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American Jewish History Strangers in Creative Tension Dr. Dennis B. Klein Kean University Department of History and Jewish Studies/World Affairs Program Email: dbklein1@juno.com Voice Mail: (908) 527-2039 and (201) 692-1444 Hist 3863 / Fall 2000 Office Hrs. / MW 11-12 noon in Willis 205 Class meetings MW 9:30-10:50 am And By Appointment This syllabus amounts to a course outline and is essential for helping you organize key themes and supporting sources. Please bring it to each class and consult it regularly. Changes to the syllabus will be announced in class. "America has been good to the Jews...but American tolerance is about to be put to a momentous political test" - Comment on Joseph I. Lieberman's Democratic Party nomination for Vice-President of the United States. Historically Jews have shown a striking resilience at surviving ambient contempt in the countries they lived in, but not until their arrival in the United States have they confronted the mixed blessings of a society dedicated to promoting their civic and material success. Why and how did American Jews remain "Jewish" in America's open and relentlessly secularizing society? For American Jews who "made it," what, if anything, remained Jewish in their lives and how did that distinctive American-Jewish residue revise and transform both traditional Jewish existence and America's progressive self-understanding? How, in short, did a fundamentally Christian America and successive waves of Jewish immigrants endeavor to live together? This course offers students a chance to explore questions about the conflict and concert of cultures. In a spirit of intellectual honesty, reflecting the realities of Jews in America, there are hardly any easy answers, so our emphasis will be on sifting and evaluating historical expression. We will spend our time, then, reading formative, "period"material (fiction and nonfiction) and some defining, interpretative material; discussing it in class; and evaluating it in three take-home papers. Standard lectures as well as exams parroting course information thankfully lie beyond our province. To keep us honest, 40 percent of your grade will depend on your participation in class. Requirements Due Date Grade Distribution Class participation Each class 40% Take-Home Essay on parts II, III October 23d 20% Take-Home Essay on part IV November 20th 20% Take-Home Essay on part V December 20th 20% An extra-credit research paper, due on December 20th, could increase your final grade by one or two increments. You must talk to me first about your intentions. Missing class more than three times will lower your grade by one increment; more than six times, two increments; etc. Please observe customary classroom protocol by arriving to class and submitting original papers on time, remaining in class throughout the period, and by taking notes on assignments and bringing them and source material to each class. I enjoy exploring and discussing the intriguing issues that invigorate the history of American Jews and look forward to exploring them with you in and outside class. Feel free to contact me anytime. I can promise that this course will reward your involvement. --DBK. Required reading: Jonathan D. Sarna, ed. The American Jewish Experience. Available in the University Center Bookstore. Henry Roth. Call It Sleep (1934). Available in the University Center Bookstore. Philip Roth. Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories (1959). Available in the University Center Bookstore. American Jewish History: A Source Reader. Dennis B. Klein, ed. Distributed to students at no cost. Syllabus SR=Source Reader. A documentary source showing a superscript 1 (1) following the title provides essential background information in its first editorial footnote. Read this footnote first. AJE=The American Jewish Experience. Be sure to read the brief editor's introduction preceding each assigned article in this collection Dates shown below, after assigned readings, indicate "primary," period sources. All other reading assignments are "secondary," interpretive sources written by (somewhat) detached, professional historians during the past 20 years or so. The bibliography embodies the corpus of sources undergirding this course. It also shows standard form which you must adopt for your papers. Mon. Sept. 11 Introduction: Dangerous seductions: The thrill of "passing" in society Part I: Modern problems that complicate and dramatize a distinctive cultural experience, or Why haven't American Jews, as Jews, disappeared "as a river ...in an ocean" (Eduard Gans, 1822)? Wed. Sept. 13 1. S. M. Lipset, "A Unique People in an Exceptional Country" (SR) 2. Stephen Whitfield, "Culture" (SR) Mon. Sept. 18 1. Jonathan D. Sarna, "Introduction," AJE, xiii-xix 2. Jack Wertheimer/Charles Liebman, "How to Save American Jews" (SR) Part II: How "open" is America's famous open society? : Jews in colonial and revolutionary America (1654-1820) Wed. Sept. 20 1. Jacob R. Marcus, "The American Colonial Jew: A Study in Acculturation," AJE, 6-17. 2. Peter Stuyvesant, "Petition to Expel the Jews from New Amsterdam" (1654) (SR) 3. Dutch West India Co., "Reply to Stuyvesant's Petition" (1655) (SR) 4. ______."Rights of the Jews of New Amsterdam" (1656) (SR) Mon. Sept. 25 1. Jonathan D. Sarna, "The Impact of the American Revolution on American Jews," AJE, 20-28 2. Constitution of the United States of America, "Preamble" and "Article VI" (1789) (SR) 3. Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, "Message of Welcome to George Washington" (1790) (SR) 4. George Washington, "A Reply to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport" (1790) (SR) Part III: Just how distinct are Jews in America? American Jews from Central Europe (1820- 1880) Wed. Sept. 27 1. Stefan Rohrbacher, "From Württemberg to America: A 19th Century German-Jewish Village on Its Way to the New World," AJE, 44-58 2. L. Kompert, "Off to America" (1848) (SR) 3. Stanley Nadel, "Jewish Race and German Soul in 19th Century America" (SR) Mon. Oct. 2 1. Michael A. Meyer, "America: The Reform Movement's Land of Promise," AJE, 60-81 2. [Four statements by the American Reform movement (1885, 1937, 1976, 1999)] (SR) Wed. Oct. 4 Continuing Class Discussion Mon. Oct. 9 NO CLASS Wed. Oct. 11 1. Naomi W. Cohen, "The Christian Agenda," AJE, 84-97 2. Hasia R. Diner, "Inside/Outside" (SR) 3. Kaufmann Kohler, "The Concordance of Judaism and Americanism" (1911) (SR) Mon. Oct. 16 Paula E. Hyman, "The Paradoxes of Assimilation" (SR) First Take-Home Exam on Parts II, III, due Wednesday, October 23 Wed. Oct. 18 NO CLASS Part IV: Back and forth across American and Jewish cultural borders: the East European Jewish "mass migration" (1880-1945) Mon. Oct. 23 1. Arthur Hertzberg, "Why Did the East European Jews Come to America? (SR) 2. Deborah Dwork, "Immigrant Jews on the Lower East Side of New York: 1880-1914," AJE, 120-135 3. A Bintel Brief (Selections) (1906) (SR) Wed.. Oct. 25 1. Andrew R. Heinze, "Adapting to Abundance: Luxuries, Holidays, and Jewish Identity," AJE, 166-182 2. Lucy S. Dawidowicz, "The Jewishness of the Jewish Labor Movement in the United States," AJE, 185-193 Mon. Oct. 30 1. [T. Timayenesis], The American Jew: An Exposé of His Career (1888) (SR) 2. Leo P. Ribuffo, "Henry Ford and The International Jew," AJE, 201-216 3. Henry Ford, "The International Jew: The World's Problem" (1920) (SR) Wed. Nov. 1 1. Lloyd P. Gartner, "The Midpassage of American Jewry," AJE, 258-267 2. Henry Roth, Call It Sleep, "Prologue" Mon. Nov. 6 H. Roth, Book I Wed. Nov. 8 H. Roth, Books II and III Mon. Nov. 13 H. Roth, Book IV Second Take-Home Exam, on Part IV, due Monday, November 20 Wed. Nov. 15 NO CLASS Part V: The survival of something Jewish in democratic America: Suburban Jews (1945-present) Mon. Nov. 20 1. Arthur A. Goren, "A 'Golden Decade' for American Jews: 1945-1955," AJE, 294-311 2. Deborah Dash Moore, "Jewish Migration in Postwar America: The Case of Miami and Los Angeles," AJE, 314-327. 3. Daniel Bell, "Reflections on Jewish Identity" (1961) (SR) Wed. Nov. 22 1. Philip Roth, "Defender of the Faith" (1959) in Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories, 159-200. 2. Philip Roth, "Goodbye, Columbus," in Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories, 3-75. Mon. Nov. 27 Philip Roth, "Goodbye, Columbus," in Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories, 75-136. Wed. Nov. 29 1. Melvin I. Urofsky, "Zionism: An American Experience," AJE, 245-255. 2. Dorothy Thompson, "America Demands Single Loyalty" (1950) (SR) 3. Oscar Handlin, "America Recognizes Diverse Loyalties" (1950) (SR) Mon. Dec. 4 1. Jack Wertheimer, "The Turbulent Sixties," AJE, 330-47. 2. Jonathan Kaufman, "Blacks and Jews: The Struggle in the Cities" (SR) Wed. Dec. 6 America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference (from the PBS American Experience series), video screened in class Mon. Dec. 11 Henry L. Feingold, "Who Shall Bear Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma" AJE, 274-292. Wed. Dec. 13 1. Arthur Hertzberg, "United States Jewry--A Look Forward" AJE, 350-55 2. Samuel G. Freedman, "The Jewish Tipping Point" (SR) Third Take-Home Exam, on Part V, due Wednesday, December 20 Mon. Dec. 18 NO CLASS Wed. Dec. 20 Third and final Take-Home Exam due at the beginning of class. Bibliography America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference (from the PBS American Experience video series) [American Reform Movement]. "The Columbus Platform" (1937) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 517-18. Bell, Daniel. "Reflections on Jewish Identity" in Commentary, June, 1961, 471-78. Central Conference of American Rabbis. "Reform Judaism: A Centenary Perspective Adopted at San Franscico, 1976." http://www.ccarmet.org/platforms/centenary.html. ______. "A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism Adopted at the 1999 Pittsburgh Convention." Internet: http://www.ccarmet.org/platforms/principles.html. Cohen, Naomi W. "The Christian Agenda" in in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 84-97. Conference of Reform Rabbis. "The Pittsburgh Platform" (1885) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 468-69. Constitution of the United States of America. "Preamble" and "Article VI" (1789) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 456-57. Dawidowicz, Lucy S. "The Jewishness of the Jewish Labor Movement in the United States" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 185-93. Diner, Hasia R. "Inside/Outside" in A Time for Gathering: The Second Migration, 1820-1880. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 201-230. Dutch West India Company, "Reply to Stuyvesant's Petition" (1655) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 453. ______."Rights of the Jews of New Amsterdam" (1656), 453-54. Dwork, Deborah. "Immigrant Jews on the Lower East Side of New York: 1880-1914" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 120-35. Feingold, Henry L. "Who Shall Bear Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 274- 92. Ford, Henry. "The International Jew: The World's Problem" (1920) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 512-14. Freedman, Samuel G. "The Jewish Tipping Point." The New York Times Magazine, August 13, 2000, 44-47. Adapted from Jew Vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry, by Samuel G. Freedman. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Gartner, Lloyd P. "The Midpassage of American Jewry" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 258-97. Goren, Arthur A. "A 'Golden Decade' for American Jews: 1945-1955" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 294-311. Handlin, Oscar. "America Recognizes Diverse Loyalties" (1950) in Commentary, March, 1950, 220-26. Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island. "Message of Welcome to George Washington" (1790) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 457-58. Heinze, Andrew R. "Adapting to Abundance: Luxuries, Holidays, and Jewish Identity" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 166- 82. Hertzberg, Arthur. "United States Jewry--A Look Forward" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 350-55. ______. "Why Did the East European Jews Come to America?" in Jewish Polemics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992, 114-119. Hyman, Paula. "Paradoxes of Assimilation" in Gender and Assimilation: Roles and Representation in Modern Jewish History. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995, 10-49. Kaufman, Jonathan. "Blacks and Jews: The Struggle in the Cities" in Struggles in the Promised Land: Toward a History of Black-Jewish Relations in the United States, ed. Jack Salzman and Cornel West. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 107-21. Kohler, Kaufmann. "The Concordance of Judaism and Americanism" (1911) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 471-72. Kompert, L. "Off to America" (1848) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 463-65. Lipset, Seymour Martin. "A Unique People in an Exceptional Country," American Pluralism and the Jewish Community. New Brunswick: Transaction, 1990, 3-29. Marcus, Jacob R. "The American Colonial Jew: A Study in Accultration" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 6-17. Metzker, A., ed. A Bintel Brief. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971, 143-47. Meyer, Michael A. "America: The Reform Movement's Land of Promise" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 60-81. Moore, Deborah Dash. "Jewish Migration in Postwar America: The Case of Miami and Los Angeles" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 314-27. Nadel, Stanley. "Jewish Race and German Soul in 19th Century America," American Jewish History, September 1987, 6-26. Ribuffo, Leo P. "Henry Ford and The International Jew" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 201-16. Rohrbacher, Stefan. "From Württembergk to America: A 19th Century German-Jewish Village on Its Way to the New World" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 44-58. Roth, Henry. Call It Sleep (1935). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991. Roth, Philip. "Defender of the Faith" (1959). Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories. New York: Vintage / Random House, 1993, 159-200. ______. "Goodbye, Columbus" (1959), 3-136. Sarna, Jonathan D. "The Impact of the American Revolution on American Jews" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 20-28. Stuyvesant, Peter. "Petition to Expel the Jews from New Amsterdam" (1654), The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 452. Thompson, Dorothy. "America Demands Single Loyalty" (1950) in Commentary, March, 1950, 210-19. [Timayenesis. T.]. The American Jew: An Exposé of His Career. New York: Minerva, 1888, 3- 30, 196-219. Urofsky, Melvin I. "Zionism: An American Experience" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 245-55. Washington, George. "A Reply to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport" (1790) in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995, 458-59. Wertheimer, Jack. "The Turbulent Sixties" in The American Jewish Experience, ed. Jonathan D. Sarna. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1997, 330-47. Wertheimer, Jack and Charles S. Liebman, "How to Save American Jews." Commentary, 101, 1 (January 1996), 47-51. Whitfield, Stephen J. "Culture," in American Space, Jewish Time. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1988, 43-64 |