Crisis and lachrymosity: on Salo Baron, Neobaronianism, and the study of modern European Jewish history

Salo Baron (1895–1989) remains an iconic figure among historians of the Jews, who routinely cite his dissent from the ‘lachrymose conception of Jewish history’ as a ideal to be upheld. Contemporary historians have generally understood the Baronian imperative to favor a historiography that seeks continuities instead of ruptures, deemphasizes Jews’ victimhood in favor of their achievements and successful integration, and affirms diaspora creativity in opposition to Zionist disparagement of exile. They have also affirmed that imperative equally for all periods and places in Jewish history. Close analysis of Baron’s corpus suggests that such a reading is better termed ‘neo-Baronian,’ for Baron himself employed his injunction against lachrymosity in reference to the middle ages only, whereas his depiction of the modern era stressed sustained crisis, conflict, and insecurity throughout the Jewish world. Such a depiction is fully consistent with his conception of the conditions under which Jews were most likely to find safety and prosperity. That conception, which posited the preferability of ‘states of nationalities’ to ‘nation-states’ and stressed the need for a strong international order capable of checking unrestrained state sovereignty, was evidently born out of Baron’s own experience as a refugee in Vienna during and after the First World War.     

Patient Suicide: A Survey of Therapists' Reactions

A substantial proportion of therapists will at some point in their professional life experience the loss of a patient to suicide. Our aims were to assess how therapists react to patient's suicide over time and which factors contribute to the reaction. One third of the therapists, mostly women, suffer from severe distress. The impact is not different for therapists in institutional settings and therapists in private practice. The item “overall distress” immediately after the suicide predicts emotional reactions and changes in behavior. Our data suggest that identifying the severely distressed subgroup could be done using a visual analogue scale for overall distress. As a consequence, more specific and intensified help could be provided to these individuals.