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The Yom Kippur balls were countercultural, antireligious festivities held by
Jewish anarchists This is a list of Jewish anarchists. Individuals See also * Jewish anarchism Notes References * * * * * * * Further reading * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jewish anarchists Jewish * Anarchists Anarchism is a political philoso ...
and
socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...
on
Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...
, the holiest day of the Jewish year and day of atonement. Revelers sang, danced, ate, and heard speeches from famous anarchists. The tradition began in England in 1888 and, under the Pioneers of Liberty, recurred annually from New York the year after. By 1891, six other American cities held their own balls.


History

In the late 1880s, anarchism was the largest movement among Jewish–American radicals. Alongside government and capitalism, this counterculture took aim at religion as incompatible with their principles of reason and science, though they retained their secular Yiddish culture. Among the radicals' provocations was the Yom Kippur ball, a joyous event sacrilegiously held during the somber Jewish
day of atonement Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...
. The provocation stirred the ire of the
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
community, who saw the act as directly offensive to their faith. The tradition began in 1888 with British Jewish anarchists in Whitechapel under
Benjamin Feigenbaum Benjamin Feigenbaum (August 12, 1860 – November 10, 1932) was a Poland, Polish-born Jewish socialist, newspaper editor, translator, and satirist. Feigenbaum was an associate editor of the Yiddish language ''The Forward'', its predecessor ''Di A ...
, but became a significant annual tradition in New York under the Pioneers of Liberty. On the occasion of the first ball, held in 1889, more conservative elements of the Jewish community persuaded the hall owner to break its contract with the anarchists. The ball moved to the Fourth Street Labor Lyceum. The festivities included singing, dancing, readings in Yiddish, Russian, and German, and orations from
Johann Most Johann Joseph "Hans" Most (February 5, 1846 – March 17, 1906) was a German-American Social Democratic and then anarchist politician, newspaper editor, and orator. He is credited with popularizing the concept of "propaganda of the deed" in the Un ...
, Saul Yanovsky, and Roman Lewis. The balls continued annually in New York and spread to other American cities: by 1891, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Providence, and St. Louis. Festivities in New York included music, dancing, buffet, and "
La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by the First French Republic against Austria, and was originally titled "". The French Na ...
". In 1890, Most delivered the
Kol Nidre Kol Nidre (also known as Kol Nidrei or Kol Nidrey; Aramaic: ''kāl niḏrē'') is an Aramaic declaration which begins Yom Kippur services in the synagogue. Strictly speaking, it is not a prayer, even though it is commonly spoken of as if it we ...
, and in 1891, Hillel Solotaroff and Lewis spoke. In New England, Moshe Katz gave a Kol Nidre sermon on religion's evolution, and in Philadelphia, a police raid on the event led to two arrests for incitation to riot. Historian of anarchism
Paul Avrich Paul Avrich (August 4, 1931 – February 16, 2006) was an American historian specializing in the 19th and early 20th-century anarchist movement in Russia and the United States. He taught at Queens College, City University of New York, for his ...
concluded that the balls were "counterproductive", estranging both devout Jews and those who viewed the festivities as a caustic attack on their traditions. Insurrectionary zeal declined over the next decade, and by the turn of the 20th century, Jewish anarchists had adopted a more pragmatic, piecemeal approach towards change. This included a détente towards antireligious confrontation, which had been a hallmark of the initial movement. In effect, Yom Kippur balls continued but fewer in number and not as flagrantly wielded. The Kishinev and other Russian
pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...
from 1903 to 1906 sobered some Jewish anarchists from radicalism and towards Zionism.


References


Bibliography

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