How to become Jewish Americans? : the A Bintel Brief advice column in Abraham Cahan's Yiddish Forverts / Magdalena Ewa Bier.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bier, Magdalena Ewa, author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Mainzer Studien zur Amerikanistik ; Bd. 66.

Mainzer Studien zur Amerikanistik ; Band 66

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Forṿerṭs (New York, N.Y.)--History.

Forṿerṭs (New York, N.Y.).

Jews--United States.

Jews.

History.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

413 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Frankfurt am Main : Peter Lang, [2015]

Summary:

Created by Abraham Cahan in 1906, the advice column A Bintel Brief ran as the most enduring feature of the New York Yiddish newspaper Forverts for over seven decades. This study takes a closer look at the letters and responses to A Bintel Brief thereby revealing the hardships of uprooted Eastern European Jews. In an uncharted environment they turned to the column for guidance. In his answers, the editor of The Bintel Brief was always sympathetic, yet pragmatic, encouraging assimilation and ethnic group solidarity, thus paving the way for the readers to become accepted Jewish Americans. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 9

2 Jewish Immigration from Eastern Europe 39

2.1 Russian Jewish Emigration to the United States 39

2.2 Reasons for Emigration 40

2.3 Demographic Characteristics 43

2.4 The Cultural Baggage of Immigrants 45

3 The Forverts - Origins and Ideology 53

3.1 Creating a New Form of a Yiddish Press 53

3.2 The Origins of A Bintel Brief 70

4 A Bintel Brief: Characteristics and Content 75

4.1 Main Characteristics of the Column 75

4.2 The Structure of A Bintel Brief 78

4.3 The Role of the Editor and His Answers: Guidance and Authority 103

5 The Situation of Russian Jewish Immigrants in America 113

5.1 Separating the Desirables from the Undesirables: The Dillingham Commission 113

5.2 Coping with Prejudices against Jewish Immigrants 123

5.3 Abraham Cahan's View on Acculturation: Necessary Steps towards Successful Integration 132

5.4 Facing a New Life - A Bintel Brief as First Aid to Jewish Immigrants 139

5.5 Conclusion 175

6 The Language of A Bintel Brief 177

6.1 Yiddish in the United States 177

6.2 Attitudes towards English among Eastern European Jewish Immigrants 181

6.3 Languages in Contact - The Americanization of Yiddish 188

6.4 Writing about Language: The Use of Yiddish and English as a Topic in A Bintel Brief 197

6.5 Conclusion 200

7 Changing Roles and Values in Jewish Family Life 203

7.1 The Emigration of Jewish Families: The Impact of Family Life 205

7.2 Patterns of Jewish Family Life 209

7.3 Jewish Families in A Bintel Brief: Challenges of Changed Social Structures 213

7.4 Conclusion 233

8 Between Heartaches and the Missing Matchmaker: Love and Marriage 235

8.1 Love and Marriage in the Jewish Shtetl 235

8.2 Love as a Central Theme in Abraham Cahan's Writing 238

8.3 Courting and Gender Relations in Urban American Life 239

8.4 Caught Between Infatuation and Commitment: The Growing Importance of Love 247

8.5 In Search of Guidance: The Choice of a Suitable Spouse 253

8.6 Intermarriage: A Controversial Issue and Its Possible Consequences 267

8.7 Love Stories and the Life Novel 277

8.8 Conclusion 282

9 Socialism and Unionism: Jewish Work Life in the United States 285

9.1 Jewish Socialist Aspirations Prior to Emigration 287

9.2 Equal, Yet Different: The Jewish National Question 291

9.3 Jewish Radicalism in the United States 293

9.4 Abraham Cahan's Involvement in the Radical Movement 296

9.5 Socialist Ideas in A Bintel Brief: Torn between Loyalty and Opportunity 299

9.6 Labor Unions as a Form of Immediate Help 313

9.7 Conclusion 322

10 Creating a New Jewish Identity: Jewish Faith or Culture? 325

10.1 Religious Re-Orientation within the Russian Jewish Community 325

10.2 Judaism in America 327

10.3 Integrating Judaism into American Life 333

10.4 Combining Socialism and Jewish Identity 348

10.5 Ethnic and Religious Identification 350

10.6 Conversion as the Ultimate Betrayal 354

10.7 Jewish Relations with Gentiles 358

10.8 Conclusion 363

11 Conclusions 365.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9783631657591

3631657595

OCLC:

938979095

Publisher Number:

99965371813