Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Compelling series documents 350 years of Jewish life in U.S.
Click image to enlarge
   |
BY: MARILYN H. KARFELD Senior Staff Reporter
In 1654, 23 Jews fled Brazil and sailed to New Amsterdam. One step ahead of the Portuguese Inquisition, these men, women and children founded a community in what is today Manhattan; 350 years later, there are six million Jewish Americans.
Their history and their struggle to blend into a new nation yet still maintain their faith and heritage is the theme of “The Jewish Americans,” David Grubin’s fascinating three-part documentary wthat premières on WVIZ/PBS on Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. The second and third parts will air Jan. 13 and 23, respectively.
The 2,500 Jews residing in America in 1772 were often prohibited from voting or holding public office. Despite such discrimination and suspicion, Jews fought in the Revolutionary War. As Americans pushed westward in the early 18th century, German-speaking Jews arrived and became peddlers, selling provisions to farmers and pioneers. Many peddlers prospered and opened stores.
New York Jews, who made fortunes in banking and department stores, created their own Jewish high society. Their exclusiveness mirrored that of the Christian world.
Two million Eastern European Jews arrived at the turn of the 20th century, crowding into tenements on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Most worked in garment-industry sweatshops owned by other Jews.
As Jews adjusted to life in Christian America, they established parallel institutions such as Jewish country clubs, camps, hospitals and schools. Unable to find opportunities in established fields, they filled the void in emerging industries, such as filmmaking in Hollywood.
They built synagogues, which the film describes as resembling churches. The rabbi of Cincinnati’s Plum Street Temple introduced the organ to services and gave sermons in English. For the first time, men and women sat together in family pews. Out of such changes grew Reform Judaism.
Separation of church and state, which set America apart from the European nations the immigrants left behind, the anti-Semitism of American icons Henry Ford and Charles Lindberg, the Jewish response to the Holocaust, and involvement in the civil- rights movement, are among issues the documentary explores.
Detroit slugger Hank Greenberg; songwriter Irving Berlin of “White Christmas” fame; Louis Brandeis, first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice; Bess Myerson, first Jewish Miss America; Henry Morgenthau, secretary of the treasurer under President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and feminist Betty Friedan are just a few of the prominent Jews included in the documentary.
Narrated by Jewish-American actor Liev Schreiber, the documentary relies heavily on historic still photos, film footage and letters to tell the story of these Jewish immigrants. There are also interviews with dozens of well-known Jewish Americans such as Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, comedians Carl Reiner and Sid Caesar, playwright Tony Kushner, author Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and New York district attorney Robert Morgenthau.
Highlights of the series are the fascinating personal stories of Jewish Americans: Levi Strauss, who outfitted railroad workers in bluejeans; Martin Spiegel, who died fighting for the Union Army in the Civil War while his brother Joseph founded his eponymous catalog; and slave owner Judah Benjamin, secretary of war and secretary of state for the Confederacy who escaped to London as the South fell and eventually ascended to the House of Lords.
The film also gives in-depth treatment to infamous Jews such as Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were tried and executed for espionage. Cleveland gets its share of attention in the stories of natives Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created comic-book superhero Superman.
Equally intriguing are vignettes about less well-known Jews, such as Prussian-born Anna Solomon, who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1872, traveling west four years later with three small children. She settled in Arizona, where she opened a store and hotel. Decades later, she turned her life upside down again, moving to Los Angeles.
Chronicling 350 years of Jewish history in America, deciding what to omit and what to include, is an ambitious undertaking. “Jewish Americans” seeks to illuminate the American story through comprehensive treatment of one immigrant group, whose impact on life here far outweighs its tiny size. The documentary series more than succeeds in its goal.
mkarfeld@cjn.org
What: Free screening of excerpts from the film series “The Jewish Americans”; followed by a question period with executive producer Jay Sanderson.
Where: the Mandel JCC
When: Thurs., Jan. 3, at 7.
RSVP: 216-916-6301 or nbrown@ideastream.org
Their history and their struggle to blend into a new nation yet still maintain their faith and heritage is the theme of “The Jewish Americans,” David Grubin’s fascinating three-part documentary wthat premières on WVIZ/PBS on Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. The second and third parts will air Jan. 13 and 23, respectively.
The 2,500 Jews residing in America in 1772 were often prohibited from voting or holding public office. Despite such discrimination and suspicion, Jews fought in the Revolutionary War. As Americans pushed westward in the early 18th century, German-speaking Jews arrived and became peddlers, selling provisions to farmers and pioneers. Many peddlers prospered and opened stores.
New York Jews, who made fortunes in banking and department stores, created their own Jewish high society. Their exclusiveness mirrored that of the Christian world.
Two million Eastern European Jews arrived at the turn of the 20th century, crowding into tenements on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Most worked in garment-industry sweatshops owned by other Jews.
As Jews adjusted to life in Christian America, they established parallel institutions such as Jewish country clubs, camps, hospitals and schools. Unable to find opportunities in established fields, they filled the void in emerging industries, such as filmmaking in Hollywood.
They built synagogues, which the film describes as resembling churches. The rabbi of Cincinnati’s Plum Street Temple introduced the organ to services and gave sermons in English. For the first time, men and women sat together in family pews. Out of such changes grew Reform Judaism.
Separation of church and state, which set America apart from the European nations the immigrants left behind, the anti-Semitism of American icons Henry Ford and Charles Lindberg, the Jewish response to the Holocaust, and involvement in the civil- rights movement, are among issues the documentary explores.
Detroit slugger Hank Greenberg; songwriter Irving Berlin of “White Christmas” fame; Louis Brandeis, first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice; Bess Myerson, first Jewish Miss America; Henry Morgenthau, secretary of the treasurer under President Franklin D. Roosevelt; and feminist Betty Friedan are just a few of the prominent Jews included in the documentary.
Narrated by Jewish-American actor Liev Schreiber, the documentary relies heavily on historic still photos, film footage and letters to tell the story of these Jewish immigrants. There are also interviews with dozens of well-known Jewish Americans such as Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, comedians Carl Reiner and Sid Caesar, playwright Tony Kushner, author Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and New York district attorney Robert Morgenthau.
Highlights of the series are the fascinating personal stories of Jewish Americans: Levi Strauss, who outfitted railroad workers in bluejeans; Martin Spiegel, who died fighting for the Union Army in the Civil War while his brother Joseph founded his eponymous catalog; and slave owner Judah Benjamin, secretary of war and secretary of state for the Confederacy who escaped to London as the South fell and eventually ascended to the House of Lords.
The film also gives in-depth treatment to infamous Jews such as Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were tried and executed for espionage. Cleveland gets its share of attention in the stories of natives Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created comic-book superhero Superman.
Equally intriguing are vignettes about less well-known Jews, such as Prussian-born Anna Solomon, who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1872, traveling west four years later with three small children. She settled in Arizona, where she opened a store and hotel. Decades later, she turned her life upside down again, moving to Los Angeles.
Chronicling 350 years of Jewish history in America, deciding what to omit and what to include, is an ambitious undertaking. “Jewish Americans” seeks to illuminate the American story through comprehensive treatment of one immigrant group, whose impact on life here far outweighs its tiny size. The documentary series more than succeeds in its goal.
mkarfeld@cjn.org
What: Free screening of excerpts from the film series “The Jewish Americans”; followed by a question period with executive producer Jay Sanderson.
Where: the Mandel JCC
When: Thurs., Jan. 3, at 7.
RSVP: 216-916-6301 or nbrown@ideastream.org
 |
||
| Non-Jewish neighbors restore west side Jewish cemetery |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of clevelandjewishnews.com.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments. Registration is free.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
