Chosen Capital: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism PDF
Preview Chosen Capital: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism
Chosen Capital (cid:2) Chosen Capital (cid:2) The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism Edited by Rebecca Kobrin rutgers university press new brunswick, new jersey, and london Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chosen capital : the Jewish encounter with American capitalism / edited by Rebecca Kobrin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN –––– (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN –––– (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN –––– (e-book) . Jews—United States—Economic conditions—Congresses. . Capitalism—United States—History—Congresses. . Capitalism—Religious aspects—Congresses. . Free enterprise—Religious aspects—Judaism—Congresses. . Economics— Religious aspects—Judaism—Congresses. I. Kobrin, Rebecca. E..EC .'—dc A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library. Copyright © by Rutgers, The State University Individual chapters copyright © in the names of their authors All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, elec- tronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ . The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law. Visit our website: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu Manufactured in the United States of America Contents Acknowledgments vii Note on Orthography and Transliteration ix PART I Reframing the Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism Introduction. The Chosen People in the Chosen Land: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism Rebecca Kobrin Two Exceptionalisms: Points of Departure for Studies of Capitalism and Jews in the United States Ira Katznelson PART II Jewish Niches in the American Economy The Evolution of the Jewish Garment Industry, – Phyllis Dillon and Andrew Godley From the Rag Trade to Riches: Abraham E. Lefcourt and the Development of New York’s Garment District Andrew S. Dolkart Success from Scrap and Secondhand Goods: Jewish Businessmen in the Midwest, – Jonathan Z. S. Pollack v vi contents Despised Merchandise: American Jewish Liquor Entrepreneurs and Their Critics Marni Davis Blacks, Jews, and the Business of Race Music, – Jonathan Karp Jews, American Indian Curios, and the Westward Expansion of Capitalism David S. Koffman PART III Jews and the Politics of American Capitalism The Multicultural Front: A Yiddish Socialist Response to Sweatshop Capitalism Daniel Katz Making Peace with Capitalism? Jewish Socialism Enters the Mainstream, – Daniel Soyer A Jewish “Third Way” to American Capitalism: Isaac Rivkind and the Conservative-Communitarian Ideal Eli Lederhendler PART IV Selling Judaism: Capitalism and Reshaping of Jewish Religious Culture Sanctification of the Brand Name: The Marketing of Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt Jeffrey Shandler How Matzah Became Square: Manischewitz and the Development of Machine-Made Matzah in the United States Jonathan D. Sarna Contributors Index Acknowledgments The idea of a conference to explore the ways in which Jews shaped and were shaped by American capitalism was born on a long subway ride I shared with Tony Michels. The subway—whose rumblings shape New York City in count- less ways—served as an apt midwife to such an important and, at times, explo- sive topic. While it may be rarely discussed in the annals of American Jewish life, few would deny that Jews have long served as both American capitalism’s greatest innovators as well as its harshest critics. Jews’ encounter with this country and its economy has fundamentally altered both the United States and the practice of Judaism over the course of the twentieth century. Tony Michels and I both enjoyed a wonderful year at New York Univer- sity—he as a Goren-Goldstein fellow and I as an American Association for Jewish Research fellow. There, we encountered many thoughtful colleagues, many of whom participated in the conference. I want to thank particularly Hasia Diner, who was a staunch supporter of the conference from the outset. Without the financial support of New York University’s Goren-Goldstein Center for American Jewish History and Columbia University’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, the international conference Tony and I organized could have never taken place. The logistics of travel and food for the confer- ence were aptly taken care of by Shayne Figueroa, Malka Gold, Kiley Lambert, and Tamara Mann. The conversations that took place at the conference were provocative and engrossing. All who participated agreed that our debates marked the beginning of a larger conversation and that our insights and reflections could spark further critical research and must be made available to the larger world. That task of rethinking Jews’ relationship to America’s economic development became more pressing, and more difficult, following the fall of Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis of . I thank Marlie Wasserman and Allyson Fields for their appreciation of the importance of this vii viii acknowledgments volume and for patiently seeing it through the process, particularly after the unexpected early arrival of my son. For me, the completion of this volume represents the culmination of a long journey, during which I have been fortunate to have the support of a number of individuals and institutions. Columbia University provided me with both a stimulating environment and the time to transform these proceedings into a book. Conversations with Ira Katznelson, Ken Jackson, and Betsy Blackmar on American capitalism as well as the encouragement of Michael Stanislawski and Jeremy Dauber, directors of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, pro- vided the support to make the proceedings available to a wider public. A book subvention grant from the Harriman Institute helped move this book through the final stages of production. I thank each author for working with me to hone his or her individual piece so that the larger message of the volume would be a cohesive one. Jerry Muller’s thoughtful comments and incisive questions transformed each of the essays in this volume. Eric Wakin, Columbia’s curator for American history, provided speedy and instrumental help in procuring an image for the cover of this volume. Finally, I would like to thank my family. My parents, Ruth and Lawrence Kobrin, continue to inspire me with their dedication to both their family and the life of the mind. The countless hours of babysitting they provided for my editing made this volume possible. I am profoundly indebted to my husband, Kevin Feinblum, whose unflagging support and patience helped me through the ups and downs of such an editorial project. Indeed, his expertise in finance helped me sort through many of the more technical descriptions and charts in the volume. My daughters, Ariela and Simone, and my son, Eitan, whose early arrival forced all the contributors to follow my strict deadlines, were always understanding of my need to work on weekends. It is to them that I dedicate this book, as their giggles and smiles enrich my life every day. Note on Orthography and Transliteration In transliterating Russian and Hebrew words, the authors in this volume have generally followed the systems used by the Library of Congress, with the exception of certain well-known names for which other transliterations are commonly used. In general, Yiddish words, phrases, titles, and names of orga- nizations, places, and persons have been rendered according to the translitera- tion scheme of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, except that no attempt has been made to standardize nonstandard orthography. All translations have been made by the authors unless otherwise indicated. ix
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