Stuffed Derma?

Just in case anyone was, like me, wondering what "stuffed derma" actually looks like...

... it's kishkas!!! Enjoy--

New York Meat Riots: Women Voiced

With the Meat Riots in May of 1902, young housewives in their 30's developed a voice and recognition that they too could participate in political activism. The women even interrupted the Torah reading so they could promulgate their very real struggle. Apparent in the riots is that these women cared deeply about the price of meat, considering that meat went up from 12 cents to 18 cents. Here is a NY Times headline from 17 May 1902:

Also, here is a New York Times article from 26 May 1902, explaining the events of the previous day with regard to the Meat Riots. The Butchers wanted to open their doors, but needed police protection in order to do so. The article contains many statements, particularly from the (Ladies) Anti-(Beef) Trust Association.

Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Following up as well on the theme of LA Jewish history, I was curious about Rabbi Edgar Magnin (who apparently delivered the inaugural prayer for President Nixon in 1969!?!) and Wilshire Boulevard Temple.

There's a documentary out now about the restoration of WBT's historic synagogue in Koreatown. Here's a clip from the film:


Edit Feb 28: I had the chance to see the entire film last Thursday night and it was wonderful, moving me nearly to tears. Director Aaron Wolf tells the story of the renovation as one of the institution, but also as one in which he reconnected with his own grandparents who had been intimately involved in the history of the synagogue. Their involvement was both personal and professional, as Wolf is the grandson of Rabbi Alfred Wolf, who started the WBT Temple Camps, and was one of the "gang of five" rabbis that were brought to HUC in the 30s from Germany.

American Jews: The True Hollywood Story

Although this article clearly reflects from present day into the past, it demonstrates what William Toll focuses on in his article about Pacific Jewry with regard to Los Angeles Jews and their impact on the entertainment industry. Haaretz published the article in anticipation of the 86th Academy Awards in 2014, but provided a concise history of Jewish influence on entertainment. Clearly, the Jewish community participated in facilitating the growth of the film industry and also the culture around it. In fact, the article continues to portray the difficulty Jews faced in the entertainment industry and how those problems were dealt with over time.

Also, please find this youtube video, entitled: An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood, which tells the history of the Jewish experience in Hollywood, and the review of the book version of the same story here.

Moses at Yosemite

So apparently there are some pretty famous stained glass windows in San Francisco Jewish history. Here's one of them from Congregation Sherith Israel:



Does it look to anybody else like Moses is next to an American flag? This blogger seems to think he looks like John Muir, which I find pretty accurate as well. I went to read a little more about this window, and here's what we get from Sherith Israel themselves:

West window: This dramatic work, "Moses Presented the Ten Commandments to the Children of Israel," was designed by Paris-trained artist Emile Pissis, brother of architect Albert Pissis. Emile created a movie-star handsome Moses, red robe flowing, surrounded by vibrant tribal flags and the Hebrew people. But instead of standing at Sinai, the Jewish people are gathered on granite rocks at the gateway to Yosemite, Half Dome and El Capitan in the distance. This is a modern Moses, and California is the Promised Land.

Tablet Article on 19th Century American Jews

 Phenomenal article today from Tablet (http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/197758/subversive-jews-american-culture) about an exhibit at Princton University Art Museum (http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/1655). If you are still looking for someone to do a eulogy on, this would be a good place to start. The section on author Samuel Benjamin Helbert Judah is great. He sent a copy of his magnum opus to John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and their letters back to him are hilarious (TLDR: they didn't like it).

Two favorite excerpts from the article:
"The collection encourages a shift away from the all-too-prevalent focus upon the “image of the Jew”—meaning the study of the Jew as object—and underscores the agency of Jews, their role as creators and shapers of the nascent national culture."

"The bulk of Jews in antebellum America, even if they differed from the mainstream in matters of religion, were, of course, far from subversive. They kept their heads down and their mouths shut. Seeking to win their neighbors’ respect, they strove mightily to behave well. But they too paid a price. Their names go unrecorded in the annals of American Jewish culture and they left nothing for Leonard Milberg to collect. The moral, proclaimed by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich with respect to women, is no less true with respect to Jews: the well-behaved ones seldom made history."

Tsenah u'renah

Found this really interesting article and site when I was looking for more information on the tsenah u'renah. The Jewish Women's Archive appears to have some really good information and resources (there is a link to their homepage on the right side of our blog under What's Up with American Jews)
Here is a link to the Jewish Women's Archive Encyclopedia entry for the tsenah u'renah. http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/zeenah-u-reenah
I would be really curious to find out what other "bibles" for popular consumption were prominent during this period. What kind of biblical literacy or religious community did the Calof's Christian neighbors have in comparison?

Rachel Calof has Facebook!

In hunting for clues as to where the Calof clan is in the 21st Century, I found that there is a facebook site for the Rachel Calof Homestead:

The page largely shows snapshots of her grandchildren and great-children, visiting the site of her former home.

Rachel Calof's 7th child, Alec (aka Alex). Here is his 2nd child (Rachel's granddaughter), Suzanne Prass, with 2 of her 4 children and 7 of their 8 children standing on the homestead site. — withJennifer Frost Prass, Laverne Calof, Ruth Prass,Alexis Prass Seiler, David Prass and Lyla Ann Prassat Rachel Calof Homestead Site.

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Calof-Homestead-Site/517362345056139

Pregnancy/Birth Superstitions

I was intrigued by the various customs and superstitions (some of which Rachel Caloff held by, some of which she dismissed but her mother-in-law did not) mentioned in our reading. I found this article on tablet about where some of these ideas come from and how they are still expressed.
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/90417/pregnant-pause
Look for a comment by Rabbi Adler (albeit a comment that I was sort of surprised by and should ask her about).
Also I like our nickname, "Pirkoi ben Baboi," better than "Go-go" for our prospective addition to the cohort.

Jewish Farming Before Urban Adamah Made It Trendy

In sympathy with the plight of Rachel Calof and family that we read in harrowing detail this week, I wondered what, if any, institutional support existed for Jewish farmers prior to World War II.

I found a feature in Tablet magazine on the Jewish Agricultural Society,  an organization founded in New York in 1900 by a German Jewish philanthropist, Baron Maurice de Hirsch. 

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/75488/farmville

De Hirsch apparently devoted a large part of his fortune to helping Eastern European Jews escape anti-Semitism in their home countries and settle on American pastures, far away from the cities’ tenements. The society provided loans for purchasing land, seeds, and equipment and offered practical education to the settlers, many of whom had minimal prior experience as farmers. (As we read this week.)  It even published a magazine in Yiddish and English called The Jewish Farmer.  See above. Though it concentrated its efforts in the New York area, it apparently was also influential in help place farmers on established farms throughout the country, including the Dakotas.

Jon Stewart on 19th century immigration

One of the Jewy-er (and that’s saying something) clips from the Daily Show on the immigrant experience in America. The whole clip is amazing, but this is posted particularly for the section from minute 4:06 on. 

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/q7gcyp/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-it-was-the-best-of-times--it-was-the-best-of-times