FRIEDMAN PRIZE

The Talmud tells a story about an old man who spent his dwindling days planting acorns. It seemed a strange vocation for someone so old: the acorns would take years to grow. Someday they would become trees, but the old man wouldn’t live to see them. Why, he was finally asked, did he devote himself to such a task? “Because,” the old man replied, “the world was not barren when I arrived here; I plant for those who come after.”

Established by the Skirball Cultural Center in 2021, in memory of the Founding Chairman of its Board of Trustees, Howard I. Friedman, The Friedman Prize supports upand-coming Jewish scholars. Graduate and postdoctoral students are invited to reflect upon themes inspired by Friedman’s and the Skirball’s shared devotion to Jewish values and American democratic ideals.

Friedman’s tenure as Chair, and much of his professional and personal life, was distinguished by an abiding commitment to Jewish heritage, anchored by a profound respect for American democracy and social pluralism. He believed that American Jews do not stand alone, that they are part of a longer history and a wider community, and that by affirming these connections they achieve their fullest potential as Jews and as Americans. These deeply held convictions helped to shape the first generation of the Skirball’s development.

In its inaugural year, the Friedman Prize invited perspectives on a topic central to the Skirball mission: the relationship of Jewish values to American immigration experiences. The prize of $5,000 and publication in Oasis was awarded to Max Modiano Daniel for his essay, “Jews, Immigration, and the Limits of Empathy,” a copy of which you will find in the attached pull-out section. Daniel, the son of Greek Jewish immigrants, was a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, when he received the Friedman Prize. We congratulate him on receiving his doctorate shortly thereafter. He also holds degrees from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Beginning with his own family history, Daniel’s essay illuminates the robust and sometimes contradictory relationships between Jewish ideals and U.S. immigration policy. Drawing on classical Jewish sources, he argues that while the idealized narrative of America as the Goldene Medina (Golden Land) was a powerful inspiration for immigrant Jews of the early 20th century, it is likely to ring hollow to less fortunate immigrant communities, past and present. “Even those who see empathy with the beleaguered immigrant as a Jewish value risk erasing important differences between the two.” Daniel concludes with a call for Jews and all Americans to broaden their vision and sense of responsibility for the history and future of American immigration, in all its vitality and diversity.

At the inaugural Howard Friedman Memorial Lecture in May 2022, Daniel discussed his essay in conversation with Skirball President Jessie Kornberg. “As a young scholar,” he said, “it is empowering to receive the Skirball’s support and investment in the next generation of critical thinkers on the American Jewish experience.” We wish we wish Max Daniel success in his ongoing scholarship just as we too work to build a society more embracing of immigrant communities.