Jewish Studies Commons^™

Intermarriage In The Early Modern Period, Judith Bleich

Graduate School of Jewish Studies Publications and Research

The author discusses the history of intermarriage and Jews.

Communal Reflections: The Jewish Historical Society Of Staten Island Oral History Project, Amy F. Stempler

Publications and Research

The history of Jewish communities in New York has often cast a shadow over the history of other communities throughout the United States. Staten Island, though part of America’s largest Jewish city, has not received the scholarly attention awarded to Manhattan and the other outer boroughs. By the end of the twentieth century, Staten Island had the fastest growing Jewish community in New York City. Jews constituted 9 percent of the borough’s population, a higher proportion of the population than the number of Jews in all states outside of New York. Little is known about the community, especially its early …

Introduction, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Books and Chapters

The Chosen People, John Allegro’s attempt to uncover the historical sources for the world’s enduring anti-Semitism, bears the marks of his wish to appeal to two disparate readerships. Allegro’s fluent command of the relevant primary literature is more than sufficient reason for his arguments to be taken seriously. He knows whereof he speaks. He spins the details, however, into a story more akin to a gripping potboiler of palace intrigue and political machination than to a dry recitation of long-forgotten events. Relying upon in-text citations, Allegro was scolded by reviewers for eschewing the fully footnoted scholarly apparatus usually found …

God, Man, Chaos And Control: How God Might Control The Universe, Alan H. Kadish

Office of the President Publications and Research

The purpose of this article is to review the problem of free will and divine intervention from the prism of Jewish sources, within the context of modern science. Among the many lenses the Jewish tradition provides for us to frame history is the division between times of open miracles and hidden miracles. The Bible is full of open miracles, divine revelation, and prophecies. Whereas there is controversy among rabbinic scholars and theologians about whether the miracles happened through natural or supernatural forces, either way, the miracles were still immediately recognizable as acts of God. However, since the destruction of the …

Leaving Iran: Between Migration And Exile, Farideh Goldin

English Faculty Bookshelf

In 1976, at the age of twenty-three, Farideh Goldin left Iran in search of her imagined America. While she settled uneasily into American life, the political unrest in Iran intensified and in 1979, Farideh's family was forced to flee. They arrived in Israel as refugees. Farideh's father was a well-respected son of the chief rabbi and dayan of the Jews of Shiraz. During his last visit to the United States in 2006, he handed Farideh his memoir that chronicled the years of his life after exile. Leaving Iran knits together his story of dislocation and loss with Farideh's own experience …

Cumulative Index Of Clcweb: Comparative Literature And Culture (1999-), Steven Tötösy De Zepetnek

CLCWeb Library

No abstract provided.

Jewish Resistance To ‘Romanianization’, 1940-44, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

In this chapter, Jewish legal resistance to the Antonescu regime is investigated, focusing on the use of the law to bypass the Romanianization of businesses and urban real estate. Despite multiple attempts, Antonescu’s government failed to completely expropriate Jewish urban buildings in favor of the state and subsequently distribute those properties to ethnic Romanians. The Romanianization of businesses yielded similar results.

Drawing Testimony, Coming To Writing: Ebe Cagli Seidenberg’S Le Sabbie Del Silenzio And Il Tempo Dei Dioscuri, Eveljn Ferraro

Modern Languages & Literature

This essay considers the question of how “coming to writing” describes the creative process, how mourning becomes language, and how the emptiness of silence turns into word, in relation to the life and literary work of Italian Jewish writer Ebe Cagli Seidenberg. In other words, how did Cagli’s exile to the U.S. facilitate her voice? And how did language become, for her, nothing less than a form of “country”? In examining her journey to testimonial writing, I contend that visual imagery—a combination of visual artifacts and visual memories—plays a major role in getting past the wall of silence, overcoming the …

My Heart Is In The East: Exploring Theater As A Vehicle For Change, Inspired By The Poetic Performances Of Ancient Andalucía, Jessica Litwak

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study addresses the research question “How Do I Inspire Personal and Social Change Through My Theater Practice?” I implement the theory and practice of H.E.A.T., a fusion theater system, combining use of theater arts as healing practice, educational asset, activist tool, and an art form.I research different ways that theater can affect change, focusing specifically on the use of history in performance.I dramatically interpret a period of history where performance and poetry contributed to change.I utilize qualitative methods including performance ethnography, auto ethnography, arts-based research, and historical research.I describe the fieldwork in conflict zones in the Middle East, which …

Walking In A Burnt Hole, Sophia Friedman

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Holocaust stems from the Greek word “burnt hole,” but when the word Holocaust is mentioned today it refers to the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933 until the fall in 1945 (Skloot). More specifically, the Holocaust refers to the 11 million persecutions through concentration camps. The Holocaust is widely studied for various reasons, but the biggest reason is that “’we are seekers of understanding in the territory defined by those events” (Skloot 9). Through written work, such as poetry and plays, the Holocaust is brought to life in a more realistic way.

Through art we are able to connect to …

December 2014, Temple Shalom Synagogue Center

Newsletter Archive

Contents: Colby Professor Visits; From the Rabbi; Announcements; President's Message; Book Group; Community notices

The Royal Dignity Of Christ And Its Implications, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 23, 2014: Ez 34:11-17; Ps 23; 1 Cor 15:20-28; Mt 25:31-46. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

Wisdom In The Life Of Faith, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, November 9, 2014: Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

The Mission And Challenge Of Teaching, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 2, 2014: Mal 1:24-2:2, 8-10; Ps 131; 1 Thes 2:7-9, 13; Mt 23:1-12. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

Love Of God And Neighbor, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 26, 2014: Ex 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-4, 47-51; 1 Thes 1:5-10; Mt 22:34-40. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

Case Study Two: Jewish Time Jump: New York, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

Gottlieb presents an early case study of his mobile augmented reality game Jewish Time Jump: New York design on the ARIS platform for the iPhone and iPad (iOS). The game is set on-location in Washington Square Park in New York city. Players in 5th-7th grade take on the role of time-traveling reporters, landing on site on the eve of the Uprising of 20,000, the largest women-led strike in U.S. History. Based on their GPS location they receive media from over 100 years in the past, interactive with digital characters as they work to gather a story for the fictional Jewish …

Moral Challenges In The Social Sphere, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 19, 2014: Is Is 45:1-6; Ps 96:1-10; 1 Thes 1:1-5; Mt 22:15-21. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

Who Is A Jew?: Reflections On History, Religion, And Culture, Leonard Greenspoon

Studies in Jewish Civilization

Jewish identity is a perennial concern, as Jews seek to define the major features and categories of those who “belong,” while at the same time draw distinctions between individuals and groups on the “inside” and those on the “outside.” From a variety of perspectives, scholarly as well as confessional, there is intense interest among non-Jewish and Jewish commentators alike in the basic question, “Who is a Jew?”

This collection of articles draws diverse historical, cultural, and religious insights from scholars who represent a wide range of academic and theological disciplines. Some of the authors directly address the issue of Jewish …

Call And Response To The Heavenly Banquet, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 12, 2014: Is 25:6-10; Ps 23; Phil 4:12-14, 19-20; Mt 22:1-14. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

Musings From A Biased Jew, Marli R. Horwitz

SURGE

Saturday was Yom Kippur, the day we as Jews repent for our sins. During the holiday, we fast to afflict our souls, to provoke in ourselves to confess and obtain pardon. As I sat in Hillel’s morning services, I reflected on the ways I have intentionally or unintentionally harmed others. [excerpt]

Becoming Productive Workers In The Vineyard, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 5, 2014: Is 5:1-7; Ps 80; Phil 4:6-9; Mt 21:33-43. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

The Wolf Of Wall Street, Daniel Ross Goodman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), directed by Martin Scorsese.

The Spiritual And Secular Effects Of The Holocaust, Christine Coughlin

Fall 2014, Storytelling and the Life of Faith

My research paper focused on the topic of the Holocaust, and how this tragic event in history had a lasting effect, not only on the victims, but on future generations as well. My paper focused on two autobiographies, “Night,” and “After Long Silence” written by Elie Wiesel and Helen Fremont respectively, each of which portray a different perspective on the Holocaust and the significance it had in the peoples’ lives. Using these two autobiographies, as well as a number of articles referencing the Holocaust, I portrayed how this horrible period of history shaped many peoples' lives, both secularly and spiritually.

In Search Of A Jewish Audience: New York’S Guild Art Gallery, 1935-1937, Andrea Pappas

Art and Art History

How did Jewishness affect the relationships among artists, galleries, artists’ groups and collectors?” Scholars have scrutinized the Jewish presence in American art in the twentieth century over the last fifteen years or so in essays, monographs and surveys. Studies of Jewish artists and their works continue to proliferate, and scholars have even examined the connections between art history as a discipline and Jewishness, contributing to both the history and the sociology of art history and to the range of Jewish studies. The re-evaluation of the work of artists such as Raphael Soyer, Theresa Bernstein, Jack Levine, Mark Rothko, Audrey Flack …

Kafka's German-Jewish Reception As Mirror Of Modernity, Abraham Ariel Rubin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the diverse and contradictory ways German-Jewish intellectuals identify what they commonly refer to as Kafka's "Jewish essence." Focusing on the commentaries of Margarete Susman, Hans-Joachim Schoeps, Gershom Scholem, and Max Brod, I claim that Kafka's German-Jewish reception reflects a broader historical dilemma that grew out of the Jewish encounter with modernity: Are Judaism and Jewishness best defined through religious, cultural, national, or ethnic categories? It is precisely this ambiguity that forms the historical backdrop to Kafka's Jewish interpretations. Situating the early phases of Kafka's posthumous reception within the broader context of interwar German-Jewish culture, my dissertation examines …

'Like Iron To A Magnet': Moses Hayim Luzzatto's Quest For Providence, David Sclar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a biographical study of Moses Hayim Luzzatto (1707-1746 or 1747). It presents the social and religious context in which Luzzatto was variously celebrated as the leader of a kabbalistic-messianic confraternity in Padua, condemned as a deviant threat by rabbis in Venice and central and eastern Europe, and accepted by the Portuguese Jewish community after relocating to Amsterdam. Using unpublished archival documents and manuscripts, as well as rare printed books, I seek to reconcile the seemingly incompatible aspects of Luzzatto as 'heretic' and 'hero.'

Chapter one sets the tone for the dissertation by analyzing the original version of …

Redefining Diaspora Consciousness: Musical Practices Of Moroccan Jews In Brooklyn, Samuel Reuben Thomas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the role of musical practices in the synagogue life of Maroka'im (Moroccan Jews) in Brooklyn, New York. Living in an urban setting known for its diverse and robust Jewish life, community members utilize several different types of musical expression to emblematize three distinct diasporic ethnic identities: Jewish (of ancient Israel), Sephardi (Spanish), and Maroka'i (Moroccan). Based upon ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 2008 and 2013, this study demonstrates how Maroka'im in Brooklyn use musical expressions to evoke more than one sense of diaspora consciousness--Jewish, Sephardi, and Maroka'i--to foster what I term a layered diaspora consciousness.

To illustrate …

Nurturing Play-Makers & Active Investigative Agents: Schwartz Tag, Good Video Games And Futures Of Jewish Learning, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

How can an experiential approach to education, in combination with a games-based orientation, help us reach often-elusive educational goals? In many ways the study of games and game design bring us back to tenets of education that we have long known, including the benefits of self-directed learning and project-based work. Games-based design and learning may provide a way to shift the discussion from “What should an educated Jew know?” to “How does a learner develop a taste for Jewish learning and living?”

Christian Commitment Reflects Christ's Obedience, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle A liturgical readings for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 28, 2014: Ez 18:25-28; Ps 125; Phil 2:1-11; Mt 21:28-32. This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

Imaginary Witness: Hollywood And The Holocaust, Micahel Berenbaum

Jan Karski Conference

No abstract provided.