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Photographs included in ttie original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI* CHARITY WORK AS NATION-BUILDING: AMERICAN JEWISH WOMEN AND THE CRISES DSr EUROPE AND PALESTINE, 1914-1930 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Mary McCune, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Susan M. Hartmann, Adviser Professor Leila J. Rupp Adviser Professor David L. Hoffinann Department of History UMI Number 9962431 Copyright 2000 by McCune, Mary All rights reserved. UMI UMI Microform9962431 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Mary McCune 2000 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the international relief activities of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Hadassah (the Women’s Zionist Organization of America) and the Workmen’s Circle (or Arbeter Ring in Yiddish) during World War I and the 1920s. The work reveals important ways that American women have contributed to international relief and have thereby influenced political outcomes as well as the construction of ethnic American identity through their voluntarism. Studying these organizations presents the opportunity to investigate a wide range of Jewish women, from upper-class to working-class, assimilationist to Zionist. The first two organizations represent the largest and most prominent Jewish women’s groups in the inter-war period. The Workmen's Circle, while not solely a women’s association, was a major forum of working-class, secular Jewish activism. World War I and the exigencies of the postwar period provided women with an entrance into international politics, but also facilitated the construction of a modem American Jewish identity intimately connected with philanthropic activities for Jews in other lands. Far from being apolitical, this philanthropic-based identification arising from the war ultimately enabled non-Zionist American Jews to begin to accept the idea of Jewish settlement in Palestine as one refuge among many, although not as a Jewish homeland or nation-state, a decade before the Nazi rise to power in Germany. II In addition to international events, this study also explores the fundamental role played by gender and class in the development of Jewish nationalism and American Jewish identity. Although united by a desire to aid Jews overseas, Americans argued over the best way to achieve this goal. Solutions frequently reflected an individual’s class status and ideological adherence which became increasingly apparent as groups struggled to cooperate. In similar fashion, interactions with male leaders compelled women in all three groups to construct a more distinctly female, if not feminist, consciousness. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the complex ways in which personal identity shapes public activism. It enables us to see more clearly the connections between women’s voluntary, philanthropic endeavors and the more traditionally male sphere of international politics. Ill Dedicated to Frank J. Byrne and My Family IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My professional career has developed on a long, not always linear, path. I have had the great fortune to be guided along this unplanned, circuitous road by a number of remarkable people. Susan Hartmann has been a model adviser, keeping me focused on the end goal while at the same time allowing for, and fostering, my disparate interests. She has always kept me groimded even as she encouraged me to explore and grow. Leila Rupp urged me to look at the wider context. Her comparative perspective helped me to draw connections between American Jewish women and the broader international communities with which they interacted. Both these women have been wonderful role models as a scholars, teachers, and writers. David HofGnann kindly agreed to join my committee at a late date, offering useful insights from the Russian and East 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 dissertation research. For years he has been a consistently strong advocate, even from across the Atlantic Ocean. Neil Jacobs taught me my "alef-beys,” at first in his free time and then later in more formal settings. Pamela S. Nadell read nearly the entire dissertation, contributing insightful criticism and substantial encouragement while also introducing me to the wider world of Jewish women’s studies. Eve Levin also read much of the dissertation and made valuable suggestions, both personal and professional. Daniel Soyer and Carolyn Sh^iro-Shapin provided crucial assistance with the complexities of the Yiddish language, mutual aid provision, American Jewish and medical history. Sean Martin and Lisa Jenschke played central roles in my academic development. Together with Patricia Levi they sustained me through many a difficult period. 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 and her family, Carol Gibson, her sister and father, and Jeimifer Schwartz not only allowed me to extend my research trips but also made them infinitely more enjoyable. Frank J. Byrne saw me through the final years of research and writing. A remarkable person, he encouraged me to finish even as he faced his own dissertation dilemmas. My research was supported by grants from the Elizabeth D. Gee Fund, Department of Women’s Studies, and a Graduate Student Alumni Research Award both of The Ohio State University, and a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education. Crucial financial support during the writing stage was offered by the Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. I would specially like to thank archivists Susan Woodland at the Hadassah Archives and Leo Greenbaum at YTVO for their exemplary assistance. vi Portions of this dissertation were first published as “Social Workers in the Muskeljudentum: ‘Hadassah Ladies,’ ‘Manly Men,’ and the Significance of Gender in the American Zionist Movement, 1912-28,” American Jewish History 86 (June 1998): 135- 65. The comments of the editors and readers strengthened the end product in significant ways. I want to make special mention o f the person who gave me my very first "grant": without my father’s willingness to fimd my undergraduate education, even when it might not have been financially wise for him to do so, I might never have made it to all the other paths that have subsequently opened up to me. Along with him and Frank, this dissertation is dedicated to my entire family. 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 relationship between personal identity, family or communal allegiance, and public activism. I dedicate this dissertation to everyone in my family but most especially to my sisters and mother: —To Pat, for donating computers, monetary backup, and advice at critical junctures. Her family’s Thanksgiving dinners were a much-welcomed respite from the burdens of graduate school. Her encouragement, support, and guidance made me realize that 1 could handle the rigors of graduate school, even if she insufficiently warned me of many of its bleaker aspects. —To Kate, for being willing, even before the coffee was ready, to let me try out new lecture ideas at seven in the morning. She has been challenging my perceptions of vii the world ever since that summer when, home from college, she first left a pile o f "radical" books about women in my childhood bedroom. Both my sisters have always forced me to express my thoughts, demanding that their shy younger sister discuss her ideas even when she would much rather watch quietly from the sidelines. - - And, finally, this work is dedicated to my mother. Her life-long fascination and engagement with the world has furnished me with a powerful, courageous, and tolerant model for living that 1 have always sought to emulate in my own teaching and research. vm VITA July 4, 1966......................................