Prague: Ruth Ellen Gruber Comments on Recent "Golem-mania"

Prague, Czech Republic Golem restaurant. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2004

Prague: Ruth Ellen Gruber Comments on Recent "Golemania":
When does cute become kitsch? When does story-telling get in the way of truth?

Its a shame when a rich and complex history is reduced to a stereotype, and even more so when the media takes a lively part. But rather than go into the details of Jewish life, history, thought, art, ritual, and science in the Jewish town of Prague, its so much easier to talk about the Golem.

When does cute become kitsch? When does story-telling get in the way of truth?

Ruth Ellen Gruber has tracking the cult of the Golem for years, and she's posted some comments and links on what appears to a return of this particularly persistent cultural virus. Some would say that Jews always need a Superman - even a stupid one made of mud. But I say say we need understanding of history, not reiteration of myth embellished for entertainment of profit.

Maybe things will change a bit this summer, when an informative exhibtion about the real life, times and intellect of Rabbi Judah Löw ben Bezalel (reputed creator of the reputed Golem) opens on Castle Hill. Then we can appreciate the Golem story in a bigger context and better light.

Prague -- Heads Up for Summer Exhibition on Rabbi ...

My confession? On at least one of my visits to Prague I bought Golem whistles and necklaces for friends and relatives. Way better than puppets of hook-nosed Jews.

Prague, Czech Republic "Jewish" puppets for sale near Jewish cemetery. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber 2004

See Ruth's most recent blogs with links to stories in the New York Times and on JTA.

Prague -- Yet More Golemania....

NYTimes Discovers the Golem

Publication: New Book on Jews of Kerala (India)

Publication: New Book on Jews of Kerala (India)

(ISJM) Just as ISJM begins a new project move forward the conservation of the historic synagogue of Parur, Kerala (India), a new book has been published by British-Indian journalist Edna Fernandes about this past, present and future of the very small community of Jews that still calls Kerala home.

The Last Jews of Kerala by Edna Fernandes (Penguin Books India, 205 pp, 450 Rps) [ISBN 978-0670081479] is unique in that it is directed at an Indian audience as well as an international one.

A recent review in the Bangkok Post says that:

Fernandes first came across the Jews of Cochin on her first visit to Kerala in 2002, and went back there in 2006 to see and feel how the two sides lived. After interviewing people there and in Israel, at times hearing unsolicited confessions, and consulting archives and diaries, she has produced a book that brings alive the predicament of a diaspora weighed down by tradition and prejudice.

In 12 chapters, she relates the history, culture and beliefs of two groups that stayed apart for too long, although physically they lived only 40 minutes apart. The pardesi (foreign, or white) Jews arrived later than the Malabar (black) Jews, but used the surrounding Hindu caste system as a model for claiming greater privileges.

She weaves into the book the findings of well-known authorities - including Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz, Nathan Katz, Ellen S. Goldberg and David Mandelbaum. But apparently influential on the thrust of her story is Rabbi Rabinowitz's article for the Far East Mission in 1952. The rabbi noted that "irrational prejudices take precedence over law and logic and ethics" among Jews in Cochin

Click here for the full review.

There have been many books and articles written about the Jews of Kerela. There seems nothing like a good "Last Jews of..." story to attract the pack journalists. To mind mind the best book on the topic remains

The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India by Nathan Katz and Ellen Goldberg (University of South Carolina Press, 1993).

USA: More on HUC in Cincinnati - Past and Future

USA: More on HUC in Cincinnati - Past and Future
by Samuel D. Gruber

A few days ago in my blogpost about American Jewish History Month I mentioned the troubles at Hebrew Union College, and the possibility that HUC will close at least one of its four campuses – quite possibly the original campus in Cincinnati. On May 5th, 2009, the HUC Board issued a statement meant to diffuse some of the angst evidence on the blogosphere and in messages sent to HUC:

The Board has charged the administration to devise a plan that will attain financial sustainability and enhance our academic excellence while preserving our presence in Cincinnati,Los Angeles, and New York. The model being developed includes innovative strategies for learning and teaching, increased use of technology, a firm commitment to the Klau Library and American Jewish Archives, and an evolving vision of education that will meet the needs of the 21st century. Significant financial restructuring will establish a sustainable, balanced budget, ensuring the future of the College-Institute.

(Click here for the transcript of HUC’s press release offering a commitment to the three campuses).

As you can see, the Board maintains a commitment to all of its present locations, but demurs about exactly what the presence is. While the likelihood of the preservation of the Klau Library and the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati remains high, the future of the rest of the campus as a Jewish seminary is still in doubt. A website is tracking developments and those who are interested and concerned should a make a point of logging in.

The history of the HUC in Cincinnati is undeniable. Isaac Wise made Cincinnati the center of the distinctly American Reform movement when he moved there from Albany in 1854. The seminary was founded in 1875, and the beginnings of the campus were planned and built from 1907 on (see below). For a long time HUC in Cincinnati was as relevant to American Jews as 777 Eastern Parkway, Crown Heights, Brooklyn is to the Lubavitch Movement today. Demographic change, and the changing profile of American Judaism has changed that, and the Jewish leadership (and many rabbinic students) much prefer the 21st century Jewish power centers of New York and Los Angeles. Still, a large percentage of American Jews – and especially Reform Jews – still live in urban centers far from the coasts. And it can be argued that not only history, but contemporary American Reform Judaism deserves a center that is not in competition with the hundreds of New York and LA Jewish organizations agencies, institutions and events, and one where students will be trained to be rabbis in “heartland” communities. But it all comes down to money – though I assume the costs of everything – from facilities to salaries to housing and meals for students are more expensive than NY and LA in Cincinnati.

I have a scholarly interest in the early history of the HUC campus, too. Arnold W. Brunner (1857-1925), the American-born Jewish architect that I have been researching recently, was called in as an adviser to HUC when it was first commissioning its Cincinnati campus buildings. The fact that Brunner was the designer of the first building for the Jewish Theological Seminary didn’t matter. After all, Brunner’s patron Jacob Schiff was a contributor to both institutions.

Here are few notes from a still unpublished article about Brunner’s Jewish projects:

Probably in large part because of the success of JTS, but also because of his pre-eminent role as a Jewish architect with planning experience, Brunner was engaged by JTS’s “rival” institution, the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati. Despite their differences in approaches to Judaism JTS and HUC shared a number of prominent donors. Brunner was also well known in Ohio, where since 1901 he had been working on the FederalBuilding and Group Plan in Cleveland. The choice by Hebrew Union College then, to hire Brunner as consultant to help jump-start their new effort to create a campus is not surprising.

In March 1903, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which had oversight of the seminary, appointed a committee to consider moving the College to anew location within Cincinnati. Eventually land was purchased near the University, across form Burnet Woods. The parcel consisted of 18 acres and faced Clifton Avenue. Raising funds to pay for site – which cost far more than HUC’s old site returned, proved difficult. On top of this, funds were needed to erect new buildings.

While this process was on-going, Brunner was hired as a consulting architect to design a program and to help select architects for the specific tasks (unfortunately, no correspondence or other records of this arrange survive at HUC, and no copy of the original prospectus or competition guidelines have been yet found). Jacob Schiff’s $25,000 contribution to the building program may have had something to do with Brunner begin called in. Probably the program Brunner designed was not too different from that of the Jewish Theological Seminary. On January 14, 1907, the Executive Board of HUC heard that “The Building Committee, aided by their Consulting Architect, Mr. Arnold W. Brunner of New York, after a competitive submission of plans, adopted those prepared by Mr. A. Lincoln Fechheimer, who has associated with himself Mr. Harry Hake. These plans are now on exhibition in the hall wherein the Twentieth Council of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations will meet.” (Proceedings of the Executive Board, Hebrew Union College (Jan. 14, 1907)). Both Fechheimer and Hake subsequently designed buildings for the University of Cincinnati.

For more on the history of Hebrew Union College see Samuel E. Karff, ed. Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion at One Hundred Years (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1976).

Polish Cemetery Expert Jan Jagielski Awarded Irena Sendler Memorial Award by the Taube Foundation.

Jan Jagielski at Ber Sonnenberg Monument (1832) in Jewish cemetery of Warsaw,
prior to monument restoration. Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

Polish Cemetery Expert Jan Jagielski Awarded Irena Sendler Memorial Award by the Taube Foundation

Jan Jagielski, whose decades-long dedication to the documentation, protection and preservation of Jewish cemeteries and other sites in Poland is legendary, has been awarded the second annual Irena Sendler Memorial Award by the Taube Foundation. My sister Ruth, who introduced me to Jan in 1990 - she had already known him for years - has written about Jan and the award on her blog, where she has also posted the press release form the Taube Foundation.