It seems unnecessary to mention that both Harry Goldschmidt and Robert Orsi’s pieces focus on religion among other aspects that ultimately define the identity of a group of people. That much can be gathered from the titles of the respective works. However, what struck me throughout reading the Orsi’s piece was how crucial religion was to the lives and culture of the Italians of Italian Harlem from the late 19th century to around the middle of the 20th century. Likewise, how Crown Heights through a religious lens could be interpreted as the center of the world for a select group of Jewish people. In other words, religion in these scenarios is HUGE.
There was perhaps nothing more important to the lives of the Italians in Italian Harlem than the annual festa celebrating their mother, the Madonna. Italians flooded the streets day and night for days before the procession on July 16th and continued for days afterward carrying out meaningful rituals. Italians from all over flocked to East Harlem for the entire celebration, turning an already overcrowded area into a complete zoo. Even as Italians began their flight from East Harlem in the passing generations, many returned to celebrate the annual festa. The annual festa and their devotion to the Madonna defined Italians for better or worse. It may have constructed their morals, values, behavior, and ultimately their culture, but it created a negative perception towards them from outsiders who witnessed some of their bizarre rituals. Were they ‘good’ American Catholics? Did their flashiness and in some instances over the top practices create a problem? Neither should matter, because it is not likely Italians were hell bent on assimilating to the American version of a Catholic in the first place. In fact all they were concerned with was honoring the Madonna who played such a pivotal role in each of their individual lives whether it was through comforting them when they longed for Italy and home or when they needed a figure, a mother, to ask and thank for guidance, help, and good fortune.
Religion is a central aspect in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights and along with race it significantly divides the residents of the area. These differences were thrust into the spotlight during the violence of August 1991 that began on August 19th when a Black child, Gavin Cato, was hit by a vehicle operated by a Jewish man and consequently died. Later that night in what some Jewish residents interpreted as retaliation, Yankel Rosenbaum was stabbed by a troubled black teenager, Lemrick Nelson. In the days that followed, depending on who you talked to about it, a riot or a pogrom ensued. In this context, it is clear that the people of Crown Heights, although they may share the same zip code, they are divided through these two defining aspects. It follows that the Jewish perception of Crown Heights is the southern area of the neighborhood that has a greater concentration of Jewish people. This perception of the area, although only held by the Jewish population is interesting in that it attempts to define Crown Heights through religious boundaries. Furthermore, this idea of Crown Heights is for the Lubavitch community as the religious center of the world. This speaks to the enormous influence religion has on any culture, especially the Lubavitch one in Crown Heights. Religion in essence through the decree of the Rebbe transformed this otherwise ordinary neighborhood that is equal home to the Jewish population as it is to the Black population into a transnational center for this select group of Jews to come and practice their beliefs.
