Monday, December 18, 2006 11:49:40 AM
Message
From: Sadel Nesin
Subject: Final Project
To: Rhea Cote


WST 235/Prof. Robbins
December 19, 2006
Connections: Jewish and Franco American Women
By Sadel Nesin

 For my final paper I decided to look more in depth at the similarities between Jewish women and Franco American women in the Maine area. I believe that this was a good way for me to wrap up the semester on a personal level, and really maintain a connection to the course material for the rest of my life. In relating it to my own background and history, I feel more connected to the Franco American population, and perhaps lead the way to showing that groups who on the surface seem different can come together, form alliances and work together to improve the lives of both.yes, that is an important point.
I first thought of the idea to compare my own Judaism with Franco American history during my interview with Barbara Ouellette, who really opened my eyes to Franco American experience, and how closely we were able to connect on our experiences as well as our family’s experiences. It amazed me how much we had in common, things I never thought that I would be able to relate to, it was a nice surprise. After this interview, I knew that I wanted to integrate my own heritage into my final paper and so this is it.
I feel that I must also explain what being Jewish is to me, because it will give more insight into why this topic means so much to me. When I look at myself as a Jew, I see not only religion, but my race and ethnicity too, I am a child of Israel. I feel that as a Jewish person, and knowing how much suffering my family has gone though, how much devotion it takes to be a Jew, and how I connect with Israel more than any other place in the world, makes me Jewish. Of course, on most applications and forms when asked race, Jewish is not a choice, although I feel as though it might be in the near future. In talking with other Jews, I have found a common sense that being Jewish is not just a religion; it’s an identity, a self description, and a life choice. I hope that this explains my view on my own heritage, clearly, and appreciated and leads lends insight into my passion in choosing this topic because I feel that Franco American people would define themselves in this way as well.
I also find it interesting how people with such a strong background define themselves, for me; am I Jewish and than then a woman? How does one know, how can they, without a lifetime of experience and learning about who they are. Through each topic I take on that I can personally relate to, I hope to come one step closer to an answer, and this may be an answer that I will never find. I like the open-endedness of this statement I continue to do it because, while I may never find something direct, I will learn more about myself, my thoughts, and who I am and will be.yes…very insightful.
In this paper, I intend to discuss the similarities I found between Jewish and Franco American women using many sources. I will refer to some of the texts we used in class this semester, an interview with a Franco American woman, and my own personal experience. When researching for my final project I came to find that personal experience (my own as well as others) was the best source, learning first hand how others felt and also learning something about myself along the way.
I will discuss many different topics in each Franco American and Jewish life, including the history of each, family and community life, display of heritage in the homes of each, as well as Franco American and Jewish women in Maine, the interviews I had with each. Through this, I believe that I can establish a connection between the two groups of women, and hopefully help Franco American and Jewish women realize that they can relate to one another, and identify with the issues that each face.
First, too look at histories of both Franco American and Jewish woman, the common patterns are suffering, the will to survive, and faith. While each group endured their fair share of suffering and hardship, they always seemed to prevail, giving up never an option and managing to sustain hope and faith throughout the entire ordeal. I found “Pelagie: The Return to Acadie” very similar to the story of Moses leading the Jewish people into the promise land. Pelagie and Moses both were destined to lead their people out of exile, and into a safe land where they could go about practicing their own traditions, religious views, and life.
Both were passionate and caring about their people, taking on responsibilities and exhibiting endless bravery, the only difference visible to me is their gender. While I respect them both, I believe it is harder to find a Jewish female leader in the bible history, although there were plenty of women who did great things. For example, when Moses was leading people out of Egypt and to the promise land it was Miriam who threw herself into the red sea, before it opened for the Jewish people to walk through.
While a lot of the exact history is rather similar, the suffering and discrimination is similar as well. As both the Franco American and Jewish people were seen as immigrants in this country, they were discriminated against and made to be outsiders. The family and community life of each group is interesting to look at, because while the outside world may not have fully accepted them, each group had communities in which they were able to function safely in, and feel as though they belonged.
In my interview with Barbara Ouellette, she spoke about her life living on French Island, and how tight knit the community was, always watching out for one another. She talked about how everything they needed was on the island, and that they would be able to function there their whole lives, if they didn’t need to go to school. Outside of her community was a totally different place for her, new people, new fads, new ways of life that were foreign to her and her Franco American friends. While the island was a safety zone, off of the island was unknown territory, where people were unpredictable and eerie of her for her heritage.
For me, growing up Jewish was very different, my father is the first practicing Jew in his family for a few generations, so the only family I had that practiced Judaism was my immediate family and one aunt. We were not practicing Jews until I was 8 years old, before this, we had really no religious affiliation, just celebrated the big commercialized holidays.
There is a rather funny story to my family embracing their Judaism, and it revolved around me, and one day that some friends took me to their Baptist church. How I got to this church I will never know, but my parents believed that another parent was taking me to the library for a reading group. I remember going in, not really thinking much about what I was walking into, and being won over by the cupcakes and snacks and colorful room they had laid out for us. On my return home hours later, I told my parents where I had been, what I had learned, and very solemnly said “Jesus does not want us to dance or sing we can’t do that anymore.” Apparently I went a week without doing either of these things, and reminded people that did do them that it was not good. I am sure this was misinterpreted in my young mind, I can’t remember anything that was said there now, but in the end I am thankful that this sparked us to learn about our Jewish background.great story!
Now, after my father got over his anger about being mislead about where I was being taken, and what I had learned, and probably misunderstood, he decided it was time to find out about our own heritage, our religion and background. This is where we started being practicing Jews, my father was Bar Mitzvah-ed, my mother converted, and all of my siblings and I have been Bar/Bat Mitzvah-ed as well.
Growing up I had no community where I lived with other Jewish kids or families; I was on my own in my school, and the outsider on major holidays that everyone else celebrated. My family happened to be the only practicing Jewish family in our town, and the some of the few surrounding it, which made it more difficult for me to connect with anyone in the area. For a long time this made me uncomfortable to be different than everyone else, I would only be in my Jewish community once, or twice a week, and that was at synagogue, where I was a more cautious individual.
In my younger years, my Hebrew school class mates were only people I talked to in a Jewish setting. I lived an hour away from all of them, and it was simply too hard to maintain strong friendships with that distance, separate schools, and lack of seeing one another. I regret this now, I wish I would have embraced these friendships more, and made an effort to stay in touch with all of them now.You describe the rural aspect of Maine in regard to diversity and childhood eloquently.
I also remember very clearly being outraged at my parents, forcing me to loose the holidays that I had known for the first few years of my life, and go to a whole new place, with new traditions, new people, and something I saw as simply too difficult to take on. I remember telling my parents “when I get older, I’m celebrating Christmas, and I will believe in Jesus and you can’t stop me.” At the time that we were transitioning, I had no interest in being different, in small town life I saw different people as suffering people, forced to deal with more than the average person. I assumed that I would be left out of situations, that my friends wouldn’t want to associate with me, and well now I can tell in my younger years I definitely had a flare for the dramatic.
As I look back now, I am not sure that I suffered from the lack of a close by Jewish community this, or learned strength, but I know that I did learn to depend on my immediate family for my Jewish pride. I do feel that I may have missed out compared to people who grew up in very highly populated Jewish areas, with multiple synagogues surrounding them, all day Hebrew schools, and Jewish businesses. But, I can say that I did learn a lot about how it feels to be different and how people will treat you based on this difference, even if they don’t understand it.
From my experience, as well as Barbara Ouellette’s I have come to believe that family life and community life can be very beneficial to one’s heritage, but when integrated into a society where one becomes the minority family life becomes the ultimate base and strength. Currently, it seems harder and harder to find a certain area in Maine filled with Jews, or Franco Americans, but with this comes the need to keep the groups connected to one another through other means than seeing each other day to day.
In class, we looked at magazines and newsletters that are based on Franco American people, their past and present happenings in each other their communities. The "Echoes" and "Le Forum" magazines were helping a community that might not be so physically close stay together and be aware of current issues that their fellow Franco Americans are facing. In a time when it is hard to stay connected, and people move away for jobs, family, marriage, and school these sorts of things really help to keep one updated.
The Jewish population also has magazines and newsletters to send out to let the Jewish community know what is happening in the area, as well as in Israel. My synagogue puts out a bi-monthly newsletter, posting upcoming events, happenings in the community, and other facts concerning the synagogue and its members. For the people who have since moved away, it is beneficial to remain included in their Jewish community, and be aware of what is going on. Excellent point…
There are also a lot of Jewish magazines and newspapers that function to keep readers updated on a more global level. Magazines like “Moment” and “Reform Judaism” and the newspaper “the Forward” all work to keep Jewish people connected with the issues that all Jews are facing on a daily basis. In a society where minorities like Franco Americans and Jews are not covered daily news, sources like these really are amazing to help people stay involved.
Now, on to a part that I am very excited about looking into, the display of heritage in the homes of Jewish and Franco American people. In class “My Mother’s Walls” really sparked my interest to look further into this, and make a part of my paper a compare and contrast of the two groups of people and the display of this sort of thing in each of their homes. I have decided to use my parent’s home as a comparison because I feel that this is what I can most accurately explain.
First, in “My Mother’s Walls” we saw pictures and read stories about items and history all over the home, and one can really get a feel for what the family has been through, and the pride that the owner of the house feels for their past and present family members. The walls of this house tell a story of life, death, and family and help to showcase everything that they have endured and come to know over the years. It symbolizes pride in who they are, and what they have become. It symbolizes hope and faith in their religion and their people, knowing that generations to come will carry on the traditions and values they implemented. Most of all, this display of family life shows the willingness to survive, through hardships and good times, and to remember all that have come before and all that they did.
For this Franco American home, putting the history on the walls was the best way to show how they would remember and tell about their history, visually. Anyone who would walk into this house could easily see the display in every room and understand the lifestyle and traditions that had taken place in that home and with the family on the walls.
In my parents home I found many similarities, especially when it came to Jewish memorabilia and family photos. In nearly every room of my house, there is some piece of Judaism, and I feel that it would be more spread out if it wasn’t so liable to be broken in some of our busier family rooms. When you first walk into my house, there is a Mezuzah on the door, a sign that one is entering a Jewish home. Good, you explain what it is… When you walk by you are supposed to kiss it, usually by touching your lips to your hand, and than placing it on the Mezuzah, but this is something that seems to be lost in the daily rush. It is not as noticed as it once was; although it still hangs, and holds the 613 commandments it takes conscious awareness to pay it attention.
Once you are in my home, there are many Judaic pieces, candle holders, Shabbat candle holders, challah plates, Judaic art, menorahs, dreidels, spice boxes, and so much more. It is hard to keep track of all the many different items my family has collected over the years, but they all have history, and they are all on display, just some in more safe guarded places than others. We also have a very large book shelf dedicated to only holding Jewish readings, prayer books, song books, and holiday books. It has proved to be an amazing resource for me, as it plays as my own personal library filled with stories of my ancestors.
Some of my favorite pieces of Judaica in my home are the things that we have come to own on our trips to Israel. These pieces have a whole different meaning to me, they were made in the Holy Land and they are passionate and inclusive of Judaism as a religion, ethnicity, and race. There is something so powerful to me about these pieces, something that I am unable to explain, but the connection I feel when I look at Judaica from Israel is a feeling of belonging and having a piece of Israel in my home.
After thinking about my parent’s house for a while, my mind turned to looking at Judaica in my own apartment, while I don’t nearly have as much stuff, I do have some, rather starting my own collection to pass down. My personal favorite in my apartment is a pomegranate shaped blessing for the home that my parents got for me in Israel.
This blessing for the home can be shaped, and made into many things the pomegranate (or Rimon in Hebrew) was chosen because it is one of the seven species of Israel. Mine is decorated with Hebrew lettering, beads, fish, the Chamsa, and other artsy work. It is amazing to look at, and sparks thought for me, questions rising in my head just to imagine what the maker was thinking when they crafted such a beautiful peace.
Through Judaica, I am able to see living history, my past and present ideas and what I hope to carry on in my future. Looking at Judaica and family photos I remember who I am, and where I came from, and with it on the walls I will never be able to forget my history, and this has become one of the most important things to me in my life.
The final idea I would like to compare between Franco American Women and Jewish women relates to a conversation I had in my interview with Barbara Ouellette. We ended up discussing our home lands, where are ancestors had come from and how absolutely amazing it would be to go to these places and imagine what it would feel like to stand on that ground. At the time of the interview, Barbara was planning a trip to France for her 60th birthday in a couple of years, and travel to Normandy which is the origin of her family’s history. She talked about how she feels this would complete her idea of self, and gain an understanding of where she came from and her past.
At the time of the interview, I had been to Israel and Poland, the two places that created so much history for my family. Israel was spectacular; I felt the connection, the belonging and the sort of filled space in my own idea of family history. While Poland use to be over 90% Jewish (before the Holocaust), it was much harder for me to handle as it is currently extremely anti-Semitic, and portrays Jews in evil and insulting ways.
Through visiting each place, I learned a lot about the history living there, the changes that had taken place over the years. I feel that every time I go back to Israel, I can learn something new, pick up another bit of history, and feel even more passionate than my previous encounter with the Holy Land.
From my research and personal experience, I feel that Jewish and Franco American women have a lot of common experiences in their history and present times. Each group shows a love for their people, their religion, race, and ethnicity as well as a motivation to carry on with traditions and teach future generations all they have learned and experienced.

Referenced Works
Echoes Magazine No. 42. Rediscovering Community October -December 1998.
Le Centre Franco American, University of Maine. "Volume 32, #1 & #2." Le Forum Spring/Summer 2006.

Maillet, Antonine. Pelagie: Return to Acadie. 1st. New York: Doubleday & Co. Inc., 1982.

Ouellette, Barbara. Personal interview. 02 Oct. 2006.
Petrie, Lanette Landry. My Mother's Walls. 1st. Bradley: Lanette Landry Petrie, 1997.

This is an incredible testimony to both your own Jewish background/foreground and the Franco-American women’s lives. Excellent work. I was captivated reading the piece.--Rhea

Wednesday, December 27, 2006 5:02:20 PM
Message
From: Sadel Nesin
Subject: Re(3): final project/grades
To: Rhea Cote
Cc: Judith E. Lindsey
FAS230_WST301

i also give my permission to publish my final paper.

sadel nesin