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" /> For most Poles the figurines represent a harmless superstition and a positive, sympathetic portrayal of Jewishness.<ref name="dobr" /> The motif was first described in articles from 2000, and probably dates back to after the [[Revolutions of 1989#Poland|1989 transition of Polishearly government1990s]].<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> While widely recognized the figurines aren'tare popularnot andthe comparedmost to otherpopular good luck charms weakly basedcharm in cultural contextPoland.<ref name="Tartakowsky"/><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>For most Poles the figurines represent a harmless superstition and a positive, sympathetic portrayal of Jewishness.<ref name=dobr />

Scholars offer various interpretations of the motif's nature and origin, though they generally agree that it is used as a [[talisman]] for good luck,<ref name="JC20141204" /><ref name="Wichtel"/> in particular financial good luck.<ref name="Tartakowsky" /><ref name="Zawadzka" /><ref name="LehrerLondon77"/> The imagesfigurines have sometimes been criticized and called controversial as they draw on a traditional [[Antisemitic canard#Usury and profiteering|antisemitic canard of the Jewish moneylender]].<ref name="Cala" /><ref name="LehrerLondon79">[https://www.academia.edu/39121018/Lucky_Jews Luck Jews?] Pictures + Essay by Erica Lehrer in [[Jewish Museum London]]'s 2019 ''Jews, Money, Myth'' exhibition catalog, page 79</ref> Opinions about the motif vary; some cultural studies scholars<!-- The names of the scholars is given in the body of this article --> believe it promotes Polish–Jewish dialogue or view it as harmless [[folklore]] or [[nostalgia]], while others believe it is an [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] and offensive [[stereotype]].<ref name="haaretz20141120" /><ref name="Vice20131010" /><ref name="Zawadzka">Zawadzka, Anna. "Drinking vodka with anti-Semites. A case study of 'Polish-Jewish relations' today." Adeptus 11 (2018): 1-23. quote: ""A Jew with a coin" is an anti-Semitic picture people hang at home as a lucky charm bringing financial success, which can be bought across Poland in souvenir shops, newspaper stands, florists, art galleries and bazaars. The figure depicted in such pictures wears a hat or kippah. Putting a kippah on may therefore be interpreted as a gesture of self-exotization. It is putting a mask on, and taking part in a masquerade in the role of a Jew, designed to meet the needs of the Christian audience.</ref><ref name="JTA20180818">{{Cite news|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-lucky-jew-imagery-is-so-popular-in-poland/|title=Why 'Lucky Jew' imagery is so popular in Poland|last=Liphshiz|first=Cnaan|date=18 August 2018|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=25 August 2019|agency=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="LehrerUSHMM" />