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Session Seven
Yom Kippur Dancing: Yiddish Radicalism

Introduction

YOM KIPPUR DANCING: YIDDISH RADICALISM

GRAND YOM KIPPUR BALL

In 1886 on the Lower East Side of New York City a small group of Jewish radicals, atheists, and anarchists organized a club called the Pioneers of Freedom. They distributed Yiddish parodies of penitential prayers, mocking the traditions of Yom Kippur, and provoked a furor in the Jewish community. Climaxing their efforts were the Yom Kippur Balls held on Kol Nidre night. In 1889 circulars were distributed inviting Jewish workers to spend Kol Nidre evening at the Clarendon Hall on Thirtieth Street. On the scheduled evening the owner of the hall, under political pressure, refused to open the doors. A near-riot ensued until the police dispersed the crowds. In 1890 the ticket of admission read in part: "Grand Yom Kippur ball with theatre. Arranged with the consent of all new rabbis of liberty... Kol Nidre, music, dancing, buffet; Marseillaise and other hymns." Yom Kippur Balls were not confined to New York. Philadelphia sponsors created such a disturbance that some were sentenced to thirty days in prison for disturbing the peace. The Jubilee Street Club in the East End of London, England, was also the scene of such frenetic gatherings. One year the anarchists advertised that a certain restaurant on the Lower East Side would remain open on Yom Kippur day to feed all freethinkers. Many outraged Jews came to protest and the ensuing battle between traditional Jews and the atheists brought out the police reserves... Philip Goodman, _The Yom Kippur Anthology_ Philadelphia: JPS, 1971 pp. 330 f.

MY ZEIDY'S WHITE HORSE
a family story from Jane Enkin

My Buby and Zeidy, Sura and Wolf Wolbromsky, tore themselves away from the religion of their shtetl in Poland and came to Canada as free-thinking socialists. On Yom Kippur, Buby would say: "People think they can lie and steal and cheat all year, fast one day and it's all forgiven, then go back to their ways the next day." Zeidy, working as a junkman in Hamilton, Ontario, in the 1920s, made a point of riding his white horse past the shul on Yom Kippur, pulling his junk wagon, just when the congregation was walking in or coming out for a break. It was contemptuous, striking at the beliefs of some and the conformism of others. Zeidy never thought of himself as the heroic type -- and neither did his wife, children, acquaintances, or customers -- but his yearly one-horse parade took courage. The white horse became a family symbol for any time that Zeidy was making a statement, or being rebellious. Religious people say that when the Messiah comes, he'll be riding a white horse.

THIS TOO IS TORAH

These descriptions of the anti-religious radicalism of some of our forebears might cause you to ask: what are they doing in our Torah study course? To me, these stories are also Torah. They are part of the rich heritage of Jewishness which has come down to us and which we can draw on to build our own Jewish lives. They represent the Yiddish-speaking secular radicalism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which to me is one of the most dynamic, interesting and inspiring movements in Jewish history, on a par with Hasidism although the two movements were bitterly opposed to each other. In this module, which I am putting together during Passover, the holiday of freedom, I want to share some texts and some thoughts about these radical "pioneers of freedom."


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	YOM KIPPUR DANCING: YIDDISH RADICALISM GRAND YOM KIPPUR BALL In 1886 on the Lower East Side of New York City a small group of Jewish radicals, atheists, and anarchists organized a club called the Pioneers of Freedom. They distributed Yiddish parodies of penitential prayers, mocking the traditions of Yom Kippur, and provoked a furor in the Jewish community. Climaxing their efforts were the Yom Kippur Balls held on Kol Nidre night. In 1889 circulars were distributed inviting Jewish workers to spend Kol Nidre evening at the Clarendon Hall on Thirtieth Street. On the scheduled evening the owner of the hall, under political pressure, refused to open the doors. A near-riot ensued until the police dispersed the crowds. In 1890 the ticket of admission read in part: "Grand Yom Kippur ball with theatre. Arranged with the consent of all new rabbis of liberty... Kol Nidre, music, dancing, buffet; Marseillaise and other hymns." Yom Kippur Balls were not confined to New York. Philadelphia sponsors created such a disturbance that some were sentenced to thirty days in prison for disturbing the peace. The Jubilee Street Club in the East End of London, England, was also the scene of such frenetic gatherings. One year the anarchists advertised that a certain restaurant on the Lower East Side would remain open on Yom Kippur day to feed all freethinkers. Many outraged Jews came to protest and the ensuing battle between traditional Jews and the atheists brought out the police reserves... Philip Goodman, _The Yom Kippur Anthology_ Philadelphia: JPS, 1971 pp. 330 f.		MY ZEIDY'S WHITE HORSE a family story from Jane Enkin My Buby and Zeidy, Sura and Wolf Wolbromsky, tore themselves away from the religion of their shtetl in Poland and came to Canada as free-thinking socialists. On Yom Kippur, Buby would say: "People think they can lie and steal and cheat all year, fast one day and it's all forgiven, then go back to their ways the next day." Zeidy, working as a junkman in Hamilton, Ontario, in the 1920s, made a point of riding his white horse past the shul on Yom Kippur, pulling his junk wagon, just when the congregation was walking in or coming out for a break. It was contemptuous, striking at the beliefs of some and the conformism of others. Zeidy never thought of himself as the heroic type -- and neither did his wife, children, acquaintances, or customers -- but his yearly one-horse parade took courage. The white horse became a family symbol for any time that Zeidy was making a statement, or being rebellious. Religious people say that when the Messiah comes, he'll be riding a white horse.

	THIS TOO IS TORAH These descriptions of the anti-religious radicalism of some of our forebears might cause you to ask: what are they doing in our Torah study course? To me, these stories are also Torah. They are part of the rich heritage of Jewishness which has come down to us and which we can draw on to build our own Jewish lives. They represent the Yiddish-speaking secular radicalism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which to me is one of the most dynamic, interesting and inspiring movements in Jewish history, on a par with Hasidism although the two movements were bitterly opposed to each other. In this module, which I am putting together during Passover, the holiday of freedom, I want to share some texts and some thoughts about these radical "pioneers of freedom."