Summary of Stephen Birmingham's The Grandees

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 Dr. Stern’s book, which was published in 1924, made it clear that there was a difference between the old, established Jewish families and the Johnny-come-lately arrivals. The book emphasized a distinction between the old, established Jewish families and the Johnny-come-lately arrivals.
#2 The Book made it clear that there were two types of Lazaruses: the old, who include the poet Emma Lazarus, and the new, who include the wealthy owners of Federated Department Stores.
#3 The Book of Americans is a cross-reference to The Social Register, as whenever names are listed in the Book, they are also listed in the Register. But the Book provides much more personal and gossipy information than The Social Register.
#4 The Jewish community in America has been losing members as more and more Sephardic Jews turn away from Judaism and convert to Christianity. The Book also shows that prior to 1840, more than 15 percent of marriages were between Jews and Christians, and that of the total number of mixed marriages only 8 percent involved the conversion of the non-Jew to Judaism.

Sujets

• History
• Jews
• Histoire
• Jewish

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 31 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822564428
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Stephen Birmingham's The Grandees
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12 Insights from Chapter 13 Insights from Chapter 14 Insights from Chapter 15 Insights from Chapter 16 Insights from Chapter 17 Insights from Chapter 18 Insights from Chapter 19 Insights from Chapter 20 Insights from Chapter 21 Insights from Chapter 22
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Dr. Stern’s book, which was published in 1924, made it clear that there was a difference between the old, established Jewish families and the Johnny-come-lately arrivals. The book emphasized a distinction between the old, established Jewish families and the Johnny-come-lately arrivals.

#2

The Book made it clear that there were two types of Lazaruses: the old, who include the poet Emma Lazarus, and the new, who include the wealthy owners of Federated Department Stores.

#3

The Book of Americans is a cross-reference to The Social Register, as whenever names are listed in the Book, they are also listed in the Register. But the Book provides much more personal and gossipy information than The Social Register.

#4

The Jewish community in America has been losing members as more and more Sephardic Jews turn away from Judaism and convert to Christianity. The Book also shows that prior to 1840, more than 15 percent of marriages were between Jews and Christians, and that of the total number of mixed marriages only 8 percent involved the conversion of the non-Jew to Judaism.

#5

The processes of Germanization and Christianization have not been complete. The old Sephardic families continue to compose a tight-knit, aristocratic, and proud elite who know who is one of us and who is not.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Sephardic community is a lively place, with everyone claiming to be an expert on the past. There are many claimants for the same ancestors, and everyone must be on their toes.

#2

The Nathan family has been prominent in New York for nearly two thousand years. They have never been poor, and they have always had a close family environment.

#3

The Nathan family had a history of being proud of their Jewish heritage, and they passed that on to their children. They would tell stories about their ancestors, who had flourished in Spain and Portugal during the Moorish period, and who had struggled to survive after the Catholic Reconquest.

#4

The Nathans and the Hendrickses are two of New York’s oldest families. The Nathans are Spanish, and the Hendrickses are American. They both have antiques and family treasures in porcelain, old books, and heavy antique silver.

#5

The Hendricks family were quiet people who did what had to be done in a quiet way. They never liked personal publicity, and they considered publicity a preoccupation of commonplace people. They were adamant about the New York Historical Society receiving their papers.

#6

The family of Rabbi Piza Mendes, who for nearly half a century has been rabbi of the Shearith Israel congregation, has a history of rising to prominence in Moorish Spain. Some de Solas escaped the Inquisitors by pretending to convert to Christianity, and they wound up in Amsterdam and London.

#7

The Mendes family, who originated in Portugal, were also very influential in the history of New York. They helped found Montefiore Hospital, and the New York Guild for the Jewish Blind, which holds an annual fund-raising ball.

#8

The Phillips family, who are members of Shearith Israel, trace their roots back to eighteenth-century Newport. They have a collection of old books, family papers, and family trees.
Insights from Chapter 3

#1

The Sephardim of America are descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews who were forced to flee those countries in the 16th century. They have a unique sense of relevance because they have been able to achieve heights of achievement unlike anything else in their history.

#2

The Jews were a major part of Spanish history for 600 years, from the eighth through the thirteenth centuries. They were there because of the whim of the king, who either persecuted them or used them as a financial middleman.

#3

The Jewish community in Spain was very different from the Christian communities they were used to in Europe. The Jews were taxed for practically everything they did, but the Arabs who conquered Spain in 711 were the first conquerors since Roman times of an inferior land by a superior people.

#4

The Moors, during their half millennium of rule in Spain, turned the city of Córdoba into one of the most glittering and exciting in the world. The Jewish and Moorish respect for education and culture was immediate and deepened over time.

#5

Between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, the Jewish stamp was firmly on the land of Iberia. Jews were extremely important in the financial service of the kings of Spain, and they were also prominent as merchants dealing in silver, spices, wine, fur, and slaves.

#6

During these years, Spanish Jews enjoyed the privilege of wearing arms, which was not the case for Jews in other countries. They also participated in sports and amusements of their own, and they had their own sports teams.

#7

The Spanish Jews were able to avoid the yellow badge, as the pope’s decree didn’t apply to Spain. But they were aware that the tide was beginning to run against them. Many Spanish moneylenders were still Jews, as were tax collectors.

#8