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The Menorah Journal

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For the Austrian Jewish magazine, see Menorah (magazine).

The Menorah Journal (1915–1962) was a Jewish-American magazine, founded in New York City. Some have called it "the leading English-language Jewish intellectual and literary journal of its era."[1][2][3][4] The journal lasted from 1915 until 1961.

History

1920s: The journal emerged from the Menorah Society (founded 1906) at Harvard University[5] which had been created to emphasize the best aspects of Judaism in English, so that not only Jews, but others could see the richness of the culture, the literature and the religion. Horace Kallen, who worked with Henry Hurwitz on the magazine, developed a theory of cultural pluralism, where all the different religions and cultures in the US would emphasize the best of their religion and culture so that all could appreciate those individuals different from themselves as well as their cultures. The Menorah Society expanded from Harvard to other colleges and an Intercollegiate Menorah Association arose in 1913; membership peaked in the 1920s on 80 US and Canadian colleges and universities.[1][2] Hurwitz started the Journal in 1915[6][5] and for the first few years, it emphasized the best of Judaism.

1930s: The Great Depression that started in late October 1929 led the journal to cut publishing from monthly to quarterly.[7] At the same time, Jewish intellectuals moved left, splitting readership. "In 1931, a core of key editors and writers, including Elliot E. Cohen, Herbert Solow, and Felix Morrow joined the Communist Party and its literary journal, the New Masses. Most of these writers had abandoned the Party by 1934 for Trotskyism. Most moved away from Jewish identity (except Cohen, who became editor of Commentary of the American Jewish Committee).[1][2][8][9] Solow's wife, Tess Slesinger is presumed to have described much of the Menorah scene in the guise of fiction in her book The Unpossessed (1934).[7]

1940s–1960s: Following World War II, nationalist Zionism become popular, but journal editor Hurwitz aligned the Menorah Journal with the American Council for Judaism (Reform Judaism) and so it was not Zionist. More specifically, Hurwitz advocated what he termed "Zakkaian Judaism" (Yohanan ben Zakkai). The journal ended shortly after Hurwitz’s death (1961).[1][2]

Founders

  • Henry Hurwitz (1886–1961): long-time editor
  • Harry Wolfson (1887–1974): historian, philosopher
  • Horace Kallen (1882–1972): advocate of "cultural pluralism"[1]

Editors

Contributors

Writers:

Artists:

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Muraskin, Bennett (13 July 2016). "The Menorah Journal". Jewish Currents. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e Alter, Robert (1 May 1965). "Epitaph for a Jewish Magazine:Notes on the Menorah Journal". Commentary. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  3. ^ "The Menorah journal". Stanford University. 1 May 1965. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  4. ^ Wald, Alan M. (13 July 2016). The New York Intellectuals: The Rise and Decline of the Anti-Stalinist Left from the 1930s to the 1980s. UNC Press. pp. 30–64. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Menorah Association and Menorah Journal". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  6. ^ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Menorah Journal, Vol. 1, 1915, by Various". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Trilling, Lionel (May 1, 1966). "Young in the Thirties". Commentary Magazine. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Trilling, Diana (1993). The Beginning of the Journey. Harcourt Brace & Co. pp. 137–138 (Menorah Journal), 214 (Isidor Schneider). ISBN 0-15-111685-7.
  9. ^ Langdon, Jennifer E. (2008). Caught in the Crossfire: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-15-111685-0.
  10. ^ "Elliot e. Cohen « Commentary Magazine". Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  11. ^ Alterman, Eric (26 July 1998). "Inspiring Eggheads". New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  12. ^ Prosser, Jay (August 21, 2019). ""This charnel house of historic memories": Salonica as Site of Transcultural Memory in the Published Writings of Cecil Roth". The Journal of Transcultural Studies. 10 (1): 1–53. doi:10.17885/heiup.jts.2019.1.23793. ISSN 2191-6411.
  13. ^ Balint, Benjamin. "Excerpt: Running Commentary" (PDF). www.nyt.com. Retrieved December 29, 2023.

External sources

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