Jenna Weissman Joselit, the Charles E. Smith Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of History at the George Washington University, is a distinguished historian of the American Jewish experience and a former columnist for the Forward.
Jenna Weissman Joselit
By Jenna Weissman Joselit
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The Schmooze A Walker in Brooklyn
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree In the American Jewish imagination, the curiously named neighborhood known as East New York, Brooklyn, along with that of adjacent Brownsville, are most often associated with the nefarious activities of Murder, Inc. From its headquarters in a candy store at the intersection of Livonia and Saratoga Streets, this Brooklyn…
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Culture Rooms Packed to the Brim With Life
Funny how things turn out. In last month’s column, where I discussed my trip to the Stanton Street Shul, I made much of the fact that I did not have to resort to 3-D goggles to be transported back in time to the Lower East Side of the early 1900s. But, as luck would have…
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The Schmooze On Getting Sholom Aleichem’s Name Wrong
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree I’ve been called many things in my day: Jocelyn, Jennifer, Jen, Joselit Weissman and on occasion (and hopefully in jest) even Gender Weissman Joselit, a name designed to highlight my stalwart embrace of feminism in matters large and small. Little wonder, then, that I sympathize with the fate that…
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The Schmooze Obama’s Bar Mitzvah Dance Party
A few days ago, I was in the process of retrieving my book bag from the trunk of a colleague’s car when the hood of the trunk came down suddenly and swiftly on my head, leaving me momentarily stunned. Like the characters in countless cartoons, I saw stars. The stars, in turn, gave way to…
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News Fate Has Been Kind to Little Shul on Stanton Street
Just the other day, my friend Molly and I traveled back in time. No, we didn?t ingest any foreign substances or don a funny pair of 3-D goggles. We attended synagogue ? Congregation Bnai Jacob Anshei Brzezan. Or, to call it by its American name, the Stanton Street Shul. Built in 1913 on a narrow…
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The Schmooze Why More Jewish Studies Programs Are a Good Thing
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree M.A.s are the new B.A.s, The New York Times declared just the other day in its latest survey of goings-on within the world of higher education. The road to marketability is paved with lots of new master’s programs, it noted, singling out Rutgers’ recent decision to establish an M.A….
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The Schmooze Hipsters and History on the Lower East Side
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree Traipsing around the Lower East Side on a beastly hot summer day, I had lots of company. The streets were filled with tourists, shoppers and the cool cats who now call that downtown neighborhood their home. Most visitors, I suspect, were in search of the fabled hipster haven that…
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The Schmooze Mourning Kehilath Jeshurun, and Hoping for Rebirth
Crossposted From Under the Fig Tree In New York, change is the coin of the realm. Nothing remains intact or in one place for very long. Businesses come and go, neighborhoods rise and fall, synagogues and churches shutter their doors and move away. But not Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun (or “KJ,” as it’s commonly called), a…
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