American Folklife Center, Library of Congress Chicago Ethnic Arts Project (AFC 1981/004) afc1981004_12_198 Reports and Products - Fieldworkers - Shifra EpsteinNew York, July 24th, 1977 Ms. Elena Bradunas American Folklife Center The Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540 Dear Elena; Enclosed is my report and the log of the contact sheets, a telephone bill and a check for Greda. Sorry for the delay. Due to unexpected circumstances (the need to write a paper for the World Conference for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, August 7-14). A list of people to whom certificates need to be sent is appended. I expect to return on August 27 and should be able to explain any unclear points in the report. Best wishes for a good Summer, Sincerely, Shifra Epstein Shifra EpsteinA list of people to whom certificates need to be sent. Barry Dolins 616 N. Rush Chicago Ill. 60611 Dina Halpern-Neuman 3270 North Lake Shore Drive Chicago, Ill. 60657 Naomi G. Cohen 3800 North Lake Shore Dr. Chicago, Ill. 60657 Anita Kolman 527 Romana Road Wilmette, Ill. 60091 Mrs. Rose Ann Chasman 6147 North Richmond, Chicago, Ill. 60659 Mrs. Faith Bickerstaff 6226 N. Francisco Chicago, lll. 60659 Goldman Linda 3100 North Sheridon Dr. Apt. 7a Chicago, Ill., 60657 Grace Grosman Spertus College of Judaica Chicago Ill. 60605 Ms. Zaret. Ask Jonas for the adress. He went to the wedding. Mrs Mitchell Zaret 2907 W. Gregory Chic 60625 Gail and Warren Kasztel To: Ms. Bradunas, American Folklife Center, The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540. From: Shifra Epstein, 512 W 112 St. N.Y.C. 10025 Subject: Report on Jewish Ethnic Culture in Chicago. Jewish culture in Chicago is as diverse and pluralistic as it is in other cities in the United States. Many Jewish ethnic traditions are represented there--Ashkenazic: Sepharadic and Middle Eastern as well as a variety of religious affiliations --ultra-orthodox, normative, secular and assimilationist. There are also new innovative groups, especially in the university environments which try to express their Jewishness in a new way. The cultural and religious activities of this wide variety of people are organized into federations, cultural and political organizations and synagogues. With both voluntary and professional leaders, these establishments try, each in his particular way, to preserve, present, continue, encourage and vitalize that which they view as unity among diversity. The broad spectrum of living traditions among Chicago Jewery dramatizes its culture and folk-culture via its resources drawn from both the Major and Minor Traditions of Judaism as well as from the total environment including non-Jewish ecological and cultural zones. Another channel for the expression of Jewish cultural life is its memorial culture, in which, via different organizations and individuals, the roots of the community and its individuals2 / are displayed and explored. This domain encompasses both the old ways and the new paths. Part I The purpose of this section of the report is to explore how each of these expressions can serve as a medium for locating, encouraging,presenting and disseminating Jewish folk-traditions in Chicago. There are two categories in this part; the total contemporary experience and the memorial culture. The Total Contemporary Experience. In this category there are at least five items. 1. Synagogues. All Jewish persuasions are represented among Chicago Jewery (see the list of synagogues in the American Jewish Congress Guide to Jewish Chicago 1976:pp. 6-19. In parenthesis there is a key to members' persuasion). Synagogues are a resource not only for the cultural life of the Jewish people, but also for telling the story of the city. Research into the history of several synagogues has been conducted and books have been written in connection with the bicentennial celebration. However, the role of the synagogue in the process of communal creation and re-creation of old ways in the New World needs further investigation. Synagogues are also sources for the identification of traditional religious functionaries, such as scribes, cantors and Torah readers as well as for the various organizations 3 / within these institutions such as the burial society and the society for the study of Talmud,etc. They are also the source for the traditional festival and life cycle celebrations. An interesting ethnographic study focussed on the variety of festivals and life cycle celebrations in the Chicago synagogues compared with those in other places in the United States is worth reviewing with special attention to the old ways in the New World. For example, the tradition of the vimple(swaddling clothes) used later as a wrapper for the Torah, has been revived among people in Chicago, as has the tradition of using illuminated ketubot(Hebrew:marriage contracts) drawn not by a scribe but by a calligrapher. 2. Universities and Yeshivot Spertus College of Judaica coordinates a consortium of universities in Chicago which provides a wide range of academic subjects in Judaica. In addition, several universities have Hillel Foundations on their campuses which offer religious and social-educational activities to the students. Similarly, there are two rabbinical colleges in Chicago, Telshe Yeshiva and Yeshivah Brisk, in which orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jews receive their higher Jewish education or are ordained as rabbis. The latter are sources for the ultra-orthodox folk ways of the Major and Minor Traditions of Judaism. 3. Fraternal Organitations. To mention just a few, there are Maccabi Sports Club: the Worksmen's Circle which provides health insurance benefits as 4/ well as Yiddish culture and [land] and other social activities: Hadassah, a women's voluntary organization, supporting public health programs in Israel and as such, are committed to cultural programs related to Israel; the Labor Zionist Alliance, a Zionist organization which designs Jewish and Yiddish cultural programs and other Israel-connected activities; the Jewish Labor Committee, linked with the general Labor Movement in advancing the cause of human rights. All these organizations have at least one annual gathering in which Jewish culture is publically displayed with professional Jewish artists, usually writers and scholars representing their areas of competency. Their performances are usually centered around and encourage the elite culture: professional Yiddish singers and cantors and well known Jewish writers, such as Hayyim Grade or Eli Wiezel, usually drawn from outside Chicago. 4. Community Centers and Federations. Thirteen community centers operated in Chicago suburbs and almost all of Jewish cultural life depends upon these institutions. Several art-fairs are organized during the year in these centers which can provide an ideal setting for the presentation of traditional and revivalist folk artists and folkcraft. Several artists present their art regularly at these fairs, but it seems that the concept of the open-museum adopted by the Smithsonian Institute for their Festival of American Folklife needs to be encouraged in Chicago. Showing artists and craftspersons at work, provides an opportunity for discovering 5 / the quality of the various Jewish groups as well as the individuals representing these traditions. A revised folk-life festival based on the principles of the open-museum could take place in the Maxwell Market where the Jewish settlement in Chicago started. The photographs taken during a field trip are an indication that there are still several peddlers, tailors and shopkeepers who remember the old-timers or they are their children -- some continue their family traditions (B 42182; B42183; B 42184). Additional Jewish professions are still represented, such as diamond cutters and furriers. Presentation of secular traditional Jewish occupations are not a part of the Jewish community fairs and thus need to be encouraged. 5. Youth and Counter-Culture Groups. Communes and partial communes of young people exist in Chicago, and they vary as do the adults, in their interpretation of Judaism in a continuum of secular to ultra-orthodoxy. Consistant with the above, they represent the Yiddish movement, such as Der Driter Dor (Yiddish; The Third Generation), the Young Socialist Bund as well as non-political young Jews. One radical group publishes a journal called Chutzpah, which appears several times during the year and has subscription among radical groups outside Chicago. II. Memorial Culture This is another domain for the expression and exhibition of folk-culture. Museum and archives, however, tend sometimes6/ to represent the elite-culture. Museums Chicago has a Jewish museum, the Maurice Spertus Museum of Judaica, but the exhibitions on Jewish themes are not limited to this museum. The Museum of Natural history, for example, exhibited a special Jewish exhibition in connection with the Bicentennial. The Spertus Museum had exhibitions on the Jews of Yemen (1970); the Jews of Sandor (1975); Magic and Superstitions in the Jewish Tradition (1975); Synagogue Architecture in Illinois (1976) in addition to permanent exhibits of archaeology, ritual objects and decorative arts. The curator, Ms. Grace Grossman is very interested in displaying folk culture and ethnographic studies. Due to the fact that the museum has a very small collection, it is very much dependent on outside [on outside] sources. The museum's main concern is that enough people come to see the exhibits, especially since most Chicago Jews who live in the suburbs do not come to the city often to participate in cultural life. Folk Museum An interesting exhibition representing the folk and done by the folk is mounted in the North Suburban Synagogue Beth El entitled From Hester Street to Highland Mall. The exhibit represented the Jewish emigrants who arrived in Chicago during the various waves of emigration, including those from Eatern and Western Europe as well as several from Middle Eastern countries. It included home items, original pictures and clothing as well 7/ as other personal belonging. Titles were added to explain the exhibit. Such an exhibition can serve as an example of community creation and how presentation and exhibition can be accomplished without an established museum. However, it should be noted that, as happened in this display, non-professional treatment of objects might ruin precious, irreplaceable items. With some professional help and cooperation, such mistakes could have been prevented. Chicago Jewish Archives The Chicago Jewish Archives is located in the Norma Asher and Helen Asher Library in the Spertus College of Judaica. It tried systematically to collect and preserve the papers of organizations and individuals who contributed to the growth and development of the Jewish community in Chicago. They have material from groups such as the Beth Din (religious court) of the Chicago Region of the Rabbinical Assembly, the American Jewish Art Club and the Jewish Charities of Chicago. Their synagogue holdings include material from Anshe Knesses Israel, Cogregation B'nai Jehoshua and early synagogues. The archivist, Richard Marcus, is a helpful person to all who participate in this project. Chicago Jewish Historical Society This is a new organization devoted to the preservation of the history of Chicago Jewery with special interest in memorial 8 / culture. Ms. Linda Goldman, a volunteer in this organization, is very helpful and willing to assist everyone interested in the project. She has been doing research on one-hundred years of Temple Shalom, the earliest synagogue in Chicago. The Historical Society has materials on the following Jewish artists, past members of the Jewish Arts Club; Raymond Katz, Trodus Geller, Nota Koslowsky, Alex Tepshevsky and others. Part II Chicago Jewery has ethnic musicians, craftspeople, storytellers and other artists. The short period assigned for this field work and its occurence during the even weeks after Passover when playing music and performing is not allowed, narrowed the scope of the report.9/ Mrs. Rose Ann Chasman, 6147 North Richmond, Chicago, Illinois 60659, Tel. 312-764-4169. B 43075 Mrs. Chasman, an observent Jew, is a survivalist and revivalist folk artist. Born in the United States into a traditional Jewish family, she has been greatly influenced and inspired by this tradition. She views her work as a mean to intensify her religious observence, via traditional decorative arts which she either learns from older neighbors or teaches herself to do. She expresses art in a variety materials: textile, paper, wax and dough. Her traditional textile designs encompass a matzah cover (20A; 21A); tefilin (phylacteries) cover (18:19:20); yarmulke (scull cap: 17: 18); hallah cover (21;22); amulets and decorative pictures to be hung on the walls (35:36:37). The amulets (35:36) are revivals of traditional ones. They include mizrachs (east in Hebrew) which are hung on the eastern wall of the house or the synagogue to indicate the direction of Jerusalem -- the direction the worshipper must face when praying the daily services. Paper cut. She preserves the traditional paper cuts for the decoration of the sukkah (a booth, which meals are eating during the Festival of the Tabernacle, 25, 26) as well as for the decoration of the windows on Shavu'ot (Pentacoast). The latter depicts a women lighting candles (25, 26). Mrs. Chasman makes her own havdalah candles (for the ritual of separation on Saturday night between the Sabbath and the everyday: 29; 30; 15; 16). She also makes her spice box for the10/ ceremony from a dried orange on which cloves are stuck. She She also makes another traditional sukkah decoration; birds, but instead of using empty egg shells, she makes them with dried prunes and bread. She has her own interpretation of the ushpizin (Aramaic: guests, i.e., the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,Moses, Aaron and King David, who, according to tradition, come as visitors into the sukkah of every Jews). She likes to cook and bake and knows the recipes for ninety one different cookies and special rolls for various Jewish holidays (11;12). Her apartment is filled with items she has made as well as with traditional decorations, Israeli Art (31; 32) and Swedish embroidery on Jewish themes which also serve as inspiration for her work. She teaches Jewish crafts in her Sunday school where she encourages children to learn about their craft. She keeps a number of samples of their work, especially paintings, at home.11/ Dina Halpern-Neuman, a Yiddish actress.* 3270 North Lake Shore Drive Chicago, Illinois 60657. Yiddish speaking theaters flourished in America, especially in New York, in the period before World War II and after it, providing entertainment for a huge audience and also influencing in general American theater. Yiddish speaking actors, producers and script writers shifted their interest to general audiences and consequently the Yiddish theater in America suffered tremendousely. The Yiddish theater in America has its roots in Eastern Europe, in such companies as the Goldfadden Theater is Jassy, Romania or much later in the Kaminska Theater in Warsaw. Mrs. Halpern is one of the few members of the Kaminksa Theater still performing in the United States. Mrs. Halpern is a native of Warsaw and survived the Holocaust because she happened to be on tour in the United States, when the Germans attacked Poland. Her entire immediate family [*was*] lost in the Holocaust. She stayed in the United States and later married Mr. Danniel Newman, currently the director of the Chicago Lyric Opera. Mrs. Halpern-Neuman was active in the Yiddish Theater Association in Chicago in the early sixties, where the famous play Mirele Efros was staged. Prior to that she played in the Jewish Theaters on Second Avenue in New York. Recently she performed a monologue *Mrs. Halpern-Neuman refused permission to record the interview. It is recommended, that additional interviews take place in order to complete several missing points.12/ in Australia, Israel and South America. Her engagements in the United States are few, although she is an active person, who misses the life of the theater, while admitting that it is hard to raise support for a Yiddish Theater. Although Mrs. Halpern-Neuman is a professional actress and not a traditional performer, she represents a disappearing phenomena in Jewish life--theater in the Yiddish vernacular, in countries where officials were sometimes hostile to Yiddish. It is recommended to find the ways and means of encouraging her performances as an expression of Yiddish culture and language. 13/ Anita Mazalah Kolman, 527 Romona Road, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. B43083 Mrs. Kolman is a revivelist of a traditional Jewish profession: jewelry making and goldsmith, a prevailing craft among European, Middle Eastern and Oriental Jews. She is especially interested in making available to the general public reproductions of Jewish antique Jewlry and amulets used by Jews in the Middle East, Persia and Yeman. Mrs. Kolman was born in Israel to a Yemenite family. She came to America more than twenty years ago to study social work, married and after her children grew up she returned to her favorite hobby, jewelry making. She employs modern techniques and instruments to reproduce in quantity and works with pewter and not silver or gold (26; 27; 28). Thus, she is not a "pure" folk crafts person. The jewelry she reproduces, were originally made with gold or silver. Examples of some of her work: a Persian Amulet (36A top to bottom), the original and a copy), a shield with the blessing of Josheph (the one with the chain is a copy). A copy of the three angels amulets -- a heart shaped amulet inscribed with three angels and the priestly blessing (the "turquoise" stone in the middle is not in the original and it is the artist's innovation); A copy of a Kabbalistic hand with the inscription from Psalms 121. She also reproduces a chain which both pewter and Israeli amber are used with a medallion of a shield of Medieval Jerusalem inscribed with Psalms 121: 1-2, decorated with amber beads to wear around one's neck (36, top right). In addition she has also reproduced several American and non-Jewish items. For example, the bicentennial Stars and the Bethlehem Star. 14/ Recommendations (in addition to those inserted in the report itself). 1. A survey of Sepharadic Jewish life in Chicago and how the continuation of this culture can be encouraged. This could be done in cooperation with the Sepharadic Federation in the United States (515 Park Ave. New York City) and with Adelantre, the Judesmo Society (4594 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11235), which are devoted to this purpose. 2. The location of traditional performers and craftsmen could be extended into the homes for the aged in Chicago. This project could be done as part of the social activities of these homes, involving the residents in a project of documentation and display of their culture. 3. The appointment of a Jewish folklorist who would coordinate the activities concerning Jewish folklife sponsored by the the broad spectrum of institutions. In addition, the folklorist can teach courses in Jewish folklore and ethnology and involves his/her students in the organization, preservation and exhibition of Jewish folk culture in Chicago.15/ Appendix A list of additional resource people in Chicago. Artists: Zelda Werner Sarah Patt American Jewish Arts Club Regina Rosenblum Hillel Fdns. Joel Popko Danny Leifer Source People: Sara Feinstein FI6-6700 Director Education and Culture Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago 1 S. Fraklin Chicago, Illinois 60606 Sara Shapiro HA7-5570 Board of Jewish Education 72 E. 11th Street Chicago, Illinois 60605 Rabbi Mordecai Simon HA7-5863 Chicago Board of Rabbis 72 E. 11th Street Chicago, Illinois 60605 Rabbi Leonard Mishkin Associated Talmud Torah 2828 W. PRatt Chicago, Illinois 60645 Manuel Silver 332-7355 American Jewish Congress 22 W. Monroe St. Suite 2102 Chicago, Illinois 60603 David Roth Institute on Pluralism and Group Identity 55E. Jakson Chicago, Illinois 606041 6/ Sol Goldstein (Holocaust Information) Mayer Markowitz Jewish Federation 1 S. Fraklin Chicago, Illinois 60606 Muriel Robin President Chicago Jewish Historical Society Rabbi Morris Gutstein 5830 N. Drake Chicago, Illinois 60659 Danny Neuman 3270 North Late Shore Drive Chicago, Illinois 60657 Betsy Katz Fran Alpert Jewish Teaching Center Green Bay Road Wilmette, Illinois Rabbis: Rabbi Yehoshua H. Eichenstein 973-5161 Chesed L'Avrohom Nachlas David 6342 N. Troy, Chicago, Illinois 60659 Rabbi Harold Shusterman B'nei Ruven 6350 N. Whipple, Chicago, Illinois 60659 Cantors Cantor Wilhelm Silber Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel 540 W. Melrose Chicago, Ill. 60657 Cantor Moses Silverman Anshe Emet Synagogue 3760 N. Pine Grove Chicago, Ill. 60613 Photographers Darcie Cohen Forman c/o Spertus Museum Especially Cemeteries Steve Grubman Especially Architecture 1 7/ Archie Lieberman Documentary Film Bob Lieberman Organizations National Council of Jewish Women 3018 W. Devon Chicago, Ill. 60659 Chicago Women's Aid Misc. Rabbi Moses Mescheloff Programs for recent Soviet Jewish Immigrants Laurel Benjamin Fund-raising and cultural Young People's Division activities-young adult Jewish Federation1 8/ Bibliography North Lawndale-- see article, "This was North Lawndale; The Transplantation of a Jewish Community," Jewish19/ Mrs. Faith Bickerstaff, 6226 N. Francisco, Chicago, Illinois 60659, Tel. 312-743-0317. B 43079 Mrs. Bickerstaff is an example of a recyclist. She buys old lace, embroidery and crochet work in thrift-stores and patched them to already made clothing, [*(35:36)*] pillows and decorative articles and presents them as her own creation. She views her work, like Mrs. Chasman, as a mean to intensify her ultra-orthodoxy observence of Judaism. Thus, especially her "textile" work, are all taken from the Jewish [*religious*] repertoire: decorative articles for the Sabbath (3:4); hallah covers(27); tallit (prayer shawl 5:6: and its traditional decoration 23:24); kittel (a kaftan used on special ritual events, 19;20;21) and tefilin covers (1o;11:12:13). Recycle work can be considered in the domain of folk craft. But presenting such work as one's own creation is artistically unacceptable practice.