American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise

Edited by Shulamit Reinharz and Mark A. Raider

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY PRESS Waltham, Massachusetts

PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITY PRESS OF NEW ENGLAND HANOVER AND LONDON Contents

Preface xv Editors' Note xvii Introduction by Shulamit Reinharz and Mark A. Raider xix Map of xxix Timeline of American Jewish Women and Zionism in xxxi Historical Context, 1848-1948

PART I

Three Generations of American Jewish Women 1 and the Zionist Idea

1. Emma Lazarus and Pre-Herzlian Zionism 5 Arthur Zeiger "The Banner of the Jew" (1882) EMMA LAZARUS

2. The Zionist Vision of Henrietta Szold 2.3 Allon Gal "Keeping the Torch Burning" (1936) AN EXCHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN BEATRICE BARRON AND HENRIETTA SZOLD

3. Marie Syrkin: An Exemplary Life 46 Carole S. Kessner "Why Partition?" (November 1946) MARIE SYRKIN xii Contents

PART II

American Jewish Women's Organizations and the 71 Zionist Enterprise

4. "Never a Rubber Stamp": Bessie Gotsfeld, Founder of 75 Mizrachi Women of America Baila Round Shargel

5. Formulating the "Women's Interpretation of Zionism": 89 Hadassah Recruitment of Non-Zionist American Women, 1914-1930 Mary McCune

6. The Romance and Realpolitik of Zionist Pioneering: nz The Case of the Pioneer Women's Organization Mark A. Raider

7. Hadassah-WIZO Canada and the Development of 133 Agricultural Training for Women in Pre-State Israel Esther Carmel-Hakim

8. The Impact of Zionism on the International Council of 143 Jewish Women, 1914-1957 Nelly Las

9. Women and Zionist Activity in Erez Israel: The Case of 159 Hadassah, 1913-1958 Mira Katzburg-Yungman

PART III

Aliyah, Social Identities, and Political Change 185

10. Settling the Old-New Homeland: The Decisions of 189 American Jewish Women during the Interwar Years Joseph B. Glass Contents xiii

11. Em Leemahot: The Public Health Contributions of Sara 216 Bodek Paltiel to the Yishuv and Israel, 1932-1993 Peri Rosenfeld

12. Rose Viteles: The Double Life of an American Woman 23 8 in Palestine Sara Kadosh

13. Irma "Rama" Lindheim: An Independent American 255 Zionist Woman Shulamit Reinharz

14. Golda Meir and Other Americans 287 Marie Syrkin

15. Golda: Femininity and Feminism 301 Anita Shapira

PART IV

Women Report and Remember: Documentary Portraits 313

16. Contemplating Ally ah to Palestine 317 (Chelsea, Massachusetts, 1935) Judith Korim Hornstein

17. From Brooklyn to Palestine in 1939 322 ( Kfar Blum, 1985) Engee Caller

18. "They Couldn't Imagine an American Girl 325 Would Do the Work" (Kibbutz Revivim, 1971) Golda Meir

19. Memories of Rose Luria Halprin 327 (Norwalk, Connecticut, 1999) Ruth Halprin Kaslove xiv Contents

20. Coming of Age in Kibbutz 332 (Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek, 1954) Irma "Rama" (Levy) Lindheim

21. Life in a Religious Kibbutz 339 (New York, New York, 1999) Yocheved Herschlag Muffs

22. "I Became a Zionist on the Top Floor" 349 (Bethesda, Maryland, 1999) Lois Slott

23. Remembering Israel's War of Independence 355 (Givat Savyon, Israel, 1999) Zipporah Porath

Glossary of Terms 363 A Note on Bibliography 3 6j About the Contributors 371 Index 377