Weekend in Quest 2014 Study Sessions
Go West, Young Mensch
with Prof. Ellen Eisenberg
Session 1: Worth a Thousand Words: Images of Jewish Reinvention on the Pacific Coast
This illustrated lecture provides an overview of the Jewish experience on the West Coast, highlighting some of the distinctive aspects of western Jewish settlement, community and culture, in comparison with the more familiar East Coast/New York story, and with regions such as the South. Through this discussion, we will place western Jewry in the larger framework of American Jewish history and migration. This lecture will provide some of the broad context that will be referenced in subsequent lectures. This lecture is based on my co-authored book, Jews of the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community on America’s Edge.
Session 2: Protest, Silence or Collaboration? Western Jews Respond to Japanese American Removal During WWII
Given the familiar story of the American Jewish community’s prominent role in the fight against prejudice and its support for the civil rights struggle of African Americans, most assume that Jews were supportive of their Japanese American neighbors during World War II. The reality, however, is far more complicated. This lecture tells of a range of responses, from defending Japanese Americans against a racist incarceration policy, to silence and avoidance of the issue, to actively fueling the propaganda that led to Japanese removal and incarceration. It raises interesting questions about speaking out in the face of prejudice. This lecture is based on The First to Cry Down Injustice? Western Jews and Japanese Removal During World War II.
Session 3: Cultivating Jewish Farmers
While Palestine was a focus for dynamic agricultural awakening among Jews, there were other places, including the USA and Argentina, where Jews turned to agriculture as a way of reinventing themselves— and changing the society’s image of Jews. The Jewish agricultural colonization movement sought to establish agrarian communities that would demonstrate to the world that Jews were capable of productive labor, and, in some cases, to demonstrate the viability of communal living. Who was drawn to these communities? How did they fare in a world where industrial labor and urban living were rapidly becoming the norm? This lecture draws on my first book, Jewish Agricultural Colonies in New Jersey, as well as on subsequent research on colonies in Argentina and in the American South, Midwest, and West.
Session 4: Jewish Politics: Running, Serving and Voting in Oregon
Since the early years of statehood, Jewish Oregonians have embraced their state and achieved a remarkable level of acceptance, visible in their record of election to public office. This lecture will present a history of Jews and politics in Oregon, exploring the context that led to their involvement, and their election and service in offices from small town mayor to state governor, from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. In addition, we will explore whether the concept of “Jewish politics” has had resonance in Oregon. Have the Jewish identities of these politicians mattered to the Jewish community, or to others? Was there anything distinctively Jewish about their service? And have Jewish sensibilities affected community voting patterns? This lecture draws on research conducted for my forthcoming book on Jews in Oregon.
This illustrated lecture provides an overview of the Jewish experience on the West Coast, highlighting some of the distinctive aspects of western Jewish settlement, community and culture, in comparison with the more familiar East Coast/New York story, and with regions such as the South. Through this discussion, we will place western Jewry in the larger framework of American Jewish history and migration. This lecture will provide some of the broad context that will be referenced in subsequent lectures. This lecture is based on my co-authored book, Jews of the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community on America’s Edge.
Session 2: Protest, Silence or Collaboration? Western Jews Respond to Japanese American Removal During WWII
Given the familiar story of the American Jewish community’s prominent role in the fight against prejudice and its support for the civil rights struggle of African Americans, most assume that Jews were supportive of their Japanese American neighbors during World War II. The reality, however, is far more complicated. This lecture tells of a range of responses, from defending Japanese Americans against a racist incarceration policy, to silence and avoidance of the issue, to actively fueling the propaganda that led to Japanese removal and incarceration. It raises interesting questions about speaking out in the face of prejudice. This lecture is based on The First to Cry Down Injustice? Western Jews and Japanese Removal During World War II.
Session 3: Cultivating Jewish Farmers
While Palestine was a focus for dynamic agricultural awakening among Jews, there were other places, including the USA and Argentina, where Jews turned to agriculture as a way of reinventing themselves— and changing the society’s image of Jews. The Jewish agricultural colonization movement sought to establish agrarian communities that would demonstrate to the world that Jews were capable of productive labor, and, in some cases, to demonstrate the viability of communal living. Who was drawn to these communities? How did they fare in a world where industrial labor and urban living were rapidly becoming the norm? This lecture draws on my first book, Jewish Agricultural Colonies in New Jersey, as well as on subsequent research on colonies in Argentina and in the American South, Midwest, and West.
Session 4: Jewish Politics: Running, Serving and Voting in Oregon
Since the early years of statehood, Jewish Oregonians have embraced their state and achieved a remarkable level of acceptance, visible in their record of election to public office. This lecture will present a history of Jews and politics in Oregon, exploring the context that led to their involvement, and their election and service in offices from small town mayor to state governor, from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. In addition, we will explore whether the concept of “Jewish politics” has had resonance in Oregon. Have the Jewish identities of these politicians mattered to the Jewish community, or to others? Was there anything distinctively Jewish about their service? And have Jewish sensibilities affected community voting patterns? This lecture draws on research conducted for my forthcoming book on Jews in Oregon.
