Jewish Studies Commons^™

Jewish Presence In The Venetian Empire: A Challenge To Venetian Mythology, Avery Rosensweig

Honors Theses

This paper attempts to explain the significance of Jewish presence in the Venetian Empire in the context of the myth of Venice. Jews were officially permitted to settle in Venice in 1516, but their connection with the Venetian Empire goes further back. Jews were important for the success of the Venetian Empire, particularly from the sixteenth century onward. The permanent settlement of the Jews in Venice directly impacted the very ideology of the Venetian Empire.

Although the phrase "myth of Venice" was developed by twentieth-century historians, Venetians perpetuated the myth and wove its ideals into the foundation of the Venetian …

Ethnicity And Education: College Attendance Patterns Among Early 20th-Century Maine's Immigrant Community, Jacob M. Nash

Honors Theses

I examine the college attendance patterns of second-generation Russian-Jewish immigrants in Maine in the early 20^th century relative to other ethnic groups using individual-level Census records. I employ the Abramitzky, Boustan, and Eriksson (ABE) algorithm to track second-generation Jewish, Italian, French Canadian, English Canadian and European immigrants from the 1910 Census to the 1940 Census. My logistic regression analysis indicates that second-generation Jewish immigrants in Maine attended college at significantly higher rates than their peers of similar background in every other ethnic group. While I cannot evaluate them, I also discuss potential explanations for the disparity in college attendance …

The Residential Location Choices Of Chabad Households: An Analysis Of Decision Making With Non-Price Constraints, Chasity A. Mcfadden

Honors Theses

Where an individual chooses to live informs many of their economic decisions and may be the single largest economic decision one makes in their lives. Through understanding the way that people choose their residential locations, we are able to better understand the opportunities available to them. Within the Chabad community, there is a large focus on emissary work, which calls Chabad Jews to move outside of large Jewish communities in order to help secular Jews become more religious. There are also certain religious amenities that are necessary to live a Chabad life, such as a local synagogue. So the question …

On Writing And Righting History: The Stakes Of Holocaust Interpretation And Remembrance In Poland And The United States, Noa Gutow-Ellis

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the ways in which American Jews - and Americans more generally, by way of the Americanization of the Holocaust - have come to think about and understand Poland and how Poland has subsequently rejected their narratives. Historically, American Jewish cultural works have placed Poland as a geographic space, nation, and people at the center of stories of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust and World War II. In its quest to right and correct historical misunderstandings, this project looks at the ways Poland has worked to completely revise the historical narrative.

Through tracing historiographies of separateness between Jewish …

Levine's Store Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Julie Miller, Sara Miller Arnon

Levine Family of Waterville

Photos, clippings, and ephemera related to Levine's, a Waterville, Maine clothing store owned and operated by the Levine family.

What The Walls Say: Finding Meaning And Value In Tel Aviv’S Street Art, Rachel R. Bird

Honors Theses

This thesis explores street art in Tel Aviv, Israel through anthropological concepts of value. By defining street art as an interstitial practice—one that exists between permeable, socially defined boundaries and is characterized differently by different power structures—I attempt to define some of the different regimes of value that apply to street art. Using the emerging market of “street art tours” as a fieldwork site, I look at how street art is presented and re-presented to both tourists and locals. By situating my research in a historical and geographic context, I hope to understand the ways different value schema, from economic …

Making It In Maine: Stories Of Jewish Life In Small-Town America, David M. Freidenreich

Faculty Scholarship

There are countless stories of Jewish life in Maine, stretching back 200 years. These are stories worth telling not only for their enjoyment value but also because we can learn a great deal from them. They reflect the challenges that confronted members of an immigrant community as they sought to become true Mainers, as well as the challenges this ethnic group now faces as a result of its successful integration. The experiences of Jews in Maine, moreover, encapsulate in many ways the experiences of small-town Jews throughout New England and the United States. Their stories offer glimpses into the changing …

Bringing Feminism, Halakhah, And Social Status Together: Women's Ordination In American Judaism, Michelle Seares

Senior Scholars Papers in Jewish Studies

The ordination of women as rabbis is seen as one of the most important steps in bringing American Judaism in line with contemporary American values. However, the road to women’s ordination was a long and contentious one that is still being debated in Orthodox circles. The most problematic challenges to changing the role of women in Orthodox Judaism are certain exemptions and prohibitions outlined in the halakhah (Jewish law) that pertain to women. The halakhah exempts women from positive, time-bound commandments and for the purpose of ordination, the most important are those relating to public worship. However, many sources agree …

Betty Levine Kaplan Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Betty Ruth Levine was born on April 30, 1903 to Sarah Ida and William Levine. She died November 8, 1995. The scrapbook includes family memories and photographs.

Evelyn Levine Gold Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Evelyn Mae Levine was born April 11, 1907 and died on February 6, 1957. She was one of the children born to William and Sarah Levine. The scrapbook includes photographs, family memories, negative copies of grade sheets from Coburn Classical Instituteand Emerson College.

Big House Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

This scrapbook contains photographs and family memories of the big Levine family house on Ticonic Street, of the Levine family "camp," of going to temple, and of various members of the family.

Pacy Levine Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Percy "Pacy" Jerome Levine, brother of Ludy Levine, was born on April 16, 1905 to William and Sarah Ida Levine. He died on November 1, 1996. The scrapbook includes family memorials, a eulogy by Rabbi Krinsky, news clippings, photographs, and a few pieces of official correspondence.

William Levine Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

William Levine was born on December 25, 1865 and died on July 6, 1946. This scrapbook includes photographs, memorials by family members, obituary, documents such as deeds, and an account book.

Ann Levine Wolff Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Ann (Anna Eva) Levine was born on November 12, 1890 to William and Sarah Ida Levine, and died on April 3, 1890. This scrapbook contains family memories, photographs, and an exam book in holograph for a history class in 1936 at Colby College.

Bibby Levine Alfond Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Dorothy "Bibby" Adair Levine was born to William and Sarah Ida Levine on April 16, 1916 and died December 31, 2005. The scrapbook contains family memories, eulogy, newspaper clippings, photographs, and announcement of the birth of her son Michael.

Ludy Levine Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Lewis "Ludy" Levine was born on November 30, 1898 and died on September 30, 1997. This scrapbook includes family memories, obituaries, a eulogy by Rabbi Krinsky, autograph notebooks and lists, a few letters, and many photographs.

Sarah Ida Levine Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Sarah Ida Levine was born in 1872 and died on June 12, 1934. This scrapbook contains photographs, obituary, a story of Sarah's life by her great-great-granddaughter, scans of various documents, deeds, bills of sale, and also includes biographical information on Sarah's brother, Johnny "Dutch" Levine (1876[?] or 1881[?] - 1950), on their father "Tati" and his sister, Annie Henki Cook, on the Abraham Philip branch of the Levine family, on some Shiro family history, as well as some Wolman/Rosenthal/Saperstein history.

Frieda Levine Miller Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Frieda Levine Miller was born to William and Sarah Ida Levine on March 26, 1896 and died August 24, 1990. The scrapbook contains family memories, death certificate, eulogies, newspaper clippings, family photographs, a high school graduation program, letters, and announcement of the marriage of her daughter Glenyce.

Levines And Colby Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Includes covers and articles from the Colby alumni magazine and from the Echo, correspondence, donor lists for the Mayflower Associates, and photographs.

Teddy Levine Scrapbook, Wendy Miller, Sarah Miller Arnon, Julie Miller-Soros

Levine Family of Waterville

Theodore Nathan Levine was born into the family of Sarah Ida and William Levine in 1894 and died on February 9, 1927. The scrapbook contains family memories as handed down, letters, photographs, holograph high school notebooks and a paper on Books and Libraries.

American Holocaust Films: A Case Study In Jewish American Identity (1937-1993), Jeff Daniels

Honors Theses

When examining the image of the Jew in American Holocaust films, one is truly determining how American Jews view themselves. These films' presentation of Jews exposes not only how Jewish Americans wished to see themselves but also how much Gentile Americans wanted to see of Jewish culture. An exploration of America's Holocaust films from the late 1930s to the early 1990s reveals an increasing concentration of Jews as the main victims of the event. The degree to which this specificity is emphasized exhibits how much the American public accepted Jews and their plight. At the same time, the prevalence of …