Frank Cass Publishers

Jewish Culture and History
ISSN: 1462-169X

Jewish Culture and History is an open, non-sectarian journal which will cross academic boundaries and will explore previously neglected areas of the Jewish experience in Britain. These will include identities, cultural representations of Jews, Jews in British society and in relation to other ethnic and historical minorities, Yiddish culture, oral history, gender, historiography, history and memory, life-cycle experience, class, consumption and life styles, Jews and modernity, geography and place, and international contexts. Jewish Culture and History will consist of research articles, reviews and news of archives, libraries and conferences. Each issue will also include a documents section which will reproduce selected primary materials available in British archives in the area of British Jewish studies.

Two issues per year: Summer, Winter

The Hairdresser Who Loved Kandinsky
Colin Richmond

Issue 3.1

Issue 3.1

This is a contextual study of a little-known facet of mid-seventeenth-century philosemitism: a proposal by reformers John Dury and Samuel Hartlib to found a College of Judaic Studies in London, with funding promised by the Commonwealth government in 1649-50. A survey of early links between Renaissance Christian philosophy and Judaism precedes the main focus on projects by intellectuals in England and the Netherlands to foster closer ties between Christianity and Judaism during the 1640s and 1650s. This was to be part of a wider programme of social reform representing perhaps the last historical attempt to advance scientific and practical knowledge within a greater framework of universal spiritual harmony and philanthropy.

Issue 3.1

This article examines one of America's most celebrated periodicals, Commentary magazine, founded by the American Jewish Committee under the editorship of Elliot E. Cohen in 1945. The article describes the process by which young Jewish intellectuals, who had removed themselves from their communities, would edit and write for a magazine of the organised Jewish community. It examines Commentary's formative years during the 1940s and 1950s, in particular the nature of the relationship between the editors and its sponsors. In doing so, the article shows the effects of this literary and cultural effort in producing a new Jewish-American discourse of America as 'home'.

Issue 3.1

This essay interrogates the various interactions of queerness and Jewishness through the crossdressing films Yidl Mitn Fidl (Joseph Green, 1936) and Yentl (Barbra Streisand, 1983). Through an application of the notion of the 'Jew as Woman', Yidl is found to be heavily invested in undoing the anti-semitic myth, in unqueering the 'Jew'. Yentl, which is revealed as deeply rooted in the earlier Yiddish film, uses the myth for its own feminist and erotic ends. Despite their diverse contexts, the films suggest a continuum of critical issues framing the cinematic representation of Jewishness.

Issue 3.1

This article examines Primo Levi's practice of and interest in storytelling as a form of ethical enquiry, based in the reciprocity and attention of the storytelling encounter, both in his Holocaust testimony and beyond. It pays particular attention to the book La chiave a stella (The Wrench), which is examined as a sort of storyteller's manual. Through the book's all but unspoken subtext echoing Levi's own Holocaust narratives, the practice of storytelling in The Wrench is shown as a model for his work as a whole, through parallels in Benjamin and in Judaic storytelling traditions.

Issue 3.1

This article examines the use of apocalyptic imagery and the role ascribed to 'the Jews' in religious and secular discourses in First World War Britain. After 1917, the relationship between Christianity and Judaism began to be articulated in political terms, as the themes of apocalypse, Antichrist and crucifixion entered into secular discourse in relation to political events. This article traces the development of secular apocalyptic in Britain, from the Bolshevik revolution and the Palestine campaign into the post-war years, and compares this with mainstream and marginal Christian theological writing. In secular writing, two apocalyptic themes became dominant: the appearance of the Antichrist and the return of the Jews to the Promised Land. I explore these themes through press portrayals of 'Bolshevik Jews' as the enemies of the Christian nation, and the Balfour Declaration and Jewish battalions as heralding the prophesied restoration of Israel. I then argue that the 'Zionism' of the British government was perceived by some of its supporters as a conversionist drive, prompted by practical and political concerns, the aim of which was to convert the Jews not to Christianity but to nationhood.

Issue 2.2

Utilising two unpublished memoirs of the seminal Great War period, this article seeks to consider the impact of compulsory military service on a British Jewish community, two-thirds of whom were recently arrived, mostly Russian Jewish immigrants. Its aim is two-fold. Firstly, it challenges a cherished received communal wisdom regarding the 'patriotic' nature of enlistment and 'sacrifice' as portrayed not only in the official British Jewry Book of Honour but also in Vladimir Jabotinsky's alternative, Zionist version, The Story of the Jewish Legion. Secondly, it seeks to argue that the writing of Jewish history as if national ideology - assimilationist or Zionist - were the dominant discourse, fails to account for human experiences which do not fit its predetermined, collectivist contours. The richness of the narratives by Arnold Harris and Henry Myer lies in the very fact that these two young men facing the crisis of war did not act according to straightforward national 'type', but instead responded in ways which must necessarily complicate rather than simplify our understanding of the Jewish encounter with modernity.

Issue 2.2

In 1952, the American literary critic Irving Howe collaborated with the Yiddish poet Eliezer Greenberg on a project of translating Yiddish short fiction into English, conceived as a 'recovery' of the East European Jewish literary tradition and functioning as a tacit response to Jean-Paul Sartre's claim in Anti-Semite and Jew (1948) that the Jew 'possesses nothing that can be called a history'. Howe's manifesto-like introduction to the Treasury of Yiddish Stories (1954) was his first articulation of the secular Jewish identity he would champion throughout his life. Howe's ethnic Jew - identified by the Yiddish term dos kleine menschele [the little man] - enjoys a 'view from the rear' of society, and as such he understands the inner workings of social power. Howe maintains that as American Jews enter the middle class the kleine menschele becomes increasingly a figure of the past. While works written in English by postwar American Jews bear a family resemblance to Yiddish literature, this continuity represents but a transitional moment: Jewish American literature cannot ultimately survive the dissolution of the immigrant community. This narrative of Jewish decline allows Howe to position himself as the 'last in line', the authoritative speaker at the end of a tradition; and to represent Jewish assimilation as a seamless and uncomplicated process, the end of which is already in sight.

Issue 2.2

Representations of 'the Jews' in modern China are complex: while they seem to correspond to images of 'the Jews' in Europe, it would be superficial to reduce them purely to 'Western influence'. In China, representations of 'the Jews' have been endowed with indigenous meaning by modernising élites. By constructing 'the Jews' as a homogenous group, or 'the Jew' as a constitutive outsider, who embodies all the negative as well as positive qualities that were feared or desired by various social groups in China, the Chinese, as a homogenous 'in-group', were able to project their own anxieties onto the figure of the outsider. In this respect, representing 'the Jews' corresponds to a widespread fear of, as well as need for an 'other', which can be found in many cultures and societies. However, my interest here does not lie in determining the boundary between the real and fictional aspects of these images. Rather, it focuses on the implications associated with 'the Jew' as an 'other', which remains a distant mirror in the construction of the 'self' amongst various social groups in modern China

Issue 2.2

As a political activist in the Zionist, pacifist, and feminist movements of the early twentieth century, Israel Zangwill eluded easy classification and courted opposition. A leading male figure in the women's suffrage movement, he did not hesitate to applaud feminist tactics that appalled the mainstream, criticise tactics he saw as counter-productive, and change his own mind on various points over the course of a decade in the movement. Between 1907 and 1916 Zangwill gave speeches for the suffragettes, wrote impassioned letters to the press, and prepared lengthy reflective essays for intellectual periodicals, reprinting some of them in his collection The War for the World (1916). Zangwill's participation in the suffrage movement was significant in the progress towards woman's suffrage in the early twentieth century and integral to the larger body of his life and work. Moreover, while a cursory first glance at his suffrage writings in mainstream publications reveals little of his Jewishness, in fact his activism was informed by his religious outlook; his Jewish identity and place as a Jewish celebrity, in turn, enabled him to help bring the Jewish community into discussions of the suffrage issue

Issue 2.2

Issue 2.1

The question of Jewish identity, and Jewish and non-Jewish constructions of Jews and Judaism, is a prominent subject of debate today. Jewish identity in the Graeco-Roman world is an especially problematic area, since the extant sources reveal that Judaism was very complex and embraced a wide spectrum of practices and observances; identifying a Jew in antiquity can be an extremely difficult business. One aspect of this problem that needs exploration but is not often considered is the question of how Jews saw 'Others', and how their characterisations of 'Others' framed their own self-definition and identification. It is in this context that the following study is offered, and while I certainly do not want to suggest that one single piece of literature can be demonstrative of a 'normative' ancient Jewish perspective, the pseudepigraphic tale of Joseph and Aseneth does highlight some interesting trends. This study analyses a small portion of the text (chapters 7 to 9) and notes several emerging themes: the use of biblical and extra-biblical traditions about 'Others', most notably Egyptians; the author's conceptualisation of Jewish social superiority over 'Others'; the pejorative representation of Egypt as the land of sensuality and 'the body'; and the author's exposition of Jewish religious superiority, especially in comparison with Egyptian animal worship. These factors are identified and discussed in order to explore what this information tells us about the Judaism of the author, and his or her construction of non-Jews.

Issue 2.1

The opium trade was legal within China between 1858 and 1917. Jewish entrepreneurs who had immigrated to China via India were deeply involved in the trade in this addictive, highly debilitating narcotic drug. Although plying a legitimate trade they were the targets of trenchant criticism, most notably from missionaries. Anti-opium groups spurred on by missionaries protested against the opium trade for reasons of ethics as well as fear that all trade with China might be stopped, as indeed had happened in 1839. This paper focuses on the nineteenth-century background to the opium trade, the anti-opium movement, the British Government's attitude to the Baghdadi merchants and the end of the opium trade.

Issue 2.1

This article charts the history of the educational Socialist Zionist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair in Britain from its beginnings in the wake of the arrival of refugees from Germany in the 1930s to its consolidation and expansion into British Jewry. The article discusses its ideology, and considers the stance it adopted towards the Biltmore Declaration as illustrative of the specific characteristics of its programme: the radicalism of its social and political designs for the Jewish people, its view of the Arab question and its pro-Soviet sympathies. Hashomer Hatzair is also situated in relation to the Zionist spectrum in Britain and the radical British Left.

Issue 2.1

This article explores the tensions and ambiguities of the key, foundational arguments for religious and intellectual toleration, articulated at the dawn of the Enlightenment in the late seventeenth century. The author focuses on the status of Judaism in the thought of the three most influential early theorists of toleration - Baruch Spinoza, John Locke and Pierre Bayle. In distinct but closely related ways, all three thinkers characterise Judaism as the epitome of intolerance, and thus implicitly place it outside the domain of reasonableness within which toleration can function. This exclusion highlights a strand of intolerance ensnared within the modern definition of toleration itself.

Issue 2.1

This article explores the image of the Jew as Oriental in French-Jewish literature and political discourse in the fin-de-siècle and inter-war years. During the nineteenth century, French-Jews sought to distance themselves from their alleged 'Oriental' origins in order to facilitate their integration into the larger society. Beginning in the early twentieth century, by contrast, certain French Jews began to describe their imagined connection to the Orient as an aspect of the Jewish personality of which to be proud. This re-invention of the Jew as Oriental, however, was often linked to feelings of loss and alienation, a theme which many Jewish authors emphasised in their novels, plays and poetry. For many of these same figures, embracing Zionism provided a way to overcome this sense of alienation. By linking Zionism to the kind of 'humanist orientalism' prominent in French progressive circles during this period, they were able to give validity to their sense of 'feeling different' while at the same time expressing their complete devotion to France and to a universalist world perspective.

Issue 2.1

The Battle of Cable Street is, excluding events connected to the Royal family and world wars, the most remembered day in twentieth century Britain. This article explores how the memory of 4 October 1936 was contested initially by contemporaries and then by subsequent generations in attempts to make it a 'usable past'. The pattern of remembering has been uneven, with periods of intense interest and then decline, but the 'Battle' has now gained mythical status and is represented in a wide range of artistic and cultural forms. The major argument of this article, following the general approach of Jonathan Boyarin, is that the processes of remembering and forgetting the 'Battle' are inseparable and cannot be seen as simple opposites. Indeed, as the century comes to a close there is a danger that the increasing commemoration of 4 October 1936 will be at the expense of remembering the specific events of the day itself.

Issue 1.2 - Special Issue: Remembering Cable Street: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Society

The dominant memory of 4 October 1936 has emphasised class conflict and class unity. Anti-fascism has been widely represented as a movement of working-class solidarity against what has been seen as the predominantly middle-class and capitalist character of British fascism. Recent research suggests a more nuanced analysis, both of the membership of the British Union of Fascists and of the interaction between ethnic and class identities in the resistance to fascism. Nevertheless, the class model, if used in a dynamic way, remains the most compelling approach to interpreting the Battle of Cable Street.

Issue 1.2 - Special Issue: Remembering Cable Street: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Society

The problem of fascist-communist violence and the growth of political anti-semitism in east London was the background to both the Battle of Cable Street and the passing of the Public Order Act in 1936. Although it increased the powers of the authorities to deal with general problems of law and order, the Act was specifically targeted at the BUF, whose meetings, processions and demonstrations were seen by the authorities as provocations and attempts to intimidate the Jewish community. Somewhat ironically, its use was mainly directed at anti-fascists, particularly in relation to abusive words and behaviour, the original cause of the problem.

Issue 1.2 - Special Issue: Remembering Cable Street: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Society

This article highlights the congruence of response to the BUF by the Jewish elite nationally and in Manchester, focusing on the Laski family. The moderate responses of the communal leadership to BUF slanders and the reasoning which lay behind such responses is considered, as is the failure to engage with the BUF in a more proactive way. Such responses, it is argued, were grounded in the traditional norms of collective communal action which stressed the importance of established principles of moderation, toleration and fair play. But this line of defence came uncomfortably close to asking Jews to accept second-class social status in order that the fiction of communal unity and acceptance within the wider society be maintained.

Issue 1.2 - Special Issue: Remembering Cable Street: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Society

Jewish responses to the Battle of Cable Street and indeed to fascist anti-semitism in general were varied and complex. At one level, there were the obvious divisions between East End Jews and the Anglo-Jewish leadership. At another level, there were the numerous opinions and strategies which emanated from East End Jews themselves. This paper looks at both the conflict between the East End Jewish community and the Jewish leadership, and at the various divisions within the East End Jewish community itself. It also examines the practical and theoretical consequences of these divisions - in other words what they meant in terms of the action which Jews took at the time of the Cable Street disturbances.

Issue 1.2 - Special Issue: Remembering Cable Street: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Society

By examining women's participation in fascist activities in London's East End, the British Union of Fascist's policies towards working class women, and the feminisation of British fascist discourses concerning race and otherness, this article argues that women played a critical role in the successes and failures of the BUF's campaigns in the East End. Women members were certainly visible and ready for action on the now legendary 4 October 1936. Ironically, however, it was the absence of one woman, Diana Guinness, that might well have been responsible for Sir Oswald Mosley's decision to abandon his position before the Battle of Cable Street.

Issue 1.2 - Special Issue: Remembering Cable Street: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Society

The 'Cable Street' events have been interpreted by many as a major victory for anti-fascism, yet immediately after 4 October 1936 support for the British Union of Fascists increased substantially. Fascist writers and speakers represented the anti-fascist demonstration in a number of ways, as deliberately seditious, as orchestrated by outside forces, as irrationally violent and as ungodly. An analysis of the images and metaphors deployed to describe the demonstrating crowd indicates the ways in which the BUF appealed to East End audiences by rhetorically recasting the defeat they had suffered at Cable Street.

Issue 1.2 - Special Issue: Remembering Cable Street: Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Society

Issue 1.1

Recent debates over the rights and wrong of Jewish circumcision in Britain seem curiously uniformed by any historical understanding. This article considers the significance of the circumcision motif in mid-eighteenth century Britain, and goes on the investigate the way in which this motif has been subsequently deployed by political religious and medical writers up until the twentieth century. It is argued that the language in which Jewish circumcision has been discussed can be categorised into four distinctive rhetorical modes or discourses: namely those of traditional Tory English nationalism; enlightenment rationalism; British evangelicalism; and British medical professionalism. As only a handful of Jewish Studies scholars, such as Frank Felsenstein, Sander Gilman, Roy Wolper and Sarah Kocher, seem to have previously addressed this topic in any sustained manner, this article derives much of its argument from original primary research.

Issue 1.1

A central focus of research into nineteenth and twentieth century British-Jewish history has been relations between native and immigrant Jews and immigrant culture. The investigation of social relations among Jewish immigrants, however, still relies heavily on sources generated by the native Jewish elite and tends to be rather patchy. This article endeavours to provide an insight into everyday life within the immigrant milieu by shedding light on one particular welfare association, the Manchester Jews Benevolent Society, which was founded by Eastern European immigrants in British Jewry's second city in 1905. An analysis of the organisation's inception and activity until the 1930s tries to locate its place and function within a transforming provincial Jewish community. The society's history provides an insight into class differences within the immigrant milieu and demonstrates the efforts of a stratum of immigrants to preserve certain elements of their Jewish heritage while striving to improve their standing within their immediate social environment as well as Manchester's native Jewry.

Issue 1.1

This article explores the ways in which East London and its Jewish population were represented in travel literature, with particular attention to the inter-war period. In this period the East End was portrayed as respectable, in great contrast to its earlier reputation, as well as colourful and exciting. These new characteristics were often attributed to the area's Jewish population, and are best understood in the context of shifting notions of national and metropolitan identities. As concern grew that the Americanisation of London was replacing the 'English' spirit of its citizens with a dull cosmopolitanism, the East End, and the Jews in particular, were seized upon by some as proof that certain areas of London retained a liveliness and vitality that was particularly English. However, there were others who portrayed East End Jews as unalterably foreign and thus a threat to the nation. These works demonstrate the central place of Anglo-Jewry in discussions of national identity. In addition, they indicate the importance of accounting for the variety of discursive strands concerning Jews when considering their place in British society.

Issue 1.1

There is currently much interest in how members of ethnic minorities experience the psychiatric system. In mid-Victorian provincial England, the presence of Jews as a small but significant minority was reflected in the population of lunatic asylums that served cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. Case evidence suggests certain patterns of symptom presentation and behaviour among Jewish asylum patients. In some instances, delusional ideas and other symptoms of disturbance show a clear religious or cultural content. The response of the asylum authorities to Jewish patients varied from the sympathetic and accepting to the unthinking and prejudiced. Culturally determined behaviour could easily be interpreted as part of the manifestation of mental disorder.

Issue 1.1

The belief in upward social mobility is cherished in Anglo-Jewry today, but it is substantially a myth. The inter-war years saw some dramatic cross-class mobility registered unambiguously by occupational and geographical change. But for a more significant section of the Jewish population, the experience was one of stasis or sideways movement. Occupations and addresses changed, but this only gave an illusion of genuine social mobility. And far from being a period of 'fusion' with the 'old community', it was time of extreme friction and fission between and within each stratum of Jewish society. It was not until after 1945 that a largely homogenous suburban and predominantly middle-class Anglo-Jewry emerged. Nor had it arisen as a consequence of any merger between 'new' and 'old community'. The latter had simply disappeared by a process of inanition and been supplanted by new men (and women) and new money.

Issue 1.1

September 2002