Gentile New York: The Images of Non-Jews among Jewish Immigrants

308 Pages·2012·2.41 MB·English

by  Gil Ribak

GENTILE

The Images of Non-Jews among Jewish Immigrants
NEW YORK
GIL RIBAK
GENTILE NEW YORK

GENTILE NEW YORK
The Images of Non-Jews
among Jewish Immigrants
Gil Ribak
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ribak, Gil.
Gentile New York : the images of non-Jews among Jewish immigrants / Gil Ribak.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8135–5164–7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Jews—New York (State)—New York—Attitudes. 2. Gentiles—Public opinion.
3. Public opinion—New York (State)—New York. 4. Immigrants—New York (State)—
New York—Attitudes. 5. Jews—New York (State)—New York—History—19th century.
6. Jews—New York (State)—New York—History—20th century. 7. New York (N.Y.)—
Ethnic relations. I. Title. II. Title: Images of non-Jews among Jewish immigrants.
F128.9.J5R44 2012
305.8009747—dc22 2011010860
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2012 by Gil Ribak
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permis-
sion from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue,
Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defi ned by
U.S. copyright law.
Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
To my parents Eliezer of blessed memory and
Bruria, may she be set apart for long life

Contents
Acknowledgments — ix
A Note on Transliteration — xi
Introduction — 1
1 “Never Before Have Gentiles Hated Jews So Much”:
The Images of Non-Jews in Eastern European
Jewish Society in the Late Nineteenth Century — 12
2 “Lovers of Man”: The Images of Americans
among Eastern European Jews in the Last
Third of the Nineteenth Century — 34
3 “In Goodness They Even Exceed the
English”: The Idealization of “Yankees”
in the 1880s and 1890s — 52
4 “The American Is Not Very Musical and Not So
Sociable”: The Beginnings of an Attitudinal
Change in the Early 1900s — 76
5 “You Could Almost Forget That He Is Not a Jew”:
The Jewish Labor Movement and Secularized
Chosenness, 1909–1914 — 101
6 “The ‘Green’ Italian Pays the Same Good Taxes
as the 14-Karat Yankee”: The War in Europe
and the Beginnings of Reorientation toward
Certain Minority Groups, 1914–1917 — 126
7 “What the American Can Do in His Anger”:
World War I and the Red Scare, 1917–1920 — 156
Epilogue: Self-Image and Its Limitations — 188
A Note on Methodology and Sources — 199
Notes — 203
Index — 283

Acknowledgments
It is a pleasant duty to express my gratitude to the many individuals and
institutions that have supported and assisted the publication of this book.
A number of scholars have read diff erent versions of my work and pro-
vided me with perceptive comments: at the dissertation stage my advisor,
Tony Michels, and David Sorkin prodded me into rethinking my project.
Bill Reese’s and Mark Louden’s friendliness and advice were a signifi cant
source of support. Jeremi Suri was always an invaluable powerhouse of
suggestions and encouragement. Other historians, such as Thomas Arch-
deacon, Paul Boyer, Stanley Cutler, and Stanley Schultz, were models of
scholarship and expertise throughout my years in Madison, Wisconsin.
I was very fortunate to have colleagues like Pamela Barmash, Hil-
lel J. Kieval, and Rafi a Zafar at Washington University in St. Louis. Their
amicability and understanding contributed much to my development as
a scholar. I am equally blessed to have colleagues such as Beth Alpert
Nakhai, David L. Graizbord, Tom Kovach, Anat Maimon, and J. Edward
Wright at the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, University of Arizona.
Their spirited companionship has given me the perfect intellectual and
social environment during the fi nal stages of preparing my manuscript
for publication. Over the years I had the privilege and pleasure of meet-
ing several scholars who off ered invaluable insights into my embryonic
book, like Israel Bartal, Hasia R. Diner, Jonathan Karp, Nancy Sinkoff ,
and Gary P. Zola. Throughout my career Arnon Gutfeld has exhibited a
remarkable degree of friendship and kindness, and I am deeply indebted
to him. I would like to thank the anonymous readers of my manuscript,
who have made very helpful suggestions. Needless to say, all errors
remain mine.
I am also grateful to the various institutions and foundations that
helped fund my work. I benefi ted from the generosity of the Kenneth
Kitting and Zalman Aran Fellowships, the Institute of International Edu-
cation and the Fulbright Foundation, the Wisconsin Distinguished Grad-
uate Fellowship and the Mosse Advanced Dissertator Lectureship (the
last two were both granted by the George L. Mosse Program in History
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison), the Center for German and
European Studies at UW-Madison, and the Lewin Postdoctoral Fellow-
ship at Washington University in St. Louis. Finally, I am thankful to the
ix