Rabbi Monica Kleinman (she/her)
MAHL, M. Ed Admin, RJE
ACADEMIC INTERESTS
I am particularly interested as to how the non-Jewish world has viewed Jews throughout different periods in history. Please find a selection of my work in Jewish history as well as other projects I have completed during my time at
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Who are these Jews? An examination of Thiéry’s and Hourwitz’s Jews in essays submitted to the Société royale des art et des sciences de Metz in 1787
This paper examines answers written for an essay contest in pre-Revolutionary France. The société royale des art et des sciences asked for answers to the question "Is there a way to make the Jews happier and more useful in France?" Claude-Antoine Thiéry, a lawyer, responded in the affirmative, asserting that Jews possess the same capacity for reason and rationalism as the rest of the Christian population. Zalkind Hourwitz, a Jewish émigré from Poland, argues for his co-religionists along the same lines. These two entries appealed to the zeitgeist of natural law and freedom from arbitrary power that characterized Enlightenment philosophy.
Anti-Semitic English Propaganda Surrounding the Jew Bill of 1753
Despite the readmission of Jews to England in 1655 under Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, Jews did not possess the rights of English citizens. In 1753 the first of the "Jew Bills" surfaced that, if passed, would allow for the naturalization of Jews. This work examines the arguments for and against the Jew Bill and the portrayals of Jews therein.
The Mystical Origins of L’cha Dodi and its Transformation throughout American Reform Siddurim
This paper examines the iconic Kabbalat Shabbat song "L'cha Dodi" in its kabbalistic context and how the Reform movement has treated it in modern siddurim. From the absence of a Kabbalat Shabbat service in early works to Mishkan T'filah complete with numbered verses, this paper looks at how this prayer went from being "too mystical and messianic" to a well-loved Shabbat tradition.
Changing Interpretations of the Holocaust in Israel's First 60 Years
This paper examines the Israeli government's treatment of the Holocaust through national commemorations, the national Holocaust memorial museum Yad Vashem, as well as how different factions of Israeli society relate to the tragedy today.