Jenna Weissman Joselit, an author and curator who teaches American and modern Jewish studies at Princeton University, was scholar-in-residence March 21 and 22 at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen.
April 08, 2008
Having “the freedom to observe and the freedom to neglect” has allowed American Jewry to form its own unique rituals and identity, says a historian who studies the community’s profound — and sometimes ephemeral — behaviors.
These innovations range, said Dr. Jenna Weissman Joselit, from the bat mitzva to gastronomic Judaism — or what she defines as “the heightened importance of defining your Jewishness in terms of food — gefilte fish, bagels, corned beef.”
“American-Jewish life has been responsive to the larger currents of the outside society,” said Joselit, including adapting to the United States’ consumer culture and “rather unique” strong sense of individualism and self-expression.
Joselit, who teaches American- and modern Jewish studies at Princeton University, spoke on these trends as a scholar-in residence at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen March 21 and 22.
Her talks focused on the behaviors she explored in two books, A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character and the Promise of America and The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture, 1880-1950, and in the monthly column she writes for the Forward newspaper.
In her books she writes of “material culture” — fashion, home decorating, celebrations, toys — and how they both reflect Jewish identity and help change it.
“I presented a whole series of challenges about how to keep Jewish identity intact, how to honor two cultures, and how to honor the past while keeping true to the future,” said Joselit in a phone interview after the talks.
“I don’t know if [the future is] bright or dim, but I like to think this is part of the transformational nature of Jewish culture and we will continue to keep our identity,” she said. “Jewish identity has been continuously changing since the first century. This is no different than what went on in Babylonia, Egypt, or Persia. Jews have responded with changes in ritual practices, and what is happening in this country” is all part of that continuum of change.
‘Spectacular story’
In her talk with NJJN, Joselit also described the intersection of religion, pop culture, and politics by using the example of the Ten Commandments — a subject she is researching for a new book.
She said American popular culture has long had a fascination with the Decalogue and Moses, from the 1923 and 1956 Cecil B. DeMille films, to their incorporation into national laws and institutions.
“The Ten Commandments is a spectacular story that lends itself to movies,” said Joselit, who recently was distinguished visiting professor at the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress while researching the book.
By 2005, however, the Supreme Court was hearing challenges to public displays of the Ten Commandments by government institutions.
“For earlier generations, having the Ten Commandments in a public square was fine and dandy,” explained Joselit. “For this generation, with the rise of secularism on one hand and the rise of the religious Right on the other, it’s become a political football. It reflects America’s changes in reaction to religion.”
Jews, like other Americans, are split on the issue, according Joselit. More traditional Jews tend to be “more responsive to the Ten Commandments on the public square”; more liberal Jews tend to favor a strict separation of church and state.
“She was a wonderful speaker in terms of Jewish culture,” said Neve Shalom’s cantor, Sheldon Levin, who oversaw the program.
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