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Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s
This dissertation uses the comparative historical method to compare and contrast the responses of Southern and South African Jews to apartheid and segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. It focuses on the interrelationship of the two communities with reform rabbis and international Jewish organizations....
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Historical Studies
2025
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| _version_ | 1867614248378564608 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Mendelsohn, Adam |
| author2 | Shain, Milton |
| author_browse | Mendelsohn, Adam Shain, Milton |
| author_facet | Shain, Milton Mendelsohn, Adam |
| author_sort | Mendelsohn, Adam |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This dissertation uses the comparative historical method to compare and contrast the responses of Southern and South African Jews to apartheid and segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. It focuses on the interrelationship of the two communities with reform rabbis and international Jewish organizations. The dissertation argues that the nature of individual and institutional responses was significantly shaped by exposure to a set of factors common to the South and South Africa. The dissertation is thematic, employing a variety of case studies. The dissertation begins by examining the effect of frontier conditions on reform rabbis. The author argues that the dispersed reform pulpits prevalent in these two contexts, and the type of rabbi that they generally attracted, served to inhibit civil rights activism. Differential exposure to these conditions, together with the presence of various liberating features, determined the risks and opportunities that frontier rabbis encountered. Thereafter, the dissertation analyzes the interactions of the Southern and South African Jewish communities with northern-based national Jewish organizations (in the case of the former) and international Jewish organizations (in the case of the latter). The author compares the interplay of the Southern lodges of the B'nai B'rith with the Anti-Defamation League, and the interrelationship of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies with various overseas Jewish groups. Whereas in the first section, rabbinical responses in the South Africa and the South are analysed together, here the two communities are dealt with separately. The author argues that the responses of external organizations were shaped by pressure from constituencies in the South and South Africa. These pressures competed with other philosophical and political considerations in determining policy towards segregation and apartheid. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42031 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:49:01.633Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of Historical Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Historical Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42031 Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s Mendelsohn, Adam Shain, Milton Phillips, Howard South African Jews Apartheid This dissertation uses the comparative historical method to compare and contrast the responses of Southern and South African Jews to apartheid and segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. It focuses on the interrelationship of the two communities with reform rabbis and international Jewish organizations. The dissertation argues that the nature of individual and institutional responses was significantly shaped by exposure to a set of factors common to the South and South Africa. The dissertation is thematic, employing a variety of case studies. The dissertation begins by examining the effect of frontier conditions on reform rabbis. The author argues that the dispersed reform pulpits prevalent in these two contexts, and the type of rabbi that they generally attracted, served to inhibit civil rights activism. Differential exposure to these conditions, together with the presence of various liberating features, determined the risks and opportunities that frontier rabbis encountered. Thereafter, the dissertation analyzes the interactions of the Southern and South African Jewish communities with northern-based national Jewish organizations (in the case of the former) and international Jewish organizations (in the case of the latter). The author compares the interplay of the Southern lodges of the B'nai B'rith with the Anti-Defamation League, and the interrelationship of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies with various overseas Jewish groups. Whereas in the first section, rabbinical responses in the South Africa and the South are analysed together, here the two communities are dealt with separately. The author argues that the responses of external organizations were shaped by pressure from constituencies in the South and South Africa. These pressures competed with other philosophical and political considerations in determining policy towards segregation and apartheid. 2025-10-24T06:53:45Z 2025-10-24T06:53:45Z 2003 2025-10-24T06:48:16Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42031 en eng application/pdf Department of Historical Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | South African Jews Apartheid Mendelsohn, Adam Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s |
| title_full | Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s |
| title_fullStr | Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s |
| title_short | Two far South: the responses of South African and Southern Jews to Apartheid and Segregation in the 1950s and 1960s |
| title_sort | two far south the responses of south african and southern jews to apartheid and segregation in the 1950s and 1960s |
| topic | South African Jews Apartheid |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42031 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mendelsohnadam twofarsouththeresponsesofsouthafricanandsouthernjewstoapartheidandsegregationinthe1950sand1960s |