Jew with a coin: Difference between revisions

The '''Jew with a coin''' ({{lang|pl|Żyd z pieniążkiem}},<ref name="Tartakowsky" /><ref name="Tokarska-Bakir2012">{{Cite news|url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,75410,11172689,Zyd_z_pieniazkiem_podbija_Polske.html|title=Żyd z pieniążkiem podbija Polskę|last=Tokarska-Bakir|first=Joanna|date=18 February 2012|work=Gazeta Wyborcza|access-date=25 August 2019|language=pl|trans-title=A Jew with a coin conquers Poland|author-link=Joanna Tokarska-Bakir|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Tokarska-Bakir2019">{{Cite journal|url=http://www.aapjstudies.org/manager/external/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Jew_with_a_coin_FINAL.2.pdf|title=The Jew with a Coin: Analysis of a contemporary folkloric emblem|last=Tokarska-Bakir|first=Joanna|date=2019|journal=The American Association for Polish-Jewish Studies|access-date=25 August 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref> also '''little Jew''' ({{lang|pl|Żydki}}),<ref name="haaretz20141120" /> or '''lucky Jew''' ({{lang|pl|"Żyd na szczęście"}})<ref name="Tartakowsky" />) is a controversial [[good luck charm]] in Poland, where images or [[figurine]]s of the character, usually accompanied by a [[proverb]], are said to bring good fortune, particularly financially.<ref name="Tartakowsky" /> The motif was first described in articles from 2000, and probably dates back to after the [[Revolutions of 1989#Poland|1989 transition of Polish government]].<ref name="Tartakowsky" /> As of the early 21st century, they are found in shops and homes in Poland.<ref name="Tokarska-Bakir2012" /><ref name="Vice20131010">{{Cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/qbnewm/hey-poland-whats-up-with-those-lucky-jew-statues|title=Hey Poland, What's Up with Those Lucky Jew Statues?|last=Belfer|first=Ilana|date=9 October 2013|work=VICE|access-date=25 August 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gruber|first=Ruth Ellen|date=Fall 2009|title=Beyond Virtually Jewish: New Authenticities and Real Imaginary Spaces in Europe|url=http://scholionjnc.wiki.huji.ac.il/images/New_Authenticities.pdf|journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review|volume=99|issue=4|pages=487–504|quote=My experience at Anatewka was my first with that particular line of money-clutching Jewish figurine, but identical figures are now for sale by the score in certain venues in Krakow and Warsaw. Jews and their supposed special association with money are a long-standing, often negative, stereotype and the frequent subject of paintings and other imagery. Poles have explained that there is a 'tradition of Polish people placing pictures of Jews with money in their hands near the entrance doors of their homes as a good luck omen.'|via=[[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]]|mode=cs2|doi=10.1353/jqr.0.0064|doi-access=free}}</ref> AccordingWhile to a 2015 survey, 65% of respondentswidely recognized the motif,figurines 55%aren't saw an item with the motif at the home of a family member or friend, but only 27% at shopspopular and 12%compared atto restaurants,other whilegood andluck 18%charms ofweakly respondentsbased hadin onecultural themselvescontext.<ref name="Tartakowsky"/>The figurines aren't widely popular, and a 2015 survey found that only 19% of surveyed Poles owned such an item, with tradition of using one being weakly based in cultural context, especially compared to use of other good luck charms<ref name=dobr /><ref>Wydaje się, że niska znajomość oraz popularność magicznych rytuałów czynionych na wizerunku – skontrastowana z wysoką rozpoznawalnością "Żyda z pieniążkiem" – może wynikać z krótkiego rodowodu tego przesądu, który nie zdążył się jeszcze ugruntować jako praktyka automatyczna(...)Hipotezę o słabym ugruntowaniu praktyki w polskim kontekście kulturowym wzmacnia porównanie z wykonywaniem przez Polaków innych praktyk uznawanych z przesądne''"Żyd z pieniążkiem" jako praktyka polskiej kultury wernakularnej. Wstępny raport z badań, "Kultura Współczesna" 2015, nr 3. Pawel Dobrosielski page 71</ref>

According to Dobrosielski, the low level of knowledge and practice of the associated superstitions in contrast to the high level of recognition may be explained by the motif being a recent phenomenon, with accompanying superstitions not yet established in a habitual fashion as older superstitions are.<ref name="dobr" /> Dobrosielski notes that women were more likely than men to practice the superstitions associated with the motif, as well as other superstitions.<ref name="dobr" /> Dobrosielski finds further affirmation for the recentness of the phenomenon when he contrasts his results with the results of a survey on general superstitions in Poland,<ref>[https://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2011/K_130_11.PDF Spolecznej, Centrum Badania Opinii. "Przesądy wciąż żywe." (2011).]</ref> which found that 39% of respondents practiced five common superstitions such as [[finger crossing]].<ref name="dobr" /> Dobrosielski's final portion of the survey asked a series of questions related to antisemitic prejudice, based on questions used by sociologist Antoni Sułek. Sułek's respondents when queried on "whether Jews have too much influence on Poland's affairs" answered in the affirmative 43% in 2002 and 22% in 2010, whereas Dobrosielski in 2015 found a rate of 33% (correlated with age, inversely correlated with financial wellbeing and education).<ref name="dobr" /> Dobrosielski notes that the figurines are weakly based in cultural context, and aren't popular compared to other good luck charms and rituals.<ref name="dobr" />