bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Self-Assembly, Chromic Properties, and Nanostructure Formation of Tetrathiafulvalene-Fused Dodecadehydro[18]annulenes
Authors: Enozawa Hideo , Takahashi Takeshi , Nishinaga Tohru , Kato Tadashi , Hasegawa Masashi , Iyoda Masahiko
Published: October 2012

Multifunctional dodecadehydrotris(tetrathiafulvaleno)[18]annulenes 1b–1d, which have six peripheral butylthio substituents or six ester substituents, were synthesized together with the corresponding [12]annulene 2c. The [18]annulenes 1b–1d easily formed stacked dimers and higher oligomers in solution via nanoscopic phase separation among the π-frame, ester or alkylthio substituents, and inner sphere to show solvatochromism and thermochromism. Furthermore, the strong self-aggregation of their oxidized radical cations in solution resulted in electrochromism depending on the formation of various types of mixed-valence states and π-dimers. Interestingly, self-aggregation of the [18]annulenes 1b–1d in amphiphilic media such as THF–H2O either produced fibrous structures in the case of the hexabutylthio derivative 1b and hexabutyl ester 1c or resulted in the temperature hysteresis of the color, UV–vis absorptions, and 1H NMR signals obtained in solution in the case of the hexaoctyl ester 1d which forms no fiber and precipitate under similar conditions. It is noted that fibers of the hexabutyl ester 1c can be aligned in a magnetic field using the large diamagnetic response of the [18]annulene frame for the driving force. A small difference in the substituents of 1b–1d causes a remarkable change in either their solvato- and electrochromism or nanostructure formation of 1b–1d based on the self-assembling nature both in solution and in the solid state.
Preparation, Crystal Structures, and Behavior in Solution of Cobalt(III) Complexes Containing 2-Cyanoethylphosphines: trans-[Co(Me2dtc)2{P(CH2CH2CN)nPh3−n}]BF4 (n = 1–3; Me2dtc−: N,N-Dimethyldithiocarbamate)
Authors: Kihara Keiko , Suzuki Takayoshi , Kita Masakazu , Sunatsuki Yukinari , Kojima Masaaki , Takagi Hideo D
Published: October 2012

A series of cobalt(III) complexes containing 2-cyanoethylphosphines, [Co(Me2dtc)2{P(CH2CH2CN)nPh3−n}2]BF4 {Me2dtc−: N,N-dimethyldithiocarbamate; n = 1 (1), 2 (2), and 3 (3)} have been prepared, and their molecular structures in the crystals and in solution have been characterized. X-ray analysis revealed that all complexes isolated as single-crystals were the trans-isomers. The Co–P bond lengths for the 2-cyanoethylphosphines in complexes 1–3 are almost invariant to the number of 2-cyanoethyl substituent groups. Unlike related complexes with other monodentate P-donor ligands, complexes 1–3 in solution showed dissociation and isomerization equilibriums, which were achieved immediately after dissolving the crystals. These characteristic features of the complexes would result from the weak σ-donor and π-acceptor abilities of 2-cyanoethylphosphines. Furthermore, mixing of complex 1 and NaN3 in acetonitrile gave cis-[Co(Me2dtc)2(N3){P(CH2CH2CN)Ph2}] quantitatively, and refluxing the mixture resulted in the phosphine–tetrazolate complex, [Co(Me2dtc)2(Ph2PCH2CH2CN4-κ2P,N1)] (4).
'His Princess': An Arthurian Family Drama
Authors: Kaufman Amy S.
Published: October 2012

Modesty movements in the United States have begun to rely on a fragmented and bowdlerized pastiche of Arthuriana to enforce the chastity of adolescent girls and elevate the status of fathers. The Purity Ball, which functions as the official public ceremony of modesty movements, inscribes the young girl's body as a holy grail with the power to heal her father's wounded manhood.
The Girl's King Arthur : Retelling Tales
Authors: Lupack Barbara Tepa
Published: October 2012

Juvenile Arthurian literature has long assumed young male readers as its primary audience and highlighted knightly deeds as examples of virtue for boys to imitate. But recent works such as The Girl's King Arthur have examined the Arthurian tales from a new perspective and given voice to the women of Camelot.
Helping Girls to Be Heroic?: Some Recent Arthurian Fiction for Young Adults
Authors: Tolhurst Fiona
Published: October 2012

Study of the female protagonists in several post-2000 novels for young adults reveals that Morris and Reeve provide healthy and flexible models of gender roles and gender identity. In contrast, McKenzie, Springer, and Wood provide restrictive and old-fashioned ones while Kemp presents a dangerously negative model of womanhood.
When King Arthur is PG 13
Authors: Davidson Roberta
Published: October 2012

In a study of the patterns prevalent in contemporary Arthurian literature by women authors, I examine the depictions of women by women, trace the development of trends over time, and suggest that the representation of positive role models for younger female readers is problematic.
The Queens of Avalon: William Forbush's Arthurian Antidote
Authors: Finke Laurie A. , Aronstein Susan
Published: October 2012

William Byron Forbush founded The Queens of Avalon in 1894 as a parallel organization to his Knights of the Round Table, to construct courtly ladies worthy of his chivalric knights. This essay examines the group's interpretation of Arthurian legend, founding principles, rituals and material culture in the context of Forbush's own anxieties about 'modern' girls and larger early-twentieth-century discussions of the 'girl problem.' For Forbush, the Queens of Avalon was the perfect 'antidote' to this problem as it returned girls to an idealized medieval past to teach them to perform their 'role in modern chivalry': inspiring and refining knights.
Can Consortial Reference Partners Answer Your Local Users' Library Questions?
Authors: Bishop Bradley Wade
Published: October 2012

The purpose of this article is to explore location-based questions as a weakness of virtual reference consortia and discuss how to mitigate related issues. Content analysis of how both local and non-local academic librarians responded to location-based questions provides insight into considerations academic libraries must make when participating in a virtual reference consortia. Unobtrusive testing analyzed the local knowledge assumption that non-local librarians have difficulty answering questions about libraries beyond their own. The results from these two methods indicate academic librarians have some difficulties providing responses to library location-based questions and a discussion on overcoming this weakness is included.
Rising Tides: Faculty Expectations of Library Websites
Authors: Nicol Erica Carlson , O'English Mark
Published: October 2012

Looking at 2003-2009 LibQUAL+ responses at research-oriented universities in the United States, faculty library users report a significant and consistent rise in desires and expectations for library-provided online tools and websites, even as student user groups show declining or leveling expectations. While faculty, like students, also report increased satisfaction with current library-provided online tools and resources, the marked difference between the expectations of faculty and student users is an important one. Rising faculty expectations highlight the importance of strengthening communication and connection with faculty users so that libraries can retain relevancy in the academic environment.
Troublesome Concepts and Information Literacy: Investigating Threshold Concepts for IL Instruction
Authors: Hofer Amy R. , Townsend Lori , Brunetti Korey
Published: October 2012

Librarians regularly encounter students who struggle to understand and apply information literacy concepts. A qualitative survey administered to information literacy practitioners asked about troublesome content and analyzed results using the threshold concepts pedagogical framework first described by Jan Meyer and Ray Land. A threshold concept transforms the learner's view of content and helps integrate previously learned material; threshold concepts are portals that, once traversed, bring insight into how to think and act like a practitioner within a discipline. This project uses the data collected to propose seven threshold concepts for information literacy.
Employment Opportunities for New Academic Librarians: Assessing the Availability of Entry Level Jobs
Authors: Tewell Eamon C.
Published: October 2012

This study examines the availability of entry level positions in academic libraries to better illuminate the status of the job market for current students and recent graduates of Library & Information Science programs. Over a twelve month period from 2010—2011, 1385 job advertisements were collected, with content analysis methods used to evaluate each advertisement by level of position, institution type, location, department, and job type. Findings revealed one-fifth of jobs advertised to be entry level, with seventy percent of all positions offered by universities, and public services accounting for more than sixty percent of entry level employment opportunities. Further research was conducted by contacting Human Resources departments at 33 institutions to ascertain the experience backgrounds of successful hires.
The Future Role of Publishing Services in University Libraries
Authors: Walters Tyler
Published: October 2012

This study explores possible futures for university-based library publishing services (LPS) and uses scenario planning as its research method. The study posits that the major force in developing LPS is the level of funding from the host university, with the most uncertain factor being whether faculty will adopt LPS. The study participants comprised university library directors, library managers responsible for publishing services, and library association personnel and consultants involved in publishing. Many participants saw collaborating with multiple libraries and other stakeholder organizations to establish publishing cooperatives as essential. Issues discussed include whether university libraries will embrace this role, faculties' level of satisfaction with existing services, divergent disciplinary experiences, opportunism as a mechanism to develop services, technology challenges, international dynamics, traditional vs. new forms of scholarly publishing, and publishing cost considerations.
Teaching Judaism in Three Weeks: Selectivity and the Position of the Instructor
Authors: Gold Penny S.
Published: October 2012

I write this essay with the hope of opening a discussion with colleagues about the difficult choices one makes when teaching about Judaism in an introductory-level comparative religion course. What is most important to include, when what we teach in one course may be all a person ever learns about Judaism? This question is a variation of what we ask for every course we teach, always making tiny selections from vast resources. Yet the selection process is especially challenging in such a course because of conflicts in perspective between students and teacher, audience and "author": the students are mostly Christian, while I, the teacher, am Jewish; they want to learn about the present, while I think we must learn first about the past to understand the present. How can I remain true to myself while structuring a course that fits the needs and concerns of my students?
The Dilemma of German-Jewish Youths in the Third Reich: The Case of the Bund deutsch-jüdische Jugend 1933-1935
Authors: Sharfman Glenn R.
Published: October 2012

This essay covers the largest Jewish youth organization in Nazi Germany. During the early years of the Nazi regime many young Jews chose to join Zionist organizations which not only aimed to educate Jews about Jewish history and heritage but also had the goal of facilitating their move to Palestine. The BdjJ was different in its determination to remain in Germany despite the ever-increasing hostility. Through looking at its journal and talking to some of its leaders, I have tried to recount some of the dilemmas that a non-Zionist group faced under the tightening terror of the Nazis. The group was steadfast in its devotion to remain loyal to its country, but it was equally interested in infusing its members with knowledge and pride in Judaism so that they could better function in a society that was rapidly becoming both hostile and exclusive regarding young German Jews.
The Scholar as Daughter: Growing up in a Rabbinical Family
Authors: Baskin Judith R.
Published: October 2012

In this memoir, the author considers how her childhood in Hamilton, Ontario as the daughter of an American-born Reform rabbi and his wife shaped her career and research choices. She believes that her consciousness of otherness—as the child of Americans in a Canadian setting, as a Jew in overwhelmingly gentile society, and as a Reform Jew in a more traditionally oriented Canadian Jewish community—led to her scholarly interests in how both Jews and women have been perceived as anomalous in various times and places. Baskin also discusses how growing up as the daughter of community leaders and as a representative Jew in a place where Jews were a small minority prepared her to be a public person and an expositor of Jewish beliefs and traditions for both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences.
Introduction: A Field of Jewish Geography
Authors: Jacobs Neil G.
Published: October 2012

This paper provides discussion about the geographic component in the study of Jewish civilization. Jewish geography—like the human geography of any people or civilization—is to be viewed in terms of the interaction of both internal and external factors. This paper outlines several of these factors and contextualizes the consideration of Jewish geography within Jewish academic research.
On the Uses of Yiddish Language Geography
Authors: King Robert D.
Published: October 2012

There are a number of Yiddish linguistic atlases in existence, the most comprehensive of which is the Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry ( LCAAJ ) now being published in its entirety. Often thought to be useful to linguists alone, these language-atlas materials on the contrary are a rich source of invaluable information useful to historians, sociologists, folklorists, and other scholars of Jewish history and culture. Examples discussed come from LCAAJ data on the eating habits and food taboos among the Jews of pre-World War II Eastern Europe—the preparation of gefilte fish and farfl —and Yiddish dialect variation in Eastern Europe. Yiddish dialect geography is a valuable resource for all scholars of Jewish history and culture and not linguists alone.
Alterity, Authenticity, and Jewish Identity
Authors: Charmé Stuart Z.
Published: October 2012

The crisis of modern Jewish identity is a reflection of the erosion and instability of all cultural identities and the difficulties they encounter preserving a boundary between themselves and others. The dimensions of Jewish difference, or alterity, are central elements within modern constructions of Jewish identity, though the nature and substance of that difference has become increasingly problematic. Jean-Paul Sartre's analysis of Jewish identity fifty years ago embraced Jewish alterity as an oasis of existential authenticity that symbolized a challenge to the dominant essentialistic identities of European societies. More recently, American filmmaker Woody Allen as well as French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut have presented contrasting depictions of the place of difference within Jewish identity that derive from Sartre's analysis. Whereas Allen's Jewish characters represent updated versions of Sartre's portraits of authentic and inauthentic Jews, Finkielkraut identifies an element of Sartrean bad faith in those post-holocaust Jews who had hoped that proclamations of Jewish difference would be sufficient to provide them with proud and secure identities.
Searching for A Woman's Voice in Responsa Literature
Authors: Joseph Norma Baumel
Published: October 2012

This paper will address and illustrate the problems and process of investigating women's religious lives by using Jewish legal texts known as responsa. The most significant problem with legal texts is that women's voices are not heard. In terms of responsa specifically, women ask the questions and live with the decision, but they do not create and have no part in the creation of the legal text. As a test case, I will explore a series of responsa written by Rabbi Moses Feinstein, attempting to lift the veil of silence that covers these women. The women do not talk directly to us; but their condition does. The methodological question remains: how much of women's voice do we hear; how much can we claim to be suggestive of their situation and experience.
Orienting the Mappa Mundi in Judaism's Earliest Traditions
Authors: Meier Samuel A.
Published: October 2012

Ancient Israelites, echoing a variety of options in the ancient Near East, endorsed an assortment of valorized reference points for the cosmos in the north, south, east, and west. The book of Genesis, for example, presents movement eastward as calamitous and movement westward as beneficial. For several centuries after the middle of the first millennium B.C.E., however, an emphatic orthodoxy began to emerge, and competing perspectives were gradually eliminated.
Bris Mila, Desire and Levinas
Authors: Cohen Richard A.
Published: October 2012

Bris mila, like all Jewish spirituality, signifies as a sanctification/humanization of vital energies, in this case of the male gendered body, on the model of Talmudic hermeneutics, exegesis, commentary, i.e., respecting the transcendence and integral unity of future and past, public and private, spirit and letter, holy and mundane.
Jam Every Other Day: Reflections on Twenty Years as a Conservative Jewish Feminist
Authors: Weisberg Dvora
Published: October 2012

Twenty-five years ago, a group known as Ezrat Nashim challenged the Conservative movement to provide women with equal access to the religious and educational institutions of Conservative Judaism. While most of the demands made by Ezrat Nashim have now been met, the Conservative movement has by no means achieved the full integration of women into religious life. Moreover, it is unclear how Conservative Judaism has responded to feminism; has the Movement become "engendered" or has it merely allowed women to do those things previously restricted to men? This article explores the impact of feminism on Conservative Judaism from the personal perspective of the author, a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary and an active Conservative Jew.
The Desert As Focus for Ethical Exploration: Ahad Ha'am and Baba Mezia 62A
Authors: Millen Rochelle L.
Published: October 2012

This paper analyzes the talmudic text Baba Mezia 62a, which focuses upon a well-known ethical dilemma situated in the desert. The dilemma, dissected by Ahad Ha'am in his 1910 essay "Judaism and the Gospels," becomes a focal point not only for careful textual analysis, but also for an examination of Jewish and Christian notions of altruism.
A Methodology for Examining the Changing Size and Spatial Distribution of a Jewish Population: A Miami Case Study
Authors: Sheskin Ira M.
Published: October 2012

The major purpose of this article is to describe a procedure, termed the "Distinctive Jewish Name (DJN) Historical Mapping Technique," for estimating the Jewish population of an area historically and to demonstrate the value of this procedure, using Miami (Dade County) as a case study. This paper suggests that DJNs, despite the problems inherent in their use, are an acceptable method for examining the changing spatial distribution of a Jewish population over time. Nothing in this paper should be construed as implying that the use of DJNs is the preferred procedure for 1) sampling for demographic studies or 2) estimating current Jewish population size. Random digit dialing (RDD) is the superior technique in both cases.
Comparative Philosophical Approaches to Salvation: An Examination of a Particular Instance of Interreligious Experience
Authors: Krell Marc A.
Published: October 2012

This paper explores the functional approaches to religion of the modern Jewish and Christian thinkers, Mordecai Kaplan and Robert Neville, who attempt to bridge the gap between their particular and universal conceptions of salvation. They view salvation as a process of reintegration by the individual with his or her community, other civilizations, and nature in a sanctified, heterogeneous whole. By redefining the term "covenant," Kaplan and Neville each attempt to preserve the soteriological purpose of his religion without endangering its connection to the outside world. However, by drawing upon common theological motifs, these religious thinkers tend to perpetuate an ongoing Jewish-Christian dialectic in which each religion is both attracted to and repulsed by the other. Nonetheless, Kaplan and Neville lay the groundwork for a Jewish-Christian relationship in which self and other remain intact.
Integrating Jewish and Feminist Educational Goals
Authors: Fishman Sylvia Barack
Published: October 2012

Recent research has emphasized the central role of Jewish education in forming and maintaining a strong Jewish identity. This essay examines several approaches which integrate intensive Jewish education and feminist goals. While focusing upon specific curricular objectives—women in Jewish history and female biblical figures—, the essay also stresses the use of feminist analysis and contemporary women's scholarship as means to a more gender-equal Jewish educational environment. The challlenges of merging Jewish and feminist educational aims are thus addressed.
Jewish Place and Placelessness: Historical and Academic Challenges (or "What the Study of Jewish Space and Place Suggests to Me about the Aztecs")
Authors: Jones Lindsay
Published: October 2012

This article explores ways in which insights developed within the field of Jewish geography raise important challenges both for the general history of religions and for more tightly focused studies of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican sacred space and architecture. Of particular concern are the ways in which Jonathan Z. Smith's exposure of the serious limitations of applying Mircea Eliade's famous model of sacred space to the specifics of Jewish sacred geography give Americanist scholars pause to reconsider the application of those familiar Eliadean categories to the case of the Aztecs' main temple and ceremonial precinct.
A Gazetteer of Yiddish Place Names: Review Essay
Authors: Baker Zachary M.
Published: October 2012

Seyfer haprenumerantn , by Berl Kagan, is a work of great utility for anyone interested in European Yiddish toponymy, Jewish genealogy, and the history of Hebrew printing and publishing. While Kagan's primary purpose is to document popular support of rabbinic literature in Europe and North Africa from the late 18th century until World War II, his book also comes closer than any other to serving as a gazetteer of Yiddish place-names. A total of 8,767 place-names are listed, mostly in Yiddish (or Yiddish transcriptions from other languages), with a separate section for Judeo-Arabic. As such, Seyfer haprenumerantn represents by far the largest published compilation of Yiddish toponyms in existence.
Biblical Quotations in Muslim Religious Literature: A Perspective of Dogma and Politics
Authors: 'Athamina Khalil
Published: October 2012

Jewish and Christian religious material from the Old and New Testament and other Midrashic works was absorbed into Muslim literature to serve manifold aims. Quotations from the Old Testament, which constitute the lion's share of the quoted material, were designed to corroborate some dogmatic issues in Islam. Verses from the Books of Genesis and Deuteronomy, as well as verses from the later prophets, Isaiah, Habakkuk, and Haggai, were intended mainly to prove the authenticity of the mission of Muhammad and the truthfulness of his prophecy. Quotations from the Book of John came to convince the ordinary Muslim believer that the name of Muhammad was mentioned in the Bible, and to confirm that Jesus had already foretold his coming. Other quotations served controversial political factions and oppositional parties. The Shi'ite faction especially made extensive use of the biblical material to corroborate their claims for the throne in the Muslim state. The use of the biblical material was not restricted only to dogmatic or political goals; rather, it was deliberately used to strengthen the scholars' argumentation in questions of theology, historicity, genealogy, morality, ethics, editing, literature, etc.
In Search of the Land of the Fathers: Galicia, the Bukovina, and Eastern European Jewry in the Works of Contemporary German and Austrian Authors and Filmmakers
Authors: Lorenz Dagmar C. G.
Published: October 2012

The article "In Search of the Land of the Fathers" discusses strategies used by German-speaking authors of the post-Shoah era to examine their East European roots and their attempts to reconstruct an Ashkenazic homeland by traveling to their parents' home countries. The films and prose narratives of the authors under discussion reveal the desire and ultimately the failure to identify themselves through European history and the destroyed Ashkenazic culture.
Leadership and Control Within an American Jewish Communist Front: The Case of the ICOR
Authors: Srebrnik Henry
Published: October 2012

The Jewish Communist movement in the United States consisted of various groups which championed the goals of the Soviet Union. One such organization was the ICOR; while it involved itself in the various struggles of the Communist left, its main aim was to provide support for the Soviet project to establish a Jewish socialist republic in Birobidzhan. By the mid-1930s it claimed a membership of 11,000, mainly first- and second-generation Yiddish-speaking Jews of east European origin, and it had become a tangible presence in the Jewish community. The ICOR's decision-making structure was organized along Communist lines, and its allegiance to that ideology placed limits on its freedom of manoeuvre. Hence its leadership pursued an agenda ultimately shaped by non-Jewish concerns, and the organization collapsed soon after the onset of the Cold War and the exposure of the Birobidzhan scheme as largely fraudulent.
Women's Voices in Holocaust Literary Memoirs
Authors: Goldenberg Myrna
Published: October 2012

Holocaust literary memoirs by women reveal distinct gendered differences in the experience of men and women in Nazi concentration camps. These differences are the result of obvious biological differences (e.g., childbirth, menstruation), as well as subtle socially derived differences (e.g., household and mothering skills), which simultaneously disadvantaged and empowered the women. While women's literary memoirs unequivocally demonstrate the inherent perversity of Nazism, they also evoke issues that spark controversies related to gender-based analyses. As in other literary memoirs, women's memoirs raise the persistent challenge of art to express the unimaginable and unthinkable.
Unexplored Terrain: The History of Small Jewish Communities in Western Society
Authors: Weissbach Lee Shai
Published: October 2012

Although scholars studying the modern Jewish experience have devoted considerable attention to the history of major Jewish communities such as those of New York and Paris, they have paid relatively little attention to smaller Jewish communities in Western society. Focusing on France and the United States, this article draws attention to the significance of the small Jewish communities that developed in the West in the century and a half following the age of the democratic revolutions. The essay comments on the scholarship of local Jewish history to demonstrate how smaller Jewish centers have been largely ignored, it explores a few of the questions that can be raised about the history of these less visible Jewish centers, and it reflects upon the value of studying small Jewish communities from a comparative perspective.
Rassenpolitik in National Socialist Cinema
Authors: Stargardt Ute
Published: October 2012

"Rassenpolitik in National Socialist Cinema" emphasizes the alacrity of the German film industry's compliance with Adolf Hitler's genocidal policies and its position as Nazi Germany's most effective propaganda device in the state's effort to win popular approval of its destruction of "life undeserving of life." In so doing, the article refutes notions of the "marginal" nature of racial slurs routinely inserted in Nazi feature films compared to the corrosive effect of the infamous Nazi cinema subgenre of antisemitic film. Far from innocuous, these snippets were an important part of the industry's design to vilify people slated for eventual destruction. The article explores the industry's ploy of justifying its activities as its timely response to popular mandates when in fact no such mandates had been granted. Far from exculpating the movie-going public from having supported the industry's relentless propagandistic assault, however, the article closes with a brief discussion of the continued success of directors, actors, and actresses most prominently engaged in this shameful enterprise.
Midrash She Wrote: Jewish Women's Writing on the Bible
Authors: Reinhartz Adele
Published: October 2012

Recent years have witnessed a rapidly increasing number of books and articles on the Hebrew Bible written by Jewish women. This article considers a number of recent works written for academic and non-academic audiences which illustrate the range and variety of Jewish women's writing on the Bible. To provide some focus within this diverse group, the survey will concentrate on works which reflect on the biblical portrayal of the matriarch Sarah. In each case, the purpose, method, and content will be surveyed briefly in order to uncover the ways in which the writer situates herself with respect to the Bible, the Jewish and academic interpretive traditions, and the relevance of the biblical material to contemporary Jewish women.
Keeping Yiddish Alive: The Workmen's Circle in Des Moines, Iowa, 1930-1952
Authors: Pollak Oliver B.
Published: October 2012

The Workmen's Circle, founded in New York in the 1890s, spread throughout America's urban pockets of Yiddish-speaking, immigrant-laboring left. The Circle provided health and death benefit insurance, a forum to discuss socialist issues, and fellowship for men, women, and children. Although the Des Moines Circle branch did not leave an independent historical record, the weekly Iowa Jewish News and the activities of the New York office and Omaha branches permit a reconstruction of the social, political, and communal activities of this small group of Yiddish-speaking Jews confronted with assimilation, the Depression, World War II, and the Holocaust.
Your Promised Land, Your Life: American Jewish Women Writers Reflect upon Zion
Authors: Zierler Wendy
Published: October 2012

How does Zion figure in the construction of the Jewish female authorial self or the representation of personal identity? Is there a distinct and traceable history of Jewish women's figurations of Zion? This paper aims to answer these questions through an examination of three texts: Mary Antin's The Promised Land (1912), Adrienne Rich's Your Native Land, Your Life (1986), and Anne Roiphe's Lovingkindness (1987). All three of these works contain autobiographical elements, and all three deploy images of Zion to clarify or represent personal identity. In each of them, however, Zion means something different. Read together, they trace the development of Zion as a figure from a melting pot nation to an alternative to American secularism and secular feminism. Lovingkindness, in particular, represents the beginning of a "womanist" trend in Jewish-American women's writing—the search for a meaningful Jewish identity alongside feminist self-realization.
The Posen Factor
Authors: Levenson Alan
Published: October 2012

"The Posen Factor" calls attention to the disproportionate and prominent role played in Jewish life during the Imperial period by Jews from the most "Jewish" part of the German Empire. Posen Jewry, in between German and Austro-Hungarian models, gave a special flavor to the community and proved a potent mixture of Jewish leadership.
Nissim Aloni's Heroines: Defusing the Grotesque through the Theatrical in Modern Israeli Drama
Authors: Weisman Yaffa
Published: October 2012

This paper discusses the reemergence on the stage of strong female characters who are transformed, through modern myth-making, from their roots in ancient myths and classical archetypes into a new stage entity, in the plays of Nissim Aloni. His women are representatives of the tragic spirit in a modern world that disallows tragedy, and through his unique use of theatricality as an ironic device he empowers them to reorder their universe into a meaningful whole.
An Experiment in Learning: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach in Teaching the Holocaust
Authors: Frolick David A.
Published: October 2012

This article narrates the manner in which a group of faculty from disparate disciplines at a small, liberal arts college experimented with a "cluster model" by which they extended learning about the Holocaust to a wide student audience through linked courses. Outcomes included the extension of interest in Holocaust-related matters to students beyond the core group, a much heavier than expected emotional and work impact on all the participants, the transmission of information between courses, and enhanced learning for the students and faculty.
From Legend to History: India and Israel in the Ancient World
Authors: Katz Nathan
Published: October 2012

The starting point for this essay is a conundrum encountered while conducting field research among the Jews of Cochin in South India. The Cochin Jews cherish their historical legend which narrates their arrival and prosperity in India. For analytical purposes, their legend has been treated like other myths: as cognitively powerful devices which organize the data of experience, but which are not empirical. However, for the Cochin Jews, the factuality of their legend was of paramount importance. The paper surveys what is known about ancient historical links between Israel and India and concludes that the Cochin Jews' legend is entirely plausible, that it is perhaps closer to factuality than might be assumed. Beyond the case at hand, this article attempts some generalizations about indigenous historical traditions, arguing that modern scholars ought to take them more seriously as history than many do.
A Female Midrash in The Memoirs of Glücket of Hamelin
Authors: Reitz Anne C.
Published: October 2012

Glückel of Hamelin's memoirs tell her life-story by using numerous modes of story-telling. She incorporates folk-tales, Bible stories, historical events, domestic and commercial scenes, prayers, and even fantastic tales of long ago to animate her life-story. These modes of discourse all demonstrate her ideas and convictions and guide her reader in correct moral behavior. This paper investigates the structure of Glückel's autobiography. By studying the type, placement, and emotional weight of her numerous stories-within-the-story and various rhetorical styles, one discovers in her work a unique narrative structure which echoes biblical midrash. By embedding her core narrative in a framework of multi-voiced textual commentary, Glückel creates a truly female midrash, a structure of textual commentary addressing the written record of a woman's life.
Jewish/Feminist/Queer: Identity Challenges for Moderns and Post-Moderns
Authors: Brettschneider Marla
Published: October 2012

This article utilizes the historical placement(s) of Jewish feminist Queers in a discussion of identity politics and theories. Brettschneider argues that neither modernist nor postmodernist theories of subjectivity appropriately respond to the situations of many minority groups. We need to listen to the calls from marginalized groups and work with identities in a progressive politics as we pursue alternative and more transformative modes of democracy.
What Have Brahmins to Do with Rabbis?: Embodied Communities and Paradigms of Religious Tradition
Authors: Holdrege Barbara A.
Published: October 2012

Up until recently the academic study of religion has been dominated by Protestant Christian paradigms of religious tradition, in which precedence is given to such categories as belief, doctrine, and theology, and tradition-identity is rooted in the missionary character of Christian traditions. The essay argues that rabbinic Judaism and brahmanical Hinduism provide alternative paradigms of religious tradition as "embodied communities" in which priority is given to issues of practice, observance, and law, and tradition-identity is embodied in ethnic and cultural categories that reflect the predominantly nonmissionary character of these traditions. The manner in which the rabbinic and brahmanical traditions construct their respective categories of scripture—Torah and Veda—reflects the more fundamental affinities shared by these traditions as representatives of a distinctive paradigm of religious tradition: as elite textual communities that have codified their respective norms in the form of scriptural canons; as ethnocultural systems concerned with issues of family, ethnic and cultural integrity, blood lineages, and the intergenerational transmission of traditions; and as religions of orthopraxy characterized by elaborate legal systems, sacrificial traditions, purity codes, and dietary laws.
The Contributions of Captain Barros Basto, "Apostle of the Marranos"
Authors: de Azevedo Mea Elvira , Steinhardt Inacio
Published: October 2012

Barros Basto (1887-1961) was a career officer in the Portuguese army, who at the age of nine was told by his dying grandfather the secret of his family's Jewish origin. After having been rebuffed by the only Jewish community in Portugal, he traveled to Tangier, where he underwent formal conversion to Judaism. On his return home, he launched a movement for the redemption of the crypto-Jews of northern of Portugal. His "Work of Redemption" aroused the interest of the Jewish world, but it was viewed with disfavor, both by the Roman Catholic clergy and by the government of the dictator Salazar. Barros Basto found himself involved in a succession of defamatory lawsuits, he was dismissed in disgrace from the army, his work with the crypto-Jews was terminated, and his later years were spent in poverty and loneliness. The historical importance of Barros Bastos' work is difficult to assess. In Portugal, two communities of crypto-Jews have recently returned to mainstream Judaism; and elsewhere around the world, a large number of individuals are today seeking their own path back to Judaism. History may yet show that despite all its misfortunes and setbacks, Barros Bastos' "Work of Redemption" may not have been in vain.
Recalling the Past and Rescuing the Self: Autobiographical Slippage in Grete Weil's The Bride Price: A Novel
Authors: Fuchs Miriam
Published: October 2012

The conspicuous subtitling of Grete Weil's The Bride Price: A Novel is less an indication of genre classification than a clue to the difficulties of writing a life devastated by the Holocaust. Affording insights into the process of autobiographical writing, the subtitle suggests, and this essay argues, that the author develops a fictional intertext because it refracts the painful experiences of her life that elude direct autobiographical or testimonial treatment. Like Holocaust survivors who have trouble recalling their past in linear form, Weil stalls when she reaches certain areas of her own life. The novelistic intertext, constructed from biblical fragments of the story of King David's first wife Michal, enables Weil through narrative figuration and substitution to continue to write. The drama, resonance, and completeness of the fictional tale inversely derive from the difficulties of the autobiographical story and autobiographical purposes of Weil's writing.
Jerusalem the Widow
Authors: Graetz Naomi
Published: October 2012

Jerusalem is described as a widow after the destruction of the Temple: "Lonely sits the city Once great with people! She that was great among nations Is become like a widow" (Lamentations 1:1). The significance of Jerusalem the downtrodden being depicted in feminine terms is examined and specifically the implication of her being described as a widow. First, the meaning of widowhood is investigated. Then other metaphors used in the text to describe the desolate city of Jerusalem are examined. Midrashic commentary and life experience are enlisted to elucidate the biblical text. Finally, the metaphors that are used to describe women in this text are compared with similar metaphors used by prophets in other texts. The purpose of this article is to focus on the danger of negative feminine metaphors which depict the sinning city/nation and the power of these metaphors to influence how women are perceived.
Swami Vivekananda and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Authors: Kasimow Harold
Published: October 2012

In this essay I explore the remarkable similarities between Swami Vivekananda and Abraham Joshua Heschel. I have found incredible affinities, in spite of their significant differences, on a number of important issues, including the concept of humanity and the concept of God. However, the thrust of the paper is to show how these pioneers of interreligious understanding can open us to the possibility of truth in traditions other than our own and thus help to bring peace to the world. I will also explain the influence that Vivekananda and Heschel had in shaping my own views on religions, particularly my attitude toward other faiths.
Jewish Practices among Contemporary Anusim
Authors: Halevy Schulamith C.
Published: October 2012

Although occasional lists of contemporary crypto-Jewish practices specific to one region or another have appeared, the phenomenon continues to be treated as isolated to one or two locations. This paper surveys aspects of heritage observed and reported by descendents of anusim worldwide. The material was collected over the last seven years through observation, interviews, conversations and correspondence—traditional and electronic—with over three hundred informants. Places where specific customs were reported with some frequency are mentioned and sources to evaluate the connection to Judaism are also provided. Constellations of observances are illustrated with the description of three crypto-Jewish families.
Ethno-reading and the Disclosure of the Karaite Female Body
Authors: Tsoffar Ruth
Published: October 2012

Because of their political stance which rejected oral tradition, Karaites put their efforts into consolidating the written canon, and as a result did not develop an oral code of conduct. Nevertheless, my ethnographic research with the San Francisco Bay Area Karaites demonstrates that the unofficial, often unacknowledged discourse of mother/daughter teaching—best reflected in women's narratives about their first menstrual period—is a central one in the culture. This article argues that maternal reproduction is inseparable from the female conception of knowledge as both are exercised in the female domain around the body, and both are informed and shaped by the textual, patriarchal authority of the Bible.
Aseneth—From Priestess to Handmaid and Slave
Authors: Sheres Ita
Published: October 2012

Aseneth of "Joseph and Aseneth" is an intriguing figure in this classical romance. She is described in rather unusuual terms; that is, she is portrayed as a powerful, independent priestess who is suddenly confronted with Joseph, the great Hebrew hero who is also the great Egyptian savior. Aseneth falls in love with him and is ready to go to great lengths to "get" him as a husband. For that purpose the text tells us that she first has to convert and describes the process of her conversion in extraordinary sexual terms! While being thus (sexually) engaged, Aseneth is transformed from a woman who has total control of her life and destiny to one that is manipulated by men (Joseph and a look-alike angel) for their own rather shocking purposes.
Advice to Job from a Buddhist Friend
Authors: Lubarsky Sandra B.
Published: October 2012

Judaism and Buddhism, like all religious systems, struggle to come to terms with the human experience of suffering. In this essay, I ask how the Book of Job, the classic Jewish text on God, suffering, and justice, might be approached from a Buddhist perspective. If Job had had a Buddhist friend who sat with him in his pain, what might have been added to his—and our—understanding of suffering?
Dr. Spock for the 1890s: Medical Advice Literature for Jews of the Russian Empire
Authors: Epstein Lisa
Published: October 2012

In the 1860s, Jewish health reformers began to produce popular medical advice works written in Hebrew or Yiddish, for the benefit of East European Jewry. An examination of this literature reveals the interweaving of a general Haskalah , Jewish Enlightenment, agenda with specific health concerns. The authors of these works saw Haskalah as a cure for the larger spiritual and political malaise of the Jewish people. Promoting a scientifically based approach to health care, they believed attention to public health to be a vital element in the reform and improvement of the East European Jewish populace. Placing these popular medical advice works in the context of changes occurring on various ideological fronts within the Jewish community, this paper analyzes this body of literature to expose the dimensions of its larger, reforming agenda and the tactics of persuasion employed by its authors in their efforts to win "converts" to their vision of a healthy, hygienic, enlightened Jewish population.
Conversa Heritage, Crypto-Jewish Practice and Women's Rituals
Authors: Jacobs Janet L.
Published: October 2012

This paper examines the role of ritual purification in the lives of female descendants of the Spanish crypto-Jews. For some descendants, the discovery of crypto-Jewish heritage has led to a desire to reclaim the Sephardic faith of their ancestors. At the heart of this reclamation process is the adoption and practice of Jewish rituals and customs. Among the rituals that have become especially important for female descendants is the act of ritual immersion. Through an ethnographic study of crypto-Jewish culture in the Americas, this research analyzes the role of mikveh in the lives of women who have chosen ritual immersion as a symbolic act of return to Judaism.
Loss and Discovery in a Traditional Culture: The Stories of Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer and Ruth Knafo Setton
Authors: Matza Diana
Published: October 2012

This paper explores the fiction of Gloria deVidas Kirchheimer and Ruth Knafo Setton. At the heart of these stories lie the tensions inherent in a woman's struggle for identity within a patriarchal culture that has been transplanted to America. In all cases, Kirchheimer and Setton employ an exquisite particularity of detail to evoke both the appeal and confinement of Sephardic culture. This strategy not only lends poignancy to their work but challenges readers to rethink their own assumptions and to confront a standard subject in women's fiction in a new way.
Return to Judaism: The Circumcisers of Curaçao
Authors: Arbell Mordechai
Published: October 2012

The notebooks of the circumcisers of Curaçao prove that the exodus of the Conversos from Spain and Portugal continued well into the nineteenth century and that Curaçao was a center of return to Judaism.
Hannah's Prayer: Rabbinic Ambivalence
Authors: Bronner Leila L.
Published: October 2012

The talmudic sages esteemed Hannah's petition to God for a son as exemplary prayer, yet most also opposed women's participation in communal prayer and Torah learning. This paper explores how rabbinic exclusion of women from the core of public Judaic religious practice could coexist with rabbinic endorsement of Hannah's prayer—the only prayer by a woman recorded in the Hebrew Bible—as the model that all petitioners to God, female and male, should follow. I place Hannah's prayer in the context of other biblical narratives about barrenness, compare it with heartfelt prayers by Moses and Hezekiah, and summarize the talmudic and midrashic commentary on Hannah's prayer. The discussion of Hannah's prayer in the rabbinic literature follows a characteristic pattern when it comes to women. The rabbis promulgate regulations inimical to the full expression of women's potentialities but also acknowledge and even celebrate the very potentialities that they would suppress.