b’nai zion

Thursday Jan 10

by


Attended meeting of our newly
organized camp of the order
Sons of Zion,
I’m glad that my motion
to call name our org, Maccabean
was passed although after a big battle.

I accepted the nomination
and Election of Master of Ceremonies
and I certainly will see to it
that all rituals be strictly
enforced.

[note: a continuation of the next day’s entry fills the bottom of this page]

—————————

Matt’s Notes

Looks like Papa was a member of a Jewish fraternal order, and presumably in his capacity as Master of Ceremonies he was the keeper of rituals and parliamentary procedures. At the moment I have no idea what they were up to (I’ve never joined any sort of order myself, though I am a member of the Film Forum at the $150 level) but I’m looking into it (and please chime in if you know anything about Jewish fraternal organizations). Papa’s account of a “big battle” over the group’s nickname hints at some organizational self-importance or frivolity, but I really I don’t think he’d be part of it unless it was somehow directed toward raising funds for a Jewish homeland, serving the labor movement or performing acts of charity.

Then again, maybe it was just a club. Papa was single, prone to sadness, and in only the 11th year of reconstructing his life from scratch in a burgeoning, indifferent city; he might have just wanted to go somewhere for a heated discussion every so often, to replace the people he had lost with a few manufactured “brothers,” to hedge against loneliness. He was just a human being, after all. I’ll need to remind myself of this as the year progresses, to view his journal not as a lost gospel but a sliver of a life, a look at a twenty-nine-year-old, a man younger than me, who had not yet become who he would be. As I mentioned previously, he has been an abstraction to me all these years, remembered more as a feeling than as a real person. To see him as fallible and real is, perhaps, another way to relate to him more closely, to put his example within reach.

Update

Shows you how much I know. The above meditation on relating to my grandfather still stands, but in poking around a little more I’ve learned that immigrant fraternal organizations cropped up all over the place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fraternal societies played a big role in American life back then; for many immigrants, to join an order was a way to become in effect more American.1

Jewish immigrants formed plenty of their own orders, often geared toward community service (B’nai Brith is a well-known example, though until today I knew nothing of its fraternal origins). B’nai Zion, my grandfather’s order, was formed in 1908 and still operates today as a charitable organization. When Papa joined, they were certainly not frivolous — they helped provide life insurance to immigrants and were closely allied with Keren Hayesod. (For more, check out the B’nai Zion Web site). I’ve been in touch with them, so I’ll add updates as I learn more.

—————–

References for this post

1 – Soyer, Daniel, “Entering the ‘Tent of Abraham’: Fraternal Ritual and American-Jewish Identity, 1880-1920”, Religion and American Culture, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 159-182

Thursday Jan 17

by


Home & Radio as usual

Earlier in the evening I
was rather busy arranging
the Massmeeting for the
Z.O.A. for Mon. Jan 28. I have
secured Ab. Goldberg and Maurice
Samuel as the principal speakers
but I am not yet through
the worst part is yet to come

This is my last effort to
revive the first Zionist dist.
If I should fail here I give
up. I told it to Blitz and
my conscience will not bother
me as I have tried my best,
but I do hope the meeting
will turn out a success.

—————————-

Once again, Papa shows heavy involvement in the early development of what would become a prominent Zionist group. Though the Zionist Organization of America (Z.O.A.) was relatively more established than the Sons of Zion in 1924 (it had been around since 1897) Papa’s chapter was clearly in trouble. His choice of words (“If I should fail here I give up”) and the presence of a mysterious supervisor named “Blitz” remind me of a cold-war spy novel, though I assume Papa was meeting with Blitz in the open and not passing envelopes to him in a darkened alleyway or whispering to him from behind a copy of the Forward at a kosher lunch counter (he did, however, wear a fedora). Still, with the future of the Zionist movement in doubt and anti-Semitism growing in Europe by the moment, Papa must have felt like the stakes were urgently high for the Z.O.A’s success.

I’m not clear on what his frustrations with the progress of the first “district” were but he certainly secured a couple of good speakers for the January 28 mass meeting. Abraham Goldberg was the primary face of the Z.O.A. in 1924, and remained a key figure as it evolved. I won’t even think about tackling the enormous history of Zionist factions, feuds and alliances in the early 20th century, but Goldberg figures prominently throughout (he was so identified with Zionism that he was listed in the phone book at “Goldberg Abraham Zionist“1). Alas, the helpful people at the Z.O.A. don’t think many of their records from the 20’s have survived, so more details on Papa’s district may be a long time coming.

Maurice Samuel, the other speaker Papa booked, would make a splash later that year with the publication of his book You Gentiles, which characterized the social, emotional and cultural differences between Jews and Gentiles as fundamental, irreconcilable obstacles to mutual understanding. Admired in its day for its frankness and still admired by some for certain well-articulated sentiments, it has, perhaps not surprisingly, become a minor touchstone for anti-Semites of all stripes who like to quote its more resolute passages as proof of Jewish otherness and general nastiness. In any event, Samuel continued as a prominent writer, speaker and Yiddish literature scholar and would be noted for many other accomplishments; You Gentiles is absent from Irving Howe’s 1972 New York Times obituary of Samuel, which cites The World of Sholom Aleichem as his best work.

————–

References for this post

1 – Howe, Irving “Maurice Samuel, 1895-1972“, The New York Times, May 21, 1972

Adams, J. Donald, “Jew And Gentile“, The New York Times, September 7, 1924

“A. Goldberg Dead; Leader in Zionism“, The New York Times, June 6, 1942

Also, thanks to the Zionist Organization of America for their help.

Friday Jan 18

by


Same as yesterday
in my company were Sister
Clara & husband.

I.M.W.
again writes me to help him
I shall give the letter to Budiener

———-

Matt’s Notes

I can’t quite figure out what the second section of this entry says. I.M.W. (if I’m reading that right) might be a reference to Papa’s brother, Isaac, over in Europe (Papa has started to write something that looks like “Isaac” and crossed it out, though it’s mostly illegible). I’m also having trouble with the last word of the entry (Budinier? Badinez?) so I don’t know to whom or what Papa plans to give “I.M.W’s” letter.

My other theory is that this is a reference to the tubercular acquaintance “I. Marlanoff” from Papa’s January 2nd entry, and “Budiener” is a doctor or representative of a landsmanshaft, or mutual aid society. Supported by dues, such groups served as ready-made social networks for new arrivals, formed religious congregations, and provided medical care, loans and burial services to landsman (people from the same place).

Papa’s charitable fraternal order, B’nai Zion, probably qualifies as such an organization. Many of his old friends are buried in Sons of Zion cemetery plots and I know they ran a credit union and resold life insurance. But while many of the old landsmanshaftn were geared toward people from the same town, I don’t think B’nai Zion was. Such narrow regional focus might even have been on the wane by the 20’s as Jews stitched themselves into a broader community and as formal support became more available from government agencies and organizations like labor unions. This would be consistent with the overall evolution of fraternal organizations, which, as noted earlier, grew less chauvinistic as the path to Americanization grew clearer.

By the way, I learned a lot about the landsmanshaftn during a visit to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum yesterday (they have a link to some good information here) and I also got a much clearer idea of what Papa’s living situation must have been like in early 1924. I’ll add more about that later.

Tuesday Jan 22

by

Light

A Poem by
Francis William Bourdillon
———————–
The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
with the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

—————-

Matt’s Notes

Papa has clearly not shaken the wistful, reflective mood triggered by his Hebrew birthday and the arrival of his niece’s wedding photo on the previous day. You need only read this poem a couple of times to understand his mood.

————

Call for research help

It’s about to get harder for me to spend as much time as I’d like on research for this project. That’s why I’m asking you, my legions of readers — and make no mistake, your numbers are so vast that to keep count takes almost all of my fingers — for help.

I’ve posted a page on this site called “Cry For Help” with a list of the many people, places, organizations, musical references, events and details of New York life that appear in Papa’s diary. If you know about or are interested in any of these subjects, please write to me at papasdiary ‘at’ gmail.com or post comments about them. If you’d really like to dig in to a subject that might require ongoing research or collaboration, let me know and I’ll set up a collaborative document for us to work on.

I’ve added the list of subjects below, but it’ll always be available on the “Cry For Help” page of this site.

Note: If you want to delve into anything under a “some information already collected” heading, please let me know and I’ll share with you what I’ve got.

——————————–

Organizations:

Total mysteries:

  • David Wolpohn Club
  • Downtown Zionist Club
  • Holland Belgium Club
  • Jewish Students Club
  • Judea Insurance Company
  • Kessler Zion Club
  • Kinereth Camp (probably a B’nai Zion camp in Borough Park)

Some information already collected:

  • B’nai Zion (a.k.a. Order Sons of Zion)
  • Bar Kochba camp of B’nai Zion
  • Hebrew Free Loan Society
  • Keren Hayesod
  • Montefiore Home (later hospital)
  • Tikwaith Yehuda club
  • Zionist Organization of America
  • Information or artifacts and photos relating to Jewish fraternal organizations in general

People (many names are incomplete in the diary, but most of these people would be affiliated with B’nai Zion, Keren Hayesod or the Zionist Organization of America):

Total mysteries:

  • “Rabbi Cook”
  • “Mr. Graf”
  • Rabbi David Horowitz
  • Leibel Krebs (described as “a legendary figure from the old country”)
  • “Dr. Schecter”
  • “Dr. Thon”
  • And a ZOA organizer mysteriously named “Blitz”

Some information already collected:

  • Joseph Bluestone
  • David Blaustien
  • Abraham Goldberg
  • Arthur Ruppin
  • “Judge Strahl”
  • Maurice Samuel
  • “Mr. Zeldin”

President Calvin Coolidge

  • Relationships with Zionism and labor
  • February 12 speech on radio
  • February 22 speech on radio
  • Radio announcement of reelection on November 4

Places

Total mysteries:

  • Boisy (?) Hotel
  • Café Royal
  • Malick’s Restaurant
  • Regina Mansion
  • Snyatyn Synagogue
  • Spring Valley, New York — Jewish summer colonies or other Jewish presence

Some information already collected:

  • Pennsylvania Hotel

Movies and Movie Theaters

Total mysteries:

  • Academy of Music
  • “Song of Love”
  • “White Sister”
  • Lists of releases playing in New York for each month of 1924

Some information already collected:

  • Capitol Theatre
  • Clinton Theatre
  • “Woman of Paris”

Sports

Some information already collected:

  • Abe Goldstein (a professional boxer; won a title fight in 1924)
  • 1924 New York Yankees
  • 1924 New York Giants
  • 1924 Brooklyn Robins (a.k.a. “Dodgers”)

Leisure

General and specific information needed:

  • Central Park in the 20’s, esp. scenes of people rowing
  • Coney Island of the 20’s (overall experience, transportation, summer rental lockers)

Music (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

  • “Drigo’s Serendade”
  • Eastern European Folk tunes that would have been played in immigrant-oriented Radio in 1924
  • Gypsy String Orchestra (particularly their radio presence in the 1920’s)
  • “Gypsy Chardash”
  • “Indian Love Lyrics” (?)
  • Kessler’s Theater
  • “Kreuzer Sonata” (at Kessler’s theater on 10/9/24)
  • “Rubenstein’s Romance”
  • “Shubert’s Waltz op 64#2”
  • “Sleeping Beauty
  • “Straus’s Waltz, Artist’s Dream”
  • “Tosca”

Opera (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

  • “Cavalleria rusticana” (March 8th Performance)
  • “Carmen” (December 4th performance at the Met)
  • “Le Roi de Lahore” (March 26th at the Met)
  • L’Cock D’or (heard on radio march 30)
  • L’Oracolo” (heard on radio march 30)
  • Madame Butterfly” (November 22nd performance)
  • “Martha” (December 5th performance)
  • “Mefistofele” (with Chaliapin, November 24 performance)
  • “Pagliacci (March 8th Performance)
  • “Tannhauser” (November 5th at the Met)
  • General History of the Met, the New York Opera scene, and what the Opera experience would have been like for cash-strapped immigrants

Radio events and history:

  • 1924 Democratic convention coverage radio coverage
  • November 4 Election returns coverage
  • November 5 Coolidge reelection announcement
  • 1924 Democratic convention coverage, esp. June 26, June 30, July 8
  • April 14 Daughters of the American Revolution ceremony
  • Radio Station WEAF
  • WNYC history esp. early broadcasts in July and August

Lifestyle:

  • Cars (Photos and information regarding cars available to immigrants in the 1920’s)
  • Writing instruments (Photos of pens and pencils used in the 1920’s)
  • Telephones (usage and technology in 1924, images of private phones in 1920’s)
  • Public transportation (trolley and subway history, maps, fare information, usage in 1920’s)

Thursday Jan 24

by


Again meetings

Right from work one
meeting attended at the
Biosy Central Hotel by
the East Side K.H. Executors
and the 2nd meeting
of the Maccabean Camp
at 50 Delancey St,

I notice that our new
camp is gradually
improving.

——————

Papa worked in a garment factory, but he doesn’t write much about it. Perhaps, after so many years of factory work, his routine didn’t surprise him enough to warrant much attention in his diary, or maybe he just considered his Zionist activities to be his “real”work.

In any event, knowing he went right from the factory to a series of meetings gives us another small hint as to what the atmosphere in those meetings was like. I’m not sure yet whether they convened in smoky, crowded social club basements, in private apartments where boxes of Zionist flyers stood in for chairs, or in little rented offices papered with Yiddish posters. Maybe Papa and his compadres pressed around the corner table of a kosher restaurant in a tight ring, craning their necks to see whatever papers or materials their leader spread out before them, urgently pointing and gesturing.

We do know, though, that they were all probably dirty and tired, their clothes and hair and nails carrying with them whatever traces of grease or thread or dust or blood their professions exposed them to. I wonder, too, how many of them were like Papa — clever, articulate people who couldn’t wait to rush from work to these gatherings where their ideas and powers of reason and most serious thoughts, having been suppressed all day, could finally burst forth and collide in the air. Maybe the American Zionist and labor movements benefited, in some way, from the way this pent-up intellectual energy fueled the urgency of meetings like the ones Papa attended.

By the way, for those of you just joining us, “K.H” refers to Keren Hayesod, a Zionist fundraising organization that’s still around today. “The Maccabean Camp” refers to Papa’s chapter of the Order Sons of Zion (a.k.a. B’nai Zion) a charitable fraternal organization I’ve mentioned before. Here are some stats about them from the 1924-1925 American Jewish Year Book:

ORDER SONS OF ZION
Org. Apl. 19, 1908. OFFICE: 44 E. 23rd, New York City
Fourteenth Annual Convention, July 1923, New Haven, Conn.
Camps, 101. Members 7,000.
PURPOSE: Fraternal and Zionistic

And here’s a little more background from the 1917-1918 Jewish Communal Register:

PURPOSE: “Aims to improve the condition of the whole Jewish people at large and to help the Zionist Congress create for the Jewish people a publicly owned, legally secured home in Palestine.”

BENEFITS: Graded insurance against death ranging from $100.00 to $2000.00. Health and accident insurance.

ACTIVITIES: Supports Jewish and Zionist Educational Institutions. Encourages the study of the Hebrew language

An essay in the Register also has some interesting things to say about the importance of fraternal orders like B’nai Zion:

In their present form the Jewish Orders constitute a valuable and important factor in our communal life. The interests of about a million Jews are involved in their existence and welfare. Their influence for good is of inestimable value to our social activities. In his lodge and order, the Jew, who is a member, finds an agency which affords to him and his family a certain measure of protection in the event of death, illness or distress, and at the same time, a ready means to aid and assist others when in similar circumstances.

But:

With all the good features these organizations possess, and the good work they actually do, their existence as a whole, with very few exceptions, is uncertain and insecure.

As mentioned before, the Jewish fraternal system did indeed become far less important to Jewish life as Jews found other means to organize and Americanize. Still, greatly transformed descendants of fraternal organizations — including B’Nai Brith and B’Nai Zion — still carry on.

Saturday Feb 2

by


Enjoyed Installation Banquet
of Maccabean Camp at
Greenberg’s Roumanian
Casino, and in company
of Miss Weisman.

Sent home today $5.00

—————–

Matt’s Notes

This must have been quite a night for Papa. Not only was he installed as an officer of a B’nai Zion chapter he helped found, he did it in front of Miss Weisman, a woman who seemed to be an object of long-smoldering affection.

I wonder if the “longing to see Miss Weisman” after a “two-year lapse” he spoke of two days earlier (when she was a supporting player in the most dramatic and bittersweet episode of Papa’s year) was in part triggered by the approaching installation banquet. Perhaps the prospect of attending such an event without a companion attenuated his sense of loneliness and made him need to see someone important to him, or perhaps, in inviting “Miss Weisman” to see him celebrated and honored, he sought some kind of denouement to their romantic relationship.

Either way (if I’m right) I don’t think he knew why the urge to see her struck two days before the banquet; it just welled up and, as a romanticist, he saw any resulting satisfaction or poignancy as part of life’s natural theatrical sweep.

———————–

Additional Notes

I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of rituals, speeches and food the Maccabean installation banquet would have featured, but I don’t have much information yet. Since it took place in Greenberg’s Roumanian Casino, about which I have no information, my mind turns naturally to Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse as a point of reference. Thus, I think the banquet must have been a crowded, noisy affair, with schmaltz on the plates and schmaltz in the air, as it were. Then again, B’nai Zion’s mission was serious and important to its members, so maybe the night had both sober and boisterous moments.

I did find one Jewish banquet menu from the 1920’s at the New York Historical Society, but it’s for the Temple Beth El Golden Jubilee Banquet and Ball, which, as a major celebration for a well-endowed Reform (i.e. liberal) synagogue, would have been very unlike Papa’s event. The menu certainly doesn’t reflect what Papa would have eaten at his own grassroots organization’s banquet (for one, it appears to contain both dairy and meat dishes, which would not have been kosher, both literally and figuratively, for Papa).

Anyway, since I have the information I’ll stick it up here for your enjoyment:

Temple Beth El Golden Jubilee Banquet and Ball at Hotel Biltmore

February 16, 1924

Fruit Cocktail

Cream of fresh Mushrooms a L’infanta

Celery – Salted Almonds – Olives

Cassolette of Sea Food Thermidor

Barised Sweetbread Montglas

String Beans au gratin – Potatoes Louisette

Royal Squab on Toast

Salad Palm Beach

Bombe Praline Fraisette – Cakes

Demi Tasse

Note that Temple Beth El that later consolidated with Temple Emanu-El, which occupies a much-admired building on East 65th Street.

Thursday Feb 7

by


Another meeting of Maccabean
Camp. —

Slept in Sister Claras
new home.

————-

Clara and Papa roomed together for two years when she first came to America in 1920, and apparently they both recalled those days as some of the happiest of their lives. Papa supported Clara and she kept house until she got married in 1923, at which point I imagine Papa left his apartment and started “living in board.”

Papa was getting ready to give up his rented bed and move into his own place when he wrote today’s entry; perhaps he slept in Clara’s home that night because he had already given up his spot to another boarder. I wonder if he and Clara stayed up late chatting, or if, cheered in each other’s presence by the memory of their time together, they both slept a little better than usual.