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Is It Cool to Be a Jew? – Significance of Jewishness for Young American Jews at the Beginning of the 21St Century

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Is It Cool to Be a Jew? – Significance of Jewishness for Young American Jews at the Beginning of the 21St Century Is it cool to be a Jew? – Significance of Jewishness for young American Jews at the beginning of the 21st century Olli Saukko Yleisen kirkkohistorian pro gradu -tutkielma Huhtikuu 2017 Ohjaajat Mikko Ketola ja Aila Lauha HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO HELSINGFORS UNIVERSITET Tiedekunta/Osasto Fakultet/Sektion Laitos Institution Teologinen tiedekunta Kirkkohistorian osasto TekijäFörfattare Saukko, Olli Juhana Työn nimi Arbetets titel Is it cool to be a Jew? – Significance of Jewishness for young American Jews at the beginning of the 21st century Oppiaine Läroämne Yleinen kirkkohistoria Työn laji Arbetets art Aika Datum Sivumäärä Sidoantal Pro gradu -tutkielma 21.4.2017 140 Tiivistelmä Referat Young Jewish adults at the beginning of the 21st century were more integrated into American culture than previous generations. However, they did not hide their Jewishness, but continued to embrace certain aspects of it, and were proud of being Jewish. Due to famous Jews in the entertainment business, Jewish characters in popular television series, and new Jewish counterculture, such as the magazine Heeb, Jewishness in early 21st-century America appeared to be “cooler” than ever. In this study, I examine what kinds of ways of being a Jew and expressing Jewishness there were among young American Jews in the 21st century. How did they see themselves compared with the previous generations, for example concerning their stance towards Israel? I will also examine what attitudes young Jews had towards other American culture, how their Jewishness was seen in everyday life, and what significance their Jewishness had for them. Previous studies have shown that the younger generation of American Jews were more open towards new ways of expressing Jewishness, considered changes in Jewish culture as positive, and created these changes themselves. On the other hand, the older generation, especially those affiliated with the Jewish establishment, were more concerned about the future of Judaism in the United States, mainly due to the rising rates of Jews marrying non- Jews. Previous studies have also addressed the older generation’s concern about the tendency of Israel becoming less meaningful for young American Jews. In this study, my main sources are two magazines made by and for young Jewish adults: national Jewish student magazine New Voices; and Heeb, which was a countercultural magazine for “hipster Jews”. New Voices material shows that the editors had critical views on the American Jewish community and its attempts to tackle the issues around intermarriage and attitudes towards Israel. The magazine also featured a number of texts in which young American Jews pondered their Jewishness and its significance in their lives. New York - based Heeb was a radical and humorous magazine that took a stand on social and political issues. Through irony and sarcasm, which were a commonplace in hipsterism, Heeb created humor but also addressed Jewish themes in a highly inclusive way and displayed pride in being Jewish. To show what the “cool Jewishness” phenomenon brought to the American Jewish culture and how it was used, I analyze Lisa Klug’s book Cool Jew, which compiles new expressions of Jewishness and tries to engage young Jews more with Judaism. Avainsanat – Nyckelord American Judaism, Jewishness, young Jews, Israel, intermarriage, 21st century, American culture, cool, hipster. Säilytyspaikka – Förvaringställe Helsingin yliopiston kirjasto, Keskustakampuksen kirjasto, Teologia Muita tietoja I Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1. Research questions, sources and methods .......................................................... 1 2. Jews in the United States ................................................................................. 12 3. American culture at the dawn of a new millennium .......................................... 17 II Young American Jews’ expressions of Jewishness in the 21st century ........... 22 1. The American Jew and the unique challenge ..................................................... 22 2. “Nuggets of Sarcasm” – Jewishness in Heeb ...................................................... 32 3. “News and Views of Campus Jews” – Jewishness in New Voices ........................ 44 III Views on Israel and U.S. politics................................................................. 56 1. Israel and Zionism in American Jewish culture .................................................. 56 2. American Politics and Israel in the writings in Heeb and New Voices ................. 62 3. Pro-Israel or Pro-Palestine? – Conflicting views at campuses ............................. 69 IV Social dimensions in the life of young American Jews ................................ 79 1. Intermarriage and engagement to the Jewish community ................................. 79 2. Sexuality and gender ........................................................................................ 90 3. Jewish food culture, kosher and vegetarianism ................................................. 96 V Is it cool to be a Jew? ............................................................................... 103 1. Cool Jewishness and hipster Judaism .............................................................. 103 2. Lisa Klug’s interpretation of cool Jewishness ................................................... 109 VI Conclusions ............................................................................................. 117 VII Bibliography ........................................................................................... 123 Primary sources ................................................................................................. 123 Printed Sources ....................................................................................................... 123 Internet sources ...................................................................................................... 123 Secondary sources ............................................................................................. 131 VIII Index of names ..................................................................................... 138 I Introduction 1. Research questions, sources and methods When I began pondering the topic of this thesis, heard about Lisa Alcalay Klug’s book Cool Jew and its ideas, and read some articles on the Heeb website, the first question I asked myself was: Is it true that it was cool to be a Jew in the United States in the early 21st century? Due to these findings, famous Jews in the entertainment business and Jewish characters in popular television series, my first image of Jewishness in the United States in the 21st century suggested it was. Soon this question widened into a series of questions about young Jews in the United States. What ways of being a Jew were there in the 21st century United States? I wanted to find out how did the younger generation posit themselves in relation to the older generations. Was their Jewishness different compared with earlier generations and if it was, what had changed and why? As Israel and Holocaust have traditionally been important themes within Jewish culture, I wanted to find out what kind of stance towards these subjects did the younger generation take. In general, was connection to previous generations of Jews, experienced through family histories, still meaningful for the younger generation of American Jews, and if it was, how was it described or seen? To understand these patterns, I tried to get an image of what degree of historical consciousness did the young Jews have. As I researched material that was mainly just about young Jews, this viewpoint was the way to see how this generation possibly differed from the previous ones. Another group of questions arose about young Jews’ views and beliefs concerning social issues, Jewish faith and Jewish tradition. What role did faith have in the views of young American Jews? Did their connection with Jewish tradition affect their social life in its varying forms? Did the young Jews want to either exclude themselves or mingle with their non-Jewish peers? These questions could be combined by asking: what significance Jewishness had for young American Jews? Why then is it meaningful to research this? The United States is a home of a huge Jewish population. Finding out how Judaism among young Jews looked like in the first decade of the 21st century can give a picture of where Judaism is going in the future decades. One gets an image that it was considered cool to be Jewish and many of the young Jews found in my sources seem like liberal, cosmopolitan 1 world-citizens. I wanted to find out if this picture was actually truthful and if it was, where could this trend be taking American Judaism in the future. This was one of the viewpoints I could look my sources from. Main sources of this study are American magazines that had a young Jewish audience and which were mainly written by young American Jewish adults. These magazines are my lens into the life of young Jews. This study examines what Judaism and Jewishness look like in these media. I have founded this study on an assumption that those Jewish magazines which were aimed at young audience were able to give a picture of how was it like to be a young Jew in the United States at the beginning of the new millennium. Basically, this is a study about magazines and how they present the theme I am researching. Yet it is reasonable to assume that these magazines
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