty." No mention of Jews (Jews only group not to make ref to own history and historical figures). Stress on universality and on Jews as creative artists. 1887 Anglo Jewish Historical Exhibition. First to further inter- est in the historic preservation of Judaic arts and artifacts. Arranged in "Jewish plan" -- by ritual setting (synagogue, home, person = life cycle). Aim to show Jew as civilized and patriot- ic. Victorian values: home, family, faith. Initimate ties to Holy Land & Bible. Belief that knowledge of Judaism would dispell prejudice. [Note also how Jews come to control and shape own image] 1888-1897 - Smithsonian exhibits (Cyrus Adler): Cincinnati, Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville. Seeks to teach Judaism through ceremonial objects in scientific, objective way ("object lesssons in the history of Western Civilization and the history of reli- gion generally" - BKG), though certainly believes this will coun- teract prejudice and elevate status of Jew. 1888- Biblical archeology exhibit in Cinti (100th anniv of NW ord) shows Jews as link in biblical tradition (unbroken chain). 1893 Columbian exhibition large Jewish exhibit. Always stresses relation of Jews to Semitic Studies (A's specialty): related to Bible, sug- gests scientific scholarship (not sectarian loyalties), and positions Jews advantageously in history of civilization. 1904 - origins of Jewish Museum (JTS) as Mayer Sulzberger donates "objects used in the various rites and ceremonies to serve as a suggestion for the establishment of a Jewish Museum" (JTS Hist, II, 312). Little accomplished. HUC (now Skirball) Museum - 1913(? - Grossman disputes) - place for artifacts collected with books etc. [many libraries collected "objects" too -- see AJHS] Neither museum very large but both do share aims of (1) collect- ing; (2) preserving; and (3) exhibiting; and both seek in modest ways to further public knowledge and appreciation of Jewish culture. What is Jewish Culture? (1) Ceremonial art (2) Art by Jews (portraits) - see 1960s displays by JewMus, and dispute over whether that is role of Museum. [Modern art, not Jewish themes] (3) Historical objects & artifacts BK-G argues that three modes of presenting & interpreting Jews: (1) History Model - "Lower East Side" "Jewish Life in America" [aims?] (2) Art Model (note both folk art & other art) (3) Ethnographic model - culture of everyday life; stress on community and values (way a culture understands itself). Objects placed in context (Boro Park; Prague, Danzig exhibits) How do we understand the growth of American Jewish museums and historical sites [ca. 60 today; since 1977 Council of American Jewish Museums and group of Jewish museum professionals]? What is good and bad about these displays? How do they grapple with the tension between history and memory? Reasons: see AJYB, 91, p.77 Good & bad - boring? fail to touch emotionally? too popular? no Jewish ed. purpose? avoid controversy? Apologetic? History & Memory - [ask re Smithsonian exhibit on dropping of Atom Bomb] Note Maccabees, Masada, Haym Salomon ZIONIST IDEALS 1. What are the ideals connected with return to Zion and Zionism: (a) counterlife of study; (b)work the land - productivization; (c) model state [read, pp.52, 57-58]; (d) bring US know-how and medical care to Zion; (e) to build and be rebuilt (f) ideal of shomer - new type of Jew (guardians of peace), cowboy; halutz - permanence and collectivism; (g) singing and working; (h) gender equality; (i) sexual freedom, unrestrained love (as in communism and anarchism?) (j) Kibbutz (k) Hebrew (2) Read 52, 57-8 (3) Why these ideals?