Benjamin Disraeli The Fabricated Jew in Myth and Memory

by Glassman, Bernard

• ISBN13: 9780761825401
• ISBN10: 0761825401
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-18
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

Benjamin Disraeli utilizes previously ignored or little known sources to provide new insights into how one of the most famous Jewish converts was viewed by the Jewish community he ignored and by the larger Christian world that would not accept him. This book shows how a myth can take on a life of its own in the collective memory of the Jewish people, as well as in the thought processes of a variety of anti-Semitic groups. Its fresh approach to the life and lore of a colorful Victorian figure also raises the issue of ethnic identity and minority acceptance in our pluralistic society.

Author Biography

Bernard Glassman is visiting professor in the History Department at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the Book Review Editor for Conservative Judaism Quarterly. He is the co-founder and former co-director of the Center For Jewish Culture at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and he is the Rabbi Emeritus of Tifereth Israel in New Bedford

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Nineteenth Century Backgrounds	1	(10)
Victorian Religion
Victorian ``Others''
Race in Victorian England
The Jewish Community in the Age of Disraeli	11	(20)
The Origins and Development of the Jewish Community
Jewish Otherness and Englishness
The Missionary Challenge
Jewish Disabilities
Jews and Politics
Jewish Responses to Anti-Semitism
``Youth is a Blunder: Manhood is a Struggle: Old Age is a Regret''	31	(80)
Part I: Youth is a Blunder	32	(15)
Baptism
Disraeli's Jewishness
Romantic Notions of a Restored Zion
Part II: Manhood is a Struggle	47	(49)
Disraeli and the Jewish Community
Disraeli's Racial Judaism
Disraeli's Judeo Christianity
Disraeli and Jewish Emancipation
Part III: Old Age is a Regret	96	(15)
Life After Death	111	(36)
Eulogies and Memorials
Bringing Disraeli into the Jewish Fold
The Disraeli Centenary
The Beaconsfield Jubilee and other Milestones
Disraeli as a Role Model in Juvenile Literature and Popular History
Disraeli in Fiction and the Cinema
The Use and Abuse of Disraeli's Legacy	147	(48)
``All is Race''
Disraeli: The Proto-Zionist
The New Anti-Semitism
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The 1930s: Disraeli and the Rise of the Nazi Party
Disraeli: Ethnic Cheerleading and Anti-Defammation
World War II: Disraeli and Native Fascists
Disraeli and Nazi Propaganda
The Post-War Years
The Cold War and Beyond
Conclusions	195	(8)
Bibliography	203	(26)
Chronology of Benjamin Disraeli	229	(2)
Index	231	(10)
About the Author	241