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German Jews and Their Social Relationships

Steven M. Lowenstein

in Jewish Daily Life in Germany, 1618-1945

This chapter shows that Jewish social life in the 19th century slowly became more sophisticated and less exclusive. Numerous German Jews acquired manners appropriate to polite gentile society and ... More

This chapter shows that Jewish social life in the 19th century slowly became more sophisticated and less exclusive. Numerous German Jews acquired manners appropriate to polite gentile society and began attending cultural events such as concerts and the theater. Though most Jews continued to socialize mainly with coreligionists, mixed Christian-Jewish formal and informal circles became more common. Jews of the higher classes were admitted to general bourgeois associations, and Jews participated in slowly growing numbers in local government and national politics. Violence against Jews became less common. In the liberal era of the 1850s and 1860s, barriers to Jewish mixing with non-Jews were probably lower than ever before in German history, though separate social circles were still quite noticeable.Less

Toward a Theory of Disproportionate American Jewish Liberalism

Geoffrey Brahm Levey

in Studies in Contemporary Jewry: XI: Values, Interests, and Identity: Jews and Politics in a Changing World

Jews have risen to become one of the best-educated and most economically secure ethno-religious groups in the United States. Some of the existing theories explain why American Jews are, or have been, ... More

Jews have risen to become one of the best-educated and most economically secure ethno-religious groups in the United States. Some of the existing theories explain why American Jews are, or have been, liberal; others help explain variance among American Jews in the degree of their liberalism. This chapter seeks to advance a new approach to explaining the disproportionate liberalism of Jews in America. Specifically, it rejects the standard assumption that American Jews are predisposed by their experience among non-Jews in wider society—whether considered in terms of marginality, minority status, or political interests—to be especially politically liberal. The central argument advanced here is that the pronounced liberalism of American Jews is best understood in terms of dynamics and tensions in their relation to the Jewish community as a religious body politic rather than in their relations with non-Jews or with non-Jewish society.Less

Ahad Haʼam: The Politics of Sublimation

Anita Shapira

in Studies in Contemporary Jewry: XI: Values, Interests, and Identity: Jews and Politics in a Changing World

This chapter discusses the biographies on Ahad Haʼam, along with an in-depth philosophical portrait of the Zionist thinker. The first to appear was Yosef Goldstein's Ahad Haʼam. Yehiel Alfred ... More

This chapter discusses the biographies on Ahad Haʼam, along with an in-depth philosophical portrait of the Zionist thinker. The first to appear was Yosef Goldstein's Ahad Haʼam. Yehiel Alfred Gottschalk soon followed suit, and a year later, Steven Zipperstein. Ahad Haʼam is not credited with any breakthroughs or sensational innovations, and he was more adept at negation than at construction. One of the elements missing in all three volumes is an analysis of Ahad Haʼam's attitude toward non-Jews. Throughout his writings, he conveys a sense of estrangement from the gentile world. For Ahad Haʼam, the Arab in Palestine functions as a yardstick for assaying the ethical tenor of the Zionist enterprise—a litmus test of how Jews behave when they are in power. All three authors deal (though not at great length) with the question of Ahad Haʼam's relevance today.Less

Kabbalah

Robert Eisen

in The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism

According to the first reading, Kabbalah implicitly supports violence. It expresses the most negative views of non-Jews in the history of Judaism by associating them with the realm of pure evil, and ... More

According to the first reading, Kabbalah implicitly supports violence. It expresses the most negative views of non-Jews in the history of Judaism by associating them with the realm of pure evil, and it envisions the messianic era as a period in which the non-Jewish world will be destroyed. According to the second reading, medieval Kabbalah certainly has a negative view of non-Jews, but it never advocated physical violence against them. Moreover, the negative portrayals of non-Jews in Kabbalah have not stopped modern students from constructing a universalistic reading of Kabbalah that is inherently peaceful.Less

Modern Zionism

Robert Eisen

in The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism

According to the first reading, Zionism represents the revival of violent tendencies in Judaism now that Jews once again have a state. In religious Zionism, the endorsement of violence is due to the ... More

According to the first reading, Zionism represents the revival of violent tendencies in Judaism now that Jews once again have a state. In religious Zionism, the endorsement of violence is due to the belief that Jews are chosen, that God promised them the land of Israel, that the messianic period is approaching, and that non-Jews are evil. Secular Zionism does not subscribe to the literal meaning of these premises, but it has translated them into nationalist ideals that have also inspired violence. According to the second reading, the violence of Zionism has been inspired by factors having little to do with Judaism, such as secular nationalism, Jewish fears of Arabs engendered by centuries of persecution, and the desperation of Jews who believed that Zionism represented the only chance for Jews to survive. Furthermore, much of the violence by Zionists has been defensive in nature.Less

Epilogue: Personal Reflections on Where We Go from Here

Robert Eisen

in The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism

The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with ... More

The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with guidance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The argument is made that guidance can indeed be found in the pragmatism of rabbinic Judaism that allowed Jews to survive and thrive for centuries. Pragmatism should encourage Jews to adopt a two-state solution that is in line with the peaceful reading of Judaism. Also shared here are personal, empirical reflections on relationships with non-Jews, Muslims, and Arabs that strengthen the argument for a peaceful understanding of Judaism.Less

Judicial Review: Criminal and Administrative Law

Chibli Mallat

in Introduction to Middle Eastern Law

This chapter examines the more traditional adjudication of criminal and administrative cases. It argues that in the field of constitutional and criminal law, whenever the slightest political overtone ... More

This chapter examines the more traditional adjudication of criminal and administrative cases. It argues that in the field of constitutional and criminal law, whenever the slightest political overtone appears in a case — that is, prisoners of conscience, operations of the police and security services, review of electoral laws and elections, detention of political opponents under seditious acts, etc. — the legal professions find themselves struggling in a generally adverse environment. In areas of public life which are considered eminently ‘political’, regardless of whether people toil under traditional monarchies or revolutionary potentates, executive power has been reluctant to allow any serious review of state power.Less

Jesus and the ‘Outsiders’

Gerald O'Collins, SJ

in Salvation for All: God's Other Peoples

This chapter highlights the relationship between Jesus of Nazareth and the outsiders. Jesus began his public ministry around AD 27. He focused on the preaching of the kingdom or the saving rule of ... More

This chapter highlights the relationship between Jesus of Nazareth and the outsiders. Jesus began his public ministry around AD 27. He focused on the preaching of the kingdom or the saving rule of God already powerfully present but not yet fully completed. According to the Gospels, Jesus responded not only to the Jews but also to the non-Jews. An example of this is when Jesus helped a desperately ill son of a non-Jewish military officer who was in command of 50 to 100 soldiers. Before healing the son of the centurion by a simple word of command, Jesus used the image of God's eschatological banquet to warn what would happen at the end. Meanwhile, the message of Jesus regarding the kingdom reached beyond the frontiers of racial and religious separations. The end of this chapter concludes that the word of Jesus is for everyone because he loves humankind.Less

Familiar Strangers: Napoleon and the Jews

Schechter Ronald

in Obstinate Hebrews: Representations of Jews in France, 1715-1815

Public discussion of the Jews faded substantially between 1792 and Napoleon's rise to power at the very end of the decade. The September 1791 legislation removing all legal distinctions between Jews ... More

Public discussion of the Jews faded substantially between 1792 and Napoleon's rise to power at the very end of the decade. The September 1791 legislation removing all legal distinctions between Jews and non Jews, combined with the prior decree of religious freedom in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, made it difficult to speak of “the Jews” as a discrete group. The abolition of the former Jewish corporations at the same time made it difficult for the Jews to register any collective grievances, or indeed to make any collective statements about themselves. No formally recognized rabbis or syndics could speak on their behalf, and any attempt to articulate specifically Jewish concerns risked provoking the accusation that the Jews were still a “nation within a nation.” The leader's particular interest in the Jews prompted their return to prominence in the public imagination.Less

Reflections on the Dialogue Between Jew and Non-Jew in the Bible and in Rabbinic Literature

Rabbi Tovia Ben-Chorin

in Friends on the Way: Jesuits Encounter Contemporary Judaism

This chapter examines cases of Jew and non-Jew dialogue in the Bible and in Rabbinic Literature. The foundational element of the Jewish Bible is the dialogue between God and man and between man and ... More

This chapter examines cases of Jew and non-Jew dialogue in the Bible and in Rabbinic Literature. The foundational element of the Jewish Bible is the dialogue between God and man and between man and man. This element was derived from the relationship of the deity to humankind, specifically to the Children of Israel. The expression of this relationship is not only through verbal revelation but also through human discourse and dialogue with the deity. The account of this dialogue in the Bible came after the Flood.Less

Benjamin Schreier, The Impossible Jew: Identity and Reconstruction of Jewish American Literary History. New York: New York University Press, 2015. 269 pp.

Richard I. Cohen (ed.)

in Place in Modern Jewish Culture and Society

This chapter reviews the book The Impossible Jew: Identity and Reconstruction of Jewish American Literary History (2015), by Benjamin Schreier. In The Impossible Jew, Schreier challenges the ... More

This chapter reviews the book The Impossible Jew: Identity and Reconstruction of Jewish American Literary History (2015), by Benjamin Schreier. In The Impossible Jew, Schreier challenges the dominance of a totalizing (historicist/nationalist/anthropologist) context in Jewish studies in America. Rather than asking what is “Jewish” in a text, he wishes to focus on scholars’ and readers’ inclination to conceptualize texts within one of these essentialist categories. He rejects the approach used by scholars to distinguish between the “Jews” and the “non-Jews.” Instead, he offers an alternative that highlights the way (Jewish) literature destabilizes these same categories. The Impossible Jew is thus a reflection on the impossibility of Jewishness as a coherent identity.Less

Outsider, In-Between: Becoming Marranos

Naomi Leite

in Unorthodox Kin: Portuguese Marranos and the Global Search for Belonging

This chapter explores the transformations that occurred once the urban Marranos attempted to enter the world of Portugal's organized Jewish communities, which rejected them as non-Jews, and when they ... More

This chapter explores the transformations that occurred once the urban Marranos attempted to enter the world of Portugal's organized Jewish communities, which rejected them as non-Jews, and when they subsequently discovered other “outsiders” like themselves. It provides an ethnographic portrait of the processes through which they became Marranos, the existing social category that seemed closest to who they felt they were, and of the distinctive practices and dispositions through which that new facet of the self was constituted and expressed. Particular attention is given to how they learned to recognize and narrate the ways in which they were ancestrally or otherwise essentially Jewish, in dialogue with foreign visitors.Less

Urbanization, Community, and the Crisis of Modernity: Jewish Society in Turn-of-the-Century Warsaw

in Barricades and Banners: The Revolution of 1905 and the Transformation of Warsaw Jewry

This chapter examines the rapid urbanization and disorder in the city of Warsaw. It describes the period of tremendous demographic growth and economic change for Jews and non-Jews in Warsaw. Despite ... More

This chapter examines the rapid urbanization and disorder in the city of Warsaw. It describes the period of tremendous demographic growth and economic change for Jews and non-Jews in Warsaw. Despite efforts to reduce the arrival of Jewish in-migrants to Warsaw, the city's Jewish population continued to rise. The chapter also examines the role played by the recently legalized and incredibly popular daily press, the size and scale of problems in the city, and the growing challenge to traditional Jewish institutions and organizations.Less

The Jewish Predicament in Post-1944 Hungary

István Bibó

in The Art of Peacemaking: Political Essays by István Bibó

This chapter discusses the Jewish dilemma in post-1944 Hungary. It describes the experiences of Hungarian Jews in Hungarian society. It also addresses various psychological, economic, and religious ... More

This chapter discusses the Jewish dilemma in post-1944 Hungary. It describes the experiences of Hungarian Jews in Hungarian society. It also addresses various psychological, economic, and religious factors as antecedents, explanations, or causes, of the pathological phenomenon. Community relations between Jews and non-Jews and the various factors and components of the enmity toward Jewry are reviewed. The chapter then explores the situation that has evolved in Hungary since liberation.Less

Introduction

Hasia R. Diner and Gennady Estraikh

in 1929: Mapping the Jewish World

This book explores the Jewish world in 1929 and the reaction of Jewish communities, organizations, and individuals to the dramatic events of that year. It considers the transnational connections that ... More

This book explores the Jewish world in 1929 and the reaction of Jewish communities, organizations, and individuals to the dramatic events of that year. It considers the transnational connections that linked Jews to one another regardless of where they lived and how the developments of 1929, especially the stock market crash, affected the Jews in terms of their relationships with each other and the bonds they forged with non-Jews. It also examines the impact of the particularities of the United States on the relationships between its Jews and those elsewhere, notably in terms of the ways in which American Jews connected to those in the Soviet Union. The book shows that Jews behaved politically in a global context in the post-World War I world, even as they functioned as American Jews, Russian/Soviet Jews, German Jews, Palestinian Jews, or Polish Jews.Less

Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives on Food and Jewishness

David M. Freidenreich

in Feasting and Fasting: The History and Ethics of Jewish Food

Why should one eat—or avoid—Jewish food? What makes food “Jewish” in the first place? These questions feature prominently not only in rabbinic and other Jewish texts but also in the classical sources ... More

Why should one eat—or avoid—Jewish food? What makes food “Jewish” in the first place? These questions feature prominently not only in rabbinic and other Jewish texts but also in the classical sources of Christianity and Islam. The authors of these influential works disagree over what food to eat and, more fundamentally, over what Jewishness is, but they all agree that the difference between Jews and non-Jews matters. This chapter traces the evolving relationship between Jewish identity and Jewish norms about the food of non-Jews from the Bible through the Middle Ages. It also examines premodern Catholic, Sunni, and Shiʿi norms about Jewish food, demonstrating that ideas about Jewishness play important roles in the construction of Christian and Islamic identity.Less