Orientalist imagery served as a moral model that Western Jews were urged to emulate

Evidence

The old eastern Jewess—here in the guise of the oriental woman—is, according to Zweig, driven by three things: (1) “the independent force of life that she bears upon herself”; (2) “the deep, grateful loyalty, with which her husband remains continually devoted toward her”; and (3) “the great respect and love of the children toward their parents” (94–96). Like each figure or type artistically depicted by Struck and given further meaning in the written description by Zweig, the old eastern Jewess is to serve as a model worthy of emulating in the West. The “oriental” character attributed to her is of course little more than what Zweig envisions—and indeed imagines—to be the exemplary qualities of a simple, virtuous people. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 437

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s broader argument that Orientalist tropes were deployed by Western Jews to judge eastern Jewry — resonates with the ‘despised yet idealized East’ pattern common in Orientalism studies.