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Show Joel Shapir o 5 / 26 / 82 tp 1 pg 16 I observed those holidays by not going to school. And that was no problem to me. I also participated in Christmas carols, anci so forth, and so on , because that's what everybody did. And that's a far cry frow the time my sons went to grade school and high school, in which, you know, the transition is complete. We, the American community, tried to equate, at least the schools tried to equate, Hanukah with Christwas, and kids were asked to give lectures on Hanukah. And I had one boy in junior high school or high school who had the nickname of being called 'Super Jew'. Isn't that what they called Eric?(directed to his son) . NOT as a derisive term, but as a term of affection. I mean , the span of those few years, the change in this community is immense. And yet, outsiders, particularly easterners who come from large Jewish communities, still find the impact of the fVlormon model, as you call it, on their kids sometimes, to be in their view, frightening, upsetting, oppressive , restrictive, horrifying, what have you, and they spend a great deal of time trying to change it. Well, that would at least demonstrate the difference. So, when you ask 'did the Mormon model have an impact?'; of course, it had an impact. At that time, we were trying to get along with it. As the time went on, not only did the Mormon model change its way and become more accepting of the minorities in its midst, but certainly had minorities who acted against the pervasive culture a chance. But , that's the way it was in the 20's and 30's. I would imagine it was that way if you were Chinese or Greek, boy or girl, or so on. L A Greek woman in the area, you might know, Helen Papanikolos, told me that she remembers there being a large, anti-Greek attitude along tho terms. She said that she and Dr. Zucker were good friends over the years, and they were both, in their own way, trying to work out stories of their respective communities. She said one point of contention between them always was the fact that Dr. Zucker , she felt down played this feeling. And she was wondering why when she thought that anti-Greek feeling was equally as powerful, and she wanted to make it known. JS Yes, I think I know precisely what you're describing. I have no that my father's and mother's basic 'get along with the system' attitude in the 20's and 30's, reflected, genuinely reflected, what |
