Between vision and reality: reassessing Jewish agricultural colony projects in nineteenth century America

This article reassesses the story of agricultural colonies established by Jews, for Jews, in the USA during the nineteenth century. Well established Jews developed schemes to settle recent Jewish immigrants on the soil. These schemes were characterized by unrealistic expectations, bad planning, and, when implemented, frequent failures. Yet, Jewish agricultural colonies must be distinguished from Christian, proto-Socialist or other utopian projects. The sponsors of Jewish colonies in the USA did not strive for separation from general society. Rather, they sought to assist Jewish integration through settlement on the land. The conceptual framework of Jewish productivization in America closely echoed the discourse of emancipation in Central Europe.     

Farming the land on three continents: Bilu, Am Oylom, and Yefe-Nahar

Jewish agrarianization projects in Eastern Europe began in the late eighteenth century. This article compares three such movements that emerged in the Russian Empire: the colonization of the southern Ukraine that took place in the early decades of the nineteenth century, and, later, in the 1880s, the initiatives known as Am Oylom and Bilu. The founders of the colonies in the Ukraine combined the ideology of the Enlightenment with Russian imperial considerations, while the later movements were part of a radical Jewish avant-garde that aimed to create a “new” Jew, who would be a hardworking farmer and live in a cooperative community. Yet these visions could be realized only in a new land free of old, anti-Jewish political systems. Thus the place of social and economic rebirth would be “New Russia,” the United States, or Palestine, and regardless of location or time, the initiators of these enterprises all adopted a consistently productivist rhetoric. In addition, the settlement projects all unknowingly advanced the expanding colonialist interests of the governments of Russia, North America, and Palestine. A revised version of this paper was presented at the international conference “Beyond Eastern Europe: Jewish Cultures in Israel and the United States”, Rutgers University, March 2007.     

JCA-ORT-JAS-JDC: one big agrarianizing family

This essay examines ideological and institutional patterns that characterized the four most successful projects in Jewish agrarianism from the 1890s until the eve of the Second World War. These major undertakings included the agricultural settlements created by Baron Maurice de Hirsch in Argentina, colonization efforts in North America supported by the Jewish Agricultural Society, the settlement work of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in the interwar Soviet Union, and parts of the institutional mechanisms that supported Zionist agricultural settlement in the Yishuv. The article studies the forces that drove the world of Jewish philanthropy to support such efforts over several decades and across four continents.     

Labor and land at the start of Jewish settlement in Argentina

Studying nearly two decades of activity as reflected in materials found in the archives of the Jewish Colonization Association, this essay explores the early stages of organized Jewish agricultural settlement in Argentina. JCA directors debated the optimal size of land that could constitute an economically viable farm. The issues of non-Jewish labor and the leasing of land to non-Jews were also a concern. The JCA further promoted the ideal of settler “productivization” through farming, a goal shared by many settlers. The rising price of land, as well as shifts in national patterns of economy and agriculture, brought about significant changes in the Argentine settlement project. The JCA responded by increasing the size of allocated land, introducing animal husbandry, and by recognizing the need for hired hands at harvest time. Aided by the JCA, and despite objective and psychological obstacles, immigrants from the Russian Empire established colonies that endured for decades.     

THE ABSENT JEWISH CHILD: PHOTOGRAPHY AND HOLOCAUST REPRESENTATION IN POLAND

This article considers the representations of Holocaust in Poland by discussing the ways in which photographs of Jewish children are used in literature, film and public commemoration. It shows how a “postmemorial reading” of these images by, predominantly gentile, writers, directors and social actors might be viewed as an attempt to rhetorically fill the void left after the destruction of Poland's Jewish community and to project an image of a tolerant civic society. The article examines famous images, like the photo of the Warsaw Ghetto boy, with which this discussion begins, and lesser known pictures, such as the family photographs of Henio ?ytomirski from Lublin, which are examined towards the end of this article. While looking at these images, I reflect on the interaction between the visual representations of Jewish children, the memory of the Shoah in Poland and the fashioning of Polish national identity in the wake of the accession to European Union.     

Jewish pioneers on Canada’s prairies: The Lipton Jewish agricultural colony

This article offers a detailed analysis of the forces that shaped the Lipton colony in its 50-year existence, one of several dozen attempts to establish Jewish agricultural settlement on Canada’s Western prairies. Comparing both the particularities and the common features of Lipton with those of other colonies will allow strengthening some of the commonly accepted generalizations regarding these colonies, while at the same time showing other assumptions to be questionable or even myth. * A detailed discussion of the Jewish agricultural colonies in Western Canada may be found in Yossi Katz and John C. Lehr, The Last Best West: Essays on the Historical Geography of the Canadian Prairies (Jerusalem, 1999). Other sources discussing the colonies and the reasons for their establishment and ultimate disappearance are: Louis Rosenberg, “Jewish Agriculture in Canada” YIVO Annual of Social Sciences 5 (1950), 205–215; Louis Rosenberg, Canada’s Jews: A Social and Economic Study of the Jews of Canada in the 1930s (Montreal, 1931); Abraham J. Arnold, “The Contribution of the Jews to the Opening and Development of the West” Transactions of the Manitoba Historical Society Series 3 no. 3, (Winnipeg, 1968–’69).     

Blond, tall, with honey-colored eyes: Jewish ownership of slaves in the Ottoman Empire

Hundreds of Hebrew written sources, dozens of official decrees, judicial records (sijillat), and reports of European travelers indicate that slaveholding – particularly of females of slavic origin – in Jewish households in the urban centers of the Ottoman Empire was widespread from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. This halachically and legally problematic habit was an unparalleled phenomenon in any other Jewish community in the early modern period. The presence of slaves in Jewish households effected family life in many ways. I dealt with two of them: The first is cohabitation of Jewish men with female slaves, usually non-Jewish, who in effect served as their concubines and bore them legitimate children; the second is marriage with manumitted slaves who converted to Judaism and became an integral part of the community. These phenomena attest once again to the great extent to which Jewish society and its norms and codes were influenced by Muslim urban society, and the gap between rabbinic rhetoric ideals and the dynamic daily existence of Jews from all social strata. Research for this article was carried out during my postdoctoral fellowship as a Mandel Scholar at the Scholion Interdisciplinary Research Center, the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The article is based on a lecture delivered at a conference in honor of Prof. Amnon Cohen in June 2005 at the Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem; and in Ankara, Turkey, in October 2005. I thank Prof. Kenneth Stow for his kind and friendly guidance.     

IDENTITY AND IDENTIFICATION: JEWISH YOUTH IN ITALY 1870–1938

The criteria by which Jews identify themselves cover a very wide range and change over time. The aim of this essay is to stress that Italian Jewish identity must be analysed in a historical context, in the larger society in which it is located and with which it interacts. Through the study of the activities of Italian Jewish youth, this article will demonstrate, on the one hand, the integration and uniqueness of the Italian Jews and, on the other, that Italian Jewish identity has been transformed by the political ideology and economics of the surrounding society. The only way to analyse Jewish youth in Italy in their struggle with their Jewish identity should be comparatively, that is, to examine the history of Italian Jews and of Italy as a whole, not as separate but as connected entities.     

From landsmanshaften to vinkln: Mediating community among Yiddish speakers in America

Vinkln (“corners”) in America have spread since the 1970s as an organizational strategy by Yiddish-speaking, non-pietistic, East European Jewish immigrants, many of whom have a Holocaust experience. The vinkln provide a privatized, immersive experience for Yiddish language and culture as a way to offer community identity to Yiddish speakers within the wider Jewish community. They arose out of landsmanschaften, or “hometown associations,” in the early twentieth century, but the vinkln function to ritually reproduce culture rather than offer mutual aid based on old-country affiliation. Although secularized, the organized social structure and performed communication of the vinkln invoke rituals and roles of Jewish religious services from traditional community experience. They displace old-country affiliations with pronounced loyalties to Israel and America, although the location of Yiddish in performance is often centered in Poland. The vinkln mediate community by suggesting cultural reproduction even as the bonds of language and society among Yiddish speakers are weakening. Its symbols and associations are restricted to an elderly age cohort, and therefore not likely to perpetuate the very culture that its organizers purport to preserve. It is differentiated from other structures of Yiddish conservation and appreciation such as Internet networks and community center conversation groups. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Biology and the Jewish question after the revolution: one Soviet approach to the productivization of Jewish labor

In the 1920s a group of health professionals and biologists in the Soviet Union embraced the nascent eugenics movement in order to justify the promotion of physical labor among Jews. Eugenics offered a scientific approach to solving the “Jewish question” through the productivization of Soviet Jewry. Drawing upon the work of Jean Baptiste de Lamarck, this group linked the settlement of Jews on the land to the belief that the physiognomy of Jews engaged in physical labor would be genetically passed on to their offspring. The goal was to overcome the perceived debilitating psychological and physical traits of shtetl Jewry by mobilizing Soviet Jewry for the building of socialism. By the late 1920s, however, eugenics fell victim to the Kremlin’s materialist conception of human society that emphasized social engineering and voluntarism and excluded biological influences on the transformation of Soviet society.     

The study of Hebrew Bible in Israel – between love and knowledge

The Bible and its study was central to the growth of Jewish nationalism and a Jewish national spirit from the nineteenth century, but especially in the new settlement in the Land of Israel, where knowledge of the Bible became integral to Jewish identity and its formation. The purported ability of Bible study to create identity achieved mythical proportions, and students were even expected to love the subject. But they did not, nor do they today, and as seen here, educators lamented, and still lament, this predicament. They seem to be ignoring that the real issue is not “love,” but teaching the Bible’s intrinsic worth.     

Akiva Yosef Schlesinger—a forerunner of Zionism or a forerunner of ultra-orthodoxy

Rabbi Akiva Yosef Schlesinger (Pressburg 1838—Jerusalem 1922) is considered by some scholars to be a forerunner of ultra-Orthodoxy, but by others as a forerunner of Zionism. This article unravels this enigmatic personality, demonstrating that he was indeed a forerunner of ultra-Orthodoxy who was motivated by a complete rejection of modernity and promoted religious positions that were more radical than those of the Hatam Sofer. Those who associate Schlesinger with Zionism are misled by the fact that he encountered fierce opposition from his Hungarian colleagues and from the “Yishuv hayashan” in Jerusalem, advocated the use of the Hebrew language and promoted a “settlement” programme in Palestine. The article suggests that Schlesinger's programme was in reality designed to create a sacred utopian society, and was motivated by his desire to isolate the traditional Jewish community from modernity, rather than by a nationalist ideology. Furthermore, the opposition of the Jerusalem rabbis to Schlesinger's ideas was based largely on his unusual religious positions and his suggestion that the youth should be engaged in work. In analysing Schlesinger's legacy, the article also clarifies the distinctions between ultra-Orthodoxy and Zionism, as well as some common elements that they share.     

Jewish rural settlement in Cyprus 1882–1935: a “springboard” or a destiny?

After its transfer to British rule in 1878, Cyprus became an object of Jewish settlement. The island was seen as a reasonable alternative at a time when aliyah and land purchase in Eretz-Israel were problematic. Three attempts were made by different groups to settle Jews in rural sites between 1882 and 1935. The first, near Pathos, was initiated by a millenarian British association. It lasted barely a year and focused on helping immigrants from Russia. The second, in the years 1892–1898, fostered by a pre-Zionist group of London Jews, and with the assistance of JCA, led to the purchase of Margo, an agricultural site located between Larnaka and Nicosia. The third attempt, the longest, between 1898 and 1935, was sponsored by the JCA itself, which settled about 35 families and offered continuing professional assistance. Ultimate failure was assured, nonetheless, by the proximity of Eretz-Israel, which exerted an irresistible allure on the younger, second, generation. For a short time, Cyprus was thought by some to be a political alternative to Eretz-Israel. The so-called “Trietsch Project” of 1898 interested even Herzl himself.     

Technological Knowledge among Non-Literate Ethiopian Adults in Israel

Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Israel are one of the most ancient communities in the world, one that has been detached from the known Jewish world for about 2,500 years. Throughout this very long period of isolation, the Ethiopian Jewish community maintained Jewish tradition and dreamed over the centuries to unite with the rest of the Jewish world and immigrate to the Jewish state—Israel. But this transition occurred within a short time from an agrarian society in Ethiopia (traditional culture) with an oral culture to a knowledge society in Israel (modern culture) with a written culture. Most studies that examine cultural transition focus on anthropological, sociological, and cultural aspects; but there are nearly no studies that examine the technological knowledge of non-literate populations. The purpose of this study is to examine and characterize technological knowledge among this population—the case of Ethiopian non-literate immigrants in Israel. The study involved in-depth interviews to examine technological knowledge through using technological appliances in their everyday life, assembly of two simple technological systems, and a home technology profile compared to the general population in Israel. Participants included 50 non-literate Ethiopian immigrants between the ages of 40–60. The results of our study are surprising in that we have shown that non-literate immigrants adapt to a technology-rich environment at an average degree with respect to the general population in Israel. Also, comparing technological knowledge between traditional and modern cultures shows participants’ wide range of knowledge without ability to read and write. Illiteracy does not preclude the development of knowledge in general, technological knowledge particularly, and does not prevent non-literate populations from acquiring knowledge in a new environment.     

Perceived Parenthood: Cross-Cultural Differences Between Jewish and Arab Emerging Adults

This study of the influence of culture on emerging adults’ perception of parenthood aims to compare perceptions in a traditional, conservative society (Arab) and those in a Western-oriented modern society (Jewish). The attitudes of Arab and Jewish students in Israel were examined regarding intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for parenthood and the cost of parenthood. Participants were 276 single, nonparent students, age 20–28 years. As hypothesized, the findings revealed that Jewish emerging adults expressed higher intrinsic motivation for parenthood and lower extrinsic motivation than their Arab counterparts and mentioned a later age as the preferred time for entering parenthood than did the Arabs. However, contrary to the hypothesis, the expected cost of parenthood was found to be higher among Arab female participants than among their Jewish counterparts. The findings are discussed against intercultural differences and reciprocal influences of societies with different orientations regarding collectivist and individualistic values, in the context of parenthood motivation.     

Replenishing the “Fountain of Judaism”: Traditionalist Jewish Education in Interwar Poland

The unexpected revitalization of Polish Jewish traditionalism—Hasidic and non-Hasidic—is particularly visible in the realm of education. During the interwar period, a combined influx of pious refugees from the Soviet Union and generous American Jewish philanthropy bolstered traditionalist Jewish elementary schools (hadarim) and yeshivot. At the same time, traditionalists reformed those hitherto sacrosanct institutions in hopes of competing with emergent secularist Jewish movements while preserving an ostensibly authentic cultural core. Polish Jewish traditionalism was subtly transformed in the process, presenting a striking contrast with its more rigid “ultra-Orthodox” counterpart in neighboring Hungary and offering a viable alternative to secularist Jewish subcultures within Poland. This article highlights the surprising durability and flexibility of Poland’s traditionalist Jewish communities during a period usually conceived as one of secularist Jewish growth and traditionalist decline.     

Does identification predict community involvement? Exploring consequences of social identification among the Jewish minority in Poland

Previous research indicated that people who strongly identify with their own group are more involved in the group's actions. The current study examines the relation between three dimensions of group identification (affect, ties, centrality) and forms of community involvement among members of the Jewish minority in Poland. The strength of ingroup ties predicted involvement in the ethnic minority community. The link between identification and involvement was mediated by the cultural dominance. The reported study was the first quantitative survey of the Jewish community in post‐War Poland. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cuba, Castro and Anti-Semitism

The Soviets provided Cuba with the model of attacking human rights activities and organizations as a necessary extension of the Jewish Zionist conspiracy. The identification of Castro with forces dedicated to the destruction of Israel was made plain in proclamation and practice. The Cuban position is that the war on terrorism is actually an example of “Liberation Imperialism.” Cubans make no reference to the repeated assaults on Israel, or the actual causes of the Middle East conflict—the denial of the right of Israel to exist as a Nation-State in that region. Anti-Semitism is so powerfully rooted as a cultural element in authoritarian cultures that even when, as in the case of Cuban communism, it entails the tortured twisting of doctrinal elements within Marxism–Leninism, such as doctrinal claims about the “materialist foundations of society,” its leaders will sacrifice the ideology to the reality. Part of the Castro attachment to communism is an overall contempt for the Jewish mini-Diaspora within the larger flight of Cubans to the United States and other places where the practice of free speech remain unimpeded. The regime of Fidel Castro has changed little in the past 49 years, compared to the rest of the world.     

Roots of Land and Church: the Christian State Debate in Fiji

What is widely represented as the Three Pillars of Fijian society: vanua, lotu and matanitu, broadly translated as land and tradition, Church and governance, is a predominantly Fiji Methodist religio-cultural ideal structure that came into being during the colonial period (1874–1970). It comprises the overarching ideology of Fijian society, around which village life centres, and to which people constantly refer. Contemporary interpretations of this structure converge in a highly volatile political issue, exacerbated during and since an attempted civilian coup in 2000: whether Fiji should be constitutionally declared a Christian state. Those in favour claim this radical move would create unity between Christians and is the only way to create stability in the country. Critics warn that in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country with a non-Christian population of some 42%, this ideal is incompatible with freedom of religion and respect for the dignity of difference in society.