On October 25, 1918, Harry Rosenberg and Fanny Jacobs stood together in Hebrew Mutual Cemetery near Cobb's Creek. They didn't know each other, and the only thing they had in common was a lack of wealth and a desire to save their community. With an audience of 1,200 Russian Jewish immigrants, they wed.
Harry and Fanny were participating in a shvartse khasene (שוואַרץ חתונה, "black wedding") This ceremony borrowed from Eastern European superstition that marrying in a ceremony would protect from tragedy: while Russian and Polish traditions differed, the main idea was that the wedding would appeal to the dead, who could intercede on the living's behalf. Additionally, the sad sight of poor, young people marrying in a desolate location would induce God to have pity on the couple, and thus halt the spread of disease. Most research into this obscure tradition involves a cholera epidemic in 1892 Poland, but when Jews from such areas immigrated to the United States around the turn of the 20th century, just in time for another epidemic, this custom arrived with them.
An excerpt from The Advocate, October 26, 1918.
At the time of Harry and Fanny's wedding, the Spanish flu epidemic was at its peak. In Philadelphia, nearly 700,000 lives were claimed, and a city came together to beat the disease. Public gatherings were banned, social groups donated time and supplies, and in an atmosphere of desperation, a handful of couples hoped this tradition from the "old country" might make a difference.
Granted, it's easy to look through past newspapers and be amused or disturbed by such a custom. Admittedly, it was this voyeuristic reaction that attracted me towards learning more about this tradition while researching responses to the Spanish flu. However, examining the shvartse khasene in the context of both the Spanish flu epidemic and the larger wave of Eastern European immigration reveals a lot about the mindset of immigrants living through this plague.
Even contemporary voices looked on this tradition with disdain.
The Jewish Exponent, October 25, 1918.
By the time Washington Avenue Immigration Station was demolished in 1915, around one million immigrants had arrived in Philadelphia, and those who stayed in the city primarily lived in tight-knit communities with other immigrants. For Eastern European Jews, their primary destination was the Jewish Quarter, now Society Hill, and Poplar. Surrounded by the patriotism of WWI, the Americanization Movement, nativist fears, the many resources of local settlement houses, and the constant striving towards the American dream, immigrants faced a constant struggle between being used to an old way of life and embracing a new one. What place could, or should, such superstitions carry in a new environment?
It's interesting to note that, actually, the tradition of the shvartse khasene itself derives from a cultural compromise: Hanna Węgrzynek traces the social influences of the black wedding, including elements of Slavic Christian celebration of All Saint's Day, medieval Jewish magic, and kabbalah. These connections are not straightforward, but instead indicate a shifting relationship between Jews, who first migrated to what is now Eastern Europe in the thirteenth century, and their Christian neighbors.
At the same time, we can use the custom of the shvartse khasene to look at human response in the face of tragedy. Looking at marriage as a major milestone in one's life, Harry and Fanny made a major sacrifice in using their marriage towards a greater good. Further research or genealogy could be used to theorize their thoughts and reactions: how long did their marriage last? Did they have children? Or perhaps did they end up succumbing to the Spanish flu too? At the very least, I imagine them saying: "So many people have already died; how could this hurt?" All in all, the epidemic finally came to an end by summer 1919 — but how much the black weddings contributed to that is not for me to decide.
Sources:
Dynner, Glenn. Holy Dissent: Jewish and Christian Mystics in Eastern Europe. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2011.
Wirth, Thomas. "Influenza." The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, 2011. http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/influenza-spanish-flu-pandemic-1918-19/
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