Bachelor thesis | Hebreeuwse en Joodse Studies (BA)
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According to Jewish Law the Jewish identity is inherited through the mother: every child of a Jewish mother is Jewish. This principle is called matrilineality. The Jews of Kaifeng China abided by...Show moreAccording to Jewish Law the Jewish identity is inherited through the mother: every child of a Jewish mother is Jewish. This principle is called matrilineality. The Jews of Kaifeng China abided by the Jewish Law and Rabbinical Literature. In spite of this, the Kaifeng community inherited Jewish identity patrilineary. Through the study of source materials from Kaifeng, the present paper attempts to explain how it came about that the Kaifeng Jews upheld a patrilineal system of inheritance. Even more so, this paper argues against the teleological argument put forward by the existing scholarship on the issue by stating that the adoption of patrilineality was not a mere consequence of assimilation, but actually a conscious act of acculturation. The Kaifeng Jewish community continued to exist for centuries after the adoption of patrilineality, therefore it is wrong of the existing literature to suggest assimilation was the cause for the switch from matrilineality to patrilineality. The present paper argues that the Kaifeng Jews made the conscious decision to adopt a patrilineal system of inheritance, even if that meant going against Rabbinical Law.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Hebreeuwse en Joodse Studies (BA)
closed access
According to the Dutch historian Jaap Meijer Dutch Jewry had undergone a dramatic decline in numbers and faith already before the war started in 1940. This thesis aims to contradict this claims by...Show moreAccording to the Dutch historian Jaap Meijer Dutch Jewry had undergone a dramatic decline in numbers and faith already before the war started in 1940. This thesis aims to contradict this claims by analyzing the person of chief rabbi Joseph Hirsch Dünner (1833-1911), and the memory culture that was created after his death. Originally Polish, he came to the Netherlands as the principle of the Dutch Rabbinic seminary and in 1874 he became the chief rabbi of Amsterdam. His attitudes towards Judaism and Jewish studies hugely influenced the course of the seminary and indeed Dutch Jewry in general. In his opinion, Jewish tradition was to be studied in a modern academic, historical critical way, although he did not question the authority of the Jewish Bible and the rabbinic tradition. His teachings were of great influence especially for his students, and during his life an entire generation of ‘students of Dünner’ arose. After their graduation they were in higher functions in Dutch Jewry and in this way Dünners teachings and methods also spread through the country. Not everyone was in favour of Dünner: this thesis also describes several conflicts concerning Dünner. But no one could doubt his influence on Dutch Jewry.Show less
