Becoming Israeli: National Ideals and Everyday Life in the 1950sWith a light touch and many wonderful illustrations, historian Anat Helman investigates "life on the ground" in Israel during the first years of statehood. She looks at how citizens--natives of the land, longtime immigrants, and newcomers--coped with the state's efforts to turn an incredibly diverse group of people into a homogenous whole. She investigates the efforts to make Hebrew the lingua franca of Israel, the uses of humor, and the effects of a constant military presence, along with such familiar aspects of daily life as communal dining on the kibbutz, the nightmare of trying to board a bus, and moviegoing as a form of escapism.Ê In the process Helman shows how ordinary people adapted to the standards and rules of the political and cultural elites and negotiated the chaos of early statehood. |
Contents
1 Introducing Israel in White | 1 |
2 The Language of the Melting Pot | 20 |
3 The Humorous Side of Rationing | 47 |
4 A People in Uniform | 68 |
5 Taking the Bus | 86 |
6 Going to the Movies | 113 |
7 The Communal Dining Hall | 140 |
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Becoming Israeli: National Ideals and Everyday Life in the 1950s Anat Helman No preview available - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
Al hamishmar April Arab Ashmoret August August 24 austerity Aviv ba‘alei batei hakolno‘a Bachi Bamachaneh batei hakolno‘a beyisrael behavior black market cartoon in Dvar cinema owners Collection Government Press country’s daily Davar December dining hall driver dugri Dvar hashavu‘a economic February February 9 films Geva newsreels Government Press Office Ha‘olam hazeh Haaretz Haboker hamishmar Hamodi‘a Haredi Hatzofeh Hebrew hegemonic Helman Herut hitachdut ba‘alei batei humor ideal ideological Israel Israeli society January Jerusalem Post Jewish Jews jokes journalist July kibbutz kibbutz members kibbutzim Kiryat Anavim Kiryat Anavim bulletin Koteret language Lissak longtime Israelis Ma‘ariv Mapai March military movie theaters moviegoing National Photo Collection October ofthe Omer Palestine Palmach passengers percent Photo Collection Government Photo from 1950 political prestate Rozin Sabras Sde Eliyahu seats September snow social soldiers strategy Tel Aviv tickets Tirat Zvi transit camps Whereas wrote Yediot aharonot Yediot hitachdut ba‘alei Yekkes Yiddish Zionist