Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
In 1990, the second National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) again focused national attention on intermarriage with the much-publicized finding that 52 percent of Jews who had married between 1985 ...
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In 1990, the second National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) again focused national attention on intermarriage with the much-publicized finding that 52 percent of Jews who had married between 1985 and 1990 had married a non-Jew. The 1990 NJPS makes it possible to revisit the question of the ultimate impact of intermarriage on the next generation at two different levels. First, we can examine what happens to the children of intermarriages formed during the 1960s and 1970s. Do they identify as Jews now, and if so, have they followed their Jewish parent's example by choosing a non-Jewish spouse themselves? Second, we can revisit the question of how children are being raised in contemporary intermarriages. This chapter begins by addressing some key methodological issues. The second section profiles adults who are the offspring of intermarriages and assesses what impact intermarriage has already had on the Jewish community. The third section, focusing on intermarried families with children under the age of eighteen, addresses the future by examining the present. In what sort of Jewish environment are they growing up? The fourth section identifies those factors that increase the likelihood that a child in an intermarried home will be raised as Jewish.Less
In 1990, the second National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) again focused national attention on intermarriage with the much-publicized finding that 52 percent of Jews who had married between 1985 and 1990 had married a non-Jew. The 1990 NJPS makes it possible to revisit the question of the ultimate impact of intermarriage on the next generation at two different levels. First, we can examine what happens to the children of intermarriages formed during the 1960s and 1970s. Do they identify as Jews now, and if so, have they followed their Jewish parent's example by choosing a non-Jewish spouse themselves? Second, we can revisit the question of how children are being raised in contemporary intermarriages. This chapter begins by addressing some key methodological issues. The second section profiles adults who are the offspring of intermarriages and assesses what impact intermarriage has already had on the Jewish community. The third section, focusing on intermarried families with children under the age of eighteen, addresses the future by examining the present. In what sort of Jewish environment are they growing up? The fourth section identifies those factors that increase the likelihood that a child in an intermarried home will be raised as Jewish.
Peter Y. Medding (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
How has the Jewish family changed over the course of the 20th century? How has it remained the same? How do Jewish families see themselves — historically, socially, politically, and economically — ...
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How has the Jewish family changed over the course of the 20th century? How has it remained the same? How do Jewish families see themselves — historically, socially, politically, and economically — and how would they like to be seen by others? This volume presents a variety of perspectives on Jewish families coping with life and death in the twentieth century. It is comprised of symposium papers, essays, and review articles of works published on such fundamental subjects as the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, genocide, history, literature, the arts, religion, education, Zionism, Israel, and the Middle East. It will appeal to all students and scholars of the sociocultural history of the Jewish people, especially those interested in the nature of Jewish intermarriage and/or family life, the changing fate of the Orthodox Jewish family, the varied but widespread Americanization of the Jewish family, and similar concerns.Less
How has the Jewish family changed over the course of the 20th century? How has it remained the same? How do Jewish families see themselves — historically, socially, politically, and economically — and how would they like to be seen by others? This volume presents a variety of perspectives on Jewish families coping with life and death in the twentieth century. It is comprised of symposium papers, essays, and review articles of works published on such fundamental subjects as the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, genocide, history, literature, the arts, religion, education, Zionism, Israel, and the Middle East. It will appeal to all students and scholars of the sociocultural history of the Jewish people, especially those interested in the nature of Jewish intermarriage and/or family life, the changing fate of the Orthodox Jewish family, the varied but widespread Americanization of the Jewish family, and similar concerns.
Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
Although lagging behind the experience of Jewish men by some decades, the typical adult Jewish woman by 1990 was also a well-educated labor force participant, usually with some post-college training. ...
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Although lagging behind the experience of Jewish men by some decades, the typical adult Jewish woman by 1990 was also a well-educated labor force participant, usually with some post-college training. Labor force participation rates of married Jewish women were high: in 1990, about 75 percent of those with no children at home were working, as were 75 percent of the married women with school-age children, and about half of those with very young (preschool) children. This chapter considers some of the most important implications for the American Jewish family of these changes in its economic context. Earnings from their professional occupations place American Jews, and by extension the American Jewish community, comfortably in the upper middle class. The implications of this environment for American Jews' consumption patterns, including investments related to family life in general and Jewish family life in particular, are first discussed. This is followed by analysis of the effect of economic incentives on marriage, fertility, and parenting, along with the consequences for American Jewish demographic patterns. The final section presents a brief summary of findings and some implications for the future of the American Jewish family.Less
Although lagging behind the experience of Jewish men by some decades, the typical adult Jewish woman by 1990 was also a well-educated labor force participant, usually with some post-college training. Labor force participation rates of married Jewish women were high: in 1990, about 75 percent of those with no children at home were working, as were 75 percent of the married women with school-age children, and about half of those with very young (preschool) children. This chapter considers some of the most important implications for the American Jewish family of these changes in its economic context. Earnings from their professional occupations place American Jews, and by extension the American Jewish community, comfortably in the upper middle class. The implications of this environment for American Jews' consumption patterns, including investments related to family life in general and Jewish family life in particular, are first discussed. This is followed by analysis of the effect of economic incentives on marriage, fertility, and parenting, along with the consequences for American Jewish demographic patterns. The final section presents a brief summary of findings and some implications for the future of the American Jewish family.
Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter seeks to analyze the Jewish family — specifically, the relationships between members of the nuclear family unit — during the ghetto period in Eastern Europe. Utilizing the framework of ...
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This chapter seeks to analyze the Jewish family — specifically, the relationships between members of the nuclear family unit — during the ghetto period in Eastern Europe. Utilizing the framework of the history of the Holocaust, it reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the Jewish family in extremis, highlighting the role of tradition in the cohesion or dissolution of family bonds. Attention will be given to the impact of ghetto conditions on families from different social groups, and on the role of the Jewish authorities in shaping the patterns of responses and behavior in the family. The focus on family provides a different perspective on the ghetto system, both from the point of view of Nazi policy and from that of the Jewish administration and leadership, shedding light on the everyday lives of individual Jews and their efforts to remain alive. The family was both a burden and a source of strength, hindering many persons' chances of survival while providing others with the motivation to endure despite all odds.Less
This chapter seeks to analyze the Jewish family — specifically, the relationships between members of the nuclear family unit — during the ghetto period in Eastern Europe. Utilizing the framework of the history of the Holocaust, it reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the Jewish family in extremis, highlighting the role of tradition in the cohesion or dissolution of family bonds. Attention will be given to the impact of ghetto conditions on families from different social groups, and on the role of the Jewish authorities in shaping the patterns of responses and behavior in the family. The focus on family provides a different perspective on the ghetto system, both from the point of view of Nazi policy and from that of the Jewish administration and leadership, shedding light on the everyday lives of individual Jews and their efforts to remain alive. The family was both a burden and a source of strength, hindering many persons' chances of survival while providing others with the motivation to endure despite all odds.
Peter Levine
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195085556
- eISBN:
- 9780199854042
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195085556.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter examines the Jewish American sport experience in the U.S. since World War II. While the interwar years represented something of a peak for Jewish professional athletes, the 1970s ...
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This chapter examines the Jewish American sport experience in the U.S. since World War II. While the interwar years represented something of a peak for Jewish professional athletes, the 1970s witnessed a decline in sports participation among the Jews. Analysts and historians attribute this decline to the trek of second- and third-generation Jewish families from the city to the suburbs. Sport no longer serves the same purpose today as it once did.Less
This chapter examines the Jewish American sport experience in the U.S. since World War II. While the interwar years represented something of a peak for Jewish professional athletes, the 1970s witnessed a decline in sports participation among the Jews. Analysts and historians attribute this decline to the trek of second- and third-generation Jewish families from the city to the suburbs. Sport no longer serves the same purpose today as it once did.
Steven M. Lowenstein
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195171648
- eISBN:
- 9780199871346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171648.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
This chapter shows how German Jewish families underwent great change in the 19th century. In the early 19th century, there was still much overcrowding, many absent fathers, and many household members ...
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This chapter shows how German Jewish families underwent great change in the 19th century. In the early 19th century, there was still much overcrowding, many absent fathers, and many household members not part of the nuclear family to be found. With increasing urbanization, improving economic conditions, and the slow diminution of itinerant occupations, German-Jewish families increasingly adopted the traits and values of bourgeois German families.Less
This chapter shows how German Jewish families underwent great change in the 19th century. In the early 19th century, there was still much overcrowding, many absent fathers, and many household members not part of the nuclear family to be found. With increasing urbanization, improving economic conditions, and the slow diminution of itinerant occupations, German-Jewish families increasingly adopted the traits and values of bourgeois German families.
Marion A. Kaplan
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195130928
- eISBN:
- 9780199854486
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195130928.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The chapter focuses on the impact of Nazi oppression of Jewish families through policies which restricted relationships and marital options with Aryans or non-Jews. Thus, existing mixed marriages and ...
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The chapter focuses on the impact of Nazi oppression of Jewish families through policies which restricted relationships and marital options with Aryans or non-Jews. Thus, existing mixed marriages and the resulting offspring came under attack, though households with Aryan husbands were treated more leniently than those with Jewish men. The socio-political climate of the period severely influenced Jewish decisions on engagement, marriage, and family building. The specific details of the Nuremberg Laws relating to racial definitions are described and their implications for Jewish relationships are explored. In the area of divorce, incidences in Jewish families were seen to decline, in contrast with mixed families, wherein the government exhorted the couples to separate. Due to increasing pressures from the government and the community, Jewish husbands and wives in mixed marriages were revealed to have been driven to take the option of suicide out of guilt for the oppression of their families.Less
The chapter focuses on the impact of Nazi oppression of Jewish families through policies which restricted relationships and marital options with Aryans or non-Jews. Thus, existing mixed marriages and the resulting offspring came under attack, though households with Aryan husbands were treated more leniently than those with Jewish men. The socio-political climate of the period severely influenced Jewish decisions on engagement, marriage, and family building. The specific details of the Nuremberg Laws relating to racial definitions are described and their implications for Jewish relationships are explored. In the area of divorce, incidences in Jewish families were seen to decline, in contrast with mixed families, wherein the government exhorted the couples to separate. Due to increasing pressures from the government and the community, Jewish husbands and wives in mixed marriages were revealed to have been driven to take the option of suicide out of guilt for the oppression of their families.
Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
In tracing its historical development, this chapter attempts to clarify the place of the elderly in the Jewish family, along with broader issues of communal organization. Topics discussed include the ...
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In tracing its historical development, this chapter attempts to clarify the place of the elderly in the Jewish family, along with broader issues of communal organization. Topics discussed include the elderly in the traditional family structure of East European Jewry, traditional and “modern” approaches to caring for the aged, and communal dynamics and the establishment of old-age homes.Less
In tracing its historical development, this chapter attempts to clarify the place of the elderly in the Jewish family, along with broader issues of communal organization. Topics discussed include the elderly in the traditional family structure of East European Jewry, traditional and “modern” approaches to caring for the aged, and communal dynamics and the establishment of old-age homes.
Robert Liberles
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195171648
- eISBN:
- 9780199871346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171648.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
This chapter shows that the dynamics of Jewish family life in early modern Germany did not differ markedly from those of their neighbors. Except for the wealthy, women generally married between their ...
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This chapter shows that the dynamics of Jewish family life in early modern Germany did not differ markedly from those of their neighbors. Except for the wealthy, women generally married between their late teens and late twenties, and men usually wed in their twenties. Family size was not unusually large, nor was it likely to be when the age at marriage was not substantially different from that of non-Jews. Husbands and wives divided their responsibilities in ways that also paralleled the society around them. Residential and economic restrictions caused one fundamental and significant difference between Jewish and Christian family life. Both Jewish males and females were more likely than Christians to move away from their native homes to establish their own families and households, and males, working more in commerce than agriculture, were more likely to be away from the family in order to provide support.Less
This chapter shows that the dynamics of Jewish family life in early modern Germany did not differ markedly from those of their neighbors. Except for the wealthy, women generally married between their late teens and late twenties, and men usually wed in their twenties. Family size was not unusually large, nor was it likely to be when the age at marriage was not substantially different from that of non-Jews. Husbands and wives divided their responsibilities in ways that also paralleled the society around them. Residential and economic restrictions caused one fundamental and significant difference between Jewish and Christian family life. Both Jewish males and females were more likely than Christians to move away from their native homes to establish their own families and households, and males, working more in commerce than agriculture, were more likely to be away from the family in order to provide support.
Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
The travail of the Jewish family has rarely been explored in a serious fashion in American film; in recording how succeeding generations felt the pressures of modernity, few movies have been animated ...
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The travail of the Jewish family has rarely been explored in a serious fashion in American film; in recording how succeeding generations felt the pressures of modernity, few movies have been animated either by ethnographic interest or by attentive artistry. That indifference is what makes Barry Levinson's Avalon (1990) so striking — and so worthy of critical and scholarly consideration. No other work is quite so deliberate, indeed self-conscious, in its effort to narrate a representative history, to provide a paradigmatic treatment of the fate of the Jewish family in the United States. This twenty-two million dollar home movie devotes itself with such single-minded concentration to the dynamics of Jewish family life that the treatment of its theme is without Hollywood precedent. Avalon is in a category of its own.Less
The travail of the Jewish family has rarely been explored in a serious fashion in American film; in recording how succeeding generations felt the pressures of modernity, few movies have been animated either by ethnographic interest or by attentive artistry. That indifference is what makes Barry Levinson's Avalon (1990) so striking — and so worthy of critical and scholarly consideration. No other work is quite so deliberate, indeed self-conscious, in its effort to narrate a representative history, to provide a paradigmatic treatment of the fate of the Jewish family in the United States. This twenty-two million dollar home movie devotes itself with such single-minded concentration to the dynamics of Jewish family life that the treatment of its theme is without Hollywood precedent. Avalon is in a category of its own.
Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
The number and frequency of war casualties have made bereavement and commemoration pervasive features of the Israeli social fabric. This chapter does not purport to be an exhaustive discussion of ...
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The number and frequency of war casualties have made bereavement and commemoration pervasive features of the Israeli social fabric. This chapter does not purport to be an exhaustive discussion of commemoration in Israeli society, but rather seeks to establish its contours in several significant fields. The first field consists of state ministries, institutions and ceremonies — chief among them the national memorial day for the fallen. It begins with this field since it reveals the hegemonic character of bereavement and commemoration in Israel, and highlights the linkage between its Israeli and Jewish components. This national ideology provides the background for the subsequent analysis of the bereaved families themselves, first through an examination of the organization that caters to their various needs (Yad Labanim) and then through the reactions of several individual bereaved families.Less
The number and frequency of war casualties have made bereavement and commemoration pervasive features of the Israeli social fabric. This chapter does not purport to be an exhaustive discussion of commemoration in Israeli society, but rather seeks to establish its contours in several significant fields. The first field consists of state ministries, institutions and ceremonies — chief among them the national memorial day for the fallen. It begins with this field since it reveals the hegemonic character of bereavement and commemoration in Israel, and highlights the linkage between its Israeli and Jewish components. This national ideology provides the background for the subsequent analysis of the bereaved families themselves, first through an examination of the organization that caters to their various needs (Yad Labanim) and then through the reactions of several individual bereaved families.
Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter presents a general approach to the development of personal identity, exploring the ways in which various group identities may be incorporated into the emerging personal identity of an ...
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This chapter presents a general approach to the development of personal identity, exploring the ways in which various group identities may be incorporated into the emerging personal identity of an individual. The approach is based on a conceptual model developed for the analysis of social influence and extended to the analysis of personal involvement in social systems. This model is not specifically addressed to identity formation, but it has some relevance to the development of identity both at the level of the individual and at that of the group — that is, both to personal and to national or ethnic identity. The chapter explores the implications of this model for identity formation at these two levels, with special reference to Jewish identity.Less
This chapter presents a general approach to the development of personal identity, exploring the ways in which various group identities may be incorporated into the emerging personal identity of an individual. The approach is based on a conceptual model developed for the analysis of social influence and extended to the analysis of personal involvement in social systems. This model is not specifically addressed to identity formation, but it has some relevance to the development of identity both at the level of the individual and at that of the group — that is, both to personal and to national or ethnic identity. The chapter explores the implications of this model for identity formation at these two levels, with special reference to Jewish identity.
Peter Y. Medding
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195128208
- eISBN:
- 9780199854592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195128208.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
In the historical and economic reality of Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the Lithuanian yeshivah and its “society of scholars” did not constitute a ...
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In the historical and economic reality of Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the Lithuanian yeshivah and its “society of scholars” did not constitute a serious threat to the dual process of modernization and secularization, with all that this entailed. Only after the Holocaust, and within the framework of the modern, affluent society that developed in the Western world and in Israel, did the yeshivah succeed in becoming what may be characterized as the family-community, which to a great extent replaced the biological family, on the one hand, and the modem and secular sociocultural environment, on the other hand. This chapter analyzes both the symbiosis and the contradictions in relations between the family and the yeshivah as a family-community in the evolution of the haredi “society of scholars” that occurred within the framework of affluent modern societies.Less
In the historical and economic reality of Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the Lithuanian yeshivah and its “society of scholars” did not constitute a serious threat to the dual process of modernization and secularization, with all that this entailed. Only after the Holocaust, and within the framework of the modern, affluent society that developed in the Western world and in Israel, did the yeshivah succeed in becoming what may be characterized as the family-community, which to a great extent replaced the biological family, on the one hand, and the modem and secular sociocultural environment, on the other hand. This chapter analyzes both the symbiosis and the contradictions in relations between the family and the yeshivah as a family-community in the evolution of the haredi “society of scholars” that occurred within the framework of affluent modern societies.
Sarah Wobick-Segev
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781503605145
- eISBN:
- 9781503606548
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503605145.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Jewish Studies
The second chapter examines the transition from arranged to companionate marriages among Ashkenazic Jews in the three cities and, in particular, as a reaction to the expanding market of leisure ...
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The second chapter examines the transition from arranged to companionate marriages among Ashkenazic Jews in the three cities and, in particular, as a reaction to the expanding market of leisure spaces in the process. The formation of the contemporary Jewish family underwent a dramatic shift as the notions of individual autonomy came to supersede the predominant influence of the extended family. In the process, the changing needs and expectations of the Jewish family imposed new expectations on the community as a whole regarding how and where the Jewish family was to be formed.Less
The second chapter examines the transition from arranged to companionate marriages among Ashkenazic Jews in the three cities and, in particular, as a reaction to the expanding market of leisure spaces in the process. The formation of the contemporary Jewish family underwent a dramatic shift as the notions of individual autonomy came to supersede the predominant influence of the extended family. In the process, the changing needs and expectations of the Jewish family imposed new expectations on the community as a whole regarding how and where the Jewish family was to be formed.
Charlotte Greenspan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195111101
- eISBN:
- 9780199865703
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195111101.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter focuses on the family life of Dorothy Fields. Dorothy Fields was born on July 15, 1904, in Allenhurst, New Jersey, in a residence the Fields family was renting for the summer. When ...
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This chapter focuses on the family life of Dorothy Fields. Dorothy Fields was born on July 15, 1904, in Allenhurst, New Jersey, in a residence the Fields family was renting for the summer. When Dorothy was born, Lew and Rose Fields already had three children, a girl and two boys. Dorothy's family environment differed from that of her siblings, even beyond the fact that she was the baby and that her father was no longer an itinerant entertainer. Some things remained much the same. The family pattern of Rose making the household decisions continued. Although he was no longer touring, Lew was seldom at home because he spent long hours at the theater. No longer partnered with Joe Weber, Lew Fields was very active as a producer and actor. Moreover, one could say that Rose represented Lew's aspirations of what the family would become—something more solidly middle class and secure.Less
This chapter focuses on the family life of Dorothy Fields. Dorothy Fields was born on July 15, 1904, in Allenhurst, New Jersey, in a residence the Fields family was renting for the summer. When Dorothy was born, Lew and Rose Fields already had three children, a girl and two boys. Dorothy's family environment differed from that of her siblings, even beyond the fact that she was the baby and that her father was no longer an itinerant entertainer. Some things remained much the same. The family pattern of Rose making the household decisions continued. Although he was no longer touring, Lew was seldom at home because he spent long hours at the theater. No longer partnered with Joe Weber, Lew Fields was very active as a producer and actor. Moreover, one could say that Rose represented Lew's aspirations of what the family would become—something more solidly middle class and secure.
Antony Polonsky
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781904113836
- eISBN:
- 9781800341067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781904113836.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter studies the history of Jewish women in eastern Europe. In the period between 1750 and 1914, the patriarchal character of Jewish society and the inferior position of women within it was ...
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This chapter studies the history of Jewish women in eastern Europe. In the period between 1750 and 1914, the patriarchal character of Jewish society and the inferior position of women within it was increasingly undermined. Initially this created a crisis of the Jewish family with rocketing divorce rates and other social pathologies, including girls running away from home in order to convert to Christianity or becoming involved in prostitution. In the course of the nineteenth century, attitudes changed: more provision was made for the education of Jewish women; attempts were made to deal with social problems like prostitution; and marriage became more stable as the age of marriage rose and a greater degree of equality between its partners was established. However, the apparent impossibility of the Jews achieving full civil rights in the tsarist empire and social integration elsewhere, and the continuing social and economic crisis of the community, impeded the achievement of an appropriate role for Jewish women in religious and social life. As a result, this issue remained a central problem in Jewish life after 1914.Less
This chapter studies the history of Jewish women in eastern Europe. In the period between 1750 and 1914, the patriarchal character of Jewish society and the inferior position of women within it was increasingly undermined. Initially this created a crisis of the Jewish family with rocketing divorce rates and other social pathologies, including girls running away from home in order to convert to Christianity or becoming involved in prostitution. In the course of the nineteenth century, attitudes changed: more provision was made for the education of Jewish women; attempts were made to deal with social problems like prostitution; and marriage became more stable as the age of marriage rose and a greater degree of equality between its partners was established. However, the apparent impossibility of the Jews achieving full civil rights in the tsarist empire and social integration elsewhere, and the continuing social and economic crisis of the community, impeded the achievement of an appropriate role for Jewish women in religious and social life. As a result, this issue remained a central problem in Jewish life after 1914.
Shaul Stampfer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774853
- eISBN:
- 9781800340909
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774853.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines the subject of love and the family within east European Jewish life. In the nineteenth century, almost every aspect of Jewish life was transformed in one way or another. The ...
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This chapter examines the subject of love and the family within east European Jewish life. In the nineteenth century, almost every aspect of Jewish life was transformed in one way or another. The structures of Jewish family life in eastern Europe and the place of love and affection in these frameworks were no exceptions. However, to a greater degree than many today realize, there was also a great deal of continuity between what was accepted in traditional Ashkenazi Jewish family life and in the lives of their descendants. In some cases, the attention given to atypical lives of famous and exceptional individuals has led to a skewed picture of the past. Similarly, superficial views of traditional family dynamics have created a distorted picture of what life was like in traditional east European Jewish society. Looking at love and family life in their fullness and as part of the general social environment is one of the best ways to correct these errors and to arrive at a balanced view of realities and developments. Because marriage and love within the context of family life is a very broad subject, the chapter focuses on four major topics: courtship and marriage formation; marital roles and expectations; parenthood; and remarriage.Less
This chapter examines the subject of love and the family within east European Jewish life. In the nineteenth century, almost every aspect of Jewish life was transformed in one way or another. The structures of Jewish family life in eastern Europe and the place of love and affection in these frameworks were no exceptions. However, to a greater degree than many today realize, there was also a great deal of continuity between what was accepted in traditional Ashkenazi Jewish family life and in the lives of their descendants. In some cases, the attention given to atypical lives of famous and exceptional individuals has led to a skewed picture of the past. Similarly, superficial views of traditional family dynamics have created a distorted picture of what life was like in traditional east European Jewish society. Looking at love and family life in their fullness and as part of the general social environment is one of the best ways to correct these errors and to arrive at a balanced view of realities and developments. Because marriage and love within the context of family life is a very broad subject, the chapter focuses on four major topics: courtship and marriage formation; marital roles and expectations; parenthood; and remarriage.
Shaul Stampfer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774853
- eISBN:
- 9781800340909
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774853.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter assesses whether the traditional Jewish family in eastern Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was patriarchal. In traditional east European Jewish families, authority over ...
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This chapter assesses whether the traditional Jewish family in eastern Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was patriarchal. In traditional east European Jewish families, authority over children was not monopolized by fathers; mothers also had a great deal of authority over minor children. Fathers often spent more hours a day out of the house than did mothers, and often they had to work far from their homes. As such, mothers usually determined what went on at home, and even when this was in accordance with their husbands' wishes, it does not imply that it was under their husbands' authority. Perhaps the greatest potential for paternal authority can be found in the marital patterns of their children. Meanwhile, in the area of relations between the male head of the family and his wife in traditional east European Jewish families, male authority could not be taken for granted and male heads of families could not simply force wives to do their bidding. The chapter then defines patriarchy, arguing that the dynamics of the traditional Jewish families in eastern Europe complicate the utility of the term.Less
This chapter assesses whether the traditional Jewish family in eastern Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was patriarchal. In traditional east European Jewish families, authority over children was not monopolized by fathers; mothers also had a great deal of authority over minor children. Fathers often spent more hours a day out of the house than did mothers, and often they had to work far from their homes. As such, mothers usually determined what went on at home, and even when this was in accordance with their husbands' wishes, it does not imply that it was under their husbands' authority. Perhaps the greatest potential for paternal authority can be found in the marital patterns of their children. Meanwhile, in the area of relations between the male head of the family and his wife in traditional east European Jewish families, male authority could not be taken for granted and male heads of families could not simply force wives to do their bidding. The chapter then defines patriarchy, arguing that the dynamics of the traditional Jewish families in eastern Europe complicate the utility of the term.
Shulamit S. Magnus
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781906764524
- eISBN:
- 9781800340459
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781906764524.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter explains that the central point of the second volume of Pauline Wengeroff's Memoirs of a Grandmother is the consequences of the loss of tradition in Russian Jewish families, exemplified ...
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This chapter explains that the central point of the second volume of Pauline Wengeroff's Memoirs of a Grandmother is the consequences of the loss of tradition in Russian Jewish families, exemplified by what transpired in her marital home. Her main narrative line is dramatic, accessible, and seductive. In it, she and her fellow Jewish women are victims — of Chonon/Jewish husbands, and of the overwhelming forces of modernity. Well before all this, however, Wengeroff was a prime agent of subverting tradition. She thus felt culpable and guilty not only for the sins of her youth but for those of her married adulthood that resulted in the failure to transmit tradition to her children. The chapter then considers the complexity of Wengeroff's and Chonon's Jewishness and of their relationship. It also looks at how Wengeroff found outlets for her Judaism as well as her need for meaningful activity outside the home as a bourgeoise before she wrote Memoirs. Both Chonon and Wengeroff participated in the trend of Russian Jewish philanthropy by supporting trade schools for poor children.Less
This chapter explains that the central point of the second volume of Pauline Wengeroff's Memoirs of a Grandmother is the consequences of the loss of tradition in Russian Jewish families, exemplified by what transpired in her marital home. Her main narrative line is dramatic, accessible, and seductive. In it, she and her fellow Jewish women are victims — of Chonon/Jewish husbands, and of the overwhelming forces of modernity. Well before all this, however, Wengeroff was a prime agent of subverting tradition. She thus felt culpable and guilty not only for the sins of her youth but for those of her married adulthood that resulted in the failure to transmit tradition to her children. The chapter then considers the complexity of Wengeroff's and Chonon's Jewishness and of their relationship. It also looks at how Wengeroff found outlets for her Judaism as well as her need for meaningful activity outside the home as a bourgeoise before she wrote Memoirs. Both Chonon and Wengeroff participated in the trend of Russian Jewish philanthropy by supporting trade schools for poor children.
Rachel B. Gross
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520291447
- eISBN:
- 9780520965225
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520291447.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Since 2005, a philanthropic organization, PJ Books, has set out to influence American Jews by reaching them in one of their most tender, intimate family moments: parents reading to children. The ...
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Since 2005, a philanthropic organization, PJ Books, has set out to influence American Jews by reaching them in one of their most tender, intimate family moments: parents reading to children. The program uses children's books to influence Jewish families' values and practices. This chapter argues that PJ Library demonstrates the burden that American Jewish institutions place on popular culture to shape their communities. Though staff members deny that PJ Library is engaged in religious activity, the organization does, in fact, use children's books as a tool to shape American Jewish religion. It uses children's books to introduce families to or reinforce their connection with sacred rituals and Jewish customs. More broadly, PJ Library seeks to persuade American Jewish families to make Judaism an important part of their lives and to connect them, one illustrated book at a time, to networks that will help them do so.Less
Since 2005, a philanthropic organization, PJ Books, has set out to influence American Jews by reaching them in one of their most tender, intimate family moments: parents reading to children. The program uses children's books to influence Jewish families' values and practices. This chapter argues that PJ Library demonstrates the burden that American Jewish institutions place on popular culture to shape their communities. Though staff members deny that PJ Library is engaged in religious activity, the organization does, in fact, use children's books as a tool to shape American Jewish religion. It uses children's books to introduce families to or reinforce their connection with sacred rituals and Jewish customs. More broadly, PJ Library seeks to persuade American Jewish families to make Judaism an important part of their lives and to connect them, one illustrated book at a time, to networks that will help them do so.
