Detail of a relief depicts backward-bending acrobats
Originally from the Red Chapel of Hatshepsut or the Chapelle rouge. On major religious holidays all Thebes came alive with music and merrymaking and entertainers performed for the pleasure of the masses.
New Kingdom, mid-18th Dynasty, reign of Hatshepsut, ca. 1479-1458 BC. Karnak Temple Complex.
The recent conference on Yiddish Anarchism is reminiscent of the 1980s documentary “Free Voice of Labor: The Jewish Anarchists” which was produced and directed by Joel Sucher and Steven Fishler. The documentary is about the Yiddish anarchist newspaper Freie Arbeiter Stimme
(“free voice of labor” in Yiddish), and the Stelton Colony in
Piscataway, New Jersey. The scope of the Yiddish anarchist movement was
much larger than is generally known. Among those interviewed and
featured in the film were anarchist historian Paul Avrich and life-long anarchist and activist Abe Bluestein who grew up in Stelton colony. The documentary used scenes from the 1932 film “Uncle Moses”
where the character Uncle Moses, a sweatshop owner, exploited many
people from his own town in Europe, many of whom regarded him (or
pretended to) as their benefactor.
Abe Bluestein said that Jews were not just a religious group, but a
national group like the Italians, Irish, Russians, Spanish, and Poles.
Paul Avrich mentioned that while many immigrants were hoping for a
better life in America, working conditions were often worse off in
American sweatshops. Avrich said his introduction to the Yiddish
anarchists was at a dinner party where many were in attendance. He was
at first apprehensive, wondering if he would be accepted. Would they
think he was too “square”? But once there he felt very comfortable and
was accepted.
Union organizing was very important to Jewish immigrant anarchists and many were very active in the cause. But Freie Arbeiter Stimme covered
more than labor, they published short fiction and discussed world
events. The circulation went down because most Americans speak English,
not Yiddish. Readership eventually dwindled, the Holocaust destroyed
the majority of Yiddish culture and language, and assimilation continued
the decline. It would seem this world has been lost. Or has it?
On January 20, 2019, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
(one of the primary organizations involved in preserving Yiddish
culture and Jewish history) had a one day conference on the lost
tradition of Yiddish anarchism. This conference was held in Manhattan at
YIVO headquarters. I hope that this conference will be a first step in
reviving the interest in Yiddish anarchist history and will lead to new
scholarship.
Freie Arbeiter Stimme was started in 1897 and ran for 87
years. Its publication frequency eventually dwindled from a daily paper,
to weekly, and finally monthly. Attempts were made to raise money to
keep the paper going but 1977 would be its final year.
I hope Yiddish anarchism will be part of the Yiddishist movement revival.
![ultrafacts:
“Source: [x]
Click HERE for more facts!”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/ed3c5e3e210d1c850fb84c10897e2b72/bc6df9a6e2259b0d-53/s500x750/5f48fce8074895dc483f2cbffee75333fd1c0758.png)
