Menorah Review (No. 41, Fall, 1997)

The Jewish Image in American Fiction -- An Endless Journey? -- A Summer\u27s Game -- The Exilic Home of Jewish Literature -- Book Listing -- Book Briefing

Menorah Review (No. 64, Winter/Spring, 2006)

A Poem by Richard E. Sherwin -- An Exceptional Collection -- Author\u27s Reflections -- Hebrew Literature: Translated and Discussed -- Jewish Humor and Jewish Faith -- Reading Writing -- The Uniqueness of American Judaism -- Noteworthy Book

A goldene medine? A Dialogue in Many Voices on Canadian Jewish Studies and Poland

This paper is an account of the conference titled Kanade, di goldene medine? Perspectives on Canadian-Jewish Literature and Culture / Perspectives sur la littérature et la culture juives canadiennes, which took place in Łódź in April, 2014 as a result of collaboration between the University of Łódź and Concordia University (Montreal). As a venue for discussing Canadian Jewish identity and its links with Poland, the conference supported a dialogue between Canadians, Polish Canadianists, and European scholars from further afield. Established and young scholars attended from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Canada, in addition to many Polish participants. The presence of scholars such as Goldie Morgentaler or Sherry Simon as well as curator Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett contributed to an examination of both past and present Canadian and Polish Jewish life and led to an examination of Polish and Canadian literature and history from a highly personal perspective. Conference-goers took advantage of the opportunity to get to know Łódź, via walking tours and a visit to the Łódź Jewish community’s Lauder-funded centre on Narutowicza. The paper aims, as well, to investigate how the history of Jewish Łódź is conveyed in the novels of Joseph Roth and Chava Rosenfarb

Introduction: Re-Mapping Anglo-Jewish Literature History

THE ESSAYS COLLECTED in this issue of Victorian Literature and Culture seek to introduce Victorianists to some of the many Anglo-Jewish writers of nineteenth-century England. What differentiates this moment in Anglo-Jewish scholarship from most previous considerations is that we do not purport to fill a falsely constructed “void” of Anglo-Jewish literary silence; on the contrary, this collection seeks to amplify the fullness of nineteenth century Anglo-Jewish literary life. In 1846, Grace Aguilar, the important Anglo-Jewish writer and theologian, called out for the production of a “Jewish literature” that would aid the “right reverence[e] of Judaism,” and “advance” the Jewish people in Victorian England. All too aware of the way exclusion from Hebrew literary and religious texts often precipitated assimilation, conversion, and more generalized alienation from Jewish religious life, Aguilar sought new tools to combat Jewish religious apathy. Detailing the subtle conversionary and theological assumptions that so-called secular — yet clearly Christian — literature often performed, Aguilar reasoned that a Jewish literature could provide Jewish readers — and especially Jewish women — with literary pleasure and a simultaneous sense of Jewish values and ethics; likewise, such a literature could recast the generally negative images of Jewish people and Judaism which pervade the long history of English literature. With her emphasis on a Jewish literature, then, Aguilar sought to claim the cultural and ideological power literature held in Victorian England for specifically Jewish uses. Significantly, Aguilar’s tone in the statement above suggests that she saw no such Jewish literature in past moments of Anglo-Jewish history; Aguilar’s intensive production of such a literature in a variety of genres was her own response to this desire for Jewish literature

Jewish Law: Finally, a Useable and Readable Text for the Noninitiate

Why would anyone not studying religion be interested in Jewish law? It will be surprising for some to learn that some twenty to twenty-five law schools now offer courses in Jewish law. The literature in English is growing year after year. And the area is becoming one of serious study for scholars of law as distinguished from scholars of religion. Jewish law as taught in secular law schools is not that of religious ritual. It is the law of contracts, torts, damages, property, secured transactions, civil and criminal procedure, legal ethics, and consumer protection. In other words, it spans the entire gamut of civil, as distinct from religious ritual, law

Jewish Folk Literature

Four interrelated qualities distinguish Jewish folk literature: (a) historical depth, (b) continuous interdependence between orality and literacy, (c) national dispersion, and (d) linguistic diversity. In spite of these diverging factors, the folklore of most Jewish communities clearly shares a number of features. The Jews, as a people, maintain a collective memory that extends well into the second millennium BCE. Although literacy undoubtedly figured in the preservation of the Jewish cultural heritage to a great extent, at each period it was complemented by orality. The reciprocal relations between the two thus enlarged the thematic, formal, and social bases of Jewish folklore. The dispersion of the Jews among the nations through forced exiles and natural migrations further expanded the themes and forms of their folklore. In most countries Jews developed new languages in which they spoke, performed, and later wrote down their folklore

Book review: No Place of Rest: Jewish Literature, Expulsion, and the Memory of Medieval France (Middle Ages)

This article reviews the book “No Place of Rest: Jewish Literature, Expulsion, and the Memory of Medieval France”, by Susan L. Einbinder

Front-Page Jews: Doris Wittner\u27s (1880-1937) Berlin Feuilletons

In ‘Die jüdische Frau und das jüdische Buch’ (The Jewish woman and the Jewish book), an article published 18 March 1931 on the front page of the Jüdisch-liberale Zeitung, Doris Wittner included the following lines that concisely sum up her pioneering ideological and political agendas: ‘Aber bis der endgültige Rechtspruch über des Weibes Ruf und Berufung erfolgt, werden wir jedem Frauengeist, der “strebend sich bemüht”, Anerkennung und Ehrerbietung zollen. […] Insbesondere unsere Glaubensgenossinnen, die gewohnt sind, Menschenlose nur nach Jahrtausenden zu messen.’ With such feuilleton articles, Wittner worked to validate women’s contributions to professional spheres, particularly literature and journalism; to offer both Jewish women and men due credit for their achievements in light of growing antisemitism; and to advocate for the special talents of Jews due to their historical and cultural connections. That this article appeared on the front page of this liberal Berlin Jewish newspaper is no less telling, as Wittner was a regular contributor whose pieces often earned prominent display. Indeed, part of what makes Wittner a journalist of note is the fact that her work appeared with surprising frequency on front pages or in other prominent positions in both general and Jewish publications. [excerpt

Apocalyptic Literature and the Study of Early Jewish Mysticism

This chapter examines apocalyptic literature within the framework of “early Jewish mysticism” and compares early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings with rabbinic and Hekhalot materials. It begins by focusing on apocalyptic literature and the discourse of “mysticism” in religious studies before turning to continuity and rupture in the Jewish discourse of heavenly ascent. It then considers textuality and textual practice in the study of early Jewish mysticism as well as the patterns of similarity and difference between early Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature and Jewish ascent texts from late antiquity, including Hekhalot literature. It concludes by highlighting the persistent gap between the literary artifacts that make up apocalyptic and Hekhalot literatures as well as differences in rituals and religious experience