LimmudFest Nola 2023

The term "the melting pot" has been a controversial description of America's immigrant culture for more than a century, often associated with a supposed ideal of assimilation that has been both praised and criticized since it first appeared in a play by the Jewish writer Israel Zangwill. Jewish commentators in particular saw in *The Melting-Pot* (1908) both an unfortunate advocacy of intermarriage and the surprising elevation of an American ideal in a work by a leading Jewish nationalist.  This illustrated talk examines the play itself, its historical context, and the controversies it evoked to get a greater understanding of Zangwill’s goals in promoting America as a welcoming home for the Jews of Europe.  It also considers why, although communal leaders balked at the play’s content, Jewish immigrant audiences flocked to see the play and appreciated its depiction of their lives and their new home.