Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

Glasner-Heled, Galia.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

Abstract: Eliezer Gruenbaum, the communist son of Yitzhak Gruenbaum, who was a prominent leader of Polish Jewry between the two world wars and Israel’s first interior minister, was a kapo in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Eliezer survived only to die fighting in the war for Israeli independence. His story is captivating not only for its biographical appeal but also for the unique “statement of defense” memoir he has left behind.This paper will expose the English-speaking reader to excerpts of this singular text for the first time. It will also offer a careful analysis and interpretation of Eliezer Gruenbaum’s psychological struggle to work through his controversial past. We will frame his narrative as wavering between two perhaps contradicting identifications—with his readers and with the victims—with neither of whom he can fully identify.The same activist stance that urged him to write, appealing to his reader’s acquittal, prevented him from truly understanding the total helplessness of the real victims.

Glasner-Heled, Galia.; Bar-On, Dan,.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

Eliezer Gruenbaum, the communist son of Yitzhak Gruenbaum, who was a prominent leader of Polish Jewry between the two world wars and Israel’s first interior minister, was a kapo in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Eliezer survived only to die fighting in the war for Israeli independence. His story is captivating not only for its biographical appeal but also for the unique “statement of defense” memoir he has left behind.This paper will expose the English-speaking reader to excerpts of this singular text for the first time. It will also offer a careful analysis and interpretation of Eliezer Gruenbaum’s psychological struggle to work through his controversial past. We will frame his narrative as wavering between two perhaps contradicting identifications—with his readers and with the victims—with neither of whom he can fully identify.The same activist stance that urged him to write, appealing to his reader’s acquittal, prevented him from truly understanding the total helplessness of the real victims.

Wolski, Nathan.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

Abstract: That Miguel de Cervantes was quite likely a converso and that his masterpiece Don Quixot e explores quintessential converso concerns is now widely accepted. This article extends the converso hypothesis through an examination of literary and phenomenological similarities between Don Quixote and the kabbalistic classic, the Zohar . Rather than claim direct historical influence, I offer an analysis of some shared themes, motifs, and literary strategies. In particular, I highlight the centrality of the journey motif and the high degree of self-reflexivity and self-consciousness which lie at the heart of both the Zohar and Don Quixote . I conclude with an admittedly more speculative reading of the famous scene from the Cave of Montesinos, which I suggest may well be a quixotic parody of mystical experience. The Zohar deserves a place in the literary prehistory of Don Quixote , and aspects of both works are clarified and enhanced when viewed against one another.

Wolski, Nathan.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

That Miguel de Cervantes was quite likely a converso and that his masterpiece <i>Don Quixot</i>e explores quintessential converso concerns is now widely accepted. This article extends the converso hypothesis through an examination of literary and phenomenological similarities between <i>Don Quixote</i> and the kabbalistic classic, the <i>Zohar</i>. Rather than claim direct historical influence, I offer an analysis of some shared themes, motifs, and literary strategies. In particular, I highlight the centrality of the journey motif and the high degree of self-reflexivity and self-consciousness which lie at the heart of both the <i>Zohar</i> and <i>Don Quixote</i>. I conclude with an admittedly more speculative reading of the famous scene from the Cave of Montesinos, which I suggest may well be a quixotic parody of mystical experience. The <i>Zohar</i> deserves a place in the literary prehistory of <i>Don Quixote</i>, and aspects of both works are clarified and enhanced when viewed against one another.

Smerick, Christina M.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

Abstract: In the works “On Language as Such and on the Language of Man” and the better- known “The Task of the Translator,” Benjamin explores the relationships between languages, and between language and human beings. In this essay, I work first to articulate Benjamin’s theory of language in a more coherent manner, and then to draw attention to the theological underpinnings of this theory. After exploring Benjamin’s understanding of language as metaphysically formative for all creation, I turn to his work on translation in order to demonstrate how such a theologically driven understanding of language impacts how we are to speak and write now.

Smerick, Christina M.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

In the works “On Language as Such and on the Language of Man” and the better- known “The Task of the Translator,” Benjamin explores the relationships between languages, and between language and human beings. In this essay, I work first to articulate Benjamin’s theory of language in a more coherent manner, and then to draw attention to the theological underpinnings of this theory. After exploring Benjamin’s understanding of language as metaphysically formative for all creation, I turn to his work on translation in order to demonstrate how such a theologically driven understanding of language impacts how we are to speak and write now.

Zierler, Wendy.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

Until ten to fifteen years ago, Jewish American literary history was construed and described in overwhelmingly mid-twentieth-century masculine terms. As a corrective to this longstanding trend, this essay undertakes to “remake” Jewish American literary history in feminist terms. First, in an act of feminist “readerly resistance,” it surveys recent efforts to remake the canon to include women writers and to reflect the experiences of women readers. Then it applies a variety of second-and third-wave feminist interpretive methodologies to readings of both classic and lesser-known works of Jewish American literature, including Henry Roth’s <i>Call it Sleep</i>, Philip Roth’s <i>The Ghost Writer</i>, Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus,” Anzia Yezierska’s “The Lost Beautifulness,” Cynthia Ozick’s “Puttermesser and Xanthippe,” Jo Sinclair’s, <i>The Changelings</i>, and Dara Horn’s <i>In The Image</i>.

Zierler, Wendy.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

Abstract: Until ten to fifteen years ago, Jewish American literary history was construed and described in overwhelmingly mid-twentieth-century masculine terms. As a corrective to this longstanding trend, this essay undertakes to “remake” Jewish American literary history in feminist terms. First, in an act of feminist “readerly resistance,” it surveys recent efforts to remake the canon to include women writers and to reflect the experiences of women readers. Then it applies a variety of second-and third-wave feminist interpretive methodologies to readings of both classic and lesser-known works of Jewish American literature, including Henry Roth’s Call it Sleep , Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer , Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus,” Anzia Yezierska’s “The Lost Beautifulness,” Cynthia Ozick’s “Puttermesser and Xanthippe,” Jo Sinclair’s, The Changelings , and Dara Horn’s In The Image .

Stratton, Jon.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

Abstract: The Brill Building sound refers to the music produced in the late 1950s and early 1960s by composers of popular music associated with 1619 and 1650 Broadway. The vast majority of these writers were Jewish. I argue that the romance in the lyrics of these songs can be understood in terms of the whitening and suburbanization of American Jews—that these songs of love express a Jewish utopian fantasy. As Jews, and whites, became disillusioned with suburban life, so the Brill Building sound lost its popularity. I argue that the songs recorded by the Shangri-Las, a Jewish girl group singing songs of familial death and destruction mostly written by Brill Building writers, are an expression of this disillusionment.

Stratton, Jon.

2009 Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

doi:

The Brill Building sound refers to the music produced in the late 1950s and early 1960s by composers of popular music associated with 1619 and 1650 Broadway. The vast majority of these writers were Jewish. I argue that the romance in the lyrics of these songs can be understood in terms of the whitening and suburbanization of American Jews—that these songs of love express a Jewish utopian fantasy. As Jews, and whites, became disillusioned with suburban life, so the Brill Building sound lost its popularity. I argue that the songs recorded by the Shangri-Las, a Jewish girl group singing songs of familial death and destruction mostly written by Brill Building writers, are an expression of this disillusionment.