SOCI 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Canadian Jewish News, Jewish Defense League, Chevra Kadisha

18 views9 pages
SOCI 227 Jews in North America
Jewish Community March 19th
Readings: Weinfeld chapter 6, 8, Anctil
Community is rooted in religion
Idea of jewish community starts within the religion
In order for Jews to pray, you had to have 10 Jewish men
Judaism never had the idea of a solitary munk
Commandments in the bible
Commanded to do these things
This means you need a community organization to look after these people
Diaspora Jews created a jewish burial society
When migrating, they made certain every Jewish person who died had somewhere to go
The diaspora experience led to community development
Institutional completeness the community is institutionally complete
Why are they so complete? From cradle to grave you will find jewish communal
organizations
This can be found in other religions but largely in Judaism
2 explanations for this
o 1. Jewish culture
o 2. Anti-Semitism
i.e. why is there a Jewish hospital in large cities? Anti-Semitism evident in
medical profession
Idea of a Jewish community
Does NOT mean uniformity or unity
Why do we have these organizations?
o The ouit is ot just a ouit, its POLITY, its like a STATE
Political organizations running the community
o This is also evident in other communities, particularly Aboriginals in Canada
Organized community organizations
2 functions:
1. Relations to the external government
a. Foreign affairs
2. Internal function of governance
a. Domestic policies
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-3 of the document.
Unlock all 9 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in
Why do they have this community?
They have learned to live as a minority for over 2000 years, since the diaspora
Informal community
Where you live, grocery store, friends, etc.
In Jewish world community is often forced
o Lived close to each other
o Mostly they chose to live in relative proximity to other Jews, not ONLY jews, but
other jews
o Movement from very concentrated areas to more spread out
o Now, there are neighborhoods and choice
The most residentially concentrated group in Canada are the Jews
Ongoing preference for some Jews for proximity
Ethnic/Jewish Polity
Ray Breton coined the term of institutional completeness
From him, political scientist Daniel Elazar who went into the notions of polity
o Identified 5 spheres where Jewish polity played a role:
1. Religious congregational
2. Educational congregational
YMHCA, Bronfman center, schools, etc.
Jewish cultural institutions as well as schools
3. Community relations defense
Organizations that defend Jews
Ex. the ADL mandate to fight against anti-Semitism
4. Communal welfare
welfare organizations of the Jewish community
Hebrew-free loan association in Montreal
Jewish immigrant and aid societies
5. Israel-overseas
organizations that relate to Israel and the Jewish world
Jewish world is extremely institutionally complete
o E. tpe i Caada 411, jeish – tons of organizations
Jewish Polity
Can be studied using approach of political science in the same way you could study the
Canadian state
Same tools, same approaches
How does it work?
o Its totally voluntary
o Nobody has to contribute a dime
Historically If people didt like hat ou ere saig or doig, ou ould e
expedited of the Jewish community
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-3 of the document.
Unlock all 9 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in
Network Canadian Jewish News, covers the Jewish news and world in Canada, with a
variety of views, community newspaper, its own medium
CAD Jewish Congress no longer exists
o Used to be called the Parliament of Canadian Jewry, due to their elections
system
o Lost power all $ collected was for the federation
o They tried to have a wide net of people, except there were limits as to who could
be accepted in this net
JDL Jewish Defense League, 50-year-old organization, interested in
militant defense of Judaism and would sometimes engage in acts of
violence
NOT part of Congress, it was excluded
Those who rejected the right for Israel to exist
Either left or ultra-orthodox groups, and were not accepted or
welcome in CAD Jewish Congress
Outlined above are the boundaries of the Jewish community
Shift in Post-War Period
Federations combined organizations, or organizations, they collect $ as in charity and
voluntary donations
o Power has shifted from national organizations to confederations
Synagogues used to have a great deal of power, now seen as having less because they
are localistic
o The federations are more cosmopolitan and global they acquired more power
this way, umbrella groups collecting funds and dispersing them to Jewish
communities
o Welfare, fun collecting operations
Federations are umbrella groups that collect funds and disburse them to communal
agencies a voluntary state contributions are voluntary
o To fund all agencies Jewish Polity can be seen as a voluntary state
o Contributions are voluntary
o This means philanthropy is key to understanding Jewish polity
Without philanthropy, there would be NO jewish polity and a lot of these
institutions could not exist
But there are fees fee for service, Jewish schools, taxation, fees, etc.
These services can parallel the state
CAD provides recreation, education, culture, old age, healthcare,
etc.
Jewish community can parallel these services
Its like a state ithi a state
o Combination of subsidy and fee for service
i.e. YMHA, synagogue, schools, etc.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-3 of the document.
Unlock all 9 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in

Document Summary

Idea of jewish community starts within the religion. In order for jews to pray, you had to have 10 jewish men. Judaism never had the idea of a solitary munk. Commandments in the bible: commanded to do these things, this means you need a community organization to look after these people. Diaspora jews created a jewish burial society: when migrating, they made certain every jewish person who died had somewhere to go, the diaspora experience led to community development. From cradle to grave you will find jewish communal organizations: this can be found in other religions but largely in judaism, 2 explanations for this, 1. 2 functions: relations to the external government, foreign affairs, internal function of governance, domestic policies. Why do they have this community: they have learned to live as a minority for over 2000 years, since the diaspora. Informal community: where you live, grocery store, friends, etc.

Get access

Grade+20% off
$8 USD/m$10 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Grade+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
40 Verified Answers
Class+
$8 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Class+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
30 Verified Answers

Related Documents