Iggrot Ha'Ari

Bagels and Bongos: Locating American Klezmer in the 1950s

Lonnie Miller — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Klezmer, traditional Jewish music, is widely imagined in two periods: pre-World War II and post-1970. Very little attention has been given to the space in between these two periods. This article sheds light on klezmer during this dormant period, problematizing the idea of a klezmer “revival” and reframing the timeline of Jewish music. It looks at data from the recording industry in the United States to survey the musicians, instruments, and musical styles present in klezmer records produced in the 1950s and form a picture of how the style was transmitted from the previous generation of musicians. Three recorded klezmer pieces are used as case studies, exemplifying three different trends in klezmer music at the time: old-fashioned nostalgic music (“Bessarabian Dance” from Freilachs For Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs And Other Celebrations recorded by Murray Lehrer and Dave Tarras), genre-blending dance music (“Mazeltov Merengue” in Bagels and Bongos recorded by the Irving Fields Trio), and parodies of popular American songs (“Sixteen Tons” in Mish Mosh recorded by Mickey Katz). Surveying these sources reveals an abundance of vibrant klezmer music drawing from multiple sources and serving multiple purposes in Jewish communities of the 1950s. Klezmer has been, from its inception, a style that incorporated local non-Jewish music styles, catered to the commercial market, and adapted to specific events and purposes in the community. The perceived death of klezmer in the 1950s was in reality the natural continuation of this process, as klezmer musicians incorporated new American music styles and adapted to playing in dance halls and on commercial records. An “Americanized” piece of klezmer music is no less authentic for its incorporation of other American cultures. The evolution of American klezmer was continuous through the 1950s, carrying klezmer from the arrival of the European-influenced genre in America to the modern scene of pop, funk, and electronic klezmer bands.

“Constant Enemies of the Christian Name”: Tracing the Construction of the Ritual Murder Charge in The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich

Rose Joffe — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the construction of the blood libel myth in Thomas of Monmouth’s 12th-century manuscript, The Life and Miracles of St. William of Norwich. Building upon existing scholarship, it analyzes Life as both a martyrdom narrative and an anti-Jewish polemic. Drawing on Elizabeth Castelli’s theory of martyrdom and collective memory, this paper argues that the rhetorical construction of the Jew as a biblical, bloodthirsty enemy of Christ served to reinforce a dubious martyrdom narrative and consolidate a medieval Christian identity perceived as under threat. By deconstructing the rhetorical devices underpinning the account’s blood libel charge–literary foil, biblical metaphor, and the Christ-killer accusation– the paper highlights how Monmouth successfully transformed Jews from victims of conspiracy to perpetrators of violent crime. Monmouth’s use of a literary foil drew on prevailing ideas of Christian-Jewish difference to reinforce notions of Christian piety, while his invocations of biblical metaphor stabilized a tenuous assertion of Jewish guilt and Christian persecution. These anti-Jewish rhetorics culminate in Monmouth’s invocation of the Christ-killer myth. By likening medieval Jews to the biblical betrayers of Christ, Monmouth created a universal framework that rationalized and justified the violent persecution of Jews.

Deception Through Disguise in the Joseph Story to Complete Midah K'neged Midah

Emma Vorchheimer — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper will examine the role of clothing and its relation to the theme of midah k'neged midah, often translated as a type of measure for measure punishment, as it unfolds in the Joseph story in Genesis. While Joseph’s brothers and father seem to receive proportional punishments for the sins that they commit, due to ambiguities in the story regarding God’s role, it is unclear who or what is driving this “measure for measure punishment” scheme. Is it Joseph, God, or perhaps simply nature’s equilibrium? This paper will investigate each of these three possible mechanisms for the ultimate fulfillment of midah k'neged midah based on textual clues of divine presence and human agency. Based on a close textual reading and analysis, this paper will conclude that while divine intervention appears to play a role in providing Joseph with opportunities, ultimately, Joseph is the one who capitalizes on these opportunities in order to complete his revenge scheme.

This narrative also illustrates the concept of maaseh avot siman l’banim (the actions of the forefathers are a sign for the children), representing how the mistakes of earlier generations have a cyclical effect on their descendents. This principle serves as a timeless warning to future generations, cautioning individuals to avoid past mistakes of their ancestors. Although the text contains many ambiguities, it seems clear that humans, like Joseph, certainly play some role in shaping their own destiny, and thus can hopefully break the cycle of sinning that began with the forefathers.

“Girls Need to Dance”: How Jewish Women Navigated Twentieth Century Dance Halls

Judy Goldstein — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper dives into the vibrant world of early 20th-century dance halls, where Jewish immigrant women in New York City found freedom, excitement, and a chance to redefine their roles in a rapidly changing world. While reformers saw these dance halls as dangerous, immoral spaces, the women who flocked to them saw something entirely different: a place to explore romance, flirtation, and even sexual autonomy, all while challenging traditional gender norms. This paper explores how these women used dance halls to assert agency, challenge traditional matchmaking, and experiment with new forms of romantic and social relationships. Drawing on historical analyses by Kathy Peiss, Randy McBee, Sonia Gollance, and Mary Odem, as well as firsthand testimonies and period literature, the study examines the tension between perceived moral dangers and the lived experiences of Jewish women who found pleasure, independence, and self-determination in these spaces. Through commercial amusements like the dance hall, Jewish women navigated shifting cultural boundaries, formed homosocial bonds, and exercised the newfound ability to select their own partners, helping to shape evolving notions of gender, sexuality, and social identity within New York City’s immigrant communities.

Martin Buber’s Essence of Hasidism in The Legend of the Baal-Shem and Tales of the Hasidim

Rose Clubok — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The existentialist philosopher Martin Buber focuses much of his scholarly attention on revealing the spiritual core of Hasidism. While the historian Gershom Scholem criticizes Buber’s methods for their lack of historical grounding, Buber argues throughout his work that the folktales of Hasidism represent its spiritual core, despite never explicitly identifying what this spiritual essence actually is. In vaguely searching for this essence, Buber published and reinterpreted a collection of Hasidic folktales in his volume The Legend of the Baal Shem in 1907. Later, however, he backtracked, claiming to have reinterpreted these legends in a way that was unfaithful to the essence of Hasidism. In 1947, Buber published Tales of Hasidism in which he retold a number of stories he originally compiled in The Legend of the Baal Shem. Buber’s literary style differs between the two works, which raises the questions: How exactly does Buber’s interpretive style differ across the collection of stories? How does Buber reinterpret the stories differently in the two collections? And, ultimately: What is Buber’s idea of the essence of Hasidism? Using the introduction of the two collections, as well as the short stories in each collection that relate to the early life of the Baal Shem Tov, I will attempt to answer these questions, ultimately concluding that Buber’s conception of the essence of Hasidism is the sanctification of the Here and Now, the present-day world of real people.

On Representations of the Palestinian Arab “other” in A Borrowed Identity (2014)

Mira Kux — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines representations of the Palestinian Arab “other” in Eran Riklis’s 2014 film A Borrowed Identity, an adaptation of Sayed Kashua’s acclaimed novel Dancing Arabs. The film’s protagonist, Eyad Barhum is a Palestinian teenager navigating identity and belonging within Israeli society after transferring to a Jewish prep school in Jerusalem. Through Eyad’s network of relationships, the film illustrates his identity production through Palestinization, Israelization, and eventual Judaization, as he progressively distances himself from his Palestinian roots to assimilate into Israeli Jewish society. Using frameworks of representation, nationalism, and identity, the study highlights how Eyad’s transformation reflects the complexities of identity production within a society marked by systemic oppression rooted in ethnic binaries. The film critiques but ultimately reinforces the boundaries of the Zionist vision of Israel as a Jewish state–rather than a state of all its citizens– by portraying Eyad’s erasure of his Palestinian identity as the only path to equality and acceptance. This tragic conclusion underscores the impossibility of acceptance without assimilation in a society structured by ethnic hierarchies.

Queering Ervah: Halachic Conceptions of Gender-Based Nakedness for the Modern World

Charlie Feuerman — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines rabbinic conceptions of ervah—the halachic category for nakedness—and explores their application to modern, egalitarian, queer, and gender-queer contexts. Ervah is defined through two basic paradigms: (1) the objective paradigm, where genitalia universally defines ervah regardless of gender or cultural norms, and (2) the subjective paradigm, where gender and cultural norms greatly influence the relegation of body attributes to this category. Drawing upon tannaitic, medieval, and modern halachic sources, the paper evaluates traditional positions on ervah using three paradigms of gender definition: (1) genotype, (2) genitalia, and (3) phenotype, considering each paradigm’s impact upon transgender and intersex individuals. Further, it considers two primary interpretive approaches: (1) gender-inflexible, which assumes an all-encompassing heteronormative, cisgender framework, and (2) gender-expansive, which prioritizes the individual viewers’ sexual orientation and agency over assumed norms. Ultimately, the paper argues for a more fluid, gender-expansive approach to defining halachic ervah.

*Please Note*: This paper was written for Professor Emmanuel Bloch's Jewish Theological Seminary course, Gender, Halachah, and The Emergence of Tsniut as a Halachic Category

“Unprecedented and Unparalleled”: The Last Step in Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira’s Altered Faith

Aiden Englander — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This essay reexamines the final writings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira after the Grossaktion Warsaw, challenging the claim—most prominently advanced by Shaul Magid—that Shapira’s faith was “broken” at the end of 1942. Through a close analysis of two post-deportation sermon addenda and two letters buried in the Ringelblum Archive, I argue that R. Shapira did not abandon faith, but rather arrived at its final form: a faith marked not by rational theodicy or historical paradigms, but by radical submission to divine will and the continued potency of prayer. This “altered faith,” though stripped of explanatory frameworks, remains robust and deeply devotional—a final, faithful response to incomprehensible suffering.

Letter from the Editor

Yoni Kurtz — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A letter from Iggrot's 2024-5 Editor-in-Chief, Yoni Kurtz.