Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 11, 2024

"Map of Western Russia Showing the Jewish Pale of Settlement." The Krassners' hometown was located in Podolia Governorate.

Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

The Krassners were one family among thousands of Eastern European Jews who immigrated to the United States during this era. Economic options in the Pale of Settlement were limited, and many Jewish families left out of financial necessity. Others fled antisemitic violence. Krasner (who later went by the name Lenore, and then Lee) was the first Krassner child to be born in the United States.

Krasner attended Hebrew school as a child. Since she was a girl, she wasnt expected or allowed to attend an Orthodox cheder (school), which taught a more extensive Hebrew and theological curriculum to male students. Gender segregation in synagogues and patriarchal overtones in Orthodox Jewish practice provoked Krasner. She later commented that the daily prayer she learned to recite as a child was beautiful in every sense except for the closing of it if you are a male you say, Thank you, O Lord, for creating me in Your image; and if you are a woman you say, Thank you, O Lord, for creating me as You saw fit.2

Chane and Joseph Krassner were devout Jews, but they didnt insist that their children be equally orthodox. Krasner remembered that although she regularly attended synagogue services, her sister had decided not to, indicating that the Krassner children were given permission to decide how or whether they wanted to practice Judaism.

Krasner knew by age fourteen that she wanted to be an artist. By 1928, she became a student at the National Academy of Design. While there, Krasner learned how to paint what she saw in a directly representational way.

Continued here:
Self-Expressionism: Lee Krasner's Jewish Heritage in Art (U.S - National Park Service

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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