Boundaries of Jewish identities N in Contemporary Finland J
Preface by Guest Editors DOI: https://doi.org/10.30752/nj.80214
lthough Finland may often be regarded Evangelical Lutheranism as the state religion: as distant from Jewish life, the coun Jews and people of other faiths had the right to Atry has its own rich Jewish traditions, gain residence in the country only if they con and still has its own unique Jewish commu verted to Christianity (Illman and Harviainen nities. The current issue of Nordisk judaistik 2002: 273). This was the first period of Jewish – Scandinavian Jewish Studies fills a signifi immigration per se, even if Jews continued to cant void in research on Finnish Jewry, by live as Christians after the settlement. presenting five articles about different aspects In the 1700s, attitudes towards per of and perspectives on Finnish Jewish life and manent Jewish immigration were already research. The focus of these works is on the starting to shift and become more positive, boundaries of Judaism, more specifically on mainly because of the potential economic what boundaries members of the local con benefits the Jews could bring to the kingdom gregations have created over time to main (Harviainen 2000: 157–8; Torvinen 1989: tain their identities in the midst of the pre 14). The position of Jews in Finland was con dominantly Lutheran yet highly secularized fined in a code of conduct in 1782, accord Finnish society. This editorial introduces the ing to which Jews were not allowed to reside history of Finnish Jewry as a background in the current territory of Finland – as they overview to the articles presented in the cur were restricted to live only in certain cities in rent issue. Sweden (Harviainen 2000: 157–8; Torvinen 1989: 22–3). A brief history of Finnish Jewry An important period of Jewish immi gration to Finland began when the coun Jewish history in Finland was significantly try became a part of the Russian Empire shaped by the laws of the Swedish kingdom, in 1809. As a consequence of the defeat and later of the Russian Empire. The first of Sweden in the Russian–Swedish war, Jews arrived in Finland when the country 1808–9, the Autonomous Grand Duchy of was still part of Sweden (1362–1809). As Finland was established within the Russian such, the laws of the country – including Empire. Despite this change, the prohibition those relating to the Jews – were the laws of concerning the settlement of Jews remained Sweden. The Swedish Church Law of 1686 (Torvinen 1989: 21; Harviainen 2000: 157). (Swedish Kyrkio-Lag och Ordning) declared The first Jews to receive the right to
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Nordisk judaistik • Scandinavian Jewish Studies | Vol. 30, No. 1 1 settle in Finland without the obligation to crime were sent back to Russia. Children of undergo conversion to Christianity – the the Jews who were granted these rights were Cantonists – arrived in the country during only allowed to stay in Finland until they the first half of the nineteenth century as sol turned eighteen. New Jews were not allowed diers serving in the imperial Russian army. to stay in the country. Their activities were The cantonment system of military service still limited mainly to dealing in clothing. was put into effect by Tsar Nicholas I (ruled This decree was in force until 1918 (Illman 1825–55), who made the cantonist school and Harviainen 2002: 275–6). system for the military education compul Already in the early period of the settle sory for Jewish minors, in order to assimilate ment of the Jews in Helsinki, Jewish chil them into Russian society. The Cantonists dren started to attend the local Swedish and were young Jewish boys who were forcibly Russian schools of the town, where they torn away from their parents and families, naturally did not receive traditional Jewish educated in Russian schools and compelled education (Muir 2004: 84–96). According to join the Orthodox Church. The statute to some sources Finnish Jews were influ of 1858 allowed them and their families to enced by a modern world-view adopted dur stay in Finland. Jewish soldiers continued to ing the time they spent in military service. settle in the territory of Finland, even after Many of them were indifferent to provid the cantonist system was abolished in the ing Jewish education to their children, and 1850s, up until 1917, when Finland gained not all of them lived to the standards of independence. The decree of 1869 decided strict Orthodoxy (ibid. 3). In 1906, the cur on the occupations open to Jews, which came rent building of the synagogue in the cen to be limited mainly to dealing in clothing tre of Helsinki was consecrated, and a new and other hand-made materials at narinkka- Jewish school opened on its first floor (ibid. tori 1 – at the marketplace (Harviainen 2000: 92), which then spurred some members of 158; Illman and Harviainen 2002: 274–5; the congregation to challenge the rabbinic Harviainen 1998: 294). authorities (Muir and Tuori in the current According to the census of 1870, the issue). The synagogue of Vyborg was com number of Jews amounted to 460 people, the pleted in 1910, and that of Turku was conse majority of them living in Helsinki (Torvinen crated in 1912 (Fenno-Judaica nd). 1989: 28–31). In 1889, the Finnish Senate issued a letter to the governors of Finland, Finnish Jews gain citizenship which guaranteed permission to Jews and their families – who were mentioned by Even though the discussions about the name – to reside in Finland in specific towns. rights of the Jews began in the Diet of 1872, These towns were Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Jews were granted full civil rights only after Vyborg (Viipuri), Hamina, Sordavala (Sorta Finland had gained independence in 1917 vala), Suistamo, Impilahti, Kuopio and Vaasa (Harviainen 2000; Weintraub 2017; Reijonen (Vasa). These permits were granted for six 1980). On 22 December 1917, the Parliament months at a time. Persons who committed a approved an act concerning the Jews, which was promulgated on 12 January 1918, stat 1 From the Russian на рынке (na rynke), ‘on ing that Jews were granted civil rights and the market’. The site is currently occupied could become Finnish nationals. Finland was by the Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä, on Simonkatu, Helsinki. the last country in Europe to grant full rights
2 Nordisk judaistik • Scandinavian Jewish Studies | Vol. 30, No. 1 to its Jewish citizens (Illman and Harviainen country, Jews also started to become Finnish 2002: 276; Weintraub 2017: 117). A few years speakers. In 1925, the number of Jews rose to later, the freedom of religion in Finland was 1699, in 1930 to 1728 and during the Winter implemented by the Freedom of Religion Act War in 1939 to 1793. Three-fifth of the Jews of 1922 (UVL 267/1922). The law provided lived in Helsinki, one-fifth in Turku and all citizens the right to practise their religion one-fifth in Vyborg (Weintraub 2017: 117). in public and private. It also granted the right There was also a small Jewish Community in not to belong to any religious community, Hämeenlinna, and later, in 1948, the Jewish and addressed the question of children whose Community of Tampere was established parents belonged to different religious con (ibid. 116). gregations or were not members of any at all (Kaila 1923) – which as the articles in this The Second World War issue highlight, became an influencing factor in the local congregations (Czimbalmos in During the Winter War (1939–40), Finnish the current issue). Jews fought alongside non-Jewish compat Between and during the World Wars, riots. In early 1941, the Finnish government assimilation was vigorous in the Jewish believed that it was unlikely that Finland Community in Helsinki. Jewish parents often would stay neutral: during the Continuation decided not to send their children to the War (1941–4), in which Finnish Jews also Jewish schools, and the number of intermar took part, Finland and Nazi Germany were riages started to rise in the community from co-belligerents.2 On 6 November 1942, a the early 1930s. Herman Morath, a Yiddish German transport vessel left the harbour of writer from Latvia, gave an insight into the Helsinki with twenty-seven civilians, includ life of the Jewish Community of Helsinki ing eight Jews, who were deported from during the 1920s. He mentioned that the Finland. Only one of them survived the war. community was characterised by assimila ‘Those eight’ have become the symbol of tion, intermarriages and secularisation. Many Finland’s involvement in the Shoah. By the sources state that among the Jewish commu time the deportations from Finland gained nities in Finland the community of Helsinki public attention, the Finnish authorities had was the least observant of Jewish practices. already been deporting Jews – both foreign Moreover, compared to the Yiddish-speaking civilians and Soviet prisoners-of-war – to Jewish Community of Turku, many of its the German authorities. It has even been members preferred using Swedish. In the suggested that while the Finnish authorities 1930s, the most used language of the Helsinki may not have attempted to seek the death congregation and its institutions was mostly of Jewish deportees per se, the Finnish state Swedish, and most of the members of the police most definitely acted on antisemitic community reported Swedish as their mother impulses (Silvennoinen 2013: 213). tongue, though many of them were fluent in Yiddish. In Vyborg, Yiddish remained the official language of the congregation until the 2 For a recent contribution to this discus Second World War (Muir 2004: 214). sion, see Mats Deland’s review in this issue In 1920, there were 1468 Jews residing in of Lars Westerlund’s report The Finnish Finland. Of these, 1097 were born in Finland. SS-volunteers and Atrocities against Jews, Civilians and Prisoners of War in Ukraine As Finnish became the main language of the and the Caucasus Region 1941–1943.
Nordisk judaistik • Scandinavian Jewish Studies | Vol. 30, No. 1 3 Jewish history after the War Jews started to change in Finnish society, and in 1977 a security alarm was placed on Vyborg was lost to the Soviet Union in 1944. the Jewish Community of Helsinki (ibid. 119). Its community was evacuated to Tampere, In the same year, the Jewish Community of but many of the families that were taken to Helsinki facilitated the conversion of a large Tampere settled in Helsinki instead (Ekholm number of people to Judaism (Czimbalmos in 2013: 34). The Vyborg Jewish community the current issue). In the early 1980s, owing stopped operating completely in 1958. to the small number of community members, During the Arab–Israeli war of 1948–9 the Jewish Community of Tampere ended its (the Israeli War of Independence), twenty- activities (Harviainen 1998: 297; Weintraub nine Finnish Jews fought as volunteers for 2017: 119). During the last part of the twen the State of Israel. After the establishment tieth century, the membership base of the of Israel, as a result of immigration to the communities was decreasing. In 1986, the country, the size of Finnish Jewry decreased number of people registered in the Jewish (Torvinen 1989: 175–7). At this point, there Community of Helsinki was 1092, in that of were three Jewish communities operat Turku 217 (Torvinen 1989: 211). These two ing in Finland, the biggest being the one in communities were highly affected by con Helsinki, and the two smaller ones in Turku tinuous secularisation, changes in Finnish and Tampere. laws (such as banning circumcision and for These communities went through various bidding kosher slaughter – for the latter see changes over time. In Helsinki, discussions Pataricza in the current issue). Moreover, the about preventing the secularisation of the economic status of local Jewry also changed community and the assimilation of its mem over the decades: starting as dealers in cloth bers appeared in the debates of the congrega ing, most Jews now went on to gain degrees tion already in the 1950s. As a possible solu in higher education (Ekholm 2013). In the tion to these issues, the Jewish Community early 1990s, the congregations were affected of Helsinki established the Jewish nursery by the influx of Jews from the Soviet Union. school for children between the ages of three In the past two decades, immigration to the and seven in 1953. The community had community, as well as to Finland in general, already established its own school in 1918, has become a more common phenomenon, where the teaching of Hebrew and the basics which has also had an impact on the com of the Jewish religion were parts of the curric munity both in terms of its traditions and the ulum (Weintraub 2017: 118). In terms of reli languages used (Weintraub 2017). Today, it is gious life, the Jewish Community of Helsinki very hard to estimate the number of Jews liv often faced issues when searching for a rabbi ing in Finland. There are approximately 1300 for the community (Muir and Tuori in the members registered in the two congregations current issue). After the Six Day War (5–10 according to their admiministrative person June 1967)3 and the Yom Kippur War (6–26 nel. This includes members living abroad. October 1973),4 the perception of Israel and Perspectives on Jewish identity 3 Also known as Day War, June War, 1967 highlighted in this issue Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War. Previous research on Jews in Finland has 4 Also known as Ramadan War, October War or 1973 Arab–Israeli War. mostly addressed the history or the economic
4 Nordisk judaistik • Scandinavian Jewish Studies | Vol. 30, No. 1 status of local Jewry (Torvinen 1989; Harviai historical examples of religious and admin nen and Illman 1998; Harviainen 2000; istrative practices that emerged in the con Muir 2014; Ekholm 2013) and to Second gregation as results of the rising number of World War and Holocaust studies (Muir intermarriages, highlighting some of the and Worthen 2013). Some copious studies of matters that arose in the congregation after the local community’s culture and traditions the Freedom of Religion Act was imple have been published, in Finnish and Swedish, mented in 1922. by the community itself (e.g. Kantor et al. In her article ‘Intersections of gen 2006; Weintraub 2017), as well as certain der and minority status: perspectives from works on the cultural and linguistic diver Finnish Jewish women’, Elina Vuola applies sity of the local congregations (Muir 2004; the concept of intersectionality, arguing Ekholm et al. 2016). There are also a few MA that applying it as a theoretical framework theses written on subjects relating to Finnish may illuminate some aspects of Jewish dias Jewry (e.g. Larsson 2014; Czimbalmos 2016; pora identities. She concludes that diaspora Shaul 2017; Zaitsev 2019). Some short en identities become clearly visible especially in cyclopaedia entries are also available on Jews issues related to gender among the members in Finland (e.g. Lundgren 2006). of the Finnish Jewish minority. The current issue includes five art Drawing on the data derived from Vuola’s icles dealing with Finnish Jewry. The first project, ‘Embodied Religion: Changing two analyses deal closely with the Jewish Meanings of Body and Gender in Contem Community of Helsinki, from a historical porary Forms of Religion in Finland’ (Vuola point of view, whereas the last three approach 2018), collected during her research, Dóra the broader topic of Finnish Jewry from more Pataricza focuses on the Finnish Jewish food contemporary and theoretical perspectives. culture in her article ‘Challahpulla: where The issue opens with an article pertain two wor(l)ds meet’. The article highlights ing to aspects of the history of Finnish Jewry the rapid changes over the past thirty years which have not been researched systematic in Finnish-Jewish cuisine, reflecting the dif ally hitherto. In the first article, ‘The golden ficulty of purchasing kosher ingredients in chain of pious rabbis: the origin and develop Finland. Pataricza concludes that food is ment of Finnish Jewish Orthodoxy’, Simo often one of the strongest links to the Ash Muir and Riikka Tuori set out the historical kenazi Jewish roots among women in the basis for research into contemporary Finnish local congregations. Jewry by looking into the succession of rab Finally, Ruth Illman presents the ethno bis in the Jewish Community of Helsinki. graphically driven multi-method research They demonstrate how the traditions of the perspective of vernacular religion in research congregation were formed by these leading ing Judaism in Finland. She analyses the figures of the community between 1867 and potential to contribute to the theoretical 1982, thus illuminating the uniqueness of advancement of Jewish studies by researching Finnish Jewry today. Finnish-Jewish everyday lives. She exempli The second article, by Mercédesz Czim fies her theoretical and methodological con balmos, ‘Laws, doctrines and practice: a study siderations by introducing a recently initi of intermarriages and the ways they chal ated research project focusing on vernacular lenged the Jewish Community of Helsinki Judaism in Finland, ‘Boundaries of Jewish from 1930 to 1970’, presents two empirical, Identities in Contemporary Finland’, to
Nordisk judaistik • Scandinavian Jewish Studies | Vol. 30, No. 1 5 which most of the researchers contributing to Mercédesz Czimbalmos is a doctoral student in this issue are linked. comparative religion at These five articles aim to address topics Åbo Akademi University. Her background is in that have so far never been studied, and they Jewish studies, compara investigate matters that are part of the every tive religion, cultural studies and Japanese day lives of local Jews and their communities. studies. Her research Thus, the current issue fills a significant void interests includes con in the research of Jewish studies in general, temporary Judaism, and intercultural and and Finnish Jewry in particular. interreligious encounters. Currently, she is For the transliteration of Hebrew, Ara working on her doctoral dissertation, studying intermarriages in Finnish Jewish communities. maic and Yiddish terminology, the authors Her main focus is on discourses around have adopted the most commonly used Eng intermarriage and conversion among within lish method. Rarely used foreign words are Finnish Jewry. italicised and transliterated according to the Dóra Pataricza is guidelines of the SBL Handbook of Style. currently working in a The current issue concludes with a review research project led by Ruth Illman, entitled section. Firstly, the Swedish historian Mats ‘Boundaries of Jewish Deland comments and reflects upon the Identities in Contem porary Finland’, on a recently published report by Lars Wester case study entitled lund, ‘The Finnish SS-volunteers and atroci ‘Foodways’. Her project ties 1941–3’. The report, which was com focuses primarily on how boundaries are missioned by the president of Finland, Sauli drawn up and crossed in Niinistö, was released earlier this spring. Jewish-Finnish cuisines, where culinary traditions are shaped by influences from different times, Thereafter, Pekka Lindqvist reviews a recently cultures, geographical regions and traditions. published anthology of the Jewish School of Pataricza is a Doctor of Classical Philology from Helsinki on the occasion of its centenary. the University of Debrecen, Hungary. This issue closes with two contributions by Flemming Ravn: a review of a recently pub Bibliography lished Hebrew grammar book and an obitu Czimbalmos, Mercédesz, 2016. ‘How do they ary of Amos Oz. Jew? Identity and Religiosity in the Jewish Community of Helsinki’, unpublished MA MERCÉDESZ CZIMBALMOS thesis, Department of World Culture, Faculty and DÓRA PATARICZA of Arts, University of Helsinki Ekholm, Laura, 2013. Boundaries of an Urban Minority: The Helsinki Jewish Community from the End of Imperial Russia until the 1970s (Department of Political and Economic Studies, University of Helsinki) Ekholm, Laura, Simo Muir, and Oula Silvennoi nen, 2016. ‘Linguistic, cultural and history- related studies on Jews in Finland: a look into the scholarship in the twenty-first century’, Nordisk judaistik – Scandinavian Jewish Studies, 27(1), pp. 43–57, doi:
6 Nordisk judaistik • Scandinavian Jewish Studies | Vol. 30, No. 1 Harviainen, Tapani, 1998. ‘Juutalaiset Suomessa’, Vuola, Elina, 2018. Jewish Women in Finland, Juutalainen kulttuuri, ed. Tapani Harviainen project website,
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