Jewish Studies Commons^™

Jacobs, Feygele, Kathryn Amend

Bronx Jewish History Project

Feygele Jacobs recounts her family's journey from Poland to the Bronx, detailing her parents' refugee experience post-World War II. Her parents initially settled in Newark, New Jersey, before moving to the Bronx. Feygele describes her education at PS 26 and Hunter College High School, involvement in Yiddish school and activities, and her parents' diverse backgrounds. Her mother, a late bloomer in education, pursued a career in social work after raising her children. The family moved to Co-Op City in 1972 due to neighborhood changes. Feygele highlights her parents' community involvement and her educational and career choices, including a brief stint …

Harnell, Alice, Caitlin Omey

Bronx Jewish History Project

Alice Harnell was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1930, coinciding with the Great Depression. Harnell's father was born in Russia and emigrated with his family to New York City during the pogrom of the early 1900s. Once arriving in the United States they settled on the Lower East Side, joining a community of other Jewish immigrant families. Harnell's mother was the first American-born in her German family. Harnell's father and mother moved to Detroit for her father's job as a pharmacist. However, at the age of 5 the family moved back to New York City and settled in the West …

“The Scepter Shall Not Depart From Judah”: Jews And Imperial Power In Benjamin Of Tudela’S Book Of Travels, Azriel Elul

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

This paper, written as a final project for Professor Shay Rabineau's class “Walking the Land,” examines the relationship of medieval Jews to the imperial powers to which they were subject, as expressed in Benjamin of Tudela's Book of Travels. It focuses on the two imperial cores of Rome and Baghdad, and contextualizes the representation of these two cities within the world of imperial power in which the text was produced. As a work of medieval travel literature, I analyze the Book of Travels not as a factual account of history, but rather as a discursive and imaginative text which …

An Evaluation Of The Book Of Hosea And Its Impact For Our Lives Today, Nathan Fulton

Honors Projects

The book of Hosea provides a rich story of the life of the prophet Hosea and the constant woes of the nation of Israel. Through analysis of commentaries from past theologians and modern psychological studies, the contents of Hosea will be reinforced as viable literature to learn from. Despite belief in the historical legitimacy of the book, through research, we find humanity’s deepest desire is to be fully loved and fully known. Analysis of attachment theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs show us that the story of Hosea demonstrates our insecurities and the proper response to them.

Sandler, Ruth, Kathryn Amend

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Ruth Sandler, born 1940, grew up in the East Bronx near the Bronx Zoo, where she would go with her parents. Her mother came to the United States in 1921, and her father came in 1938, though his family unfortunately remained in what was then Poland, his sisters dying in the Holocaust. Her father became a children’s clothing presser in the garment district, despite owning a business back in Europe. Sandler remembers being told her first language was Yiddish, not speaking English until entering school. She attended PS 57, participating in school plays there. Education was important, …

Flaxman, Judy, Laura Oldfather

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Judy Flaxman’s family came to the Lower East Side from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. As they grew more affluent, they moved to the Bronx, where Flaxman was born in 1948. She lived on Walton Avenue near Tremont Avenue, which she describes as very Jewish with some Catholics. She attended PS 28, Wade Junior High School, and Bronx Science. She played many outdoor games with friends from her community and did after school activities at the YM/WHA, through which she attended a day camp during the summers.

Flaxman’s mother was a secretary and her father, after …

Ideas Of Judaism In The Jew Of Malta And The Merchant Of Venice, Matthew Wilson

Development of Western Civilization Student Scholarship

The colloquium marks the culminating semester of the DWC experience. Over four semesters, students have achieved a grounding in major texts of the western tradition, engaged in deep reading and reflection, improved their communication skills, and are ready to make connections with their majors and careers. The colloquium allows them to utilize these skills and make the transition to their future academic work. In light of this, the Development of Western Civilization Program Committee has selected 5 DWC colloquium culminating projects that demonstrate excellence in communication and critical thinking skills. We are grateful to these students for their hard work …

Dogma: How A Convenient Narrative Led To The Holocaust, Morgan R. Schroeder

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

No abstract provided.

Paul Celan And The Processes Of Survival In Post-Shoah Jewish Writing, Ari Savage

Theses

The following is a study of the poetry of Paul Celan as a representation of psychological and social processes present in the written works of Shoah survivors. It begins with an analysis of the place of writing in Jewish culture, then identifies three primary processes which operate in sequence: alienation, individuation, and integration. By examining Paul Celan’s highly personal and autobiographical texts in the context of his life experience as a Shoah survivor it is possible to discern the social and psychological forces at work which compel survivors to express their traumas in written form, and to gain a better …

Siegel, Helen, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Helen Siegel’s family came to the Bronx from Germany in the years leading up to World War Two. Siegel was born in 1945 and grew up in the West Bronx about a mile away from Yankee Stadium, which she remembers as a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. She attended Bronx public schools throughout her education, PS 64, JHS 117, and Taft High School, before going on to City College, receiving what she believes to have been a good education. Siegel would teach at Bronx elementary schools for 25 years and serve as a mentor for new teachers. She recognizes that teaching and …

Identity-Driven Targeted Violence: Attending To Identity, Emotion, And Personality-Related Predictors Of Attitudinal And Behavioral Prejudice, Patrick Timothy Mcgonigal

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Identity-driven targeted violence driven by gender identity, sexuality, race, and religion overwhelmingly impacts marginalized groups of individuals. Existing evidence suggests that acts of bias on college campuses are often unreported by students, leaving those who engage in these behaviors to continue without proper redress. A great wealth of data illustrates the deleterious impacts of identity-driven behavior on student victims, including heightened psychological distress, poorer academic performance, and lower retention. In contrast, limited research has examined relevant underpinnings of perpetrating identity-driven harassment. The current dissertation developed and disseminated a large survey to undergraduate students spanning three years of data collection. The …

Rudich, Hazel, Gavin Fryer

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Hazel Rudich was born to American-born parents in 1947. Her grandparents came from Ukraine and Hungary, and she grew up with a consciousness of the fear of having been born outside of the safety of the Bronx, like the refugee and Holocaust survivor friends of her parents. While her neighborhoods on Shakespeare Avenue and later the Grand Concourse were primarily Jewish, in junior high school she was exposed to a greater diversity of people. Rudich describes the beauty of the Art Deco buildings and the extensive park space and nature, with all the independence that city living …

Mochon, Lynne, Patricia Scully

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Lynne Mochon, born 1951, grew up on the campus of Maritime College. Her father, who left Warsaw in 1922, was educated in pre-state Israel and then MIT, before becoming a professor of science at Maritime. Her mother, born in Queens, worked at Maritime, and, as the only Jewish people working there together at the time, they got married, have Mochon and her older sister. Mochon describes Maritime as a small community of about 14 families, where the children were similar in age and played together by the water. She remembers some antisemitism among the staff, her father …

Plavin, Adrienne, Negin Nader Bazrafkan

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Adrienne Plavin was born to American-born parents in June of 1944. When she was young, her family lived at 1821 Bryant Avenue in the South Bronx. She remembers the community as full of immigrants, though primarily Jewish, with Yiddish and other language spoken. She would visit the candy store on her block and also buy fresh produce from horse drawn carts. They would play games like hopscotch and jump rope. Plavin shares how her mother got into trouble in Hebrew School, which is why she herself never attended one, and some of the mischief she would get …

Varon, Dorothy, Negin Nader Bazrafkan

Bronx Jewish History Project

This interview explores Dorothy's childhood and education, focusing on her experiences growing up in the Bronx during the 1950s and 1960s. Dorothy provides a detailed account of her neighborhood, the games she played with her friends, and the shops she frequented. She also discusses the diverse nature of her community and the lack of racial or religious tensions she witnessed. Dorothy vividly recalls her childhood on Weeks Avenue in the Bronx, describing it as a mixed neighborhood with people of all faiths and nationalities. She fondly remembers the games she and her friends played in the streets, including stickball, Scully, …

On Dialogue And Beyond: Positive Environmental Peacebuilding In Palestine, Elsa Barron

The Journal of Social Encounters

In Palestine, environmental management has been used as a tool of military occupation and oppression. Yet even within that context, many community-based organizations have established programs relating to environmental peacebuilding. Of these initiatives, environmental dialogue programs have received significant attention and resources, even more so since the war in Gaza began in October, 2023. However, a deeper interrogation of these programs reveals the danger that dialogue and collaboration devoid of a critical analysis of power and injustice further perpetuates systemic oppression. Moving these programs into the realm of positive environmental peacebuilding requires a willingness to engage in this structural analysis. …

Turner, Joyce, Negin Nader Bazrafkan

Bronx Jewish History Project

Mrs. Joyce Turner was born in 1948 as Joyce Herzfeld and grew up at 364 East 170th Street in a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and younger sister. Her parents had decided to live in the Bronx due to the proximity to their other family members until most of them had decided to begin moving out. The neighborhood she grew up in was primarily Jewish but became more diversified as she grew older and saw much diversity within the schools. During her early childhood, Mrs. Turner attended Public School 53 for elementary school, located on 167th Street, and remembers walking …

Schull, Rebecca, Negin Nader Bazrafkan

Bronx Jewish History Project

Rebecca Schull, born in 1929, recalls her early life in the Sholem Aleichem Houses in the Bronx where her family lived in the predominantly Jewish community. Her father was a lawyer who later worked for the American Technion Society, and her mother was a dietician raised in Tel Aviv, who studied quantity cooking at Columbia. Many members of her family were Zionists, her uncle was the artist Nachum Gutman and her grandfather the writer Simcha Ben Zion. She remembers the pleasant communal atmosphere of the Sholem Aleichem Houses, where socialism, communism and Yiddishism was commonplace. Her childhood was marked by …

Bergman, Abby, Sonia Morris

Bronx Jewish History Project

Abby Bergman lived in the Bronx until he was 18 years old. He was born in the Bronx in 1946. When he was 8 years old, he moved to a different neighborhood in the Bronx, the Pelham Parkway area. His neighborhood was a mix of Jews, Italians, and Irish people. There were some tensions between the Jews and the Christians. People mostly kept within their own groups, although Bergman does recall that his parents had very close Catholic friends. In Bergman’s high school, the Christian kids were more popular than the Jewish kids. All of Bergman’s friends in high school …

Liptzin, Benjamin "Ben", Lydia Wampold

Bronx Jewish History Project

Ben Liptzin grew up in the Bronx on 168th Street between the Grand Concourse and Sheridan Avenue in a four-room apartment above a laundromat. His parents were Polish Jewish immigrants, and his father worked as a presser in the garment industry. Liptzin attended a yeshiva until 5th grade, after which he entered the public school system. He later attended the Bronx High School of Science, Columbia University, and medical school in Rochester. Liptzin became a geriatric psychiatrist and taught at institutions including the University of Massachusetts and Mount Sinai. He later served as Chair of Psychiatry at Baystate Medical Center …