Yaacov Deutsch
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199756537
- eISBN:
- 9780199950201
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199756537.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter focuses on the descriptions of a single festival—Yom Kippur. Out of all the possible holidays, Yom Kippur has been chosen for several reasons. To begin with, it comes up more often than ...
More
This chapter focuses on the descriptions of a single festival—Yom Kippur. Out of all the possible holidays, Yom Kippur has been chosen for several reasons. To begin with, it comes up more often than any other festival in the ethnographic accounts, so that there is more material on the Day of Atonement than any other topic. Moreover, Yom Kippur constitutes one of the most important festivals on the Jewish calendar, which helps explain why it attracted so much attention from Christian authors. As a result, it also stands to reason that writing about Yom Kippur is more comprehensive than any of the other holidays.Less
This chapter focuses on the descriptions of a single festival—Yom Kippur. Out of all the possible holidays, Yom Kippur has been chosen for several reasons. To begin with, it comes up more often than any other festival in the ethnographic accounts, so that there is more material on the Day of Atonement than any other topic. Moreover, Yom Kippur constitutes one of the most important festivals on the Jewish calendar, which helps explain why it attracted so much attention from Christian authors. As a result, it also stands to reason that writing about Yom Kippur is more comprehensive than any of the other holidays.
Misha Klein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813039879
- eISBN:
- 9780813043784
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813039879.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter explores the ways in which the nation constructs itself in relation to Jews, and how Jews actively participate in this historical revision. The recognition of the small population is ...
More
This chapter explores the ways in which the nation constructs itself in relation to Jews, and how Jews actively participate in this historical revision. The recognition of the small population is mutually strategic as well as corrective: for Brazilian society, it is one example of a larger project to recast contemporary Brazil as a modern, multicultural nation. For Brazilian Jews, this rewriting of Brazilian history and the re-inscription of the landscape to reflect their presence serve to powerfully transmit the memory of their participation—acts that are infused with the hope of securing a place in the nation and confirming a sense of belonging.Less
This chapter explores the ways in which the nation constructs itself in relation to Jews, and how Jews actively participate in this historical revision. The recognition of the small population is mutually strategic as well as corrective: for Brazilian society, it is one example of a larger project to recast contemporary Brazil as a modern, multicultural nation. For Brazilian Jews, this rewriting of Brazilian history and the re-inscription of the landscape to reflect their presence serve to powerfully transmit the memory of their participation—acts that are infused with the hope of securing a place in the nation and confirming a sense of belonging.
Sarah Wobick-Segev
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781503605145
- eISBN:
- 9781503606548
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9781503605145.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Jewish Studies
This book is the first comparative study of Jewish communities in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. It analyzes how Jews used social and religious spaces to reformulate patterns of fraternity, ...
More
This book is the first comparative study of Jewish communities in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. It analyzes how Jews used social and religious spaces to reformulate patterns of fraternity, celebration, and family formation and expressions of self-identification. It suggests that the social patterns that developed between 1890 and the 1930s were formative for the fundamental reshaping of Jewish community and remain essential to our understanding of contemporary Jewish life. Focusing on the social interactions of urban European Jews, this book offers a new perspective on how Jews confronted the challenges of modernity. As membership in the official community was becoming increasingly a matter of individual choice, Jews created spaces to meet new social and emotional needs. Cafés, hotels, and restaurants became places to gather and celebrate festivals and holy days, and summer camps served as sites for the informal education of young children. These places facilitated the option of secular Jewish belonging, marking a clear distinction between Judaism and Jewishness that would have been impossible on a large scale in the pre-emancipation era. By creating new centers for Jewish life, a growing number of historical actors, including women and youth, took the process of community building into their own hands. The contexts of Jewish life expanded beyond the confines of “traditional” Jewish spaces and sometimes challenged the desires of Jewish authorities. The book further argues that these social practices remained vital in reconstructing certain Jewish communities in the wake of the devastation of the Holocaust.Less
This book is the first comparative study of Jewish communities in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. It analyzes how Jews used social and religious spaces to reformulate patterns of fraternity, celebration, and family formation and expressions of self-identification. It suggests that the social patterns that developed between 1890 and the 1930s were formative for the fundamental reshaping of Jewish community and remain essential to our understanding of contemporary Jewish life. Focusing on the social interactions of urban European Jews, this book offers a new perspective on how Jews confronted the challenges of modernity. As membership in the official community was becoming increasingly a matter of individual choice, Jews created spaces to meet new social and emotional needs. Cafés, hotels, and restaurants became places to gather and celebrate festivals and holy days, and summer camps served as sites for the informal education of young children. These places facilitated the option of secular Jewish belonging, marking a clear distinction between Judaism and Jewishness that would have been impossible on a large scale in the pre-emancipation era. By creating new centers for Jewish life, a growing number of historical actors, including women and youth, took the process of community building into their own hands. The contexts of Jewish life expanded beyond the confines of “traditional” Jewish spaces and sometimes challenged the desires of Jewish authorities. The book further argues that these social practices remained vital in reconstructing certain Jewish communities in the wake of the devastation of the Holocaust.
Edward Portnoy
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190646127
- eISBN:
- 9780190646158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190646127.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter sketches the history of yontef-bletlekh (holiday pages). First published in the mid-1890s, yontef-bletlekh were initially conceived as a means of circumventing the Russian censor’s ban ...
More
This chapter sketches the history of yontef-bletlekh (holiday pages). First published in the mid-1890s, yontef-bletlekh were initially conceived as a means of circumventing the Russian censor’s ban on Yiddish periodicals. The ruse, which took advantage of looser regulations on “one-time journals”, was premised on the fact that almost every month in the Hebrew calendar has a Jewish holiday. Hence, by publishing a one-time journal in relation to each holiday—each with a unique title—one could create a de facto periodical. This concept of creating a one-time journal filled with secular content but labeled with a holiday-related title and published during holidays would subsequently be appropriated by Yiddish humorists, who would begin publishing satire magazines on Jewish holidays on an annual basis. This mainly Warsaw-based humoristic-journalistic subgenre included hundreds of publications and comprised nearly a quarter of all Yiddish journalistic endeavors in the Pale and in Poland from the turn of the 20th century until the Second World War. Indeed, it accounted for a significant proportion of Yiddish periodical titles as a whole.Less
This chapter sketches the history of yontef-bletlekh (holiday pages). First published in the mid-1890s, yontef-bletlekh were initially conceived as a means of circumventing the Russian censor’s ban on Yiddish periodicals. The ruse, which took advantage of looser regulations on “one-time journals”, was premised on the fact that almost every month in the Hebrew calendar has a Jewish holiday. Hence, by publishing a one-time journal in relation to each holiday—each with a unique title—one could create a de facto periodical. This concept of creating a one-time journal filled with secular content but labeled with a holiday-related title and published during holidays would subsequently be appropriated by Yiddish humorists, who would begin publishing satire magazines on Jewish holidays on an annual basis. This mainly Warsaw-based humoristic-journalistic subgenre included hundreds of publications and comprised nearly a quarter of all Yiddish journalistic endeavors in the Pale and in Poland from the turn of the 20th century until the Second World War. Indeed, it accounted for a significant proportion of Yiddish periodical titles as a whole.
Hizky Shoham
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190646127
- eISBN:
- 9780190646158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190646127.003.0025
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter reviews Dianne Ashton’s Hanukkah in America: A History, which chronicles how a once minor holiday gradually became (along with Passover) one of the most significant days on the American ...
More
This chapter reviews Dianne Ashton’s Hanukkah in America: A History, which chronicles how a once minor holiday gradually became (along with Passover) one of the most significant days on the American Jewish calendar, as well as the most prominent symbol of Jewish culture in the wider American milieu. Ashton points to four factors that moved Hanukah to the center stage of American Jewish life. First, the candle-lighting ceremony is simple, short, and easily performed. Second, it falls during the December holiday season, at a time when American culture sanctifies the cult of family and children. Third, the original story can be retold in diverse ways to suit American Jewish dilemmas, while always featuring the heroes as “us” American Jews. And finally, because the story underlines the tension between miraculous intervention and the Jews’ religious devotion, it serves to trigger conversations about the role of religion and God in modern life.Less
This chapter reviews Dianne Ashton’s Hanukkah in America: A History, which chronicles how a once minor holiday gradually became (along with Passover) one of the most significant days on the American Jewish calendar, as well as the most prominent symbol of Jewish culture in the wider American milieu. Ashton points to four factors that moved Hanukah to the center stage of American Jewish life. First, the candle-lighting ceremony is simple, short, and easily performed. Second, it falls during the December holiday season, at a time when American culture sanctifies the cult of family and children. Third, the original story can be retold in diverse ways to suit American Jewish dilemmas, while always featuring the heroes as “us” American Jews. And finally, because the story underlines the tension between miraculous intervention and the Jews’ religious devotion, it serves to trigger conversations about the role of religion and God in modern life.
