[PEN-L:1448] Sexual politics of Yiddish and Hebrew (Re: RE: The full dimensions of the Holocaust)

["Frances Bolton (PHI)" <fbolton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Max,

I'm going to look into this later, but I definitely recall older,
religious Jews going to the gas chambers and young Zionists going to
Palestine. At least part of the thing about creating a Jewish state ws
creating a New Jew. The kibbibutzim were founded on socialist principles,
and more importantly, Hebrew, rather than Yiddidish, was adopted as the
official language. Yiddish was the mamaloshen, associated with the shetl
and the weak Jew who lived  at the mercy of the goyim. It's a language, as
Leo Rosten puts it, of insults and complaints. Hebrew was the language of
the warrior Jew, the Bible, the sign of Jews chosen-ness. Way more butch.
For people interested in the sexual politics of Hebrew and Yiddish, check
out Naomi Seidman's scholarship. Unfortunately, I don't have any titles,
she told me this stuff.

Frances

On Thu, 3 Sep 1998, Max Sawicky wrote:

> > . . .
> >that there are some references--e.g. certain Zionist leaders
> >collaborating with Nazis to get young and religious Jews to Palestine and
> leave older and more secular Jews to the gas chambers . . . >>
>
> Although I've read some about nazi-zionist
> transactions, this is the first I've heard
> of age/religiousness dimensions.  I'd
> appreciate any references you might be
> aware of.
>
> The age thing is consistent with an interest
> in nation-building, but the religion aspect
> seems less so.  My understanding is that the
> zionist movement was founded and largely led
> by secularists, and mostly opposed before
> WWII by orthodox Jews.
>
> MBS
>
>