History Commons^™

“Kabbalistic Pharmacopeia: Wellbeing In The Atlantic Jewish World”, Aviva Ben-Ur

Aviva Ben-Ur

This article describes and analyzes a rare manuscript bearing the lead title Ta‘alumot Hokhmah and purchased at auction in 2013. The document was composed by many hands and in many lands, largely in Portuguese and Dutch, with significant portions in French and Italian, and a smattering of Spanish, English, German, and Yiddish. Most manifestly, it is a receipt book, a compendium of medical, culinary, and housekeeping recipes, sometimes mingled with kabbalistic directives; it also incorporates memoirs and biographical annotations. The multiple layers of text collectively represent the transmission of knowledge within a single family and mark the major transitions that …

“Atlantic Jewish History: A Conceptual Reorientation”, Aviva Ben-Ur

Aviva Ben-Ur

This chapter explores the radical implications of an Atlantic perspective on American Jewish history, based on an analysis of select primary sources from The Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica, housed at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Such an Atlantic perspective allows us to revise the national interpretation of “American” Jewish history, commonly taken to mean the United States, reminding us of its plural hemispheric meaning (Americas) and allowing us to envision an Atlantic Jewish world connecting four continents: Europe, Africa, South and North America. Adopting a chronological-thematic approach, this chapter identifies three key areas for analysis: …

We Speak And Write This Language Against Our Will’: Jews, Hispanics, And The Dilemma Of Ladino-Speaking Sephardim In Early 20th Century New York", Aviva Ben-Ur

Aviva Ben-Ur