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2002 Menorah Review (No. 55, Spring/Summer, 2002)

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This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the VCU University Archives at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Menorah Review by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NUMBER 55. CENTER FOR JUDAIC STUDIES OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY. SPRING/SUMMER 2002

For the Enrichment of Jewish Thought

Judaism was not a forbidden religion in the early Christians symbolically enacting "fe­ 'TWo Judalsme, Rabbinic Roman Empire, certain practices, as the maleness" as resistance to the stereotype of and Christian, Invent Their teaching of Torah in public. were forbidden. Roman power seen as a "highly sexualized A figuresuch as Rabbi Akiva could become male." So Jews and Christians honored Martyrdom DIscourses part of the rabbinic martyrdom discourse as feminine postures of asceticism. submis­ late texts looked back on the second century siveness. devotion to study and retirement to Dyingfor God: MaJtyrdomand rabbi as a kind of "Jewish Polycarp." But private spaces. For Jews. the danger of their the Makingof Christianity Christianity was an illicit faith and devel­ own maleness was viewed as vulnerability andJudaism oped a more radical rejection of Rome and a to seduction by the prostitute of sectarian­ by Daniel Boyarin more univocal approach to martyrdom. ism. namely Christianity. while for Chris­ StanfordUniversity P ress While Judaism through the very style of its tians the Roman and Jewish ideal of the Talmud maintained the "heteroglossia of procreative family itself was problematic as dialogue." a tolerance of dispute. Christian­ Christians gave marriage a negative valua­ A ReviewEssa y ity moved from early diversities toward a tion in relationship to the ideal of ascetic by ClIffEdwards more dogmatic and hierarchical structure renunciation. Martyrdom was a discourse, a that tended to spawn excluded "sectarian way of telling the story of a death. that went Daniel Boyarin. Taubman Professor of movements." On the issue of martyrdom. well beyond simply reference to dying in Talmudic Culture at Berkeley. investigates one might cite Novatianism and Donatism violent circumstances. For Judaism. it bor­ the relationship between rabbinic Jews and as examples of such excluded sects. While rowed from but went beyond the death­ Christians in late antiquity. focusing on the Judaism allowed the options of deception scenes of the Maccabees. for it could involve history of martyrdom discourses as a "shared (trickster postures). flight and "dying for the image of the binding of Isaac. the Pass­ historical invention" of the two sometimes God" as proper responses to Roman perse­ over and erotic elements in the Song of indistinguishable movements. Abandoning cution. Christianity more and more empha­ Songs. Finally. it focused on the "Unifica­ the "family-tree model" in which Christian­ sized the single way of acceptance of a tion of the Name." the recitation of the ity is viewed as daughter to mother Judaism. violent death as the only proper "imitation" Shema. For Christians. in the context of Boyarin prefers a "wave theory" (I'd prefer of Christ and the surest way to salvation. Roman persecution, martyrdom came to to call it a "ripple" theory) where religious Related to Boyarin's analysis of martyr­ borrow from these same Jewish texts but innovations spread like ripples when a stone dom discourses are his hypotheses regard­ also came to focus on the confession .. is thrown into a pond. admitting of both ing the role of gender. sexuality and virgin­ "Christianus sum.. and could be described convergences and divergences. mutual ity in the development of rabbinic and Chris­ as an ecstatic and erotic experience one sharings and complex tensions. In Boyarin's tian ideals and metaphors. For Boyarin. "In entered into willingly as a route to beatific view. until a "parting of the ways" in the both late ancient Christianity and Judaism. vision and assured salvation in imitation of fourth century. "one could travel metaphori­ ideal male identity was secured in part via the patternestablished by Christon the cross. cally. from rabbinic Judaism to Christianity cross-gender identification with female vir­ Even the complexities hinted above are along a continuum where one hardly would gins." Referencing the work of Virginia far from exhausting the many texts and sub­ know where one stopped and the other be­ Burrus. Boyarin views rabbinic Jews and texts. hypotheses and suggested readings gan." included in Boyarin's volume. Some 544 Within this proposed model of rabbinic end-notes, several quite extensive, continue Judaism and Christianity "inextricably in­ IN THIS ISSUE the arguments debated in the body of the tertwined" during the first three centuries. essay. Appendices and reference matter. in Boyarin pursues a comparative study of rab­ • TItO Judaisms, Christian. Rabbinicand fact. account for 120 pages of the 247-page binic and patristic literature on the develop­ Invent'Their Discourses MaI1yTdom book. Reading this work by Boyarin is no ing theme of martyrdom. Similarities and • PoIhoIesin the LandscapeJewish simple matter but the rewards in terms of differences in the "discourses" on martyr­ creative directions for thought regarding rab­ • Remembranceof Things Past dom developed by the two movements are binic Judaism and early Christianity make viewed as complex but. by the fourth and • The EndlessDiversity Interpretation of the effort well worthwhile. fifth centuries. these discourses are seen as • TheResponse to Uniq ueness

revelatory of differences that became one • TheReference Shelf Cliff Edwards is director of the Religious mark of the separation of rabbinic Judaism Studies Division, Virginia Commonwealth • Noteworthy Books from its "chief heresy." Christianity. While University. and an editorial consultanl. 2 Menorah Review, Spring/Summer 2002

chapter, she hits all her targets: the relation­ still feels like the dissertation it was; there is Potholes in the Jewish ship between institutions and individuallews some repetitiveness as well as the annoying Landscape as well as the relationship of the institution habit of not always introducing quotes from to other institutions and to America itself. historical sources. No one is happier to She does a good job describing the Jewish scurry to the footnotes than I am but often New YOrkJews and the Great economic condition during this period: more these quotes seem geared toward proving to Depression: Uncertain Promise secure than most because of a perponderance the readerthe validity of the argument rather by Beth Wenger of Jews in white-collar professions but still than enlightening the reader, a classic pitfall 'New Haven: Yale UniversityPress insecure because of their Jewishness. How­ of the dissertation. Finally, I also would ever, it's hard to know from New York Jews have liked to see something on Jewish artis­ and the Great Depression how much the rise tic production in 1930s New York, given the A Review Essay of anti-Semitism in the decade was related to importance both Jews and non-Jews placed by Jonathan Silverman the relative Jewish security or because of the in it. However, it's understandable that insecurity of other Americans. Wenger stopped where she did and it's un­ The Great Depression looms large in Other chapters detail family lives, the fair to chide an author for her omissions the American historical consciousness, gi ven experience of youth, the geographic distri­ given the ambitious scope of this book. its devastating economic consequences and bution of Jews in New York and the eco­ Overall, the book will be of great use to the resulting political, economic, social and nomic status of these areas, Jewish political future scholars who seek to get a better view cultural fallout. The Great Depression treated life, Jewish philanthropy and Jewish reli­ of the Jewish landscape in New York during Jews relatively kinder in economic terms gious life. In all her chapters, Wenger does the Great Depression, a period in which both than their American brothers and sisters, but a thoroughjob of addressing previous schol­ Jews and non-Jews suffered, but perhaps the 1930s also marked the high (low?) point arship and balancing personal anecdotes with Jews felt more insecure. Non-scholars may of anti-Semitism with national figures like statistics. She also leaves an excellent trail findthe boook a little rougher going but will Father Coughlin and the relatively high num­ for future scholars to follow; her notes are still find the work worth reading. bers of Nazi sympathizers. In New York extensive. Jews and the Great Depression: Uncertain There are a few difficulties with the Jonathan Silverman is a professor of En­ Promise, Beth Wenger contextualizes the work. Because ofthe necessity of separating glish, Virginia Commonwealth University, Jewish experience in the Great Depression. topics from one another by chapter, there and a contributing editor. Scholars interested in either the Depression tends to be some overlap. For example, the or Jewish history will find the work useful idea of Jewish radicalness is discussed in for its perspectives on both the experiences almost every chapter. In addition, some of of Jews and the institutions that represented New York Jews and the Great Depression them. The book was a long time due. As Wenger points out, the Jewish experience in HolocaustRepresentation: Art the Depression has been neglected for the GOD WRESTLING Within the Limits ofHistory and chronicles of the Jewish response to the Mother played piano and sang sweetly Ethics coming Holocaust, the Jewish involvement Then she stopped :., by Serel Lang,::::... in literary and political radicalness, and an Her rrothe�spolio Balt1mGJ'e: The JohnHopkins.... often nostalgic view. Instead, Wenger fo­ Took toomuch time Press cuses on the Jewish institutional response to the Depression as well as the individual Dad coukJnlplay or sing A ReviewEssay response, logically centering her efforts on He wasabsent making a IMng by Peter J. Haas New York City where more than 40 percent Taking threejobs of the nation's Jews lived during the Great In the concluding chapter of this collec­ Depression. She claims that the Jewish I was an 8-year-old wrestler, experience in the Great Depression was not MountainMan Dean, tion of essays, Lang cites Dostoyevsky as so radically different from other Americans, saying, "Incredible as it may seem, the day Mother never saw me as a boy. rather that the period allows us to see an will come when men will quarrel more When our neighbo�shouse went up in flames evolving Jewish culture. fiercely about art than about God." (p. 158) Overall, Wenger provides a snapshot of She insisted I run into the fireto help The nine essays gathered here are in many Jewish life during the period, while detailing ways an instantiation of that prediction. Their the relationship between Jews and the most Coward she yelled common thread is a consideration not so difficult period in American economic his­ And hnme much about the Holocaust itself but about tory. She mostly succeeds but errs on the And pulled me tothe stove how we have come to portray and thereby side of providing a thorough portrait of what To bum my hands carry forward the memory of the Holocaust. it was like to be Jewish in this period, both on More specifically,these essays have a shared an individual and institutional level. In Later I wondered focus on the point of confluence of three doing so, she, at times, replicates the work was she trying to hardenme themes: that of aesthetics (what does art do of other scholars (for example, Deborah like Thetis to her son Achilleus and how does it do it), that of history (to what Dash Moore and Leonard Dinnerstein) but Roasted everynight extent can, or should, artistic representa­ any replication is a necessary part of under­ tions of the Holocaust be "true" to their taking a regional and time-specific study of The Holocaust survivor subjectt) and that of ethics (what is the moral this sort. Woo lived in the burnthouse responsibility, if any, of art in general and She begins the main text with the failure Was found as ITsleeping ... Holocaust art in particular). The philosophi­ of the Bank of the United States in 1931, an -RobertMichael cal questions raised by the junction of these institution runby and catered by Jews. In this three themes can and do occur as regards any Menorah Review, Spring/Summer 2002 3

art but they have a particular urgency, Lang torical fiction (Aharon Appelfeld's form. But of course as soon as one makes the claims, when it comes to the Holocaust. Badenheim 1939 is the flagship example). Holocaust into a moral lesson, one has left This is so because the Holocaust has a moral All of these are, of course, to some extent the realm of historiography. Hence the blur­ claim on the artist and on the audience that is imagined; that is, each genre presents the ring of genres. But this raises a series of not true of any other event. Whether this is Holocaust (or some piece of the Holocaust) interesting questions (including a surprising true or not is an open question, which is as filtered through the author's mind. Be­ one that I will not reveal here) about how we asserted rather than demonstrated. I cannot cause of this, each genre has its own particu­ read Holocaust literature. Does it really help but wonder whether or not the crucifix­ lar contribution to make to our appropriation make a differenceand, if so, what difference ion and resurrection might not play a similar of the Holocaust. Thus, Primo Levi gives a if say Benjamin Wilkomirski's Fragments role in Christianity. But in all events, the highly focused first-person account of his of Memory is or is not in fact based on real Holocaust for Lang asserts a moral claim on own experiences while Hilberg gives a memory? What is really at stake in declaring art that constitutes a special case and so broadly sweeping and detached academic Thomas Keneally's Schindler's List to be requires sustained scrutiny. account of the whole process as based on fiction orto be non-fiction? Does the assign­ The starting point for such scrutiny is historical records, while Badenhem 1939 is ment to one genre or the other change the the presupposition that in art form and con­ a fictional account meant to convey the message? tent always, by the nature of things, must moral horror of the Holocaust. One irony The second half of the book deals more influenceeach other and so cannot be sepa­ Lang points out is that Appelfeld's book, as with visual art. The mode is still philosophi­ rated. This means, of course, that the very a piece of fictional art, is able to convey cal (there are no actual photographs of art to nature of the Holocaust, the contentofHolo­ something of the emotional and moral im­ be seen). The generative questions are none­ caust art, inescapably puts its own unique pact of the Holocaust that neither Levi nor theless the same: how accurate to the Holo­ stamp on the artistic possibilities of its por­ Hilbergdo, even though, of course, Appelfeld caust does a visual representation have to be trayal. This is so in the simple sense that the never directly mentions the Holocaust per to be "true"? Might it be the case, for art must be "true" (more on this in a moment) se! example, that the content of a piece of art to the events; that is, the artistic work must might exceed its form so that while inaccu­ reflect or refer in some way to what hap­ rate on the surface it in fact points to some­ pened. But it is also true in the more compli­ ... these essays have a shared focus thing like Kant's "Sublime," in this case the cated sense that the Holocaust pushes for­ on the point of confluence of three moral domain, that goes beyond the limits of ward an ethical claim that also must findits form? The textbook case here are the "pho­ way in and through any artistic representa­ themes: that of aesthetics... , that of tographs" of Shimon Attie depicting ghostly tion. In the Holocaust, history and ethics history... and that of ethics... pre-Holocaust Jewish images and figures converged for Lang (p. 6) and this conver­ imposed on contemporary Berlin streets and gence is part, in fact an essential part, of what buildings. These Lang invites us to consider must drive Holocaust art. As the author It is this irony that provides the pivot not only aesthetically, but ontologically. (p. himself puts matters, " ... there is a strong around which the second chapter revolves. 115) sense in which the chronicle of the Holo­ The question here is what extent literature These reflections lead in the last few caust-the rudimentary details of the an­ and art on the Holocaust has to be histori­ chapters to a consideration of the whole swers to the questions of who, what and cally accurate. For Lang, the need for his­ post-modern dilemma;that is, to what extent when-remains at the center and as a test of torical accuracy (or at least historical refer­ a piece of art conveys what the artist is whatever else is constructed on them. Both ence) is paramount when we talk about the saying about hte subject as opposed to what as a matter of fact and as a matter of justice." Holocaust. This is so because the ethical the consumer (reader, viewer) brings to it (p. 13) So history imposes limits on what power of the Holocaust is such that its his­ and so reads from it. This are of consider­ may or may not be said about the Holocaust. torical content is an intrinsic part of the ation has special import, again, because of Otherwise, he astutely notes, Holocaust re­ message, and must be included in the form. the historical and moral weight of the Holo­ visionism and denial could count just as It is precisely because of this imperative for caust. So at the end, Lang comes back full much as an artistic portrayal of the Holo­ historical reference that normal literary circle to his starting point, namely, the thesis caust, being imaginative responses to the genres get blurred when the subject is the that there is something transhistorical about underlying events. In making this assertion, Holocaust. It is not clear, for example, the Holocaust. For a piece of art or literature of course, Lang brings to the surface a deeper whether Philip Hallie's Lest Innocent Blood to fail to communicate this moral weight is philosophical question, namely whether it Be Shed should be cataloged as philosophy either to have failed to accommodate its makes sense to talk about limitations to art at or history; and then there is the controversy form to its content or to have declared, in all. Do we expect art in some way to be true regarding whether Thomas Kenneally's essence, that the Holocaust is so different its to the facts? In other words, does all art Schindler's List is fact or fiction. The point meaning cannot be communicated to us over necessarily have to point to some reality is that the moral and historical weight of the the historical gap it has opened. Form and beyond itself to make its point, or is this a Holocaust is such that it distorts the normal content must always be in communication; particular requirement of art dealing with genres of art and writing. Even artistic neither is autonomous, especially here. Fit­ the Holocaust? categories can no longer remain the same in tingly, the book in the end has become an The overall sense of the book is to give the post-Holocaust world. example of its own thesis. Putting the book an affirmative answer to this last question. Having taken us this far, Lang now down, I findmyself asking whether I would The enormous ethical weight of the Holo­ turns to an examination of what exactly the advise our librarian to shelve the book in the caust has had the effect, Lang argues, of limits on art imposed by the Holocaust might section dealing with the theory of art, with distorting the very portrayal of it. The first be. On the one hand, the very historicity of moral philosophy or with the Holocaust. It chapter, for example, considers three the Holocaust demands that we talk about it, is clear that at least for Lang these distinc­ "genres" of writing about the Holocaust­ so silence is not an option. On the other tions can no longer be maintained when memoirs or autobiographies (the books of hand, pure and detached historical writing is considering the Holocaust. Aesthetics and Primo Levi, for instance); academic histo­ not a viable alternative either. The moral morality are now inseparably fused. Art, as ries (the model here being Raul Hilberg's lesson of the Holocaust has to be part of the Dostoyevsky predicted, has come to dis­ Destruction of European Jewry); and his- telling; the content, to repeat,must shape the place God. 4 Menorah Review, Spring/Summer 2002

It should be said at the end that this book different ways. Moses and God grapple with the demands of is really part of a much larger theme in Pardes looks to the Pentateuch for bio­ a suckling Israel, forced to wean in the Holocaust scholarship. The book covers graphical information, reading it as Israel's desert. Pardes interprets the fashioned cafe, ground, albeit in its own particular way, that life story, "the construction of a male char­ which so angered both Moses and God, as a has been plowed over quite a bit already. acter who is marked as God's firstbornson." "displaced image ofIsis ...that speaks of the The question as to whether the Holocaust is (p. 6) In the process, she discusses the absence of a suckling cow." (p. 59) Al­ so unique that it distorts everything coming relationship of individual and community, though the initiation ofIsrael into the sacred after or whether it is part of the normal especially evident, she proposes, in the rela­ realm at Sinai marks at least a partial break historical process has been discussed in vari­ tionship of Moses to Israel. Pardes reads in with the maternal,Pardes explains that the ous forms from the intentionalist vs. func­ the Pentateuch Israel's birth in Egypt, its Promised Land is "the best of all feminine tionalist controversy to the Historikerstreit suckling in the wilderness, initiationat Sinai, gardens: maternal nurturing coupled with of the 1980s. Even the issue of Holocaust art adolescence at the edge of Canaan and adult­ erotic delights." (p. 107) and memorialization has become a topic in hood in the plains of Moab. And she con­ But it is also a threatening land, and its its own right. The book before us plainly cludes by taking her readers to Moses' side native inhabitants force the Israelites to re­ stakes out its own claim in this territory. But to hear how his last words reflect both hope visit questions of identity, this time in rela­ along the way it considers the philosophical and warning, marking the "unmistakable tion to religio-sexual issues. Pardes tells that contours these debates have laid bare, an fissure that lies between revolutionary crossing into this land is to betroth her. important contribution on its own. As we dreams-dreams of a just society in a boun­ Thus, it is a second initiation, not accom­ face the loss of the generation of survivors tiful landscape-and their realization." (p. plished without a struggle, like Jacob's at the and perpetrators we are really left with the 158) Pardes' book stays close to the biblical Jabbok River. Indeed, "Jacob .. .is the most Holocaust only as a memory and, in this text as she develops Israel's biography. She conspicuous example of how the commu­ emerging situation, the philosophical reflec­ findsin the biblical stories of change, hope, nity imagines its embodiment within an in­ tions on what that means are important and disappointment and expectation the basis dividual." (p. 156) And understanding Is­ timely. for her story of Israel's growth as a distinct rael "requires a plunge into the intricacies of character. the individual psyche and the tumultuous Peter J. Haas holds the Abba Hillel Silver Visotzky's approach and scope are dif­ world of interpersonal relationships." (p. Chair of Jewish Studies at Case Western ferent from Pardes'. He describes his book 156). Reserve University and is a contributing as "a Rabbi's romp through the art of his While Pardes admits that Freud informs editor. ancient forebears, an introduction to her hermeneutic, Visotzky illustrates the midrash." (p. vii) Visotzky exercises his variety of techniques the ancient Rabbis own playful interpretation of biblical texts; employed in biblical interpretation. "Forthe but his primary focus is rabbinic midrash Rabbis there were many ways to hear God dating back to the first through the fifth talk, as it were, and many means of finding centuries CEo Some of these interpretations revelation in the words they studied." (p. are so different from their biblical basis as to 228) On page 126, Visotzky cites the Seder be hardly recognizable, illustrating the free­ Eliahu Rabbah to illustrate the principle of dom with which the Rabbis used biblical measure for measure. The text explains that texts to explain, chastise, even entertain. God brought the plague of frogs, which say Although Visotzky spends most of his time Kav leKav, Kav leKav, on the Egyptians on interpretations from the book of Genesis, because the Egyptians regularly required the he does not limit himself to Genesis, draw­ Israelites to bring "creeping and crawling ing not only from the greater Pentateuch but animals, that we may be entertained with also from Judges, Amos and even the Song them as we so desire." So God overran the of Songs. Within its fairly short 240 pages, Egyptians with frogs. There were so many Visotzky manages to tie these vastly differ­ that "when an Egyptian would go to the ent readings together, like the Rabbis whose outhouse, a frog would jump out and bite interpretations leap through time and text, him on the behind," croaking Kav leKav, into a book that is great fun to read. meaning "measure for measure." The paradoxes, lacunae and ambigu­ Visotzky shows how the Rabbis were at Virginia Commonwealth University ities of biblical texts allow for the kinds of their best when the biblical text was most (VCU) is an urban university in the best interpretationsthat bothPardes and Visotzky difficult. They thrived on ambiguity and sense. It comprises a mix, both reflecting illustrate. Pardes admits that for her the most gaps in biblical narrative, and they drew on and affecting the problems and possibilities fascinating aspect of Israel's biography "is each other's interpretations in an ongoing of Richmond. Our classrooms are a spicy the ambivalence that lies at its very conversation. On page 71, Visotzky cites stew of fresh coeds, starchy-sweet parents base ...The nation is both the chosen son and Rabbi Yose ben Zimra's explanation of a and older folks who add experience like a the rebel son, and accordingly its relation­ peculiar phrase in Genesis 12:5, which tells splash of red wine. Diverse colors and ship with the Father is at once intimate and that following God's orders to set out, creeds, in bunches and pinches, add compli­ strained." (p. 7) Indeed, as she travels with "Abraham took Sarah ...and the souls they cated depth. So when my Bibleclass bubbles Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, had made in Haran." Noting how difficultit up in the heat of different interpretations tracking the nation like a modern anthro­ is to "make a soul," the Rabbi explains that from different traditions I count it a success. pologist, the events she chooses to present the souls were converts, and "to make a After all, the Bibles models a conversation and analyze reflect these ambivalences. convert out of an idolater is as though he had of many members with a variety of con­ For example, lineage is mixed and the created him anew." So, why does it say cerns,experiences and predictions. There­ family structure is unusual. Pardes explains "they made" and not "he made"? Rav Huna fore, it invites parricipation and begs rel­ that both Moses and the nation are the prod­ explained, "Abraham could convert the men evance. Both Ilana Pardes and Burton ucts of two cultures-Egyptian and Israel­ while Sarah would convert the women." But Visotzky get into the mix but they do so in ite. And, in the absence of a mother, both let Visotzky relate for you, with descriptions Menorah Review, Spring/Summer 2002 5

of the Rabbis' individual personalities, the tween it and another existing being." More aries." Jung conceives of God as an idea, not highly contrived logic and imagination they specifically,psychic maladies occur because as the real object of an idea. A similar employed in biblical interpretation. How one lacks a whole soul but there can be no reduction occurs when someone reports: Jacob wotried that his sons might be bums, wholeness until a person is engaged with a "God spoke to me in a dream" and the how Ruth and Boaz negotiated a rather awk­ Thou. In I and Thou, Buber links psychol­ listener replies, "Oh, you mean that you ward night, how Moses did not die without ogy with ethics, declaring that the whole dreamt that God spoke to you." Jung denies a fuss and much more. soul cannot do evil and only the whole soul metaphysical validity to the Trinity and the Visotzky introduces his readers to the can do good. devil alike, interpreting them both as psy­ strange and wonderful world of rabbinic Often Buber's philosophy of psychol­ chic projections. Sounding very much like midrash. Paradoxically, by rejecting the ogy is a trenchantly critical response to the ltumanuelKant, Jung explains that since he quest for "one correct interpretation, [the basic teachings of Freud and Jung. Indeed, cannot overstep the bounds of his experi­ Rabbis] uncovered the infinite truths in­ Judith Buber Agassi states that the ence, he cannot know "a real metaphysical tended by the Infinite Authorof the text." (p. worldviews of Freud and Buber were so far archangel." Everything said of God is a 228) And so Visotzky extends to his readers apart there was not even enough cotumon human statement, for it is a psychological an invitation to experience how "communal ground for a meaningful dispute. She as­ expression. To the contrary, Buber affirms study of the Bible, even now, can continue to serts, for example, that Buber' s ideal that the the objective existence of God and regards provide us with a means for clarifying our therapist can leam as much as the patient an I-Thou relationship with a human being ideas about the world around us and for would have been quite unintelligible to Freud. as a necessary condition for an I-Thou rela­ linking them historically to a long-standing Again, she distinguishes Buber from Freud tion with the divine. tradition." (p.226) Similarly, in her Biogra­ who fashioned himself as the omniscient Clearly, Buber does not hold that one's phy of Israel, Pardes explains that although analyst treating intriguingly foolish neurot­ relation with God is exclusive,forthe person ancient Israel's story comes from a particu­ ics. Instead, Buber recognized humans as who is oriented toward God carries his 1- lar time and place, "yet it has had the power creatures who are possessed of dignity and Thou relations with others to the divine to shape other collective and individual iden­ who can be redeemed, and he regarded each before whom they all become transfigured. tities in different lands and different of them as unique. Given Freud's atheism Buber emphasizes that "neither psychology times ...National biographies, like individual and Buber's theism, it is not surprising that nor any science is competent to investigate biographies, must be reinterpreted time and they part company in many other ways. For the truth of the belief in God." In his reply to again in light of changing perspectives and example, Buber locates the unconscious Buber, Jung insists that he is neither denying changing circumstances." (pp. 159-160) below the level at which the human being is God nor putting man in his place. In his That the Bible can not only sustain new divided into physical and psychical phe­ defense, Jung points out that he cannot go interpretations but actually requires fresh, nomena. Asked about whatis psychic,Buber beyond the boundaries of his empirical dis­ imaginative reading lies at the foundation of asserted that the psychic is not an it: " ...the cipline. Jung declares, "I make no transcen­ both Pardes' and Visotzky's books. That psychic that is going on in this moment dental statements." He also asks why Buber these two authors illustrate the dynamic rel­ cannot be itself sufficiently an object to cannot realize that Jung himself deals with evance of biblical texts in such different make a definition possible." Buber also psychical matters and not with metaphysical ways only underscores their invitation to explained why the I-Thou relation is onto­ assertions. He is occupied with phenomenal join the conversation. Visotzky recalls the logical rather than merely psychological: religion beyond which he knows nothing. sage Ben Bag Bag's ever-timely bidding: " ...the duality of the relationships is some­ Of course, Buber can deny that the phenom­ "Turn it, turn it, round and roundlIn it all thing that makes man what he is and that enal and the metaphysical are separable and things can be found." only expreses itself in his dual experience." can also accuse Jung of reducing God to an Buber faults Jean-Paul Sartre, another It or object. Kristin Swenson-Mendez is a professor of important figure in existentialist psychol­ Agassi's anthology furnishes valuable religious studies, Virginia Commonwealth ogy, for recognizing the subject-object rela­ primary sources for the study of relations University, and a contributing editor. tion as the main and exclusive one between between and among Buber, Freud and Jung; two beings. For Buber the!-Thou relation is moreover, as the following illustrations will original and the subject-object relation is show, the collection offers additional, in­ derivative. He believes that humans are triguing selections for any student of Buber. born with a kind of innate "Thou," a con­ To illustrate, when asked if!-Thou relation­ genital yearning to meet and extablish rela­ ships occur in dreams, Buber replied in the tions with the other; therefore, encountering negative, saying that dreams do not include a Thou is the very means to one's own self­ I-Thou relationships but only hint at them. fulfillment.Because the other is latent within Dreamers, after all, are always singular; for the I, as an incipient Thou, to meet the other each specificdream there is butane dreamer; is a two-fold self-realization, a discovery of and this precludes the real mutuality in which the active I and an awakening of the dormant two beings encounter each other. Distin­ aspect of my self that always beckons­ guishing between the dreamer and the psy­ however faintly-for encounter. Therefore, chotic, Buber says that one cannot engage a " ...the innate You is realized in the You we dreamer, for if you make contact, the dream­ encounter ... " ing ceases. Discussing Aldous Huxley and One might expect some measure of ac­ the relation between drugs and religion, cord between Buber and Carl Jung, for reli­ Buber tellingly observes that drugs may Believing that "the sicknesses of the gious discourse is prominent in both of their release one from his ego but that they are soul are sicknesses of relationship," Martin writings. But Jung assiduously avoids any also essentially uncotumunal. Buber applied his philosophy of dialogue to proposition about the transcendent, for he Philosophers from Plato to Rousseau psychology and psychotherapy. For him, contends that such a statement is "always have speculated about the genesis of lan­ "A soul is never sick alone, but there is only a ridiculous presumption of the human guage. Addressing its origin, Buber says always a between-ness also, a situation be- mind, which is unconscious of its bound- "the mystery of the coming-to-be of lan- 6 Menorah Review, Spring/Summer 2002

guage and that of the coming-to-be of man sick, comforting mourners,the etiquette and to a "homecoming." More mysteriously, are one." While philosophers disagree in ethics of righteous giving, how to be a good others who had harbored no such suspicions their accounts of such beginnings and other guest, the ethics of teacher-student relation­ had still felt an inexplicalbe attraction to find that important origins are invariably ships, the ethics of parent-child relation­ Judaism. Directly engaging issues of iden­ veiled in mystery, Buber is surely correct in ships, the ethics of friendship, the etiquette tity, self-hood and community, Kessel's sub­ maintaining that the two must co-originate of language, etiquette in the business place, jects offer poignant, powerful and oftenvery because without language one cannot com­ the ethics of ill-gotten gains (i.e., theft, steal­ funny testimony about the experience of municate ideas and develop into a rational ing and deception), telling the truth, the discovering you are not who you thought creature; and even if humans are not just etiquette of repentance, honoring people, you were. rational creatures, they are at least rational prayer etiquette, and ethical wills. Chapters animals. are chock full of information, most of which Dictionary of the Holocaust: Biography, At a time when Jewish-Catholic rela­ is arranged in easy-to-read question/answer Geography and Terminology. By Eric Jo­ tions are under close scrutiny, Buber's esti­ (Q/A) format. A detailed introduction to the seph Epstein and Philip Rosen. Westport. mate of a book by one of the greatest, con­ world of Jewish ethics leads off the volume CT: Greenwood. Today, decades after the temporary Catholic theologians, Hans Urs and is followed by a listing of meritorious Holocaust, and in many ways thanks to the von Balthasar, could not be more timely: "I characteristics of people. educational impact of the U.S. Holocaust know Balthasar's book and appreciate it, but Memorial Museum and similar institutions, think it too dogmatical. You cannot be The Next Generation: Jewish Children teaching and learning about the Holocaust dogmatical and dialogical ...at once." As and Adolescents. By Ariela Keysar, Barry occurs in many brick-and-mortar settings Buber would urge, Jews and Catholics must A. Kosman and Jeffrey Scheckner. Albany: nationwide as well as globally. These set­ cultivate a dialogue in which they strike a State University of New York Press. This tings include elementary schools, secondary balance between expressing their respective monograph on American Jewish children schools, and colleges and universities. To­ views and carefully considering those of and their socialization into a minority sub­ day, too, the World Wide Web provides a others so as to allow for the possibility of culture in an open society has been written virtual setting in which to learn about the their mutual transformation. There is no for a varied audience: academics, educators, Holocaust. Somewhat ironically and in spite dialogue when each party knows in advance youth leaders, social workers and anyone of these efforts,many students and general everything that it will say and everything interested in the study of children of a minor­ readers lack general information relating to that it will hear. Buber's dialogical ap­ ity religious group. Topics covered include the Holocaust and the historical background proach to therapy is evident when he identi­ demography, household structure, social that explains the plight of the Jews and fies two types of therapists: those who welfare, affiliation,denomination, parental others during the Nazi era and World War II. largely know what interpretations they will fertility, Jewish education, geographic dif­ Thanks to Epstein and Rosen, help is at get and those who do not know. The latter ferences, community participation, religious hand. With nearly 2,000 entries, many, are open and unaware of what method they socialization, interfaith status of the house­ many cross-references, books and articles will use beforehand. He adds, "You cannot hold and household projections. Some sec­ cited, a bibliography and index, the authors interpret poetry by the same methods as a tions are descriptive, some ar analytical, have succeeded in providing a current, accu­ novel. In the world of patients the differ­ some are more theoretical while others are rate and easy-to-use reference. Students and ences are greater than this." Continuing his complicated statistical models. The Next general readers of the Holocaust and the war aesthetic analogy, Buber tells the psycho­ Generation offers valuable analyses of the against Nazi Germany will find this title an therapist: "If you judge Eliot by Keats, you critical issues concerning the entire U.S. invaluable research tool. fail. The real master responds to unique­ Jewish community. Drawing on the 1990 Here readers will find background, in ness." National JewishPopulation Survey,the book dictionary format, on the basic facts crucial questions the future of the Jewish to understanding the Holocaust and Nazi Earle J. Coleman is professor of philosophy, community's next generation. war crimes. Included are what the authors Virginia Commonwealth University, and a feel are the "most important and commonly contributing editor. Suddenly Jewish: Jews Raised as Gentiles used terms" relative to the Holocaust and Discover Their Jewish Roots. By Barbara Nazi war crimes. In terms of scope, they Kessel. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University have clearly cast a wide net; it is unfortunate ��erence·�:· Press, published by the University Press of that they chose not to elaborate on selection New England. Drawing on candid inter­ criteria in their Introduction. Up-to-date views with more than 160 people, Kessel information (data revealed as late as 1997) by SarahBarbara Watsteln tells the stories of Jews who were raised as informs the entries in this work, each of Gentiles but learnedof their Jewish heritage which is tied to the Holocaust or Nazi war The Jewish Book of Etiquette. By Ronald later in life. For the "hidden" children of the crimes. The entries can be classified as H. Isaacs. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson. Holocaust (both those whose parents sur­ biographies, places and terms. At the con­ The focus of this volume is Jewish ethics. It vived and those whose parents perished), for clusion of most entries are suggested read­ is intended to introduce readers to the types the children of traumatized Holocaust survi­ ings, books in English, so the reader may of acceptable behavior that will help people vors, and for the "crypto-Jews" of the Ameri­ pursue the topic. These have been carefully in their relationships with their own family, can southwest (descendants of Jews who selected as to availability, relevance and neighbors and people in general. It promises fled the Spanish Inquisition), the discovery recency; many are copyrighted after 1990. to be useful in reminding the reader how to of a Jewish heritage challenged their sense The authors hope to update the book periodi­ act or respond according to the suggestions of self and of their place in the world in cally; future editions would be strengthened of the rabbinic sages in a variety of life profound ways. Though responses to this by the inclusion of suggested readings after situations. Advice drawn for this volume is challenge ranged from outright rejection to each entry. derived from the Bible as well as rabbinic wholehearted embrace, a surprising number Biographical descriptions record the sources, including the Talmud, various codes of Kessel's subjects reported that the news person's birth or death dates and give a brief of Jewish law and several midrashic works. merely confirmeda long-held suspicion and history, the person's significance and their Subjects covered include how to visit the compared the discovery of their Jewish roots historical context. Geographical entries pin- Menorah Review, Spring/Summer 2002 7 NOTEWORTHY BOOKS

Editor's Note: The fo llowing is a list of books received fr om publishers but. as of this printing. have not been reviewed fo r Menorah Review.

Uncertain Travekrs: Conversations with Jewish Women Immigrants TransmittingJewish Traditions: Orality, Textua/ityand Cultural toAmerica. By Mmjorie Agosin. Hanover,NH: Brandeis Diffu sion. Edited by Yaakov Ehnan and Israel Gershoni. New University PresslUniversity Press of New England. Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

HisBrother's Keeper: Israeland DiosporaJewry inthe TwenJy-First TheConse",ative Movement in Juduism: Dikmmas andOpporluni­ Century. By Yossi Beilin. New York: Schocken Books. ties. By Daniel 1. Elazarand Rela Mintz Geffen. Albany: State University of New York Press. Quest for Inclusion: Jews andliberalism in ModemAmerica. By Marc Dollinger. Princeton University Press. Dreaming the Actual: Contemporary Fiction andPoetry by Israeli Women Writers. Edited by Miriyam Glazer. Albany: State Social Science andthe Polilics ofModem Jewish Identity. By University of New York Press. Mitchell B. Hart. StanfordUniversity Press. Historical DictiofUlty of Zionism. By Rafael Medoffand Chaim I. Anton the DoveFancier andOther Toles of the Holocaust By Waxman. Lartham,MD: TheScarecrow Press Inc. Bernard Gotfiyd. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press. Menstroa/ Purity: Rabbinic andChristion Reconstructions of Biblical Gender. By Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert. Stanford University Sacred Text, Seculm Times: TheHebrew Bibk in the Modem World. Press. Edited by Leonard Jay Greenspoon andBryan F. LeBeau. Omaha, NE: Creighton University Press. The Object of Memory: ArabJew and Narratethe Polestinion ViUage. By Susan Slyomovics. Philadelphia: University of TheNarrow Bridge: Beyondthe Holocaust By Isaac Neuman with Pennsylvania Press. Michael Palencia-Roth. Urbana: University oflllinoisPress . Evange/izing theChosen Peopk: Missions to theJews inAmerica, God,HumaniJy andHistory: TheHebrew FirstCrusade Narratives. 1880-2000. By Yaakov Ariel. Chapel Hill: University of North By RobertChazan. Berkeley: University of California Press. Carolina Press.

Beyond theSyfUlgogue Gallery: Finding a Ploce for Women in Impurify andSin inAncient Juduism. By Jonathan KJawans. New American Juduism. By KarlaGoldman. Cambridge,MA: York: Oxford University Press. HarvardUniversity Press. Joumal 1935-1944: TheFascist Years. By Mihail Sebastian. HantulhArendt on theHolocaust: A Study of the Suppression of the Chicago, IL: Ivan R. DeePublisher. Truth. By Jules Steinberg. Lewiston, NY: TheEdwin Mellen Press. Lower East Silk Memories: A Jewish Ploce inAmerica. By Hasia R. Diner. Princeton University Press. From Hero to Rabin: TheChanging Image of Zionism. By Amnon Rubinstein. New York: Hohnes & Meier Publishers Inc. Historyof Zionism: A Handbook andDictiofUlty. By Abraham 1. Edelheit. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. TheHunting Horse: TheTruth Behind theJotulthan Po/JardSpy Case. By Elliot Goldenberg. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. TheAssassination of Yiklwk Rabin. Editedby Yoram Peri. Stanford University Press. False Papers: Essays on ExileMemory. and By Andre Aciman. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The Tree of life: DiversiJy, Fkxibi/ity andCreativiJy in Jewish Low (2nd Edition). By Louis Jacobs. Portland, OR: The Littman Beyond Su",ival andPhiJanthropy: American Jewry andIsrael Library of Jewish Civilization. Edited by Allon Gal and AlfredGottschalk. Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College Press. From Emancipationto Catastrophe: TheRise and Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry. By T.D. Kramer. Lanham, MD: University Israel andthe Polilics of Jewish Identity: TheSeculm-Religious Pressof America. Impasse. By Asher Cohen and Bernard Susser. Baltimore,MD: The John Hopkins University Press. TheMan WhoStopped the Trains toAuschwitz: GeorgeManteUo, El Salvador andSwitzerlmul's Finest Hour. By David Kranzler. What Makes Women Sick? MatemiJy, ModestyandMiJitorism in New York: University of Syracuse Press. Israeli Society. By Susan Sered. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press. Studies inBiblical Interpretotion. By Nahum Sama. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America. Beyond Patrio.rchy: JewishFathers andFamilies. By Lawrence H. Fuchs. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press. Imagining the Holocaust By DanielR. Schwarz. New York: St. Martin'sGriffin . With Roots inHeaven: One Woman's Passionate Journeyinto the Heartof Her Faith. By Rabbi Tirzah Firestone. New York: TheTorah's Vision of Worship. By Samuel E. Balantine. Minneapo­ Penguin Pumam Inc. lis: Fortress Press.

TheAvengers: A Jewish WarStory. By Rich Cohen. New York: WhatRemains: A Novel By Nicholas Delbanco. New York: Wamer AlfredA. Knopf. Books. 8 Menorah Review, Spring/Summer 2002

point exact locations, using other cities or end of the Bibliography-the H-NET List issued in 1995 by the Holocaust Museum countries as landmarks, and give the number for History of the Holocaust. Given the and Macmillan. Covering the period from of Jewish inhabitants before Nazi occupa­ increasing use of the Internet for reference the Nazi rise to power in 1933 through the tion, and the percentage of Jews killed. His­ and research (i.e., discussion groups, e-jour­ Jewish post-war emigration from Europe, torical background is given for such events nals, e-text, listservs, Web sites), this pass­ the atlas presents both overview maps of the as Kristallnacht and the Warsaw Ghetto Up­ ing "nod" to relevant Web sites is a serious camp system and detailed plans for more rising, and the entries on concentration and shortcoming. It is hoped that future editions than 20 Nazi concentration, transit, forced­ death camps give details on the nationalities will include Internet references alongside labor and extermination camps; plans for interned,each camp's specific location and suggested readings and in the Bibliography. major European cities; the ghettos estab­ its history. Entries are concise, as one would lished by the Nazis in eastern Europe; and expect from a one-volume dictionary of this For further reading .. the important events of the war. sort; readers seeking more in-depth infor­ mation and/or discussion of a given person, Readers interested in more in-depth infor­ Sarah Barbara Watstein is assistant director place or event will need to consult other mation about the ghettos and Nazi camp of Academic User Services. Virginia Com­ sources for additional information. system would be well served by checking monwealth University, and a contributing One Internet reference is listed at the out the Historical Atlas of the Holocaust, editor.

Nonprofit organization U.S. Postage PAID Richmond, Virginia Ivcu ME�QRAH�I Permit No. 869 NUMBER 55 • CENTER FOR JUDAIC STUDIES OF VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY ' SPRING/SUMMER 2002

Menorah Review is published by the Center for Judaic Studies of Virginia Commonwealth University and distributed worldwide. Comments and manuscripts are welcome. Address all correspondence to Center for Judaic Studies, P.O. Box 842025, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2025. [email protected]. Web Site: www.vcu.eduJjudaicstudies.

Editor: Jack D. Spiro Editorial Consultant: Cliff Edwards Production Editor: Kay W. Graves Contributing Editors: Paul R. Bartrop Earle J. Coleman Frank E. Eakin Jr. Cliff Edwards Esther Fuchs Steven M. Glazer Peter J. Haas Herbert Hirsch Brian Horowitz Rafael Medoff Robert Michael Rochelle L. Millen W. David Nelson Matthew B. Schwartz Richard E. Sherwin Jonathan T. Silvennan Kristin M. Swenson Melvin I. Urofsky Sarah B. Watstein Leon J. Weinberger