Navigating the Civil and Religious Worlds: Jewish Marriage and Divorce in France and the United States (1880s-1930s)

• In Event: Legal Constructions of Gender and Marriage

Abstract

This presentation will describe my dissertation, which is a comparative case study of the conflict between civil and religious marital laws in the Jewish communities of France and the United States, from 1881 to 1914. It analyzes the effects of civil marriage and divorce laws on Jewish immigrants, and the role that conflicting legal systems played in shaping their general adaptation to their new homelands. Competing marital laws brought to the judges' attention the very porous line between religion and the state, and shaped the relationship between Jews and the civil legal system. The following questions might come up during discussion: How did the tensions between different legal systems surrounding the issues of personal status transform the identity and practices of Jewish immigrants? How did the separation of church and state affect Jewish immigrants, and how did they become citizens through their experiences of marriage and divorce?

author

• Geraldine Gudefin, Brandeis University