A Home on the Range
Encyclopedia
A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma is a 2002 documentary
by Bonnie Burt and Judith Montell about a group of Jews
who fled from pogroms in Eastern Europe
and prejudice
in America
to organized a socialist society in rural
Northern California
, where they relied on raising chickens to support themselves.
. Although the chicken ranches in Petaluma have more recently been abandoned, Scott's maintained his Jewish culture and his love for the land, working as a cowboy and singing Yiddish folk songs.
A Home on the Range shows old photographs and archival color footage of Petaluma that bring the town to life. These visuals, along with interviews of former residents, reconstruct an idealistic society that put in hard work collecting and cleaning eggs but enjoyed lectures given by top notch Jewish poets and philosophers given at the Community Hall. United by their culture
, the Jews of Petaluma cared for one another as extended family and survived the antisemitism of pre-World War II
and anticommunist sentiments of the McCarthy
era. But with time and assimilation the quirky community dwindled, and, today, they're chicken ranches have been replaced by telecommunication
, dairy farms and vineyards.
For many of the Jews in Petaluma, Judaism
was more of a culture than a religion. One former resident says that people kept the holidays for the social attachment, and another spouts, “Judaism—there wasn't any!” In fact, when they were building their meeting hall it was almost unanimously decided to not build a synagogue
—until they learned it could be a tax write off. For them, Judaism had nothing to do with God. Instead, it meant that they spoke Yiddish, ate matzah, and wanted to form a kibbutz
. But most of all it meant they were outsiders to American
society. They were second rate citizens, called names and not allowed in Country Clubs.
They had fled pogroms in Russia
and antisemitism in urban America to live in a rural Jewish community, but still they faced antisemitism from their surrounding neighbors. One woman remembers, “they used to call us dirty Jew.” And another woman remembers a particularly frightening night when an antisemitic neighbor threw a barn party and the drunk and rowdy crowd terrified her parents so much that they couldn't sleep that night. These incidents ingrained the Jews with a painful feeling of being “lesser” than other Americans. But nothing can compare to the violent night that Gentile
leaders in the neighboring community took out their antisemitism and anticommunist fears through brute force against the men of Petaluma.
Strangely, it wasn't prejudice that destroyed their community, but acceptance. Once Jewish Americans were no longer looked down on, they assimilated into society and the vibrant community of chicken ranchers in Petaluma dwindled. One former resident who grew up on a ranch and raised her children on a ranch expresses her mixed feelings about assimilation. She pines that she lost, “the core,” sense of attachment but in exchange, “we were accepted in as Americans.”
and at Lincoln Center in New York
.
Bonnie says she'd heard about Petaluma before she moved to California from the East Coast. But it wasn't until 1992 at the Madrid
Jewish Film Festival that she teamed up with Judy Montell, and the two began to work on the project together.
called it a modest film that "reads almost like an epic myth." Other reviews praised it for being a through and entertaining documentary that raises issues that are still relevant in Jewish American society today.
More information on Jewish communes:
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Bonnie Burt and Judith Montell about a group of Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
who fled from pogroms in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to organized a socialist society in rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, where they relied on raising chickens to support themselves.
Summary
“Who said Jews couldn't be farmers? Spitin as I, who would harm us?”” Scott Gerber, a former resident of Petaluma, belts out the lyrics to his acoustic guitarAcoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
. Although the chicken ranches in Petaluma have more recently been abandoned, Scott's maintained his Jewish culture and his love for the land, working as a cowboy and singing Yiddish folk songs.
A Home on the Range shows old photographs and archival color footage of Petaluma that bring the town to life. These visuals, along with interviews of former residents, reconstruct an idealistic society that put in hard work collecting and cleaning eggs but enjoyed lectures given by top notch Jewish poets and philosophers given at the Community Hall. United by their culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, the Jews of Petaluma cared for one another as extended family and survived the antisemitism of pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and anticommunist sentiments of the McCarthy
McCarthy
McCarthy may refer to:* McCarthy * McCarthy, Alaska* McCarthy , an indie pop band* MacCarthy , a Bordeaux wine* McCarthy Tétrault, a Canadian law firm...
era. But with time and assimilation the quirky community dwindled, and, today, they're chicken ranches have been replaced by telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
, dairy farms and vineyards.
For many of the Jews in Petaluma, Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
was more of a culture than a religion. One former resident says that people kept the holidays for the social attachment, and another spouts, “Judaism—there wasn't any!” In fact, when they were building their meeting hall it was almost unanimously decided to not build a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
—until they learned it could be a tax write off. For them, Judaism had nothing to do with God. Instead, it meant that they spoke Yiddish, ate matzah, and wanted to form a kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
. But most of all it meant they were outsiders to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
society. They were second rate citizens, called names and not allowed in Country Clubs.
They had fled pogroms in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and antisemitism in urban America to live in a rural Jewish community, but still they faced antisemitism from their surrounding neighbors. One woman remembers, “they used to call us dirty Jew.” And another woman remembers a particularly frightening night when an antisemitic neighbor threw a barn party and the drunk and rowdy crowd terrified her parents so much that they couldn't sleep that night. These incidents ingrained the Jews with a painful feeling of being “lesser” than other Americans. But nothing can compare to the violent night that Gentile
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
leaders in the neighboring community took out their antisemitism and anticommunist fears through brute force against the men of Petaluma.
Strangely, it wasn't prejudice that destroyed their community, but acceptance. Once Jewish Americans were no longer looked down on, they assimilated into society and the vibrant community of chicken ranchers in Petaluma dwindled. One former resident who grew up on a ranch and raised her children on a ranch expresses her mixed feelings about assimilation. She pines that she lost, “the core,” sense of attachment but in exchange, “we were accepted in as Americans.”
Production
For the past twenty years, Bonnie Burt has been making documentaries about Jewish life. Her films have screened at the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
and at Lincoln Center in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Bonnie says she'd heard about Petaluma before she moved to California from the East Coast. But it wasn't until 1992 at the Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
Jewish Film Festival that she teamed up with Judy Montell, and the two began to work on the project together.
Reception
A Home on the Range was well received. The San Diego Jewish Film FestivalFilm festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
called it a modest film that "reads almost like an epic myth." Other reviews praised it for being a through and entertaining documentary that raises issues that are still relevant in Jewish American society today.
See also
Other Documentaries about Jews in America:- My Yiddish Momme McCoy
- Awake ZionAwake ZionAwake Zion is a 2005 documentary by Monica Haim that documents a connection between Jews and Rastafarians. Rasta is a religious movement that came out of Jamaica. The followers accept Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia as God incarnate, grow their hair in dreadlocks and smoke cannabis for religious...
- From Swastika to Jim CrowFrom Swastika to Jim CrowFrom Swastika to Jim Crow is a 2000 documentary that explores the similarities between Nazism in Germany and racism in the American south . In 1939, the Nazi government expelled Jewish scholars from German universities...
- Professional RevolutionaryProfessional RevolutionaryProfessional Revolutionary: The Life of Saul Wellman is a documentary about the life of Saul Wellman.-Summary:“I want things to change, where the playing field is leveled,” Wellman says, “where equality emerges as a reality...where the horrible things about inequality are...
- Song of a Jewish CowboySong of a Jewish CowboySong of a Jewish Cowboy is a 2002 documentary about Scott Gerber, a rancher and musician from Sonoma County, California, who sings cowboy music and Yiddish folk songs. The documentary shows clips from his performances and a personal interview with Scott....
More information on Jewish communes:
- KibbutzKibbutzA kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
- MoshavMoshavMoshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
- SocialismSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
- IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...