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 “The Jew Has Died and the Hebrew Has Been Born”: Making and Locating Cultural Traditions

Arieh Bruce Saposnik

in Becoming Hebrew: The Creation of a Jewish National Culture in Ottoman Palestine

As the Yishuv grew demographically, the distinctive national culture that emerged necessitated a renegotiation of national centers and peripheries. Zionism's geographical rearrangement of Jewish life ... More

As the Yishuv grew demographically, the distinctive national culture that emerged necessitated a renegotiation of national centers and peripheries. Zionism's geographical rearrangement of Jewish life entailed a demand for cultural realignment and a renegotiation of the relationship between the new Zionist culture and the traditions associated with Jewish centers of the Diaspora. This process was punctuated by polemical outbursts, as in the “Brenner affair” and the storms surrounding the Herzlia Gymnasium, in particular its incorporation of biblical criticism in its teaching. In 1910* a speaker at a national celebration in Jerusalem declared that “the Jew has died, the Hebrew has been born,” while a writer abroad proclaimed the emergence of a “new Israel” in Palestine. A “literary mania,” as Menahem Ussishkin called it, and the crystallization of a celebratory style and educational agendas were among the key manifestations of that new national entity.Less

 Early Years: 1891–1914

William Taussig Scott and Martin X. Moleski

in Michael Polanyi: Scientist and Philosopher

Michael Polanyi was born in Budapest on March 11, 1891 to Mihály Pollacsek and Cecile Wohl, the fifth of their six children. This chapter describes Polanyi's family and cultural heritage, his ... More

Michael Polanyi was born in Budapest on March 11, 1891 to Mihály Pollacsek and Cecile Wohl, the fifth of their six children. This chapter describes Polanyi's family and cultural heritage, his education at the Minta Gymnasium ("Model School"), his studies in medicine at the University of Budapest, and his first publications on colloid chemistry. From his youth, Polanyi possessed the same breadth of interest from the physical sciences to the humanities that he exhibited later in life.Less

Red, White, and Blue and Mexican: Mexican Americans in Midcentury Chicago

Deborah E. Kanter

in Chicago Católico: Making Catholic Parishes Mexican

In the 1940s a new Mexican American generation emerged. The children of immigrants grew up as Chicagoans, attending ethnically diverse schools and living in mixed neighborhoods. The parish anchored ... More

In the 1940s a new Mexican American generation emerged. The children of immigrants grew up as Chicagoans, attending ethnically diverse schools and living in mixed neighborhoods. The parish anchored the community, and children grew up with a positive grounding in Mexican and US Catholic traditions. This chapter explores how they experienced World War II on the home front and as soldiers stationed all over the world. The parish newspaper vividly illustrates Chicago Mexican Americans’ talents and passions, especially in the realms of music, movies, and parish sports teams for women and men. A new parish gymnasium became the center of a lively social scene. These young people lived at ease with their hybrid identity: Mexican, American, and Catholic.Less

Who Were the Neoi?

Nigel Kennell

in Epigraphical Approaches to the Post-classical Polis: Fourth Century BC to Second Century AD

This chapter reassesses several important aspects of Clarence Forbes' classic study, Neoi: A Contribution to the Study of Greek Associations, in the light of new evidence that has emerged and new ... More

This chapter reassesses several important aspects of Clarence Forbes' classic study, Neoi: A Contribution to the Study of Greek Associations, in the light of new evidence that has emerged and new perspectives that have developed since its publication in 1933. Specifically, it situates the neoi in their proper military context in the Hellenistic period, both protecting and sometimes threatening the safety of a city, and shows that they were far from the anodyne ‘aftermath of the ephebic training’ of Forbes' conception. In addition, the precise relationship between neoi, their cadets (epheboi), and civic institutions beyond the gymnasium is illuminated by an examination of the ways the term neoi is used in public documents in what Maurice Holleaux called its ‘sens étroit’ and ‘sens large’ (Études II 98).Less

Clothes Make the Man: A Photo Essay on Russian Jewish School Uniforms

Eliyana R. Adler

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 30: Jewish Education in Eastern Europe

This chapter uses memoirs and photographs to investigate the role of the Russian secondary-school uniform in Jewish identity and society. It discusses this secondary result of Jews entering Russian ... More

This chapter uses memoirs and photographs to investigate the role of the Russian secondary-school uniform in Jewish identity and society. It discusses this secondary result of Jews entering Russian schools, which provides unexpected corroboration and elaboration of the paths of acculturation available to the Russian Jewish community. It also cites the popular story On Account of a Hat by Sholem Aleichem, which is about Jewish identity and Jewish psychology, as well as a Jewish response to Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat. The chapter explains how communities and individuals learned to assimilate the traditional Jewish house of worship and the imperial gymnasium as young Jews increasingly entered Russian schools throughout the later decades of the nineteenth-century. It reviews discussions on uniforms and provides a brief historical introduction to the entry of Jews into Russian schools.Less

A Weimar Golden Age: 1770 to 1832

Michael H. Kater

in Weimar: From Enlightenment to the Present

This chapter focuses on Weimar's Golden Age between 1770 and 1832. During that period, Weimar was the capital of one of four independent Saxon duchies, in an area now called Thuringia, in the centre ... More

This chapter focuses on Weimar's Golden Age between 1770 and 1832. During that period, Weimar was the capital of one of four independent Saxon duchies, in an area now called Thuringia, in the centre of Germany. The only upper school in the realm was Wilhelm-Ernst Gymnasium, headed by Johann Michael Heintze. Christoph Martin Wieland arrived in 1772, followed by Johann Wolfgang Goethe three years later. Wieland was hired by Dowager Duchess Anna Amalia as tutor to her oldest son, Dauphin Karl August. This chapter also looks at other figures who were instrumental in Weimar's so-called ‘Muses' Court’ after 1770, including Karl August Böttiger, Friedrich Hildebrand von Einsiedel, and Siegmund von Seckendorff. In addition, it considers Goethe's role as the catalyst for Weimar's Golden Age, as well as his collaboration with Friedrich von Schiller in matters of the theatre. Finally, it describes Weimar's population, economy, and society in the second half of the eighteenth century and into the early nineteenth century.Less

Introduction

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

The Introduction provides a background to set the book’s argument into the larger context of the Hellenistic world. After giving a brief account of Hellenism in Egypt before and after Alexander’s ... More

The Introduction provides a background to set the book’s argument into the larger context of the Hellenistic world. After giving a brief account of Hellenism in Egypt before and after Alexander’s campaigns, the chapter provides comparative material by presenting selected examples of Hellenistic gymnasia outside of Egypt with their architectonic characteristics, their functions, and their cultural significance. It then provides the methodological and scholarly foundations of the analysis and reviews the main aspects that come into play for the study of the gymnasia of Ptolemaic Egypt. This sets the place of Egypt within the study of the larger Hellenistic world.Less

The Institution

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

Attention is devoted to the diffusion, terminology, and foundation of the institution of the gymnasium in Ptolemaic Egypt, including the possible link with the army and the evidence from archaeology. ... More

Attention is devoted to the diffusion, terminology, and foundation of the institution of the gymnasium in Ptolemaic Egypt, including the possible link with the army and the evidence from archaeology. The chapter shows how gymnasia in Egypt were introduced both in the three poleis of the country as well as in villages, throughout the Ptolemaic period. It highlights the close connection that the institution had with military settlers but stresses how the gymnasium was not a military institution but rather the by-product of the settlers’ residence habits, promoted by Ptolemaic policies. Finally, it offers an account of the first and so far only archaeologically attested Hellenistic gymnasium of Egypt, recently uncovered in the village of Philoteris in the Arsinoite nome.Less

The Gymnasium at Alexandria

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

This chapter is solely devoted to the discussion of the gymnasium of Alexandria. Through the analysis of both literary and documentary sources, it appears clear that the gymnasium of Alexandria ... More

This chapter is solely devoted to the discussion of the gymnasium of Alexandria. Through the analysis of both literary and documentary sources, it appears clear that the gymnasium of Alexandria occupied a position of importance within the city and was often chosen as place for momentous—sometimes rather gruesome—events. In addition to the main gymnasium, the chapter shows how other gymnasia were also present and active in the city, as well as other places called palaestrae which were devoted to physical training. Questions concerning the foundation and status of the main Alexandrian gymnasium are discussed, as well as its involvement in questions of citizenship: it is argued that the institution was more likely set up by the first Ptolemies (rather than by Alexander the Great) and it may at first been run privately but subsequently controlled by civic magistrates; in any case, the ephebate was not connected to the definition of citizenship status. The final section of this chapter devotes its attention to the role and presence of Judaeans in the Alexandrian gymnasium and to the rejection of the possible existence of a Judaean gymnasium in the city.Less

Legal Status of Gymnasia

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

This chapter focuses on the legal status and the financing of the gymnasia of Egypt. In the Greek poleis of Egypt, the gymnasium may have at first been run privately but subsequently controlled by ... More

This chapter focuses on the legal status and the financing of the gymnasia of Egypt. In the Greek poleis of Egypt, the gymnasium may have at first been run privately but subsequently controlled by civic magistrates; in the villages, the gymnasium always remained a private institution, organized and financed directly by their members, although it was more and more strongly embedded in the public life of its communities. A possible Macedonian model is suggested, on the basis of the evidence of the so-called gymnasiarchic law of Beroea and the later ephebarchic law from Amphipolis. The chapter also provides comparison with gymnasia in some selected areas of the Ptolemaic Empire (Cyrene, Thera, and Cyprus) and in the lands of the Seleucid Kingdom, in order to show how different legal traditions and statuses coexisted in the gymnasia of the Hellenistic world.Less

Gymnasial Status

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

The status of the members of the gymnasium is investigated in this chapter, with special attention to the organization of the younger users, to the gymnasial community as a well-defined body, and to ... More

The status of the members of the gymnasium is investigated in this chapter, with special attention to the organization of the younger users, to the gymnasial community as a well-defined body, and to their involvement in local administration. Evidence concerning the procedures for admittance in the gymnasium is presented, together with the role of ephebes and other younger users of the gymnasium: it is argued that the ephebate represented a pivotal moment in the life of the gymnasium’s users and their members retained strong institutionalized connections with their fellow ephebes for many years after their youth. The members of the gymnasium, officially called ‘those from the gymnasium’, were a varied but well-defined and conscious group, with a strong sense of community and the ability to act as a body. The higher end of the gymnasial community often occupied a position of importance in the echelons of the Ptolemaic administration, thus showing how ‘those from the gymnasium’ were the prime candidates for the running of the administration and bureaucracy.Less

Outsiders: Integration and Rejection

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

This chapter focuses on the treatment of outsiders and on the possible procedures for inclusion in the gymnasia of Hellenistic Egypt: attention is devoted in particular to Egyptians, Judaeans, and ... More

This chapter focuses on the treatment of outsiders and on the possible procedures for inclusion in the gymnasia of Hellenistic Egypt: attention is devoted in particular to Egyptians, Judaeans, and the possible role of women in gymnasia. The gymnasium was the place for the assertion of specific aspects of Greek identity and those who took part in its life, including visiting guests, were admitted on the understanding that they shared and were willing to perform specific features of Greek culture. It is shown how Egyptians and Judaeans could be welcomed into the gymnasia of Egypt but how they could not and did not advertise or express themselves in them as anything other than ‘Greeks’, adopting or at any rate coming to terms with practices (including nudity) that at times clashed with traditional Egyptian or Judaean values. Women, on the other hand, found no room in the gymnasia of Ptolemaic Egypt: the gymnasium was essentially an institution built by and for men and so it basically remained from the beginning until the end of its days.Less

Living the Greek Way

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

This chapter moves its attention to the activities performed on the premises of the gymnasia of Egypt, in order to get a sense of the institution’s daily life, which represented the result of a ... More

This chapter moves its attention to the activities performed on the premises of the gymnasia of Egypt, in order to get a sense of the institution’s daily life, which represented the result of a common feeling of shared traditions by its members and contributed to the perpetuation of such feeling. Attention is devoted to the physical activities performed in the gymnasia, including games and athletic contests, as well as to the religious events which the gymnasium’s members set up. The gymnasium was the favourite setting for athletic training and for other cultural endeavours, aimed at intellectual entertainment, display of cultural prowess, competition, socializing, bonding, and networking; the gymnasium was not a place devoted to education proper. A short excursus provides an overview of athletics in Egypt. The final section of the chapter focuses on the presence, character, and role of private associations housed in gymnasia.Less

The Gymnasium and Greek Identity

Mario C. D. Paganini

in Gymnasia and Greek Identity in Ptolemaic Egypt

This chapter focuses on questions of identity more clearly and provides an analysis of its different implications, to show how the communities of the gymnasia of Hellenistic Egypt, while following ... More

This chapter focuses on questions of identity more clearly and provides an analysis of its different implications, to show how the communities of the gymnasia of Hellenistic Egypt, while following traditions of Greek character, were thoroughly embedded in the socio-cultural world of the country in which they lived. It is argued that the members of the gymnasium displayed complex identities, which could encompass features deriving from various traditions; this goes beyond a simplistic interpretation and understanding of ethnicity. Beyond strict ethnic designations, Ptolemaic society also functioned in a less exclusive fashion, according to cultural definitions: the Ptolemaic category of Hellenes ‘Greeks’ was applied to people who displayed a certain degree of knowledge of Greek language and culture, not only to those who were of strict Greek ethnicity. As the prime institution of Greek cultural traditions, the gymnasium operated as the quintessential ‘association of the Hellenes’: the place where those who were willing to go Greek could express themselves as a well-defined group of people, while upholding specific aspects of Greek life. However, it is shown how the gymnasium’s members stretched over different layers of (normally) the middle and upper strata of local society and shared many features, which were foreign to Greek traditions and thought, including specific onomastic choices, religious practices, or marriage patterns. ‘Those of the gymnasium’ were fully embedded in and deeply intertwined with the local population—to the point that they essentially formed a part of it: they were the ‘Greeks’ of Egypt.Less

The End of the Little Liberal Arts College

Thomas J. Shelley

in Fordham, A History of the Jesuit University of New York: 1841-2003

Jesuit objections to the changes introduced at Harvard by President Charles W. Eliot. Catholic efforts to reform American Catholic higher education. Fordham students and alumni rally to support U.S. ... More

Jesuit objections to the changes introduced at Harvard by President Charles W. Eliot. Catholic efforts to reform American Catholic higher education. Fordham students and alumni rally to support U.S. involvement in World War I. Fordham President Joseph Mulry becomes an ardent supporter of the war effort. Fordham organizes the Fordham Ambulance Corps.Less

From the Gymnasium to the Wedding: Eros in Athenian Art and Cult

Emma Stafford

in Erôs in Ancient Greece

This chapter reviews representations of Eros personified in Attic art alongside what we know of Eros' cult at Athens, evidence which has an important contribution to make to our understanding of the ... More

This chapter reviews representations of Eros personified in Attic art alongside what we know of Eros' cult at Athens, evidence which has an important contribution to make to our understanding of the emotion. It is generally agreed that the images chart a change from a late archaic focus on pederastic erôs to a later fifth-century association with women and heterosexual desire. It is argued here that this shift in emphasis is reflected in Athens' two major cults of Eros: at the Academy, from c.540 BC worship focused on Eros alone, its pederastic character in keeping with the gymnasium context; on the Akropolis' north slope, from c.450 BC, Eros displayed a heterosexual concern with fertility, in close association with Aphrodite. Such a background makes sense of Eros' frequent appearances in wedding scenes, which further suggest that erôs’role in marriage became firmly established in the second half of the fifth century.Less

Inequality in Transitions to Secondary School and Tertiary Education in Germany

Martin Neugebauer, David Reimer, Steffen Schindler, and Volker Stocké

in Determined to Succeed?: Performance versus Choice in Educational Attainment

This chapter considers class inequalities in Germany for cohorts born in the 1980s and 1990s. It focuses on the transitions from primary school to the classical academic track, Gymnasium and from ... More

This chapter considers class inequalities in Germany for cohorts born in the 1980s and 1990s. It focuses on the transitions from primary school to the classical academic track, Gymnasium and from Gymnasium to university, and relates the influence of primary and secondary effects in the transition to university on the decisions made at previous transition points. The discussion emphasizes two institutional characteristics that are most relevant for understanding inequality in educational opportunity in Germany: first, the early and very consequential sorting of students into stratified secondary school tracks after primary school, where school performance serves as the prime allocation principle; and second, the existence of an attractive system of vocational training that constitutes a popular educational alternative even for those students who obtain the qualification to go on to university.Less

Armoury of the Bricoleur?: The Disparate Origins of Auxiliary Equipment

Ian Haynes

in Blood of the Provinces: The Roman Auxilia and the Making of Provincial Society from Augustus to the Severans

Recent scholarship has usefully applied Lévi-Strauss’ bricolage metaphor to examine the way in which new forms of ‘Roman’ identity emerged through the incorporation of pre-existing elements. This ... More

Recent scholarship has usefully applied Lévi-Strauss’ bricolage metaphor to examine the way in which new forms of ‘Roman’ identity emerged through the incorporation of pre-existing elements. This understanding corresponds closely to the processes of evolution described by Arrian in his celebrated Ars Tactica, an account of the manoeuvres and dress of Roman cavalrymen. This chapter considers the processes, bricolage included, which characterized the adoption of particular forms of dress by auxiliaries and Rome’s armies more generally. It argues that an understanding of these dynamics is not only an essential preliminary for the study of material culture in Rome’s armies but also important when examining the processes of incorporation that created provincial society.Less

The Mind Set Free: Preparing a Liberal Society in the 1840s

in Vienna in the Age of Uncertainty: Science, Liberalism, and Private Life

This chapter explores how young Franz Exner came to seek a model of a post-dogmatic mind. Franz Exner was a Gymnasium student during the calm and optimistic years after the defeat of Napoleon. He ... More

This chapter explores how young Franz Exner came to seek a model of a post-dogmatic mind. Franz Exner was a Gymnasium student during the calm and optimistic years after the defeat of Napoleon. He entered the University of Vienna to study philosophy in 1819. At the age of thirty, Exner was offered the chair of philosophy at the University of Prague. His classroom antics hinted at his concern with the field of pedagogical psychology, a focus of Johann Friedrich Herbart's. Herbart's psychology proposed Exner a model of the mind that appeared suited to the project of liberal education. Exner's embrace of the latest German philosophy only made his life in Prague more difficult. Furthermore, he developed a prominent new role for science and mathematics in the Gymnasium curriculum. As a component of the new Gymnasium curriculum, exercises in probabilistic reasoning would encourage students to view absolute claims skeptically.Less