German Jews and the Persistence of Jewish Identity in Conversion: Writing the Jewish Self PDF
Preview German Jews and the Persistence of Jewish Identity in Conversion: Writing the Jewish Self
Angela Kuttner Botelho German Jews and the Persistence of Jewish Identity in Conversion Angela Kuttner Botelho German Jews and the Persistence of Jewish Identity in Conversion Writing the Jewish Self ISBN 978-3-11-073722-6 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-073196-5 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-073206-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2021936923 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover Image: Photograph by Francis Kuttner. Permission granted Print and Binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com To my beloved daughter Abigail, Who gave me new life, And to my preciousgrandchildren Ava and June, As you move into your future May you treasure your family’s past. Acknowledgments First and foremost, I wish to highlight the enormous, quite different contribu- tions of two women who between them brought this project to fruition: Naomi Seidman and Julia Brauch. Without each of them this book would not have come into being. Tostartatthebeginning,itwasNaomiSeidmanwholuredmeintoenrolling in the Master’s program in Jewish History and Culture at the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union in 2010. ThiswasafterI,asomewhattimidnewbieauditorinhercourseonModernJew- ishHistory,spontaneouslyburstout amidstthe Marranosegment, “Oh, Ididn’t know therewereanyotherJewsinthe worldwhohadbeenbaptized!”Naomi’s responseafterclasswasaninvitationtocoffee;therestishistory.Asmymentor andthesisadvisoroverthenextthreeyears,hernever-failingsupportandsheer intellectual heft served to inspire and shape every aspect of my MA trajectory whichinturnbecametheseedforthebookprojectthatconsumedthenextsev- eral years of my life.Currently the Chancellor Jackman Professor in the Arts at theUniversityofToronto,Naominonethelessexpressedawholeheartedwilling- nesstoreviewmycompletedbookmanuscriptlongafterIhadceasedtobeher actual student. As it turned out, her contribution became the decisive factor in De Gruyter’s decision to commit to my work. To me, Naomi Seidman’s efforts on my behalf are a testament to her enormous, all too rare generosity of spirit as well as to her deep commitment to an expansive view of Jewish history in whichmyownwork,hopefully,willplayitsownsmallpart.Iamdeeplygrateful. For her part, as Acquisitions Editor for Jewish Studies and History with DeGruyterPublishing,JuliaBrauch’sunstintingenthusiasmformyworkdating from my very first contact with her, followed by her tireless efforts to shepherd my monograph through a rigorous internal review process, have led directly to the current happy and successful outcome. She has been a wonderful gift to me as well. IalsowishtoacknowledgethecontributionsofDeena Aranoff,whospecial- izes in Medieval Jewish History at the Graduate Theological Union’s Center for Jewish Studies.Deena’s deeply informedteaching,coupledwith her unfailingly warmsupport,gavemetheopportunitytorecovertherichnessanddepthofan immense premodern Jewish heritage that was totally new to me. IalsowanttonotetheGraduateTheologicalUnion’sgenerosityinaccording me the status of VisitingScholarover the last several post-graduate years,thus affording me ready access to its Florence Lamson Hewlett Library as well as to the University of California’s immense research resources. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110731965-001 VIII Acknowledgments Finally,Ioweadeepdebtofgratitudetomyfriends.Proceedingbychoiceas anindependentscholarinmypost-MAphase(Iwasn’tsureifIhadenoughyears leftinmetosubmittotherigorsofaPh.D.programandthenembarkonabook project),Ireliedontheindispensiblesupportandencouragementofthefriends I made during mygraduate student years tosee me through. I highlightin par- ticularthecontributionsofSusanAguilarandSarahCramsey.Bothwereconsis- tently there for me,offering numerous stimulating and insightful comments on myvariousdraftingdilemmas,makingmelaugh,andingeneralprovidingmuch needed intellectual companionship and personal support despite the demands of their own busy schedules as newly minted PhDs forging new careers. Other fellow students from my GTU days, Nicholas Baer and Shaina Hammerman, cheered me on from afar as they pursued their own career paths. Reachingoutmorewidely,IwanttomentionmyfriendEvaLipman,whoin thelastyearsoftheprojectunstintinglygiftedmewithherstrongliterarysensi- bilities as she critiqued various iterations of my manuscript. I also especially want to thank my friends Bernie and Roz Steinberg,who unfailingly and with greatsensitivitysupportedmysometimesuncertainpiecingtogetherofaJewish identityarisingoutofacontestedJewishbackground.Finally,Imustfurtherac- knowledge my friend Paul Veres, jack of all trades,who transformed my often tattered family photos into a serviceable high resolution and worked with me tocreateforthemabeautifullayout.Ialsoneedtomentionmyyogacommunity attheBerkeleyYogaCenterandmymanyfriendsatCongregationBethEl,allof whomremainedunfailinglysupportiveofmyeffortswhetherornottheyunder- stoodwhatIwasdoing.Theywerethestuffofmydailylife,andareimportantto me. Turningatlasttomyfamily,Iremaingratefulfromthebottomofmyheartto all my twenty-five interviewees, my brothers, sisters, daughter, nephews, and nieces.TheirthoughtsontheirownidiosyncraticrelationshiptooursharedJew- ishheritageareatthecoreofthis project,andIcouldnothavedoneitwithout them. Icount the memories of myexperienceswith each of them, myclose rel- atives, suffused with the warmth and hospitality they unfailingly displayed, as among the most cherished of my life. Special mention goes out tomybrother Thomas Kuttner, myfellow traveler in this sometimes painful family reclamation project. His deep archival knowl- edgeofourfamily’shistory,hisimmediategraspoftheimportanceofthisproj- ectnotonlytoourfamilybutalsototheJewishcommunityatlarge,hisgenerous appraisalsofmyunfoldingworkproduct,informedbyhisowndeepscholarship, have been an enormous benefit to me over the years. Last,butbynomeansleast,Ioweahugedebtofgratitudetomyhusband, BarrySilverblatt.Withouthisunfailingsupportandencouragement,hiswilling- Acknowledgments IX nesstoserveasmyroadieaswetraversedthecontinentcreatingvideotapedin- terviewsofmyfar-flungrelatives,hisalwaysavailablesharp-eyedproofreading, hisabsolutelyirreplaceablecomputerknowledgecomingtomyrescuetimeand timeagain,hiswillingnesstoallowmetodisappearformonthsonendintoour studywhileheforgedonalonewithonlyESPNforcompanionship,hisrock-and- rollpresenceattheendofalonghardweek,andaboveall,hisdead-onsenseof humor, I don’t know if I could have finished this project.Thank you.
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