The Home on Gorham Street and the Voices of Its Children (review)

Book Reviews 141 theology. One also cannot but wonder how much of the theological shift Friedman has detected is a function ofthe shift in gemes as one moves through the canon, beginning with the Universal History, then progressing to patriarchal narratives aJ;ld on to the monarchy, before entering prophetic and poetic literature. In the end, however, this book is about the Bible, not about the history ofIsraelite thought, so that the structure ofthe canon is an importance datum in its own right. This is an intriguing and important work, written in the clear and straightforward way that characterizes so much ofRichard Friedman's writing. Given the breadth of its conception, it would have been interesting to consider how rabbinic literature relates to the theme he has identified, and the book's value would have been greatly enhanced by the inclusion ofan index listing the scriptural passages cited. In any event, this is a bold work that invites us to wrestle with an important issue, even as it educates those ofus less daring than the author. We cannot but be grateful to Richard Friedman for having raised these large questions and having had the courage to put them in a context that goes well beyond the Bible. Those that remain owe much to his provocative treatment of an important (both biblically and theologically) topic that is sure to illuminate our own understanding ofthe world. Frederick E. Greenspahn Center for Judaic Studies University of Denver The Home on Gorham Street and the Voices ofIts Children, by How:ard Goldstein. Tuscaloosa: University ofAlabama Press, 1996. 231 pp. $24.95. A mix of nostalgia and professional interest motivated Goldstein, the author of this ethnographic work, to return to the community ofhis youth in order to chart the fate of former residents of the Rochester Jewish Children's Home. Moreover, as a Professor Emeritus of Social Work at Case Western Reserve University, he wished to assess the value ofinstitutional living in terms ofthe benefits to graduates from such an atypical upbringing, particularly in light of voices promoting a return to "orphanages," especially by politicians and others who are dismayed by the failure ofso many families to raise moral and non-delinquent children. The Jewish Children's Home was founded in Rochester, New York, in 1914 by a few prominent Jewish men to give orphans and dependent or neglected children of recently arrived immigrant families shelter in an Orthodox asylum under the direction of a strictly observant superintendent. Indeed, the Home was supervised by a highly autocratic person over much of its 34 years' existence. 142 SHOFAR Summer 1997 Vol. 15, No.4 235 children passed through its portals, although only 146 families were represented in view of sibling admissions. The author's original familiarity with the children stemmed from his family's having resided across the street from the Home, which allowed him access to the comings and goings of the residents, many ofwhom became his friends. Although Goldstein left Rochester as a young adult, only to return 45 years later for this study, his inquiry was made easier by the mutual familiarity of investigator and subjects, a conundrum which required some justification in the selfevaluation ofhis outcome fmdings, which, on the whole, were most favorable. In short, he was able to defend the thesis that institutional care, as exemplified by this particular Home, did not preclude later broad-based success of orphanage-reared children. This was in contrast to the prevailing professional pessimism which noted that extrafamilial upbringing in an institution was sure to destroy children's future in becoming successful citizens. The book is divided into eight chapters, with the frrst four describing the origin of the Home, making comparisons with the evolution ofinstitutional living between a rigid system and a more benevolent one, detailing the structure and operation of the Rochester Home, and providing information about community support efforts, while the remaining chapters offer a more intimate picture of the lives and meanings as the experience was recalled by the now quite elderly survivors. Furthermore, Professor Goldstein was able to recover archival material from a variety ofsources which rounded out some of the history of the Home as documented at the...