Jewish Studies Commons^™

Cohen, Marsha, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Marsha Cohen’s parents grew up in New York City, her mother living in the Highbridge area of the Bronx and her father living first in East Harlem then the South Bronx. Her grandparents had immigrated from Eastern Europe. Her parents married in 1939 and, by the time Cohen was born in 1946, the family lived at 3050 Decatur Avenue, on the north side of Mosholu Parkway. The neighborhood had five and six story apartment buildings, like theirs, and private houses and was mixed Irish, Italian, and Jewish. Cohen describes her building as primarily Jewish, with all boys …

Bergen Koster, Debra, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Debra Bergen Koster was born in the Bronx at Bronx Lebanon Hospital on December 14, 1955. Her family moved to the Bronx in the 1930s and she grew up there until 1964, living on Shakespeare Avenue in a predominantly Jewish and Irish neighborhood. Bergen Koster recalls a close-knit community, where her family experienced significant events like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She also has fond memories of local spots like Featherbed Lane, where she would run errands for her mother, and of communal activities like playing on the streets with friends and attending local events.

In 1964, her …

Polovsky, Terrie, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Terrie Polovsky, born around 1942 to a homemaker mother and hatmaker father, grew up in her beloved Parkchester, a vibrant community of 50,000 residents. She grew up forming relationships with people of all backgrounds, including Jews, Irish Catholics, Italians, African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. Polovsky emphasizes people of different faiths living in community, even remembering a case in which the Presbyterian church lent her synagogue its facilities when it fell victim to a fire. She notes the close partnership between the church and her synagogue - when the church’s monsignor died, her mother planted a tree in Israel in …

Can Human Rights Be Reconciled With Citizenship: Reconsidering Marx's Zur Judenfrage Today, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay critically re-examines Marx’s youthful analysis of the separation of church and state and his complex views about the function of rights in the modern state. I argue that Marx’s condemnation of Christian nationalism and endorsement of citizenship for Jews is consistent with his view that the modern, secular state cannot emancipate itself entirely from religiosity, as evidenced by the continuing legacy of nationalism and cultural identity politics today. Although Marx correctly follows Hegel in identifying modernity with a structural differentiation between civil society and state, I argue that he misunderstands the nature of this separation and, along with …

Gilbert, Jeff, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Jeff Gilbert, born 1951, grew up on Walton Avenue nearby Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Both of his parents were born in New York, with his great-grandparents and grandparents immigrating from Hungary, Austria, and Poland. Gilbert describes the neighborhood at the time as 99% Jewish, and he lived next door to the Congregation Hope of Israel, despite being educated at and attending Tremont Temple. Among the amenities in the “self-contained neighborhood for shopping” were bakeries, movie theaters, grocery stores, and butchers. Gilbert remembers most Val’s Luncheonette for the delicious food, famous athletes, and the money he made …

Hendler, Elliot, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Elliot Hendler is a lifelong Bronx resident, born during the Great Depression in 1935. He moved to various addresses throughout his childhood, having lived on 172nd Street and Washington Avenue, 169th Street and Washington Avenue, and 170th and Townsend Avenue. Describing his childhood neighborhood as “bad” and marked by crime, he details his experiences with violence and vandalism. When he married his wife, Libby, in 1958, they moved to an apartment on 205th Street, and in 1969 moved to Co-op City, where they have lived ever since. Together, they have two children and two grandchildren.

Hendler details his impressive educational …

Hendler, Libby, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Libby Hendler shared her life story, detailing her upbringing in the Bronx. Libby discusses her upbringing in a kosher home and her decision to maintain kosher practices initially. Libby shares that her mother kept a kosher home, and she continued this practice when she got married. She mentions having two sets of dishes, one for Passover and one for regular use. She recounts how she stopped keeping kosher after her daughter turned three, opting for non-kosher food during a vacation where kosher options were unavailable. Despite this change, she still has a strong aversion to certain non-kosher foods, such as …

Comac, Linda, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Linda Comac was born in 1948 in the Bronx and raised on Walton Avenue near 164th Street, where she lived until 1969. Her family had deep roots in the borough, dating back to the 1930s. She grew up across from Joyce Kilmer Park, which she remembers fondly, as well as frequenting local shops and hangouts along 161st Street, including Addie Valens ice cream parlor and the corner candy store near “the rocks.” Her building and neighborhood were overwhelmingly Jewish, and she recalled a strong sense of community and safety. Comac’s family kept kosher, and Jewish cultural traditions shaped much of …

Brooks, Martin, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Martin Brooks, b. 1947, lived in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx until he was five years old. He then lived with his family in Germany for three years, before returning to the Bronx until the age of 11. His father had served in WWII, and they had moved to Germany as part of his service. Brooks’ mother worked as a secretary but became at stay-at-home mother when Brooks was born, despite wanting to stay in the workforce.

Brooks recalls going to pickle stores, delis, bakeries, and butches along Lydig Avenue and the Allegro Inn, an …

Fredrics, Howard, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Howard Fredrics paternal grandparents came from Poland, and his maternal grandparents came from Ukraine, eventually all settling in the Bronx. His parents, both living in the Bronx, met in the Catskills, where his father was performing as a magician. Fredrics himself lived on Walton Avenue across the street from Joyce Kilmer Park. He remembers playing in that park, going to the candy store and deli, and visiting his family members’ stores. He would go with his father, a professional magician with various other jobs, to rent pigeons in the Bronx for his shows, which Fredrics would later …

Bell, Shulamit, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarized by Lily Weston

Shulamit Bell spent her formative years growing up in the Bronx and much of her early life there centered around her community shul, the Young Israel of Pelham Parkway on Barnes Avenue. She also spent much time at the Bronx House attending Purim carnivals, Hanukkah parties, and more. The legacy of the Holocaust loomed large in her family and community, as both her parents and many other community members were survivors. She recounts how her mother did not work, and her father worked in the garment district. They lived a simple, happy life in an apartment …

Jewish Nationalism In Israel: A Measurement, Hannah M. Ridge

Political Science Faculty Articles and Research

Since Israel’s founding, being a “Jewish state” has been central to its self-representation. However, Israel has struggled to identify what that means. This article examines the strength of Jewish nationalism in Jewish Israeli public opinion. It draws on a recent survey of 200 Jewish Israelis for a qualitative and quantitative investigation of public responses to religious nationalist statements. These findings offer a utilizable survey short scale for measuring Jewish nationalism and to understand how Jewish Israelis are interpreting these statements. This study is a necessary step to empirically evaluating religious nationalism in the “Jewish state”.

Katz, Helen, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Helen Katz was born to Holocaust survivor parents in the Bronx. The family originally lived in the South Bronx until Katz was one year old, when they moved to the Olinville section of the Bronx. They lived there until Katz was in her 20s, when they moved to Pelham Parkway. Each time, they moved because the neighborhood was deteriorating.

Katz describes the Olinville neighborhood as predominantly Italian, although her own family was Orthodox. Despite the differences, she remembers playing with the Italian Catholic school girls. They attended a Lubavitcher shul, and Katz attend a yeshiva for her …

Bisson, Michelle, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Transcriber: Sophia Maier

Michelle Bisson lived the first nine years of her life in the Edenwald Projects in the Bronx. Her mother was born in Budapest, Hungary, and fled to the United States in 1941. There, she met Bisson’s father, who had grown up in Inwood in Manhattan, marrying and moving to the brand new Edenwald Projects in 1951. Bisson describes the Projects as very integrated, with both Black and white people, who got along for the most part. The children became friends, playing in the courtyard and parking lot. For kindergarten, Bisson attended the historic PS 15, before attending …

Cohen, Cheryl, Reyna Lee Stovall

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Cheryl Cohen grew up on Kruger Avenue and Pelham Parkway South, which she describes as 95% Jewish during her time there. Her parents were both born in the United States, her mother of a nonreligious background and her father attending a small Orthodox shul on the holidays. Cohen herself did not have a Jewish education but dressed up for the holidays with her friends and closely associates her Jewish identity with Zionism, moving to Israel in her 20s. Her father, who first worked for his father-in-law’s factory, opened a small store, where her mother worked as well …

Norich, Anita, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Anita Norich was born to two Holocaust survivor parents in a Displaced Persons camp called Föhrenwald in Germany. Despite difficulties acquiring visas because of her father’s left-wing political views, the family moved to the United States in March of 1957, settling on Hunts Point Avenue in the South Bronx. In Hunts Point, Norich attended PS 48, played outside and in a nearby park, and began her love for reading at the library. Starting kindergarten, she didn’t speak Englsih, and Norich describes the total immersion environment she was placed into. She felt it was cruel the teacher would …

Pafundi, Barbara, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Barbara Pafundi, born 1952, grew up in Parkchester in the East Bronx. Her grandparents immigrated from Ukraine and Romania, and her father was born in Charleston, South Carolina. Pafundi describes Parkchester as primarily Jewish and Irish and a really beautiful place to grow up, with green areas around the apartment buildings. She would go with her family to the local Chinese restaurant, grocery stores, and library. Reading is a continued love. In the summers, they would go up to Putnam Valley.

Pafundi explains they never felt antisemitism, except she is not sure if St Helena’s would purposefully …

Schaechter, Rukhl, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Summarizer: Sophia Maier

Rukhl Schaechter and her family moved from Brooklyn to Bainbridge Avenue in the Bronx in 1966 to create a Yiddish-speaking community with two other families. At that time, classes in Yiddish at the Sholem Aleichem Folk Shul 21 supplemented their public school education. During the summers, she also attended Camp Hemshekh, a Yiddish camp founded by Socialist Holocaust survivors. At PS 96, Schaechter began to interact with Jewish and non-Jewish students that came from different background than her, that lived in apartment buildings unlike her private home, for example. She describes her home life as “traditional,” with …

Schaechter Viswanath, Gitl, Sophia Maier Garcia

Bronx Jewish History Project

Gitl Schaechter Viswanath was born into a Yiddish-speaking family. Her father came from Romania to the United States in 1951, becoming a renowned Yiddish linguist and Columbia professor. He and his wife wanted to raise their children speaking Yiddish within a Yiddish community, and so they created this community with two other families living near one another on Bainbridge Avenue in the north-central Bronx, the Fishmans and the Gottesmans. The families were primarily secular but focused on Jewish culture and tradition.

Schaechter Viswanath attended PS 56 and describes the school and area as primarily Jewish. After school, she went to …

Traces Of The House Of The Catechumens In The Plot Against America, Roy Humlicek-Spindler

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

The purpose of this paper is to give readers of the novel The Plot Against America by Philip Roth background information to better understand the novel. It argues that Philip Roth was aware of the Jewish to Catholic conversion institution of the early modern period known as the “House of the Catechumens,” and uses his knowledge of it to inform the experiences of the character Sandy Roth, a Jewish teenager, in the novel. Sandy’s experiences with the institution called the “Office of American Absorption” in a historically fictitious 20th-century America bear striking resemblances to the Jewish experience in the House …