University of Southampton Research Repository Eprints Soton

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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES English Department Hasidic Judaism in American Literature by Eva van Loenen Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF YOUR HUMANITIES English Department Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy HASIDIC JUDAISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE Eva Maria van Loenen This thesis brings together literary texts that portray Hasidic Judaism in Jewish-American literature, predominantly of the 20th and 21st centuries. Although other scholars may have studied Rabbi Nachman, I.B. Singer, Chaim Potok and Pearl Abraham individually, no one has combined their works and examined the depiction of Hasidism through the codes and conventions of different literary genres. Additionally, my research on Judy Brown and Frieda Vizel raises urgent questions about the gendered foundations of Hasidism that are largely elided in the earlier texts. The thesis demonstrates how each text has engaged with Hasidic identity, thought, customs, laws, values and communities in its own particular way, creating tensions between the different literary interpretations. Furthermore, the thesis is structured chronologically and contributes to a cultural historical understanding of a people that has been threatened by modernity, nearly annihilated by the Nazis and uprooted from their motherlands in order to survive, and in fact thrive, in the United States. This historical development is described in the various texts used in this thesis, which belong to different genres from the short story, to the novel, to online Life writing. My research has been truly interdisciplinary, which is reflected in the use of different methodologies belonging to different academic fields such as history, sociology, anthropology, theology, Western esotericism and literary studies. Table of Contents Table of Contents i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP iii Acknowledgements iv Introduction 5 Chapter One: From the Hasidic Tales to I.B. Singer: an illustration of the pre-war Hasidic spirit 21 1.1 Introduction 21 1.2 Introduction to the Hasidic Tales 22 1.3 Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav’s Literary Explorations 30 1.4 Continuity in I.B. Singer 45 1.5 Conclusion 64 Chapter Two: Hasidic versus Orthodox Identity in Potok’s The Chosen and The Promise 65 2.1 Introduction 65 2.2 The Chosen 69 2.3 The Promise 94 2.4 Conclusion 105 Chapter Three: Hasidic Thought in the The Book of Lights by Chaim Potok 107 3.1 Introduction 107 3.2 Analysis 110 3.3 Conclusion 132 ii Chapter Four: Contemporary Female Perspectives on Hasidic Judaism 133 4.1 Introduction: Foundational Problems 133 4.2 The Romance Reader 140 4.3 Hush 158 4.4 Conclusion 170 Chapter Five: Contemporary Online Female Hasidic Literature 173 5.1 Introduction 173 5.2 Online Storytelling Methodologies 174 5.3 Approaches to Autobiographical Texts 176 5.4 Judy Brown & Frieda Vizel 178 5.5 Conclusion 192 Conclusion 195 Bibliography 201 Appendix 1 213 iii DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Eva van Loenen .................................................................................................... ………………………………….. declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. Depictions of Hasidic Judaism in Jewish-American Literature ............................................................. I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. [Delete as appropriate] None of this work has been published before submission [or] Parts of this work have been published as: [please list references below]: Signed: ........................................................................................................................................................................... Date: ............................................................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the help and advice of my supervisors: James Jordan, Devorah Baum and Stephen Morton, whose excellent feedback never failed to improve my writing and my research. I am also much indebted to the comments from Helen Spurling and Claire Le Foll; their advice and criticism made a real difference. I should also like to thank my former Professor in Western Esotericism at the University of Amsterdam, Wouter Hanegraaff, whose research and writing has inspired me and who encouraged me to do a PhD in the first place. I would equally not have been able to write this thesis without all the support from my parents, Agnes Tholen and Henk van Loenen, who encouraged their crazy daughter in undertaking this project. Furthermore, I would like to thank my friends who helped me through many a difficult time. My oldest friends Nathalie van Dantzig, Dieuwertje Kooij and Milou van Beers, who were there when I nervously wrote my proposal (thank you Nathalie for forcing me to actually send it!). My ‘Coven sisters’ Becky Holdorph and Alexandra Philips, who shared my best and worst moments. My Gradnet family, Mike Witcombe, Anne Holdorph, Holly Dunbar, Maya Nedyalkova, Isaac Gustafson-Wood, James McGuiggan, Clare Bahktiar and Christina Wilkins (and I’m sure I’m forgetting people) who always offered a listening ear and a glass of wine. I would also like to thank (and apologise to) my partner, Tim Worth, you have been my rock. I would not have been able to finish this PhD without you. Finally, I would like to posthumously thank Chaim Potok, to whom this thesis is dedicated; his work has truly transformed my life and led me to this moment. v Introduction Introduction to the Research Project Hasidic Judaism is a faith that is based on the ancient pillars of Talmud and Kabbalah; its origins date back to the second century B.C.E.1 It was cultivated in the shtetls of 18th century Eastern Europe and remained largely unaffected by modernity and Haskalah.2 Hasidism was nearly eradicated by the Nazis in the Second World War, but managed to survive, transplanted into the New World. In North America, far away from its roots, its intellectual and religious homes, living not in isolation but in big, open cities, Hasidism managed to endure and thrive; the very old became encapsulated in the very new. This thesis brings together literary texts that depict Hasidic Judaism in Jewish-American literature, predominantly of the 20th and 21st centuries. My research connects the texts of Rabbi Nachman, I. B. Singer, Chaim Potok, Pearl Abraham, Judy Brown and Frieda Vizel to present a history of the portrayal of Hasidic thought,3 identities, customs, laws, values and communities in Jewish-American literature. The PhD offers a range of case studies, which establish how Hasidic Judaism has been understood and represented from within and without. What these case studies demonstrate is that although Hasidic communities remain secluded, Jewish writing on the Hasidim is not totally disconnected from wider cultural and literary shifts, hence these approaches reflect cultural trends such as the movement towards secular and gender studies and contemporary forms of writing. Furthermore, as my thesis is structured chronologically, each text describes different stages in the narrative of survival and renaissance, thus contributing to a cultural history of Hasidism. My thesis will address a number of questions: how has literature, which the Hasidim perceive to be a secular medium, depicted the identity, religious thought and experience of the Hasidim? How can this piece of the Old world, exist, even bloom, in such a new society? What is the place of this faith and its people in Jewish-American literature, a very new genre that came into being in the New World? What does the literary portrayal of Hasidism reveal about the place of Hasidic Judaism in American society? How has Hasidism changed from 1 Where we find the first reference to people called Hasidim, they organized the resistance against

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