International Relief, Gender Politics, and American Jewish Women, 1893–1930 6

“The Whole Wide World, Without Limits” American Jewish Civilization Series Editors Moses Rischin San Francisco State University Jonathan D. Sarna Brandeis University A complete listing of the books in this series can be found online at http://wsupress.wayne.edu “The Whole Wide World, Without Limits” International Relief, Gender Politics, and American Jewish Women, 1893–1930 6 Mary McCune WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS DETROIT Copyright © 2005 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America. 09 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McCune, Mary. The whole wide world, without limits : international relief, gender politics, and American Jewish women, 1893–1930 / Mary McCune. p. cm. — (American Jewish civilization series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8143-3229-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Jewish women—United States—Political activity—History—19th century. 2. Jewish women—United States—Political activity—History—20th century. 3. Jewish women— United States—Social conditions—19th century. 4. Jewish women—United States—Social conditions—20th century. 5. Jewish women—United States—Societies and clubs—His- tory—19th century. 6. Jewish women—United States—Societies and clubs—History— 20th century. 7. National Council of Jewish women—History. 8. Hadassah (Organiza- tion)—History. I. Title: International relief, gender politics, and American Jewish women, 1893–1930. II. Title. III. Series. E184.36.W64M36 2005 305.48’8924073’09041—dc22 2004017351 ' The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Mary Dickey Masterton Fund for financial assistance in the publication of this volume. eISBN 978-0-8143-3752-3 Dedicated to Frank J. Byrne and my family 6 In memory of Frank L. Byrne (1928–2002) and Harry E. McCune (1927–2004) This page intentionally left blank Contents 6 Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xiii Note on Yiddish Transliteration xv Introduction 1 1 Creating Organizations for Women, 1892–1912 11 2 The Crisis Years: Jewish Women and World War I 43 3 The Move Toward Autonomy: The NCJW and Hadassah in the Postwar World 79 4 Women Organizing Women: Gender and American Jewish Identity, 1920–1930 113 5 The Feminization of the Workmen’s Circle, 1920–1930 157 Conclusion 187 Notes 197 Bibliography 251 Index 273 vii This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments 6 This book started as a dissertation at Ohio State University, where I had the great fortune to work with a number of remarkable people who helped me combine my interests in women’s, Jewish, American, and European history. Susan Hartmann was a model adviser, keeping me focused while at the same time allowing for, and fostering, my disparate interests. Leila Rupp always urged me to look at the wider context. Her comparative perspective helped me draw connections between American Jewish women and the broader international communities with which they interacted. Both these women have continued to be wonderful role models for me as scholars, teachers, and writers. David Hoffmann kindly agreed to join my committee at a late date, offering useful insights from the Russian and Eastern European contexts. Without Michael Berkowitz I would never have embarked on a study of Jewish women nor would I have learned Yiddish, which he continually urged me to employ in my research. For years he has been a con- sistently strong advocate, even from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Neil Jacobs taught me my “alef-beys,” at first in his free time and then later in more formal settings. His tutoring opened the doors for me to the world of the Workmen’s Circle women. Other scholars have also generously contributed to the devel- opment of this project. Pamela S. Nadell provided insightful criti- cism and substantial encouragement while also introducing me to the wider world of Jewish women’s studies. Daniel Soyer and Car- olyn Shapiro-Shapin assisted with the complexities of the Yiddish language, mutual aid provision, and American Jewish and medical history. Shulamit Reinharz, Mark Raider, and readers at American Jewish History and Feminist Studies helped me improve the portions of the manuscript that appeared in their publications as articles. I thank the two journals and the University Press of New England for their kind permission to reprint in this book portions of articles ix Acknowledgments which first appeared as “Social Workers in the Muskeljudentum: ‘Hadassah Ladies,’ ‘Manly Men,’ and the Significance of Gender in the American Zionist Movement, 1912–28,” American Jewish His- tory 86 ( June 1998): 135–65; “Creating a Place for Women in a Socialist Brotherhood: Class and Gender Politics in the Workmen’s Circle, 1892–1930,” Feminist Studies 28, no. 3 (2002): 585–610; and “Formulating the ‘Women’s Interpretation of Zionism’: Hadassah Recruitment of Non-Zionist Women, 1914–1930” in the anthol- ogy American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise (2004). This work would not have been possible without the assistance of archivists and librarians in Washington, D.C., New York City, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. I would especially like to thank Susan Woodland at the Hadassah Archives and Leo Greenbaum at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Research for this project was supported by grants from the Elizabeth D. Gee Fund, Department of Women’s Studies, and a Graduate Student Alumni Research Award, both of Ohio State University; a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education; the Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University; and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Cul- ture. Finally, I would like to thank Moses Rischin, Jonathan Sarna, Arthur Evans, Kathryn Wildfong, and Annie Martin of Wayne State University Press for helping me transform a dissertation into a manuscript and for patiently answering my numerous questions throughout the entire process. On a personal level, I owe Sean Martin and Lisa Jenschke a debt of gratitude for their friendship and support over the years, first as we all struggled to learn Yiddish and later as we endeavored to find a place for ourselves in the world beyond graduate school. Together with Patricia Levi, they have sustained me through many difficult periods. Kathleen Van De Loo gave me the courage to return to academic life and taught me the discipline necessary to succeed. Kelly Meyer listened to my rambling thoughts, usually over pitchers of beer, and in the process helped me develop my arguments. The generous hospitality and friendship of Patricia Levi, Carol Gibson, and their families, and of Jennifer Schwartz not only allowed me to extend my research trips but also made them infinitely more enjoyable. The History Department and Women’s Studies Program at the State University of New York at x Acknowledgments Oswego have provided a warm and supportive environment in which to make the final changes to the manuscript. I would especially like to thank Geraldine Forbes, J. Douglas Deal, Gwen Kay, Robert Cole, and Jean Dittmar for all their help and encouragement. This book is dedicated to my husband, Frank J. Byrne, and to my family, especially my mother and two sisters. As the youngest child in a large family of Catholics, Protestants, Jews, a Buddhist, and several atheists (some of whom are still in the closet), from my earliest days I could not help but be aware of the complex relation- ship between personal identity, family or communal allegiance, and public activism. This is due in no small part to the efforts of my mother, who worked to promote her children’s personal growth while also stressing the importance of respecting the beliefs of oth- ers. Her lifelong fascination and engagement with the world have furnished me with a powerful, courageous, and tolerant model for living that I have always sought to emulate in my own teaching and research. xi This page intentionally left blank Abbreviations 6 AJC American Jewish Committee AJCong American Jewish Congress (also Congress) AJRC American Jewish Relief Committee ARA American Relief Administration AUAM American Union Against Militarism AZMU American Zionist Medical Unit CRC Central Relief Committee DIA Department of Immigrant Aid (a section of the NCJW) ERA Equal Rights Amendment FAZ Federation of American Zionists (prewar Zionist movement) ICW International Council of Women IWSA International Woman Suffrage Alliance JDC American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (comprising AJRC, CRC, and PRC) JWB Jewish Welfare Board JWO Jewish Women’s Organization NCJW National Council of Jewish Women (also Council) NCW National Council of Women NEC National Executive Committee of the Workmen’s Circle (Arbeter Ring) NFTS National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods xiii Abbreviations NWC National Workmen’s Committee on Jewish Rights PEC Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs PJWERA Palestine Jewish Women’s Equal Rights Association PRC People’s Relief Committee UPA United Palestine Appeal WCJW World Congress of Jewish Women WZO World Zionist Organization ZOA Zionist Organization of America xiv Note on Yiddish Transliteration 6 Yiddish names, words, and phrases have been transliterated accord- ing to the guidelines of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Words are transliterated exactly as they appear in the original text, except in those instances where a common spelling appears in English (“Asch,” for example, rather than the “Ash” of the original). Hebrew words appearing in Yiddish are transliterated accord- ing to their Yiddish pronunciation. Foreign words are italicized the first time they appear in the main text. Foreign words in titles are not italicized in the notes except where they are italicized in the original.

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