Ethnic, Class and Gender Dynamics among Jewish Labour Activists and Jewish Human Rights Activists

Rabbi Solomon Jacobs, “of the assimilationist synagogue” (Holy Blossom, which represented mostly the old community of middle-class, English Jews), was accused of playing an “ugly role” during the 1910 strike of Toronto cloakmakers. According to Abe Kirzner, a prominent Yiddish-speaking trade unionist and socialist, the rabbi preached that “Jews must not rebel and that this [strike] is a disgrace in the eyes of the Gentiles.” This is just one …