Abstract
This paper reviews the place of social network analysis in Jewish studies. What social networks are and their roots in classic social theories are discussed. The role of Jewish networks in the Diaspora since about 100 BCE is noted, and the few examples of empirical research are referenced. The idea of social circles is presented and their application to cultural circles and especially Jewish situations is discussed. The revival of modern Hebrew literature is a case in point and the network that surrounded Yoseph Brenner, a key figure in that revival during his time in London, is graphed as a sociogram. The relationships depicted, that transcended international boundaries, provided the emotional and financial support without which there would not have been a revival of Hebrew literature. A modern example of the networks of leading power figures in top Jewish organizations in 1995 is shown. Deficiencies of asking “How many of the people you consider to be your closest friends are Jewish?” in surveys are shown. A better alternative, exploring the closest friends, Jewish or non-Jewish is proposed. One of the few Jewish studies using this procedure showed the organizational and institutional embeddedness of Jewish circles and friendships. I conclude by insisting that a list of people is not a network and lists or proportion of friends who are Jewish does little to advance the study of the place of Jews in the modern world and the structure of their institutions. It is possible to do true network studies, but by and large we have not done so.
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Notes
Some experts note that regel is probably not “foot” but rather “rule” from the Latin; “religion” is also a derivative of “rule.”
An example is Yehuda Shenhav (2003) who contends that misguided shlichim promoted the exodus of Iraqi Jews to the State of Israel and thus robbed them of their heritage. Others contest his account of the actions of the shlichim and networks that they formed.
Bendix, the translator, changed Simmel’s use of “circle” to “group,” which he erroneously thought was more appropriate. I have changed “group” back to Simmel’s original usage. See Kadushin (1966). “The Friends and Supporters of Psychotherapy: On Social Circles in Urban Life.” American Sociological Review 31:786–802.
I intentionally use the awkward term “entity” rather than define whether Jews are a nation, an ethnicity, a religion, a state of mind, or what have you. To the extent that there is no single, isolated Jew, Jews are a network.
The “small world” was an idea first examined in an “underground” paper published much later by de Sola Pool and Kochen (1978) [Pool was the son of the rabbi of the venerable Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue in New York]. Stanley Milgram experimented with the idea in his famous six degrees of separation originally published as Milgram (1967). Further experiments were were summarized in Bernard et al. (1981).
I am indebted to Igor Karagodsky for combing the footnotes in Shapira’s book as indicators of who wrote to whom.
Ironically, he was not a “Zionist,” insisting that no particular location could solve the Jewish problem, and though he referred to Arabs pejoratively in his writing, he felt they were as much entitled to Palestine as the Jews.
“Publicist” is a word derived from its use by the Russian intelligentsia of the time, referring to essays on current topics addressed to the “public,” by which they meant the circle of fellow intelligentsia, not unlike the dated topical pieces in the New York Review of Books. See Dan Miron, “Brenner the Publicist Remodeling the Genre,” colloquium presentation, Columbia University, March 7, 2010. This is clearly a social-circle phenomenon.
The geographic spread of the revival of the Hebrew language may have contributed to Brenner’s sense that Hebrew was not dependent on Palestine, as Eliezer Ben Yehuda championed.
An interesting review of the book observes that the biography does not analyze the literary greatness of Brenner’s writing and how it evolved, but only Brenner’s place in literary circles. In the end the reviewer thinks this approach is useful but he does express some reservations.
(Mishani 2001).There were smaller connected groups not connected with this main core.
In a recent column in the Forward (March 12, 2020), J. J. Goldberg wryly notes in commenting on the Purim story, “Don’t abandon your intermarried relatives. They might save your life some day.”
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I have benefited from the comments of Pearl Beck, Deborah Grant, Shaul Kelner, Samuel Klausner, Bethamie Horowitz, Theodore Sasson and Leonard Saxe. This paper was the Marshall Sklare Memorial Lecture of 2009.
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Kadushin, C. Social Networks and Jews. Cont Jewry 31, 55–73 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-010-9030-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-010-9030-y