The Role of Ceremonies in the Socialization Process: the Case of Jewish Communities of Northern France and Germany in the Middle Ages / Le Rôle des cérémonies dans le processus de socialisation : le cas des communautés juives médiévales du nord de la France et d'Allemagne - article ; n°1 ; vol.95, pg 163-178

Simha Goldin

Description

Archives des sciences sociales des religions - Année 1996 - Volume 95 - Numéro 1 - Pages 163-178
The paper attempts to measure the importance of ceremonies in the process of children's socialization as used in the Jewish communities of the Middle Ages. The cases under study are the ceremony of the circumcision and the ceremony during which the child is introduced into the world of studying. The first ritual is performed when the one-week old child is admitted into the Jewish community and the second one, when the child is between three and five years old is performed on the first day of studies, when he goes from his father's home to the synagogue. The paper examines the elements which make up these two rituals; it identifies the subjacent myths and the messages transmitted to the whole community through the ceremonies.
Cet article tente d'évaluer l'importance des cérémonies dans le processus de socialisation des enfants mis en oeuvre dans les communautés juives durant le Moyen Age. Les cas ici étudiés sont la cérémonie de la circoncision et la cérémonie introduisant l'enfant dans le monde des études. Le premier rituel s'effectue lorsque enfant parvenu à l'âge d'une semaine, est intégré à la communauté juive et le second, entre trois et cinq ans, s'effectue le premier jour d'étude lorsque l'enfant passe de la maison paternelle à la synagogue. Cet article tente d'examiner les éléments qui composent ces deux rituels, d'identifier les mythes sousjacents et de saisir les messages qui sont transmis à la communauté lors des cérémonies.
16 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Archives-des-sciences-sociales-des-religions
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1996
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Simha Goldin
The Role of Ceremonies in the Socialization Process: the Case
of Jewish Communities of Northern France and Germany in the
Middle Ages / Le Rôle des cérémonies dans le processus de
socialisation : le cas des communautés juives médiévales du
nord de la France et d'Allemagne
In: Archives des sciences sociales des religions. N. 95, 1996. pp. 163-178.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Goldin Simha. The Role of Ceremonies in the Socialization Process: the Case of Jewish Communities of Northern France and
Germany in the Middle Ages / Le Rôle des cérémonies dans le processus de socialisation : le cas des communautés juives
médiévales du nord de la France et d'Allemagne. In: Archives des sciences sociales des religions. N. 95, 1996. pp. 163-178.
doi : 10.3406/assr.1996.1042
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/assr_0335-5985_1996_num_95_1_1042Resumen
El autor intenta valorar la importancia de las ceremonias en el proceso de socialización de los niños en
las comunidades judías durante la Edad Media. Se estudian dos casos : la circuncisión, y la ceremonia
que introduce el niño en el mundo de los estudios y le hace pasar del hogar paternal a la sinagoga. El
primer ritual se efectua cuando el niño tiene una semana, y el segundo entre tres y cinco años. El autor
analiza los elementos que componen los dos rituales, identifica los mitos subyacentes y los mensajes
dirigidos hacia la comunidad cuando las ceremonias.
Abstract
The paper attempts to measure the importance of ceremonies in the process of children's socialization
as used in the Jewish communities of the Middle Ages. The cases under study are the ceremony of the
circumcision and the ceremony during which the child is introduced into the world of studying. The first
ritual is performed when the one-week old child is admitted into the Jewish community and the second
one, when the child is between three and five years old is performed on the first day of studies, when he
goes from his father's home to the synagogue. The paper examines the elements which make up these
two rituals; it identifies the subjacent myths and the messages transmitted to the whole community
through the ceremonies.
Résumé
Cet article tente d'évaluer l'importance des cérémonies dans le processus de socialisation des enfants
mis en oeuvre dans les communautés juives durant le Moyen Age. Les cas ici étudiés sont la
cérémonie de la circoncision et la cérémonie introduisant l'enfant dans le monde des études. Le premier
rituel s'effectue lorsque enfant parvenu à l'âge d'une semaine, est intégré à la communauté juive et le
second, entre trois et cinq ans, s'effectue le premier jour d'étude lorsque l'enfant passe de la maison
paternelle à la synagogue. Cet article tente d'examiner les éléments qui composent ces deux rituels,
d'identifier les mythes sousjacents et de saisir les messages qui sont transmis à la communauté lors
des cérémonies.Arch de Sc soc des Rel. 1996 95 juillet-septembre 163-178
Simha GOLDIN
THE ROLE OF CEREMONIES
IN SOCIALIZATION PROCESS
THE CASE OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES
OF NORTHERN FRANCE AND GERMANY
IN THE MIDDLE AGES
DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM
One of the primary goals of any group is to instill its principle values
or norms in new members This is achieved by means of the socialization
process Through it the group attempts to mold the personality and enables
its members to find their place in the existing social structure to assign tasks
to define proper behavior and to create the mechanism for internal social
control The socialization process may be divided into several stages In the
first stage the norm is established principally by continuous social pressure
imparted through education and ceremonies as well as by agents of sociali
zation such as parents members of the immediate family past and present
reference figures and myth The establishment of the norm is gradual pro
cess in other words the new member of the group gradually embraces the
norm as personal obligation The second stage is internalization when the
system of norms becomes part of the self image and the
latter no longer perceives the norm as law but as an integral part of himself
even when socialization agent is not present This process
allows the individual to find his place and establish personal relations with
other members of the group and with the group itself The third stage is iden
tification when the member has sense of belonging being part of the group
and feels certain group solidarity and commonality of values Not only
does the socialization process pass on the norms of desirable behavior but
it also establishes the sanctions the individual can expect if he does not behave
accordingly The process of norm internalization is flexible and is consistently
intertwind with the development of personal identity Thus as with the pro-
163 ARCHIVES DE SCIENCES SOCIALES DES RELIGIONS
cess of socialization it never ends The primary agents of socialization
are the parents and other members of the extended family or clan friends
teachers local leaders non-local leaders people who command the respect
of the individual or those close to him and of course exemplary figures
whether real or mythical It matters little whether these figures are real ima
ginary or mythical as long as they influence the individual The process may
take place anywhere at home in educational institutions and other group ins
titutions Various ceremonies which include symbols and unexplained mes
sages are also means by which the family and the group pass on the values
they believe in
The norms are presented in educational settings and in the ceremonies
attended by the individual during his lifetime In order to discover what mes
sages are embedded in the ceremonies and understand the non-explicit value
system encoded in them series of myths which embody these messages
must be described investigated and analyzed In this way we can achieve
better understanding of the forces wich the group exerts on the individual in
order to educate him and ensure that he remains within the group fold 2)
The entire socialization process must be analyzed in relation to the special
needs of the group being examined These needs determine the values which
the group seeks to inculcate In this essay will explore the Jewish commu
nities of Northern France and Germany between the years 1100-1350 C.E
The most important value for these Jewish groups was the issue of their sur
vival in their current form that is the preservation of their main traditional
characteristics They were Jewish minority living in Christian society
which openly and deliberately aspired to convert them to Christianity whether
by tempting them with the advantages of higher social and economic status
by using violent means or by applying theological pressure through the
Church which sought to de-legitimize Judaism and prove that the Jews had
forfeited their chosen people status in the eyes of God The Christians at
tempted to prove that the Jews were no longer safe in the divine shelter by
citing existing reality They pointed out that the Christians enjoyed success
and power while the Jews were cursed in Biblical terms they had no go
vernment and no centralization and they had been at the mercy of the Chris
tians for period far exceeding that of the First Exile
In my opinion the Jews of the period were frightened by the Christian
claims and therefore expended great deal of effort on education particu-
See PARSONS The Social System New York 1951 207-235 PARSONS F.B
ROBERT Family Socialization and Interaction Process London 1968 17-19 38-45 199-222
370-379 WATKINS Social Control London 1975 48-57 SHIBUTANI Society and Per
sonality N.J. 1961 471-566 SITES Control The Basis of Social Order New York 1973
48-57 INKELES Society Social Structure and Child Socialization in J.A CLAUSEN ed.
Socialization and Boston 1968 73-129 BANDURA Social-Learning Theory of
Identificatory Processes in D.A GOSLIN ed. Handbook of Theory and Research
Chicago 1969 213-262
The study of ceremonies and their significance has been extensively discussed in various
research In my opinion it is possible to use most of the methods developed by anthropologists
in our century and draw historical conclusions from them will use these tools in the section
in which investigate ceremonies See two methodological essays on the subject BURGUIERE
anthropologie historique in LE GOFF ed et al. La Nouvelle Histoire Paris 1978 37-97
N.Z DAVIS Les Conteurs de Montaillou Annales E.S.C. 34 1979 61-73 I.-G MARCUS
Rituals Childhood Yale 1996
164 CEREMONIES IN THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS
larly in the areas under attack by the Christian establishment In the Jewish
group the socialization process had to be effective because the threat of forced
conversion to Christianity was daily reality Norms had to be internalized
to such an extent that the group could be assured of successfully combating
the arguments of the out-group and attaining an extremely high degr