{"id":89,"date":"2015-01-05T16:45:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T22:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/yiddish-stage\/?p=89"},"modified":"2022-09-01T13:40:44","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T18:40:44","slug":"the-chasidim-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/yiddish-stage\/the-chasidim-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chasidim Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1921, Cleveland<\/a>
1923, Winnipeg
1925, Milwaukee
1928,\u00a0Boston?<\/a>\u00a0(exact location unclear)
1933, Calgary (the second annual!)
1933, Winnipeg again<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the fleeting references I\u2019ve found regarding a peculiar cultural phenomenon. In each case, a \u201cChasidim Ball\u201d was held to raise funds for Poale Zion, or for the Peretz Shule: never for any actual religious organization (because, logically, why would Hasidim need to hold an annual \u201cChasidim Ball\u201d? They would just call that a simkhe).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the first mention I found of it, a recollection by the daughter of the family that owned the Yiddish-language bookstore in Winnipeg:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder sometimes whether my father was best know as the proprietor of the People\u2019s Book Store, or as the \u201cChasid\u201d who danced on the table. The dancing took place at the \u201cChasidim Ball,\u201d an annual event in Winnipeg <\/a>for some ten years, and Bernard Miller, doing the \u201cKozatchke\u201d on a table full of dishes or glasses, was one of the highlights of the celebration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Bernard (\u201cBen\u201d or \u201cBerl\u201d) Miller, dressed as a Hasid for the annual ball, Courtesy of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Milwaukee Jewish Chronicle, January 30, 1925<\/a>, has this poetic description of their event:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

POALE ZION TO HOLD CHASIDIM BALL, FEB. 28 Poale Zion and the Nachmin Sirkin Branch of Young Poale Zion will hold a Chasidim Ball, Saturday evening, February 28, in Kilbourn and Juneau Halls of the Milwaukee Auditorium. Those who know what a rich and poetic part the Chasidim played in the Jewish national life need not be urged to attend this ball. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with this picturesque element of our people, a vivid reproduction will be staged showing one Rabbi Schloimele from Poilatzinevke, with this Talmudim and grandson at his side. A host of Chasidim from all corners of the world, dressed in their traditional costumes, will sing and dance. A special orchestra, well versed in the music of the Chasidim and modern music as well, will furnish the music. There will be plenty of the modern dancing for the benefit of the young people as well.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you see, not just quaint and folkloric, but educational as well! The Wisconsin Historical Society has a picture of this event<\/a>, showing both men and women dressed as Hasidic men. I guess for women, dressing as Hasidic women (which would be what? long skirts and sheytls?) would hardly constitute being in costume at all. And I\u2019m sure the men didn\u2019t want to give up the table-dancing opportunities by dressing as women either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one in Winnipeg seems to have lasted at least from 1923 to 1933. Unlike Milwaukee, in Winnipeg there doesn\u2019t appear to have been any pretense that this was meant to be either an homage or a history lesson: Berl Miller belies that idea. A tiny man with a huge personality, Miller was popular in Winnipeg\u2019s Jewish community. His bookstore was a meeting place<\/a> and an organizing hub for union and left-wing causes. In fact, at the time of the first Chasidim Ball in Winnipeg, he had already been imagined as a kind of modern Hasid, bringing the Torah of secular news and books to the people of Winnipeg. On the cover of an early edition of the Kanader Mazik<\/em> [The Canadian Brat], a short-lived satirical weekly, Miller and his then-partner, Joshua Gurevitch, embody all the community\u2019s duality: religious and secular, traditional and modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Berl Miller and Joshua Gurevitch of Winnipeg\u2019s People\u2019s Book Store are gently lampooned. Image courtesy of YIVO.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cOur Culture-Peddlers,\u201d the title proclaims. And below: \u201cWe peddle, we peddle assorted bundles\/of tzitzit, good-luck charms, whatever we\u2019ve got\/We are the peddlers of tefilin, tallises\/we peddle \u2018Jewishness,\u2019 peddle a lot.\u201d Note, however, what they\u2019re carrying: copies of the Forverts<\/em>, Fraye arbeter shtime<\/em>, and Kanader adler<\/em>, plus piles of books that look suspiciously closer to the size of novels than volumes of Talmud. Wrapped in Jewish tradition, they are peddling modernity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then what were the Chasidim Balls? Presumably it was a way to blow off steam, and a way to make an in-joke only Jews would understand. While enjoying the old-world simkhe atmosphere, they could also make a clear distinction between their old-world selves and their new identities. The Balls say, \u201cWe\u2019re not like that\u2014we are modern.\u201d But they also say, \u201cThe old world sure knew how to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Between 1921 and 1933, a \u201cChasidim Ball\u201d was held to raise funds for Poale Zion, or for the Peretz Shule. 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