A STUDY GUIDE

Scattered Among the Peoples:   The Jewish Diaspora in Twelve Portraits  Overlook Press By Allan Levine Discussion Guide by Steven Steinbock, RJE Read a review from Reform Judaism magazine Order this book...

INTRODUCTION

How does the Jewish community keep going, despite all the forces that have set out to subjugate, exploit, or destroy it? This question is at the heart of Scattered Among the Peoples: The Jewish Diaspora in Twelve Portraits. Teacher and historian Allan Levine guides a tour through modern Jewish history, beginning with the Spanish expulsion of its Jews in 1492. He examines twelve communities, each in a different year and geographic location. Without providing a definitive answer as to why Jews were treated differently from the general non-Jewish population, Levine studies how Jews interacted with their gentile neighbors and how those interactions shaped Jewish character.

THE AUTHOR

Winnipegnative Allan Levine studied at the Universityof Manitobaand the Universityof Toronto, where he obtained a Ph.D. in Canadian history. His 1998 book, Fugitives of the Forest: The Heroic Story of Jewish Resistance and Survival During the Second World War, was awarded the Yad Vashem Prize in Holocaust History. In addition to his non-fiction works, Dr. Levine is the author of three detective novels set in early twentieth century Manitoba. Levine teaches history at St. John'sRavenscourtSchoolin Winnipegand is married with two children.

CONTENTS AND STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK

Scattered Among the Peoplespresents a panorama of the modern Jewish experience, beginning with 1942 and continuing to the present. In each chapter, Levine presents a slice-of-life of Jewish history from a specific year and location, interwoven with the lives and accomplishments of prominent community members

The table below diagrams the structure of the book, including year, geographical location, and names of historic figures:

DISCUSSION GROUP STRATEGIES

Scattered Among the Peoplesis a big book, both in topic and size. It would be an ideal text for a semester-long course on modern Jewish history. But for Jewish book clubs, discussion groups, and lunch-and-learn settings, the book presents a practical challenge: namely, how to cover the contents of all twelve chapters in a single one or two-hour session.

Rather than attempting to cover the entire book at once, we recommend focusing on individual sections. If you have three or four sessions in which to discuss the book, try choosing two chapters per session. Even if you only have one session available, stick to two or three chapters rather than trying to cover too much.

The questions and topics that follow are divided into General Questions that address the entire book and the large issues it presents, and Chapter Questions that are specific to certain chapters. In the interest of space, questions are only provided for three of the twelve chapters.

TERMS

Scattered Among the Peoplesuses a number of terms for the places and conditions of the Jewish people in the Diaspora. Several of these terms are listed below. It might be a good idea to begin a discussion of Scattered Among the Peoples with a review of these terms and their meanings.

Diaspora From the Greek word for dispersion, spreading out. Originally Diaspora referred to the dispersion of the Jews following the conquest of Judahby Babyloniain the sixth century BCE. Today it applies to Jews living outside the landof Israeland, to a lesser extent, to any exiled nation or people living outside its homeland.

Galut or Gola Hebrew for "exile" or "banishment," referring to Diaspora.

Converso Former Jews who converted to Christianity following the edict of expulsion in Spainand Portugal.

Kahal Hebrew for Community or Congregation. The term used by Spanish and Portuguese Jews for their community or synagogue.

Pale of Settlement Specific geographic area in Russiawhere Jews were required to live after Russiaabsorbed a large number of Jews in the late eighteenth century.

Shtetl Yiddish term for a Jewish village or hamlet. From the same root as the German stadt ("town"). Shtetl is the diminutive form, meaning "little town."

Ghetto From the Italian giotto or geto, meaning "foundry." Because of its proximity, the Veniceneighborhood in which Jews were required to live was referred to as Ghetto Nuovo. In time, "ghetto" came to refer to any segregated Jewish neighborhood, and by extension, any urban neighborhood inhabited by a minority underclass.

DISCUSSION TOPICS AND QUESTIONS

General Questions

1. What is the "Wandering Jew" motif that Levine first mentions on page 2? Why did such an image of the Jew arise? Why does it pervade Western culture? What effect does this image have on Jewish self-image?

2. Levine frequently makes reference to the "Jewish Question." What is he referring to? How is this question addressed at the points of history covered in the book?

3. In each chapter, what significant event or experience occurred?

4. Looking at the entire series of twelve portraits, are there any patterns or generalizations that we can draw about the Jewish historical experience?

5. One criticism of Scattered Among the Peoples states that it is possible to read it as a chronology of Jewish history passing from Sephardic to Ashkenazic dominance, since the first four "portraits" deal with Sephardic Jews, while the latter eight portray Ashkenazim. Discuss Ashkenazic life prior to 1730 and the Sephardic community after 1700.

6. In his review of Scattered Among the Peoples, ("The One-State Solution," The Nation, November 3, 2003, and www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i="20031103&c=2&s=lazare), Daniel Lazare criticizes Levine for being too optimistic about Diaspora Jewry. He writes, "Levine is fundamentally mistaken about the Jewish survival instinct," implying that Jews should not be lulled into a false sense of security when living under non-Jewish sovereignty. Is this a fair criticism? What are your thoughts on the safety of Diaspora Jews versus life in a Jewish state?

7. Levine provides twelve portraits in Scattered Among the Peoples. What is the significance of the number twelve, particularly when portraying Jewish peoplehood? If you were to add one or two "portraits," what would you include? Why?

Chapter Questions(provided for select chapters only)

Chapter 3: “Physicians, Poets, and a False Messiah – Constantinople, 1666”

1. How was the Diaspora experience reflected in Isaac Luria's kabbalistic teachings? Do you think Luria's philosophy was influenced by the Diaspora, or is it, as Luria believed, a product of God's creation? In other words, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

2. What cultural and historical factors contributed to the popularity of Shabbetai Zevi?

3. What were the effects of the messianic movement of Shabbetai Zevi on the Jewish communities of Europeand the Middle East? In what ways did Zevi contribute to Jewish assimilation?

Chapter 7: “The Pale of Settlement – St. Petersburg, 1881”

1. What did Judah Leib Gordon mean when he wrote, "Be a man in the streets and a Jew at home" (page 215)? How did his contemporaries interpret this statement? What was Gordon's hope for the Jewish community of Russia? To what extent was that dream realized?

2. Despite a history of reliance on the Jewish community, Russian peasants and soldiers waged deadly pogroms against Jewish villages between 1881 and 1882. To what extent did the Czar allow, approve, or justify these pogroms? Why?

3. The diary entry of Chaim Chissin (page 226) suggests that the young man's Jewishness was thrust on him by the non-Jewish world. From where do Jews in the other eleven "portraits" derive their sense of Jewish identity? How does this shape the Jewish view of the non-Jewish world?

4. Examine Yehudah Pinsker's description of anti-Semitism: "Judeophobia is a psychic aberration. As a psychic aberration, it is hereditary; as a disease transmitted for two thousand years, it is incurable" (page 229). To what extent is this accurate? What factors may have influenced Pinsker's remarks?

Chapter 8: “L'Affaire – Paris, 1895”

1. As a result of the French Revolution, Jews were accorded all the rights

of citizenship, and the paradigm of Jewish experience in Europeshifted.

What is the new set of problems that now faced Jews (page 232)?

2. Levine calls the coexistence of anti-Semitism and acculturation that gave rise to the Dreyfus Affair "the great irony of Jewish history." What does he mean by this? Would such an anti-Semitic incident as The Affair have been inevitable even had Dreyfus not been part of it?

3. To what extent did the Dreyfus Affair challenge the Jewish sense of “liberty, equality, and fraternity”?