Kosher Feijoada and Other Paradoxes of Jewish Life in São Paulo

273 Pages·2012·1.573 MB·English

by  Misha Klein

Kosher Feijoada and Other Paradoxes of Jewish Life in São Paulo
New World Diasporas
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola
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Kosher Feijoada
and Other Paradoxes
of Jewish Life
in São Paulo
Misha Klein
University Press of Florida
Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton
Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota
Copyright 2012 by Misha Klein
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America. This book is printed on Glatfelter Natures Book,
a paper certified under the standards of the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). It is a
recycled stock that contains 30 percent post-consumer waste and is acid-free.
This book may be available in an electronic edition.
17 16 15 14 13 12 6 5 4 3 2 1
The publication of this book is made possible in part by a grant
from the University of Oklahoma.
A record of cataloging-in-publication data is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-8130-3987-9
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
To the memory of my grandparents:
Nadejda (Remenchik) Malbin
Morris Malbin
Philip Klein
Anne (Adickman) Klein
and
Professor Alan Dundes
with saudades . . .
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
◆
1. Departures 1
2. Braided Lives 35
3. Kosher Feijoada 69
4. The High Cost of Jewish Living 99
5. Inscribing Jews into the Nation 132
6. Doubly Insecure 163
7. Cosmopolitans at Home 191
◆
Notes 209
Bibliography 233
Index 247
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Acknowledgments
This book represents my thoughts on identity for a heterogeneous group
in a particular place and what that says about other transnational ethnic
groups with other histories in other locales. In the process of thinking
about these themes, I have also reflected on my own transnational net-
works. For those who have lived for extended periods far from home,
the sensation of being out of place never fully disappears. While it may
be possible to go “home” to a geographic place, to the physical location
where we began a journey, our experiences change our core being such
that while we may recognize our surroundings, we no longer recognize
ourselves in them. While we can maintain relationships from a distance
we also sustain a loss of intimacy; the technologies that make ongoing
contact possible are poor substitutes for physical proximity. Instead, we
leave pieces of ourselves scattered along our path.
It is a daunting task to try to reconstruct that path and make an ac-
count of the many people who have helped along the winding course of
this project. It has been my very great privilege to have been guided and
inspired by professors whom I admire as intellectuals and individuals
and to have enjoyed the support and encouragement of scholars in the
United States and in Brazil. Friends and family have provided all manner
of emotional and material sustenance. Most extraordinarily, a community
of people welcomed me into their midst and shared their experiences with
me. I wish I could detail the myriad ways in which I am indebted, so it is
my hope that the many people whom my path has crossed in the course of