Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History: The Roles and Representation of Women

212 Pages·1995·8.527 MB·English

by  Paula E. Hyman

The Samuel & Althea Stroum Lectures
IN JEWISH STUDIES
The Samuel & Althea Stroum Lectures
IN JEWISH STUDIES
The Yiddish Art Song
performed by Leon Lishner, basso,
and Lazar Weiner, piano
(stereophonic record alburn)
The Holocaust in Historical Perspective
by Yehuda Bauer
Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory
by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
Jewish Mysticism and Jewish Ethics
by Joseph Dan
The Invention of Hebrew Prose:
Modern Fiction and the Language of Realism
by Robert Alter
Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Biblical Research
by William G. Dever
Jewish Identity in the Modern World
by Michael A. Meyer
I. L. Peretz and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture
by Ruth R. Wisse
The Kiss of God:
Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism
by Michael Fishbane
Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History:
The Roles and Representation of Women
by Paula E. Hyman
Portrait of American Jews:
The Last Half of the 2oth Century
by Samuel C. Heilman
Gender and Assimilation
in Modern Jewish History
The Roles and Representation of Women
Paula E. Hyman
University of Washington Press
Seattle & London
Copyright © 1995 by the University of Washington Press
Second printing, 1997 (pbk.)
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hyman, Paula, 1946-
Gender and assimilation in modern Jewish history :
the roles and representation of women / Paula E. Hyman.
p. cm. — (The Samuel & Althea Stroum lectures in Jewish
studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-295-97425-7 (cloth). — ISBN 0-295-97426-5- (pbk.)
i. Jews — Cultural assimilation — Europe. 2. Jews — Cultural
assimilation — United States. 3. Jewish women — Europe — Social
conditions. 4. Jewish women — United States — Social conditions.
5. Europe — Ethnic relations. 6. United States — Ethnic relations.
I. Title. II. Series: Samuel and Althea Stroum lectures
in Jewish studies.
DSI48.H93 1995
305.48'696 — dc2o 94~37932
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard
for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI 739.48-1984.
©
The Samuel & Althea Stroum Lectures
IN JEWISH STUDIES
Samuel Stroum, businessman, community leader, and philan-
thropist, by a major gift to the Jewish Federation of Greater
Seattle, established the Samuel and Althea Stroum Philan-
thropic Fund.
In recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Stroum's deep interest in
Jewish history and culture, the Board of Directors of the Jew-
ish Federation of Greater Seattle, in cooperation with the
Jewish Studies Program of the Henry M. Jackson School of
International Studies at the University of Washington, estab-
lished an annual lectureship at the University of Washington
known as the Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectureship in Jew-
ish Studies. This lectureship makes it possible to bring to the
area outstanding scholars and interpreters of Jewish thought,
thus promoting a deeper understanding of Jewish history,
religion, and culture. Such understanding can lead to an en-
hanced appreciation of the Jewish contributions to the his-
torical and cultural traditions that have shaped the American
nation.
The terms of the gift also provide for the publication from
time to time of the lectures or other appropriate materials
resulting from or related to the lectures.
This page intentionally left blank
To my daughters,
JUDITH and A D i N A
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface xi
Introduction 3
1. Paradoxes of Assimilation 10
2. Seductive Secularization 50
3. America, Freedom,
and Assimilation 93
4. The Sexual Politics
of Jewish Identity 134
Bibliography 171
Index 191
IX