Seasonal Greeting token 1999

Obverse: Emblem of the Israel Government Coins and Medal Corporation. Reverse: Menorah in the midddle of the zodiac symbols.

Public history, private memories: Historical imagination in the new Italian cinema 1988-1999

The concern with the following arguments started during a study of national and international cinemas, from the desire to account for a cinema that internationally was doing well, but was undervalued domestically. The aims were to account for the renewal of Italian filmmaking from 1988, the New Italian cinema, and understand the conditions behind this renewal. The thesis identifies in the historical theme and in the recurrence of features from Italian cinema history elements of coherence with previous cinema production. The first consideration that emerges is that a triangulation between a new generation of filmmakers, their audience and recent history shaped the recovery of Italian cinema from 1988. A second consideration is that no discussion of Italian cinema can be separated from a discussion of that which it represents: Italian society and politics. This representation has not only addressed questions of identity for a cohort of spectators, but on occasions has captured the attention of the international audience. Thus the thesis follows a methodologic approach that positions texts in relation to certain traditions in Italian filmmaking and to the context by taking into consideration also industrial factors and social and historical changes. By drawing upon a range of disciplines, from political history to socio-psychological studies, the thesis has focussed on representation of history and memory in two periods of Italian film history: the first and the last decade of twentieth century. The concern has been not so much to interpret the films, but to understand the processes that made the films and how spectarors have applied their knowledge structures to make meaning of the films. Thus the thesis abstains from ascribing implicit meanings to films, but acknowledges how films project cultural contingencies. This is beacause film is shaped by production conditions and cultural and historical circumstances that make the film intelligible. As Bordwell stated in Making Meaning, "One can do other things with films besides 'reading' them" (1989, p. xiii). Within this framework, the thesis proposes a project that understands history films with the norms that govern Italian filmic output, those norms that regulate conditions of production and consumption and the relation between films from various traditions.

Graenum Berger papers, undated, (1825)-2002

Contains correspondence, minutes, reports, clippings, manuscripts, research materials, journal articles, photographs and publications; primarily relating to Berger's involvement with Ethiopian Jewry and his efforts to bring about their rescue through the organization he formed, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews. Also contains material from Berger's other interests- his writings, travels through the world and to Israel and Ethiopia, community affiliations, research in Black American Jews, profession as a Jewish social work executive, his commitment to Jewish causes and to Israel. There are also many personal and biographical materials from the numerous long-term friendships and associations he established.

Solomon Robert Kagan papers undated, 1920-1955

Contains correspondence, printed material, and photographs relating to Jews in the medical profession, used as a basis for Kagan's several works on Jews in medicine, including the correspondence of members of the American Physicians Fellowship Committee of the Israel Medical Association; includes also correspondence relating to the Near East and the internationalization of Jerusalem, 1945-1954; and personal correspondence. Among the correspondents are Bernard M. Baruch and Christian A. Herter.

Board of Jewish Education (New York, N.Y.) records, undated, ca. 1920-ca. 1989.

Collection includes promotional material such as posters and pamphlets, surveys conducted by the BJE, and press releases. Also includes numerous publications, the majority being bulletins, newsletters, educational material, and bibliographies.

Henry Roth collection, 1959, 1992-1999.

The bulk of the collection consists of manuscripts by Roth of the first two volumes in his Mercy of a Rude Stream series. The manuscripts include editing notes by Roth and others. Several items of memorabilia are also included in the collection.

Richard Cohen Associates records, undated, 1961-1999.

Contains primarily press releases and news clippings produced and collected by the public relations firm that served a wide diverse range of Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Congress, World Jewish Congress, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, American Zionist Movement, and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Material documents almost every significant event in contemporary Jewish history; focusing primarily on events occurring in Israel, United states, and Russia. Among the areas of interest include Jewish homosexual rights, disabled rights, Orthodox feminism, African-American and Jewish relations, interfaith relations, Holocuast remembrance, and the marketing of Jewish filmmakers, writers, sculptors, painters, and musicians.

Jewish Memorial Hospital and Rehabilitation Center (Roxbury, Mass.) records, undated, 1915-1999

The records provide material relating to the accreditation, fundraising, management, planning, policies, programs, and public relations of a hospital that continues to serve the Greater Boston area. The records includes correspondence of various Presidents, Board Members, and Executive Directors; Board and committee minutes; scrapbooks, photographs, videotape, and film created by the Public Relations department; records of various Auxiliary groups; correspondence, reports, surveys, and other documents relating to the Pediatric Rehabilitation Program; and artifacts such as plaques, portraits, and silverware.

Galveston immigration plan records undated, 1901-1920.

Collection consists largely of minutes and correspondence from the office of the Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau which administered the Galveston Immigration Plan. Includes correspondence among members of the JIIB, the Industrial Removal Office, the Hilfsverein de Deutschen Juden (Relief Organization of German Jews), the Jewish Colonization Society (ICA), and various Jewish organizations in the United States. Collection also contains many ship passenger lists.

Conformal Field Theory Methods for Variants of Schramm-Loewner Evolutions

This thesis consists of an introduction, four research articles and an appendix. The thesis studies relations between two different approaches to continuum limit of models of two dimensional statistical mechanics at criticality. The approach of conformal field theory (CFT) could be thought of as the algebraic classification of some basic objects in these models. It has been succesfully used by physicists since 1980's. The other approach, Schramm-Loewner evolutions (SLEs), is a recently introduced set of mathematical methods to study random curves or interfaces occurring in the continuum limit of the models. The first and second included articles argue on basis of statistical mechanics what would be a plausible relation between SLEs and conformal field theory. The first article studies multiple SLEs, several random curves simultaneously in a domain. The proposed definition is compatible with a natural commutation requirement suggested by Dubédat. The curves of multiple SLE may form different topological configurations, ``pure geometries''. We conjecture a relation between the topological configurations and CFT concepts of conformal blocks and operator product expansions. Example applications of multiple SLEs include crossing probabilities for percolation and Ising model. The second article studies SLE variants that represent models with boundary conditions implemented by primary fields. The most well known of these, SLE(kappa, rho), is shown to be simple in terms of the Coulomb gas formalism of CFT. In the third article the space of local martingales for variants of SLE is shown to carry a representation of Virasoro algebra. Finding this structure is guided by the relation of SLEs and CFTs in general, but the result is established in a straightforward fashion. This article, too, emphasizes multiple SLEs and proposes a possible way of treating pure geometries in terms of Coulomb gas. The fourth article states results of applications of the Virasoro structure to the open questions of SLE reversibility and duality. Proofs of the stated results are provided in the appendix. The objective is an indirect computation of certain polynomial expected values. Provided that these expected values exist, in generic cases they are shown to possess the desired properties, thus giving support for both reversibility and duality.

The Mediated Immediacy : João Batista Libanio and the Question of Latin American Liberation Theology

This study is a systematic analysis of mediated immediacy in the production of the Brazilian professor of theology João Batista Libanio. He stresses both ethical mediation and the immediate character of the faith. Libanio has sought an answer to the problem of science and faith. He makes use of the neo-scholastic distinction between matter and form. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, God cannot be known as a scientific object, but it is possible to predicate a formal theological content of other subject matter with the help of revelation. This viewpoint was emphasized in neo-Thomism and supported by the liberation theologians. For them, the material starting point was social science. It becomes a theologizable or revealable (revelabile) reality. This social science has its roots in Latin American Marxism which was influenced by the school of Louis Althusser and considered Marxism a science of history . The synthesis of Thomism and Marxism is a challenge Libanio faced, especially in his Teologia da libertação from 1987. He emphasized the need for a genuinely spiritual and ethical discernment, and was particularly critical of the ethical implications of class struggle. Libanio s thinking has a strong hermeneutic flavor. It is more important to understand than to explain. He does not deny the need for social scientific data, but that they cannot be the exclusive starting point of theology. There are different readings of the world, both scientific and theological. A holistic understanding of the nature of religious experience is needed. Libanio follows the interpretation given by H. C. de Lima Vaz, according to whom the Hegelian dialectic is a rational circulation between the totality and its parts. He also recalls Oscar Cullmann s idea of God s Kingdom that is already and not yet . In other words, there is a continuous mediation of grace into the natural world. This dialectic is reflected in ethics. Faith must be verified in good works. Libanio uses the Thomist fides caritate formata principle and the modern orthopraxis thinking represented by Edward Schillebeeckx. One needs both the ortho of good faith and the praxis of the right action. The mediation of praxis is the mediation of human and divine love. Libanio s theology has strong roots in the Jesuit spirituality that places the emphasis on contemplation in action.

"Mikä ihana kuva: isä, äiti ja lapset Herran työssä" : Lähetystyöntekijöiden perhe-elämä Kiinassa 1910- ja 1920-luvuilla

Tutkimukseni käsittelee Suomen Lähetysseuran Kiinan-työssä olleita perheitä vuosina 1915–1928. Enemmistö tuolloin SLS:n lähetystössä olleista läheteistä oli perheellisiä, ja perheiden elämäntilanteet lähetyskentällä vaikuttivat koko SLS:n yhteisön työmahdollisuuksiin. Tutkimukseni kohdehenkilöt ovat Signe ja Väinö Kantele sekä Inkeri ja Toivo Koskikallio perheineen, ja he edustavat sitä kokonaisuutta, jonka perheelliset lähetit Kiinassa muodostivat. Tutkin pro gradu -työssäni, millaista lähetystyöntekijöiden perhe-elämä oli lähetyskentällä. Kysyn myös, miten lähetystyö vaikutti perheeseen, ja miten perhe vaikutti lähetystyön tekemiseen. Lisäksi selvitän, miten kiinalainen kulttuuri vaikutti lähettiperheiden elämään. Tutkimukseni tärkeimmät lähteet ovat Signe Kanteleen kirjeet omaisilleen sekä Inkeri Koskikallion kirjeet ja päiväkirjat. Lähetyshistoriaa ei ole aiemmin tutkittu perheen näkökulmasta, joten tutkimus on hyvin aineistolähtöinen. Tärkeimpään käyttämääni kirjallisuuteen kuuluvat SLS:n Kiinan-työn historiaan sekä naislähetystyöntekijöihin liittyvät tutkimukset. Lähetystyöntekijät solmivat Kiinassa keskenään useita avioliittoja. Jotkut läheteistä olivat avioituneet jo Suomessa. SLS:n johtokunta kontrolloi lähettien avioliittoja ja myös perheiden lapsia, joten perhe ei ollut pelkästään lähettien yksityisasia. 1910- ja 1920-luvut olivat erityisen lapsirikasta aikaa, mikä vaikutti merkittävästi SLS:n Kiinan-yhteisön toimintaan. Joihinkin perheisiin oli syntynyt lapsia jo Suomessa ja lähetyskentällä perheisiin syntyi tutkimusajankohtana 26 lasta. Monet lähettiperheiden haasteista liittyivät lähetystyön ja perhe-elämän yhdistämiseen. Perheenäideillä oli vahva lähetyskutsumus, mutta raskaudet, synnytykset ja elämä pienten lasten kanssa rajoittivat naisten työskentelymahdollisuuksia ja aiheuttivat rooliristiriitoja. Perheen arjessa haasteena oli myös perheenisän poissaolo lähetystyöhön liittyneiden matkojen takia. Erityisesti tuolloin korostui lähetysasemalla asuneiden muiden suomalaisten läsnäolon tärkeys, vaikka SLS:n yhteisön tiiviys myös rajoitti perheiden yksityisyyttä. Perhe-elämällä oli SLS:n tuki, sillä monien muiden protestanttisten lähetysseurojen tavoin SLS kannusti perheellisiä lähettejään hyödyntämään perhettään evankelioimistyössä ja toimimaan kristityn perheen esimerkkinä paikallisille. Perheen esimerkillisyyteen kannustamisesta huolimatta Suomen Lähetysseura oli virallisissa julkaisuissaan vaitonainen perhetapahtumien vaikutuksesta työhön lähetyskentällä. Työn tukijat haluttiin vakuuttaa työn häiriöttömyydestä, vaikka todellisuus Kiinassa oli ajoittain toinen. Perheenäitien ja lasten sairastelut pakottivat perheenisiä välillä vähentämään tai lopettamaan työskentelyä. Lähetit myös menettivät Kiinassa lapsia ja puolisoita, mikä luonnollisesti vaikutti lähettiyhteisön toimintaan. Suomalaisvanhemmat kokivat perhe-elämän kiinalaisen kulttuurin keskellä ajoittain haasteelliseksi. Ristiriitatilanteita aiheuttivat kiinalaisten erilaiset elintavat ja esimerkiksi suomalaisten mielestä kyseenalainen lastenhoito- ja kasvatuskulttuuri. Suomalaisperheiden elämä Kiinassa oli joiltain osin samanlaista kuin heidän aikakautenaan Suomessa, mutta lähetystyö ja kiinalainen kulttuuri toivat siihen oman erikoisleimansa. Elämä perheenä lähetystyössä sisälsi paljon ulkoapäin tulleita ja sisäisiä haasteita. Lähetit kertoivat näistä haasteista, mutta korostivat myös vahvaa hengellistä kutsumustaan, tyytyväisyyttään elämäänsä sekä perheensä onnellisuutta.

Ett' varttuisi Suomenmaa : Suomalaisten kasvattaminen kulutusyhteiskuntaan kotimaisissa lyhytelokuvissa 1920-1969

The birth of the Modern Consumer Society in Finnish short films 1920-1969 The main subject of this research is Finnish short films in 1920-1969. These short films were produced by film studios for private enterprises, banks, advisory organizations, communities and the state. The evolution of short films on consumer affairs was greatly influenced by a special tax reduction system that was introduced in 1933 and lasted until 1964. The tax reduction system increased the production volumes of educational short films significantly. This study covers 342 Finnish short films, more than any other study in the field before this. The aim of this research is to examine how short films introduced Finns to modern consumer society. The cinemagoers were an excellent target group for different advisory groups as well as advertisers. Short films were used by organizations and private enterprises from very early on. In the 1920's Finns were still living in rural areas and agriculture was the dominant industry. Consumer society was still in its infancy, and the prevalent attitude to industrially produced goods was that of suspicion. From the cultural and ideological point of view the evolution of trust was one of the first steps towards the birth of the consumer society. Short films were an excellent means for helping to transform public attitudes. During the war period short films were an important means of propaganda. Short films were produced in abundance and shown for big audiences. They guided people how to survive shortages caused by the war. Even though the idea of rationalization was presented in short films somewhat in the 1920's and 1930's it became a national virtue during the war period. The idea of rationalization widened from the industry to households expecially in the late 1940's and the 1950's. New household apparati and the way in which daily chores were taken care of were presented not as luxury consumption but as a way of rationalization and saving money and effort. Banks and the advisory organizations guided the public to save their money for a specific target. Short films were use to help the public to acceps industrial goods and the notions of planning and saving. The ideological change from an agrarian society to consumer society was based on old acricultural ideas and self-sufficiency was evolved into rational and economizing consumerism. This made Finnish consumer society to value durable consumer goods and own homes. The public was also encouraged to consider their own decisions in the national context - especially after the second world war Finland laced capital, and personal savings were strongly presented as a way to help the whole nation. Modern hedonistic values were not dominant in Finland in the1950's and 1960's. Initial traces of modern hedonism can be seen in the films, but they were only marginal paths in the bigger.

Herrat, jätkät ja sotataito : Kansalaissotilas- ja ammattisotilasarmeijan rakentuminen 1920- ja 1930-luvulla

Gentlemen, Lads and the Art of War The Construction of Citizen Soldier- and Professional Soldier Armies into the Miracle of the Winter War During the 1920s and 1930s The Miracle of the Winter War was not a myth - at least according to them, who were making that miracle to happen. This study is not just about the Armed Forces and society, but moreover a study about civil society inside the organization of armed forces. Conscription kept Finnish military organization (and is still keeping) very closely connected with civil society and therefore there is no need to locate the possible critical misunderstandings brought by two different identity-based approaches. The great performance of the Armed Forces during the Second World War was not made of superior art of war. It was not the high level of discipline either. Art of war is basically a (deep level) cultural level equation that has more to do with culturally absorbed schemes of meaning making than rational decision-making. Naturally attrition based approach to effect-making directed the organizational methods in attrition based organisational practices, where there were only minor possibilities to practice any manoeuvre-based organisational behaviour. The practice and method of leadership lent similarly to the attrition-based thinking, which directed the organisational cultural thoughts towards composition that confirmed antagonism between gentlemen and lads . This setting has been absorbed and learned through cultural socialisation and was therefore not a product of the military organisation itself. The Finnish Armed Forces included two different communities (gentlemen and lads) within the same organisation as there were both the official and the unofficial organisations presented. This caused problems as they both made meaning-making processes simultaneously. These organisations had their own overlapping and in most cases also contradictory social meanings. The unofficial organisation has been overshadowed by the vast number of studies concerning the official organisation. The main reason for this systematic neglect is based on the reality of the attitudes and living conditions of the micro-level organisation which produced (perhaps) too realistic and repulsive viewpoints that are presenting a picture of a national level identity process in a way that is separating it from the ideals made to verify the ethos of national values. Complaining, griping, grumbling and moaning are usually situated in a category of abnormal and unwanted behaviour. However, within the context of a citizen soldier army community this was more of a characteristic feature of that organisation (in Finland) and therefore it was crucially important to locate the context of that abnormal behaviour. According to this study, it was not a malicious act but moreover seriously formed efforts in trying to use common sense in the chaos citizen soldiers faced when they were uniformed and placed in an unfamiliar process of disciplinary measures and frictions and competition between different ranks. There is much evidence that reinforces the argument that what seemed to be the most unconventional behaviour was finally the most efficient in a sense of military performance.

Ohjailusta kilpailuun : Suomen hallitusten kasvu- ja rakennepolitiikka vuosina 1962-1999

The study examines the contents, changes and the causes of changes of the growth and structural policy exercised by Finnish governments in 1962-1999. The policy is evaluated e.g. on the basis of government programmes. It is divided in the study into three phases: the phase of guided economy 1962-77, the transition period 1977-91 and the phase of competitive economy 1991-99. The opening of the economy has been the central factor influencing the contents of the growth and structural policy. When dividing the policy into ten sectors, it was found that the sectors losing weight during the study period are agricultural and forest policies and welfare policy and the sectors increasing weight are labour policy and environmental policy. Though impacts of the changes in the general line of the growth and structural policy could be seen in sector policies, the breaks in sector policies did not necessarily coincide with the breaks in the general line of the policy. In the study, in particular, the impacts of the factors affecting growth and structural policy thinking (political changes, foreign influences and changes in economics) are evaluated. The policy was influenced more by the prevailing ideological climate ("the spirit of time") than by political changes. Until the 1970s foreign influences mainly came from those individual Western European countries, where the role of government planning was important and where the economic development was favourable. Some impacts from socialist countries could be seen at the end of the 1960s and at the beginning of the 1970s. Since the 1980s the role of international organisations became emphasised. Also the impacts of the changes in economics could be seen in the changes in the general line of the growth and structural policy.