Vol 30 No 1 (2019): Boundaries of Jewish Identities in Contemporary Finland
https://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/169974
2024-03-28T22:18:53ZEditorial: Boundaries of Jewish Identities in Contemporary Finland
https://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/169987
Editorial: Boundaries of Jewish Identities in Contemporary Finland
Czimbalmos, Mercédesz Viktória; Pataricza, Dóra
Editorial for issue 30(1) of Nordisk judaistik – Scandinavian Jewish Studies, 'Boundaries of Jewish Identities in Contemporary Finland'.
2019-08-26T10:02:37Z‘The Golden Chain of Pious Rabbis’: the origin and development of Finnish Jewish Orthodoxy
https://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/169986
‘The Golden Chain of Pious Rabbis’: the origin and development of Finnish Jewish Orthodoxy
Muir, Simo; Tuori, Riikka
This article provides the first historiographical analysis of the origins of Jewish Orthodoxy in Helsinki and describes the development of the rabbinate from the establishment of the congregation in the late 1850s up to the early 1980s. The origins of the Finnish Jewish community lies in the nineteenth-century Russian army. The majority of Jewish soldiers in Helsinki originated from the realm of Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) culture, that is, mainly non-Hasidic Jewish Orthodoxy that emerged in the late eighteenth century. Initially, the Finnish Jewish religious establishment continued this Orthodox-Litvak tradition. After the independence of Finland, the Helsinki congregation hired academic, Modern Orthodox rabbis educated in Western Europe. Following the devastation of the Shoah and the Second World War, the recruitment of rabbis faced new challenges. Overall, the rabbi recruitments were in congruence with the social and cultural development of the Helsinki community, yet respected its Orthodox roots.
2019-08-26T10:00:53ZLaws, doctrines and practice: a study of intermarriages and the ways they challenged the Jewish Community of Helsinki from 1930 to 1970
https://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/169985
Laws, doctrines and practice: a study of intermarriages and the ways they challenged the Jewish Community of Helsinki from 1930 to 1970
Czimbalmos, Mercédesz Viktória
The identities, customs and habits of religious congregations are tightly connected to the history of these congregations and to the specific religious tradition or denomination they consider themselves to be a part of. They are also shaped by the legislative and bureaucratic regulations and processes of the secular society that is surrounding them. The aim of this study is to further our knowledge of some of these aspects of Jewish life as they relate to the Jewish Community of Helsinki in the period 1930–70 by showcasing two examples that emerged as a result of the rising number of intermarriages in the congregation.
2019-08-26T09:58:46ZIntersections of gender and minority status: perspectives from Finnish Jewish women
https://www.doria.fi:443/handle/10024/169984
Intersections of gender and minority status: perspectives from Finnish Jewish women
Vuola, Elina
In this article, I examine how contemporary Finnish Jewish women understand their roles and identities as women in a small Orthodox Jewish community, on the one hand, and as members of a tiny minority in largely secular and predominantly Lutheran/Christian Finland, on the other. How do Finnish Jewish women negotiate their identities in relation to their community, strongly organised along gender lines, and in relation to Finnish society and especially its equality ideals and norms? I divide my article into four sections. First, I give a short overview of the theory of intersectionality, concentrating on its possibilities and limitations for the study of religion and gender in general, and for the study of Judaism, specifically. Second, I focus on my informants’ views of the gendered practices of their Orthodox Jewish community, which, by many standards, is a very specific form of Orthodoxy, which could be called ‘Finnish Orthodoxy’. Third, I analyse my informants’ views on how they perceive being Jewish women in contemporary Finland. The intersection of the last two broad themes will highlight the realities of Finnish Jewish women in contemporary Finland. Fourth, I discuss possibilities and limitations of intersectional theorising in the light of my data.
2019-08-26T09:56:31Z