Jewish Geography

A few days ago my daughter sent me a copy of a document from 1937 that had reached her shortly before. On the last page, and unrelated to the reason for its transmission, was an ad from a caterer that noted the name of its supervisor (of kashrut) who happened to be an uncle of mine. Seventy-nine years ago, but a connection from an unlikely source.

We're always looking for connections. As one ad puts it, “We're all connected.”

That's not a new idea. In 1929 Frigyes Karinthy originated the idea of “six degrees of separation” and it was later – 1990 – popularized as a concept by John Guare in his play of the same name. The premise is that everyone on earth is connected – not necessarily directly but, through friends, and friends of friends, etc. – in six or fewer steps.   (Sooner or later someone will come up with an "app" that lists everyone, and all the necessary data, so that we can eliminate those "degrees" and make direct connections.) 

Everyone on earth. That's a lot of people. And I'm not that much removed from any of them, though I have nothing in common with the vast majority. But what about those with common interests? Specifically, from my perspective, what connections have I, if any, with fellow Jews around the world?

It's not an idle question. Attempts to destroy the Jewish People have been frequent through the millennia, by conversion, killing, and dispersion. In terms of dispersion, which has been partly imposed on us and has also been adopted by some of our members in an attempt to better their lives, Jews have not been destroyed but are scattered around the globe. Yet they – we – have remained unified both because the world has separated itself from us, and we have separated ourselves from the world. Both of these mechanisms are less prominent than they were in the past, but both remain (though there are certainly large numbers of Jews who would prefer to blend in with the majority rather than be identified with their ancestors).

One of the means of our existence as a unified group, despite our dispersion, has been a commonality of language, or, more accurately, of languages. In addition to their knowledge of the language of whatever country in which they were reared, it was, and is, common for individuals to be familiar with Hebrew, Yiddish, or Ladino, and this has allowed communication between Jews from various nations. It allowed rapid communications between Jews of vastly different cultures and, with the aid of messengers, at great distances. It has permitted commerce where it might otherwise have been inhibited by the inability to communicate. And because Jews tended to associate with others of their religion because they were able to understand them, they were viewed with suspicion as an insular, clannish people. It was one of the many disingenuous excuses for antisemitism.

Also resulting from the scattering, is a desire to reunite at a distance. When we meet someone from elsewhere, it is a common practice to interrogate him or her on familiarity with fellow Jews in the area. (I doubt that this preoccupation is limited to Jews, but this is the group with which I'm most familiar.) “Do you know ____?” And it's not that unusual that there is some kind of connection. It may not be primary and may require the naming of several different individuals or families, but it is often productive.

One of the features that helps in making the connection with friends and their families is the knowledge of the synagogue attended. Organizational membership may be the key to finding others. Another important determinant of success is the size of the community. The smaller it is the more likely that people know each other. Not surprisingly, the frequency of a connection being made with someone from a large city is low. But it is even less surprising that there are so many instances in which a common figure is identified. In the limited community it's not likely to require six degrees.

And there is no temporal limitation. The mention in an old document of my uncle demonstrates a connection identified across the years, and that it was located by a daughter nearly six thousand miles from the place where the record originated demonstrates that the bonds of this kind may be found anywhere. In large part this results from the recent increase in the use of social media by which more and more kinships and friendships will be discovered.

However separated our people may be, our interest in our fellows around the globe, our curiosity about each other will continue to unite us. Others may play the same geographic game as we, but none with as much firmness of purpose. We have a lot to gain by making the connections.