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Paula Hyman (September 30, 1946 – December 15, 2011) was an American
social historian Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to co ...
who served as the Lucy Moses Professor of Modern Jewish History at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. She served as the president of the American Academy for Jewish Research from 2004 to 2008. She also was the first female dean of the Seminary College of Jewish Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary from 1981 to 1986. Hyman was a pioneer for gender equality in Jewish religious practice, helping push for
women's ordination The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination was traditionally res ...
as
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
s. Jewish historian
Hasia Diner Hasia Diner Hasia R. Diner is an American historian. Diner is the Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History; Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, History; Director of the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish His ...
credits Hyman as the originator of the study of Jewish women’s history.


Early life and career

Paula Ellen Hyman was born in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, on September 30, 1946, to Ida Hyman (née Tatelman) and Sydney Hyman, two first generation
Jewish-Americans American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...
from
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
. Ida was of Russian descent and Sydney of Lithuanian. Hyman was the first of three daughters. Her mother worked as a bookkeeper and was in charge of the home while her father was an office manager. In her childhood household, Jewish culture was integral to family life. Starting in
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
and continuing in early
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
, Hyman studied
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and classic Jewish works at Hebrew Teachers College in Boston, where she earned a Bachelors of Jewish Education in 1966. In 1968, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from
Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...
. While at Radcliffe, Hyman was mentored by Jewish historians
Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (May 20, 1932 – December 8, 2009) was the Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society at Columbia University, a position he held from 1980 to 2008. Early life and education Yerushalmi was bor ...
and Isadore Twersky. After Radcliffe, Hyman went on to do post-graduate work at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
starting in 1972, where she would later be a professor, and earn her Ph.D. in History in 1975. Hyman’s Columbia doctoral dissertation was titled ''From Dreyfus to Vichy: The Remaking of French Jewry, 1906–1939'' and was published by
Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
in 1979. The content of her
doctoral dissertation A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
focused on
Eastern European Jews The expression ''Eastern European Jewry'' has two meanings. Its first meaning refers to the current political spheres of the Eastern European countries and its second meaning refers to the Jewish communities in Russia and Poland. The phrase 'Ea ...
immigrating to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
up until
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and how that changed French Jewry. This book was a finalist in the
National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of qual ...
competition in History. While in graduate school, Hyman co-authored a book titled ''The Jewish Woman in America'' with Charlotte Baum and Sonya Michel. The book earned her another Jewish Book Award in 1998 for Women's Studies. After graduating from Columbia, Hyman was a professor there and later at the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...
. There, she was the first female dean of the Seminary College of Jewish Studies. She served in this position until 1986, when she moved to
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
.


Later life and death

Over the years, Hyman became known as a prominent advocate for gender equality in Jewish religious life, both in her professional and personal lives. At Yale, Hyman was the Lucy Moses Professor of Modern Jewish History and served as the chair of the Program in Judaic Studies for over 10 years. This appointment made her the first woman to head a Jewish Studies program at a prominent university. Over the course of her career Hyman authored ten books and sixty articles. Additionally, Hyman was the President of the American Association for Jewish Research from 2004 to 2008, the co-chair of the academic council of the
National Foundation for Jewish Culture The Foundation for Jewish Culture (formerly the National Foundation for Jewish Culture) was an advocacy group for Jewish cultural life and creativity in the United States. Founded in 1960, it supported writers, filmmakers, artists, composers, ch ...
from 1995 to 2002, a member of the executive board of the
Association for Jewish Studies The Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) is a scholarly organization in the United States that promotes academic Jewish Studies. History The Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) was founded in December 1968 by a small group of scholars at Bran ...
(AJS) and the
Leo Baeck Institute The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, Jerusalem and Berlin, that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. The institute was ...
, while being on the editorial board for various journals including ''Association for Jewish Studies Review,'' ''Jewish Social Studies,'' ''Journal for the Feminist Study of Religion,'' and''YIVO Annual''. Additionally, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Historical Studies from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. For over two decades she edited ''The Modern Jewish Experience'' from the Indiana University Press. She was the recipient of various honors and awards: a 1999 National Jewish Book Award, a 2004 Achievement Award in Historical Studies from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and honorary degrees from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2000, the Hebrew Union College in 2002, and the Hebrew College in 2010. Hyman died on December 15, 2011, from a long fight with breast cancer, which she was very open about. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Stanley Rosenbaum, her two daughters, Judith and Adina, two grandchildren, Ma’ayan and Aviv, her mother Ida, and her two sisters, Merle and Toby. After her death, Hyman was commemorated by the commencement of the Paula Hyman Oral History Project, created in part by the Women’s Caucus of the AJS. Hyman was part of this caucus until the time of her death. The goal of this oral history was to conserve the reflections of the founding members of the caucus. Additionally, Hyman was commemorated by the creation of the Paula E. Hyman Mentoring Program, which selects every year young women scholars of Jewish women's and genders studies and pairs them with older mentors in the same field.


Activism

In 1971, Hyman helped found Ezrat Nashim, a Jewish activist group whose goal was the ordination of women as Conservative rabbis and cantors, a foreshadowing of her later position as a champion of gender equality in religious Jewish life. While at Columbia, Hyman and other Jewish feminists wrote a manifesto to call for the ordination of women rabbis and cantors in
Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...
, which they then delivered to hundreds of conservative rabbis at a Rabbinical Assembly. The title of this manifesto was “Jewish Women Call for Change.” In both her personal and professional life, Hyman championed feminist ideology and sought to end political and historical sexism. Additionally, when she became the first woman to join organizations in the United States, Israel, and Europe, she would be certain to attain the participation of other women, helping further her activist identity.


Research interests and reception

Hyman's research interests included topics in modern
European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...
and
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
Jewish history, with a special emphasis on the history of women and gender. Her work can be summed up as the interaction of Judaism and feminism in various countries. Some of her particular interests are the way in which French Jewry changed from the Dreyfus Affair to the present, and how Eastern European Jewish women immigrants interacted with work outside the home. On the latter topic, Hyman is known for her works on Jewish women in New York as activists in events such as the kosher meat boycott of 1902 and the New York rent strike of 1907. Her interest in such activism finds its base in her growing up in the 1960s, an era known for its social changes including a widely-fought feminist movement. Hyman was recognized as one of the founders of Jewish women's studies and was seen as a role model for her colleagues and students for her dedication to this field. This field finds one of its starts in Hyman's ''The Jewish Woman in America''. In addition, she was seen as a changing force in how the modern Jewish experience is understood by scholars and laymen alike. This shift included a newfound focus on the daily ins and outs of American and European Jewish life as well as exposing the lives of often overlooked populations, such as women, through a use of popular and archival sources. After Hyman's death, ''Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies and Gender Issues'' dedicated issue twenty-two of their journal to Hyman.


Selected works

*" Joseph Salvador: Proto-Zionist or Apologist for Assimilation?" ''
Jewish Social Studies Jewish Social Studies is a quarterly U.S. based journal. It was established in 1939, by the Conference on Jewish Relations, later known as the Conference on Jewish Social Studies. Its editor was the American philosopher Morris Raphael Cohen. ...
'' Vol. 34, No. 1, January 1972 *''The Jewish Woman in America'', co-authored with Charlotte Baum and Sonya Michel. New York: 1976 *''From Dreyfus to Vichy: The Remaking of French Jewry, 1906–1939''. New York: 1979 *“Immigrant Women and Consumer Protest: The New York Kosher Meat Boycott of 1902.” ''
American Jewish History ''American Jewish History'' is an academic journal and the official publication of the American Jewish Historical Society. The journal was established in 1892 and focuses on all aspects of the history of Jews in the United States. The journal was ...
'' (1980); 91–105 *"The History of European Jewry: Recent Trends in the Literature" ''
The Journal of Modern History ''The Journal of Modern History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering European intellectual, political, and cultural history, published by the University of Chicago Press. Established in 1929, the journal covers events from appro ...
'' Vol. 54, No. 2, June 1982 *''The Jewish Family: Myths and Reality'', edited with Steven M. Cohen. New York: 1986 *“From City to Suburb: Temple Mishkan Tefila of Boston.” In ''The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed,'' edited by Jack Wertheimer, 85–105. Cambridge and New York: 1987 *"The Dreyfus Affair: The Visual and the Historical," ''The Journal of Modern History'' Vol. 61, No. 1, March 1989 *“The Modern Jewish Family: Image and Reality.” In ''The Jewish Family: Metaphor and Memory,'' edited by David Kraemer. New York and Oxford: 1989; 179–193 *“The Ideological Transformation of Modern Jewish Historiography.” In ''The State of Jewish Studies,'' edited by Shaye J. D. Cohen and Edward L. Greenstein, 143–157, Detroit: 1990 *''The Emancipation of the Jews of Alsace: Acculturation and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century''. New Haven: 1991 *“The Dynamics of Social History.” ''Studies in Contemporary Jewry'' 10 (1994): 93–111; *''Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History: The Roles and Representation of Women''. Seattle: 1995 *''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia'', co-edited with
Deborah Dash Moore Deborah Dash Moore (born 1946) is an American historian, the former director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, and a Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. E ...
, 2 vols. New York: 1997 *''The Jews of Modern France''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: 1998 *“The Jewish Body Politic: Gendered Politics in the Early Twentieth Century.” ''Nashim'' 2 (1999): 37–51 *“National Contexts, East European Immigrants, and Jewish Identity: A Comparative Analysis.” In ''National Variations in Modern Jewish Identity'', edited by Steven M. Cohen and Gabriel Horenczyk, 109–123. Albany: 1999 *''My Life as a Radical Jewish Woman: Memoirs of a Zionist Feminist in Poland'', by Puah Rakovsky, edited with an introduction and notes. Bloomington: 2001 *“The Transnational Experience of Jewish Women in Western and Central Europe after World War I.” In ''European Jews and Jewish Europeans between the Two World Wars,'' edited by Raya Cohen, 21–33 (''Michael'', vol. 16, 2004) *“Interpretive Contest: Art Critics and Jewish Historians.” In ''Text and Context: Essays in Modern Jewish History and Historiography in Honor of Ismar Schorsch,'' edited by Eli Lederhendler and Jack Wertheimer, 74–94. New York: 2005. *''Jewish Women in Eastern Europe'', co-edited with ChaeRan Freeze and Antony Polonsky. ''Polin'', Volume 18, 2005. *"Recent Trends in European Jewish Historiography," ''The Journal of Modern History'' Vol. 77, No. 2, June 2005


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyman, Paula 1946 births 2011 deaths 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American Conservative Jews American women non-fiction writers Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish women writers Yale University faculty Harvard University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Conservative Jewish feminists American women academics Hebrew College alumni Radcliffe College alumni