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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News School Daze
For millions of contemporary American Jewish children, September is back-to-school time. Like their parents and grandparents before them, they approach the first day of class with a mix of anticipation and trepidation: Butterflies in the stomach, my mother called it. Unlike their parents and grandparents, who had little choice in the matter, American Jewish school…
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News Classic Jewish Novels Trace a Community’s History
While much of America is busy these days reading about Harry — Harry Potter, that is — I’ve been spending much of my summer reacquainting myself with Sonya, Marjorie and Alexander — Sonya Vrunsky, Marjorie Morgenstern and Alexander Portnoy, that is — the fictional protagonists of “Salome of the Tenements” (1923), “Marjorie Morningstar” (1955) and…
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News Finding History In Attics, Cellars And Desk Drawers
History comes to us in a variety of ways. Sometimes we stumble upon it, suddenly coming face to face with a historic marker or an age-old monument. At other moments, like family or holiday celebrations, we deliberately pay homage to it. And still at other moments, we simply accumulate it. Intentionally or not, most of…
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News Confirmation: The Life And Times of a Modern Ritual
Modernity, it was once thought, wreaked havoc with religious tradition, rendering centuries-old rituals obsolete. We now know better. Modernity has not only made room for tradition, it has even given birth to a number of new rituals of its own, among which the rite of confirmation, often celebrated on Shavuot, may well take pride of…
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News Red, Red Wine
Every year, just about now, the public is dutifully informed that Passover is around the corner. Advertisements tout the virtues of this or that brand of gefilte fish, while supermarket shelves fill up with boxes of matzo, Pesachdik cookies and foodstuffs from Israel, all of which is destined straight for the Seder table. Wine merchants,…
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News Pickpockets, Players, Prostitutes –– Jews?
The recent news that a part of Sing Sing, the New York State penitentiary that was home for a spell to Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, as well to as Murder, Inc., the Brooklyn-based gang of ruthless racketeers, is going to be transformed into a museum brings to mind an aspect of our past that many,…
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Culture Ornaments of the World
They stand only 15 inches tall but bear the weight of Jewish history. I’m referring to a pair of silver-and-gilded rimonim (Torah ornaments) of 19th-century German provenance whose recent arrival in New York was celebrated by Congregation Habonim, a Conservative synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. These delicately worked ritual objects were first commissioned by…
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Culture Beef Goy Ish Ah Kupp, And Other Gems
Just the other day, I picked up a copy of a cookbook that I had not seen since I was a child; back then, it occupied pride of place in my mother’s kitchen. As I held “The Chinese-Kosher Cookbook” in my hand and made my way through its recipes for Pineapple Chicken Fay Gel Lah…
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